The Nature of Magic

My fellow crusaders Laura Diamond and Tessa Conte are hosting the Nature of Magic blogfest today and tomorrow. A chance to share what magic means to our characters. They are also offering chapter critiques to three finalists.

And hey, just so you know, there's also a chance to win critiques over at Oasis for YA until April 1st.

This 465-word excerpt is from my YA historical fantasy, A Handful of Scars. The scene is where sixteen year-old Sidain learns a little about the magic she's about to inherit.

“Sidain,” Ehrulen said, startling me out of a wind-induced reverie. I’d almost forgotten he was sitting behind me. “Tell me your first impression.”

I hesitated. My first time ever out on a boat - I felt a little queasy, and a little thrilled. I thought about how my mother had loved the sea, and my face tightened. I did not want to tell him any of this.

The wind shifted, making the sail snap and shudder. The rope-man adjusted the sail until it caught the wind again. I staggered, trying to keep my balance as the boat heeled over.

"Tension," I said.

Ehrulen lifted his shaggy eyebrows almost high enough for me to see his eyes.

“Go on,” he said.

“Um, the wind is moving us, but it’s a tense kind of movement. Not relaxing and mindless like walking. It’s like riding a half-broke horse, about to take off running without warning.”

“Unpredictable.”

“And far more powerful,” I said. “I feel so – exposed out here.” Especially since I couldn't see the shore now. Why couldn't we sail parallel to the shore, instead of away from it? We were surrounded by wind and water, with only some planks of wood and a square of sailcloth between us and those two dominant elements.

“Which is more powerful, the wind or the waves?” Ehrulen asked.

He was testing me. I thought about how the wind stirred up the waves, making it seem the more powerful of the two. The sky had greater breadth, spreading out across both land and sea. And it had unmeasurable height, probably even higher than the sea’s depth. But the water – it had weight. The wind could ruffle its surface, but the surface only. The waves were a meaningless movement compared to the great currents underneath, and beneath those the depths where only the sea monsters could possibly live.

“The wind is greater than the waves,” I finally answered. “But the depths are more powerful than both.”

Ehrulen stared at me. I ran my tongue over my lips, and the wind immediately dried them.

“We can harness the wind and ride the waves in this boat,” he said, with a nod. “We can choose our direction and travel across the world faster than by any other means. But.” He stopped, and I knew he was waiting for me to answer.

“But… we don’t really control the elements.”

He nodded again. Then he stood up beside me. He had perfect sea legs, like the rope-man. We both stood facing into the wind, and when he spoke, his words barely reached me before the wind snatched them away.

“So it is with the power of Lassil, Sidain. We harness its power like the sail harnesses the wind. But we never truly control it.”

So there you have it. I'm traveling on Sunday March 27, but I promise to visit more folks in the blogfest on Monday!