Two long and uneventful days followed the encounter near the river, and on the eve of their fourth day in the valley Vilmos and Xith completed the crossing to the northern rim. Low bluffs on one side and gentle hills on the other replaced the high cliff walls of the southern rim. The two weary travelers found a small cave nestled in a low wall and they stopped to pass the night. The cave was just as dreary as Vilmos had always imagined a cave would be—damp and dark, offering nothing that appealed to his senses. He almost would have rather slept outside on the hard ground.
"Well," Xith said, "what are you waiting for? I am sure you will find some brush just outside that will make us a good warm fire."
Vilmos considered another time when Xith spoke those words. It seemed now a distant memory—not altogether forgotten, but rather something that had occurred long ago. Yet now he recalled the thought fondly and smiled as he retreated from the cavern.
After a small bundle of twigs and sticks were neatly stockpiled Vilmos went in search of larger firewood and found some not far off. Xith indicated that he need not gather more wood. They would have plenty to carry them through the hours of darkness and to cook their breakfast if they so chose.
Xith started rummaging through his bags, telling Vilmos, "Set the wood in the center of the chamber and start the fire while we still have a little light from the outside."
Vilmos did as Xith asked and built the firebase. Afterward he looked to Xith, waiting for the shaman to give him something to start the fire with. "Are there flint and steel?" he asked.
"We do not need flint and steel this day," Xith said. "This day you'll use that which you have. Do not be afraid to use your natural talents."
Vilmos searched in the dim light until he found two stones he could use to try to make a spark. Xith watched enthusiastically. Vilmos had such determination that Xith almost believed Vilmos would light the fire by striking the stones together.
Several frustrating minutes later after Vilmos had smashed his fingers a few times, he gave up. He looked to Xith for a hint of approval or some sign to stop but Xith offered no response.
Vilmos didn't want to disappoint the shaman. He snarled back a frown and returned to pounding the rocks together. After smashing two more fingers, Vilmos cast the stones against the cavern wall. "I give up, I simply can't do it."
Xith stood and moved toward Vilmos. "You're not trying hard enough."
"That's it," Vilmos said, "I've had it!"
"Calm down," said Xith, "listen to me closely. All right?"
Vilmos nodded.
"You are going about this in the wrong manner. I said, 'use your natural talents.' Magic is one of your greatest talents, Vilmos."
"But I don't know how to use it that way."
"Try," invoked Xith. "All you have to do is try. You have the ability."
Vilmos mulled over Xith's words for a moment. He was still afraid of his magic. Nothing good had ever come from using it. "I will not do it."
"Draw the energy into you slowly. Only build the power that you need," instructed Xith, watching the boy's face carefully. "Can you feel it?"
Vilmos did as told. He attempted to draw the power in slowly. "I feel nothing."
"Focus on the fire and turn the energy inside you onto it."
"H-how do I do that?" Vilmos was confused.
"Do not think about the how," said Xith, "just do. Focus the energy on the fire, think about lighting it."
Vilmos thought, "Enough already, I'll do it." For an instant afterward a spark lit the room but Vilmos could not tap into the power afterward no matter how hard he tried. He became frustrated. "I can't!"
Xith removed his boots and placed them next to the unlit wood, stretching out his short, stubby toes as if waiting for the fire to warm them. "You mean you won't do it. You block the energy flow. You know you can do something simply because you can. Do not worry that you won't be able. Follow my instructions closely. Are you ready, Vilmos?"
Vilmos shrugged.
"Take a deep breath. Breathe it in slowly."
Vilmos inhaled a deep breath as Xith had instructed; his lungs filled with air.
"Feel the air inside your lungs," Xith said. "Feel it; it is there."
Vilmos took another deep breath.
"Now exhale, continue to breathe deeply, feel the air flow in and out. Feel the power within you."
Vilmos did as he was instructed.
"Continue to breathe, clear your mind." Xith's eyes glowed. More stirred within the boy than magic alone.
"I'm trying."
Xith opened his pack and pulled out some foodstuffs, splitting the last of the supply of bread and cheese between the two of them, offering the largest share to Vilmos. "Now listen," commanded Xith, smiling reassuringly. "Clear your mind. Concentrate only on breathing."
Vilmos cleared his mind until his only thoughts were of his breathing. He continued breathing deeply as he attacked the food vigorously. Within minutes he had gobbled down his share and was staring intently toward Xith's, which the shaman had barely nibbled at.
"Go ahead, Vilmos, take it. You are a growing boy. Eat."
Vilmos raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?" His expression read.
Xith nodded and then said, "It is time now. Focus the energy…Concentrate…Gather it in slowly."
Xith waited.
Vilmos leaned back and patted an excessively full belly. Feelings of comfort brought relaxation to his mind, and as he relaxed he found he could feel the power in the air all around him, and then he found he could bring it into him just as Xith had stated.
Xith smiled again. "Find your center…Draw upon the power around you, drink it in—but only a small amount. Focus the energy…Use it now!"
