Amanda’s dreams of quickly showing the other kids up the next time they went to the village were all for naught. In fact spring came, and summer after it without that dream becoming reality. Even as the seasons changed, at their home the snow never really melted all the way, even with her father melting paths in it.
Beyond the clearing where they lived usually had some measure of white powder coating, be that on the trees, or just collected on the ground. Sometimes in the warming months it would rain instead of snow, and the roof would grow icicles, the same as they would find on trees in the woods.
Amanda had initially quite disliked trying to see the aura. Her father had guessed right about that. But that had only been in the beginning. Strangely, now it was one of her favorite parts of the day. This was because at first it was quite boring, just sitting around for long lengths of time and not seeing anything. But then she had created a game. The faster she could point, the more points she would get. At first she had kept that to herself, and she counted them on her fingers, one for each time she pointed. But one day her father had noticed, and so she had explained it to him.
After that her father started giving out points instead. She was starting to get really good at that game too. So far just today she had gotten ninety points. Which was so many points, that it was almost higher than she could count.
No sooner then she realized that, she pointed again straight up. “There!” She proclaimed with enthusiasm.
“Five more points. How many is that?” Her father asked.
Amanda paused, thinking. “Uhh… Nine…” A moment later she realized and yelled it out, “Five!”
“Five?” Her father asked in his skeptical tone.
Amanda shook her head, “Ninety five.” she replied this time making sure it was clear. Then before she could say anything else it came again, to her side. She pointed, “There!”
“Five more points!” Her father announced.
Amanda yelled out, “Ninety five points!”
Her father laughed, “No, that's one hundred.”
“Hundred?” Amanda asked.
“One Hundred, I don’t think I’ve taught you to count that yet.” He explained.
Amanda cried out with enthusiasm, “Hundred points!”
Grinning down at her, her father set his hand atop her head, on the fur cap resting there, “I think you’re ready.”
Amanda opened her eyes, and for once her father didn’t tell her to close them again. “Ready?” She asked, her breath misting in the chilly air in front of her. She recalled back when they started it had once been so warm when they were practicing that she wanted to take a nap. Now however it was as cold as it was in the snow, or at least it would be if it wasn’t for the furs she was wearing. Strangely today even her father was wearing a fur cap, it was like a big copy of the one she was wearing, she thought it made him look funny. But she thought it was funny when he wore anything besides his usual shirt and pants. He almost always looked the same, so it stood out when he didn’t.
Her father nodded, “Yeah, you are almost able to pick up on the smallest details now.”
“So I’m a Magus?” Amanda asked, getting excited.
Her father laughed, “No, far from that, but your lessons are about to bear fruit.”
“Where?” Amanda asked.
“Where what?” Her father inquired, looking confused.
“Where's the fruit?” Amanda clarified, she usually liked fruit, it was sweet.
Her father patted her hat, the pressure causing it to press down on her ears, which twitched at the touch. “Stop!” she complained, brushing his hand away with both of hers.
But without another word, he picked her up, and set her down on the dirt ground, and started heading back to the house.
Amanda was worried she might have done something wrong, “How come?” she called out after him, not wanting to stop for the day yet.
“How come what? Hurry up we are gonna finish inside today, it's too windy out here.” Her father called back.
He was right, her nose was quite cold, and even with the hat on her ears were chilly too. She didn’t waste any time and ran after him and into their home, rushing past him and shoving the door open.
The inside of their little home was unique to them Amanda knew. The building itself wasn’t entirely made out of wood like most of the homes in the village. The floor was wooden, but most of the walls were built out of the rock around the building, as it was set into the mountain stone behind it. There were only five rooms in their home, a kitchen and common room, her fathers room, the guest room, which she sometimes slept in if she was feeling particularly brave. Then in the back there was the storage and cellar. The kitchen had a wooden workspace in the back, and cabinets. They even had metal hinges and utensils, most people didn’t even bother with wooden doors inside, and most people in the village used wooden spoons.
