WinterMaejic by Terie Garrison Page A

find that you have been blocking already.”
    My annoyance quickly turned into interest. “Blocking vibrations? You can do that?”
    “Yes, I can do that. Been able to for more years than your father has been alive.” He grinned and raised his eyebrows. I couldn’t help smiling back. I wasn’t used to this side of Yallick’s personality, joking and laughing and all. It took some getting used to. “You can, too, Donavah,” he said more gently now. “You have been.”
    “But how?”
    “How you have been blocking without realizing it, I have no idea. I will teach you the theory so that you can understand the practice. Then you will have the power to control the skill.” His voice fell into its usual teaching tone. “As in all things, control is the key. Control is power. As it turns out, you can block. You must now learn how it is that you can block, and how to unblock. This ability to control a skill allows you to use that skill more effectively.”
    He paused, as he often did during lessons, to let me absorb that. Or perhaps he knew that all the activity in the woods around us, as well as that of all the mages following, would be distracting. “We will work more on this later. Once you master it, you will be ready to learn how to control the vibrations you generate.”
    And with that tantalizing announcement, he ended the day’s lesson.

    So it went on for the next several days as we headed northeast. Sometimes, I heard snippets of grumbling conversation, which were always cut off when the speaker noticed me nearby. I wondered whether Yallick had told anyone other than me that we weren’t yet heading directly to meet with Xyla.
    At some point during each day, Yallick had a short lesson with me. It took only two days for me to learn how to block and unblock vibrations at will. Once I knew what I was doing, it was so easy that I created my own challenge. Perhaps I could learn how to pick out a single vibration.
    I decided it would be easiest to experiment with Traz. At first, I didn’t tell him what I was doing. I’d unblock for a few moments when he was near and again when he was off somewhere else, trying to discern the vibration that was uniquely his. When I thought I had the knack of it, I told him what I was trying to do and enlisted his aid.
    After supper that evening, he hid somewhere in the nearby woods. I unblocked and searched for the trace of his signature. There, faint. I headed into the trees. It grew a little stronger. Off to the left. A little way farther. On the other side of that tree, right there.
    “Ha! It worked!” I exclaimed.
    “I bet you just followed me,” he said as we headed back to camp.
    “Did not.”
    “Hrumph,” he snorted, but I could tell from his vibration that he was only teasing. I also felt a small twinge of jealousy from him. If only there were something I could do to help.
    Then, just as we reached the perimeter of the camp, a searing green flash filled the sky. Blinded by the light, I reached out for Traz, but my searching hand didn’t find him. A deathly silence fell on the camp. Where others, less disciplined, might have burst into screams, the mages all stilled themselves. I unblocked to try to get a sense of what was happening, but while all might be still, the air was filled with pandemonium. I couldn’t risk losing control of myself now, so I quickly blocked.
    By this time, I could see again. The campfires blazed away in the night, but all around, the shadowy shapes of the mages rose to their feet. I tried to see where Yallick was, but couldn’t.
    Then green lightning arced across the sky and into the midst of the camp. Someone screamed, and I smelled burning flesh. Another flash of lightning and another scream. Sounds of panic and figures racing everywhere. Where was Yallick? What should I do? I looked at Traz, but he wasn’t next to me. I spun full circle to see where he’d gone, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.
    “We are discovered!” Yallick’s