Vilmos did as Xith stated. The energy was there and he was able to focus it. Suddenly a brilliant, blue-white flame burst amidst the wood. Vilmos' eyes went wide with amazement as he exclaimed, "I did it!"
Secretly Xith helped the spark grow so that it was strong enough to flare and burn. Within a few seconds, the kindling was burning brightly and shortly afterward the fire was roaring to life. He waited until the fire was warming his outstretched toes and Vilmos had gloated long enough and then said, "Next time try not to waste so much energy."
Missing the false sarcasm in Xith's voice, Vilmos elected to ignore Xith's comment and enjoy the fire. It was, after all, warm and did offer some cheer to the otherwise dank cavern. He removed his boots and placed them next to the fire, stretching out his legs alongside the shaman's. He smiled then, looking over at Xith.
"Tomorrow is another day," Xith told him. "Sleep now."
"But Xith," Vilmos protested, "I'm not really tired."
Xith eyed Vilmos. "Yes, you are, now sleep."
Xith waited, interested in the response and the apparent rejection of the guiles of Voice. Vilmos started to say something and Xith quickly said, "No more questions, go to sleep!"
Vilmos stretched out next to the fire and with eyes almost closed, he feigned sleep. Bodily tired but with a mind too full of unanswered questions to sleep, he eventually turned frank eyes cautiously to the place where Xith sat, eyes wide, feet stretched out, hands happily stroking a long wooden stick, whittling it away with a short tooling knife.
"Xith?" Vilmos called out with a hint of boldness.
"Save your strength, you will need it," Xith said, not looking up. "Tomorrow will be a long day in Vangar Forest."
Vilmos sat up, his eyes filled with sincerity. "But why was it safe to use the magic now and not before? Are the dreams gone? And why did Midori have to go?"
Xith set aside his knife and stick, and then waved a hand over the fire. The flames sprang back, seemingly into the wood, until only a few tiny tongues of red-white fire remained. "A great many things will be explained at a time when I know you are ready to hear them. Too much waits in the days ahead for me to properly begin your education. You have chosen to accept the way of the Magus; as such you must know that nothing is ever simply revealed all at once, rather in bits and pieces.
"Your use of magic alone didn't bring me to you, it was also your dreams. Once I sensed them, I sent Midori to watch over you until it was time. When the time was near, I came."
Xith waved his hand over the fire again. The flames turned brilliant white and Vilmos saw images playing amidst them. He leaned forward, his eyebrows knotting together as at first he became confused then alarmed.
"Pieces of your dreams," Xith said. "All those who have special gifts are troubled by such dreams. They are the playing out of good and evil. They are the reason magic is forbidden, for during the dismal centuries before and after the Race Wars the unwary so easily succumbed to the destructive nature of dark magic that in the end it became more prudent to destroy would-be mages than to try to save them from themselves.
"The Watchers were born of this period and we took it upon ourselves to save those we could for we knew what peril lay in a world without magic." Xith's tone became melancholy. "That I am the last of the Watchers, there is little doubt. Should I breathe my last breath this night, there will be no more watch wardens and magic could fade from the land forever."
Xith picked up the staff he had been working on, and then he reached back into his pack and pulled out another. Although the flames were now pale as a pink rose, Vilmos could see the second staff was the one Xith normally used.
Xith moved the staff he had been whittling toward Vilmos but didn't let him touch it. "When I finish this, I will give it to you. On that day, you will know your education is truly beginning."
Vilmos grinned, then frowned. "But what of the dreams, are they gone?"
Xith regarded Vilmos for a time. "To any other, I would say yes. To you, I say we will have to wait and see. You, Vilmos, are special."
Vilmos blinked and suddenly thin streaks of fire lit a night sky. There was no moon, no stars, just the boundless lines of scarlet cutting into the ebony of the heavens.
At his feet was a dirt road and ahead beyond a crossroads was a forest of dark trees. The dark trees, glowing with an eerie purple radiance, called to him. Vilmos clutched his arms about his chest and started to follow the dirt road, a voice from behind him startling him as he did so.
Vilmos turned around. A strange woman took his hand, her touch soothing, her skin soft, her smile friendly.
"I am to accompany you to Arr," she said, "hurry now." She raced off, pulling Vilmos behind her.
Vilmos stopped. "Who are you?"
"I am Erravane, a friend. I am to take you to Ril Akh Arr. Come with me to the temple."
A voice raced through Vilmos' mind. It said, "Within dwell the shape-changing beasts of the night that worship Arr. Be forewarned, they come for you."
Vilmos fought to pull his hand away from the woman's numbing grip, noticing now that her face, although it seemed human-like, was not a human face at all.
"No," Vilmos shouted, "I will not go with you!" At the words and the resistance, Vilmos suddenly found he was back in the cave with Xith, staring at the flames.
Xith looked Vilmos directly in the eye. "You can almost feel it, the presence of evil upon the wind. They await us in Vangar Forest, I am sure of this now. The fourth comes, and she is enraged."