The Last Orellen

Chapter 50: Find Palm

Tomas Orellen was not taking Kalens declaration that he would be traveling to the Archipelago very seriously. He seemed to think, as the people at the Office of the Post had, that trying to get there was the same as trying to leave the world altogether.

Rather than forcing an argument, though, Kalen allowed him to declare that they would discuss the matter when they had no other option. The mage could still come. In two days time, if she did, Tomas thought he might be able to persuade the group to take Kalen along with them all. They would be heading far to the south, below the Ossumun Empire and beyond its reach. And they would be nearer to the continents eastern coast, though Tomas didnt give the name of the specific city.

It suited Kalens needs well enough, but

I would rather not meet the others, he quietly admitted, as Tomas pulled him onto his feet in the middle of the ward circle. I dont want anyone but you to know what I am. But I shouldnt stay here if I dont have to, so I guess if its the only way

I dont particularly want to introduce you to everyone either, the older boy said. If you think you can bear it, Im tempted to stuff you in a barrel or a crate and say youre something heavy I bought for myself.

He shook his head, as if the idea were ridiculous, but Kalen thought it was brilliant.

Thats what you should do!

Oh..well

I would be so still and quiet. They would never know! And I dont weigh much.

Tomas gave him a nervous smile. Maybe? I think us getting caught with you hidden in that way would make everyone very unhappy, butit might be the better plan in the end. Its a full portal well be doing instead of a sending, so its not like theres a reason for them to object to me bringing extra baggage. Let me worry about that. For now, I promised you a spell! You should take your casting posture.

You mean just stand up straight?

Tomas looked briefly confused, then he said, I suppose that is more of a thing you learn directly from a teacher instead of a book.

Have I been doing something wrong all this time? Kalen had always known he must have been making a multitude of mistakes, but it was still embarrassing to think that he wasnt even standing in place correctly. Is there some special way?

No, its fine! People grow out of using them anyway. Its just to help young practitioners focus. If you havent been doing it, you dont have to start now.

Teach it to me.

Its nothing imp

I want to know everything you do, Kalen said firmly. Absolutely everything. I know Im starting from far behind. And Im twelve. And Im too old

Who told you that? Tomas interrupted. Gray hairs can learn magic if they want.

I have a book called Theoretical Advancements of the Fourth Age, and it says if you dont start casting properly aligned spells before youre my age, then youre never going to amount to much.

Tomas stared down at him. The expression on his face was one that Kalen couldnt define, but it made him look much more adult than he usually did. Finally, he said, Ive been told by some teachers in the past that my education is pathetic, compared to what it should have been. And that I wouldnt amount to much because of it. But you cant help what you dont have, can you? So theres no point in worrying that you might be ruined for life when youre only twelve.

You said I had to learn to read as soon as possible, said Kalen. But I didnt start until I was seven or eight. And then

I was stupid back then. I thought the whole world was like the Enclave when almost none of it is. Learning to read is an achievement. Learning to cast on your own just from books is even more of one. Its much harder without someone pushing you toward it. Those first couple of years after we evacuated I couldnt make myself care enough to try anything new unless a tutor was standing over me.

Kalen couldnt imagine. The more difficult things were, the more he wanted to hide inside his books.

But, said Tomas, I did have a formal and highly structured education until I was nine. Our family was known for its schooling. It was serious and regimented, especially if they thought someone had high potential. They didnt think that about me, but given who my father was, and the skill some of my siblings showed, they all pretended to for a while. So if you want to know everything

I do, Kalen interrupted.

Tomas grinned. Then Ill pretend to be one of those mean teachers who insists on flawless form. Here. Let me arrange you.

Kalen was supposed to stand with his knees loose, his hips squared, his toes reaching through the bottom of his shoes toward the ground. His breaths should be measured and slow.

When we were little and they were teaching us this, they made getting it wrong seem like a crime against magic itself. But what really matters about it is the fact that if you always perform a memorized pattern of actions before you cast, then the ritual becomes a signal to your mind that its time to let go of the world around you and focus on your pathways.

Do you do it still?

When Im trying something difficult or new. Or when Im in a bad mood and need to cast anyway.

