"Daine? Who were you talking to?" Numair called, exiting the bedchamber. "And you left a rock in the bed." He held it in his hand.

Daine laughed. "The badger said you should keep it; apparently, it matches -"

"- the colour of your eyes," Numair finished, chuckling. He came over to the couch Daine was seated on, and collapsed beside her. "What have we here?" he asked curiously, spotting the wolf in Daine's arms. Silver turned to peer at Numair.

"He's the pup of Old White and Night Black – the First Wolf and his mate," Daine explained. "He's called Silver, and he's here to watch me for the badger – which reminds me that I've got to tell you something." Numair listened with interest as she recounted her dream, letting a restless, squirming Silver escape her arms in the middle of her story.

"So, you truly have well-rounded wild magic now," Numair said speculatively, tugging on his long nose. "Show me – call this rock to you." He placed the blue-grey object on the low table in front of the couch, and leaned back on the cushions again.

Daine looked at it, grasping its feel in her mind, and willed it to come to her. It rose and floated gently across several feet of open air, stopped to hover until she stretched out her hand, and dropped neatly into her palm. One of Numair's eyebrows arched delicately as he whistled.

"Does it take any energy to do that?" he asked, keen to learn more.

Daine thought. "I don't know," she said. "I haven't really done anything else besides moving things, and since they're so small, it hasn't been taking that much effort. I just focus on them, and how they feel when I think about them, and do just as the badger said – will them to come to me."

"Will?"

"Well, I wanted the rock to come to me, so I used my mind, and made it."

"How remarkable – so no spells or anything?"

"None. Just my wanting it to do what I wish."

Numair idly tucked stray wisps of his hair back behind his ears as he thought about Daine's newly acquired power. It occurred to him that it was getting quite warm, and he put the fire out with a simple, silently thought spell. Fire, he thought then. "Daine, can you work with fire? The badger said 'Nature' – all things natural. How far does that term go?"

"Fire?" Daine asked. "What do you mean? Should I try and summon flame?"

"Try," Numair suggested. He got up, placed new wood in the hearth, and sat down again. "Will it, like you willed the stone."

Daine stared at the logs in the hearth, and felt the wood in her mind. She knew she could call it to her, but how did she compel it to burn? No decent piece of wood wanted to burn, surely. Burn, damn it! she screamed silently, and smiled ruefully when nothing happened.

-Cursing at it won't help,- Silver advised in her mind.

Daine spun around, looking for the wolf, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Where are you? she asked, throwing out her mind-voice.

-Out in the palace forests,- Silver said. –I haven't been here before. Think of fire, the power of flame and its essence. Essentially, what you're doing with wild magic is thinking of the essence of what you are doing. When you heal animals, you're thinking of the essence of repair and mending; when you call stones to you, you're thinking of the essence of the stone and willing it to come to you.-

"Daine?" Numair tapped her on the shoulder.

Daine shook her head. "Sorry. I was talking to Silver – he's in the palace forests, and he gave me some advice as to how to make the damn thing burn. Can we get some food after this?" she added as an afterthought.

Numair laughed as the wood roared into flames. "Can you put it out?"

-Dampen the essence,- Silver told Daine. She obliged and thought of the fire and the copper point that was its core, reached out with her magic, and snuffed it.

"Amazing," Numair murmured. "This is no Gift, so you must be drawing your power from both nature and yourself. Let's go outside -"

"Numair, please," Daine groaned. "There are some people willing to sacrifice meals for learning, but I'm not one of them."

Numair blinked. "Sorry, sweet. But after lunch?"

Daine smiled. "Of course."

After they'd washed up and changed, they headed down to the mess hall, where a few of their friends were still eating, though most had already left. Onua Chamtong, horsemistress to the Queen's Riders, was as equally fascinated as Numair by Daine's new power. Daine rolled her eyes and talked with Alanna instead, who was not so oriented upon learning.

Numair led Daine by the hand out of the mess hall after they'd eaten, and they headed to the stables to saddle up Cloud, Daine's faithful grey pony, and Spots. The mage intended to ride out to a remote place in the royal forests, away from distraction and immersed in a natural environment, to discover more about Daine's power. The two of them mounted up and rode at a trot into the trees.

