CHAPTER 2

 

RALIN’S MAGICAL TRAINING was very much a hit or miss affair. Even though he now looked like he might be ten or twelve years old, Leesa had to constantly remind herself that her son was barely five, with all the exuberance and inconsistency that manifested in any young child.

Dominic’s dampening of Ralin’s waziri magic had by and large been successful, especially for the first few years after Leesa had rescued her mentor from the Necromancer’s magic table. Once Ralin’s volkaane magic stopped bursting forth out of nowhere, Dominic had slowly and gradually weakened the spell he had cast to mute the boy’s wizard powers.

Ralin still had no control over when his magic might appear, or over what form it would take when it did. Whenever it arose, Dominic tried different methods and exercises to try to help Ralin control it, or at least for them to figure out what the magic might be trying to accomplish. The strange green spirals still appeared now and then, but neither Dominic nor Leesa had the faintest idea what the purpose of that particular magic might be. It was unlike anything Dominic had ever seen.

Leesa’s own powers had improved dramatically over the ensuing years, thanks to countless hours of training with Dominic. Her energy blasts, while still nowhere near as powerful as the older wizard’s, were far stronger than they had been during the struggle with the Necromancer. She could cast air shields of many shapes and sizes with scarcely a thought now, and maintain them easily while doing other spells at the same time. It was amazing to think that the air shield had once been her most challenging spell to master.

Her growing skills had also made her pretty much impervious to the weather. She was able to regulate her body heat to a comfortable temperature even while performing two or three other spells. Air shields kept her dry in the fiercest storms, and if she was somewhere in public where a shield would draw unwanted attention, a continuous drying spell dried her off as soon as the rain or snow hit her. Her clothes would look wet, but her body remained dry. Like Rave, she had to remember to dress appropriately for any nasty weather if they ventured out somewhere they could be seen, lest people wonder how they could withstand the chill in lighter clothes.

Today, the four of them had trekked a short distance into the woods behind their home for Leesa and Ralin’s daily practice. No weather-proofing spells were needed—it was a pleasant, late spring morning with no wind and barely a cloud marring a high, crystal blue sky.

Leesa and Rave stood quietly, holding hands in comfortable silence while they watched Dominic work with their son. Ralin sat on the ground, his back resting against the wide trunk of an ancient oak and his legs crossed Indian style. Dominic squatted close in front of him, his forearms resting on his thighs, talking softly. As far as Leesa could tell, Ralin was giving Dominic his full attention, which was not always the case.

For more than a month now, Dominic had been trying to teach Ralin the everywhere/nowhere thought control technique that was the basis for controlling so much of their magic. So far, he had met with little success. Like most young children, Ralin’s mind preferred to be everywhere and EVERYWHERE, not everywhere and nowhere. Sitting still for more than a minute or two was not his forte, either. He seemed to be managing okay this morning, though.

Apparently finished with today’s instructions, Dominic passed his palm slowly down across Ralin’s face. When the wizard removed his hand, Ralin’s eyes had fallen closed.

Leesa edged quietly closer. Rave moved forward even more silently. For the first time, Ralin appeared as if he might actually be getting it.

A full minute passed, and then another. Ralin’s face remained serene and expressionless, his breathing slow and even. Were it not for the erect posture of his neck and head as he sat against the tree, he could have been asleep.

Finally, Ralin’s eyes popped open. He seemed to take a moment to gather himself, then looked up at Leesa. His face remained expressionless.

“The horse lady needs help, Momma,” he said softly.

Leesa had no idea what Ralin was talking about. “What horse lady, sweetheart?”

“The horse lady in my dream,” Ralin explained. He thought for a moment and then added, “I think she’s a queen or something. She needs help.”

Ralin had never spoken to Leesa about any dreams before. She wondered if some sort of vision had come to him during the everywhere/nowhere state, or if the relaxed condition had simply allowed an earlier dream to bubble up into his consciousness. Either way, she knew enough not to brush it off with a simple, “It’s only a dream,” reassurance, especially given Ralin’s complex mixture of waziri and volkaane magic. They had seen no sign of any dream power in him so far, but he might possess a similar power to hers. She needed to hear more about his dream.

She crouched down in front of her son. “What kind of help does the queen need?” she asked, keeping her tone matter-of-fact so as not to raise any alarm in him.

Ralin frowned. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I thought you knew.”

Leesa tried to hide her surprise. “Me? Why would I know? I don’t know any queens.”

Now Ralin looked confused. “You don’t? Are you sure, Momma?”

Leesa nodded. “I’m sure. I’ve never met a queen, sweetheart. I’ve never even seen one, except on television.”

