Series: Traveling Home — 2: Apprentice «

Master and Apprentice

Morning Sleep and I are old friends. On other nights, I fall asleep easily, and little disturbs my sleep. Tonight, sleep comes and goes. I wake often, waiting for morning, and the start of my training.

I feel dull and clumsy when morning finally comes, and I begin the greeting of the sun. Soon, [...]

Play and Practice

Practice I love high cliffs that rise at the edge of the sea. The sea far below fills my eyes as the wind blows around me.

Today’s lesson and practice centers on binding things together. Not with rope or glue or nails, but with energy. Weavers bind objects together, through subtle changes to the [...]

Patterns of Life and Death I

Forgotten

I open my eyes two hours before first light, surrounded by the sweet quiet, as the whole world sleeps. Today I’ll dance the greeting early, before Shazira even wakes, and leave before it’s light.

Shazira seems so sad the last few days, and so distant. She tries to hide her feelings from me, [...]

Patterns of Life and Death II

Blood and Light A high-pitched child’s scream fills the marketplace, and people start yelling for a healer.

The market woman looks around in fear. Her young daughter gone.

She runs toward the source of the scream, and I follow. A crowd circles a booth that sells sharp metal tools, and long knives.

The girl [...]

Blue Lightning, Black Stones

Doubt The rain surrounds me as I fly, but doesn’t touch me. I reach Balshown before first light, and we dance the greeting together.

“The guild will waste my morning,” he says, as he prepares breakfast. “Come back for a few hours in the late afternoon.”

“What do they want with you?”

He turns [...]

The Necklace and the Wizard

Hiding from the Energy Web Keela and I land on a high hill, its sides covered in blue and yellow wildflowers. A few small houses cover the top of the hill, surrounded by a high wall.

The houses and the wall are decorated with the royal symbol, in dark blue and gold.

“This is [...]

Fears and Legends

Fear and Exile The air is filled with sound today, a strange hum. I mention it to Shazira when she wakes, but she hears nothing. The sound waits in the background during the greeting. Then it follows me around the Watchtower as I get ready for the day. It’s a pleasant companion, not dark or [...]

Traveling Alone

Visitors I watch the drifting clouds through the window of the cafe, barely aware of Shazira near me. The food is long finished, but still, we sit. There is little talk, with our heads full of the coming test.

Tzina comes running in to find us, more excited than I’ve ever seen her.

“He’s [...]

Dark Pathways

Fear of Travelers The day of the tests is here. Shazira and I dance the greeting early, finishing by first light.

“I need to feel the sky,” I tell her. “Then, we’ll spend the morning together.”

I rise high in the sky, close my physical eyes, and open all of myself to the world [...]

A Quiet Storm

Silence Tzina and I approach the Blue Room, the room of art, music, and story. She stops and turns to me. “Ina, your tests are in a few hours.” “Shouldn’t you be practicing?”

“I’m done with practice, Tzina.” “Tell me about your friend Berek.”

“Ina,” she says, “I shouldn’t have mentioned him to you.” [...]