spell needed, even if it takes a minute. Blasting the enemy with rocks, fire, or wind—that’s one thing—but when you need them to provide a defensive wall, or produce rapid earthworks, that’s another entirely.”
Will nodded. “I added the grave-digging spell to their list.” Then something else occurred to him. Something he had forgotten in the midst of all the stress and preparations. “By the way, something weird happened during the first meeting I had with them a few weeks ago.”
“The fact that more people don’t fall down laughing the minute they see your face is a daily miracle. I’d think you’d be used to it by now,” said Arrogan drolly.
Will passed over the remark; it was part and parcel with any conversation with his grandfather. “I was having trouble making myself heard, and I managed to project myself without using a spell,” he announced.
“Wild magic, eh?”
“Yeah. I just did it without thinking.”
“You’ve used wild magic before.”
He tried to organize his thoughts. “This was different. The first times involved healing, and it was deliberate. Then the stuff with my senses, Tailtiu taught me that. It wasn’t accidental. I had to make an effort. This just happened.”
“Like passing gas?”
Will snorted involuntarily. “I suppose you could say that. I knew what I needed, and it just sort of happened without me intending to do it.”
“Remember our conversation a while back?” asked Arrogan. “About the differences between a third-order wizard and first or second?”
“When you were talking about shifting turyn currents to deflect attacks?”
“Mmhmm,” affirmed the old man.
“Are you saying I’m going to shout down enemy spells?”
There was a moment of silence in which Will could almost see his grandfather’s disembodied self face-palming. “No, you witless yob!” erupted the ring at last. “I’m just saying this is something similar, a side-effect of your increasing turyn control. You’re starting to find your natural affinities.”
“Affinities.” Will turned the word over in his mind a few times while he waited for Arrogan to explain.
“As a wizard, spells are your bread and butter. But as a third-order wizard, you are just beginning to grow into your mastery of turyn. Wild magic is often unpredictable—for ordinary magic users, but for you that doesn’t have to be the case. You’ve managed to learn some through discipline and effort, but now you’ll find that there are probably some things that come to you instinctively. There never were that many third-order wizards at any given time, but they all had their peculiar gifts. Obviously, shouting your idiocy out for all the world to hear and marvel at is one of yours.”
Will grinned at the insult, but he asked a question instead of complaining. “What was your gift?”
“What makes you think there was only one?” challenged Arrogan.
“Besides insulting people and pointing out their deficiencies,” he clarified.
“I’m glad you noticed,” said Arrogan, laughing. “Over the years I developed quite a few. They crop up over time, as you mature and your mind changes. No one really understands why some people have one or gift or another, but they somehow relate to the peculiarities of the human mind. For myself, the most interesting talent I developed involved growing plants—oh, and body enhancements.”
Plants? Will hadn’t expected that, but then he remembered the old man’s obsessive penchant for gardening. He wanted to ask more, but he had to know something else first. “Body enhancements? You mean like the way I can increase my stamina, speed, or strength?”
“You’re a novice,” said the old man. “You’ve learned to do a bit, and that’s probably all you’ll manage unless you’re lucky or you develop the same talent.”
That got his back up. “I can run for a long time!”
“Please! I died, but my body didn’t quit until I gave it permission!”
Will remembered all the training sessions, trying to keep up with his grandfather’s speed and dexterity. “That’s why I couldn’t keep up with you…”
“And you likely never would have,” agreed the old man. “You’ll probably get a lot better at it, especially with practice, but I had a true knack for it.”
“So, what does this mean for me, exactly?”
“That you’ll never need to worry about learning spells for projecting your voice. Save your time and energy learning spells for things you can’t do naturally.”
Will felt somewhat disappointed. “That’s it?”
“Not necessarily,” said Arrogan. “That might be it, until you find some other odd and unrelated talent unexpectedly. Then again, this might just be the first sign of some greater talent. Only time will tell. These things are unpredictable. Best to spend your