Tomas reached for Kalens shoulders and straightened them. Now this is where our standing posture starts to look different from the ones a lot of families use. Head up, eyes forward, elbows in, and hands at the ready is the usual. Because most practitioners expect to be using their eyes to find whatever theyre going to cast a spell at. Our eyes only get in our way, so we close them.

Kalen shut his eyes.

Its been a while since my first lessons, Tomas said, pressing on the top of Kalens head gently until he bent his neck toward his chest. The older boys clothes smelled strange this close up, as if theyd been stored in a musty chest that was also heavily perfumed. Ive gotten so used to the way I do things, and I hardly ever think about how other people experience their magic. Do you sense your pathways as if theyre spread out on a page in front of you or as if theyre within your body?

There are options?

The second, Kalen said. But when Im focused on my pathways, my body isnt really that important. I feel like Ive gone inside myself, but I cant say, Oh this pathway is near my arm and that other one is near my leg. That would be stupid.

Thats good. A lot of people actually do feel like a given pathway is associated with a certain body part, though. Some practitioners think thats the best thing, but our family tried to train everyone out of it. They say the ideal for spatial affinities is to have a sense of your pathways as lines within you that flow out into the world around you.

I can do that.

Let your arms hang loose at your sides, cup your hands slightly, and dont worry about reimagining your personal mana structure right now. Thats a months-long project if you want to try, not one for a single morning. I dont have any of our familys nucleic maps to show you. I could draw my own, but I feel like we should be able to identify your starting pathway just by sensation. We dont have to do it before trying the spell, but learning the name of your strongest pathway is a rite of passage.

This is that thing the mage book keeps talking about, Kalen thought, excitement welling inside him. Pathways have names and when you know the names of them you can use the proper ones to cast your spells better.

By the way Tomas said, voice suddenly uncertain, Im just assuming youre a spatialist because I am and almost all of my brothers and sisters are. The family thought Iven would father several luck practitioners if he married mother, but the Orellen line breeds truer than they hoped. So youre probably one of us, but if you do have some other affinity, then I wont be able to teach you the spell I have in mind. Ill teach you something else instead to make up for it, so dont be disappointed.

Kalen opened his eyes and lifted his head in surprise. Why wouldnt it work? Its only a beginner spell, isnt it?

The first one, Tomas confirmed. The one they teach all spatial magic novices. But the pathways we use are isolated.

Kalen frowned up at him. What does that mean?

Youve heard the theory that a practitioner is someone who can speak to the rivers that carve the universe? NoIm guessing you havent heard that. The look on your face! I know how it sounds, but imagine that everything in existence is constantly being carved into being by thousands of streams of magic.

Ill try, but thats not very

A hundred years on, our family will probably be teaching something different. But for now, we assume that a practitioners pathways are copies of some of those rivers and streams. And when we shape them and push mana through them in certain ways, we can carve new rules into being just as the rivers we reflect do.

Lutcha had once spoken of clipping souls out of what she called the universal pattern with the Disc of the Sacred Fate and moving them around. If Kalen tried hard enough he could almost imagine thousands of stitches making up the pattern of a tapestry and thousands of rivers of magic being the same idea.

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Just like rivers follow certain natural channels, our pathways work best when we ask them to perform magic within our affinity. Theyre carving according to their natures then, like theyre writing rules that they already know. When I say that the spatial magic pathways are isolated, I mean that theyre very disconnected from other types of magic. You may have heard Orellens are no good at anything except for our portals. Well, its true. When I form a non-spatial spell pattern, I have to use a lot more magic to make it cast effectively.

Im sorry.

Tomas smiled. Its annoying, but Ive always thought the people who look down on us for it were secretly jealous. Because we can cast spells aligned with other affinities if we put enough power into it, and almost no other type of practitioner can do spatial magic at all.

I wondered! said Kalen. I havent ever seen any spatial spells in any of my other books. I thought the Orellens might be keeping their knowledge away from everyone else, but I also wondered if it was just a very hard type of magic.

Closer to impossible. Most of my relatives think the spatial pathways are not only isolated but also that they govern a higher plane of magic. I like that idea, too, because it would explain a lot of things. But I dont repeat it much. It makes you sound like youre making excuses when you try to tell someone that you cant perform a basic spell because your power is suited to greater things.

