Too tired to dress for sleep, he simply slipped off his jeans and hoodie and collapsed onto the oversized feather bed. There was no fire so the room was filled with a strong chill, but it didn’t bother Gabe. He felt warm all the way to his toes. He pulled the blankets up and over his shoulders. A huge smile spread across his face as he fell asleep with a vision of Sophie smiling in his mind.
The next thing he knew morning had arrived. Gabe opened his eyes. Everything was still a blur. The light from his window was pouring in. He wondered why he had not closed the curtains the night before. As things came into focus, he realized that in the middle of the window was the shadow of a figure. Perhaps he was still dreaming. Rubbing his eyes, he squinted a bit and realized the figure was still there.
Suddenly, anxiety overwhelmed Gabe. He sat up in his bed, clutching his blankets to his chest like an elderly woman scared of an intruder. He squinted a moment longer until at last he saw Uri standing before him. Eerily hovering in front of him, just staring and not saying a word.
“Uri? What are you doing here?” Gabe asked completely confused and still a bit drowsy. Uri continued to look at him but still said nothing. “Uri? Is everything OK? Where’s Michael?” Gabe felt panic rush over him. Why wasn’t he speaking?
“Damn it, Uri!” Gabe shouted in frustration.
Gabe rose to his knees and inched closer to Uri. He quickly stopped and watched as Uri raised his arm slowly and pointed towards the door. Uri glared at the door and moaned the name, “Anthony.”
There was banging at the bedroom door.Gabe awoke startled. Panicked, Gabe looked over to his window where he saw his curtains were drawn. Realizing the vision of Uri had in fact just been a dream, he climbed out of the warm comfort of his bed and stumbled to the beating door.
“I’m coming!” Gabe barked. “Hold your horses.”
Pulling open the heavy wooden door, he was surprised to see Dina standing on the other side. He wondered how such a tiny thing had made such a ruckus. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he realized Dina was giving him the elevator glare. Much to his horror, it quickly dawned on Gabe that he had answered the door in his boxers.
Dina laughed as she said in her tiny little voice, “Nice look for you.” Gabe darted across the room to where he has tossed his hoodie the night before and slipped it over his head. He slid in his sock covered feet over to the wardrobe where he pulled out a pair of charcoal gray sweatpants and hopped into them as quickly as he could.
“Sorry, Dina,” Gabe said trying to conceal his embarrassment, “Long day yesterday.”
“No problem,” Dina replied moving into the doorway and looking around the room. “Who were you talking to?” Dina asked with a puzzled look.
Gabe struggled to even hear her small voice across the large room. “What? I wasn’t talking to anyone.”
“Oh, when I knocked I thought I heard you talking to someone.” Dina replied looking around the room once more.
Gabe remembered the dream he had awoke from. “You know, I must have been talking in my sleep.” He shook his head, still haunted by the vivid dream. “Just seemed so real,” he added in a mumbled tone.
“What seemed real?” Dina asked.
“Oh nothing, never mind,” Gabe replied, realizing how silly he must sound.
“No, really Gabe, did you have a dream or something?” Dina moved into the room and Gabe thought the way she glided across the room was almost as if she were floating.
“Yeah, I mean I guess.” Gabe replied.
“Who was in it?” Dina asked.
Dina came to rest right in front of Gabe and stared up at him solemnly.
“Ummm, OK, well Uri. Why the sudden interest in my dreams?” Gabe replied thinking how strange Dina was behaving.
“Did he say anything?” Dina asked, moving closer and ignoring Gabe’s question, now only mere inches from his face.
“Not really, it was weird though,” Gabe replied giving more thought to his dream. “He didn’t seem like himself, like something was wrong.” Gabe shook his head, taking a step backward. “It was just a silly dream.”
“So he said nothing?” Dina’s small voice became very stern as she stressed the question again.
“Just a name...” Gabe stopped and tried to remember. Dina stared at him, waiting .
“Anthony!” Gabe almost shouted the name when he remembered. “But that was it, he pointed to the door, said his name and then your knock woke me up.”