You feel different, Cloud told Daine.

"I am different," Daine said.

Outside, you are two-legger. Inside, you are People. And now, you encompass something more, something greater. What happened? Cloud asked curiously.

"The badger – and my ma, and my da, and other gods – they gave me something. I'm bonded to all Nature now, not just the People," Daine explained.

And the stork-man is going to teach you how to use it?

"Yes," Daine said, slightly sorrowfully. It was a beautiful day, not as hot as the day before, and she wished she had the afternoon to herself and Numair without the intervention of new powers.

"What did she say?" Numair asked.

"That I'm two-legger, People, and something greater also," Daine replied. "She sensed it in me. I hope the rest of the People won't notice it – if they think I'm something other than what I was, it might scare them. Oh," she said, when Cloud told her they wouldn't. "Cloud says only those who've known me for a long time will sense it."

"This is very unique," Numair informed Daine. "I've never heard of this happening before. Plant magic and wild magic are separate from each other, and the fact that you can work fire – that is outstanding. This looks like a good place to stop," he noted, and halted Spots. "Besides, I'm sore."

They'd reached a moderate sized clearing. Daine chuckled and dismounted after Numair. Their mounts took to tasting some of the forest foliage as Daine settled on the ground.

"I'm going to do what we did by the undine's pool, if you remember," Numair said. "Just look around." He stood behind her and placed his fingers at her temples.

Daine's vision bloomed in copper flame. Tendrils of wild magic infused everything around her. As she looked more closely, she saw that Spots and Cloud's fire had a slight golden tinge, as her own wellspring of magic did, while the fire of foliage had a slight green undertone. Rocks were greyish, and the earth was brown. She held up her hand in front of her face, and saw that her copper magic was now interwoven with the colours of everything around her.

Suddenly, silver light erupted in front of her, and the wolf pup appeared. His fire was pure gold, with no trace of copper. –Pretty, isn't it?- He spoke in mind-voice, as always, as it was the only way animal gods could speak here; in the Divine Realms, they possessed their own voices.

"Very," Daine and Numair said at the same time, and smiled.

"Why are you golden?" Daine asked Silver.

-Because I'm of godly descent – actually, some wolves know my name and hail me as a protector of their pups. I am called Swift Silver, but it's a mouthful of words and hardly true. My da always says I'm lazy.- His tongue lolled out of his mouth in a silent wolf grin.

Numair removed his hands as Daine blinked, and was returned to her regular vision. He sat down beside her and retied the thong holding his hair back, as it was falling out.

"Silver, what else can she do?" Numair asked the wolf.

-What are the fundamentals of Nature, mage-man?- Silver asked him, much as a teacher would ask his student. –What comprises Nature herself at her core?- Tail wagging, he climbed into Daine's lap and allowed her to scratch him.

Numair's eyes lit up. "The elements!" he exclaimed. "Of course! Fire, water, earth, and air – Daine, you could control all of it."

-Very good,- Silver congratulated him.

Water, is it? Cloud asked Daine. Make some; I wouldn't mind. Spots nickered his assent.

"Can I do that?" Daine asked Silver.

"Do what?" Numair enquired.

"Cloud requested water, and told me to make it," Daine explained.

-Of course you can do that,- Silver said. -Remember to think of the essence of water. Liquid, cool and clear, flowing.-

Daine thought hard, and created a large pool of water on the surface of the earth, which just as quickly disappeared as it had appeared, soaked into the ground.

A pond requires a depression, Cloud advised Daine, who frowned.

"Essence of earth?" she asked Silver.

-Foundation. Solidity, fundamentalism. In a way, the earth is essence,- Silver mused. –Will it to cave in for you – it is but earth, and you can command it.-

I want it to cave, Daine thought. She pushed it with her mind, and a rounded hole formed in the ground a foot in front of her, perhaps fifteen feet wide and sides that gently sloped down eight feet deep.

"It's still going to soak into the ground," Daine pointed out.

"Stone," Numair said thoughtfully.

