Children of the Sun and Moon by P. D. Stewart Page A

he was going to test her.
He needed to see how strong she really was. Of course, there was
the minor problem of General Traug arriving last night with a
regiment of soldiers. The king had welcomed him and his men and a
tent had been set up for them inside the castle grounds so they did
not have to travel outside the walls and to the small outpost
nearby. Jeremy had only seen the general and his men, so he felt
safe, for he thought no Magima were present. Gillock knew
otherwise, but was unsure if more had arrived with him or if the
only ones present were the two he sensed the other day. He knew
testing Koral would be very dangerous, but he had run out of time.
Whether Koral knew it or not, she would be going on a trip, and
very soon.

    Gathering up
some things, he left his room and headed for Koral’s. Arriving at
her door, he was preparing to knock when he felt something behind
him. Turning, he saw Korben leaning against the wall.
    “She will begin
her magical training then?” he asked.
    “Yes,” answered
Gillock.
    “This changes
things.”
    Gillock smiled.
“Yes, it will. You know what needs to be done?”
    Korben smiled
back. “Yes, it will be done.”
    Gillock,
confident Korben would make the necessary arrangements, turned, and
knocked on Koral’s door.

    The day was
again beautiful but the sky told of rain to come and with it being
spring this was definitely not unheard of. Koral loved this time of
year. The flowers were starting to bloom, and she could not wait
for the garden to be full and fragrant.
    “There are many
things we can do to develop your magical abilities,” remarked
Gillock to Koral, drawing her out of her reverie. “Today, we are
going to stay in the garden and see what you can do.” Gillock
walked to the centre of the garden, where the fountain was. “This
will be the perfect spot to do our first experiment.”
    Koral looked
confused. “What am I supposed to do here?” she questioned.
    “Here we are
going to develop your ability to manipulate water,” he
responded.
    “You had said
my strongest ability would have to do with water, but is it really
so simple?” she asked.
    “It is
manipulation of the space surrounding the water. It is quite easy
really. You need to concentrate on creating a ball out of the
water. See it forming in your mind, and then project that image
onto the water.”
    Koral nodded,
sighed, and prepared her mind. First, she concentrated on the
water, blocking out everything around her. Then she created a
picture of what some of the water would look like in the form of a
ball. Once she had the image in her head, she sent her thoughts
toward the water. At first, nothing happened, but then some of the
water started to rise out of the fountain. Slowly at first, then
more and more started to rise. Once it was out of the fountain it
started to form into the shape of a ball. “Move it towards the
flower bed,” came Gillock’s mental command. Slowly she moved it
over to the flowerbed. “Let the water slowly drip down onto the
flowers,” he commanded. Koral began to let the water drip from the
ball, but this amount of concentration was beginning to take its
toll on the princess. She could no longer maintain the shape and
the water came splashing down. Exhausted, Koral sat down on the
bench.

    “That was very
tiring,” she remarked, breathless.
    “That was
incredible,” Gillock declared.
    “Why?”
    “That's not an
easy thing to do for someone who has never used their powers in
this way before. Forming the ball is fairly difficult, but moving
it over to the flower bed and releasing it slowly is extremely
difficult indeed.”
    Koral looked at
Gillock and laughed. “You told me it was an easy trick,” she
exclaimed.
    Gillock smiled
back. “If I had told you it was difficult you wouldn’t have
succeeded.”
    Koral, still
laughing, agreed.
    “So shall we
try it again?” he asked.
    Koral took a
deep breath, stood up, and nodded her agreement.

    The scrying
pool