The Winter Letter (13 page)

To say the least, the entire group was impressed.

One morning, on their weekly day of rest, Will met four brothers who were each a year apart in age. First there was Yoh, tall  and skinny (but still shorter than Will). Then there was Goh, short and fat. Next Sloh, tall and fat, and Broh, short and skinny. They were known for building all types of contraptions. They built tree houses that came down and picked you up from the ground like livable elevators. They built little cars and modified them to travel underground and even to go underwater (although this modification wasn’t yet complete. The last testing left them all swimming and fusing at each other). They had even made something similar to walkie-talkies, all without using magic, except to power one or two of their inventions (like we use electricity). 

That day they came and took Will to a big hole in the ground, one they had dug with one of their toys. “Check that out, isn’t that the biggest hole in the ground you’ve ever seen?” asked Broh.

Will had seen one bigger, The Grand Canyon. “Oh, so you guys made Gatnom’s tent then! That makes sense, it’s all underground. I see.” Will had been wondering about it since he first fell down the stairs.

The four brothers stared at Will blankly. “What are you talking about?” Yoh asked.

“Gatnom’s tent, ya know? Underground?”

“Ummm, I don’t get it,” said Goh.

Once back at the camp Will led them to the tent and bent down.

“Oh! You’re talking about Gatnom’s tent!” Sloh said. All the brothers turned and looked at Sloh, who looked the other way.

“That’s not our work. That’s not underground at all,” Broh answered. 

“So it’s not underground?” Will replied, clearly not buying it. He reached down and picked up the bottom edge of the small pup tent. Sure enough nothing was underneath, but from within everyone heard Gatnom scream and a bunch of things clang about as they fell over.

When Will turned around the brothers were gone.

For the last test of the month, and after a ridiculously long teaching in the morning, Will and Gatnom were tied together and placed in a large wooden catapult that had been built by the brothers. “Gatnom, you sure about this?” Will asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. Don’t worry, I’ll be with you on this one, just in case. Okay guys, on the count of three.”

Yoh saluted and ran to the big wooden lever.

“One... Two... Thr—”

Yoh jerked the lever with a giggle, one second too early. 

Will and Gatnom were launched into the air, twisting and turning, whirling and swirling. It wasn’t until then Will realized if he failed this test, well, he would
really
fail. Gatnom seemed calm at first, but as they reached the peek of their trajectory he began to scream, which meant now both boys were screaming together. Will went blank. What was he supposed to do? What had he been taught this morning? Falling they fell, up then down, with all of Will’s thoughts turned off. Will grabbed his pendant with one hand and his trailing bag with the other. He had to do something or they both were going to die. He opened his mouth to scream and shouted the first word that came. 

“
PETOMAI
!” Instantly, the two were flung skyward, jerking with the change of direction, then they floated to the ground and softly landed feet first. As soon as Will’s feet touched the ground he fell to his hands and knees panting. 

“Will, are you okay?” Gatnom said as he undid the rope that tied them together.

“I feel like I’m going to pass out,” Will said. He was swaying on his knees. Every ounce of his energy had been drained. His blood felt like it was icy slush. “Why didn’t you do anything?!”

“It was a test. I had to see if you could think if you didn’t feel like you had a fall back plan.” Will looked up at Gatnom. Everything was blurry. “What did you say back there?” Gatnom asked.

“I just screamed,” Will answered. 

“No, you spoke a different language, and it worked with the magic. There is only one language that works with magic like that, the original language of Baru, but it has been lost for years. Only the ancient magi know it. Where did you learn that? What does that word mean,
petomai
?”

“I have no idea. I just screamed. I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“You mean you don’t know where it came from? Why... Will? Will! Wake up.”

“Huh, what? Man, I can’t keep my eyes open.”

Just then, from the surrounding woods came a yelping, and four small land carts jumped a hill and slid to a stop. Sloh, the victor, high fived Wohie who was riding in the side seat, and before Gatnom and Will crawled into the carts Sloh and Wohie were busy rubbing their racing victory in the face of the other brothers.

Will slept the rest of the afternoon and the entire next day.

