A Hold of Spectres
Part 3
Chapter 3

“In extreme circumstances, your body will try to overpower your mind,” said Mother Andromeda as she paced back and forth in front of the three recruits. “It does not matter the circumstances you are facing – extreme weather, unexpected complications on an assignment, or even guilt over what you must do in a given moment – your job is extreme self-control.”

Kyndra was drenched in sweat. They were inside Fire’s Hearth in the great hall that was most often used for practicing the arcane. Wards protected the room, and the rest of the keep, from any magical outbursts that might occur as recruits learned to control their magical abilities. This meant the room was especially charged for advanced stages of spellwork. Even indoors, Mother Andromeda had enacted a spell that made the room excruciatingly hot. Ygritte, Sirnith, and Rhaean were all tasked with casting spells to protect them against the elements. And while the other two were also struggling, they were, at least, making some progress.

Rhaean had made none. She was dripping with sweat, drenched from head to foot. It had been over an hour and still she had been unable to cast any spell at all, let alone one relevant to the lesson at hand. She tried not to look at her mother, tried to ignore the glares she felt any time Mother Andromeda passed by her, but it was no use. The woman’s eyes were like beacons shining shame on Rhaean’s efforts. 

“You must be so utterly in control of your mind and body, that the elements do not reach you, hunger does not reach you, thirst and desperation do not reach you. You must learn to guard yourself against your most basic urges and will your body and mind into submission.”

“Do you mean we can slow down the rate of the weather’s impact on our bodies?” asked Sirnith. “Using magic?”

“I am saying you can eliminate the impact entirely,” answered Mother Andromeda. “If you are disciplined enough, you can convince your mind and your body that you are not cold, that there is no such thing as freezing to death, and your mind and body will listen.”

“Could we not simply cast a warming spell? Or a cooling spell?” asked Ygritte.

“What do you think you’re learning to do now?” Mother Andromeda asked. The girls hesitated. “This is the warming spell, the cooling spell, the hunger spell. At least, these are the ones you will use. There are other, weaker forms of the same kind of magic, but they work only temporarily, leaving you just as vulnerable as you were before you cast them. This is how to ensure that you will never be that vulnerable again.”

Rhaean wanted to laugh, but she kept her reactions to herself. The ways her mother pushed and prodded, the ways she made everyone else around her feel small, was terrifying, and yet Rhaean could only laugh in response. Did she really think they could become so in tune with their bodies that they could avoid freezing to death? Or starving to death? Rhaean did not believe it. She couldn’t tell if Ygritte and Sirnith believed it, but the two were trying much harder than she was to cast the spell successfully.. 

“Aren’t there consequences when using magic to undo nature?” Rhaean heard herself ask. She didn’t know from where the question had come, but she was surprised at how little fear she felt, despite the terror her mother was about to rain upon her. 

But Mother Andromeda was quiet. Her eyes stared at Rhaean, but not with hatred or disappointment. Rhaean dared not hope it was pride, and so she wondered if, perhaps, it might be intrigue. 

“What do you mean by that?” she asked. 

“The rules of nature, as you taught us when we were first in training, are to be respected at all times, since we are part of its fabric,” Rhaean said, standing still with her arms at her side. “We must always do what we can to avoid breaking such rules. I believe it was you, in fact, who said we must never compromise on that unless absolutely necessary. Freezing to death, starving to death, or any other natural thing that this lesson is supposed to teach us to control, are all consequences of nature. Is it not dangerous to use this spell, then? And if so, what would be the consequences of so blatantly disrespecting the laws of nature for the sake of our own survival?”

All eyes were on her and Rhaean felt she would melt under their stares. She still didn’t know what she was doing, or why, but the words had been spoken, and she could not take them back. Mother Andromeda still did not look angry, but her intrigue had faded to suspicion. She walked over to Rhaean and stood before her.
“What is magic’s role in the earth?” she asked.

“It is the basis on which all life exists,” Rhaean said. 

“Which means?”

“The earth itself, and all living things within and upon it, are imbued with magic, even if they do not all possess magical abilities themselves.”

