Chapter IV

The Practice of Wizardry

Archaon was not the first to arrive in the main courtyard but not the last so he still had some time to sit by the stone wizard and further study his new staff, every now and then glancing at the head wizard, who as best as Archaon could guess was in his finest robes. When all the “minor wizards” had gathered in the main courtyard the Head Wizard turned his attention to them and assembled them in loose and rather un-uniformed ranks.  “Now I want you all to imagine that you’re inside of you’re staff exploring it and searching for the magic inside it.  Take your time as this probably will take awhile.  Once you have found the magic… well, its your staff.  Oh, but make sure your staff is pointed upwards, we don’t want any accidents here do we.”  Archaon began his “exploration” of his staff; he closed his eyes and started at the base of the staff. 

There was, white,

 not a pale white as on the outside of the staff this white was simply brilliant, it seemed as the white had a certain luminosity about it that was one of the most wonderful things Archaon had ever seen, or felt?

He imagined flowing upward through the staff as if a soft wind was gently pushing him towards the top of the staff, and the brilliant whiteness continued.

Suddenly the whiteness was gone and every thing was clear and he felt as if all the

Sun’s ray ten fold glorified shone down upon him

And he bathed in there clear light.

He could see himself his staff pointed towards the sky, standing amidst the others.

And yet he was here… inside his staff.

Then he noticed something, at the center of the clear light was… the sun?

It was and orb of shining air though that seemed impossible he thought many things were impossible before this experience.

Archaon reached forward and touched it;

It was bright, soft, and it filled him with joy.

Then for some reason unknown to Archaon, he wanted to give joy

To the thing that had given him the joy

He touched the shining orb of shining air and recalled the wind that had taken him to this clear sanctuary…

He heard a whooshing sound, then the head wizard’s voice,

Then in the blink of an eye he was standing amidst the others in the main courtyard.

“Archaon, that was brilliant! I have never seen a student grasp it so quickly! And congratulations to you Merovaeus, your new strategy is a complete success.” The Head Wizard said to Archaon then to the same old man who had brought him to this place.

The Head Wizard beckoned him over to wait for the others to complete their tasks.

One by one short bursts of fire shot forth from a student’s staff or a clump of dirt would break up out of the ground and then in a moment break apart.  Archaon watched in amusement as Tristana’s staff (which appeared to be made of blue stained glass and had a head in the shape of a magnificent waterlilly) suddenly let loose a sprout of rich, bluish water that  miraculously hovered above her head then crashed down on her thoroughly drenching her.  And sometimes a barely visible gust of air would apparently whoosh out of someone’s staff and Archaon correctly believed that this is what he or his staff had done.  When every one had finished, Merovaeus addressed the whole group and said the following, “Now when you began to “explore” your staff you probably (as should be) started at the base of the staff.  I want you to go to the same place in your staff where you found the magic but go directly to it instead of starting at the base and traveling upwards. To get the magic to do what you want it to grasp it and create, in your mind what you want it to do”   Archaon did as instructed and once again found his mind in the clear Crystal place which Archaon guessed was the Crystal shard atop his staff. There again was the shining orb of magic.  He put his hand on it and thought of a strong summer breeze  rushing through the trees and he tried to imitate one.  To him and Merovaeus the result was quite satisfactory even though he was not the first one to finish; Tristana held that prize this time, and doing so adequately watered most of the nearby Garden and some wizards walking through it with a light but impressive shower of water.  “Well done, all of you well done.  But now your final task is quite tricky; you must manipulate the Magic while having your mind in the staff and still be aware of what is going on around you. This will be difficult but persist in it and you will succeed, a useful word might be “balance”.   Merovaeus was right, doing this feat was both tricky and difficult.

Archaon tried to balance his mind in his staff  and outside of it but his mind kept veering of to one or the other.  Finally after some time he was able to create the gust of wind without his mind being totally absorbed in the staff; Though he was not the first to do this another student with the same staff that Archaon had seen earlier that looked as made of forged iron let loose a streak of fire just before Archaon succeeded then followed by Tristana.  “Very good all of you, tomorrow gather here where you will meet your teachers. For now Practice what you have learned and look for things to occupy your self there’s the Garden, Library, Chess yard, and all sorts of nooks and crannies for you to explore.”  Archaon lost track of Tristana so he resolved to go to the Garden, but on his way he got lost and found himself going down a wide hall with doors running along one side at intervals.  Archaon peeked through one door and saw inside was a very large room filled with rows of shelves upon which books of all sorts rested gathering dust until some one had a need or interest to read one; This was the Library.  Sylvan looked up from and old and slightly dusty desk and greeted Archaon “why, hello Archaon I will admit that I am surprised to see you here, for what purpose do you come?”  “I meant to go to the Garden but I found myself lost and, ended up here.”  “Well, since you’re in the Library, can you read or write?”  “I was taught how to write my name a long time ago, but that is all”.  “Here then, why don’t you show me” Sylvan drew out of a cubicle shelf a roll of spare parchment, and from his desk, long, carved, pen that had a steel, Lancelot shaped head out of which ink the color of pitch streamed out when used.  With an unsteady and untrained hand Archaon wrote his name down on the parchment. “That’s a start,” said Sylvan. “Now, see that first symbol which starts your name?”  “Yes.”  “That is the letter A, the next letter looks like this,” Sylvan, in a quick and fluid motion, elaborately wrote the letter B.   “Now you copy it.” Instructed Sylvan. This process continued for over half an hour and when they finished Sylvan made a chart using the letters of the alphabet. This he gave to Archaon along with the pen and parchment, and instructed him, after tomorrow’s lesson in Wizardry to return here for further practice in writing.  “It may be difficult and frustrating now, but it will pay off in the future” encouraged Sylvan.

Archaon found Tristana in a passage way that led up into the Student corridors.

She told him about the Garden, which he had failed to find, and also of Lady Miscanthia, care taker of the garden.

Archaon opened the door to his room, set his staff in it’s rack, and lay down in his bed.

The night was quiet, and his sleep was deep…