"Because I am making them visible," she told him. "I have been sustaining that weave this whole time." The strands fluttered, then disappeared from view. "When you are touching the Weave, you can see them. You do not necessarily have to see them to weave flows together, but you can always see the strands while you are in contact with the Weave, and you must be able to see your target to direct them."
"And that's all there is to it?"
"That is all there is to it," she smiled. "It is a very simple concept, and I believe that is why so many have trouble. Often, the simplest things are the hardest to understand."
"I'm not so sure about that," he said.
"Alright then," she smiled, "where does the sun rise every morning?"
"In the east," he said.
"Why?"
He gave her a confused look. "It is a simple thing, Tarrin. The sun rises every morning, and it rises in the east. Why?"
"Because, well, because it does."
"Why?"
"It just does."
"Why?"
She was getting on his nerves. "I have no idea. It just does."
"Yes, it just does," she said a delicate little smile. "A simple thing, yet it the why of it is beyond most of us."
"Do you know?"
"I have no idea, dear one," she laughed. "I simply accept it." She made the Weave visible again, then drew out the six flows for his eyes. "As you know, these are the six spheres. Do you know which is which?"
"Well, fire is red," he said. "I figured that out already."
"Correct. Fire is red. Water is violet. Earth is indigo. Air is yellow. Blue is mind, or the power of thought and will. Orange is divine power, and green is confluence. Each sphere represents a primal force in our world. Four of them are physical, and the other three are not. Earth, air, fire, and water, the four elements. The power of the mind and that of the Goddess, or divine power, are not physical, but are very much still powerful forces that shape our world. The power of Confluence binds these six powers together and gives them a unified purpose. Do you remember the symbol of the katzh-dashi in the upper chamber? How the green circle enclosed the other six?"
Tarrin nodded. "I noticed that they all touched it."
"Yes, that represents the binding power of Confluence. When all seven are joined, they become strands, or white. Which is the white star in the center. When all seven join, they create a whole stronger than the sum of the individual parts. That is a representation of what sets us apart from all other orders of magic, forming circles. Unlike the Wizards, Priests, and Druids, we can directly link our powers together to form a magical force stronger than the sum of the powers of each individual Sorcerer. It takes a circle to manipulate the power of Confluence, of binding, which is the most powerful of the spheres, and as such is the most difficult to control. It is a very resistant sphere, fighting against outside influence at all times."
"I guess that makes sense," he said.
"You will study that in detail once you are raised to the green," she said. "Forming circles is the last stage of your instruction." She glanced at the candles, the ones that replaced the last set at lunchtime, which were very nearly burned down to nothing. "I think we can stop here for today," she said. "You will practice those centering exercises tonight, dear one," she said. "If I feel you are ready, tomorrow I will guide you into touching the Weave yourself. Perhaps even attempt a weave."
"Alright," he said. "Do you think I'm doing alright, Dolanna?"
She laughed sweetly. "Tarrin, my dear one, I think you understand more than Initiates that have been here for a year," she said. "What I told you today was very short," she admitted. "I did not explain a great, great many things, for I wanted to test your natural understanding of the Weave, yet you made the connections on you own. And you passed with flying colors. You seem to understand things that take months for others to comprehend. Most would never have asked the questions you ask, and many more would not understand the answers. Like I told you once before, you are a natural. I have every confidence that you will amaze the Tower with your progression." She reached up and tapped his ear, which flicked involuntarily under her light touch. "And this is the reason I will allow you to progress so quickly."
"How do you mean?"
"Sorcery requires mental concentration and control, but what it requires most is willpower," she told him. "You must exert your will on the Weave in order to make it do what you want it to do. Because of your change, you posses tremendous will, and despite what you believe, you have a great deal of control over your own mind. Most other Initiates would spend rides, months, sometimes even years, building up the basic mental control and will to use the Weave. You already have that. You earned it while learning how to deal with your dual nature. Because you already have a very forceful mind, I think you would be capable of exercising yourself against the Weave."
"I hope so," he sighed. "I just don't want to feel lost, and I don't want to sit in here for a few months."
She patted his arm, her dark eyes warm and reassuring. "Trust me, dear one," she said. "You will do fine." He didn't tell her the other reason, that the faster he learned Sorcery, the faster he could use it to his own ends. To find out who was after him, find out what the Keeper and the Tower wanted of him, and another tool to use against those who were trying to kill him. "You are released. Report back to this room tomorrow at dawn."
"Thank you, Dolanna," he said, standing up.
"Mistress Dolanna," she said with a slight smile.
"Whatever," he winked at her. A little bit of insubordination was perfectly acceptable between friends. At least he felt so.
Back in his room, he considered Dolanna's words, and privately rejoiced in the fact that she was the one teaching him. Because she already knew him so well, that allowed her to do exactly what she did. And it seemed that would allow him to not spend day after day sitting there doing stupid mental exercises. Thinking of exercises, Tarrin changed into his leathers and picked up his staff, feeling its comfortable weight. Allia had been itching to get back onto the training field, and he was too. At that moment, Sorcery was the last thing on his mind. After two months without a workout, he felt rusty. He knew that Allia would think of that first thing after being released from her class, just as he had. He opened the adjoining door and went into her room, but found it empty, and the fading scent told him he had not been there since the morning. He wrote her a short note telling her where he would be, then he left through his own room and hurried out towards the sand-floored exercise grounds where the cadets of the Knights spent their days in training.
The day was cool and sunny, with a ridge of flat clouds standing to the west. The Skybands were wearing their customary day colors, the faint dull white, and Dommammon, the White Moon, was showing in the blue sky as a thin crescent. Although it was well into fall, coming on winter, the air was still quite comfortable. Back in Aldreth, he had no doubt that they'd already had their first snow. The village, being in the foothills of the Skydancer Mountains, tended to get snow earlier than Torrian, which was only 3 days to the southwest. His father had told him that Suld, being on the coast, had a much milder climate than the inlands of Sulasia. It did get cold, and snow and even having the harbor ice up were not uncommon, but the icebound time was not very long. Snow only piled up for about a month during winter, and then the first stages of early spring would melt it. It was the winter that was unusual, for it took winter more time to settle around Suld than it did most of the rest of Sulasia, even those areas to the south. Eron Kael suspected that the Tower had something to do about that.