So he sat down at a small table, across from his pupil, and put himself in the calmest and most confident state of mind he could conjure. Lan looked up at him and smiled, faintly, and reached out to touch Kalira who stood at his elbow.
"This is the usual first step for a Firestarter," Pol said, placing a small piece of oil-soaked lint in the middle of a saucer in front of Lan. "Needless to say, in your case, the reason we're starting small is not because you need to increase your power—" here he raised an ironic eyebrow at Lan, who flushed, "—but because you need to increase your control. Or rather, you and Kalira need to work together so that you two can accomplish something besides blasting. So. Light this gently. You'll probably get a reaction-headache, Lan, unless Kalira has managed to work out how to keep that from happening too."
Kalira gave Pol a distinctly superior look, which made Pol wonder just what she had been concocting. Companions had this addiction to secrecy sometimes... and took a distinct delight in coming out of nowhere with a surprise for their Chosen.
:What is she up to?: he asked Satiran, who stood just behind him, watching the proceedings.
:I have no idea,: his Companion replied. :You know children. When they're planning something, the last person they tell is a parent:
Lan bit his lip and stared at the bit of lint apprehensively.
"I expect you're going to have to get worked up about something," Pol told him. "It's going to be a while before you can access the power of your Gift without getting emotionally—"
"Overwrought," Lan supplied, unhappily.
"Well, yes. But just remember that when you two do get it under control, it's going to be easier to access, reliable, and very useful." Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Lan was unhappy about his Gift, seeing that it was so linked with emotions....
"Try it," he urged. "The only way things are going to get better for you is to get everything under control."
"And the only way to get control is to practice." The boy sighed, but nodded. "Right." He closed his eyes.
Pol was enough of an Empath to feel the unhappiness that Lan was conjuring out of his memories. The tension increased moment by moment, and Pol's stomach tightened in response.
Time crawled by, and Pol's shoulders and neck began to knot up as well. He felt sweat trickling down his back, nervous sweat, since it certainly wasn't that warm in the tack room. Soon it was at the point where he began to worry that Kalira's confidence was overconfidence, that the plate would explode in his face in a moment. Lan's face reflected anger, fear, and unhappiness, and Pol had to force himself to remain where he was, looking calm and confident in case Lan looked up.
He felt as if his head was about to burst.
Then it happened. With a tiny sigh, the bit of fluff in front of him blossomed into a lovely flame that unfolded like a flower to feed on the lint and the oil.
Lan's shoulders slumped and his eyes opened; the anger drained from his face, then the fear, and he looked at the little flame with wonder.
"I—we did it!" he said, with great surprise. "And my head doesn't hurt!"
:I should hope not,: Kalira said smugly, for the benefit of both the Heralds. :I've been working on that. If I hadn't been, you'd have been waking up with a reaction-headache every time you had a bad dream.: She tossed her head proudly and arched her neck, waiting for Pol to congratulate her.
"Aha! You clever girl, you! You've found the key, it's to take care of the problem before it's a problem!" Although Lan still looked baffled, Pol understood immediately. "You're draining off energy as he produces it!"
:And leaving just enough for him to use. Right now I'm directing it, too, but if you let him link in and show him what to do, all I'll have to do is manage the draining.: Kalira had lost a bit of the smugness, but she was still very proud of herself, as well she should be. It was the best possible solution for now, although poor Lan would have to weather a great many emotional ups and downs in order to access his power.
"How are you doing?" Pol asked. Lan chewed on his lip, and looked anxiously at his mentor, but slowly the anxiety was fading.
"My stomach's upset, but I guess I'm all right," he admitted.
:A cup of tea from Elenor will take care of that,: Kalira soothed, though to Pol's experienced ear, she also sounded just a trifle impatient with her Chosen. She knew they could do this, now, and she wanted him to keep trying.
Lan didn't, but he knew that if he wasn't able to learn to control this ability, it would control him. It already had twice, after all, and he knew the consequences of that. While he thought, the bit of lint flared and went out, leaving a tiny pile of ashes.
"Let's... do it again," he said at last.
"Good lad!" Pol replied, and replaced the bit of lint on the saucer. "Now, try again."
This time, it seemed to be a little easier. It certainly didn't take as long. Pol ran him through the exercise a few more times before changing the focus.
"Right; let's take a break here—or at least, a break for you." Pol smiled at Lan's look of relief. "Kalira will link you in to me, and you'll see how this is done."
"Why can't Kalira show me?" Lan wanted to know. "If she can control the power, why can't she show me how to do it myself?"
:Because I'm not handling the power the way that you and Pol will,: Kalira replied. :I'm doing something only a Companion can do. We're born in energy and live in it all the time, that's why we're white. This kind of energy bleaches every live thing that it contacts after a time.:
"It is?" Lan asked, intrigued. Even Pol was intrigued; this was new information to him. Usually Companions revealed very little about themselves; he hadn't realized that they were so intimately involved with the force behind the Gifts.
:Indeed. You can't dye us either,: she chuckled. :We bleach right out in a few days.:
"Annoying of you," Pol put in. "It would be so much more helpful to Heralds who are trying to gather information unobtrusively if you could just become an ordinary chestnut color once in a while."
:Learn from adversity, Herald; we won't do everything for you.: Kalira was still highly amused, and Pol sensed that Satiran was, too.
But her sire was willing to put up with only so much insolence from his offspring. :Respect your seniors, Companion,: the stallion chided. :At this point in his life, Pol has accomplished more than you have ever dreamed of doing. Let's get on with this.:
:Sir!: she replied promptly; obedient, but with a hint of amusement, still.
Pol felt Kalira form the link between himself and his pupil. This way Lan was not directly in his mind, nor was he in Lan's. This was a much better way of dealing with the task; he didn't want Lan privy to his uncensored thoughts, and he certainly didn't want to experience the poor lad's uncensored emotions.
He shifted his concentration to the lint, not that he had to concentrate a great deal. What he did have to do was slow things down so that Lan could see exactly what happened.