a little more control this time. The lights intensified at his fingertips before streamers twisted out and began coalescing into a glowing ball of light. It warped and twisted with the lapses in his concentration until Igarlin opened his eyes again. There was a shocked look on his face an instant before the ball of light flashed bright enough to cause Em’risi to avert her eyes. Something thudded to the table top and Igarlin looked blanched by the time her eyes had adjusted to the dim light the sun shed.
“I think I need to sit down now.” Igarlin barely whispered before falling backwards off the bench he had been sitting on. On the tabletop was an irregular sphere of glassy rock about the size of an egg that still flickered with flashes of Iggy’s energy.
“What happened?” Alvin lifted Igarlin and laid him on a nearby bench.
“He accidently overexerted himself. I didn’t know it was possible to create physical matter with your energy.” Em’risi touched the glassy rock and watched it turn to dust starting at the spot that she had touched until the entire thing had been reduced to a small pile of dust that was rapidly disappearing, as if by evaporation.
“I have never heard of it either. Will he be all right?”
“He is just exhausted. He will be fine when his energy recovers. It may take a few hours and there shouldn’t be any permanent side effects.” Em’risi placed a folded cloth under Igarlin’s head to make him a little more comfortable.
“If that is all he can do… I am not sure how useful he can be.” Alvin looked the senseless Igarlin over with a critical eye.
“From what I have seen, using your energy causes it to grow in strength. He should be able to do more when he wakes up.” Em’risi examined Igarlin one more time before returning to her seat. Alvin made sure to replace the bench for a seat that had a back on it before she called over her next subject.
“I am Lesarovich, but my friends just call me Rovi.”
“Am I enough of a friend to call you Rovi?” Em’risi smirked slightly as Lesarovich reddened.
“You are the Princess. You can call me whatever you want… I think it would be easier if I just show you.” Em’risi was about to comment on the abrupt topic change when she saw Lesarovich’s yellowish energy flash out and engulf a small bird that had been flying overhead. The bird dipped down and landed on the table in front of them where it proceeded to strut around a few seconds before Lesarovich’s energy released the bird. It took a moment to glance around before taking off and returning to its original flight.
“So you are a tamer?” Em’risi recalled how Aleest’s energy had only formed a connection with the animals instead of engulfing it.
“What is a tamer?”
“A tamer is able to speak with animals and control them. A friend of mine is a tamer and is able to influence any animal that he comes across. If he could, I bet he would have a whole pack of wolves, bears, horses, eagles and all sorts of other animals following him around all the time.” Em’risi realized that it had been more than a month since she had seen or heard of Aleest and that she missed confiding in him and finding out what horses thought of her troubles. It could be refreshing to hear how her troubles and small victories compared with a nice bunch of lush spring grass.
“I can’t speak with them. I can just use them. They don’t seem to notice after I’m done and I can only do it with one animal at a time. While it is happening, I can see and hear everything that the animal does. I call it skin walking.”
“Interesting. That is definitely different than my friend’s Gift.”
“Really?”
“I never tell people that something is interesting if I don’t actually think that it is because if it isn’t, people tend to mistake that word for encouragement. How far away can you use your ability?”
“About twenty or thirty paces. I can control bigger animals farther than I can smaller animals, although nothing really smaller than that bird I brought down.”
“Increasing your range might be something worth working on.”
“How would you suggest doing that?”
“Well now that you ask, there is a flock of gulls that sit on the Sea Fort roof all the time. You could go up there when Alvin is done with you and practice