Wielder's Rising Read Online Free PDF Page B

ambience being dangerous to a wielder.”
    “Then how do you explain what just happened to me?” he asked.  Studell threw up his hands in exasperation.
    “Sometimes you must sacrifice for knowledge,” he exclaimed.
    Traven took a deep breath and sat back up.  He’d try one more time and see what happened.  If he blacked out again, he would stop this nonsense until he could learn more about the ambience and wielding it.
    The lamp filled his vision.  He concentrated on lighting it.  Once again the air seemed to thicken and circle around the point where the flame should be.  He could feel where the flame was just out of sight.  He reached for it with his mind and pulled it into reality.
    The lamp once again burst to light with a flame seemingly appearing out of thin air.  Traven put his hand down on the bed next to him and steadied himself as he dizzily closed his eyes.  The feat had increased the intensity of his headache, but at least he hadn’t passed out this time.  The use of the ambience definitely had a negative effect on his health, but maybe it would not always be as bad as he had feared.
    “You are definitely a wielder!” exclaimed Studell excitedly.  He was looking back and forth between the lamp and Traven with a silly grin on his face.  “What else can you do?  How long have you had this power?  Oh my, it’s true!  There really were wielders!  Of course I already knew that but when you see something like . . .”
    Traven shut out the philosopher’s ramblings and laid back down on the bed.  He rubbed his head and neck, trying to soothe the pounding.  He felt incredibly drained as if he had done a whole day’s work of hauling logs.
    “Oh, sorry,” Studell apologized.  “I’ll let you have some rest.  Later we’ll get some more answers!”
    “Please don’t say anything about this to anyone,” Traven mumbled as the philosopher opened the door to leave.  Studell paused before closing the door.
    “You’re right, young man.  It would be unwise to let it out that you are a wielder until we know more about your power.  I’ll try and smooth over the sword incident with the captain.”
    Studell then closed the door, leaving him alone.  Traven sat back up and blew out the lamp before slowly pulling himself up onto his bunk.  He wanted to think about all that had just happened, but his head was still pounding and he was too tired.  He soon drifted off to sleep in the small, cramped cabin as the ship continued rocking back and forth.

 
     
     
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    Traven woke up with his head feeling better but his stomach feeling worse.  The ship was lurching back and forth, not gently rolling on the water anymore.  He got off his bunk and stretched, placing his hand against the wall to steady himself.  As he stood in the dark, he thought of everything that had happened to him that morning.  Apparently he really was some kind of wielder.  He, of all people, somehow had the ability to manipulate the power known as the ambience.  The thought brought with it a mixture of both excitement and fear.
    He wondered what all he could actually do with his powers.  If he could light a lamp, he could definitely do other things.  But how would he learn how to do them?  He knew that there was danger in using the ambience without knowing more about it.  How could he be safe and learn to wield the ambience without some kind of guidance?  He supposed that Studell probably knew as much about it as anyone alive that wasn’t a wielder himself.  Perhaps if he was very careful he could experiment a little and learn how to safely use his newfound power.
    Traven smoothed out his clothes and headed up on deck.  He hoped the fresh air would help to calm his stomach.  He was met by a stiff wind that blasted him in the face as he stepped outside.  Above, the sky roiled with ominous gray clouds.  The sailors were running around, finishing taking down the sails and cleaning up the deck before the storm