Trell - 6

The next morning Trell planned to sleep through the day, as was the custom in the fey wood, but by the time Lady Karil returned home for lunch he succumbed to the inquisitive knocks of the house staff, and joined her for the meal. Gabe was there as well, and both of them had dark circles under their eyes. Heather, Salinthra and family, and Lord Selimnairus were there as well, but none of them seemed any worse for the late night. They explained it away as a simple little spell.

Heather was very talkative, and politely begged Trell to come visit some of her classes. Apparently she was having no success at all teaching her planned lessons, and every class simply degenerated into the talking about the fireside, or the fey wood, or the magical fauns, satyrs, nymphs, dryads, etc. She said that the students had an endless stream of questions, that she could not begin to satiate, and was hoping Trell might help. He graciously agree, and listened as the others talked about the performance, or the students reactions, or how they were thinking of changing some classes to incorporate some new ideas. Salinthra was even began planning to teach a dance class after her baby was born.

After lunch Trell and Gabe freshened up a bit, and then escorted Heather to her next class. Gabe took the opportunity to ask about things, and answered kindly, telling about this person and that person that he had known. As they neared the classroom Trell spoke up.

“So, Heather, are you unattached then?” He asked not so much for his own interest, but because he knew Gabe would never have the courage to ask directly.

Heather signed, “Yes, I suppose I am.” she said wistfully. Then with a sparkle in her eye she scolded, “But you are taken, don’t you start flirting with me.”

They all laughed, and filed into a small classroom. To their surprise, the classroom was packed beyond capacity. Not only were all the seats taken, and many of the desks were being put to use as chairs, but there was not even standing room around the walls.

“Well!” said Heather surprised. “I didn’t remember my spell components class was so popular. Perhaps we will have to go out and sit on the grass.”

There was a murmur of agreement by the students, and they all followed her out to the lawn where the class continued to grow. Once there Heather started by asking Trell: “So what kinds of components do you use in the few wood for spells?”

Trell puzzled over the question for a minute and then asked, “Do mean like the dust Lord Selimnairus used to light the stage last night?”

She nodded in agreement, and Trell thought about it. “Well I don’t think I have ever thought to categorize them.” he paused for another moment, then said, “I guess I might classify them as plant, animal, element, and spirit. Is that what you mean?”

Heather thought about what he had said for a moment before responding. “That is a very intriguing way of classifying things. We refer to spell components as three types verbal, the words, somantic, the actions or movements, and material, like the dust used by Lord Selimnairus.”

“Oh, okay.” said Trell, “Let me see then…” He stroked his goatee for a few seconds then continued, “I guess we use the same, but I might add that there is a source and a target for a spell.”

Heather responded encouragingly, “We definitely recognize those aspects of a spell, and I can see how you might call those components. Thank you.”
She then turned to her class and began her lecture on mosses, and their magic properties and uses. Trell listened curiously, and learned some things that he had not known. Gabe seemed to be enthralled by the lecture, but Trell suspected he was entranced by the lecturer. Many of the older students, that had already been through the class, slowly drifted off to other activities, and the class took notes or just listened.

At the end of the lecture Heather gave their assignment and passed out little plates with moss on them to the student groups. She then dismissed them, but most just sat still as if waiting for some further discussion. After a minute of light conversation with Trell and Gabe, Heather turned to the students and asked if they needed something.
One of the boys, who sat a tight little group of students hesitantly asked, “We were wondering if we might as Trell something.”

Heather looked to Trell, “Do you mind?”

Trell responded, “No not all.”

The boy, with a little nudging and encouragement, finally asked, “We were wondering… um what what… well… is magic different in fey wood than it is here?”

Trell found the question a little strange, and thought for a second. Then a sly smile spread across his face. He quickly changed that to a very serious and thoughtful expression and said, “Hm, lets see.”

He then waved his hand in the direction of the boy who began to glow with a swirling of colors that surrounded his entire body.
“Nope.” said Trell, “It works that same here.”

The other children burst into laughter, and began touching the boy to see what the fairy fire felt like. The boy blushed brightly at first, but then began to strut around, waving his arms and flexing his muscled.

“Look at me!” he said, “I’m a fairy.”

The children dispersed after that, and Trell and Gabe escorted Heather to her next class, that was across campus. As they walked Heather asked, “What kind of magic users are there in the fey wood?”

“Well” said Trell as he thought about the question. “That is hard to say. I mean every thing has magic. Some of it is very visible, like the fairy fire spell, but so much of it is very difficult see, and often can only been seen over long periods of time.”

Heather turned to Trell with a quizzical look, “You mean even the plants and animals cast spells in the fey wood?”

