The Consequences of Meeting a Dragon

To begin with, you're not currently in as much danger from dream magic as you've been thinking. What happened with the ice magic today was an unusual situation.

"Why? Because of the crack in Namyis' magic dampener?"

That was part of it. Her extremely high magic power, combined with the broken dampener, meant you were exposed to an abnormally large amount of ice essence magic. Ariom already told you that much. But something else unusual happened when you replicated the effect with your dream magic later.

"Did it?" Thenio blinked, trying to remember anything strange that happened while he was drawing in his sketchbook. But apart from the change in his magic attribute, he couldn't think of anything.

Think back to when you started drawing using magic, Ki'shiu said patiently. Describe to me exactly what happened. Everything you did. The thoughts and feelings you had at the time.

"Thoughts and feelings? Um...." Thenio paused, thinking. "Well, I'd just done a few sketches without using magic, and I was a little unhappy with how they came out, since I couldn't remember exactly how everything looked. Then I tried doing a sketch with magic. Mideis told me I should practice both ways during my drawing sessions, so I can learn to control when the magic activates and when it doesn't.

"I started off by thinking about some of the facts that I knew about Namyis, like her position in the Magic Corps and what I'd heard about her magic abilities. Then I thought back to when she showed Ariom her dampening cuffs and drew what she looked like at that moment.

"I finished the sketch and then looked over it and compared it to the earlier ones. The magic made it a lot easier to remember all the details, so the drawing came out a lot better. I was happy about that. Then I noticed that I was feeling a little bit cold."

Ki'shiu nodded. You'd already replicated a small amount of ice magic by that time. Enough to notice, but not enough to be dangerous. If you'd stopped drawing at that point, your magic would have gone back to normal on its own.

"That's what Ariom thought, too. Since it hadn't even changed enough for Iggy to notice. Well...he was playing with his water bowl right then and wasn't paying too much attention...."

But you didn't realize what was happening, so you went ahead with another drawing.

"Right. I stopped for a minute to check on Iggy and Amisi and see if I was feeling cold because of a draft from an open window or something. But I didn't see anything like that, so I decided I must have just imagined it because I was thinking about Namyis so much. Then I went on drawing.

"For that last sketch...well, when Ariom told me to take Iggy up to my room and Amisi ran after us, Namyis watched her go with this sort of sad, resigned look on her face.... That bothered me, so I wanted to draw how she looked right then while I thought about what happened and what it meant.

"I know a lot of magic beasts don't like being around high-ranking sorcerers. So I was imagining what that would be like and wondering how Namyis felt about it. And it occurred to me that maybe it was a lot like how I've always felt about other people not wanting to be around me."

There. That was it. That was why the effect was so much stronger with the second drawing.

"Because I was thinking about how Namyis felt?"

Yes. Or, more precisely, because you wanted to know how she felt. You wanted to understand and empathize with her. Because of that desire, you instinctively used much more dream magic than you would have if you were just focusing on what she looked like, in order to gain that knowledge. And the empathy you felt, plus your recent exposure to her essence magic, made your magic change more easily to match hers.

Thenio stared at Ki'shiu. "You're saying that I read her mind or her emotions or something? Like Mideis does?"

Not exactly. It looks similar on the surface, but the process is different. Mental magic reads information. Dream magic recreates it.

"It...recreates it?"

Yes. That's what a dream is, isn't it? Ki'shiu looked out across the lake. This dream is a recreation of a real place, using my knowledge of that place. Of course, it's much easier to recreate something in a dream than it is in the physical world. That's one reason why I'm teaching you here.

"Well, recreating something in a dream makes sense." Thenio also looked out at the water, which was reflecting the blue sky and fluffy white clouds overhead. "But how does that work in the real world? I mean, you can't just magically create a whole lake whenever you want, can you?"

I can. But the larger the recreation, the more magic power it requires, so I'm afraid you won't be making lakes anytime soon. Well, I don't recommend it anyway. Restructuring the landscape however you please would cause problems for the people and creatures living in the area, wouldn't it?

"Um...yeah...I guess it would...."

Thenio felt a bit foolish. Why did he keep forgetting that he was talking to a mythic beast...?

Rather than recreating something directly, the real strength of dream magic is in its ability to recreate things in alternate forms. That's what your drawings are. Information recreated in the form of an image. That's why you can transcribe magic formations more easily than Ariom or Mideis can, even though they have more knowledge of enchanting. They have to read and interpret the telepathic information, but you can just directly recreate it as a picture.