Ralin’s brow furrowed as he processed this new information.

Until recently, he had only seen television on their infrequent visits to his grand aunt and uncle’s house. Leesa and Rave always made sure to keep him a safe distance away from the set, but like any young child he was fascinated by the things he saw on the colorful screen. On his fifth birthday, Leesa bought a widescreen for their house, deciding Ralin could now be trusted never to touch it, or even go too close. He had seen queens in several Disney videos she had purchased for him, so he knew what a queen was.

“Oh, I thought you had seen her,” he said after a moment. “She’s the one who sent the mermaids.”

This time, Leesa could not conceal her surprise.

“Mermaids?” she asked, astonished. She was almost afraid to ask the next question. “What mermaids are you talking about, Ralin?”

Ralin’s face took on that exasperated look only a frustrated young child can achieve.

“The mermaids, Momma. You know—the ones who brought the message for Leah.”

Leesa felt her jaw drop open. Somehow, Ralin had shared her dream—and it seemed as if he might have seen even more than she had.

“What is it?” Dominic asked. “What’s all this talk about queens and mermaids? And why has it upset you like this?”

Leesa had not told Dominic about the dream, so she quickly explained her vision, including the fact that she had seen it three times now.

“Each time it was clearer and more complete,” she told him after she had summarized the story. Her eyes shifted to Ralin, who was still sitting on the ground, watching her with a curious expression on his face.

Leesa looked back at Dominic. “Apparently, Ralin has experienced the same dream,” she continued. “What does all this mean? Do you know anything about this kind of dream sharing?”

Dominic straightened up and shook his head. “I’m sorry—I have no idea what it might mean. I’ve never heard of it occurring before.”

Leesa was shocked—and concerned. It seemed like something Dominic should have experienced, or at least heard about.

“Really? In all those centuries, this has never happened?”

“Not to my knowledge. And if it had, I think I would have known.” Dominic stroked his pointy beard. “Your bond with Ralin is different from any other bond in waziri history. He is your biological child, not simply a carefully chosen apprentice. It makes sense that the bond between you would be closer and stronger than any previous bond amongst our people.”

“That makes sense,” Leesa mused. “Pretty much everything about Ralin’s magic is new in some way—why should his dream magic be any different? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what a shared vision produces. The events we saw take place far in the future, plus none of us appeared in the dreams. Maybe the vision won’t end up having anything to do with us.”

Dominic continued fingering his beard. “We can hope that will be the case.” He allowed himself a wry grin. “Somehow, I doubt you will be so lucky, though.”

Leesa’s lips curved into a smile of her own as she stood up.

“Me either. But like I said, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

There was just one problem with that—Leesa didn’t like waiting. She never had, not once her magic had started appearing out of nowhere, anyhow. Her powers had arrived in frustratingly slow drips and drabs, completely out of her understanding and control until Dominic had shown up and begun training her. Even then, much of her progress had been annoyingly slow and inconsistent.

One especially bothersome thing about this shared dream was that Ralin seemed to have seen more than she had. His vision had shown him something hers hadn’t—the world on the other side of the portal. He had seen a queen he called the horse lady, whatever that meant. This queen needed help, though Ralin didn’t know why or what kind. Leesa now wondered if the dream had originated with her, and then Ralin had somehow picked up on it, or if perhaps the vision began with him and she was the one who had come aboard later. And had Ralin dreamed it repeated times, as well? She needed to know.

“Ralin, have you had this dream more than once?” she asked him.

Ralin had apparently reached his limit for sitting still, because he pushed himself to his feet and then jumped up and grabbed a branch ten feet above the ground with one hand. Hanging from the limb like a monkey, he swung slowly back and forth.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t remember.”

“Do you remember when you had it?” Leesa asked. “Was it last night?”

Ralin grabbed the branch with both hands and swung himself effortlessly up onto the narrow limb, where he balanced himself easily. Clearly, he was now less interested in all this dream talk than Leesa was.

“I don’t remember,” he repeated. He dropped down and grasped the limb in both hands, swinging again. “Sorry,” he added.

“That’s all right, sweetheart,” Leesa said. “But if you do remember, you’ll tell Mommy, right?”

Ralin nodded vigorously. “Yes, Momma,” he promised, before launching himself from the branch into an adjoining tree.

Rave took Leesa’s hand. “I guess you were right,” he said as they watched their son swing gaily among the branches. “We’ll just have to wait and see if anything comes of all this.”

They didn’t have long to wait—and when it happened, it was something beyond the bounds that any of them could have imagined.