Disclaimer: None of it is mine. Yet... Also, the basis of my mind control spell was stolen from one of Jade Limill's stories, Terrible Elwen, and I am using it with her permission.
A/N; Okay, I must apologize once more. Again, I find this chapter, though amusing at times, quite dull. I promise, this is the last one. Don't worry, it is not nearly as long as the last one was. The plot is coming here soon – I swear! If you get really disgusted with it, stop reading and tell me in a review. I'll put a summary of this one at the top of my next post.
Mind Games
The next morning, the 'army' returned to Raistlin and Dalamar's house for more magic lessons. They were greeted at the door by Dalamar who was wearing his robes for the day, since they wouldn't be going outside anyway. He bowed the group inside, and they returned to the room where they'd been the day before. Lenny too retuned to the room where he'd been, holding his new broadsword in an almost-comfortable manner and shutting the door with a bang behind him.
The others filed back into what Maeg had started calling the 'magic room' to herself. They sat back down on the cushions, which seemed not to have been moved since the day before. This day, there were new candles at each place.
Raistlin brusquely began to teach once more. "Now, I would like to see each of you use magic to move the candle to the center of the circle and light it. This should be simple, assuming you practiced last night as I'd requested." With that, he demonstrated, the candle lighting as it flew to the center of the circle. Dalamar's did the same seconds after the first candle had landed.
They went around the circle in the same order as the day before. Today, it took much less time for everyone to light their candles, and no one had much trouble moving them. Raistlin was pleased that they'd all practiced, at least a bit, but he had expected no less.
Once all of the teens had successfully performed the task before them, Raistlin spoke once more. "Now that you have all performed reasonably well, we will start something new. Ordinarily, I would spend much more time on the basics, but we may not have that time to waste." His furrowed brow showed exactly what Raistlin thought about being rushed while he taught.
"So, instead of continuing in that vein, we shall start on the basics of mind control and fighting it. I have a feeling that this will be one of the most useful things you will learn for your battle against the Dark Queen, because her primary power comes from her mastery of manipulation. To demonstrate, I will control the mind of my apprentice, who will try to fight it."
Both mages got up. Maeg shook her head when she noticed that Raistlin had so little faith in his apprentice that he had indicated that Dalamar could only try to fight the control. Ignoring Dalamar's furious negating gesture, she spoke. "Only try? If you're such a good teacher, why can't he completely fight it?" Maria nodded in agreement, while Jess put her head in her hands in frustration.
The only sign of annoyance Raistlin gave was a slight twitch of his mouth as he tried to control his exasperation. "One of greater power will almost always control someone weaker than they are." He sneered slightly when he spoke the word 'weaker'. "This is the problem with this magic, as well as most magic. However, if anyone less than Takhisis herself tries to control your mind, this will be useful. Now, observe."
Raistlin locked eyes with Dalamar, who appeared to be unable to pull away. A look of intense concentration grew on both mages' faces. Dalamar started to sweat and twitch, but stayed in one place. Finally, he was no longer able to lock his muscles, and began cavorting about the room, singing in Elvish. Raistlin had a satisfied look on his face, but it was obvious that he needed his full concentration.
Dalamar suddenly stopped dancing and started strutting around the room, swinging his hips. He paused, looked into what seemed to be an invisible mirror, and put on imaginary lipstick. He then proceeded to pile his hair on top of his head as though trying to style it. The assembled group couldn't help but laugh at how much he looked like Catalina. Finally, with a sigh of slight exhaustion, Raistlin released him.
Dalamar had frozen, bent over, playing with his hair. Now that he had control over his mind again, he seemed to realize what he'd been doing, and stood up. He walked gracefully back to his cushion, a slight blush upon his cheeks. "You shouldn't have said anything," he murmured to Maegith as he took his seat.
"Why?" Her voice was seeped in barely contained anger. "It just isn't fair that he made you do all of that, and he didn't even believe in you." Suddenly, she noticed that the elf's eyes were slightly golden, fading back to their normal color.
"Eh-hem." Raistlin's soft half-cough silenced Maeg, and she blushed, caught like a deer in headlights. "Now that I've demonstrated, I shall explain the theory. To perform this spell takes immense concentration and willpower. To begin, you must get eye contact with the person. Once you have it, throw out a strand of power as if you were tying yourself to them. This will prevent the other person from pulling away.
"Once you've bound them, concentrate with every fiber of your being. You will need to try to enter the other person's mind then. Once they are tied to you, you will have a short window of time in which to enter their mind when they will be completely defenseless. Then, you will mentally suggest exactly what you want them to do. You will need to use all of your will power, or else they will be able to refuse and break free. You will also need to use your magic to encourage them. The way in which to do this feels different to everyone, so it would be a waste of breath for me to attempt to explain it." He took a gulp of tea from his thermos, which was on the floor next to him.