That does sound arrogant, Kalen said. You should keep that opinion to yourselves.

Tomas snickered. Fine. Put your head down again, and close your eyes. Center yourself within your nucleus

Center?

Focus all your attention on the very core of it, the point where all your pathways meet and are densest. Draw your magic therelets just do half so you can still cast the first spell after thisand push it through, as if the nucleus itself is a spell pattern youve created.

Ive done this before, said Kalen, disappointed but already going through the motions. Lots of times when I was trying to check my affinity. It doesnt work.

He heard Tomas inhale. What do you mean it doesnt work?

Nothing happens. A girl I know told me how to do this, and she said something would happen and that was how you could guess your affinity. But every time I do it, the magic just disappears.

In this nucleus anyway.

How does it disappear? Tomass voice was excited.

Kalen wanted to look up again, but he was trying to keep his posture right.

It goes away.

But there are different ways it could disappear! Usually one of three. Pay very careful attention when you do the cast this time. Does the magic vanish as if it was taken into someone elses hand, or does it feel as if youve flung it away into the distance, or is it more like it goes nowhere at all?

It goes nowhere at all. Kalen had done it so many times he really didnt have to do it again to know. It had always been such a disappointment, butit sounded like Tomas was saying it was the right thing. Its supposed to feel like that?

He was squeezing his hands into fists. He made them relax again. Theres no reason to be worked up about it. You knew almost for sure that it was spatial magic. A pixie told you so, and youve been assuming that was the right answer ever since.

But almost for sure wasnt the same as completely sure. If Tomas could just tell him, this easily, then he would have solved one of Kalens oldest mysteries.

Kalen pulled the magic togetheraround half that contained within his pathways that formed the spatial nucleus, as Tomas had asked. Then he pushed it through in the way hed done so many times before, during those last few months at home.

The magic coalesced in his nucleus, strong enough that it felt almost like a bright white heat, and thenit vanished.

Its not like it goes somewhere, said Kalen, keeping his eyes shut and thinking about it. Its like its there and then its not at all. Like I didnt even do anything.

Hands gripped his arms, and he finally looked to see Tomas leaning over him and grinning delightedly. Nerth! Thats a sure sign you do have a spatial affinity!

It is?

Yes! And your primary pathway is the Abyss. The other two main ones are the Arrow and the Reaching. Most practitioners name pathways after dead sorcerers, but ours are all more like this. I think its one of the nicer things about our family, Tomas said with enthusiasm. Now, close your eyes! Close your eyes. Your widest, strongest pathway will be the Abyss, and you should have a few more. Its hard to identify the smaller ones at first, so dont worry about those. The three largest ones will always be Abyss, Arrow, and Reaching.

He stepped around to stand behind Kalen, who hadnt closed his eyes despite being told to. He looked out the small window of the attic room. The neighboring rooftop was covered in snow.

Why does my heart feel so tight in my chest? Having a proper name for a pathway isnt that significant.

From behind him, Tomas leaned over his shoulder and murmured, All right, let me pretend Im aligned with Abyss tooyes. If youre still focused on your nucleus, imagine yourself at the center of it. Move as much of your magic as you can there and then push it through your largest pathway outward slowly.

Still staring at the sunlight sparkling against the snowy roof, Kalen did it.

As you follow your magic outward along Abyss, you can probably sense a couple of your other pathways winding around it or maybe even intersecting with it. Dont worry about the lesser ones. Theres probably a place not far from your nucleus where Abyss comes very close to a natural bend in the pathway that should be your second or third largest. They dont actually intersect there, but I think it will be easier for a beginner to identify that spot than it is to try to untangle the big three from each other within the nucleus itself.

I know that place.

Two of his very largest pathways, an odd spot where one almost felt like it touched the other. Kalen knew it. Hed sensed it thousands of times before. He didnt have to follow Abyss toward it, he only had to think about it and he was there.

Tomas was reaching over Kalens shoulder with a hand toward the window now, as if he were imagining it himself. That other path that youve pulled all your magic away from feels almost hungry now, doesnt it? Like its tugging

A slight frown entered his voice. Nerth, youdo you feel something pulling on the ambient?

I know the spot you mean, Kalen said, still focusing on it. The bent pathway. How it pulls on the magic in the neighbor when its empty. Ive felt it do that before.

