Masters of the Veil (15 page)

Sam couldn’t believe it. This was the second time someone had told him they didn’t know about Bariv’s snake.
Could I have dreamt it?
His hand moved to the bulge under his robe where the fruit lay. It was real, so the snake must have been real. For some reason, Sam’s instincts told him not to show Rona the fruit. “The snake is how I got my second-skin.”

“I have never seen any material like it,” Rona admitted. “How did you get it?”

“The snake gave it to me. He talked for a while and then shed it.”

Rona held out his hand. “May I see?”

Sam placed his palm on top of Rona’s.

Rona examined it, and then spoke almost as if addressing the skin instead of Sam. “A taste of the night sky. What wonders might we see from you?”

“Huh?”

Rona let go of the skin. “I think you might have met Karundi Kai.”

“Who?”

“We have a legend in Atlas Crown about a snake we call Karundi Kai. It is said to be the cleverest of all creatures that She has bestowed upon us. The story goes that She gently peeled off a sliver of the heavens, rolled it in Her palms, and shaped it into a serpent. Karundi Kai is massive and cunning and beautiful, but no one has seen it in many, many years—some say never. There have been sightings of a black tail whipping around corners like fire, and even reports of big flanks of starred skin melting away into the ground, but this is all hearsay.”

Sam wiggled his fingers. “I’m telling you, I saw it and talked to it.”

Rona’s face became serious. “I believe you. I am concerned, because it is also said that Karundi Kai will only present itself when the world needs its words, words that can change everything, when it is time for…”

“For what?”

Rona’s voice dropped to a whisper. “A new era.”

Sam’s throat went dry.

Rona slapped him on the back and laughed. “But that is also hearsay.” His face lit up. “It is a beautiful skin, so consider yourself extremely lucky. But stay away from the crystal land, you might not get so lucky next time.”

Sam nodded. “Sure thing, coach.”

Rona frowned.

“I mean Master Rona.” Sam felt odd using the title.

Rona smiled brightly. “Very good.” He pulled his own second-skin out and wrapped it around his hand. “All mysteries aside, I will begin our lesson on the division of magics. In Atlas Crown, almost all of the sorcerers have been chosen to use natural magics. It has been this way since our community was founded. This is not saying that they cannot do other magics, but for the most part, the majority of what they excel in—including myself—are grips and drapes of the natural world. Natural magic is a wondrous feat. It is how we are able to feed, clothe, shelter, and occasionally heal so many.”

“So most of the town helps with all that?”

“Yes. There is a small sector of sorcerers, however, whom She has chosen to become authorities in the area of mystical magics.” Rona tapped a finger under his lip again. “I would say…two percent.”

“Two percent!”

Rona gave a satisfied nod. “I believe that is a fair assessment. It is rather rare for the Veil to give the gift of the mystical arts. Glissandro is one of the few, though he has not gone through Omani, so his path is not yet set in stone. She proportions the different talents based on how much need there is in the community. She is remarkable, you know. When someone passes on and joins Her, She inspires someone else to take their place.”

Sam looked over to where Glissandro played a bright little melody toward the ground. “Why are there so few mystics?”

“Because they live very long lives, extended so they may study their art deeply and wholly. I regret to say that I know frightfully little about mystical magics. Those who are chosen for the mystical side tend to surround themselves with their own… and keep to themselves. The authorities of the mystical magics are known simply as ‘The Mystics,’ of whom there are always three. Atlas Crown is very lucky to have them here.”

Sam was almost afraid to ask. “What…what about people who are chosen for power magics?”

Rona gave Sam a steady look, and something hid behind his expression. “Here, there is only one.”

Sam leaned in. “Me?”

“No.” Rona grinned and slapped Sam on the shoulder. “You are still too new. I speak of Bariv.”

Sam thought back to their session in the cave. “That can’t be.”

“It wasn’t always that way. There used to be a few who lived with us.”

“Who?”

“Bad men.” Rona hesitated. “No, misunderstood men.
Misguided
men.”

“Why aren’t they here anymore?”