"Once you have them under your control, you can do several things. One, which I just demonstrated, is to make the person do things that they ordinarily would not, or even could not normally do. The other, which I have a feeling will be more important for our purposes, is to block out the minds of other people. In this way, you stop those students who remain neutral and/or oblivious to the battle from believing Tahkisis's lies.
"This branch of mind control magic is also easier to maintain than the other, mostly because you're only suggesting one thing, rather than controlling their every move. Because of this, you will be able to put the spell on dozens of people at once without the drain that the other form would make.
"You will be able to tell when people are fully under your control by their eyes. They will change to the color of your own. To make it more obvious in the future, I will put a spell on all of you that will cause anyone whose mind you are controlling to get golden eyes, like my own. It would simply be a waste of energy to do so now, however.
"For now, I will put you into pairs based on your magical ability and affinity. You will each have a turn to cast the spell and try to resist it. To resist, use your magic to put up 'walls' around your mind. Remember, you have to want this to work more than anything for it to happen.
"If you notice that you're able to resist your partner's attempts to breech those walls, give in a little. I wish for everyone to be able to feel both sides of the coin. For now, you will try the harder version of this spell. Feel free to make your 'victim' do anything you wish, but please refrain from obscenity. My apprentice and I will be observing you." He took another sip of tea to fend off his impending coughing fit.
"Now, Maeg and Jess are partners, Joan and Maria, and Rebecca and Everett." Begin now. It makes no difference who does what first."
The teens got into their groups. Maeg and Jess stood facing each other. "So, do you want to try first, or should I?" Maeg was hesitant to speak, embarrassed that she'd reprimanded her best friend's hero.
Obviously, Jess didn't care much, because she said cheerfully "Doesn't matter to me. Whatever you'd like."
Finally, they established that Jess was going to perform the spell first and Maeg resist it. About to start, Jess was interrupted. "Can you make me do a handstand? I've never been able to, and I'd dearly like to!" Jess shook her head in amusement. Sometimes, her friend was just like a kender.
"Sure. Gymnastics it is then." With that, she glared at Maeg, who glared back, equally fierce. Maeg felt Jess magically lock onto her, and she tried to move her head, but found that, as promised, that she couldn't. Suddenly, she realized she should be concentrating. Just in time, she tried to bring up her mental walls to block Jess out.
Maeg then felt one of the oddest sensations of her life. She could actually feel Jess' magic beating against her own, but it was not feeling in the normal sense of the word. It was more closely related to an imagined feeling, such as one might have in a dream. However, Maeg knew that this was a reality.
She felt her walls weakening, and put extra strength into them, maintaining a mental image of strong animals and other things. Finally, since the object of this activity was as much to feel the control as to fight or produce it, she gave in. She doubted she could have held on any longer anyway. Suddenly, she felt her best friend in her mind. On instinct, she relinquished some of the control of her mind, because the body knows never work harder than necessary to accomplish the same goal.
Suddenly, Maeg felt control of the rest of her mind wrenched from her grasp. Shocked, she tried to take it back, but could only stand helpless, a prisoner in her own body. Suddenly, her body started to move. She watched through the windows of her eyes as her body performed feats of gymnastics to make Carly Patterson green with envy. Suddenly, she felt completely disoriented as Jess relinquished control to her. She fell flat on her backside, as she'd been in a position that only an Olympian could hold.
For a minute, it was all Maeg could do to stay sitting, rather than lying down. She felt dizzy, and entirely unsettled. Once the room stopped spinning, she tried to get up. Unfortunately, her mind had not yet taken back control of her muscles, and she was stuck on the floor. She sat, dumbfounded, for another few seconds, and then put all of her strength into getting up. Finally, she was able to heave herself to her feet, with the help of Jess.
"So, wha'd it feel like?" Jess had an amazed look on her face.
"Like watching a warped Olympics performed with my own body. After you let me go, like Jell-o. That is one experience I do not want to repeat. I can't believe Dalamar actually didn't mind being the guinea pig! Well, now it's your turn."
Jess grimaced. "Did I ever mention you're my bestest friend?"
Maeg grinned. "Oh, I wouldn't make you do anything embarrassing. At least not much." She locked eyes with Jess. This time, she sent out a bit of magic, and 'tied' it around her friend. Using the magic, she could see Jess' inner being, and it was around this that she tied her thread.
After having been securely tied, she let her mind sink into Jess' eyes. She saw the walls Jess made surround her inner core. However, running through the walls was the string of magic that Maeg had tied. Concentrating on this one spot of weakness, Maeg formed her magic into a battering ram and thrust it at the wall.
She guessed that Jess' magic was greatly depleted from their earlier activities, because it was not long before she breeched the walls of Jess' mind. Suddenly, Maeg felt herself taking over Jess' mind. She wasn't sure how she did it, but one minute she was looking at Jess' core, and the next was looking through her eyes. She then took control of Jess's muscles, and soon was hanging from the chandelier.
