Shaping Magic Read Online Free PDF Page B

having the second sword, the more complex his movements became. Before long, he was flowing from one routine to another with no problem. From the outside, it appeared that he was involved in a complex dance; the moving and twisting were so fluid it was awe-inspiring to behold.
    When he had finished, Lindon stood there panting, out of breath from the practice. He looked over at his grandmother and Arden and was surprised to see the look of wonder on their faces.
    Arden was the first to move; he rose from his seat and walked around the fire. Thinking that he was coming over to praise him, Lindon was momentarily stunned and nearly missed his opportunity to block the sword as Arden pulled his weapon and swung directly at Lindon's head.
    As Lindon looked at Arden, he saw the red glow in his eyes the same as the day in the market when he had killed the six men. Fearing that this wasn't just a practice, Lindon fought with everything he had. He held nothing back but he couldn't get by Arden’s guard, and neither could his opponent. They fought like this for nearly half an hour, both fighters not giving ground, their weapons a blur. In the end, it was the wooden sword that betrayed Lindon. With a final swipe and a block of the wooden sword, the wood splintered, and Arden's sword stopped a hairsbreadth from Lindon's eye. Not moving for fear of getting stabbed in the face, Lindon lowered his weapon in surrender. As he did, the fire in Arden's eyes went out.
    “Well done, Lindon,” Arden praised. “If it weren’t for the wooden sword, you would not have been defeated, but let that also be a lesson: Sometimes swords can break; be ready if it does.” Having delivered another lesson, he walked back to the fire sat down and commenced to care for his weapon.
    Shaking from fear and exhaustion, Lindon walked over to the fire, threw his broken practice sword into the flames, sat down, and began to clean his weapon. When he was satisfied it was clean and sharp, he sheathed it, went to his bedroll, and fell into a deep sleep.
     
    Arden and Cora were quietly talking when Lindon suddenly screamed. They rushed to his side, seeing he was in the midst of a nightmare. Unsure of whether they should try and wake him, they watched as he screamed out in a language that neither of them had ever heard before. Both of them could speak or have heard all the languages of man and even the subraces of the world, and they had never heard the language that was coming from Lindon.
    “Has he ever had nightmares like this before?” Arden asked.
    “No, he hasn't. This is the first one that I know of.” She answered with concern.
    “Should we wake him?”
    “I don't know,” she said. “Let me try a sleeping spell; I don't know if waking him is a good idea. The spell might calm him.”
    “Do you think that's wise? I mean, after what happened with magic of the ward.”
    “As I said, I don't know, but we should do something. I hate seeing him suffer like this.”
    “Let me try to wake him first; I think it would be safer.”
    “Okay, try and wake him, but be gentle.”
    Arden tried to gently shake Lindon's shoulder, but there was no effect. The boy still writhed in his sleep. Arden shook his shoulder harder, but still no response. “Lindon, wake up!” he bellowed, but the lad would not wake. Nothing Arden tried could wake him from his tormented sleep.
    “It looks like we have no choice but to try your way,” Arden said.
    Cora knelt over Lindon, trying to discern if any outside source was causing Lindon's nightmares. Seeing nothing, she decided to attempt her sleeping spell; hopefully he would calm into a restful sleep.
    The spell began like it should, but as soon as she laid it on him, he screamed in pain, arched his back, and with a flash of light, the spell was broken. Lindon calmed, but that was not what was supposed to happen. Normally, a person would simply ease into a quiet sleep, and the spell should have had no manifestation of light.
    Turning