Chapter 17

Uziel had to take a break at sundown, complaining that he was a half-dragon, not a cart-horse. “And speaking of horses, where were the ones we were going to get?” he snapped, massaging his sore shoulders. “Every time we try to get some, we can’t.”

“Are you suggesting that we risk our lives to go back to the high-elf city, where we will almost certainly be killed, to try and buy some overpriced horses that have probably never pulled anything in their lives?” Sr’Ain asked sarcastically. “If you haven’t noticed, we’ve been lucky to escape with our lives. And you’re thinking about horses?”

“You’re just peeved because you haven’t had fish in a while,” Mhaïzan snapped. She was tired as well, and the previous encounter with high-elf soldiers had left her antsy. “I want to sleep. ‘Night.”

She climbed into the caravan and dropped onto a cushion. The oracles stopped eating their bread and smirked at each other, much to the confusion of Uziel and Sr’Ain.

Mhaïzan was woken up much too early by an energetic Loren. She groaned and stuffed the pillow over her head, attempting to shield herself from the bright sunlight.

“Not fooled!” Loren chirped, swinging the caravan doors open. Mhaïzan groaned, sitting up slowly and shaking her hair out of her eyes. She pulled on a clean tunic and breeches and went outside.

After splashing some water on her face and eating a piece of dried fruit (something called an apple that Mhaïzan had never heard of), she was led to the back of the caravan. Loren sat on a tree stump, laid out a plain white cloth, and poured out her bag of stones.

“Before you start to learn magic,” she explained, “you must know the names of the stones.”

She picked up the purple stone. “You already know amethyst. It’s good for enhancing psychic powers, and it can also be used to aid in meditation. It’s a type of quartz. Here are some others.” Loren separated a pale pink stone and a smooth, clear stone from the pile.

“This one,” she said, pointing to the pink stone, “is rose quartz, the stone of love. It’s a healing stone, and extremely useful. The other one is clear quartz – great for clarity of mind and spirit. Everyone can use it.”

“Amythest, rose quartz, clear quartz,” Mhaïzan thought to herself, running her fingers over the smooth stones.

“Here’s sodalite,” Loren continued, showing Mhaïzan a larger, mottled blackish-blue stone. “This is used to amplify logic and increase efficiency. It’s also good for improving communication.” After identifying each stone, she pushed it to the side. “The silvery little globule is hematite – stimulates mental activity. Also, if need be, it can be used as a distraction for your friend.” She threw it over behind the caravan. Mhaïzan heard a scream of “SHINY!”.

Loren laughed heartily – her whole face was hidden behind her wide grin. Despite her thin lips and plainness, her smile lit up her whole face. Mhaïzan had to smile as well.

After a minute or two, Loren returned to the lesson. She picked up a particularly interesting stone – a black one with little feathery white spots. “This is snowflake obsidian,” Loren explained. “It’s good for purity and balance, and improves discretion. The snowflakes are another mineral trapped in the stone.”

She set that one aside, and took a pale green stone from the pile. “Serpentine. Don’t you love the name? Ironically, it’s an antipoison. It also improves wisdom and restraint.” Next, she picked up a teal stone that wasn’t smooth like the rest. “This is turquoise. It gives you strength and grounding, and is good for astral travel.”

Mhaïzan cocked her head to the side. “Astral travel?” She’d never heard the phrase before.

Loren was all too glad to elaborate. “There are three planes in the cosmos: the material plane, the ethereal plane, and the astral plane. Everything that we think of as real inhabits the astral plain – including us. On the ethereal plane, the gods and goddesses frolic around in their happy little fields – no offense.”

“None taken,” Mhaïzan assured her. “Please continue.”

“Of course. As I was saying, everything spiritual – ghosts, demons, spirits and deities – inhabit the ethereal plane. However, the astral plane is much more interesting. That is where souls live. Everyone has a counterpart on the astral plane, sitting in its little room. Astral travel allows someone to walk around in that plane and do things you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise – like sprout wings and a tail. On the astral plane, your imagination shapes everything.

“Now turquoise helps you on the astral plane, but the best stone for it is celestite.” She carefully picked up a whitish-blue crystal. “Be careful, it’s very rare. One of the best healing stones, and wonderful for astral travel. My friend Winna gave it to me when we were in training together.”

Loren suddenly rose up, leaving the celestite in Mhaïzan’s hands. “Let’s take a breather. I’ll make us something to eat.”