The Winter Letter (11 page)

“You have two names?” Master Jared asked.

Gatnom was looking back and forth from Will to Master Jared now.

“Of course.”

“Only the most powerful magi have two names. Are you hiding something?”

“No sir, I swear! In my world, everyone has two names, some three.”

Master Jared turned around, still holding his hand out, and walked within a foot of Will. He had a square jaw and a slightly crooked nose, like it had been broken before, and his eyes were the same brown as wet wood chips, so dark that it was hard to distinguish between retina and pupil. They did not match his pale white skin. Straight dark brown hair slid from his chin to shoulders and down to his back. He wore a snug long sleeved shirt with a short collar, like the collar of a karate gi, but there were no buttons, only knots pushed through small threaded circles. His pants were not tight nor loose, but matched the make a fabric of the shirt. Until now, the dress of the people in Baru had not been strange to Will, having watched lots of movies about pirates and peasants, but Master Jared was dressed more royal. 

Master Jared stared Will’s eyes to the ground. “What is the name of your world?“ Master Jared asked. He looked suddenly very curious. “You look the same as us.”

“Everyone in my world looks like this,” Will answered. “It’s called Earth. I live in Americ—”

“Earth, that’s what it was!” Gatnom exclaimed from behind.

“Earth?” Master Jared asked quickly and quietly.

“Yes sir, I’m from Earth.”

“How did you get to Baru?”

Will looked backed at his feet. “My parents were killed. They—”

“Your parents?” Jared interrupted. “What were their names?”

“Eli and Helen,” Will answered. It was hard to say their names, all they had ever been to Will were Mom and Dad. 

Master Jared leaned back and looked at Will, his hand was still lifted to his side. “How did you get here?” he asked.

“The letter told me to come.” Will was almost trembling. The tingling was deeper now, inside of his stomach instead of on the skin.

“Letter? What letter?”

Will reached into his bag and took out the crumpled envelope. He felt the same tingling in his hand, like the beginnings of awake in a hand that has been asleep. He handed the letter to Jared, who snatched it away. Jared read silently. When he finished he dropped his hand, and the tingling stopped. He folded the letter into a small square, wrapped it in a cloth from his pocket, and shoved it inside of his cloak.

“You are apparently telling the truth William Wesley, but I must take this to Lord Markus. We must be sure it is not cursed or charmed by the King. Gatnom, you should have thought of this. The King could be using this to track down this camp.”

Gatnom nodded in agreement.

“Be glad you fell here, boy. Had you not, this letter would have led you to your death. Has Gatnom told you who King Mel Masih is?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you sure you want to be involved in this?” Master Jared asked.

“Yes sir, I don’t have anything to go back to anyway.” 

Jared stared at Will in quiet thought, then he turned to Gatnom. “For now, train him. I must go to Lord Markus immediately. I will send word soon. Until then, no more ceremonies! Understand?”

“Yes Master.” 

And with that Master Jared spun, snapping his coat like a whip. One second his was on the floor, the next he was atop the stairs and gone. Gatnom waited for the tent flap to stop swaying before he spoke. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, he’s intense.”

“He can be. I’m sorry. We must watch out for anyone suspicious, and he is not as easy to convince as I.”

“I’ll say,” said Will. He laughed nervously. His adrenaline was receding and his blood felt cold. 

“Did you hear what he said? If you are ready we can begin training you in the Magi Arts.”

“Did the ceremony work?”

Gatnom smiled. “Yes, more than I’ve ever seen. Magic has been in your speech ever since you woke. Look at your necklace.”

Will took it in his hand. At first glance the midnight blue looked the same, but looking closer Will could see a small line of light, no wider than a single thread, moving back and forth inside of the metal. It looked like a dancing vein of light inside of marble.

“No one can see that, but you. It is now your carrier. As long as you are near, the magic inside of the carrier will shine.”

“I don’t feel any different.”

“You will,” Gatnom replied. “I have something else to show you. I’m not positive, but this may be the first time this has ever happened.” 

“What?” Will asked.

“Even Master Jared didn’t seem to understand, but I think it is a great day for us. It is surely the will of the King of All for you to be here! With this, we may even
win
the games!”

“What?”

“It’s incredible Will...”

“WHAT?!”

Gatnom snapped back from wherever he had traveled to in his mind. He laughed. “Sorry. Your pendant is you carrier Will, but it seems it was not only your pendant that was awakened.” Gatnom leaned over and patted the bag hanging at Will’s side. “Your bag has joined itself to you as well. Wohie told me that when they carried us back they forgot it on the mountain. The next morning it was here, beside you, but no one knows how it got here. It seems you are one of the first, if not the first to have two carriers.” 

Will lifted the leather cover and a small thread of blue light danced inside. In the bottom of the bag there was a few inches of sand.

Gatnom continued. “Not only that, but I can see the magic inside it too. It’s almost like it joined to both of us. I hope you will not mind, but I did a few tests. I have never seen a magic bag before, so I decided to put a few things inside and see what would happen.”

“So, you put sand in my bag? Okay. What happened?”

“Nothing yet. I would not use your carrier without your permission, but the possibilities are endless. I may not have used the magic, but I can tell the sand has changed. It seems regular things become magical when put inside.”

“Gatnom, what does all this mean? I mean, why me?”

“I don’t know, but I can tell you this,” Gatnom put his hand on Will’s shoulder, “There is more to you than meets the eye.”

Gatnom smiled and turned to his destroyed home. “Look at this mess. We must clean,” he said. 

Will didn’t feel at all like cleaning, but he bent down anyway and grabbed a few books to put on the shelf. 

Gatnom stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. “Not like that,” he said as he patted Will’s bag.

“I don’t understand.”

“Reach in and take a hand full of sand.” 

