The Magicians' Guild

necessary for us to touch when we speak to each other, it helps to focus the mind. Are you ready?'

She nodded.

'Close your eyes,' he instructed, 'and relax. Breathe deeply and slowly. Listen to the sound of your breathing.'

She did as he said. For a long time he was silent. After a while, she realized that the rhythm of their breathing was the same, and she wondered if he had changed his breath to follow hers.

'Imagine that, with every breath, a part of you relaxes. Your toes first, then feet, then ankles. Calves, knees, upper legs. Rest your fingers, hands, wrists, arms, your back. Let your shoulders drop. Let your head hang forward a little.'

Though she felt his instructions were a little peculiar, she did as he said. As she felt the tension leave her limbs, she grew aware of a fluttering in her stomach.

'Now I'm going to take your hands,' he told her.

The hands that enclosed hers seemed much larger. She resisted the urge to open her eyes to check.

'Listen. Think about what you can hear.'

Sonea was suddenly aware that she was surrounded by constant small noises. Each noise leapt out at her and demanded to be identified: the sound of footsteps outside, the distant voices of magicians and servants coming from both inside and outside the building ...

'Now let the sounds outside the room fade away. Instead, concentrate on the sounds within this room.'

It was quieter inside. The only sound was their breathing, now at different rhythms.

'Let those sounds fade away, too. Now listen to the sounds within your own body. The slow pounding of your heart...'

She frowned. Aside from her breathing, she could hear no sounds in her body.

'... The rush of blood circulating through your body.'

Though she was concentrating hard, she could not hear ...

'... The sound of your stomach ...'

... or could she? There was something ...

'... The vibration within your ears ...'

Then she realized that the noises he described were not heard so much as felt.

'... and now listen to the sound of your thoughts.'

For a moment Sonea was puzzled by his instruction, then she sensed a presence at the edge of her mind.

- Hello, Sonea.

- Rothen?

- That's right.

The presence grew more tangible. The personality she could sense was surprisingly familiar. It was like recognizing a voice, a voice so individual that it could never be confused with another.

- So this is mind communication, she mused.

- Yes. Using it, we can speak to each other from great distances.

She realized that she was not hearing words, but sensing the meaning of thoughts that he had projected toward her. They flashed into her mind, and were understood so quickly and completely that she knew with certainty exactly what he wanted her to know.

- It's so much faster than talking!

- Yes, and there's less chance of a misunderstanding.

- Could I talk like this to my aunt? I could let her know I'm still alive.

- Yes and no. Only magicians can communicate mind to mind without physical contact. You could speak to your aunt, but you'd need to be touching her. There is no reason why you can't send your aunt an ordinary message, however...

Which would reveal their location, she realized. Sonea felt her enthusiasm for mind communication waver. She must be careful.

- So... do magicians talk like this all the time?

- Not often.

- Why not?

- There are limitations to this form of communication. You sense the emotions behind the thoughts others send you. It's easy to detect when someone is lying, for example.

- That is a bad thing?

- Not in itself, but imagine if you had noticed that your friend was going bald. He would sense your amusement behind your thoughts and, while not knowing what you found so funny, he would know it was at his expense. Now imagine it was not your forgiving friend, but somebody you respected and wanted to impress.

- I see what you mean.

- Good. Now for the next part of your lesson, I want you to imagine your mind is a room - a space with walls, a floor and a ceiling.

At once she found herself standing in the center of a room. There was something familiar about it, though she could not remember seeing one like it before. It was empty, and had no doors or windows and the walls were bare wood.

- What do you see?

- The walls are wooden, and it's empty, she replied.

- Ah, I see it. This room is the conscious part of your mind.

- So ... you can see into my mind?

- No, you just projected an image at me. Look, I'll send it back.

An image of the room flashed through her mind. It was indistinct and hazy, the details no longer visible.

- It's... different, and kind of fuzzy, she told him.

- That is because a little time had passed, and my memory of it had faded. The difference you sense is from my mind filling in details that were missing from my memory, such as color and texture. Now, your room needs a door.

At once a door blinked into existence before her.

- Go to the door. Do you remember what your power looked like?

- Yes, a glowing ball of light.

- That is a common way to visualize it. I want you to think of how it looked both when it was strong and dangerous, and after it had faded. Can you remember?

- Yes...

- Now open the door.

As the door swung open she found herself standing on the threshold of darkness. A white sphere hung before her, glowing brightly. It was impossible to judge how far away it was. One moment it seemed to hover just beyond arm's reach, the next she was sure it was a colossal size, and hung an inconceivable distance away.

- How big is it compared to what you remember?

- Not as big as it was when it was dangerous. She sent him an image of it.

- Good. It is growing faster than I expected, but we have some time before your magic begins to surface unasked for. Close the door and return to the room.

The door closed and vanished, and she found that she was standing in the center of the room again.

- I want you to imagine another door. This time it's the door to the outside, so make it larger.

Double doors appeared in her room, and she recognized them as the main doors of the stayhouse she had been living in before the Purge.

- When you open the doors, you'll see a house. It should look something like this.