Her father had told her that was simply because they lived away from the big cities, things were different there he always said. She enjoyed his stories about the towns and cities far away, of huge stone buildings and metal creations that could tell you the time of day, or so many other things that Amanda had no idea what they were. In truth she really wanted to see some of those things, like glass. Or the clock, she had no idea why you would need something to tell you the time, but she was sure it would be neat.
She wasted no time in prying off the extra layer of furs she was wearing to go outside, her father kept the inside of their home warm when he was around, the only time they ever used the fireplace was if he had to leave for a while. Even then, she usually went with him down to the village, or the other homes nearby.
She tossed her furs on the floor and couldn’t help but dance a little, it was exciting to do something new, even if it was what they had been doing outside, now they were doing it inside.
Her father formed a small ball of light in his hand as he pulled the door shut behind them. He removed off his own fur hat, hanging it on a hook. Amanda was quite used to seeing her father do things like this, though the people in the village might be shocked by such things, she was used to her father casually upsetting natural law.
Amanda was expecting him to tap one of the crystal lights as he usually did, but he instead gestured towards the back, to the cellar.
Amanda looked that way, and opened the way for her father, who was following just behind.
Inside the pantry were mostly shelves, barrels, and boxes of various things. Some of it was clothing, blankets, grain, other bits were things her father had made from the metal he found on the mountain side, he tended to sell it to the people nearby and what was back here was mostly things he had gotten in trade. A few half finished chunks of wood her father sometimes carved were laying around too.
“Down below.” Her father said as he held out the light in his hand, casting shadows between the crates and barrels, everything in the room seeming to shift with his gesture.
She made her way to the little hatch in the floor as her father pulled the pantry door closed. The hatch was heavy, but she managed to pull it up.
“You need my help going down?” He asked.
She shook her head, and without pausing she carefully grabbed onto the rungs and started descending. Last time she had climbed down she had fallen, but her father had caught her with his invisible hands. Or at least that was how she had come to think of it.
This time however she managed to get all the way down without any issue. Her feet firmly on the stone ground she grinned and shouted her success, “I did it!”
Her father came down behind her a moment later, the cellar lit only by the small orb of light above her fathers hand.
The space was mostly empty, besides some jerky which gave the whole room a somewhat meaty, and salty smell. There were also a few boxes in the corner, but it was cool, and quiet.
“Take a seat in the middle.” Her father told her as he pulled down the hatch.
Amanda wasn’t sure why they were in the cellar, but it was kinda exciting so she didn’t mind much, she quickly found the middle of the room and plopped down onto the cool stone. After a moment she spoke, “Should we have a cloth to sit on?” People from the village liked to sit on cloth, rugs, or other things instead of the raw stone or dirt afterall.
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Her father seemed to consider that, “I suppose that's not a bad idea...” He tapped the crystal light that was fixed to one of the pillars with the little metal rod that hung on the chain under it. Reacting to the tap, the crystal began to ring. With the ringing came a bright flash of light, which quickly dimmed, mimicking the intensity of the sound. After a moment the sound, and light hummed their collective acceptance of equilibrium. Barely audible, but bright enough to read by.
He climbed up, leaving her alone for a moment in the cool room. She waited pressing her finger to the stone, drawing little lines in the dirt and dust there. They weren't very visible, but she could make them out being so close.
Her father returned in short order, tossing her a rug, which she gladly set out to sit on. He however took a seat at the edge of the room, rather than sitting behind her as he usually did. The light in his hand was already gone.
“Alright, I’m going to need to turn off the lamp. You alright with that?” her father asked sitting cross legged across from her.
Amanda nodded, if she could sit around with her eyes closed all day she could sit around with her eyes open in the dark. She was even brave enough to sleep in the guest room sometimes after all.
With a nod of her father, the lamp dimmed, and then all that was around them was darkness.
She had said she would be fine, yet she couldn’t help but speak, “Daddy…” feeling suddenly worried.
“I’m here, don’t worry, you can speak to me anytime you need to.” He replied calmly, “I’m not going anywhere, it's just us down here.”
That was comforting. “Okay.” She said taking a breath, and feeling much braver now that she had heard him there.
“Just relax, breathe and if you need to talk to me, we'll get started in just a bit.” Her father explained through the darkness.
