Opening his eyes, he found it shambling toward him from just off to one side, jaws wide and slavering, claws digging into the earth. Lariana actually screamed in shock, and suddenly he felt her pressing up against him, seeking shelter. He wrapped her in his arms protectively, fully in control now, and exploded his creature, turning it into darkness and air.
He stopped then, panting for breath. All of a sudden he was weak from his efforts, the strength sufficiently drained from him that he felt he might collapse. He staggered, and abruptly it was Lariana who was holding him up and not the other way around. Dizziness swept through him, a rush of blackness enveloping him in the process.
“Too much,” he managed to gasp. “Too fast.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
When he came awake again, he was still exactly where he had been before. Lariana was right in front of him, holding tightly to his arms, making sounds, none of it intelligible.
Until suddenly it was.
“Reyn, look at me. Are you all right? What happened to you? Can you hear me at all?”
His gaze shifted to find her emerald eyes, and he nodded slowly. “I can hear you. I’m all right.” He blinked rapidly, trying to focus, to steady himself. “How long have I been standing here?”
“A couple of minutes, no more. You’ve been staring into space, seeing nothing, not speaking or anything. What happened?”
Her features tightened with concern, and he reached out and pulled her against him, cradling her head to his chest. What should he tell her? What could he tell her? The catatonia–he had forgotten all about it since he had stopped having to use the magic on impulse. He had thought maybe it was a thing of the past, an occurrence that would not result from his more controlled use of magic. But he should have known better. It was what always happened–what always would happen–no matter how the magic was used.
She backed him off abruptly. “Say something, please. Was it the magic that did this?”
He decided on a half–truth. “I think so. I think I got over–excited and used too much all at once. It felt like it overwhelmed me. The power is so great, Lariana. I couldn’t manage it there at the end. It made me black out.”
She studied him doubtfully. “You were conscious, but you were not able to respond to me at all. This is something more than blacking out. What’s going on?”
He experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. If he told her, she would feel obligated to tell Arcannen. That would be the end. Arcannen would send him away. If he knew Reyn couldn’t ever manage the magic adequately, he would lose interest.
“Can we not talk about it just now?” he begged.
She took his arm, led him over to a place where they could sit, and pulled him down next to her. He went docilely, his strength still sapped, his willingness to resist gone with it.
“You’re afraid of what Arcannen will do, aren’t you?”
Droplets of dampness glistened in her gold–streaked hair, and her deep green eyes glinted brightly. She stared at him directly, studying his face, her own mirroring such anguish and sadness that he could hardly bear to look at it. She seemed to want to help him, but he did not think she could. He felt her hands squeeze his arms as she continued to hold him in place, and there was a reassurance to their grip.
“He might not want to spend any more time helping me.”
There, it was out. He lowered his gaze, ashamed of himself. What was it about her that eroded his resolve so easily?
“Listen to me,” she said softly. “I will reveal nothing to him that will hurt you. That is my promise, and I will keep it. Now tell me the truth.”
Oddly, he believed her. Perhaps it was because he was so enamored of her, so deeply under her spell that he could not make himself believe otherwise. But her words convinced him, and he knew at once he would tell her. Which he did, completely and without subterfuge. He told her of how the magic generated a catatonic effect in him every time he used it in a stressful situation. He explained how it stole away his control over himself and left him in a black space from which it sometimes took up to several hours to extricate himself. When that happened, he was left completely without defenses and had to rely on others to steer him to safety and to care for him.
“It has always been like that,” he finished. “And each time I fail to contain the magic, the catatonia gets a little worse. I thought that being able to direct it to accomplish specific tasks might put an end to all that. But it doesn’t seem that’s possible.”
He waited in the ensuing silence. “First of all,” she told him carefully, “you haven’t mastered control of the magic. You said so yourself. You are just beginning to learn how. It’s probably too soon to be able to stop what’s happening to you. You need to give yourself more time. But eventually Arcannen is going to discover what you’re hiding. Sooner or later, the magic will break free in his presence, and he will realize what’s happening. What are you going to do then?”
He shook his head. “I know you are right about Arcannen. But maybe he won’t find out right away. If I am careful, maybe I can keep from being overstressed while learning how to keep control. Maybe I can avoid having to use magic for real. I should be able to tell the difference between what’s real and imagined. I just need to work at it a little more.”
“All right,” she said, nodding slowly. “Let’s find out if that’s so. I won’t say anything to him about what happened. We can just tell him you managed to create images that took on a presence and leave it at that. But, Reyn, this is a dangerous game you are playing. Arcannen is not someone you want to anger. He says he wants to help you and maybe he does, but he could turn on you in a moment. I’ve seen that in him. He is unpredictable. It might be better to admit what is going on and take your chances. I will stand by you if you do.”
“It would be foolish of you to do that. You’re his apprentice.”
She gave him a look. “I am my own person before I am anyone’s anything. I have learned to look after myself, and I will not be made to give that up for anyone.”
“I don’t want you involved.”
She laughed softly. “Really? You don’t? But I’m already involved.” Then she leaned forward and kissed him softly. “Haven’t you noticed?”
It was fully dark by now, the last of the sunlight faded, the skies gone black and only slivers of moonlight seeping through gaps in the heavily layered clouds to illuminate the coastline of the Tiderace. The air was cold and damp, a fine mist settling over the ruins of Arbrox. Somewhere nearby seagulls were crying mournfully and the crashing of the waves against the rocks was a cacophony of thunderous booms.
Lariana and the boy appeared through the doorway of Arcannen’s refuge looking slightly bedraggled and thoroughly worn out. The sorcerer looked up from the tide tables and charts he had spread out across the work space he kept for himself to one side of the room, taking note of their condition.
“Success?” he asked them, raising one eyebrow.
Lariana nodded. “It took all day, but in the end he managed it.”
She went on to describe what the boy had created–the men first and then the four–legged beast. She gave an accurate description, concluding with her personal belief that in another day or so Reyn Frosch would master much, much more.
When she had finished, Arcannen leaned back and contemplated her words. There was something wrong with what she was telling him, but he was not sure what. He didn’t think she was lying exactly, but he suspected she was leaving something out. He couldn’t say what made him think this–the words, her tone of voice, the smoothness of her recitation, the look on her face–but there was a gap that troubled him. His instincts were good at warning him of such deceptions, and he had learned to trust them.