Storm

Sirona had never seen a storm like this before. She was certain that her definition of a storm, which usually involved lightning, rain, and thunder, was vastly different than the ominous-looking cloud of darkness and flashing light. The air warmed around them as she looked up at the cloud. The wind picked up around them and animals scattered.
“That’s not a normal storm.”
“Of course not. It’s a magical storm. This is a much larger version of a sway of magic. It’s not malicious, per se, but it is ominous and can be dangerous if it gets much larger than this. It comes from various magical events.”
Larger storms tended to destroy the landscape. If it ran across enough death, the storm could turn deadly and summon all kinds of dark creatures like the ones that Sirona had inadvertently summoned behind Druid’s house.
This one wasn’t on the verge of becoming dark, but it was a little violent. He didn’t know exactly what battlefield this one had come from, but he felt anger and a call to war within it. He’d forgotten so many wars that it wouldn’t have made a difference even if he could tell which one it had come from.
“Well, should we go around?”
“Don’t be silly. You’re going to learn how to control and dissipate these.”
“Why?” Sirona asked, backing away from it. Arawn took her by the waist and pulled her forward.
“Because you have a thing against drawing magic from the surroundings. This is nothing but a large cloud of magic. Absorbing one of these could replenish and expand your power greatly. It’s quicker than trying to instill belief in people and doesn’t involve killing anything.”
All the things that had contributed to this cloud of magic were already dead after all.
Sirona peered at it suspiciously. She didn’t think he was lying to her, but she didn’t think it was as simple as he made it seem. She could tell it was full of magical energy, but she couldn’t tell where it had come from. It wasn’t alive, so she assumed that by absorbing it she wouldn’t be hurting anything.
“I’ll show you,” Arawn said, reaching his hand forward, “Draw the tendrils of the energy towards yourself. Imagine it like gathering strings flailing in the air.”
He drew a few towards him and took hold of them before siphoning it into himself slowly, “Then you simply pull it in.”
Sirona reached out at his side and he watched her replicate the action. She seemed stunned by it as the storm began to shrink then dissipate.
“Wow,” she said. “That was… a lot easier than I thought it would be.”
“Glad you think so. That one was quite small.”
He led her on through the forest.
“You mean they get bigger than that?”
“Much bigger,” Arawn said, amused by her interest.
It was highly likely that it had broken off from a larger storm system. He had always been drawn to these sorts of storms, so he had a feeling that he would lead them to the larger system within a few hours if not a few minutes.
“How often do these storms form?”
Arawn shrugged, “Depends on what is happening in the forest. They’re created by the natural chaos of so many organisms living and dying in the same area… Humans included. There have been quite a few wars here in Berth and the surrounding areas, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see quite a few of them while journeying.”
She hummed, “Seems like walking has more merits than flying then.”
He laughed, “Not quite. Land bound storms, those that are this close to the ground are typically less powerful than those that float about the trees.”
She pouted, “Well… I don’t think I need that much power.”
“No, I suppose you don’t yet.” Arawn chuckled, “But you don’t have to search for a reason not to fly, Sirona. Perhaps one day you will learn to bend space at your leisure.”
Sirona looked up at him in awe, “Bend space?”
“And time,” he said, off-handedly. “Of course, bending time is a bit harder to master and isn’t as useful.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He looked down at her and smiled, “You can bend-time to look into the past, but you cannot affect it. The same is true, to a degree, of the future.”
Once a future was seen, it was impossible to change, no matter what you did in the present. He didn’t know if it was because the future was set in stone, just as the past was, or if simply by seeing it your actions would draw you to the outcome.
In either case, he was grateful that the one time he did bend time to see the future, it had been innocuous.
“Arawn?”
He looked at her as she pointed ahead at a large cloud that looked more like a hurricane on the inside. The air was almost sparkling with magic and buzzing against his skin. It had a similar quality to the smaller storm, but this felt more violent and powerful. It wasn’t on the edge of summoning creatures of darkness, but it was destructive.
“It’s a big one,” he eyed. “Old too. Good.”
“Good?”
He gestured ahead of him, “You, little flower, need a lot of energy for effective training. Try your hand at it.”
It was unlikely that she would be able to absorb it all since she seemed to only be a demigod, but whatever she couldn’t take, he would absorb and they would continue on their way.
This storm had also drifted from a battlefield. The scent of blood was older but there seemed to be more of it drifting on the wind. It reminded him of a battle long ago, but he didn’t know which battle it was either. He wouldn’t be surprised if he had stood on the battlefield where this storm originated.
Sirona walked towards it a little fearfully.
“Take it at your pace,” Arawn said. “I’ll be here if it’s too much.”
She didn’t know what that meant, but as she reached out to take hold of the tendrils of power whipping through the air, she heard something like a horse neighing in the wind. She started to draw the power into herself and heard the sounds of the forest start to fade. The thundering of horses grew louder and louder until it was roaring in her ears and she was carried away by the sound.
Arawn kept an eye on the flow of magic from the storm and Sirona. It seemed to be going well enough. He peered at her gauging how much she should be able to take if his guess about her capacity was right.
Then, she surpassed it and a sinking almost haunted feeling began to fill him.
The storm shrank and shrank as she drew it in, yet there was no sign of her stopping or being overwhelmed.
He supposed her hidden depths were much deeper than he could have imagined because he couldn’t even tell exactly where the magic was going or how much more space there was to fill. It was a bit frustrating not to be able to gauge her limits and her power accurately.
He knew she had the potential to be more powerful than him, but how much more powerful? Would there come a day that he would have to worry about being able to control her?
He had to rethink his plan going forward and how he would ensure to keep her at his side and on his side.
He considered the quality of her blood. If she was truly just seated into a mortal vessel, then it was possible that she hadn’t integrated with it the way he had integrated with his vessel.
After all, he had never cut himself within the first few years of his life in this body. He only knew what his blood looked like now. Maybe taking in large amounts of power would help her improve her vessel in the long run.
When the storm was gone, and the animals began to come back into the area, he clapped and laughed.
“Good job, Sirona!” He grinned, “Seems you’ll be in top form when we start up training again.”
She didn’t move and the quiet of the forest seemed almost painful around them.
“Sirona?” He asked looking at her. “Sirona?”
He gasped as her eyes continued to stare into nothing, filled with a different light. Wind and magic whirled around her, lighting up the area and keeping him away from her.
“Sirona?”
The light pushed him back a little forward as she began to float a bit. Her expression was blank as she twirled slowly in the rushing wind and light.
She was having a vision or some sort of communion with something, but Arawn had no idea what it was about or who it could be with.