not mean that the world does not have its own reason for putting those choices in your life to begin with.”
“I don’t think I completely understand what you mean, but I will leave you to your own beliefs,” Bren replied, hoping to end the discussion. The thought of there being a power outside of his knowledge and understanding that placed things in his path just to make him chose a direction in his life didn’t sit well with him.
Do you really think that there is nothing larger than yourself out there in the world? You should know better; you feel its pull every time you use magic. I am surprised that a savage would understand the truth about the ether, and he has it pretty close as far as he was describing it. You should learn more about the ether, it is what makes all things and controls the destruction and creation of worlds.
“I thought the ether was just where you went when you died,” Bren replied, slightly shocked that Thuraman sounded so upset about his lack of knowledge.
Yes, it is where you will go, and everyone else goes as well, once you die. The energy of all living beings rejoins the ether upon their death, and when the world itself dies, it rejoins the ether as well. When things are created or born, they borrow a small amount of energy from the ether and repay that favor many times over upon their death. Mages even more so. Because they use magical energy, their ethereal energy is even stronger than that of other beings.
“How do you know so much about it?” Bren asked the staff.
I have little to do other than watch you blunder around, so I listen, and I have been listening for years—not just to what you say but to the small whispers of the magic. Over the years, I have put those small whispers into words, then sentences, and through that, I have grown to understand much more about the world than you can possibly imagine.
“Maybe I should simply listen to the words of the magic,” Bren offered.
If you did that, then you would let yourself be carried away. As I told you, everything feels its pull, but because you use such strong magical energies, it is more like a yell than a whisper. Listen too long, and you will hear nothing because that is what you will become.
“Is that so,” Bren replied sarcastically. It had not been the first time Thuraman had warned him about the call of the magic, and he was sure that it wouldn’t be the last. If nothing else, the staff loved to bring up the same thing over and over, much the same way his mother tended to do when he was a child.
When a large bolt of lightning struck the ground close to where Bren rode, his horse jumped nearly throwing him to the ground. “Whoa boy,” Bren hollered as he tried to reign the creature under control. Once he had the beast settled down, Bren looked around to make sure everyone else was okay and noticed that Avalanche was not her usually energetic self.
“Avalanche,” Bren called but she simply gave him a short look then turned her attention back to the large clouds that were sending out dark purple sparks overhead as she lightly whimpered. The storm itself didn’t bother him, but Avalanche’s reaction did. Lately, she had not come near him and refused to touch his silver skin directly. He didn’t know why, but he was sure that the storm wasn’t natural.
Bren reached out his senses and quickly found himself overwhelmed. It wasn’t just the clouds that were being affected by magical energy, it was everything around them. Even the grass, which had grown up to reach past the horses flanks was saturated with magical energy. As they reached the top of the final hill, what stretched before them was both awe inspiring and terrifying at the same time.
Looming before him, stood trees that looked more like mountains and a large grass plain that looked like a small forest. “What in the nine hells?” Brenda said her voice clearly showing her disbelief in what she was seeing with her own eyes.
“Everyone, keep your eyes open,” Cass said as he nudged his mare forward. “We have no idea what is waiting in that grass jungle.”
“Trees big enough to carve a castle out of and that is all he has to say,” Bren heard Brenda say snidely before she spurred