We ate heartily from the roasted meat we were served and then slept well by the fire of the other tribe that night. Mhorik and I sat out early in the morning before most of the tribe was awake to avoid any other sudden requests from the elder.

By midday we were within sight of the restless deep, and were almost back on our original path. Something about the sea invigorated us, and we kept up a faster pace than we had the previous days of our trip. Things were going well over the next few days until we met the far river flowing into the sea and saw the bridge had been washed away by the rushing torrent of the river. Mhorik grumbled and explained that we would have to hike up the river to find a place to ford across.

That night I felt bold and tried to stir up some discussion to take Mhorik’s mind off the detour. “What was it like when you first touched magic?”

Mhorik blinked and looked away from the small fire he had been concentrating on to build it up. “Huh? Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking about when Moonwind asked about you taking me as an apprentice. It sounds like most apprentices are detected before they do something… something like I did.”

Mhorik frowned and look back at the fire. “I don’t know if that’s the case.”

“Did your master find your power before you tried to control magic?”

“Not exactly. As has been said, males usually don’t control magic well. The first few times I tried, our Wizard told me to stop almost scolding me. It was only after none of the females showed any ability that she agreed to help me harness my ability.”

“So you didn’t lose control like I did?”

“Dorua, you shouldn’t focus so much on that one event. I know you remember the horror of what happened, but you learned the most important lesson about magic that night: it is not a thing that is easily controlled. It is chaotic.”

“But…”

“I mean it. Some wizards never learn this lesson, and they don’t just hurt others, they destroy themselves.”

I sat in silence for a while, the words hanging over us. Mhorik finally broke the quiet, “There is no ‘normal’ way for people to discover their control of magic. We just do and we hope for the best.”

I murmured something in agreement and turned in for the night.

We continued on for the next few days. Mhorik resumed the magic lessons and I eagerly learned what I could. The lessons meant a lot more to me as I could practice them freely and try out new things.

We settled down one night, resting a moment to catch our breath before setting up camp, when Mhorik said, “I hated magic when I first learned of it.”

“What?” I said, surprised by this admission.

“I hated it. It made me different than all the other children. I didn’t want to be different.”

I sat, barely even breathing, not knowing exactly what to say.

“But, I accepted it. I learned the lessons and I can shape magic. That is what my early experience was like.”

“Oh,” I said, realizing how stupid it sounded only after I uttered the word. After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, I dropped off my equipment and went to gather some wood for the night’s fire.

I brought back the kindling and pieces of wood. I set them up in the stones that Mhorik had set up and tried to gather the magic to light the fire, but nothing happened. Frustrated, I reached out to the surrounding area and found no magic around.

“Mhorik. There’s no magic here.”

Mhorik looked around tried to reach out himself, and couldn’t find anything either. “I didn’t think we were that close to the sacred place of the forest. Be on your best behavior.”