25 November 2012
It wasn't that Sophie regretted telling Torin everything, it was just that she regretted telling him the truth. She knew all about Torin long before she ever met him. The truth was that Galen, her master, had been preparing her to meet Torin since the moment he saved her from the fire. Staring death in the face, Sophie laughed. It was possible she was not going to survive the next few moments as the great bear loomed down on her, and instead of summoning any multitude of wonderful, happy memories, instead all she could remember was this.
She sat in Galen's cave meditating; her eyes were closed and her palms were soft, not expecting any attack. And then the flames began licking her knees and tickling her hands. The heat was intensifying and suddenly her eyes flew open as her relaxed mind registered the imminent danger. In her panic her mind went blank and any counter-spell was unforthcoming. And suddenly a white hot flame speared her chest and she fell to the ground, crying in agony as the flames ravished her now prone form. The blows continued to pierce her back, and her tears scorched her eyes as they instantly vaporised.
And then as quickly as it started the flames were extinguished and the blows ended. Sophie sobbed softly into the floor, and it was not until rough hands grabbed her that she realised the burning agony had been an illusion, and the pain she felt was a product of her own imagination with a little magic to help it along. Galen struck her hard across the face. Her nose cracked and then spurted blood. Instantly she felt the bruise forming, and a sharp pain across her cheek bone. There was no denying that the bone was broken. She fell to the ground and bit her lip. The tears flowed and Galen spat at her and walked away.
Later that day Galen returned and was the same jovial and caring master she had come to know and love, He tended the wounds on her face with salve and reset her nose after first giving her a root to numb the pain. He then gave her a new meditation exercise. Over the following three months Galen would attack her in much the same way, leaving her alone for days or weeks at a time for her guard to lower and delivering her blows to the face whenever she cried.
Then one day, Sophie was meditating and she felt the familiar pain nipping at her hands and knees. But she did not react. She did not retaliate. Instead she flowed deeper into her meditative trance and traced the magic back to her aggressor. She almost recoiled at the touch of Galen's anger, but she persevered and broke through his wall of protection. Slowly and carefully she unpicked the tendrils of his magic, holding them together so that he would not know what she had done until it was too late. And then she let the tendrils go and the magic fell apart. Sophie stood, bowed to her master and headed out of the cave.
"Where are you going, Sophie?" Galen called.
"I'm finding it very hard to meditate in here," she said and turned her back.
It was this that Sophie remembered as she stared death in the faced. The pain felt as real as it had been the first time when she was under Galen's spell, and the tears in her eyes were real. But this time, she remembered the power, and she knew exactly what she had yo do.tars in her
A flashback • Opuss № I