Dear Blackjack, I appreciate your interest in my story. Thanks. Oh, by the way, concerning your request: In your dreams, moron!
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Part 6 - The Privacy of a Mage
Nima awoke when the sun sent his first rays into her dusky chamber. Despite her exhaustion in the evening, she hadn't slept very well. In her uneasy slumber she had been chased by hourglass eyes. She was happy to be awake and alive. And she was hungry.
"I feel as if I haven't eaten for years."
Hey, reflection! Probably this guy HADN'T eaten for years. She had to do something about this. And while searching the mage's closet for fresh clothes, she made a decision. As long as she was stuck in this body she would get it in a proper shape. These deficits were nothing you couldn't cure with the right means. She would start with eating and sleeping on a regular basis, to make this Raistlin gain some weight. He also needed a lot more physical exercise. For a human, this body was weak. At home, she was an artist, a rope walker. She was not used to feeling so weak. But as he was still young enough, she could train his muscles and overall constitution a little bit while she was occupying his body. This was the least she could do for him. Yes, he would be very thankful when he came back. When she found Dalamar she had to ask him about the coughing-sickness. Maybe she could cure even that somehow. At least she didn't want to run around in a body which was so frail.
After Nima had found something to dress -to her great disappointment nearly everything was black or brown- she left the quarters in search for the kitchen.
She found it in the lower parts of the tower just by following the smell of freshly baked bread and tea. When she entered she found Dalamar preparing the breakfast. This man was just lovable. If all black mages had apprentices like that she should consider a change of career.
"Morning!" she shouted enthusiastically.
Dalamar all but jumped. But as he turned and faced her, his face was solemn as always.
"I didn't expect you in the kitchen, master. But everything will be ready in a few moments."
"Oh, fine. Take your time."
Nima settled at the kitchen table.
"Don't you want to have your meal in your study as always?" he asked surprised.
Nima didn't know what to answer.
"Um... the kitchen is quite a good place to eat, don't you think? I mean this is more practical, we don't have to carry the dishes and everything around."
"Whatever you say, master."
Dalamar put fruits, bread, tea and other things that looked delicious on the kitchen table while Nima was busy looking around. From all rooms she had seen so far in this residence she liked the kitchen most. The cooking place and the stove reminded her of home.
As soon as Dalamar had seated himself in front of her, she dove into the food.
"Vevy 'Ood" she mumbled. He replied nothing and helped himself. For a while none of them spoke. Dalamar seemed not quite the talkative type and Nima totally occupied herself with hot scones and butter. It was what Nima's mother called a greedy silence, when nobody would speak because everybody had his mouth full.
Later, when they had finished, Nima went upstairs into the study room of the mage. She wondered why Dalamar had refused her offer to help with the dishes. She had asked him, they lived alone in this house together. Did he do the whole housework on his own? It would have been just fair to help him a little, but he had looked so perplexed at her suggestion to wash the dishes herself and him having some leisure time that she had put the idea aside. She had the feeling of having made a mistake. After all, this mage seemed to have a tricky personality. He was difficult to act out. Maybe politeness was not one of his qualities.
Yeah, this was probably due to his supposed evilness. Maybe she should try to behave more evil. But otherwise, where was the use of being evil? Such behavior made people angry at you and Nima didn't want to make Dalamar angry. Or anybody else. At least not at the moment.
As soon as she had reached the study, she forgot her thoughts about evil people. It was a room with a lot of arcane things. She was alone and able to do every mischief she wanted to. Excited, Nima forgot anything else.
She had just begun to rummage through a particularly interesting shelf which contained a shrunken head, a lion's paw and other things Nima had never seen before, as Dalamar entered.
"Shalafi, what are you doing? May I help you?"
He didn't trust her a bit, didn't he? By innocently offering his help he made sure she was not repeating the accident of yesterday or something like that. Maybe he mistrusted her because of the way she was behaving.
Although this was very likely just an excuse for him to observe her movements, he was the only person she could ask for assistance in this mess. 'Careful now, Nima, don't talk to much' she reminded herself before she addressed him.
"Yeah, I'm trying to find out what happened yesterday that caused the excha- exceptional memory loss... I suffered. The problem is that I can't remember what kind of magic I performed that lead to these severe consequences." Nima said as gravely as she could and hoped that he hadn't noticed her slip of the tongue. If he had, he didn't show it.
"I see..." he mused, " the problem is that you didn't tell me what you planned. Just that you were to perform an experiment which should grant you more powers in order to gain access to-"
He stopped himself.