Training: Part Three

On the first day of third month of training Will learned how to throw earth by wind, heat water with fire, and then throw it with wind (without cooling the water of course). Next, earth, fire, and water were mixed. By days end Will was covered in mud, Gatnom drenched, and Wohie was fussing at Will for singeing her hair. 

After that it was all about forcefields and counter attacks. “Today,” Gatnom said, “we are going to focus on a very dangerous, yet effective attack - the counter. You will to learn to make a canopy around yourself that can absorb any magic, then bounce it back at the attacker.

“Like a trampoline?” Will asked.

“What’s a trampoline?”

“Never mind. That sounds
easy
,” Will said sarcastically. “What do I do?”

Gatnom laughed, just now beginning to understand sarcasm. “The words are simple,
absorb and attack
, but the timing and the concentration are a much different matter. You have to focus your front thoughts on the canopy, while concentrating on the return attack with the back of your mind. Let’s try. Ready?”

“As if it even matters.”

“Good. Dirty Earthy Watery Whirling Wall Thingy Be!” Wohie said.

A massive wall of swirling mud rose and splashed down on top of Will like a fly swatter. Will climbed out of the foot deep mud puddle and dug the dirt out from his ears.

“You okay, Willy?” Wohie asked, giggling.

“Let’s try again,” Gatnom said. “This time focus. Wohie, let’s try a water ball. It’ll help Will clean up a bit.”

“A what?” Will asked

“Big Bubbly Watery Ball Be!” Wohie yelled. 

A massive water bubble appeared and chased Will as he made a mad dash for the tree line. Swooping down, it swallowed him whole and at the flip of Wohie’s wrist he was carried back to where Gatnom and Wohie were standing. Will held his breath and gave Wohie a dirty look. With a giggle she flipped her wrist, and he splashed to the ground. 

“Very funny,” he said in between pants.

For the rest of that day they practiced, and almost each attempt found Will unready. Once, he was knocked through the air and landed in the branches of a tree. This caused the surrounding trees to laugh, which made Will throw some magic that twisted the branches of two of them together. The laughing stopped.

“I don’t get it! What’s wrong with me today?!” said Will after he climbed down.

Gatnom walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I think it’s time for a break.”

“No, I can get it. Let’s keep going. I have to learn this if I want to avenge my parents.”

Gatnom’s eyes squinted at Will’s last sentence. “No, let’s break for an hour or so. Come with me. I want to show you something.” Gatnom slung his arm around Will’s shoulders and led him into the woods. They walked for about thirty minutes before stepping out of the forest onto a large sand dune. Gatnom led Will over the hill to the beach of an ocean bluer than the perfectly cloudless sky. Together they sat in the soft sand.

“I’m sorry Gatnom, I’m trying,” Will said after a minute. Gatnom said nothing in reply. “I mean, I know we only have a few days until we leave for the War-Games, and it’s really important. I’m sorry. I will learn! I won’t let King Mel get away with—”

“Will,” Gatnom whispered. Will turned. “Listen.”

Will waited for more words, but soon realized Gatnom wasn’t telling him to listen to him, but rather the sea. Each wave licked the shoreline trying to crawl onto the land, but each time it was dragged back into its borders by the undertow. Out to sea, little fish-men were whistling in and out of the waves, and at the very edge of Will’s field of vision the entirety of a storm could be seen brewing. The soft rumble of thunder arrived with the sea breeze. When the fishmen heard it they turned and swarm towards the storm, diving in and out of the waves like dolphins. Will reached into his bag and took out the googles he had taken from Tobby the mole. In the distance he could see the men of the sea turn belly up and float with closed eyes as the rain pelted their bare bellies.

Will leaned back and closed his eyes. His thoughts went quiet, then in that quiet place he heard a whisper, quiet as wind hitting a blade of grass, elusive as lightening without thunder. It said:
Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay
. 

He opened his eyes and looked again at the sea. There was something calming about knowing there were still things so much bigger than himself. All this responsibility and pain he had been tossed into was still small compared to this ocean. All was well here, so well that for an instant his thoughts weren’t tangled. The fire deep inside calmed.

After a long silence Gatnom spoke. 

