Page 50 of The Tribes of Magic
“They didn’t find Orion fast enough,” Eris told me. “See? You didn’t do so terribly, Savannah. At least you are still conscious. And you did express Dreamweaver magic, which was the whole point of the exercise.”
“But none of them did? None of them are Dreamweavers?”
“No.”
“It’s far too early in the day to know that, Eris. We haven’t even scratched the surface of their magic. How about you wake them all up, so we can try again?”
“All right, Orion, but this time, you might want to keep them conscious long enough to actually test their magic.”
As Eris walked off toward the tree, the wind sighed, releasing a breath of blossoms. The flowers twirled in the air like spinning ballerinas in pretty purple tutus.
“Maybe you should sit this next one out, Savannah,” Orion said.
“Why?”
“You’re still recovering.”
“I’m fine.”
“And let’s be honest, you don’t actually need to test your magic. You already know what you are.”
“True, but if I don’t participate, I can’t earn points. And if I don’t earn points, my name will sink even lower on the Scoreboard, which means no perks for my hometown andexactly the excuse the General needs to cut me from the Program.”
“The General can’t cut you from the Program. You already cleared that bar.”
I lifted my brows, slow and skeptical. “And what’s to stop the General from arbitrarily introducing new bars for me to stumble over? He doesn’t like me, and he wants to be rid of me.”
“You do have a point, but the General is going to hold on to you, Savannah, now that he knows you’re a Polymage.”
“Maybe. Or maybe not. Personally, I’d prefer to be safe and not give him any reason to get rid of me.”
Orion shrugged. “Suit yourself, Savannah, but if you pass out from exhaustion, a concussion, or any other kind of trauma, you might give the General exactly what he wants.”
“Then I’ll just have to make sure I don’t pass out, won’t I?” I said brightly.
“How are you always so…perky? And persistent.”
I grinned at him. “Lots of practice, plus a natural inclination for not minding my own business.”
“The cat thing.”
“Curiosity, yes. And on that note, I wanted to ask you something about Dreamweaver magic, specifically about inter-realm travel.”
“It’s far smoother than inter-dimensional travel. I highly recommend it.”
“Yeah, I got that,” I laughed. “So Dreamweavers can move between dimensions.”
“Some of us.”
“And that’s how they can do things like turn themselves invisible and pass through objects and do astral projection.”
“You said you had a question? It sounds like you already have all the answers.”
“Myquestionis: how is it that Dreamweavers can travel between dimensions on their own, but they can’t travel between realms without the Spirit Trees?”
“From the tone of your question, I’m guessing you’ve heard the urban legends, stories of Dreamweavers traveling freely between realms.”
“Yes.”