“Exactly. Magic is nature. Any magic performed is nature. Therefore, using magic is, in and of itself, a natural occurrence. Using one natural occurrence to deter the effects of another is not breaking the laws of nature anymore than using a blanket when you’re cold.”

Rhaean frowned. “Then what does qualify as breaking the laws of nature?”

Mother Andromeda made no answer at first. She began to pace again, her gaze cast down to the stone floor. “You all have read the story of Halafim?” she asked, looking over at them. The three girls nodded. “What was it he tried to do?”

“He tried to turn himself into a dragon, Mother,” said Sirnith. 

Mother Andromeda nodded. “And how did he do that?”

“By drinking the blood of dragons, or creatures he thought were related to dragons,” replied Ygritte.

“And what was the result?”

“He really had drunk the blood of dragons, and in far greater quantities than he knew,” Rhaean said. “And instead of turning him into a dragon, the magic from the blood destroyed him from the inside out.”

Mother Andromeda nodded. “That is the first known occurrence of a zenith. It is what happens when too much magic flows through someone who doesn’t know how to control it.” She stopped pacing and stared at them all. “When it comes to magic, three different kinds of people are born: those with inherent magical abilities, those with the ability to access the magic around them, and those without any magical abilities at all. The latter two cannot zenith because they either cannot access magic at all, or they can only access so much at once already.” She let out a slow breath. “Halafim was a druid, born with inherent magical abilities. But he wanted to be more magical than he was supposed to be, and in pursuing that power, destroyed himself. That was a sign of disrespect to the laws of nature, and it cost him everything.”

The girls were all quiet. Rhaean noticed that the extreme heat had begun to fade, and as the room cooled, she began to shiver. 

“Yes, Rhaean, there are consequences to breaking the laws of nature, and there are many ways to break those laws. All of them end in catastrophe. You must be careful, even when you are all here, practicing your abilities. It may seem like an extremely difficult thing, breaking a law of nature, but it is not so difficult at all. And often catastrophe strikes even before you have realized your errors.”

They nodded and said, “Yes, Mother,” in unison. 

Mother Andromeda dismissed them all, instructed them to bathe, drink at least two flaggons of water, and then ready for dinner. Rhaean left the hall immediately, unsure of what to think of her mother’s lesson. It was horrifying to think about, and yet also strangely fascinating. When they had first been told never to break the laws of nature, she had assumed the warning was metaphorical. Finding out now that it was literal, that a single person was capable of breaking the very fabric of nature, filled her with a tingling heat she couldn’t describe. 

“She could be lying,” said Nostron next to her as she made her way down the hall towards her bedchamber. 

“She probably is lying,” Oraneth said.

Rhaean said nothing. As much as she disliked her mother, she could think of no reason why she would lie about something like that.

“Because she wants to keep that kind of power for herself,” Oraneth whispered. 

Rhaean furrowed her eyebrows. Her mother did enjoy power, as evidenced by how seriously she took her role as a Mother of The Order. But was she capable of something like that? Did she even have the ability? Rhaean didn’t know if her mother’s magic was inherent or not, and considering her own daughter didn’t seem to have any magic whatsoever, Rhaean thought it likely that her mother’s was not inherent. That meant she couldn’t zenith.

“But she said there’s more than one way to break the laws,” said Nostron as Rhaean entered her room and shut the door behind her. “You heard it.”

“Maybe she uses one of them?” asked Oraneth. 

Rhaean still said nothing. She didn’t know what to think, and more importantly, she didn’t know how to prove or disprove what the two spirits were saying to her. And really, she was mostly just happy that they were only talking to her, instead of pulling her hair or tripping her in the hallways or keeping her books away from her. Compared to that, the incessant chatter was a relief, indeed. 

Yet, there was something in what they said that made Rhaean wonder if, perhaps, they were right. Her mother was a secretive woman; she was a rigid woman, and she demanded excellence from everyone. What if one of the reasons she demanded such perfection was due to the fact that she had broken a law of nature and given herself more power? What if it was consuming her? Making her already rigid self more ruthless?

The idea sent a chill crawling down Rhaean’s back.