Shifting his gaze, he let his eyes travel up and down Gandalf’s walking stick. “Well, hello old friend.” He traced his finger down the side. “This silly piece of wood will help you, if you keep it with you. It’s a fine piece of magic, for something created by an Earthling.” The last was said with a heavy amount of derision. “The more you keep it around you, the stronger your bond will be. It’s why you found your speed so early in your magic.”
“My … speed?”
“Yes, youngling. You don’t think you actually teleported, do you? With a proficiency in time, an unusual skill, you have a huge array of possibilities. Add in there a bit of the energy proficiency, and you get speed. From what I’ve learned from some of the other Elders, when the krottel opened up your magic, they pushed their sensing ability into you, which is why it’s so wild. Naturally having time and energy is so incredibly rare, dear, that I’m looking forward to seeing the trouble you’ll get into.”
A sense of dread hit her. “Trouble?”
“Oh, yes. A new wizard who’s already an Elder? You’re going to keep me young.” With a wink and a nod, he moved away.
Chapter 13 - Time To Get Back To Work
Viera
Viera sat at the table with Scout, Tiffany, and Tiffany’s parents. She finally had a mug of coffee, and hugged it to herself, trying to recover from the shock of the last few minutes. She needed to write down all the skills she’d picked up and set up her own training schedule. She’d been practicing with Betsy and Flower Prancer, but she was a big girl, not a kid in school. When she dug deep within herself, she realized that this was not only something she needed to master; it was something she wanted to do.
“But I’m scared.” Tiffany’s voice was low.
Shaking herself from her ruminations, Viera turned to the kids. Scout’s head tilted. “Why are you scared?”
Tiffany’s mom tutted. “If Tiffany doesn’t want to go, then don’t try to force her. Let my daughter make her own decisions. You aren’t her boss or a tour guide.”
Every time Viera was around these two, she had to work at not rolling her eyes or snapping at them. Despite having lived on Earth for years, they didn’t seem to know how to interact with other beings. She took a slow, steadying breath. “He’s not trying to force Tiffany to do anything she doesn’t want to do, he just wanted to learn what made her say ‘no.’” A quick glance at the kids showed they were both relaxed. “On the ride here they were both excited to watch Horax train.”
Tiffany’s dad’s face hardened. “You mean on one of those days you kept our daughter away from us?”
Betsy walked up to the table, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and adding it to theirs. “I don’t know that keeping a kid in a single room is fair, but,” she put her hands up as she sat, “I know that Tiffany’s upbringing isn’t my concern. That said, where she goes and what she does is also not up to Viera. She and Scout played games and learned Galactic Standard; something Tiffany needs to learn. I don't know exactly what you’re angry about.”
Though Betsy sounded cordial, there was steel behind her words that Viera could feel. Apparently, she, too, was tired of Tiffany’s parents' antics.
“Don’t judge us, wizard.”
Betsy gazed blankly at them for a moment, then turned to Viera. “I hear you made a splash this morning, friend.”
Viera sighed, taking a sip of her coffee. “I’m going to finish my breakfast then go practice.”
Scout groaned. “Not you, too! Who’s going to watch Horax with me?”
Betsy reached across the table and patted his hands. “I’ll head down to the training fields with you. It’s been awhile, and I hear Horax is doing great this year.”
Scout’s face transformed, a smile taking over the pout he’d been sporting. “Yes!”
Tiffany sat stiff in her seat, shoulders hunched, eyes wide. She slowly turned her head towards her parents. “Mom, Dad, would it be okay if I went with Scout and Ms. Doeth to watch Horax?” For a moment Viera thought she’d say more, but then she bit her lip and trembled slightly, as if scared of what her parents might say or do.
Upper lip twitching, Kelpweaver, Tiffany’s mom, glared first at Viera and then at Betsy. “If that’s what you really want, dear, but make sure you feel safe. Return to the rooms as soon as it becomes too much.”
Viera’s body tensed. As soon, not if. Her mom passed judgment without letting Tiffany enjoy the experience.
Betsy placed a hand on Viera’s arm but gazed back at Tiffany’s mom. “Be assured, Kelpweaver, if Tiffany wants to return to your rooms, I’ll personally escort her. She’ll never be alone.”
***
After the meal, Viera headed back to the rooms she shared with Thorn and Scout. As fun as it was to watch the training fields, she knew she had to practice her own magic. If she were younger, the slow mastery of her art would be fine, but she had adult responsibilities. She’d just become one of the Pillars of Earth, and there were only six. With so few, she needed to know how to harness the power coursing through her body before the different proficiencies played havoc on their own.
In the suite, she went to her bags and found the blue ball from her lessons on the ship. Her first goal of the morning was to be able to stop and reverse time. She felt like she was some sort of kraken with tentacles of magic waving out of her. If she didn’t start to control them, she feared the consequences. Weird pockets of time doing their own things around her, while sensing overwhelmed her.
Mostly, she knew that couldn’t happen, but on some level it was a fear. She’d seen movies with bubbles of time popping all around the main character and she really didn’t want that happening to her.
Not wanting to run into other people, she decided to practice in the guest room the suite provided. She walked towards the empty room. When she opened the door, Fezzik darted in, flying above her. With a sigh, she shook her head and decided not to fight the young ven. She didn’t want a hoard of flying creatures, so shut the door before any more of the rascals could fly or dash in.
Viera sat on the bed and the ven perched on her shoulder. Well, at least he isn’t on my head this time.
Her plan was to throw the ball against the wall and as it flew back, stop it and reverse time until it touched the wall again. Hopefully she could isolate her power to just the ball and not everything in the room.
With a calming breath, Viera focused deep within herself to find her central well of magic. Once she felt she’d found it, she tossed the ball at the wall opposite her. After it bounced, she bent the time around the ball to make the ball stop. To her surprise, it did. The rock on her shoulder told her the ven sat frozen as well.
“Fuck.” Both her hands faced the ball. She flicked her hands outward and released her spell. The ball flew towards her, and she caught it.
On her shoulder, the ven wiggled. “I know, my friend, not quite what we wanted. We’ll have to try something else.” She reached up to scratch the soft moth-like creature, who immediately began to make purring sounds of contentment.
Viera shut her eyes, imagining what she wanted: the time around the ball to stop so that she could reverse it, meanwhile the time around the rest of the room to remain in motion. After one more meditative breath she raised her arm. Fezzik, his annoyance at all her motions seeping into her mind like a buzz of white noise, leapt to the air and hovered above her. She shot a glance at him before lifting her arm to toss the ball.
Fezzik dipped and flew in a circle as the ball flew, hit the wall, and bounced. His butt wagged in anticipation. Hands out towards the ball, Viera released some of her magic, and … everything froze. She gazed at the ball and the ven both frozen in the air and sighed. With a frustrated wave of her hands, she released the magic and caught the ball, thinking back on everything that had happened, wondering if there was anything she could’ve done differently, better.
Fezzik happily flew and chased his tail. Viera snorted, relaxing as she watched him. I wonder what he’d do if we got him a string skirt? He’d be chasing the tassels attached to him for weeks. We’d have to make a video. I wonder if the alien world has an equivalent of a silly home video show?
Viera shook her head and tossed the ball. As it hit the wall, she focused with both hands out, palms towards the ball. She pushed a bit of magic out as she beat both hands forward as if giving someone a high ten. As before, the ball stopped. Freezing time was becoming easier for her.
A sound above her made her body quiver with hope. Slowly staring up, she realized Fezzik still spun above her. “Fezzik! I did it. The ball is frozen and you’re not.”