“They are no longer welcome.” Rona adjusted the crown on his head. “Outcasts. They decided to pursue something that was not good for the community and we have banned them.”

Sam gulped. “
All
of them?”

“All
of them.”

“Forever?”

“Until they give up their pursuit.”

The knot in Sam’s stomach moved to his throat. Right then, he wished he could be back on the gridiron, chasing passes and waving at pretty girls. “What did they do?”

Rona waved away the subject. “I have said too much about them already. May would not be pleased.”

Sam took a deep breath, yet it did not squash the frustration. “This is stuff I need to know, Rona!”

“
Master
Rona,” he corrected. “The most important thing you need to understand is that power magics are not evil, though some may hint that they are. It is just that we have had some trouble before. Regardless of what people may say, you need to remember something. Bariv has already gone down the same path you now embark upon.”

“Yeah, but if he’s the only one—”

“He is one of the most important people in our society—maybe
the
most. People often forget about Bariv’s position because he lives in seclusion. He deals with the newcomers and with May, but only rarely has contact with anyone else. New sorcerers always come to Atlas Crown because of him. They have the option of traveling to other communities once he has prepared them. Bariv is a special case. He doesn’t need to leave his cave for anything. Not food, not clothing, not the company of others. He is the Conduit to the Veil. The only one in existence.”

Sam felt kind of foolish asking, but for some reason he needed to know. “Doesn’t he get lonely?”

Rona smiled. “It is nice that you care.”

Sam felt flustered. “I—”

“She is all the company Bariv needs.”

“May?”

Rona shook his head. “The Veil. Now why don’t we go back and see if we can’t get that extraordinary second-skin to show us its worth?”

Sam knew better than to press his questions. “Okay. But I want to know one thing.”

Rona gave him a comforting smile. “Of course.”

Sam moved closer and lowered his voice. “Aren’t the others much more advanced than me? I mean, I just got here and we’re meant for different things. Why am I learning with them?”

“Learning natural magics will compliment and help you control the power inside of you, which is what I’ve been told you want. It will help prepare you to leave us.” Rona give him a dubious look. “That
is
what you want, correct?”

Sam gave a sheepish nod. He’d known the man for about five minutes, and he already felt like he was disappointing him by wanting to leave.

Rona’s smile got even bigger and he rubbed his hands together. “We’ll see about that. I know more about you than you think. Besides, I only teach the most promising students: the ones who will be of greatest use to our society.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Yeah.” Rona winked. “Exactly.”

Sam felt a mixture of confusion and pride as they walked back to join the group. He wasn’t sure which emotion fit the situation.

The other students stood next to their practice plants. Everyone’s plant was exactly what Rona had asked for—except for Glissandro’s. Instead of a plant two arms tall with ten equally spaced leaves, Glissandro frowned at a knee-high bush with green berries.

There was no trace of disappointment in Rona’s voice. “Don’t worry, Glissandro, you’ll get it.”

Glissandro smiled without showing his teeth.

Rona waved his hand over Glissandro’s mess. It sank back into the ground with a small crunch. “The bright side is that you don’t need it to practice, anyway.”

Sam gave Glissandro a curious look.

Glissandro waved the snail shell.

“Right.” Sam snapped his fingers. “So you don’t break your horn.”

“You catch on so quick!” Cassiella chirped.

“Here we go again,” Daphne muttered to Zawadi. “It seems she’s picked another one.”

Sam frowned at Daphne’s choice of words.

Rona began to assign the other apprentices various tasks for the morning. He told Petir to coax a nearby group of four-winged butterflies—though Rona called them pygma-floaters—into flying in a straight line through his legs. Each of the pygma-floater’s sets of wings were a different color. Sam saw orange-green, blue-maroon, and white-black pairs. When they fluttered, the top and bottom pair changed colors, creating the illusion that they were spiraling through the air.

Glissandro was instructed to mark an ordinary stone from the riverbank with his clan symbol and then toss it into the river. His task was then to fish it out as many times as he could. It sounded sort of easy to Sam.

