Chapter 40 Declan
Isat on the inside edge of the inner ring of stones juggling three balls of air, a proud grin plastered across my face. Without warning, órla zipped into the middle of the flying balls and pooped all over my boot. The balls dissipated as I stared down at the white goo splattered across the leather.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Kelsa told me to distract you while you practice to see if you could maintain your concentration.” She landed on the center pillar and placed both wings on her sides, mimicking a human with hands on her hips. “Looks like you need more practice. I’ll work on making more poop.”
“Maybe we can come up with a cleaner way for you to distract me?”
órla cocked her head. “I don’t know. Target practice is fun.”
I didn’t want to encourage her but couldn’t stop myself from laughing. She was just so . . . perky.
I stood and turned to find something to clean my boot—and nearly ran into Kelsa. She was smothering laughter with a hand. “Something on your boot?”
“Very funny. Is there a towel or something I could use to clean this off?”
“Nope. Guess you’ll have to think of another way.” She raised a brow.
órla flew over and landed on the table. “Declan, I’m starting to think you really are as dumb as you look. You have magic, silly. Use it.”
“Now órla, no need to be cruel. He’s still only beginning his magical journey.”
“I guess,” órla said, ducking her head in deference before turning back to me. “Sorry, Dec.”
I ruffled the feathers on her head. “Keelan’s the only person who ever called me Dec. Well, Ayden does sometimes, too.”
My eyes drifted as I pictured Ayden standing in the center of the stones.
He would resent being surrounded by magic he couldn’t use but would also find the whole thing fascinating.
It had been months since we’d seen each other.
No amount of Well-induced wild dreams could replace the feel of his fingers diving into my hair.
“Enough, you two. Time to clean that boot, Declan.” My mother’s voice chased the image of Ayden away.
I called a burst of wind and directed it to blow across my boot. The runny liquid dried and hardened almost instantly.
Kelsa and órla giggled.
“Guess that’s not right,” I said.
I then drew water from the bowl in the stone circle and directed a careful stream back and forth across the boot. Once the poop was gone, I switched to air and dried the leather. When I looked up, Kelsa clapped, and órla mimicked clapping with her wings. I offered an exaggerated bow.
“All right. Elemental is the easy one. Time to dive into deeper water—excuse the pun.”
“That was easy? Spirits, I may not make it through the rest.” I blew out a huff.
Kelsa ignored me and returned toward the center of the stones.
“Physical, Mental, and Natural are all areas we haven’t covered. Like Elemental, there’s no way for me to know what abilities you may possess in each area. It’s likely you’ll discover other abilities over time—or, more likely,
learn how to apply an ability in new and different ways—but you’ll need to understand the basics in each area if you’re to recognize new abilities as they arise.”
I joined her in the center ring and leaned against a pillar. “Makes sense, I guess.”
“There are four key abilities that fall into the Natural pillar. Animal Communication allows you to speak with nonhumans. Depending on the strength of your ability, this could be one way or work both ways.”
“Well, I already have that box checked. Right, órla?” I nodded toward the little owl. She continued preening and ignored our lesson.
Kelsa shook her head. “Remember, what you have with órla is a unique bond. She isn’t precisely an owl, even though that’s how she’s chosen to appear in this lifetime. The two of you can communicate Telepathically, you can ‘borrow’ her vision,
and I would bet you’ll find other abilities you share over time, but that doesn’t mean you’d be able to talk to the squirrel that’s sitting on the ledge over there.”
I followed where she pointed.
A black squirrel, its bushy tail curling over its head, sat chewing remnants of nuts we’d dropped around the table.
“Hey, squirrel! Can you hear me?” I shouted.
The furball didn’t so much as twitch.
“I was going to say, I doubt you’ll end up with this ability. It’s pretty rare and tends to surface in extremely introverted, socially awkward children. You don’t fit any of that description.”
“I don’t know, Kelsa. He is pretty awkward. You oughta see him romping through the woods. Total klutz!” órla squawked from across the ledge. “And when he talks to Ayden—”
“órla!”
“What?” she shrugged her wings. “I was just saying—”
“Declan,” my mother said through a pronounced smirk, “try again. This time, use your magic, not your voice.”
I tried using Telepathy with the squirrel, speaking to it as if to órla. “Hey! Look over here. Got some really good wine.”