It wasnt at the moment. Hed already drawn in enough mana to satisfy it, and now he was flooding the smaller paths almost absentmindedly while he considered the spot Tomas had directed him toward.

Yes. Good job. We should be focusing on that. That path is the Arrow. Its actually my largest pathway, so its my favorite. Its also the one you should use for your first spatial spell.

It is?

Yes. Its the best one for it. You use arrow and any two of your other pathways that you find convenient. Oh, and heres another thing thats good to talk about! That place where Arrow feels like it wants to steal the magic from Abyss is always a good place to forge an intersection between the two. If you drain the magic from your Arrow path to make it hungrier you can feel the exact right spot to do it. What else?

Kalen waited with baited breath, hoping for another revelation, but after a few seconds, Tomas said, I guess thats enough for now. We should do the spell. The pattern isnt difficult, but the technique might feel very strange since youre used to off-casting.

Off-casting?

Casting spells not aligned with your affinity. Close your eyes again. Use some part of Arrow and two other pathways to make a series of three interlocking circles.

Three circlesyou mean side-by-side ones like the constellations that are on the Orellen family symbol?

Our clan mark. The three circles represent the first spell and also the three worlds. The space between the stars represents Abyss. The arrow is self-explanatory. Have you built it yet?

No, said Kalen. Im sorry. Im a little slow with pattern formation.

He was still finding a good spot to make that shape, one where he wouldnt have to negotiate for space with all of his other pathways.

Is it fine if its far away from my nucleus? As long as its still the Arrow pathway?

Its usually better to cast as close as you can, but at your age your pathways dont extend that far out anyway, so I wouldnt worry.

If pathways could be measured in miles, my nucleus is miles away from here, he thought, focusing on a spacious place where Arrow had become more of a stream than a river and where two small rivulets nearby could be tied into it. He rarely worked this far on his periphery these days. But he didnt want to fail with someone watching, and he was absolutely sure he could make the three circles here.

He pulled them together as quickly as he could. Done.

Given how long that took you, we might need to have a talk about perfectionism. Now. With your eyes still closed, focus on your non-dominant palm.

What do I focus on about it? The way it feels? The way it looks?

Neither. And let me apologize in advance because youre going to absolutely hate this; everyone does. You need to try to focus on where it is.

On the end of my arm?

I mean where it is all by itself. As if it were an object that existed entirely alone in the universe, unconnected to anything else.

I dont understand.

Im sorry.

Cant you explain it better? He had done so well up until now.

When you try it, youll see why I cant. Do your best to focus on the location of your palm. Not even your fingers or the back of your hand. Just your palm. Then, when you think youve got it, youre going to reverse cast the spell.

Before Kalen could ask what that meant, Tomas added, I mean instead of sending magic out of your pathways into the world around you, cast through the spell pattern back at the Arrow path, toward your nucleus.

What? Nothat cant be That sounds like a very wrong thing to do.

I bet it does. Since this was the first spell I ever learned, I was aghast the first time I tried to cast outward instead of inward. I promise it will work in this direction.

It sounds like it will hurt.

Tomas snorted softly. It doesnt hurt. It does feel different. But youre barely going to notice once the spell takes effect. Remember your palm.

How can I think about my palm when Im about to do something that sounds crazy? And not just my palmwhere my palm is. As if its not even a part of my body?

But Tomas had just taught him something hed had no other way of learning. And it had been so easy. And it wasnt like this was a big spell. If the youngest children in the Orellen family all learned it, then it was weak. Even if he did cast it back along his own pathways it shouldnt do anything too terrible.

Kalen took a deep breath.

You truly need to focus on the location of your palm, Tomas said quietly. So much more than you think you do.

I am focusing.

Kalen scrunched his eyes shut even tighter and cast the spell back at the very pathway that had created it. Andhis mind went with it. Like the spell was carrying him through his own pathways, so swiftly and surely that he didnt even have time to think he should maybe resist it. He and the spell disappeared into his own nucleus, and for the smallest of instants, he felt like hed somehow eaten himself.

Then he sawfelttouchedexperienced his own palm, then the blood inside it, then wood, fur, a person maybe, down, up, blue, black, darkness, darkness, darkness.

Then it was over.

