“No, no,” Death chided. “Release the elements. What are you doing?”
“I didn't know I had summoned them.” I released the elements, and the world went back to its normal self. “Huh. That was pretty.”
“There's nothing wrong with looking at the world through them,” Death said. “But you can become distracted, and this is not the time to get distracted.”
I nodded. “I'm focused. Go on.”
“Pick up that rock.”
I looked down at the grass before me and found the rock Death spoke of. About the size of my fist, it was gray. Just a normal rock. No special deposits shining in it. I picked it up.
“Now, search for that feeling inside the stone.”
I started to call the Death Magic, to look through it as I had with the elements.
“No!” Death snapped. “I want you to recognize the magic in other things without the aid of Death. Later, you can do as you did with the elements. But for now, build up your skills. Look with your senses, not the magic. Feel.”
I stared at the rock in my hand and tried to see Death inside it. I searched for that deep thudding. I felt for the coolness. There was nothing. I shook my head after several minutes. “I can't sense it.”
“A rock has less magic than a sentient being,” Death said. “It's harder to find, but it's there. You must adjust to it. Feel the rock first. Learn its vibrations before you search for what composes the energy inside it.”
“All right.” I focused on the rock.
Feeling past what I saw, I closed my eyes. I had to get over the concept that I needed to use magic to do anything. If Death said I could sense things without magic, then I believed him. It made no sense for him to mislead me. And yet, I couldn't—
Wait.
There it was. Faint. A tremor. Where Death Magic inside me was a thudding, inside the rock it was so slow, it didn't have a beat. Not at first listen. Its music was that of mountains. Of something truly immortal. A mountain may crumble, but that only increases its parts. Its reach. It doesn't kill the mountain. It transforms it. I held a tiny piece of mountain in my hand and felt the beat of its heart. A very, very slow beat.
“I feel it,” I whispered. “Cold and so slow. Thud.” Thirty seconds past then, “Thud.”
“Yes!” Death cried. “There it is! Everything from the smallest grain of sand to the deepest ocean has magic. But it is different for them all. Listen to them. Learn their music. And when you do, you will know how to control them.”
“That doesn't sound like a good thing,” Keltyr said.
“Control can be used for good as well as evil, Lord Keltyr,” Death said. “Have faith in your lover. Control of this type can move mountains.”
“Literally,” I murmured as I felt the Death Magic within the mountain beneath me.
It was even slower than that in the rock. Steady. Relentless. Yes, I might be able to move it someday, but it would endure even if I did. It would ever be. And just because I could do something, it didn't mean I wanted to.
“But I think such greatness should be left alone,” I went on. “I would never presume to know better than a mountain where it should be.”
I opened my eyes to see my lovers exchange looks of relief.
That made me frown. Maybe they didn't have as much faith in my goodness as I'd thought. Or as they said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We got back to the citadel in time for dinner. And the show. Or two shows, rather.
First, came the children's performance. The routine was very impressive for being composed on such short notice and with kids, some of them no older than four. The older kids did the harder moves, including holding the younger ones on their shoulders, but all of them managed their parts well. They tumbled about to the music and formed a pyramid at the end. My Sally was near the top.
We stood for them as we had with the acrobats earlier that day, cheering just as loudly. The parents cheered even louder and ran forward to hug their kids. Wraith Lords and Evina hurried over to those who didn't have parents, congratulating them before they remembered that their parents weren't there to hug and praise them.
“Did you see me, Uncle Ember?” Sally asked as she pulled on my sleeve.
“I did! You were wonderful!” I crouched to kiss her cheek.
