Chapter 2
A/N: Ok, so in this chapter, we meet Lae's best friend, Vierna. Also, the dreaded task: NAILS will appear. This is going to be fun! One more thing, Jarek is going to have another surprise! (This time, it's not Lae)
Two years later…It was 6:00 PM in the mountains of Lairan, and most students were busy studying; Lae was doing much the same thing herself. The previous summer, Jarek had taken his wife to a holiday in the South. They had actually been all the way to Emelan! Upon returning, he had caught everyone up to the latest news: it was indeed true, Duke Vedris had passed on; his niece, Sandry, had taken up the position. No, they hadn't been all the way to the coast, but local gossip claimed… etc. There was much news to be shared around, but one piece in particular had held Lae's interest.
"No," he had told them, "The mage Daja has still not taken up a new apprentice. Some people say that the loss of her last one hurt her deeply. I think that another reason may be that she's waiting for a much better one." Lae had secretly been very pleased at this announcement. She still hoped, deep inside, that she held some sort of magic. She knew that it would help her to bond even further with the metals; that was unsurpassable, in her mind.
One of the best results for Lae, though, was that about a month after his return, he had surprised her with a small anvil and forge for practicing at home. This was in case there was another holiday, so she didn't fall behind in her studies. They had built the forge in the small shed behind her house. Now, she could work at home, as well. Jarek made excellent use of this feature.
"Nails? Again? Why me," sighed Lae, after lugging home a large bag of long, iron rods. She slammed the hammer down onto the rod, simultaneously pulling it out of the heat, onto the anvil. Wearing the gloves that Katana, Jarek's wife, had brought back for her, holding red-hot metal was as easy as pulling up grass stems.
The last rod seemed to be almost eager for her hand. Lae sensed this, and drew back. Since when did metal have thoughts? Well, she knew it had feelings; her ring could be happy, or occasionally angry.
It had also warned her of danger; the prior year, her anvil had been about to collapse onto her leg. This accident would've most likely maimed her for life, had she not gotten a sense of danger from the ring she always wore. She jumped back just in time, as the anvil crashed to the ground, right on her footprints.
"Vierna!" Her best friend had been on her way over, and heard the loud noise, and raced to see if Lae was ok. When Lae had explained how she escaped being crushed, the other girl had given her a funny look.
"Lae, what are you talking about? Not even your uncle can talk to metal!" Lae had been slightly chagrined.
"Yeah, you're right, Vierna. Come on, let's go!" And that had been the end of it. Jarek had helped her put the anvil back up, and Pazia and her had woven a cloth over the table, to grip the anvil better.
But now, Lae wasn't sure what to do about this last rod. It acted like it wanted something. Well, metal's never lied to me before, and I know it won't start now. She picked up the rod, thrusting it into the forge for heating. When the iron began to glow red-hot, she used her hammer to start beating it into shape.
Suddenly, the now soft metal began to twist under the hammer. Lae was surprised and confused. Feeling a strong force of will from the metal, she did as it asked, and beat it into a strange shape. As she worked, she felt a strange sensation: a feeling of 'rightness,' yet somehow it was more draining than an average working. It almost felt as though a force she couldn't control was being drawn through her body.
As the metal was almost finished, she looked down at the piece, and gasped. It definitely wasn't a nail. Instead, she had hammered the rod into something that looked like some sort of a braid, but it was shaped differently. It emanated power like a miniature sun. Lae gasped, she had seen something similar to this in a book once. It had been called the Tongerdeth. It was a powerful magical symbol, used often by mages for holding power; if charmed correctly, it could also be used for just about anything to do with sound.
She gasped again, this time not from a scary realization, but from surprise at the complete weakness that had suddenly swamped her entire body. Lae had learned the hard way that a magical accomplishment does indeed take a lot of energy.
"Lae!" A tan young head stuck into her forge. "Come on, we –" he stopped. His cousin was sitting, slumped over her anvil, with her feet in the coals. The scariest part of this was that she seemed not to notice. "Lae! What are you doing?"
She started. "Ouch!" Jumping up, she leapt out of the hearth, almost knocking the tousled black head off of its shoulders. "Sorry, Keene! I guess I just… fell asleep…"
"Lae, you fell asleep in the FIRE. Doesn't that bother you? Your mama will kill you; your shoes are all burnt off."
She looked down… and realized she was barefoot. "Oh! I took them off, standing near the fire was making me hot." Reaching down to the shelf where all of the finished nails were, Lae pulled her shoes out and slipped them on.
Keene shook his head, laughter sparkling in his light brown eyes. "Some people have all the luck. Like that time your anvil fell, and you mysteriously were just one-foot back. Or that time when you made at Tongerdeth…" he stopped.
Lae hung her head. "There's no hiding anything from you, is there, Keene?" She sighed. "I don't know how it happened. One minute I was just making nails, minding my own business, and the nest, I'm hammering something with its own will!"