He was on his hands and knees.

If youre going to puke, dont do it on the silencing ward! Tomas said cheerfully.

Kalen gasped. What was that?! he asked in horror.

Not a calm and peaceful contemplation of your palm I bet.

Whats that spell supposed to do!?

It helps you locate your own body in space. Once you get the hang of it. Which takesaround a year usually. But before then, as long as you can find just your palm, there are some other things you can do. The second spell well do is Banish from Palm, which is really useful for getting rid of something you never want to be found by you or anyone else again. And the third Ill teach you is From Palm to Palm, which lets you do this.

He squatted down in front of Kalen, who was still reeling, and held out his hands. In his left was a small gold pin shaped like an arrow, with a tiny blue jewel on the tip.

Watch, said Tomas.

Before Kalens eyes, the pin vanished from Tomass left palm and reappeared almost in the same moment on the right.

He extended the hand toward him.

Its a family traditiona good oneto give novices a pin to mark their first successful spell. I know this isnt really your first, but it is your first aligned one. Take this. Im sorry its the Arrow pin and not the Abyss one. Normally that one is a gold circle.

Kalen reached for the small arrow.

Can I try again?

So fearless! Im proud.

Dont be proud yet, Kalen said as he stood. He pressed a hand to his stomach. Im not sure I wont puke next time.

Tomas grinned. Please do it at least once. For my sake. I was a puker when I was learning.

Okay. It didnt hurt, Kalen muttered to himself.

I told you.

It was very confusing, though.

Tomas stood, too. You are officially a spatial practitioner now. Welcome! You are currently on the run from literally everyone. But on the bright side, the secrets of the universe that confuse others will one day confuse you slightly less!

Kalen peered at him. You seem to be enjoying yourself.

I am. Ive never taught anyone anything before. I was just going from memory. Only with less disappointment and derision than most of my teachers like to sprinkle into their lessons. How did I do?

You did good. As long as that finding my body spell isnt a joke.

Its not. You have the senses for it, believe it or not. If you keep practicing, you will get the hang of it, and its what youll build everything else on. Are you sure you have enough magic to go a second time?

I do. Kalen looked out the window again. Tomas, how many pathways am I supposed to have? As a spatial practitioner?

Oh, theres not really a set number. A few new ones will come into view as you get older. And youll realize they were always there for you, but you couldnt sense them before. Then of course theres re-dendrification if youre ever on the threshold between high magician and mage. But thats a different process where they say your pathways actually grow new offshoot pathways.

So any number of them is fine?

As long as you can cast, its fine in my books, said Tomas.

Kalen turned his eyes toward him.

I have twelve, Tomas said. If youre curious, its an average number for a magician my age. Im slightly above average as far as the amount of power I can call on at once goes, but its nothing that earns attention from anyone.

Thank you, Kalen said finally.

For what? Its just a first lesson.

Ive spent so many daysso many yearsnot understanding my pathways at all. I heard that I should memorize and map them. So I did. And I could cast spells, so I did. I know the paths, but I also dont know them at all. That they have names and work in specific ways and that one of them does magic slightly differently from another. Its amazing.

Nerth, you were just unlucky to be born this particular kind of practitioner. There arent a lot of spatial magic books around, so of course you couldnt learn. All Ive done is tell you the most basic of basics; its no great thing.

Its great to me. Will you teach me the names of your other pathways? And how to find them from Arrow and Abyss?

Yes, if you want. But you might not have the same ones as me. Really, as long as you known the names of the three main ones youll be all right for most magician level workings.

I want to know them all.

Tomas smiled. Youre an eager student! All right. Just dont be disappointed if you cant find the exact same set within your own structure. And let me renew our ward, if were going to be at this for longer. Its nearly exhausted.

Let me do it, said Kalen.

You should save your strength, so you can focus on finding your palm. He was already bending toward the activation rune for the ward.

Let me do it, Kalen said again. You said spatial practitioners have to use more magic to make non-aligned spells work. Thats not a problem for me. I have other problemsbut not that one.

Tomass finger had stilled halfway to the rune. What do you mean by that?

Kalen stepped over to join him and knelt beside the line of glimmering crushed shells that made up the Orellen boys spellsand. He nudged Tomass hand aside with his own.