"Oh. Is that why I could do it even without knowing much about the enchanting style?"

That's right. Though obviously having more knowledge makes it easier. Learning to control your dream magic more deliberately will help as well. You've just been using it instinctively up to this point. Which wasn't a problem as long as it was limited to your drawing. That's why Eteon taught you to draw using dream magic in the first place—to tie the two together in your mind so that you wouldn't use dream magic randomly. But now that you're starting to move beyond that, you need some formal training.

Thenio frowned a little. "How exactly am I moving beyond it? I've been using it a little differently, but it's still connected to drawing."

Not entirely. You've been doing some other things as well—you just haven't noticed yet. You formed your own dream world, for example.

"You mean that forest? Was that not a normal dream?"

Ki'shiu shook his head. Normal dreams are just temporary illusions. Your personal dream world is a permanent space created with dream magic. It's not a physical place, but that doesn't mean it isn't real. You should eventually be able to alter it however you want, but its original form is a symbolic recreation of your current mental and emotional state. Your inner world, so to speak.

Thenio made a face. "So my current state is a snowy forest maze with no way out?"

It's accurate enough, isn't it? The forest represents your struggles with your chaos magic. There's no path leading out because you haven't found a solution to your problems yet. The fog that's normally there comes from your feelings of confusion and lack of knowledge about the situation. The snow tonight is your worry about what happened this afternoon. And the dream you were having when I entered your world, where you were running in circles, shows your frustration and impatience over what you feel is a lack of progress.

"Oh." Thenio thought about that for a minute. Now that Ki'shiu had pointed it out, the symbolism did seem to fit. "How did you know all that?"

How many years do you think I've been interpreting dreams? Ki'shiu's head and ears drooped a little. And watching over chaos morphs....

"Just how many of us have you been involved with?" Thenio asked tentatively. Learning about previous chaos morphs always made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

You're the twelfth.

"Twelve? Ariom said that the records he got from the Association only had eight. Nine, including me."

Not all of them are in the records. Not the publicly available records, anyway.

Thenio raised his eyebrows a little. "Why? Ariom was complaining that there was information missing from the records they sent him. Why is the Association hiding things?"

Because I asked them to.

"You did?" Thenio blinked at Ki'shiu in surprise. "Why, though?"

As I warned Mideis, some knowledge is dangerous. Dangerous for you, specifically.

"Because of my dream magic, right? I kind of understand that part. But why do you need to hide things from Ariom?"

Your dream magic isn't the only problem. Ki'shiu hesitated for a moment, as though deciding how much he wanted to say. It's also risky to let other people know too much about chaos magic. There are...certain people...who would definitely try to harm you if they learned about the true nature of your magic.

"But you trusted Ariom enough to let him take me in." Thenio frowned. "He's trying to find a way to stabilize my magic, isn't he? What if he can't figure it out because he doesn't have enough information? How does it help to save me from getting killed by whoever those 'certain people' are if it just means I'll end up killing myself instead?"

I didn't say they'd kill you. I said they'd harm you. Ki'shiu's ears flattened, and his eyes narrowed. There are things worse than death, Thenio.

Thenio opened his mouth but couldn't think how to respond to that, so he closed it again.

Things worse than death? Was there really something so bad that Ki'shiu would let him die just to avoid it?

He didn't ask what exactly that something might be. He had a feeling that the dream beast wouldn't tell him, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know anyway....

Ki'shiu moved a little closer and nuzzled Thenio's hair. Don't worry. I won't let anything like that happen to you. And I don't intend to withhold information from Ariom forever. I just want to see what he does with what he's been given before I entrust him with the next piece.

"Am I allowed to tell him that? He was pretty unhappy about the Association leaving things out of the files they gave him."

I don't mind. He might still be unhappy, but if you tell him what I just told you, I think he'll at least understand my reasoning. I should also add that I'm not telling him certain things because I want him to approach the problem from a new angle. I'm afraid that if he knows everything I know, he'll see chaos magic the same way I do. Which will just lead to the same dead ends....

Ki'shiu let out a long sigh. The landscape around them shuddered a little, like a strong gust of wind had just blown through, although Thenio didn't feel one.

But even if I haven't figured out how to stabilize chaos morphs yet, I've at least had a lot of experience teaching them to use dream magic. So we'll start with what we can do and work from there.

"Did you teach all the others to use dream magic, too?"