Interesting. Maybe she was not the only one trying to keep some secrets. Very interesting.
"In order to gain access to what?" Nima retorted.
"In order to gain access to more power than you already have." he said, his tone lacking any kind of emotion.
She was sure that was not what he had wanted to say in the first place. But anyway...
"I know there exist spells to erase memories from a victims mind, but surely you didn't do that to yourself." Dalamar went on, trying to get back to the original subject of the conversation. "I think there also exist spells to make subjects regain their memory. But you never taught me anything like this. And I think such a thing would belong into the domain of clerical healing magic. I doubt it lies in the scope of arcane sorcery."
Nima nodded. Fortunately he was not able to cast such a spell on her. She didn't really need a memory boost, but how was she to tell him that without being at the receiving end of a fireblade again?
"Well, In that case..." Nima tried to sound as scholarly as she could, "we should find other means. I think a very good way would be to recall what kind of experiment I carried out and why it went wrong. By further analysis of our results, we may be able to invent an adequate counterstrategy."
Didn't that sound clever and sophisticated? She had taken a leaf out of Hrongar's book. Nima preened at herself. She did a good job as a mage.
Dalamar just nodded.
"Whatever you say, master."
He had said this quite a few times and it was a little bit unnerving getting this universal answer every time he wanted a discussion to end. At least, he had agreed on helping her.
"Maybe I keep a diary or something in here..."
They looked for the diary and for notes. They found many notes on a huge desk that stood near the southern wall. The furniture was very big and dominated the room. There were hundreds of papers and scrolls stored on the tabletop and in the compartments, but it was either absolutly unimportant or contained the same unreadable scribble like the papers in Raistlin's sleeping room.
"Did I use a secret code or something like it?" Nima asked "her" apprentice.
"Yes, you did, Shalafi. Its a question of safety. You carefully keep your knowledge from unwanted audience."
"Oh. So that means we don't have access to my documents. Great. Absolutely great!"
"I fear this is the case, Shalafi."
"Oh."
It hadn't occurred to Nima that finding a way back would be that difficult.
"And what am I going to do now?" she said totally clueless. "Are you sure, I didn't tell you anything?"
He looked thoughtful now.
"No you- wait, maybe... yes. I remember, you mentioned you wanted to try Orsany's Crystal one of these days."
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To be continued...
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Part 6 - The Privacy of a Mage
Nima awoke when the sun sent his first rays into her dusky chamber. Despite her exhaustion in the evening, she hadn't slept very well. In her uneasy slumber she had been chased by hourglass eyes. She was happy to be awake and alive. And she was hungry.
"I feel as if I haven't eaten for years."
Hey, reflection! Probably this guy HADN'T eaten for years. She had to do something about this. And while searching the mage's closet for fresh clothes, she made a decision. As long as she was stuck in this body she would get it in a proper shape. These deficits were nothing you couldn't cure with the right means. She would start with eating and sleeping on a regular basis, to make this Raistlin gain some weight. He also needed a lot more physical exercise. For a human, this body was weak. At home, she was an artist, a rope walker. She was not used to feeling so weak. But as he was still young enough, she could train his muscles and overall constitution a little bit while she was occupying his body. This was the least she could do for him. Yes, he would be very thankful when he came back. When she found Dalamar she had to ask him about the coughing-sickness. Maybe she could cure even that somehow. At least she didn't want to run around in a body which was so frail.
After Nima had found something to dress -to her great disappointment nearly everything was black or brown- she left the quarters in search for the kitchen.
She found it in the lower parts of the tower just by following the smell of freshly baked bread and tea. When she entered she found Dalamar preparing the breakfast. This man was just lovable. If all black mages had apprentices like that she should consider a change of career.
"Morning!" she shouted enthusiastically.
Dalamar all but jumped. But as he turned and faced her, his face was solemn as always.
"I didn't expect you in the kitchen, master. But everything will be ready in a few moments."
"Oh, fine. Take your time."
Nima settled at the kitchen table.
"Don't you want to have your meal in your study as always?" he asked surprised.
Nima didn't know what to answer.
"Um... the kitchen is quite a good place to eat, don't you think? I mean this is more practical, we don't have to carry the dishes and everything around."
"Whatever you say, master."
Dalamar put fruits, bread, tea and other things that looked delicious on the kitchen table while Nima was busy looking around. From all rooms she had seen so far in this residence she liked the kitchen most. The cooking place and the stove reminded her of home.
As soon as Dalamar had seated himself in front of her, she dove into the food.
"Vevy 'Ood" she mumbled. He replied nothing and helped himself. For a while none of them spoke. Dalamar seemed not quite the talkative type and Nima totally occupied herself with hot scones and butter. It was what Nima's mother called a greedy silence, when nobody would speak because everybody had his mouth full.
Later, when they had finished, Nima went upstairs into the study room of the mage. She wondered why Dalamar had refused her offer to help with the dishes. She had asked him, they lived alone in this house together. Did he do the whole housework on his own? It would have been just fair to help him a little, but he had looked so perplexed at her suggestion to wash the dishes herself and him having some leisure time that she had put the idea aside. She had the feeling of having made a mistake. After all, this mage seemed to have a tricky personality. He was difficult to act out. Maybe politeness was not one of his qualities.
Yeah, this was probably due to his supposed evilness. Maybe she should try to behave more evil. But otherwise, where was the use of being evil? Such behavior made people angry at you and Nima didn't want to make Dalamar angry. Or anybody else. At least not at the moment.
As soon as she had reached the study, she forgot her thoughts about evil people. It was a room with a lot of arcane things. She was alone and able to do every mischief she wanted to. Excited, Nima forgot anything else.
She had just begun to rummage through a particularly interesting shelf which contained a shrunken head, a lion's paw and other things Nima had never seen before, as Dalamar entered.
"Shalafi, what are you doing? May I help you?"
He didn't trust her a bit, didn't he? By innocently offering his help he made sure she was not repeating the accident of yesterday or something like that. Maybe he mistrusted her because of the way she was behaving.
Although this was very likely just an excuse for him to observe her movements, he was the only person she could ask for assistance in this mess. 'Careful now, Nima, don't talk to much' she reminded herself before she addressed him.
"Yeah, I'm trying to find out what happened yesterday that caused the excha- exceptional memory loss... I suffered. The problem is that I can't remember what kind of magic I performed that lead to these severe consequences." Nima said as gravely as she could and hoped that he hadn't noticed her slip of the tongue. If he had, he didn't show it.
"I see..." he mused, " the problem is that you didn't tell me what you planned. Just that you were to perform an experiment which should grant you more powers in order to gain access to-"
He stopped himself.
Interesting. Maybe she was not the only one trying to keep some secrets. Very interesting.
"In order to gain access to what?" Nima retorted.
"In order to gain access to more power than you already have." he said, his tone lacking any kind of emotion.
She was sure that was not what he had wanted to say in the first place. But anyway...
"I know there exist spells to erase memories from a victims mind, but surely you didn't do that to yourself." Dalamar went on, trying to get back to the original subject of the conversation. "I think there also exist spells to make subjects regain their memory. But you never taught me anything like this. And I think such a thing would belong into the domain of clerical healing magic. I doubt it lies in the scope of arcane sorcery."
Nima nodded. Fortunately he was not able to cast such a spell on her. She didn't really need a memory boost, but how was she to tell him that without being at the receiving end of a fireblade again?
"Well, In that case..." Nima tried to sound as scholarly as she could, "we should find other means. I think a very good way would be to recall what kind of experiment I carried out and why it went wrong. By further analysis of our results, we may be able to invent an adequate counterstrategy."
Didn't that sound clever and sophisticated? She had taken a leaf out of Hrongar's book. Nima preened at herself. She did a good job as a mage.
Dalamar just nodded.
"Whatever you say, master."
He had said this quite a few times and it was a little bit unnerving getting this universal answer every time he wanted a discussion to end. At least, he had agreed on helping her.
"Maybe I keep a diary or something in here..."
They looked for the diary and for notes. They found many notes on a huge desk that stood near the southern wall. The furniture was very big and dominated the room. There were hundreds of papers and scrolls stored on the tabletop and in the compartments, but it was either absolutly unimportant or contained the same unreadable scribble like the papers in Raistlin's sleeping room.
"Did I use a secret code or something like it?" Nima asked "her" apprentice.
"Yes, you did, Shalafi. Its a question of safety. You carefully keep your knowledge from unwanted audience."
"Oh. So that means we don't have access to my documents. Great. Absolutely great!"
"I fear this is the case, Shalafi."
"Oh."
It hadn't occurred to Nima that finding a way back would be that difficult.
"And what am I going to do now?" she said totally clueless. "Are you sure, I didn't tell you anything?"
He looked thoughtful now.
"No you- wait, maybe... yes. I remember, you mentioned you wanted to try Orsany's Crystal one of these days."
--
To be continued...