Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
Gerard sipped his wine. He yawned as he sank into the cushions.
Elias sat opposite him, plucking at the strings of his lyre. The late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the window of his bedroom, falling on Elias, bathing him in a gentle golden light.
“One theory is that the magic used by nature mages, earth elementals, and wind and lightning sorcerers all have the same source.” Elias’s fingers moved fluidly as he spoke.
Gerard watched, hypnotised by Elias’s playing. “Really?”
Elias nodded. “It is believed that individuals are born with a certain level of ability in elemental power. But the way that elemental magic develops and is expressed is influenced by how one is trained.”
A few days ago, Elias had moved his belongings into Gerard’s room. He’d also requested a room for Colette, which of course Gerard had arranged.
Colette had been excited to be in one of the rooms assigned to the Draconian royal family. But her excitement had dimmed somewhat when she realised Lord Wolf was not a part of the royal family and thus would not be in the same quarters as her.
Gerard gazed at Elias as he drank his wine. He liked having Elias in his room. Not only could he be certain that Elias was properly protected, but he found the man surprisingly easy to live with.
And living together meant he could spend his evenings admiring his husband and the skills he’d not known he’d had, like playing the lyre, singing, and reciting extensive knowledge on magic theory. That last one had been particularly surprising. And something Gerard had never given much thought to.
“So for example, earth elementals spend a great deal of time in temples, training and feeling at one with the rock and so forth. That’s how they develop their powers.” Elias didn’t glance at the strings as he played a light melody.
“Nature mages are similar. They spend a lot of time communing with nature in forests, developing their abilities that way.
For the nature mages and earth elementals, it is all about feel and connection.
Which is why when you damage their temples, mountains, forests, and nature, their powers dwindle.
“But wind and lightning sorcerers train by studying and practicing. Lots and lots of reading books and lots and lots of drills.”
Not for the first time, Gerard marvelled at how incorrectly he’d read Elias initially. In fact, it seemed everyone misread Elias. They all thought Elias a naive fool. But Gerard knew better now.
He had made a couple of attempts to correct his family.
He had even mentioned that Elias had an extensive collection of books on magical theory and history.
But they’d disregarded his comments, assuming Elias only had those books for aesthetic purposes or some other silly reason.
They didn’t trust Gerard’s opinion, since they thought him besotted.
“So what you’re saying is that a lightning sorcerer could have been a wind sorcerer or nature mage, but because they studied lightning sorcery, that is what they do now?” Gerard asked.
Elias nodded. “That’s the belief. Although, it’s also thought that exposure to that form of magic from a young age also has an impact.
“However, although it is thought that initially a person with elemental magical ability has the potential to learn the different forms of magic, once that individual has started on a specific path, they become unable to change or use other forms of magic.”
“What do you mean?” Gerard asked. Honestly, he sometimes felt so out of his depth when talking to Elias.
“Have you ever met anyone who can do wind and lightning sorcery? Or an earth elemental who was also a nature mage?”
Gerard shook his head.
“Quite a few have attempted it, you know. Especially when they have parents with different forms of magic. Actually, there was a time when quite a few individuals in Voltaria and Zephyrias attempted to learn both wind and lightning sorcery.”
“What happened?”
Elias’s fingers moved faster on the strings.
The melody quickened. “For most individuals, they just couldn’t learn more than one.
The one they started with was all they had.
But for those who did manage both, they just ended up extremely weak at both forms of magic.
As a result, learning more than one type of magic is generally no longer attempted. ”
Elias tilted his head. “It’s like the body can only handle one form of output of their power.
Like it gets confused if you try more than one.
So an individual must choose a single path.
Once they do, the other forms of magic are lost to them.
And the idea that it’s all the same source is supported by the fact that we all develop our ability to cast magic around puberty. ”
“Huh.” Gerard took another sip of the wine. “That’s when we first shift too.”
Elias smiled. “And have you ever met a dragon shifter who could use any form of elemental magic? I mean, there have been cases of dragon shifters having children with nature mages, lightning sorcerers, and so forth.”
Gerard considered that. “I’ve never heard of a dragon shifter with any elemental magic ability.”
“Well, then you might be interested to know that there have been reports that children with mixed heritage sometimes show potential to do elemental magic,” Elias said.
“But then after they first shift into their dragon form, it just all shuts down. Any ability they showed for elemental magic just disappears and is no more.”
“So it could be the same magic source?” Gerard had never heard of such a thing.
“Most scholars think not. But many think there is some sort of connection between them, which means you can’t be a dragon shifter and an elemental caster.” Elias gave him a look. “By the way, you may be careful who you discuss these theories with.”
“Why?”
Elias smiled. “Earth elementals and nature mages despise these ideas. They think it’s complete nonsense, and they will probably end up yelling at you if you mention them.”
“Oh. And lightning and wind sorcerers are different?”
“Well, they are the ones coming up with and debating these ideas. They love magic theory and trying to understand the powers we wield.” Elias laughed.
“Earth elementals and nature mages think we are ruining the mystery of their magic by trying to dissect it and explain it. To them their magic can never be explained. It is magic, and it is mysterious, and that is all there is to it.”
Elias grinned. “As far as they are concerned, we Voltarians and Zephyrians are just annoying shits who don’t understand the beauty and majesty of magic. We lack the respect for its power.”
“What about necromancers? What do their scholars think about their magic? Is it connected too?”
Elias scrunched up his nose. “No one knows anything about necromancy! Or no one who isn’t a necromancer, anyway. I’ve read all the books I can get my hands on. But there just isn’t much available to us non-necromancers on how they train, learn, or how their magic works! It’s very frustrating.”
Elias pouted. He looked quite adorable pouting.
“My father would be interested in your theories,” Gerard said.
“He wants dragon descendants. If he heard you talking, he would ensure that all those who carried his bloodline only received training regarding shifting into dragon forms. He’d send any tutors for any elemental form of magic far, far away. ”
Elias smiled. For several moments, Gerard just watched him playing.
“You are a lot more intelligent than you let on.” Gerard hesitated. “Do you … encourage people to underestimate you?”
He’d been thinking on it for days. He’d realised that was why so many thought Elias a fool, because Elias seemed to want them to think that. But why would he want that?
Elias’s fingers stilled. For several moments he didn’t speak. He licked his lips, staring at the now silent lyre. “In my experience, sometimes it’s better for people to underestimate you.”
“What do you mean?” Gerard studied Elias’s face but could get no clues from his blank expression.
Elias’s fingers stroked the wooden frame of the lyre. “Sometimes keeping people distant, not opening up, hiding parts of yourself, it’s a way to protect yourself from others,” he said, voice only just above a whisper. He didn’t meet Gerard’s gaze.
“From what?”
Elias licked his lips. “From hurting you.”
Gerard waited for him to continue, to elaborate. But after several moments, Elias started to play again.
Gerard wanted to push. He wanted to ask more questions. He wanted to demand to know who had hurt Elias. He wanted to know why Elias felt like he needed to keep others away to protect himself.
Elias hummed. Then sang. But his sweet voice trembled ever so slightly.
Gerard couldn’t speak. He wasn’t used to seeing Elias anything other than completely composed. So he just let his questions go, hoping Elias knew he did not need to protect himself from Gerard.