Not all, but most of them. The ones I didn't.... Ki'shiu looked away, and his ears drooped again. Those were the ones that died the youngest. You asked before why I allowed you to learn dream magic, in spite of the risk it presents? That's why. Because I've learned through painful experience that it will help you more than it hurts you.

"Oh...." Thenio felt another stab of guilt over his earlier outburst. "So it will help control my chaos magic?"

Yes, it will.

"Why is that? Are the two kinds of magic related somehow? Or is it just that learning dream magic will help my magic control in general, like practicing thaumaturgy does?"

Ki'shiu didn't answer right away. Once again, he seemed to be considering how much he ought to reveal.

The two of them have some similarities, he said finally. You saw this afternoon how dream magic is able to recreate other types of magic, didn't you? And chaos magic also changes to different types. Practicing dream magic seems to help chaos morphs control the fluctuations in their magic power...at least to some extent. It's not enough to completely stabilize it, but it helps. You should already have some experience with that. Hasn't drawing always helped you calm down and focus?

Thenio's eyes widened a little. "Oh. You're right. When I was still in school, I used to take breaks during my magic practice to draw a sketch or two, and my control was usually better for a little while afterward. I thought it was just because I was more relaxed. But it was actually helping to calm my magic down?"

Ki'shiu nodded. Yes, it was. At least the times you were drawing while using dream magic.

"Ariom thought the fluctuations in my magic power might be because whenever I come into contact with essence magic, it has some kind of permanent effect on my magic circuit, like a scar. Is he right about that?"

That's.... Ki'shiu hesitated again, tilting his head a little to one side. ...not exactly right. But it's not exactly wrong, either. Let's say it's close enough for now.

Thenio raised an eyebrow. "Close enough? What's that supposed to mean?"

It means that the general idea is right, but I can't tell you any more than that right now. Ki'shiu lowered his head apologetically. I'm sorry. I'd explain everything to you if I could.

"No, it's okay." Thenio reached up and stroked the bridge of the dream beast's nose. "It's a little frustrating, but I understand. I'm grateful that you're helping me at all. After so many chaos morphs...I wouldn't blame you for getting tired of us and giving up."

Ki'shiu snorted and flicked his tail. I'm never going to give up. He looked directly into Thenio's eyes. I'll find a way, no matter how long it takes. I promise you that.

"That's...." Thenio was a little taken aback by the resolute look in Ki'shiu's eyes. "Why?" he asked before he could stop himself. "Why do you care so much?"

Because it's something I chose to do. I made a commitment, and I'll see it through until the end.

They stared at each other silently for a long moment.

Then Ki'shiu turned his head and took a step back. We've talked long enough for now. He pointed his horn at the grass nearby, and a wooden bench faded into view, as though it were appearing from a cloud of smoke. Sit down. We should get some magic practice in before this dream ends.

In other words, he didn't want to discuss the subject any further. Thenio was a little disappointed, but he wasn't surprised, since Eteon had been similarly vague about the reasons for their interest in chaos magic.

He didn't really believe that they were doing so much simply because they felt like helping. Not when Ki'shiu had been involved with so many chaos morphs and had even gone to the trouble of making the Wizard Association control what information they released.

But Thenio was at least convinced that they genuinely cared about him and were trying to save his life, whatever other motivations they might have had. That was enough to keep trusting them for now.

He obediently sat down on the bench and waited for Ki'shiu's instructions.

Dream magic is a lot like mental magic in that it's difficult to teach specific techniques. It's something you'll need to feel out and learn for yourself. But you've been using dream magic unconsciously for years now, so all you really need at this point is some guidance and a safe place to experiment.

"So this is that safe place?"

Yes. While you're inside a dream I've created, I can partially separate you from your physical body, so you won't hurt yourself if your practicing goes wrong.

"How can I still use magic, then? The body is what produces magic power, isn't it?"

Usually, yes. But you won't be using magic, strictly speaking. You're currently in an illusionary body, and you'll be using illusionary magic, not your real magic power. Think of this as a sort of high-quality mental practice.

"Really? You can do that?" Thenio looked down at his hands. He knew this was a dream, but it felt real enough.

It's a method I developed specifically for training chaos morphs. It won't increase your magic capacity, like practice in the physical world will, but it will allow you to learn new techniques. And you won't have to worry about exploding or freezing yourself.

"That's amazing. I needed this back when I was at the academy...." Thenio stared at his hands a moment longer. Then he looked up at Ki'shiu. "Wait. If you had a method like this, that lets chaos morphs train all they want, but it still wasn't enough to stabilize their magic...."

