Lightnings Daughter by Mary Herbert (android based ebook reader .txt) 📗

"Athlone," she cried in exasperation, "please wait! I can't teach sorcery. I don't know enough yet, myself."

He let go of her hands and stepped back. "Then I'll figure it out by myself. Is it like this?" and he snapped a command, the same words Gabria had used in the dungeon to form a globe of light. To her surprise, a soft bal of light did begin to glow just over their heads. In seconds, though, it went out of control and blazed into a furious sphere of brilliant, hot white light that hummed with unleashed magic.

The two people shrank back from the heat.

Gabria heard shouts from the other men, but she ignored them and kept her attention fastened on the light. "All right," she cried. "I'll teach you what I can."

"Good," he yel ed. "Then would you show me how to put this thing out?"

The woman sighed. She could put it out herself, but if he really wanted to learn, this was as good a time as any to start. "Concentrate on your spel ," she shouted to him over the rising noise of the globe.

"Fix your purpose in your mind, then speak the words of your command." She watched the chieftain while he closed his eyes and lifted his hand toward the sphere. The blazing bal wavered, dimmed, then it flared again brighter than before.

"Concentrate!" Gabria demanded. "Feel the power within you. Bend the magic to your bidding."

Athlone tried again. A sheen of perspiration glistened on his forehead, and his face went rigid from his effort. This time, instead of thinking about the sphere and wishing it would go out, he concentrated on the feel of the power that surged within him. He had felt that power before, when he had rescued Gabria from the Woman of the Marsh and when he had fought the duel with Gringold. However, in those two instances, the magic had flowed through him uncontrol ed and unconsciously. Now he drew it forth wil ingly and shaped it. When at last he stopped and opened his eyes, the light was gone and Gabria was smiling.

"I did it!" He grinned like a small boy and picked up Gabria by her waist and whirled her around.

The other men appeared out of the darkness, their swords drawn. "What's going on? Are you al right?" they asked as one.

The chieftain waved his men to a stop. "We're fine."

"What was that light?" Sayyed demanded.

Athlone did not hesitate. He had made his decision to wield his power no matter how his clan would react, but he badly wanted his companions' support. The healer and the warriors were his first and most important test of the clan's willingness to be ruled by a chieftain-sorcerer. He cocked an eyebrow and said, "I tried a spell to create a globe of light. It went a little wild."

Piers did not seem surprised. He nodded in approval. The three warriors looked at their lord speechlessly. Secen glanced at Gabria, then back at Athlone. Both his and his fel ows' jaws hung slack.

Valar cleared his throat and said slowly, "But Lord, the laws forbidding sorcery have not been removed. What if you are exiled or put to death?"

The Khulinin chieftain replied, "I have thought about that and about many things. I realize I am endangering my position as ruler, but I can no longer turn my back on this power I was born with. The time is coming when we will have to face the gorthling's threat to the clans, and swords will not be enough."

The three warriors stared at him for a long, painful minute until, one by one, they sheathed their weapons and turned back to camp.

Athlone watched them go. They had not jumped into an instant acclamation of his decision, but they had not condemned him, either. He released his breath in a long, silent sigh. It was one thing to demand obedience from a warrior on the field of battle, but Athlone could not in good conscience order his men to accept his talent as a sorcerer. He could only hope their loyalty and respect for him as a chieftain would eventually win them over. Their acceptance would mean a great deal to the rest of the clan.

Sayyed had been watching the exchange with deep interest. He was very aware of the significance of Athlone's decision to wield magic. He slid his sword back into its leather scabbard and stood arms akimbo, his body tight with anticipation. "Good! Gabria, you can teach us both to use our powers."

"Not now,” she said hastily. "The night is late."

"This is as good a time as any to start," Athlone said.

Gabria groaned inwardly. She could hardly bear to teach Athlone for fear of what he wanted to do.

Now she had to include Sayyed. The men were watching her expectantly, so she gritted her teeth and marched back to camp. Athlone and Sayyed were not going to let her wiggle out of this; it was clear she would have to teach them something---a few of the basic premises she had learned from the Woman of the Marsh. Perhaps if they knew more of the dangers of wielding magic they would have enough sense to leave the gorthling alone when they found it.

Gabria settled down by the fire and waited while Sayyed and Athlone came to join her. Tam came, too, and curled up beside Sayyed, her large eyes glittering in the firelight with a strange excitement. The other men went to their own tasks, but Gabria noticed they stayed close enough to hear her voice.

She paused briefly and cast her mind back to the mangrove tree in the swamp and the ancient sorceress whose rasping voice still spoke clearly in her memory.

"Will is at the center of sorcery,” Gabria forced herself to say. "With every spell you create, you are attempting to impose your will on the fabric of our world. Magic is a natural force that is in every