“What did you think about Last week when you and I were flying through the air?” he asked.

Will thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I don’t think I thought about much of anything, just that we were going to die unless I did something about it.”

“Exactly.” Gatnom turned and looked at Will. “You have gotten so worked up today that you can’t even think about what’s really happening. You are learning so you can save millions of lives, not just so you can have vengeance on one man or be a great magi. Your anger is just Will, but you must desire justice, not revenge. Once that is set right you can stop fighting the anger, because a just anger can give you strength - the same as joy.”

Will listened closely to his new friend. Something about Gatnom reminded him of his Dad. How many times had he had the same kind of conversations sitting at the rectangular table in his Dad’s library. Always about honor and doing what is right even when it is hard, always about never quitting and persevering even when things seemed hopeless.

Gatnom continued. “The reason we must fight this war is the same reason you were able to save us from falling, because if we don’t do something many others will die. It’s love, not hate, which must motivate us. Think about this, okay?”

“I will,” Will said. He sat back and listened to the waves, pondering Gatnom’s words. Perhaps Gatnom was right, perhaps he needed to forget about his hate, but if he did it seemed like he would be letting the murderer get away with it. As much as he loved and respected his new friend, he would not be giving the murderer of his parents a free pass. That was not going to happen. He hadn’t started this, but he would finish it, even if it killed him.

After a few more minutes of silence Gatnom patted Will on the arm and motioned for them to go. 

“Thanks Gat, for everything,” Will said as they stood to leave.

“Mr. Will! Mr. Will!” a voice called from behind. Will turned to see Jabber, the butterbug, buzzing towards them. Gatnom held out his hand and Jabber landed in it. He was was out of breath. “Sir Magi, according to your orders we have been monitoring the forest closely—” Will could hardly remember the order. He hadn’t thought it would be taken so seriously.“—and we have detected an intruder dressed in black. He was seen near the bottomless lake.”

Gatnom’s eyes widened. “Are you sure it’s not one of us?” he asked, seriously.

“Positive sir. This spy is elusive, but we have been able to see him twice. He is much older and much faster than any of you.”

“Get back to your people,” Gatnom order Jabber. “Send someone to alert Master Jared at the large keep outside of the Abandoned City; he’ll know what to do. Bring his word back to me.”

“Yes sir!” and with that Jabber zoomed away at the speed of a bumble bee.

“We must get back,” Gatnom said instantly.

“You think the spy is from King Mel?” asked Will.

“Who else would it be?”

The two ran back to camp. Will was surprised at his new speed, which he hadn’t tested until now. His new magic ability had effected his agility too. He leapt over fallen trees, bounced up embankments, and floated over areas of mud. They seemed to arrive back at camp as soon as they left. Wohie was waiting. “What do we do?” she asked. “Jabber, the butterbug, told me what was happening when he came looking for you.”

“Get everyone together in my tent.”

“Got it!”

“Will, come with me.”

Gatnom took Will to his tent while Wohie gathered the boys. He led him into his room, jerked open a bag, and pulled out three green cloaks with golden embroidery of Lord Markus’s symbol. The hood was such a dark red it almost appeared black, but the color got brighter as it fell to the hem. 

“Master Jared sent these for the tournament,” Gatnom said as he pulled his over his jacket. Will slipped his on over his bag, hiding it beneath. It was of light material, smooth to the touch. 

“These are disguising cloaks,” Gatnom said. He set his hand upon the ring that held the cloak around the neck and spoke the word, “Disguise & hide.” 

The symbol faded away and the cloak became dark leather brown. Will’s did the same.

“We can use them to blend in to the dress of the people wherever we are. It’s a way to hide our identity.”

At that moment the boys came crowding down the steps and piled inside the main room of the tent. Some looked scared, but the rest looked like they didn’t know what danger was. Jubal, Yoh, Goh, Sloh, Broh, and Randiby sat at the table discussing what was happening. Jubal seemed to think they were in trouble, and the brothers agreed totally, blaming each other for getting caught. The noise was such that no one heard Jabber buzz in. He flew to Gatnom’s ear and whispered a few words. Gatnom whispered a few back, then Jabber buzzed back up and out of the door.