-Stone,- Silver told her, -and sand. Create them.-

Daine sighed. She thought of stone and rock, toughness and strength, and of sand, fine grains, the result of erosion. Shapes in the depression she'd made appeared, shimmered coppery-grey and tan, and solidified. The bottom and sides of the pit were now made of sand, not dirt, and smooth pebbles and large rocks were embedded in it. Daine surveyed her work, smiled, and thought once more of water. Copper fire, tinged blue, filled the depression, and coalesced into clear, sparkling water.

It's sweet, Spots commented, trotting over and tasting it.

Very, Cloud agreed. It's good. Congratulations, she said, before quenching her thirst.

Silver scampered out of Daine's lap and tried it himself. –That's very good water you've made, Daine,- he said amusedly. –Unique flavour.-

"You just – made – that water from nothing," Numair said, blinking. "Did that cost you any strength?"

-Mage-man, she is now using only an extremely small part of her strength when it comes to wild magic,- Silver told him.

"Then where does the rest of it come from?" Daine asked.

-You draw upon your parents, some animal gods, and Nature herself,- Silver explained. -Nature has an incredible amount of energy to offer, but only those with wild magic may harness it. If you take too much from it though, things will die. Flora and fauna alike have reserves of energy – you saw it yourself in Carthak, when you drew upon the power of the rats to awaken the dinosaurs. You may use some of it, but in using too much, you will rob something alive of its life energy. Mortal flora may not be aware, but the People are. Dead forests are not extremely desirable either, mind you.-

"Does she draw upon this energy from the world?" Numair wondered. "Or is it simply from the general vicinity of plants and animals?"

-The world,- Silver answered, -but not as you were thinking, as simply taking energy from a tree halfway round the globe, for example. All things natural have energy, and it is drawn from the same source in the Divine Realms. She is drawing from that source also.-

"How much can she do then?" Numair demanded, awed.

-Much,- Silver said. –However, Daine, if you try to do something too great, you will die. Some of what one would like to do would not be possible without divine power – that is, power from the gods. If you attempt, for example, to move a mountain by commanding the earth, you will not only decimate forests and kill their inhabitants by drawing upon their life forces, but you will perish yourself, being as a large amount of divine power will have been channelled through your body, which happens to be incapable to withstanding it.-

"Odd's bobs," Daine said curtly. "It's a lovely day, and I won't do anything ridiculous such as move great piles of rock and stone a couple hundred kilometres, so I won't be dying. I refuse to learn anything more for the moment," she told Numair and Silver promptly. She catapulted herself into the water, splashing everyone. "I can get rid of water if I can make it, right?" she asked Silver when she surfaced, treading water. "As in dry myself?"

-Good application of problem-solving skills,- Silver said dryly, and jumped in for a swim himself, while Numair remained sitting, thinking about what else Daine could do.

-Catch me if you can,- Silver said to Daine, and dove under the surface.

Daine followed suit, and swam around after the incredibly quick wolf, who seemed to have been named 'Swift Silver' for a reason after all, no matter what his da said. The water was crystal clear, pleasantly chilly, and a welcome counterpoint to the hot air of the summer day, giving Daine renewed energy. But try as she might, she couldn't catch the wolf, and felt her lungs aching for air. She swam back up to the surface and took in a deep breath. Silver surfaced beside her, paddling.

"That isn't fair," Daine protested. "You don't have to breathe as often as I do!"

-Really,- Silver said quizzically. –I don't suppose you've tried breathing underwater before?-

Daine's eyes widened, and she dove under again. Steeling herself for doing something unnatural to a human, she exhaled, bubbles floating up to the surface, and inhaled. She didn't choke as she expected, but took water into her lungs. When she exhaled, water came spewing out of her mouth, but the oxygen remained in her body. Amazed, she floated to the surface.

"Numair!" she shouted with glee. "I can breathe – underwater!" He'd remained sitting on the ground, watching his love and the wolf play, and smiled. "Come for a swim, won't you?"

Numair shook his head. "I'll pass, thank you."

"Sorry, no such thing," Daine shot back. She took hold of his hand, and dragged him into the water, submerging him.