It was now Trell’s turn to be surprised. “Well sure, but it is not any different than it is here for you.”

“But our animals, and even most of the people don’t cast spells.” replied Heather, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Well,” said Trell pondering. “The thing is…” He paused for a minute then changed direction with his explanation.

“If I wanted to get a field plowed, and I asked Gabe here to go plow that field, would you say it was magic when the next day the field was plowed?”

Heather responded hesitantly, “No.”

Trell continued, “Well I call that magic. By saying a few simple words, I got a field plowed.”

He paused for a few moments, and then continued, “Now it is important that you do things the right way. I can’t ask the stars to plow the field. I can’t ask the rabbits to plow the field. I can ask Gabe, because we are friends, we have a relationship, a trust, and we can both see the value in getting the field plowed, and we both gain by plowing the field.”

Trell let his words sink in. “But let’s say I don’t have a friend who can plow the field for me. Can I ask a passing stranger to go plow the field for me?” he waited and Heather slowly shook her head no. “No, of course not.” said Trell, “But if I were to speak some ‘magic’ words and use a handful of gold as…” he thought back to her classifications then continued, “…as material components, then the field would get plowed. Once again, I have plowed the field by magic.”
Trell could see some understanding beginning to grow, and continued. “Now sometimes magic happens, not by what you say or do, but by who or what you are. For example, Gabe here has a crush on you.”

Trell’s frankness and flat tone took both Heather and Gabe by surprise and made them both blush brightly. He thinks that you are very pretty. Now, he will do all sorts of things for you, just to see you smile, or to spend time with you.”

At this point Gabe punched Trell in the shoulder teasingly, but couldn’t hide his blushing face. Trell gave his a sly smile, and acting all innocent asked, “What?” Gabe just let out a puff of air and rolled his eyes.

“So anyway” continued Trell, turning back to Heather, “You can ask him to do just about anything, and he will do it just because you are pretty. So if you asked him to go plow a field, he might do it. I call that magic. But, if you were insult or offend him, it may very well break the crush, or the spell, and he will no longer do things for you.”

“Now if you two were to fall in love, and get married, it would not be just because he thought you pretty, it would be because some additional ‘magic’ was at work from both sides. Probably, you would see the considerate, kind, and strong heart in Gabe, and he would find you to be smart, and kind, and loving as well. If that were to happen, not only would Gabe plow a field for you, but he would do that every day for the rest of his life. He would cut off his own hand if it would save yours. Her would rush into the jaws of a dragon if it would save you.” he paused and then concluded, “That sounds like magic to me.”

Trell paused momentarily, while Heather pondered. “Here is another example.” he said, “When you assign your students a certain bit of homework, do they do it?” she smiled and responded, “Generally, yes.”

“So I would say” continued Trell, “You are using magic to get a lot of stuff done. But why do they do that?”

“Because I’m the teacher.” said Heather.

“Exactly, because you are the teacher.” repeated Trell. “So just because you are the teacher, the students do things. And think about it, if Gabe, or mayor Shiny Pants from

No Magnon, or another student asked them to do those same things, would they do them?”

“Not likely.” said Heather.

“Thats magic too.” said Trell.

“Now think of a more mechanical type of magic. Imagine Gabe here were down in No Magnon, and was standing beside one of the gnomes. Lets say the gnome asked Gabe to go away, and Gabe said no. I might say that a spell had failed. Then lets say the gnome sets off an explosion that throws Gabe far away. Was that magic? The gnome has just moved Gabe far away with only the effort of lighting a fuze. A lot of people would not call that magic, but I do.”

Heather’s eyes began to register understanding, and they walked a bit in silence. Then as they approached the school building she asked: “Now you mentioned a long term kind of magic. One that you could only see over time. What do you mean?”

“Simply this,” began Trell, “When you stick a seed in the ground, it grows. I call that magic. In a similar way, when a man and a woman come together, a baby is conceived. When a group of people come together, a city is conceived. You see, the universe is in a constant state of decay or entropy, and any time something is created or built up, that is going against the cold reality of the universe. All of that, I call magic.”

By this time, they were standing at the door to another school classroom.

“That is very intriguing.” said Heather. “I’ll have to give that some thought.”

They entered the classroom, and once again, they found it packed. As they squeezed passed the students near the door they noticed that one of the boys in the back was playing with a little fire ball that floated above his hand.

Heather noticed him, and was about to scold him when another boy threw a strange powder of the boys should onto the fire. Heather called out, “NO!”, but the powder scattered down the boys arms and wrist. When it reached the little fireball the powder exploded sending a wave of flame up the boys arm and igniting his shirt.