Im not a perfectionist, he said, touching the rune lightly. WellI am. According to most people. But thats only because I didnt have many spells. All I could do was try to be perfect with the ones I did have. Its not why Im slow, though. Im slow because my pathways are very sloppy. There are so many of them. Some of them seem to be strange or broken. And when Im trying to work with one, the others nearby tangle with it and cling to it. They pull what Im doing apart sometimes, and other times, I just lose track of what Im trying to build because the wrong thread calls my attention and it all collapses.

Nerth, that doesnt

I cant run out of magic though, said Kalen. Not here on the continent where you people have it all around you all the time. When I empty my pathways, I just refill them. It takes a minute or so. Like a long deep breath. I thought everyone did it like that for ages, but Ive learned thats not how it is.

He finished forming the activation runes match.

Thats how long it took me to make this rune. Its simple, I know. Its embarrassing that I cant just do it. I saw a girl empower a rune by tapping her foot against it as she passed, like she barely even had to think about it. It takes me time. But this

He pushed his magic into the ward. It was a hungry thing, compared to the spell circles hed done himself in the past, but he flooded it quickly. Light blazed from the sand, and Kalen pulled his hand back.

Thats how long it took me to fill your ward. And now

He concentrated for a moment, then said, And now I have as much magic as I started with.

Tomass honey-brown eyes were flicking from the ward to Kalen and back again. He swallowed. Thats very interesting, he said in a higher than usual voice. ThatsI see.

Do you? Kalen asked. I wish someone would explain it all to me.

He stared at his new arrow pin. Just knowing the name of three pathways makes me feel so much better. I really would appreciate it if you would teach me your other nine. And how to find them. So I dont always feel so lost when Im fighting to work with them.

How many are you saying you actually have? Tomas asked.

Do I have to count the little hairy ones?

The hairy ones?

Arrow, Abyss, and Reaching are like this, said Kalen, spreading his arms wide. And then there are the middle ones and the little ones. And then there are some that are like this.

He plucked a strand of curly hair from his head and looked at it grimly. Theyre so annoying. They say you cant be a magician unless youve mapped them all. I have to take time to re-memorize them every week, so I dont forget the shape of the little hairy ones. I hate them so much. If they re-dendrify when I become a mage, I think I might scream.

I still dont quite understand. Are you saying you have thirty pathways. Or fifty. Orwhat?

I like around ninety-three of them, Kalen decided after thinking about it. Ninety-three covered even the ones that were only barely useable in his spatial set. If all the others could just disappear and leave me alone, I would really appreciate it.

Ninety-three, said Tomas faintly. I wouldnt believe you, except I did feel you pulling in the ambient mana earlier. When I was standing right behind you. I thought I must have been mistaken

What do you mean you felt me? How did you do that? Kalen asked. Can you teach it to me?

Its not something you teach. Its just something practitioners notice. When someone else is pulling in or outputting large quantities of power very nearby, it changes the flow into your own pathways a little.

I havent noticed! And Ive been here in Circon around other practitioners enough that I should have, havent I?

You might not have been. You do have to be quite close if its not a drastic shift in the ambient. But also, if you can really refill your entire mana structure that quickly that means you might not be able to notice? Unless youre trying to do it at the exact same time as sorcerer in the same room.

Why not?

Because youre the one sucking up all the magic and He stared at the gleaming ward. spitting it right back out again. Someone would have to be pulling on the ambient magic harder and faster than you were for you to be aware that they were dominating the area.

He whipped around to stare at Kalen. Why dont you have a teacher yet?

Thats why Im trying to get to the Archipelago. To find one.

Butgods. You must have grown up in the middle of absolutely nowhere for someone not to have noticed.

There were no other practitioners around, said Kalen. That doesnt mean it was nowhere. Can I justif I pull magic in more slowly will that make me quieter to other people?

I think so. I hope so. Tomas lifted an eyebrow. Otherwise its going to be like traveling with a trumpet.

I will try not to trumpet, said Kalen. So youll still travel with me? And youll still teach me?

Im your brother. We made a promise. Ill teach you what I know, but

Kalen smiled. You can call me Kalen. But only when were completely alone or behind a ward like this. It shouldnt be my name anywhere else right now. Im sure you understand.