"It's ok, Lae. I believe you." Her cousin was, for once, serious. "You know what I think? I think you're a metal-mage!" Despite her protests, he continued. "I mean, think about it! Ever since you were little, you loved hanging in my dad's shop, which just happens to be a blacksmith shop; once you're apprenticed to him, you show an uncanny aptitude for working with metal, then, you accidentally make a magical piece of metal, which, by the way, is still glowing? That's no coincidence, my dear cousin."
She sighed. "Don't forget talking to it."
"What? I don't get it. The metal... it talks to you?" He looked extremely confused.
"Well, not exactly talks, but I get… you know… like vibes. The time I got out of the way from the anvil? That was because my ring warned me. I got a sense of danger from it, and I jumped back. Today, when I was making the tongerdeth, I felt like that's what it wanted. Like, my arms just obeyed the metal."
He grinned at her mischievously. "So you admit it! I knew you were special, Lae. I can always tell about people."
"Keene? Don't tell anyone. I don't know if you're right or not. You could be, but just remember; the Seer never saw anything in me, so it's not like I have normal magic, at least. I just don't want anyone to know, ok?"
"I promise, Lae. Your secret is safe with me." He smiled at his younger cousin: at eleven, she was just three years younger than he was; somehow, those three years made him very protective of her. Once, when she was just ten, she had been spirited home by Vachel, the village drunk, in hopes of some fun. Keene had yet to see Vachel again… Vachel had yet to see any of his teeth again.
One month later…
Keene watched closely as Lae sat on the mat in her room, tongerdeth in hand. It had finally stopped glowing, but was still conspicuously shiny for a hunk of iron. Concentrating on keeping her mind clear, she began meditating. After about ten minutes of silence, she felt the connection. Her power was within reach! She probed into her heart, reaching for the closest strand. Once she had it, she carefully wrapped it around the hinges in her door. By using the connection in her mind, she called the metal in the bolts to the main hinge. In a few moments, she had melded the two together.
"I did it! Keene look at them!" Lae leapt from her position, racing to the door. Keene raced with her, just as excited. They examined each hinge; neither could feel a seam in the metal. The only evidence that the two had ever been separate was that the bolt was covered with a special paint. They themselves had done this earlier, just so they would be able to tell where it had been.
"Lae, I can't believe you were able to do this after just two weeks of meditation! See, you do have magic; how else –"
"Shush!" Lae had her ear to the door, listening intently. Jarek and Pazia had gone into the other room earlier, to talk about something or other. She motioned him towards her. "I can't hear them, they're talking too quietly," she whispered, "Hand me the tongerdeth." Keene reached up and gave the piece to her. As she took it, it began glowing again, feeling her power. Slipping back into meditation, she reached into her power again, searching for the right feeling.
Keene watched her with a smile on his face, the smile one gets when they're very proud of someone. Intent on her work, she barely heard a sound at all, until suddenly, the tongerdeth stopped glowing, and began to vibrate. A whistling bird's song reverberated through the air, amplified so beautifully that Lae broke from her trance to listen. The cousins smiled at each other, both spellbound by the captivating melody.
After a few moments, the robin on the roof stopped its song, and Lae concentrated on the location she wanted. "It's no good, Keene. They probably put something so we couldn't hear them. Check the other side of the door, will you?"
He got up and stepped out. "I'm just getting some water, dad." Lae noticed that the voices stopped immediately.
"Wait, Keene!" He turned around; Lae handed him a small piece of metal, shaped like a tiny knot. "It's connected to the tongerdeth. Drop it next to one of the chairs."
As he reentered the room, the two began talking again. This time, both of them held the piece, concentrating on the other room. It began to vibrate once more; this time, the voices of their parents clearly sounded.
"No, I don't mean that. I just mean that maybe she needs the training, since you think there's something there."
"Well, how could there not be? She made a beautiful ring, without a furnace, before she even turned ten! That's not just skill, Pazia. That's an extraordinary gift with magic. She could turn out to be as great of a mage as Frostpine! You know his gift wasn't discovered until late, and he's still a great mage, even now!"
"I don't know, though, this would be a long, long time. Even if we could afford it, a year can still be a lot of time away from home, especially since she's only a young girl yet." Lae looked, horrified, at her cousin. He reached over and squeezed her hand comfortingly. The two adults went on.
"I know that you're very sensitive about letting her go, especially when she's this young. But she wouldn't leave for the university until she was about thirteen. They wouldn't take her now; she's too young. In fact, she could wait until Keene leaves next year." This time, Keene was the one who looked surprised. "Then, ask her about it. Lightbridge will give her such great opportunities!"
"Alright, Jarek. If you say she has the gift, then I'll trust your opinion. You did say you were going to send some of her work with the next Trader caravan, right?"
By now the two were looking at each-other with glee. Going to Lightbridge University together! It was the most renowned place of learning in all of the land. Many of the mages who graduated from there became rich and famous, not to mention extremely powerful. "Yes, I think they'll probably feel power in it, and end up giving her a shot at a scholarship."
"Wait! What's that, there on the floor?" Uh-oh! Keene heard Lae's voice in his mind. Startled, he dropped the tongerdeth. Oh, boy, now they have us!