"Daine!" he spluttered, when she let him come up for air. "That was highly uncharitable of you."

She laughed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him fiercely. "Will you ever forgive me?" she murmured between kisses.

Numair pulled her tightly to him and kissed his way up her neck, to her eyelids and cheeks and lips again. "Maybe," he said, the heat coursing through both their veins making him shiver.

Daine smiled against his lips before pulling back and looking into his dark eyes. "I love you," she said softly. "More than anything."

"I love you too, magelet," Numair said tenderly, running his hands through her wet hair, "but if you kiss me again in the water, we'll both sink for not thinking about floating, and I'm not sure you're a magelet anymore."

Daine stuck her tongue out at him; he kissed it and she giggled. "I'm still smaller than you, and you're a mage, so I'm still a magelet," she told him.

"True," Numair agreed, hauling himself and Daine out of the water. "Do you think you could dry us now?"

She thought about the water disappearing, and heat drying it away. In seconds, it was impossible to discern that either of them had been wet in the first place. "How does a walk round the forest sound before we go back for supper?" she proposed.

"Let's," Numair concurred, looking for Spots. "Where did the horses go?"

Daine frowned, and searched for them with her magic. She found that they were already halfway back to the stables, Silver with them.

-It was getting too friendly between you two for us,- Silver told her when she asked.

She laughed and conveyed his words to Numair. Hand in hand, they walked slowly back to the palace, stealing kisses along the way and arriving just as the supper bell rang.

.::.

"I don't believe it," Alanna said flatly. "So she can call up fire, make water, work the elements, converse with animals, change into any creature she likes? The Goddess' cat!" she exclaimed, when Daine nodded.

"I don't know how far it goes though," Numair said. "From the looks of it though, it seems it goes a long way."

-Tell the mage-man that I said 'all things natural', but remind him about the impossibilities of doing things such as moving mountains.- Silver's voice sounded in Daine's head, though she didn't know where he was. She told Numair what he had said.

Alanna whistled. "So your power now could best the greatest of us, and you're better at archery than I am," she told Daine. "But I can still beat you with the sword." She grinned.

Daine smiled. "Of course, Lioness. You're legendary. And besides, I haven't learned to use my power yet."

"The wolf you spoke of knows how," Raoul pointed out. "It won't be long. What with the badger saying you needed protection – you could protect the entire kingdom with something like you've got." Battles the kingdom had lost before flashed through his mind, and he imagined how a natural ally could have helped them – torrents of water, earthquakes, ditches suddenly appearing from no apparent source of magic under enemy troops, strong gusts of wind toppling enemy boats, floods, fire in the enemy camps - the list was endless, and the number of human lives that could have been saved was monumental.

Daine frowned. "I don't know, Raoul. I don't think the power was given to me to topple over the enemy, or for mass destruction, unless absolutely necessary."

"She's right," Buri agreed. "No gods would give her something like that with which to conquer the world."

"I've never heard of this before," Jonathan remarked.

"Neither have any of us," Numair said. "I'm going down to the library – anyone coming?"

"Wait," Daine interjected. Silver, she called silently. Has anyone ever been given this before? Is it in the books anywhere? "Don't bother looking," she said to Numair once the wolf had replied. "It's never happened to anyone before – Silver says so."

"Well," Alanna said, "that's the end of that."

Thayet rose. "I'm off to check on my gown for the ball the day after tomorrow," she announced. "Since the announcement today went smoothly, all of us comprising the delegation to Carthak must be present at the ball," she added, when Daine winced. "It would look bad otherwise."

"And I've got things to look after," Jonathan said mournfully. "Piles of things. Good night," he said, and left the room following his wife. Raoul and Buri followed suit, leaving Alanna behind with Daine and Numair, once more in the main room of their suite.

"Could you show me?" Alanna asked Daine interestedly. "Put out the fire, for example."

Daine obliged and snuffed it, and lit it again when Alanna asked her to. Disbelievingly, the Lioness requested it to be snuffed out again, only this time by air, which Daine hadn't tried yet, but she succeeded. She lit the fire again as they were immersed in darkness – the sun had set – only to douse it with water, which she created, relight it, and repeat the process with a mound of earth. Bored of the experiments that he'd already assumed would be successful, Numair retired to bed early, with a quick kiss to Daine's cheek. Once the door to the bedchamber was closed, Alanna stood and took Numair's place beside Daine.