Dina looked away from Gabe, clearly distressed by their conversation. “Gabe, if you see Uri in a vision or I mean… if you have a dream again, you must listen to him and then come and tell me what he says. OK?” Gabe wondered if Dina was always this odd.
“Do you understand me?” Dina persisted looking back at Gabe.
“Yeah, I will.” Gabe agreed, wondering what the big deal over his dreams was. Dina glared at him. “I promise.”
“OK, Good.” Dina turned and walked to the doorway. “Get cleaned up, eat some breakfast and then meet me in the sacred garden. Know where it is?” Gabe thought back on that night he danced with Sophie just outside the Sacred Garden. It had become his favorite place.
Gabe nodded affirmatively.
“So I am with you today? What happened to Raimie yesterday?” He asked, but Dina didn’t speak another word. She was already gone when he looked up.
Chapter Fifteen
Smelling fresh and equipped with a full belly, Gabe headed to the garden he loved. He wondered where Sophie was at that moment. Perhaps she was underground looking at the crystals. Maybe she was still fast asleep in her bed. He imagined how she looked in all the different places she might be. Gabe realized it was going to be hard just to get through his lessons without thinking of her. He replayed the kiss from the night before in his mind.
“Gabe, over here,” Dina called out, her tiny voice carrying much better in the great outdoors. Crossing the garden he came to a small clearing with a stone bench, Dina perched upon it. She reminded him of a tiny bird.
“Are you ready to make some magic?” Dina asked, a grin flashing across her face.
Gabe was thrilled she had quit obsessing about his dreams and seemed to be in much lighter spirits. Gabe was enthused to learn magic, finding it hard to contain his excitement. One of the few memories Gabe had from his childhood was when his mother made him a wizard’s cap from paper. They spent the day together pretending he was a powerful mage. The memory of his mother coming back made him feel warm inside.
“Let’s do it,” Gabe shouted, wondering if that made him sound goofy.
Dina rose to her feet and gracefully strode away from Gabe down the path without a word. Gabe stood there for a moment and then realized he should probably follow. He came up beside the petit girl, waiting for any sort of direction.
“Have you ever seen any kind of magic before coming here, Gabe?” Dina asked, keeping her gaze fixed on the path before her.
Gabe thought back to all the strange things he had seen throughout his life. “I have seen a lot of things I can’t explain but I’m not sure I can honestly say if there was ever anything magical to it.”
At last Dina glanced over in his direction, a smirk on her face. “I see,” she replied. “Well, first I guess I should give you some of the basic details. You’ll never hear our elders refer to what we do as magic.”
“Why not?” Gabe asked, truly curious.
Dina thought for a moment about how to phrase her response without sounding disrespectful to her dear elders. “There are some that believe it’s blasphemous to our way of life to call the incantations we perform magic. Our sacred words warn against performing magic, but what those texts speak of is conjuring spells using dark energy.”
“And what you do is different how?” Gabe questioned.
Dina grinned at Gabe’s boldness. “Well,” Dina began, “it has to do with the source. Our powers and our magic is done out of love and purity. Our soul desire is to help people but never compromise our beliefs. With the responsibility of our abilities being fueled by a divine source we are bound by certain rules.”
The two came to a small bridge over a slow running brook. Dina walked to the middle of the bridge and rested her arms on the wooden railing. Looking out over the garden, dozens of clerics were busy casting growth spells.
“Rules?” Gabe asked.
“We can never use our incantations for selfish purposes. The moment we do, the source of our power is tainted and it can tear a person’s soul to shreds.” Dina looked intensely into Gabe’s eyes, “Understand?”
Gabe imagined what a person’s soul being torn to shreds must be like and was sure he wanted nothing to do with it. “Loud and clear,” Gabe confirmed.
“Hmmm.... Let’s start with casting.” Dina said as Gabe turned and came to rest next to her on the bridge.
“Sounds as good a place as any to start at,” Gabe was extremely interested in learning and eager to get started.
“So have you ever seen someone cast before?” Dina asked.
“Well, Sophie has done a few things in front of me, and of course, on the night we met.” Gabe’s smiled faded as he thought about Sophie lying on the side of the road that night, her lifeless body close to death. “Oh, and I saw some clerics in the garden making some music and lights.” As he spoke, the memory of Sophie and him dancing again washed over him and his smile returned.
