crush Balinthor by just
listening, and that is why I became as I am now. I sought power beyond human
comprehension, the power of the earth entire, and I gained it,” she stopped
there.
“I’m confused,” I admitted.
She stared intently at me and I found
myself fascinated with the light glinting from the deep sapphires that served
as her ‘eyes’. Finally she opened her mouth to speak again, “An archmage does
not wield power, Mordecai. An archmage becomes that which they seek to
wield.”
Chapter 5
Moira Centyr, or rather the creature I
called Moira, watched me for a long moment, waiting for her words to sink in.
I blinked several times as my own experiences over the past year shifted within
my mind, reorganizing in light of what she had just told me. Several things
clicked into place as I looked back, and my memory of the voice of the wind and
the sensation I had had… of losing my ‘self’… stood out clearly in my mind.
Just a few days ago I had nearly taken
to the skies… just to track a man a few miles further than my regular senses
would follow. What if I hadn’t come back? What if Ariadne hadn’t gotten my
attention? Would I have become a zephyr? A part of the wind… lost forever
between the clouds, with no memory of my prior life? The implications were
startling.
“Could that happen with the wind?” I
asked her suddenly.
“An archmage can become anything,” she
replied, “It is both a blessing and a curse… a strength and a weakness.”
“I think it nearly happened to me the
other day,” I added.
“I am not surprised,” she said.
“Why?”
“You are particularly sensitive, in my
time you would have been guarded carefully by a meillte ,” she said. The
word meillte was familiar to me already, it being the Lycian word for
‘watcher’.
“What did these ‘meillte’ do?” I asked.
“Their job was to make sure an archmage
did not go too far. Most of them were mages of limited ability. If the one
they were watching became lost they could speak to them directly, mind to mind,
to try and draw them back to the world of men,” she explained.
“Did you have watchers? And if so… why
didn’t they bring you back?” Even before I said it I wondered if the question
might be too sensitive, but I had to ask anyway.
“I did, but some things cannot be
undone. I knew the price and I made my choice, which is why I tried to
preserve my knowledge for the future, before I lost myself.” She answered
plainly, and if the question bothered her she gave no sign of it.
“You say I am ‘sensitive’, what does
that have to do with it?”
“Everything… sensitivity is the way we
used to look for possible talents in this regard. In general, once a young
mage first showed his power he would be watched carefully. After a year we
would test his sensitivity, primarily by checking the range of his mage-sight,”
Moira said.
“Does that range or sensitivity give an
indication of a mage’s power?”
“Not really. Many powerful wizards were
too lacking in sensitivity to become archmages… most of them in fact.
Conversely, some archmages were fairly mediocre in terms of pure wizardry. I
myself was only considered a ‘moderate’ when my personal power was tested, but
my sensitivity was very high. I was closely watched from the time my power
first manifested until the time I chose to surrender my life in the attempt to
stop Balinthor.” She said this with a certain amount of pride.
Needless to say the conversation had
taken a fascinating turn for me. I had read about things such as ‘emittance’
and ‘capacitance’ being used to characterize the differences between wizards
and channelers, stoics and prophets… but what Moira was discussing was more
particular to my own situation. “How did you measure sensitivity?” I asked her
directly.
“The most common test was to see how far
away a mage could sense a particular object or person. Anything over five
hundred yards was considered
listening, and that is why I became as I am now. I sought power beyond human
comprehension, the power of the earth entire, and I gained it,” she stopped
there.
“I’m confused,” I admitted.
She stared intently at me and I found
myself fascinated with the light glinting from the deep sapphires that served
as her ‘eyes’. Finally she opened her mouth to speak again, “An archmage does
not wield power, Mordecai. An archmage becomes that which they seek to
wield.”
Chapter 5
Moira Centyr, or rather the creature I
called Moira, watched me for a long moment, waiting for her words to sink in.
I blinked several times as my own experiences over the past year shifted within
my mind, reorganizing in light of what she had just told me. Several things
clicked into place as I looked back, and my memory of the voice of the wind and
the sensation I had had… of losing my ‘self’… stood out clearly in my mind.
Just a few days ago I had nearly taken
to the skies… just to track a man a few miles further than my regular senses
would follow. What if I hadn’t come back? What if Ariadne hadn’t gotten my
attention? Would I have become a zephyr? A part of the wind… lost forever
between the clouds, with no memory of my prior life? The implications were
startling.
“Could that happen with the wind?” I
asked her suddenly.
“An archmage can become anything,” she
replied, “It is both a blessing and a curse… a strength and a weakness.”
“I think it nearly happened to me the
other day,” I added.
“I am not surprised,” she said.
“Why?”
“You are particularly sensitive, in my
time you would have been guarded carefully by a meillte ,” she said. The
word meillte was familiar to me already, it being the Lycian word for
‘watcher’.
“What did these ‘meillte’ do?” I asked.
“Their job was to make sure an archmage
did not go too far. Most of them were mages of limited ability. If the one
they were watching became lost they could speak to them directly, mind to mind,
to try and draw them back to the world of men,” she explained.
“Did you have watchers? And if so… why
didn’t they bring you back?” Even before I said it I wondered if the question
might be too sensitive, but I had to ask anyway.
“I did, but some things cannot be
undone. I knew the price and I made my choice, which is why I tried to
preserve my knowledge for the future, before I lost myself.” She answered
plainly, and if the question bothered her she gave no sign of it.
“You say I am ‘sensitive’, what does
that have to do with it?”
“Everything… sensitivity is the way we
used to look for possible talents in this regard. In general, once a young
mage first showed his power he would be watched carefully. After a year we
would test his sensitivity, primarily by checking the range of his mage-sight,”
Moira said.
“Does that range or sensitivity give an
indication of a mage’s power?”
“Not really. Many powerful wizards were
too lacking in sensitivity to become archmages… most of them in fact.
Conversely, some archmages were fairly mediocre in terms of pure wizardry. I
myself was only considered a ‘moderate’ when my personal power was tested, but
my sensitivity was very high. I was closely watched from the time my power
first manifested until the time I chose to surrender my life in the attempt to
stop Balinthor.” She said this with a certain amount of pride.
Needless to say the conversation had
taken a fascinating turn for me. I had read about things such as ‘emittance’
and ‘capacitance’ being used to characterize the differences between wizards
and channelers, stoics and prophets… but what Moira was discussing was more
particular to my own situation. “How did you measure sensitivity?” I asked her
directly.
“The most common test was to see how far
away a mage could sense a particular object or person. Anything over five
hundred yards was considered
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