"Took long enough for him to leave," the Lioness remarked.

"You wanted him to?" Daine asked, bewildered.

"Quite." Alanna flicked her fingers in four directions, and a shield of purple magic sprung up and surrounded her and Daine – a ward against listening spells. "So tell me, Daine. Are you two alright?"

Daine's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"You and Numair. After all this time, and you haven't gotten married – is this going the way you want it to be?"

"It's not that he hasn't proposed," Daine said quietly. "It's that – well – we haven't been together for the past year - and -"

"And?" Alanna prompted.

"Sometimes I don't know, Alanna. I mean, I love him more than life itself, but his history, and all those ladies fawning over him all the time – and he hasn't bed -" Daine's lips clamped shut as she turned scarlet.

"He hasn't?" Alanna said incredulously. "I always thought you were sleeping together."

"Sleeping in the same bed, sure," Daine muttered.

"He loves you very much," Alanna told her. "Don't ever have doubts about it – he's completely besotted; you can tell by the look on his face, and I've known him for a very long time."

"How did you know?" Daine asked curiously. "We just had one of those awkward moments last night."

"I didn't," Alanna said. "I just wanted to check up on you two – I care about you very much, and if you ever need anything, I'm always here."

Impulsively, Daine hugged the Lioness. "Thank you so much – you don't know how much that means to me."

Alanna smiled. "Take care of yourself, Wildmage, and remember even when you can't, there will always be a good man who will kiss you, call you magelet, and wait on you for the rest of your life."

Daine laughed. "I don't think I'd fair fancy that."

Alanna rose. "Good night, Daine," she said, making the ward vanish with a flick of her hand. She let herself out, closing the door behind her.

Daine sighed, sitting alone for a moment. Hearing a scuttling sound at her feet, she looked down and saw Kitten, who clambered up onto the couch and settled in Daine's lap.

"Love's complicated, isn't it, Kit?" Daine murmured softly to the dragonet, who let out a sympathetic chirp. "It's fair wondrous, of course, but I don't know what I'm feeling anymore and its hard."

Kitten reached up and pressed her snout against Daine's cheek – a dragon kiss, Daine thought – and scampered away. Seconds later, silvery fire bloomed in Daine's lap – Kitten must have known he was coming, as she hadn't taken a liking to the wolf yet.

-Why don't you go to bed?- Silver asked her. –You aren't accomplishing anything here, only moping, which isn't any good for you anyway.-

"Alright," Daine conceded. "Good night, Silver." She hugged him to her chest before he disappeared again.

Rising, Daine put out the fire with a thought, washed up, and entered the bedchamber. Numair was sleeping already, his even breathing the only sound in the room. She undressed to breast band and loincloth, and donned one of Numair's huge shirts, something she'd taken to wearing at night. Crawling under the covers, she kissed Numair's long nose. He subconsciously registered she was there, and pulled her into the circle of his arms before being still again, his cheek against hers. A slight smile played across Daine's lips as she slipped into peaceful sleep, thinking of drowning the prophetic spidren in torrents of rushing water. That he wouldn't be scaring her then, floating lifelessly in a fast-flowing river, was her last conscious thought.

.::.

Whew, two chapters today. Definitely a slower section of the story, but I wanted to emphasize the broadness of Daine's power and the potential usage of it. Besides, I like Silver (: Humour the girl writing it alright? :: grin ::

Martini: Two chapters in a day! Is that soon enough for you? :: big smile ::

Amanda: Aw thanks; I'm glad you like it and I like Silver too (:

spice: Plot! Things won't get moving here until at least the chapter after next, because the next one is about fluff, love, balls, and mush. The one after should be Carthak, though. Thank you!

Green Eyed Lady: I hope there's a real true plot! Like I said, the chapter after next. Thank you, I'll remember the thing about the characters.

Thanks for reading guys! Keep reviewing (: