Saturday Excerpt, "Quest"

Anvar thought for a moment in order to find the words, which most easily, explained the concept. At last he spoke, “In nature, there is tremendous energy; whether it is the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, all that surrounds us. Only a rare few, are born with the gift of harnessing that natural power and channeling it through their bodies. I am one of those elite few. I draw my power from nature and control the use of the energy with my thoughts. I can do most things that I can envision in my mind. After channeling the power, I release it through my hands. There is a price I pay for doing this however. Using my magic is quite draining on me physically. The more power I channel, the more tired I become. It is much like lifting heavy objects. The more it weighs, the more tired one becomes from lifting its weight. Different acts I perform require different amounts of magic. In turn, my level of fatigue differs with the amount of magic I channel and my physical condition. You see, it is much less tiring for me to send a man flying across the room with a concussion blast, then to outright kill him by burning a hole through his body.”

His nephews’ eyes widened. “You can just kill someone?” Bander asked in astonishment.

“If I can picture it in my mind and I can physically handle the drain, that the magic will extract from my body, then I can do what I want. My only other drawback is that I must have free use of my hands. If they are bound, then I cannot release my magic.”

“Have you always had this power?” Linvin asked.

“As I said,” Anvar answered, “I was born with the ability. But like any talent, it took years for me to master.  I had to find the best ways to use my power and determine how taxing different actions would be on my body.”

“When I was a young elf, my stamina was much greater than it is today. Back then, I could channel far more power with greater results.”

“Why did you keep this a secret for so long?” Linvin inquired.

“I hid my powers for the very reasons Rander just mentioned. Magicians are distrusted and thought to be of poor moral fiber. Years back, magicians were bound and burned. It was believed by those in ignorance that they were evil. Every catastrophe that happened from the trivial, to the bizarre, was blamed on the nearest magician. Soon, those blessed with the power were forced to hide it from the world, for fear of a gruesome death. Before long, generations grew without ever having seen magic or a magician.”

“Both of your mothers knew of my gift and swore to keep it a secret. Dirk Grithinshield knew of it as well and found my presence around Jelena comforting when he would travel. None of you were told because we simply did not know how you would react. Judging from the expressions on your faces, I would say we chose wisely.”

Rander kept shaking his head. “But isn’t magic evil?”

“No,” Anvar answered sternly. “It is a tool like any other. The one who uses the tool decides its course. It is up to the individual to decide if those powers will be used for constructive or destructive purposes.”

“So you possess the kind of power that Linvin is seeking?” Rander asked.

“Both are magic,” Anvar answered, “but the difference in the level of power is beyond compare. It is similar to comparing a lake to an ocean. The Red Sapphire will bring Linvin far greater power than I could ever hope to channel. Aside from the power the gem harnesses, it also is Red Magic.”

Seeing their reaction, Anvar decided to continue so that he might answer some of their questions before they formed.

“Magic is very color specific. For example, I am an orange magician. This means that when I use my power I emanate it in an orange color. Among magicians, there is a hierarchy based on color. Each color has an opposite, which is equal in power and cancels out its counterpart. Different pairs of colors have different strengths as well. The most powerful magic is either red or blue. A red magician and a blue magician would not be able to destroy each other because their powers are opposites and cancel each other out. However, they can still do harm to one another provided the opponent does not block the incoming magic. They simply can’t completely destroy each other with magic.

“As I said, there is a hierarchy. Red and blue are the most powerful and rare. No magic can stand against them when the magician is prepared. The next tier down of opposites consists of orange and yellow magic. Again, they cancel each other out and are not as powerful as red and blue. This level is more common, but still not widely found.”

“The final level is made up of violet and green. It is likely those magicians, you refer to Rander, being at fairs and the like. Their power is relatively weak. Such places of amusement however, are the only places where they may display their gifts without being persecuted. Violet and green magicians are the meekest of the six but are also the most prevalent. While magicians as a whole are rare, there are far more of the lower orders than the higher ones.”

Anvar still observed the blank stares and decided to wrap up his seminar on magic. “Like I was saying, it is quite draining for me to use my powers. The better physical condition one is in, the more power that person can channel and the less tiring it is on them. Even at my age, I can still be of help on this journey. I am not so feeble that I must be relegated to parlor tricks just yet. However, I am not able to carry the burden of protecting the party myself.”