Amanda waited quietly for a short time, but before long she couldn’t help but feel worried and she had to ask, “How come it's taking so long?”
“It's not been that long.” Her father replied, she could picture his smile based on the tone of his voice. “This time is a little different, so it takes a bit of time to prepare. You see you are getting so good at picking up on the details, for you to keep improving, I need to remove more of the aura around you, so you can fine tune your senses further.”
“Hmm…” Amanda replied, not quite sure what all that ment. She was feeling kinda chilly, and was wondering if she should have kept the furs on. She was considering asking if she could go collect that extra clothing when she felt something, which distracted her. “Over there?” she said pointing.
“Good.. Good... ” Her father replied.
Then again on the other side. Above her, behind her. For a time she lost herself in the usual game of it, even without the points it was fun to quickly point out where it was. She barely even noticed that it was getting colder, and without seeing her breath it was hard to notice caught up in the game as she was.
In fact rather than noticing the chill in the air, she was suddenly caught off guard by something else. Even as the little sensation she was mentally following was behind her, she breathed out, nothing unusual or different, a normal breath. But before her that breath spread out, faint and indistinct. But it was clearly there. It was like she could see her breath, like when it was cold, but it was completely dark in here. She couldn’t help but breathe out again, extra hard into the air to make it even bigger.
She marveled at it, it was like she could see it, but she wasn’t seeing it all the same. It was strange, but marvious.
“You sense your breath?” her father asked, noticing what she was doing.
“Yeah, did you do something?” She asked, thinking that perhaps this was some trick of her fathers, some silly game.
“Nope. But we should continue, you’re getting close.” Her father replied with a bit of excitement in his voice.
“Close? To what?” She asked, unable to help herself.
“You’ll see. Just keep going like you always do.” Her father explained.
She wasn’t about to argue a little to ask more questions, but all the same this wasn’t the first time she had asked questions like this. He had made lots of vague statements about what was “next.” Yet she didn’t understand any of it, so she pointed behind her towards the little shape.
Minutes more past before shapes around her started to become distinct, like on dark nights when the moons were barely visible. It was like seeing shadows in the darkness, so faint you weren’t sure they were there at all after a moment.
Then something more substantial became visible, before she knew it she could tell where her father was, still calmly sitting on the other side of the room. She could vaguely tell where the lamp was on one of the four wooden pillars. She could point to the boxes in the corner. The meat.
Even still she kept going, a rising excitement building inside her as whatever light was inside her was slowly getting brighter, somehow making the darkness creep away, bit by bit.
By this time she was just following the little spec with her finger as it moved, it wasn’t even going away, it just kept getting dimmer, then over a few minutes it brightened to her. This was at least the best she could have described it as, afterall it was like trying to describe seeing a candle by comparing it to how a shoe smelled, or a bell sounded.
Then as if all at once, something changed. Some fundamental truth inside of her fell away, and some new reality asserted itself. The shapes in the room came into focus, and the air itself seemed to take on a color around her, like fog, and suddenly everywhere, she could feel it. A tiny little line reaching out from her father, and holding a spec, a spec that now seemed like it was absent light, rather than emitting it.
Like that night she and her father had stayed up late into the night outside, staring up at the cloudless sky full of stars. When all the stars had come to life and shot across the sky. She stared, transfixed as her world was redefined around her.
To say she was caught off guard by the shift, wouldn’t have told half of it. Unable to make sense of it, barely believing what she felt, sensed or saw, she tried to put it into words. “I can… see the air.” She breathed out, her breath like a swirling cloud of light before her, brighter than everything else in the room to her now sharpened senses. As she observed the breath shifted, spread out and faded into the rest of the air around, shifting through colors, hues and intensities as it went.
The only thing even close to its brightness was her father. The little line that had been zipping around the air shot down it's length and was gone, retreating into the shape that was her father. She could follow it with her eyes, yet all the same she could tell where things were that were behind her. It was somewhat dizzying just thinking about it.
Then the warmth came, from all around, a wave of warmth rolled in, and with it brightness, it felt like she was staring into the sun for a moment, but even with her eyes closed it was blinding. She couldn’t help but yell out, “It's so bright!”
“Relax, breathe, you just need to get used to it.” Her father said in his comforting voice from the side.
Amanda couldn’t help but try to look away, yet no matter where she looked, everything was blinding, and no matter where she turned she could see the other way. She writhed, looking back and forth trying to find anywhere to look, her eyes watering though they saw nothing.
Before she knew it her father was there, wrapping her up in his arms, “Relax, it doesn't really hurt, you just think it does.” He said, trying to sooth her.
While the hug helped, the words didn’t mean anything to her, it was confusing, and no matter what he said it did hurt. She sobbed, and cried out, but still he held her, stroked her head and whispered to her, “It's alright. You can get past it. It's going to be alright.”
She wasn’t sure how long she cried, or how long the pain lasted, but finally her fathers words held true. What was beyond that was mesmerizing. Even with the pain and tears, as the blinding light and pain in her mind receded away what was left behind was a rainbow of senses, an indistinct fog pervading the air around her, the walls, the shapes, everything had its own color, it's shape now as sharply defined to her as if the sun was in the cellar with them, casting it's wonderful glow on everything, from every angle, yet somehow, even more beautiful.
Amanda stared in wonder, even looking up at her father, who seemed distinctly different then everything around her, like he was his own entire color, the way his skin seemed to shimmer in places, he looked nothing like he did normally, yet he was her father still completely. She turned her senses to her arm, it was similar, uniquely different, yet entirely the same.
Even in the complete darkness she could pick out the individual hairs on her arm. She could see the top of her head somehow, and was amazed that as she twitched her ears, they moved to her senses. She had heard that in the towns and cities they had mirrors, but to think that she could just see herself made her heart beat faster, the horror that had nearly seemed to consume her moments before was entirely replaced by this wonder and new found excitement.
Her father watched her as she looked and sensed, whatever it was that she was doing.
Once she had slowed her efforts, and seen what she could in the cellar her father spoke, “Do you want to go back outside?”
Her eyes went wide. Realizing if this was what just the cold old cellar was like, what would outdoors be like?
He could clearly make out her expression as he grinned back at her in the pure darkness. Just as she could now clearly make out his smile with no light between them. As he stood up he spoke, “Close your eyes though, it's going to take a little bit of getting used to seeing with aura sight and your eyes at the same time.”
Amanda closed her eyes as requested, wanting nothing more than to indeed see the outside now. She practically vibrated with anticipation.
Her father carried her up the ladder rather than having her go alone, and together, her in his arms they left the pantry, then crossed the kitchen, and stepped out into the cold chilly winds. Even with her eyes closed she could tell where they were, sense the rooms as they moved, one after the next.
Amanda knew when they had passed the door, not simply because of her new sense, but also because the cool air blowing through her hair, and against her skin. That was when she realized for the first time that perhaps this aura sight wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She could indeed see the air, and she could indeed see things close by. Yet unlike her eyes, she couldn’t see very far.
She needed to compare what she saw, to what she was sensing. So she opened her eyes, ready to take in the trees and frosty ground around them. But it all went wrong, for a bare moment it was fine, but then she turned her head, and a sudden wave of dizziness struck her like a hammer. The world swam before her, the world rolled, undulated and seemed to move around her in ways she couldn’t even understand. Before she knew it, she was emptying her stomach.
Her father rushed her back inside, and cleaned her up, while telling her, “I told you not to open your eyes!” His tone worried as he tried to tend to her.
Amanda clamping her eyes shut, grumbled at the state of her stomach, which had not appreciated any of this one bit. She wanted to complain, and say she wished she never had done any of this if it was going to be this way. Yet, it was all so beautiful that she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She couldn’t even properly put it into words.
Amanda turned her senses to her father who was above her, watching her even as she lay her head on his lap. She tried opening her eyes, but after only a moment she had to close them again, it was horrible, nothing like she had ever felt before. What made it even worse was knowing that her father looked worried, even panicked as he tried to gently reassure her. Something had gone terribly wrong, she could sense it in the way her father moved.