“I don’t know what to say to her now that I can understand her. It’s all so strange,” he admits.
“Speak to her like you usually would,” I say. “Don’t do anything differently. Now, you’ll just know how she responds instead of me telling you.”
“Hey Olive,” he starts.
Hi Colton. She jumps up and walks over to and steps onto my lap. Placing her paws on my chest, she looks at Colton over my shoulder.
“How are you this morning?” I love that he’s talking to her like she is just another person.
Hungry.
“Well, we’ll have to go get you something to eat,” he tells her. Olive’s ears perk up at the mention of food.
Now?
“Do you want the food now?” he asks. Olive stares at him for a few moments and then hops off my lap and prepares to jump off the bed. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he whispers. Releasing his hands, I pick Olive up and head toward the door with Colton following after me.
“How did you know that would work?” Colton says as he opens out bedroom door and holds it open for me.
“I didn’t know that it would work, but I thought about when I transferred that vision to you before. If I was able to do that, we have to have some sort of magical connection, and since I was able to do that, I must be able to share some of my other powers with you.”
Wrapping his arm across my shoulder, Colton pulls me into his side and places a small kiss on my temple. “Thank you,” he whispers into my ear and guides us downstairs.
Olive leans her head back and glances up at me.
Thank you too.
Pulling my hair into a high ponytail, I follow Colin to the training room. Everyone else is already in there. I apparently slept in a little longer than the rest. “May I ask why you have such a big house? Not that I don’t like it, but if it’s only you and your son…”
“Why live in something so large?” he finishes. “Back in my heyday, I would let mages come into my house seeking refuge. Tom and I trained together back then and we helped train others. Because of his power, he was the best trainer I’d ever seen.”
“Tom has a power?” I ask. I don’t know why I sound so surprised. He is a mage; of course he has magic. I’ve just never seen him use any before.
“He’s never told you?”
“No…”
“I don’t think his power has a specific name, but I would call Tom a fast-teacher. If you’re learning something for the first time and you’re around him, you’ll pick it up without a problem. That’s why he’s always around when new mages need training. He’s able to push them past the beginning stages within a few hours and get them up to the level they need to be at quickly.”
“How come he never told us?” How come I never questioned that before?
“Maybe because he doesn’t want you to doubt your abilities. He can’t teach you something if you’re incapable of learning it. He may not have even used his magic on you. That’s something only he knows. He can turn that power on and off with ease.”
“Hmm…” I’m not sure if I want to know whether or not Tom used his magic on me when I first started training.
“Back to the story,” Colin says as he turns down another hallway. “We would help out troubled mages. Give them somewhere to sleep. Feed them. Help them get back on their feet. Despite what you think, there aren’t many mages out there, and we needed to make sure that our numbers didn’t dwindle. I built this large house to help those who needed it. However, no one has come by in the last couple years because you’re either a Gadramick or you’re in hiding.”
“Do mages who oppose Dravin have a name? Why are they called the Gadramick?” I ask as we start walking upstairs.
“Not that I know of. We’re just mages. Dravin took the name Gadramick because he started using dark magic. For a little while, he would use witches for their magic, but somehow his power strengthened and he no longer needed them, so witches are now in hiding too.”
“Witches exist?”
“Yeah, they have magic, but only those who dabble in dark magic are considered powerful. They don’t usually have enough magic to do any serious damage. They’re a peaceful species, so unless provoked, they’ll leave you alone. I’ve never had any problems with one before.”
“Do mages have a handbook I can read?” I ask. “There’s so much stuff that I don’t know. I feel so stupid when I ask everyone these questions, because apparently everyone already knows the answer.”
Colin stops walking and looks at me. “Ryanne, you weren’t born into this life. It was chosen for you. There’s no way you could know any of this information without asking questions. Don’t feel stupid for that. No one is going to judge you.” He points to the large wooden door in front of us. “Those people in that room care about you. A lot. That much is obvious every time one of them looks at you. Even those ex-Gadramicks. I’d never heard of a Gadramick switching sides before. I’ve heard of some leaving, but no one who knows Dravin would oppose him like that. They believe in you, Ryanne, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. You need to start believing in yourself if you want to accomplish anything here.”