As soon as Will reached in the strange tingling returned to his fingers. He grabbed a hand full of the sand and gave half of it to Gatnom. It was cold and blue. 

“Now what?” he asked.

“On three, throw it in the air and say, ‘Organize and Order.’ Okay? I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Okay.”

“1-2-3!”

“Organize and Order!” they said together as they tossed the sand into the air, and just like that books were swirling about (happy to be off of the floor) and the table rocked back and forth and flipped itself right side up. Every grain of the blue sand took on a life of its on, swirling, zig zagging, and swooping here, there, and everywhere. The books and papers flapped and flew until they were all safely back in the case or stacked neatly on the table. 

“Selemat!” Gatnom said smiling. 

“Sla what?’ Will asked.

“Selemat! It means good, great!”

“Ah, kinda like
cool
?”

“Yes, like cool. What do you think? Is this cool?’” asked Gatnom, trying out the new word.

“Very cool. Selemat!” Will answered. 

And he was right, because if anything was ever truly
cool
it would definitely have something to do with magic bags and lockets, flying sand and books, and never having to clean his room by hand again.

Fourteen
Training

Part One

“Okay Willy—”

“It’s Will.”

“—We’ve ain’t got long to whip you into shape, so Gatnom and I are gonna team up to train ya!” Wohie stood in her normal pose, with one hand propped on her hip. “First, we’re gonna to teach you some basic stuff, everyday safe magic. Ya gotta learn this first or you’ll make a big mess of everything. After that we get to the good part, where you’ll learn to protect yourself. Should be fun... for us!”  Wohie stopped and laughed hard before she continued. “Then we’ll show you how to kick butt!”

“Where’s Gatnom?”

“Right here,” Gatnom said from behind. Will jumped.

“Dude, geez, where’d you come from?”

Wohie stepped up as if to teach Will a lesson. “Willy, now that you’re part of the team you should really learn Gatnom’s name. It’s
Gat-nom
, not Dude. Who’s Dude anyway? You’re always talking about this guy.” 

Gatnom handed Will another large book. “This is a collaboration of some safe magic words to help young magi get started.” 

“Is this another one of those talking books?” asked Will. He opened the cover slowly, but nothing happened.

“I’m afraid not. This is a reference book, much more boring. Everything is covered, from taking out the trash to tying your shoes. There’s even a spell for waking yourself up in the morning at a certain time: A
wake Aware at the 6th, 7th, 8th hour.
’” Gatnom made funny movements with his hands for each magic word as he explained. “There are even a few advanced spells in the back. Make sure to look at those. Take this book and skim through it until lunch.”

By lunch Will’s head was swaying back and forth because of all the new magic words splashing around inside. Words like
liberate the light, eliminate this illumination, seeker see shadows, and shadows shroud the sought
danced and tripped through his brain. He also learned there were not only magic words and actions, but also magic objects and herbs. Some were to make you invisible, some to make a person see in the dark, breathe underwater, hear the most quiet whisper, stay dry in the rain, melt into a puddle, speak another languages, and even become a statue.

Before the chapter on herbs there was a warning in bold type.

:WARNING: 

Only specially trained and responsible magi should attempt Herbology, as dealing with the wrong herbs can be deadly. Some, mixed by evil Magi, can create pleasurable illusions and hallucinations while all-the-while poisoning the partaker. Others can make one feel invincible or invisible, but the after effects can cause an uncontrollable hunger for the herb, causing him to do even the most disgusting and dangerous things to obtain it. 

The wrong use of magic herbs has killed many magi, and many others have lost their minds completely as they became possessed by the evil magi who created the herb.

All things considered, Will felt it best not to even touch these herbs. 

According to the book magic could be understood with a simple formula.

Magic = Belief + Words + Action

Belief
refers to the inner thoughts and feelings of the magi. One must believe he can throw magic before he can, and the stronger the belief is the stronger the magic will be.

Words
are the birthing place of magic. Although the original magical language (from which extremely powerful magic comes) has been mostly lost, a weaker form of magic is still possible. Although magic words are required, they do not have to be copied exactly, but can be altered to the magi’s taste and language. The spoken word actually becomes the magic once activated by the third part of the formula: action.

Action
: Each word and belief has a corresponding action. This action brings the magic into manifestation, and without the action the words would simply fall lifeless to the ground. These actions are to be learned and practiced often, because gracefulness and timing determine the control and accuracy of the magic.

Gatnom’s strange hand movements made more sense now, as did the little diagrams drawn by each magic word in the book. Will practiced a few simple things like tying your shoelaces and fixing his hair. It looked easy enough. He flipped to the back of the book. There was another warning just before the index of modern magic words.

Warning: A young magi should not attempt powerful magic until he is sure he can produce it. Sometimes the power of such attempts has been so draining the magi required weeks of rest to recover. Magic is draining on the body of the magi, and therefore it is strongly suggested all magi get a day of rest each week. This is a guideline all honorable magi keep.

Will skipped to the index and read until he was called to lunch. 

Inside of Gatnom’s tent, where lunch was prepared, the boys were huddled around the table (which was stretched long again) and were reaching and stretching over each other to a pile of colorful fruit. Will hadn’t felt hungry since Ms. Lani’s, but now his stomach was grumbling, so he joined the group as they ate, belched, and guzzled homemade minum manis. By the end of the meal Will was fully satisfied and ready to get back to training. Gatnom led him a few miles north to an open area near the base of Mount Highness. Above, all three peaks disappeared into the clouds. Will had to lean his head back as far as he could to see. He looked like he was trying to catch rain in his mouth.

“It’s huge!”

“On a clear day you can see the peaks of the two side mountains,” Gatnom said, “but the middle peak is so tall that it is never visible from down here.”

“It just goes straight up!”