She made Jess' body do an intricate workout reminiscent of a high bar routine. Coming off of the ceiling, she did a triple flip before landing on her feet. After Jess had come down, Maeg untied her knot and withdrew from Jess' mind with a jolt. She felt as though she were falling back into her own skin. However, this time she regained control of her body in seconds, since she had never actually relinquished it.
Maeg could only stare as her friend tried to use her body, as she'd been struggling to only moments before. Then, realizing that Jess was regaining control, she put out a hand to the other girl. Gratefully, Jess took it and heaved herself up.
"Wow! I didn't realize it was going to be like that. Sorry!" Jess blushed. "Just as long as it isn't that hard to do the other way!"
Dalamar, who had been watching their progress unnoticed then spoke. "No, it isn't that hard the other way. Congratulations, by the way. You two are the first to finish. Most haven't even gotten past casting the spell on the first person, let alone have finished with their second. Because of this, both my Shalafi and myself have been watching you. You've both done exceedingly well."
Both girls blushed. "Thanks! What time is it?" Maeg wanted to end her continued disorientation.
Dalamar looked at the wristwatch on his arm. "Only an hour since we started, by your time."
Maeg and Jess looked at each other, shocked. It had felt like an eternity to both. Suddenly, Maeg's stomach rumbled loudly. She blushed scarlet. "I guess the magic made me hungry."
Dalamar nodded. "Most understandable. You are likely almost completely drained. Come." He led her and Jess into the kitchen where a plate of fruit, cheese, and crackers was waiting on the table.
"You knew we'd be this fast." Maeg's tone was accusatory.
"Of course. Why do you think my Shalafi put you two together? One of us had to talk to you privately, and this was the easiest way. It was only logical, because you two have the greatest affinity and power, that you'd finish first. Feel free to eat while I talk, but don't go too fast. Trust me on that one." Dalamar's voice was wry.
Without further hesitation, Maeg grabbed an apple, and Jess took a few crackers and some cheese. "Now, we wanted to discuss something of the utmost importance. We believe that there will be a time of mutual truce, because the Dark Queen will need to build her group of supporters and train them, as we are. After that, however, it will not be long until she decided to attack. We were wondering if you knew anywhere we could lead her that would be beneficial to us."
"Well, how long do you think training will take?" Jess took a break from eating ravenously to ask her question.
"Raistlin and I aren't sure, but we estimate it will take at least a month, perhaps two."
Maeg looked up, wiping juice from the apple off of her chin. "That means summer vacation. That's good. It gives us a lot more choices. I guess the Renaissance Faire is one possibility, but I think it would be better if we could get it further away. I'll think on it." Jess nodded her agreement, and the three went back to the room where everyone was practicing.
Watching their friends, they decided it was much better being on the outside rather than either casting it or receiving it. Being on the outside, however, was quite amusing. Everett was singing "I Feel Pretty" while dancing a much accentuated version of the chicken dance with Joan.
Finally, everyone was finished, and therefore famished. Raistlin dismissed the group, saying that they'd done reasonably well for a group of their (in)experience. Some of the teens seemed a bit miffed at how little praise Raistlin gave for their efforts, but those that had read Dragonlance knew that that was just his way, and attempted to tell the others so.
After snacking on fruit, crackers and cheese, everyone was dismissed, mostly because no one had energy left to learn more. They arranged to meet the next day at school, but they agreed it would be best to keep a low profile so that Takhisis was kept in the dark for a bit longer. No one could think of a reason her knowing who was in the group would be worse than her not, but it was agreed that secrecy always was best in such situations.
A/N: Well, thanks for bearing with me people. And now, a commercial (which hopefully will be more entertaining than the chapter) It's short, I promise.:
Narrator: Are you an elf? Have you been abused by fanfiction authors? Do you feel as if the whole world is against you? Well, don't lose hope. Help is on the way!
Dalamar: (Walking out) Its true, folks. Finally, we elves have banded together to overcome our problems in a new support group.
Narrator: So, if you're interested in finding out how these elves are coping, check out ESGAME on a computer near you. This story was written for the group by Petalwing and her beta-reader Dalamar Nightson under the name Nightwing Writers for the benefit of elves everywhere. This is a nonprofit organization.
A/N: Well, now that you've read my shameless plug, review and look up ESGAME! Now, to respond to my loverly reviewers. By the way – only three? Come on, people. I know you can show more support than that! I don't care if you criticize.
A.N. Winterz: Glad you liked it, even if I didn't. Hopefully you didn't mind this one either.
Bored-Kender: Thanks. Hope you're feelings remain after this chapter
Alien21xx: First, may I say, I love you! This is because so many people will just tell me nice job, keep going, even when they have a problem with it. I really appreciate when an author is frank with me, telling me that they disliked my transition, though they understand why it was needed or some such thing, so thank you for your comments. About the tree thing, thanks. That was my favorite part in the chapter, and was just so fun to write. Hope you didn't hate think this chapter was too horrible.