By the time the three adults could get to the boy, the other students had doused the flame, but the boy was burned badly from his hand to his shoulder and one side of his face. Much of it was beyond blistering, and parts were beginning to bleed.

“Everyone out!” called Heather. “Except you Markus!” said said with a dangerous venom in her voice.

Heather removed the remaining scraps of the boys sleeve revealing the awful burns. The boy was in agony crying out as each wave of pain surged through his arm.

Flustered, Heather called after the students that were streaming out of the room, “Someone call the nurse!”

By this time Trell’s hands had begun to glow blue, and getting brighter. As he placed his hands on the boys scorched arm, the boy cried out in pain, but quieted as the glow spread across his arm, and into his face. The bleeding stopped, and much of the wound was once again covered in skin, but Trell cast the spell again, and everyone watched in amazement as the would vanished completely.

The boy touched his arm and face, and finding no pain, and his skin fully restored, he looked up to Trell with gaping mouth and wide eyes. “Thank you.” he said incredulously.
Trell smiled and looked to Heather. She took stood with mouth wide, and eyes like lamps looking at the boys arm. Even the mischievous Markus ran his fingers up the boy’s arm in awe.

Heather tried to speak to Trell, “How… err… What… You… Fairy Magic?” she finally go out.

Trell was rather surprised at how surprised they were. “Well, kind of… but, not really.” he started, “Its just healing magic.” He stuttered a little, and tried to put his surprise into words, “…but I thought you could… or I mean… can’t you heal?”

Heather slowly shook her head no, her mouth still gaping open.

Markus was the first to recover from the shock, patted the boy on the shoulder, and said, “Sorry man, I don’t know it would do that, and Miss Heather surprised me, and… well… sorry.”

He began to walk away, but Miss Heather quickly spoke a few words and pointed at him. Shining chains appeared around the boys body and raised him up into the air.

“I’m sorry. Really. I won’t do it again.” he said a little scared, and fully expecting some formal punishment.

“You just hangout right there!” Heather growled at him.

She turned back to the boy with the burned shirt, and said, “Are you sure you are okay.”

“Yah”, he said, “…and sorry for playing with fire in the classroom.” He hung his head in submission.

“Good.” said Miss Heather in a softer voice. “Now I want both of you to Lord Selimnairus, and explain what happened here.”

In unison the boys answered, “Yes, Miss Heather.”

She released Markus, and the two boys slipped passed a door full of gawking children.

Heather turned back to Trell and Gabe, and said, “Why don’t you go relax a bit, and we can talk again after dinner. I’ll take care of the students.”

Trell and Gabe, both tired from the night before, and a little unsettled from the incident, agreed and wandered off to find a quiet place in the shade.

Not far from Mag le So, is a pool with some of the most beautiful gardens in the valley. There is a small waterfall that drops into the pool. Trell and Gabe laid down in the grass near a large oak tree. Soon a gaggle of young girls came giggling up to Trell and asked if he could make them glow.

Trell gave them a mischievous smile and said, “Only you will each give me a kiss on the cheek.”

The girls all giggled blushed, but clearly thought that was a fair price. They hesitated until one of the less giggly girls, a short girl with red hair, stepped forward and puckered up. Trell bent over and received his kiss, then waved his hand over the girl’s head and she immediately was outlined in fairy fire. She squealed and danced back the the other girls. One by one the girls all came forward and delivered payment and received their reward until there were only two left.

Trell recognized that he had been wrong. One of the children was a boy, and he was standing very close to the only remaining girl in the group. He noticed that here hair was a strange mix of light yellow, blond, and green. Although he had never seen that combination, the colors were very muted, and did not look particularly strange.

He looked and the last girl who was hesitating, and put his hands on him hips. “Well?” he said raising his eyebrows at her.

She seemed to hold her breath for a few seconds before letting out a puff of air and responding, “Fine!”

The boy standing next to her grabbed her arm, and asked, “Are you sure?”

She put her hand on his, answered, “It’s okay.”, and pulled away from him. She was tall enough to reach Trell’s cheek without him bending over, and to his surprise, she did not kiss him on the cheek, but right on the mouth. It was a strong kiss, but not particularly passionate. When stepped back her hair was a medium brown color streaked with blond.

Trell was stunned by both the kiss and the girls hair. Now it was her turn to put her hands on her hips and raiser her eyebrows.

“Oh, right” said Trell waving his hand over her head.

She was immediately outlined in fairy fire like the rest, and her turned a dark raven black. Again Trell was surprised, and could only stare as she and the other girls danced away down the path.

As Trell recovered from the surprise he noticed that the boy had not skipped off with the girls, but was coming forward. Trell raised his hand to cast the spell, but the boy stopped him.