Dina noticed Gabe’s distraction and attempted to regain his focus. “Did you notice the caster do anything when performing the incantations?” Dina asked.
Gabe was still deep in his memory of that night, the lights and music playing out in his mind, the smell of Sophie’s hair, so intoxicating.
“Gabe!” Dina snapped in her small but stern voice.
Gabe was suddenly jolted back to reality. Realizing he had not answered Dina’s question, he thought back to when Sophie had used magic. “Umm...” Gabe began trying to stall as he thought, not wanting another reprimand from tiny Dina. “I suppose they mutter sayings.”
“Very good, Gabe.” Dina said giving an approving tap on Gabe’s arm. “A lot of people use Latin to help focus their thoughts on what they are casting. It takes a great amount of concentration to even cast the simplest things.”
“So I need to learn Latin?” Gabe laughed. “I failed Spanish, twice.”
Dina gave a gentle laugh in response to his joke. “It’s not like you have to read a book in a foreign language or something and it doesn’t have to be Latin. Most Guardians have found that Latin is just the easiest to focus their thoughts.”
“Well that makes me feel a little better, I suppose.” Gabe said, thinking about his horrific days in Spanish class.
“There are some clerics and most of the elder Guardians who can cast without even speaking.” Dina continued expounding. “The best way I can explain it is that it becomes second nature to you.”
“So how do I get started?” Gabe asked eagerly, tired of discussing all the ins and outs. He was less interested in the rules and more interested in learning some interesting parlor tricks.
“Patience, Gabe,” Dina said in a calm tone. “The slightest stray thought can send magic completely off course and cause it to backfire on you.”
“Good to know,” Gabe replied, a bit apprehensive now about actually attempting to cast.
“Come on,” Dina said, crossing the rest of the bridge and turning towards a set of old stone steps. “Follow me.”
Gabe trailed behind the small girl wondering where she was leading him and reconsidering his desires to learn magic after her most recent warning. The thought of a spell blowing up in his face was making him imagine some terrible things. He wondered if perhaps some donkey ears and tail were in his future.
Gabe continued following Dina down the old steps and around a plant covered crumbling rock wall. Coming around the corner, a huge open space came into view. Dina made her way to the middle of a huge dirt circle. There were large boulders around the circle that were too evenly spaced to be random.
“This is what we call an enchantment circle,” Dina said, waving to the space all around them. “The purpose of an enchantment circle is to provide a safe environment for a student to learn to cast.”
“I’m sure the students appreciate that.” Gabe said with a hesitant laugh under his breath.
“It’s as much for their safety as everyone else in the manor. A misgiven spell can cause more harm than you could imagine.” Dina said, her small stature still able to relay the forcefulness of her words. “With the power of divinity behind our magic, the results can be quite all consuming.”
Gabe felt even more agitated at the thought of casting. He kept imagining himself being scraped off the stones of the sacred circle. “I see,” Gabe said anxiously.
“Do you know what one of the best weapons a warrior can have in battle is?” Dina asked walking the exterior of the circle.
Gabe rotated in place, watching Dina as he thought about the question. He imagined a massive fight with the demons and the power that could bring them to their knees. Unfortunately, due to his lack of actual battle experience, he found himself limited by what he had seen in blockbuster movies. Disappointed by his lack of imagination he shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I don’t know.”
Dina continued walking, her stride never quickening or slowing in pace. At last she said, “Surprise. Surprise is always the best weapon. A foe that is unprepared for the attack is one of the easiest targets a warrior can meet in battle.”
Gabe wanted to kick himself. The answer Dina searched for was so simple. He was frustrated with himself for not knowing an answer like having the element of surprise. Humbled, he waited for Dina’s direction.
“Invisibility is something that will be invaluable to you. It helps you gain that advantage of surprise over your enemies,” Dina stopped pacing and turned to look at Gabe. “But more importantly if you find yourself out numbered and out matched, you hide. It’s the only option and invisibility helps. I will teach you that first but that won’t be enough.”
“What do you mean that won’t be enough? That won’t be enough for what?” Gabe asked, wearing his confusion on his face.