Page 37 of Degradation

With my gaze sweeping the room, I let myself feel instead of see. The energy was consistent, but the heat wasn’t. I glanced at the unlit hearth. The room should be cool. Why was it warm?

I released my hold on Garron’s arm and connected to the energy within my well. The room shimmered before my eyes and became cleaner. The bed was a lounge covered with a simple quilt, and the fire in the hearth crackled merrily. Some of the herbs hung from the rafters were for healing, and some, I’d never seen before. Shelves of items lined the walls. And on the opposite side of the room, an older woman stood in a doorway that hadn’t been visible before.

“Not a transfiguration but an altered perception, then,” I acknowledged. “How does the spell influence one’s perception when it was cast on the home rather than people who enter it?” Because I would have known if she’d tried casting on me.

She smiled slowly as I looked at her.

A log from beside the fire rose in the air and flew straight at Garron.

I didn’t think; I reacted. The log stopped midair, suspended motionless inches from Garron’s head.

Struggling to maintain my hold on my anger, I absorbed everything that the log was, grateful I hadn’t unleashed my anger as I had at the cottage.

“And now I see why you brought her to me,” the woman said.

Understanding it had been a test, I took a calming breath before speaking.

“Respectfully, I have no interest in learning whatever you have to teach.”

The woman chuckled and motioned for us to join her as she retreated to her back workroom.

“You might not have interest, but you need it, girl.”

“Please, Kellen,” Garron said.

“If I hadn’t stopped her, she would have hurt you.”

“Bah. I simply forced you to reveal what Garron claimed you were hiding. He’s right. You’re strong. And dangerous.”

Garron gave me an apologetic look.

“We know you won’t harm us, but your control poses a different kind of danger.”

“You’re worried that I’ll expose you.”

He nodded.

Containing a sigh, I entered her workroom and looked around at the unfamiliar objects.

“Let’s start with what you know,” the woman said. “Can you light a candle with a thought?” She motioned to a shelf filled with many candles.

I lit them all then put them out.

“And sensing the weather is easy?” she asked, unimpressed.

“It is. Today will be warm with a light breeze.”

“And you can remove memories?”

“I believe I can.” I glanced at Garron. “My only attempt was to hide a memory rather than remove and replace it.”

He smiled. “And it worked. I recalled what you’d helped me forget the moment the last tracker died. I told the others while you were bespelled. It’s no longer a secret but one of the many reasons we were worried when you disappeared.”

“Ah.”

“What else can you do?” the woman asked.

I spent an hour reviewing everything I’d learned under Garron’s guidance. Heating water, making something disappear by absorbing all of its energy, and transforming objects—something I hadn’t truly done outside of the briar barrier—didn’t impress Pogwid at all. What did was my lack of exhaustion.

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