[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

 Good. Here, then. Nightshade bent down and plucked a wildflower with its buds still unopened. She
held it up before Mistaya. Then she lifted one finger and caressed a tiny bud. The bud shuddered and
blossomed into a crimson flower.  See? Magic brought it to life. Now you try.
She handed the stalk with its multiple buds and single open flower to Mistaya, who took it tentatively
and held it before her as if it were made of glass.
 Concentrate on one bud, the Witch of the Deep Fell said.  Concentrate on how it will look as it opens
into a flower. Bring the feeling of its coming to life deep within your body, deep down where there is only
darkness and the pictures we form in our imaginations. Concentrate on the flower you would make and
then reach up slowly and touch the bud.
Mistaya did as she was told, focusing every ounce of energy on a mental picture of the bud opening into
a flower. She reached up and touched the bud gently, hesitantly.
The bud opened halfway and stopped.
 Very good, Mistaya, Nightshade offered, taking the stalk from her hand and casting it aside.  Was that
so hard?
Mistaya shook her head quickly. Her mouth was dry, and her heart was pounding. She had actually
performed magic. She had felt the bud respond to her touch, had watched it shudder slightly, just as it
had for Nightshade. But there had been more. There had been a ripple of something smooth and silvery
deep down inside her that caressed like a cat and left her warm and anxious for more.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Nightshade s slender hand brushed her own. Mistaya did not mind the touch. It seemed familiar and
therefore comfortable.  Try this, the witch said.
She reached down and picked up a black and orange striped caterpillar. The caterpillar rolled into a ball
in the palm of her hand, then unrolled again after a moment and began to inch its way to safety. The witch
reached down and touched the caterpillar, and it was turned instantly to gold.
 Now you change it back again, she instructed, holding out her open palm with the caterpillar to
Mistaya.  Concentrate. Picture in your mind what it is you intend to do. Reach down inside yourself for
the feeling of it happening.
Mistaya wet her lips, then compressed them. She focused as hard as she could on the caterpillar,
envisioning it alive, seeing it turn from metal to organic matter. She saw it in her mind, then felt it in her
heart. She reached down and touched the caterpillar.
The caterpillar turned orange and black once more and began to crawl away.
 I did it! she breathed excitedly.  Did you see? I did it! I used magic!
She forgot everything in that instant: her doubts, her questions, her parents, and her friends. Nightshade
brushed the caterpillar away and bent down quickly in front of the girl, her eyes as sharp as cut glass.
 Now you understand, Mistaya. Now you see the truth of what you can do. But that was nothing, that
little bit of magic you just performed. That was only the beginning of what you can accomplish. But you
must listen to what I tell you. You must study the lessons I give you. You must practice what I show you.
You must work very hard. Are you willing to do that?
Mistaya nodded eagerly, blond hair shimmering with the jungle damp, eyes as bright as a cat s in a cave.
 Yes, I am. But... She stopped then, catching herself as she remembered anew the circumstances of her
being in the Deep Fell.  My father...
 Your father knows you are here and will come for you if he feels you should not stay, Nightshade
answered smoothly, quickly.  The question you must answer is whether or not you wish to stay. The
choice is really yours now. But before you make that choice, there is something else you must know.
Remember I told you there was another reason for your being here with me, for being told of your
potential, for exploring your magic?
She waited expectantly. Mistaya hesitated, then nodded.  I remember. You said you would tell me
later.
Nightshade smiled.  Close enough. In my own time and way, I said. So listen carefully now. Rydall of
Marnhull has come to your father again since your leaving. He has told your father that he will use the
magic of his wizard to destroy him. Questor Thews will try to protect your father, but he lacks sufficient
power to do so. Rydall s wizard is much more powerful.
She raised one slender finger and touched Mistaya gently on the tip of her nose. Like a snake s kiss.
 But you have the potential, Mistaya, to be even more powerful. You have the magic, still latent but
undeniably contained within you, to defeat Rydall and his wizard and save your father. I sense that
power, and it is for this reason that I thought it right to bring you here and prepare you for your destiny.
For you will be a witch of no small consequence, and a King s daughter as well, and your mastery of
your heritage as both will determine the course of your life.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Mistaya stared openmouthed.  I will be able to save my father? My magic will be that strong?
 As strong as any you could possibly imagine. The witch paused, smiling anew, suddenly intense.
 Didn t the Earth Mother tell you any of this?
 Yes, she... Mistaya hesitated, thinking all at once that she should not reveal everything to someone
who already knew so much. Her meeting with the Earth Mother, after all, was supposed to be a secret.
 She told me something of my heritage but left me to discover for myself the nature of any magic I
possessed or for my parents to tell me of it when they were ready.
She wondered suddenly about Haltwhistle. Where was the mud puppy? Had he, too, been left behind in
the attack when Nightshade had brought her to the Deep Fell? She wanted to ask the witch, but once
more something kept her from speaking. Nightshade had not mentioned Haltwhistle when she spoke of
the others. Perhaps she did not know of the mud puppy.
 The Earth Mother is your friend, as she was your mother s, Nightshade continued.  A good friend, I
expect, isn t she? Mistaya nodded.  She brought you to her just before the attack. I was watching. Did
she warn you it was coming?
 No, Mistaya answered, again thinking, Why doesn t she know this?
 What was it that she wanted with you, then? the other softly asked.  Tell me.
Mistaya shrugged, a reflex pure and simple. She was outwardly calm, inwardly cold.
Something was happening here that she didn t understand. She managed a small smile.  She warned me
that there would be danger ahead and that I must be wary of it. She said I would need to keep my wits
about me.
She waited, the smile frozen on her face as the witch stared deep into her eyes. She doesn t believe me!
she was thinking, and wondered all at once why that mattered and what it was that frightened her so.
Then Nightshade s eyes lowered, and she rose. Her slim white hands came to rest on Mistaya s small
shoulders.  Do you want to stay with me in the Deep Fell, Mistaya? Do you want to study magic with
me? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • szamanka888.keep.pl