“No, no.” said the boy, “I don’t need to be fairyfied. I was just going to suggest a better place to take a nap.”

Gabe had come to stand next to Trell, and responded, “Yes… please.”

The boy smiled and lead them to some bushes that seemed be be up against a little ridge. Slipping through some of the less dense bushes the arrived in a small grassy space, shaded by a great Sycamore tree, and completely obscured from the outside world.

“You should clear any of these itch bombs before laying down.” said the boy collecting a few of the sycamore seed balls from the grass.
Trell and Gabe tossed the remaining seeds away and thanked the boy.

“It’s no problem. I know how nice it can be to get away for a little while.” said the boy. “I’m Therral, by the way.”

“Glad to meet you Therral; and thank you again for the nap spot.” Trell put his hand on the boys shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Oh” Trell continued, “…and do you know what the deal is with that girls hair?”

As he asked he noticed that the boy was rolling one of the seed balls in his hands and it had begun to glow slightly.
“…and what are you doing?” Trell said abruptly.

“Oh this?” said Therral. “Just a little trick I learned. You place this in the bushes while you sleep. If anyone approaches it will explode with a little pop, waking you and startling them away. And the girl is my sister, Kimra. She was born that way. Her hair just changes color with her moods. We don’t know why.”

“hmm.” said Trell releasing the boy. “Are you sure you don’t want to be fairyfied?” he said smiling.

“Thank you, but no.” said Therral placing the ball in the bush as he slipped out.

The afternoon was wearing away when Trell and Gabe awoke. They feared they might have missed dinner with Lady Karil, so they quickly stepped through the bushes, back into the world of young students. They were surprised when there was a sudden pop nearby that showered them with an itchy powder.

“Awe, man!” said Gabe. “I forgot about that. Well we know it works I suppose.”

There were some students sitting under a tree nearby that leaped to their feet, scattering some papers and other stuff across the lawn. They were wide eyed, and quite surprised to see Gabe appear as if out of nowhere, but when they recognized Trell they relaxed, blushing, and began gathering their supplies.

“Sorry.” said Trell, “We didn’t mean to surprise you.”

The students quickly dismissed it shyly as they finished assembling their stuff. “That was a wonderful dance last night.” said one of the children. “Are you going to have another fireside tonight?”

Trell smiled, and said, “I don’t think so. Did you want me to do it again tonight?”

All of the students cheerfully answered affirmatively, their eyes shining with the new hope.

“Well” said Trell. “I hadn’t thought about it, but I’ll talk to Lady Karil and Lord Selimnairus.”

They all smiled and one of them actually clapped a couple times before blushing and looking down in embarrassment.

“Happy studying.” Trell said as he and Gabe hurried off to Lady Karil’s house.

They were met by Salanthra and the baby when they arrived at Lady Karil’s house.

“Hi. Come in”, she said cheerfully. “Father will probably not be back until late, it is a research night for him, and Heather and my mother are still out at classes, but should be back shortly. Dinner is almost ready.”

“Thank you.” said Trell as he stepped close and tickled the baby.

It was nearly a half an hour before Heather and Lady Karil got back, but Trell was amused by the baby who would grab at his horns, and pull on his goatee. Gabe and Salanthra talked about light topics like trees and food, while the house staff set the table and watched for the women to return.

Someone called, “Here they come.”, and the house went into high gear with final preparations for dinner. Heather and Lady Karil came in and sat down with Gabe, Trell, and Salanthra. They looked like they had a long day.

Salanthra asked, “How was you day?”

Lady Karil responded, “I don’t know how you handle those students alone Heather. That was crazy.”

“Well it is Trell’s fault.” Heather said with a wink to Trell. “If he hadn’t been so handsome, and exciting, and magical, and so interesting…” She smiled and let her voice fade away.

Lady Karil then continued. “Every one of the classes was bigger than the last, and I wish could bottle some of that excitement, and save it for the herbs class where it is really needed.”

Everyone laughed and Lady Karil and Heather excused themselves to wash up.

“Sounds like you have set the school alight with excitement.” said Salanthra, picking up the baby and showing them to the washroom.

About midway through dinner, Lord Selimnairus came in.

“Daddy!” said Salanthra, “We thought it was research night.”

“Well” laughed Lord Selimnairus, “How am I or the students suppose to concentrate when there is someone running around the school turning my students into fairies?”

“Sorry” said Trell shyly.

“…and casting healing spells?!” Lord Selimnairus continued.

Before Trell could answer, Lord Selimnairus let out another big laugh and slapped Trell on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it my boy. A couple nights of research lost is a small price to pay for the energy you have infused into the school.”

“So what’s for dinner?” he said turning to give Lady Karil a kiss.