It's like you're thinking. Training will improve your magic control, but it isn't enough by itself. Even combined with magic insulation, it isn't enough. That's why we need to find a new approach. But this will help. It will buy a little more time.

"That's what Ariom said. That the methods we're using now are really just a way to keep me alive until we can find a better solution...." Thenio sighed. "All right. What do you want me to do?"

We're going to start with something that's a little more advanced than what you've been doing. You'll be recreating an actual object, rather than just an image. This is much more difficult in the physical world, but here it's quite easy. Just think of an object that you're familiar with, as you would if you wanted to draw a picture of it. But instead of a flat image, try to imagine that the actual object is there in front of you.

"An object? It won't work with something like a magic beast?"

It will. But at this stage, you'll only be able to create a lifeless body. Attaching a spirit to it is more difficult. And it's potentially dangerous for the creature you're trying to summon. So stick with inanimate objects for now. We'll talk about living things later.

That sounded scary....

Thenio thought for a moment and finally decided to try recreating one of his drawing pencils. He tried to remember the details of the pencil he'd been using that afternoon. It was made of cedar and painted green. It had been sharpened about a third of the way down, and it had a few dents that had mysteriously appeared on it the other day and looked suspiciously like the tooth marks of a very small dragon.

Once he had an image of the pencil in his head, Thenio held out his hand and tried to imagine that he was holding the pencil in it. The weight of it. The smooth feel of the paint. The faint scents of the wood and lead.

A sort of thin shadow appeared across his palm. It gradually grew darker and more solid-looking. But as soon as Thenio started watching it and got distracted from thinking about his pencil, it flickered and disappeared.

That wasn't bad for a first attempt, Ki'shiu told him encouragingly. Go ahead and try again.

Thenio nodded and started over, thinking about the details of the pencil and then imagining it sitting in his hand. This time he kept his concentration up well enough that the thin shadow turned into the ghostly image of a pencil. But it was transparent and a bit unsteady, like a mirage, and when he tried to take hold of it, his fingers passed through the image, and it vanished.

Undaunted, he tried again....

And again....

It took a total of six attempts, but eventually Thenio was holding a solid pencil in his hand. A perfect replica of its real-world counterpart.

Very good. Ki'shiu gave an approving nod. You understand the basic technique. Now you just need to keep practicing until it becomes easy for you. Try recreating another object.

Thenio set the pencil down on the bench and started trying to recreate his sketchbook. He followed the same procedure—first thinking about the materials and dimensions, then the drawings inside, and finally the feeling of holding the book, the texture of the cover, and the scent of the paper.

This, too, took multiple attempts. And when Thenio was finally holding a solid sketchbook in his hands, he discovered it wasn't a perfect replica. Many of the drawings were blurred and distorted. Some were missing entirely, replaced by blank pages.

That's normal, Ki'shiu reassured him. The more complex an object is, the more difficult it is to reproduce. But don't worry, your accuracy will improve with practice. Just keep trying.

Thenio slowly accumulated a small pile of objects next to him on the bench. The pencil and sketchbook. A spoon. One of the pillows from his bed. Iggy's water bowl. A shoe. The dragon encyclopedia, which also had a lot of blurred and blank pages. And even a fairly convincing imitation of Obby, although Ki'shiu confirmed that the enchantment inscriptions were missing.

I think that's enough for tonight, Ki'shiu said as Thenio added a copy of Iggy's scale brush to the pile. You won't exhaust your magic power when you practice here, but you'll still accumulate mental fatigue. It's better not to overdo things.

"Ah...okay." Thenio looked over the random objects he'd created. "What do I do with these?"

Nothing. They'll disappear when this dream ends. Though I'll teach you to make objects disappear individually later on so you won't need to keep creating piles like that whenever you practice.

"That would be good. It's kind of a weird collection.... I should look around the house for some better things to practice with." Thenio turned to look at Ki'shiu. "How often will we be training like this?"

I'd like to do it every night until you can at least control when your dream magic activates, to avoid another situation like the one this afternoon. That shouldn't take more than a week or two. We can discuss a long-term schedule after that.

"Will I still be able to help with the enchantment analysis for the Royal Guard? As long as I don't draw more pictures of Namyis, of course...."

It should be all right. Ariom knows better now what to be careful of, and I'll be keeping a close watch on you. Just remember to ask me or Eteon before you try anything new with your dream magic.

"Okay." Thenio nodded obediently. Then he hesitated. "Um...about Namyis.... Do you know any kind of magic dampening technique that would help with her essence magic? Or do I just have to stay away from her?"