Daphne, Cassiella, and Zawadi were teamed up to complete a task. Rona told them that somewhere in the Valley he’d hidden an amorberry, and if they found it, they could keep it. At the sound of this, the girls moved away from the others, giggling.

Sam turned to Glissandro and lowered his voice. “What’s an amorberry?”

Glissandro played a few soft notes through the snail shell. The tone the shell made sounded like a cross between one pig oinking and another pig squealing. This time, the words in Sam’s head were scratchy and raw. “Very rare. If they can find them, girls use their juice as perfume. They supposedly attract men and can get us to do things we wouldn’t normally do.”

Sam heard Cassiella softly bargaining with the other girls for it.

Sam gave a nervous cough. “Do they work?”

“They’re very small and odorless until they’re squished, that’s why they’re hard to find, even with the use of the Veil.” Glissandro shrugged. “So I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

Sam grinned and nudged Glissandro a few times with his elbow. “Not that Daphne needs it.”

Glissandro gave Sam a puzzled look. “No one
needs
it.”

Rona pointed out an especially green patch of dirt to Sam. “Let us start in that spot over there. It’s a particularly bouncy patch.”

Sam nodded.

“We will begin by putting you in a concentrative stance,” Rona bent his knees almost to right angles. He left his hand with the second-skin out, palm up, and tucked the other hand in a fist, resting the back of his knuckles against his thigh. “Like so.”

Sam copied him.

“Very good.” Rona straightened up and put his fingertips together. “I see you have strong legs.”

Sam nodded and slapped his thigh. “Like iron.”

“That will help. First step,” Rona circled around Sam. “Close your eyes.”

Sam did as he was told.

“Hold this stance as long as you can.”

Sam’s legs were strong from all his conditioning, so he figured holding it would be a breeze.

Rona’s voice got quieter. “The Veil has always been right there in front of you, waiting. She is not what you think, Sam. She is not just a source of what you would call magic. She is our protector. She is and always will be the reason for our survival. She holds within Her limitless possibility for us to explore the depths of our hearts and minds. She can recognize emotion and bring forth love. She is adventure and home. And… Sam, open your eyes for a moment.”

Rona gave him a solemn look.

“She is not your enemy.”

“I didn’t say She—”

“Just remember,” Rona’s voice was stone. “She is not your enemy.”

“Okay, I get it.”

Rona nodded. “Very good. You may close your eyes again.”

Rona continued to circle him. “What you did before, with the ice sculpture. It was lack of concentration. Normally, a beginning apprentice wouldn’t have that much access to the Veil. You do, which has led Bariv, May, and me to believe that you are meant for power magics. This does not mean that you will be naturally great at grips and drapes. You will still have to build your skill, but it does mean that you will have more of Her to work with. This is a good thing, but it also means that you will have to concentrate exponentially harder than the rest of my group. Can you do that?”

Sam didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Very good.” Rona clapped him on the back. Sam didn’t move from his stance. “Strong legs. That will help.”

“Why?”

“It is like training while wearing extra weights. If you can do it with an extra variable, then you can do it more easily without.”

“So what are we going to do?”

Rona tapped Sam’s forehead with his index finger. “You are going to practice containing your mind. You need to keep it close when it tries to wander off.”

Sam tapped the same spot Rona had touched. “Not a problem.”

Rona closed Sam’s outstretched hand and guided it to his other thigh. “For now, just hold a picture of the practice plant in your mind.”

“For how long?”

“Perfect question. Let’s find out.”

Sam heard Rona walking away and opened one of his eyes.

“Eyes closed,” Rona called. “The last time I checked, I did not look like a practice plant.”

Sam grinned, closed his eye, and pulled an image of the practice plant into his mind. After only a few moments, Sam found that it wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought. Every time he got a clear picture of the plant in his head, it broke up and went black. He tried to hold the fleeting image, but his mind really wanted to wander free. It snapped to thoughts about home, about football, about the snake, about Daphne—whose image he didn’t discard right away—and basically anything but the green plant.

He kept trying for a while, but his mind won in the end. He was thinking about college girls when he heard a grunt in front of him. He opened his eyes and saw Rona smiling at him.