"Lae? What are you doing?" He asked her. She looked at him curiously. What are you talking about, Keene
"What are you talking about, Keene?"
"I can hear you in my mind!"
Oh... can you hear this? I was just thinking... I don't know... in your direction, so I guess your magic with water mixed with our bond, and let you hear me. You try; I think that the Four from the Winding Circle could do this too.
Um, can you hear me?
Yeah, I can! Keene, this is great! We can communicate through our magic now; I can't wait until we – oh no, here they come.
While the two had been 'conversing,' the adults had discovered the piece of metal. Jarek immediately guessed its purpose, and figured that Lae must've bought it; even with her gift, this was far beyond her (or so he thought!) skills.
The door swung open, and Keene quickly shoved the piece of metal behind his back. "Oh, wow, what did you to the door?" Pazia wondered, "It's swinging so smoothly!" The two shared a secretive grin.
"I melded the hinge to the bolt. Now, it doesn't hinder the motion." Jarek looked closely at the metal, then at his sister. His look clearly read, I told you so!
"Where did you learn to do that?" Her mother was clearly flabbergasted by Lae's strength.
" Keene's been teaching me how to use my connection to metals in different spells. He also taught me how to meditate," she answered casually, "so I could gain some control over my power."
Jarek looked at her in surprise. "Then, did you make this, too?" He handed her the small piece of metal. "And where's the earpiece?"
"I used a tongerdeth," she replied, "and yes, I made it."
This time no one answered her. Both adults just stood there, jaws open, until Pazia recovered enough to ask her, "How in the world did you afford a tongerdeth? Those things are so expensive... I didn't even know anyone around here could make them!"
"One can," Keene smiled, "And you're looking at her. Lae did it a few months ago. She told me about all these things she can do, and since it sounded like when I got my magic, I helped her learn how to control it."
"Well," Jarek finally answered, "That settles it. You're both going to Lightbridge as soon as I can get them a sample of your work!"
Four months later:
Miss Lae Croanin,
Thank you for sending your work to our university. We would be delighted to have you as a student here at Lightbridge. The classes you will be taking here will be as follows:
Mathematics, level will be based on prior training
Writing, level will be based on prior training
Reading, level will be based on prior training
Blacksmithing, level seven
Chemistry and Potions, level one
Runecraft, level one
Theory of magic, level one
All materials needed for classes will be provided on entry to Lightbridge University. You will be allowed five weeks leave from schooling in the spring. Please finish the following tasks before your arrival at Lightbridge:
Five pounds of standard nails
An essay on the importance of control over power
At least four more different metal workings
An essay on why you prefer whatever metal you do
Enclosed are several books. You will be required to know each book, at least well enough to be tested on the information enclosed. Please note that failure to comply with these assignments will result in a good deal of punishments, namely, loss of free time, vacation, and other privileges.
Cordially, Teyrnon Yerrot
TeyrnonYorret
Headmaster, Lightbridge University
The next month...
Did you hear? The glass dragon is still alive. These workings are still new; most experts thought he would've died years ago, but here he is, eleven years old and still good as new! He's gotten a lot bigger, though. It looks as though he's going to reach maturity for a dragon.
He'll probably live just as long as his creator. That's what I heard.
"You know, just because you can communicate with your cousin in thought, you don't have to stop speaking! It would be nice to let the rest of us mortals in on the conversation!" Vierna glared at Lae.
"I'm sorry, Vie. I just said that Chime, the glass dragon, is still alive. Keene says he heard that he'll live as long as his creator does."
"Thank you! It seems like you guys spend all your time talking in mind-speak. It's starting to get annoying, Lae."
"Like I said, Vierna, we're just excited! It's not often that people can do this with each-other; at least I told you what was going on. It's still a secret for now."
"Why do you have to go there, anyway? I'm going to miss you, Lae. Can't you just study here?"
"I told you, it's only for a year, three tops, and Lightbridge University is the best school for mages there is. If I go there, there's no limit to what I could become!"
Vierna sighed. "I guess so. Good luck, anyway."
Lae stepped off of the carriage. In honor of the occasion, Jarek and Pazia had pooled their money to rent a horse-drawn cart. The students, along with their friends and family, had ridden inside, under the canvas roofing. Looking up, they saw that the sky was overcast; it would probably begin to rain shortly after they got into the inn.
"Oh, Lae, honey, I'm going to miss you!" Pazia tearfully embraced her only daughter.
"Mama, don't worry. I get five weeks, so I'll be able to spend plenty of time here this spring, and that's only in about six months. I love you, too, and I'll miss you, but don't weep. It's for the best. If I don't –"
"I know. If you don't get the proper training, your power will eventually hurt someone." She smiled weakly, wiping her face on a handkerchief.
Lae grinned back, letting her mother go. She then pulled Vierna into a similar embrace, which was just as tearful.
"Eh," Vierna gasped, "Can't– breathe –" Lae laughed, letting her go. "I guess your blacksmith muscles are too much for me!"
After all of the farewells were done, Keene and Lae set off for the inn, waving back occasionally, until the carriage was no longer visible.