You want to be able to interact with her?

"Well...yeah. She seems pretty nice. A little strange, maybe...but nice. And...well, I feel kind of sorry for her. She seems to really like magic beasts, but she can't be around them much because of her magic. And it sounds like she had a lot of trouble with magic control when she was younger. I just...feel like we have a lot in common...."

Ki'shiu seemed to consider for a moment. I usually try not to interfere with human magic development, since it's hard to know what kind of ripple effects it might cause.... But all right. If it's what you want, I'll help out a little. Will you pass something on to Ariom for me?

"Sure. What is it?"

Rather than tell you, it's faster to show you.

Ki'shiu bent down and touched the end of his horn to Thenio's forehead....

Thenio woke up with a start and sat up in bed. The light in the room was dim, and looking toward the window, he saw that it was still a little before dawn.

He also saw Iggy sprawled out across a cushion on the window seat, fast asleep. Ariom had asked the little dragon to sleep in Thenio's room last night, just in case something happened with his magic again, and Iggy had been happy to oblige.

Thenio got quietly out of bed so as not to wake the sleeping dragon and went into the next room. He lit the lamp on the desk, then sat down and pulled out a pencil and one of the pads of grid paper he'd had left over from his enchantment design class.

Then he started drawing, moving quickly to capture the rush of information that Ki'shiu had poured into his head before it disappeared.

He drew and drew, filling several pages with intricate magic formations. He honestly didn't understand most of what he was drawing, and he wasn't sure he was getting everything exactly right. But he trusted both the information Ki'shiu had given him and Ariom's ability to sort it all out.

Finally, he finished the last formation and set his pencil down with a sigh.

"Is that all of it?"

Thenio jumped and whipped his head around. "Wha...? Ariom? How long have you been here?"

Ariom was standing next to the desk with Iggy perched on his shoulder. He was holding several papers in his hand, which Thenio realized were the previous formations he'd been drawing and pushing to the side.

"About...fifteen minutes?" Ariom reached down to pick up the paper pad and started looking over the last formation. "Iggy woke up a little while ago and found you out here drawing magic formations like you were possessed by something. He said you didn't seem to notice when he tried to talk to you, so he was worried and came to get me. I knocked and spoke to you when I came in, but you didn't notice that, either."

"Oh. Sorry..." Thenio said, feeling rather embarrassed. "I guess I was just concentrating really hard? I was rushing to get everything down before I forgot it all. And I probably made some mistakes...."

Ariom nodded, not taking his eyes off the paper. "Yes, you did. But it's fine. It's not so bad that I can't tell how it was originally supposed to be." He finally looked up. "I assume Ki'shiu gave you this?"

"Yeah...he just dumped the whole thing into my head, like Amisi does. Just before I woke up." Thenio made a face. "I'm not even sure exactly what it is...."

"It's a magic insulation enchantment. One specifically designed to filter out essence magic. He just gave it to you without telling you what it was?"

"No...well...I asked him if he knew any magic dampening techniques that would work for essence magic, to help with Namyis. He said that he doesn't like interfering with human magic development but he'd help us out a little. Then he said he wanted me to pass something on to you. And he gave me all that. I woke up right after and came out here to hurry and write it all down."

"I see. Well, it's not a dampening technique, but as far as you're concerned, it's even better. I should be able to use this to improve your insulation bands quite a bit." Ariom looked down at the paper again with a thoughtful expression. "If he doesn't want to interfere with human magic development.... Maybe he realized I was already thinking about trying to design something like this, after what happened yesterday. So it's something I would have developed eventually anyway. This just saves me some time and effort."

"So it won't actually help Namyis any...?"

Ariom scowled a little. "What are you worrying about her for? You need help more than she does."

"I know...but...." Thenio hesitated, glancing at Iggy. "I just think it's kind of sad that she can't really interact with magic beasts, even though she likes them a lot."

Ariom sighed. "Sometimes you're too nice for your own good, Thenio.... But if it makes you feel better, I can probably use this to make some insulation devices for magic beasts, too. It won't help her interact with all of them, but it can help her with some of them."

"Really? That's great!" Thenio said happily.

"Didn't I just say you don't need to worry about her...?" Ariom gave him a disgruntled look. Then he glanced toward the nearest window, where the morning sunlight was now shining brightly. "Well, whatever. Change your clothes and come downstairs. I want to hear more about your meeting with Ki'shiu, but we have a lot on our schedule for today, so let's talk during morning training."