“You know I can hear you badgering that poor thing, right?” órla’s voice echoed in my head.
The squirrel continued eating without glancing up.
I turned back to Kelsa. “All right, guess that one’s a bust. You said there were four Natural abilities. What else?”
“Animal Husbandry is the ability to raise and care for livestock or other animals, extending life longer than normal, and granting greater health to the beasts. The third is Horticulture. Think Animal Husbandry, but with plants. I doubt you have either of those two,
and testing for them would take months, probably longer.”
I doubted they would be useful in the budding war either.
“Okay, let’s skip those.”
She nodded, then continued, “The fourth is an interesting one I hope you possess. We call it Spirit Interaction. At its most basic level, this ability allows you to speak to spirits or ghosts. More advanced Mages with this Gift may summon spirits, or even banish them from the living realm.
I haven’t known anyone with this ability in generations, but it would be extremely useful as you continue on your path.”
She kneeled and began drawing in the dirt at the base of the center pillar.
“Why do you think this one would be so useful? Seems cool, but also pretty creepy.” I frowned as I imagined dead people everywhere.
“Well, think about the mission you were helping your brother with. What if he could have spoken to the spirit of the girl who was taken from Freeport and later killed? What could an investigator learn from their victim to help solve the crime or stop the killer from striking again?”
She stepped back and examined her drawing, then looked up.
“Now, imagine you were fighting a war for the survival of your people, your country, and you could compel the spirit of an enemy to speak? What could you learn?”
“Okay, I get it, but it’s still creepy.”
Kelsa pointed at the ground. “Look at this symbol.”
I studied her drawing. A large outer circle contained a square whose corners touched the inside edge of the circle.
Inside the square was another circle whose edges touched the inside of the square.
Two perpendicular lines began at the inner edge of the innermost circle and formed a cross that intersected at the exact center.
The whole thing reminded me of a device I’d seen a sailor use once to sight the horizon.
“What does it do?” I asked.
“This is a summoning circle. It focuses your magic and creates a barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead. Mages who can summon, entrap, or banish spirits use the circles as the foundation for their work. It is critical the circles remain unbroken,
or whoever you have summoned will escape and cause untold havoc. Spirits, especially of those long dead, are not generally friendly to the living. Some are outright hostile.”
“Great. Don’t let dead people escape. Got it.” I reached up and ran my hand through my hair.
“Psst, Kelsa. He’s nervous when he does that thing with his hair,” órla whispered.
My hand froze. “The idea of bringing spirits around for a chat doesn’t make you nervous?”
órla laughed. “Good one, Dec. I am a spirit, returned to your world in the form of a brilliant and beautiful owl for your comfort and viewing pleasure.”
I turned to Kelsa. “One day, you’re going to have to explain all of that to me.”
She smiled and nodded.
“Let’s stay on track.” She shot órla a silencing glare.
“Communicating with the spirit of a person who recently died is the easiest of these skills. As a general rule, the more recent the death, the easier the communication. If the person’s body is nearby, that makes things even easier.
Spirits gravitate toward their physical shell even after they are separated by death. An item of particular sentimental value to the person comforts the spirit and makes communicating easier.”
“I’m not going to sleep after this, am I?” I asked.
Kelsa ignored me. “Communicating with a spirit that is nearby is relatively simple.
You simply talk to them like you would anyone else.
Unfortunately, if your Gift in this area is weak, the spirit will probably ignore you or run away.
The power of your innate Natural Gift compels the spirit to remain and converse.
“The most difficult end of the spectrum is summoning the spirit of someone long dead and where you have nothing of sentimental value. In other words, you are summoning them blind, across hundreds of years or more.”
“Why would I even want to do that?”
She thought a moment. “Assume the last person with your same power was someone other than Irina, and you could talk with him or her about your abilities. Would that be helpful?”
“Of course. That would be awesome. I mean, you’re doing great teaching me, but you don’t have all these abilities. If I could talk with someone who did, who knew how to use them, I could learn so much more . . . and faster.” I surprised myself with my own enthusiasm.
“I will ignore you comparing my teaching style to a dead person,” she said dryly.
“The basic principle in summoning is picturing the person in your mind as if you truly believe they are standing in front of you. Once you have their image firmly in place, touch your Light. The summoning circle and your Light will do the rest.