Kaitlyn’s magic lessons were not specifically difficult. Most of the lessons began with Master Garthis asking her about her experiences. He wanted to understand the spells on the house, what little she could tell him. The few times he tried to examine the house, he frowned in frustration and said it was too obscured. Something prevented him from being able to examine the spells like Kaitlyn could.

He tested her control and mastery of the few spells she knew. Casting a spell was a process which felt like she was taking yarn to start a new ball of yarn. The initial part was incredibly difficult, the tiny pieces didn’t want to roll together, and you had to hold them tightly into the figure you wanted until the shape began to form. Then you had to shape it correctly, rolling it too much in any one direction would not create a sphere, but instead something lop-sided and difficult to use. Once it reached enough size, it was just about size and feeding it more magic. That took patience. The magic had to follow the right pathways.

The more complex the magic, the more difficult it was to begin the spell, and the more difficult to make it into the correct shapes. The spell for small tools could not hold together in a shape which was large or complex, that initial element of magic was not strong enough.

Master Garthis explained the theory behind a larger tool spell, which could also form magical weapons. Even as he began describing the building and forming of the initial spell, Kaitlyn shuddered. The initial shaping of the spell was complex in ways she understood she wasn’t ready to accomplish. Holding that kind of spell in her mind while trying to feed, build, and shape the spell was beyond her. Compared to that, the flame spell was just a little loop of magic that you could feed with more and more magical power.

Once they covered her basics, Master Garthis sometimes spent some time teaching her the magical theories that he knew. While she was learning greater control and beginning to be able to build the more complicated spells more easily, he talked to her about various schools of magic he had studied. This was one of his areas of expertise, and he gladly could spend their entire lesson talking about it.

In a distant land, they believed the elements were the source of all magic. These people worshipped the elementals themselves. Rock giants, leviathans, phoenix, and thunder birds were venerated. It was believed eating the flesh of one of these creatures would curse person’s children to be blind and deaf to the element, unable to enjoy the warmth of fire or the cleanliness of water. They also believed the elements imbued magical properties into spells, so adding water or air magic into a spell could add flexibility.

“Does it work?” Kaitlyn asked.

“It seems to for them,” Master Garthis replied. “When I went to study it, I couldn’t figure it out, but for the masters of the elements they could achieve feats I’ve never seen elsewhere.”

“How does it work? How do you add an element to magic?” Kaitlyn asked.

“All magic is formed of all the elements,” Master Garthis said. “To draw one element out is like making one strand in a rope much larger.”

“Then how does it help?” Kaitlyn asked. “If I made a rope like that, it wouldn’t help at all.”

“That is where magic is not a rope,” he replied. “When you learn to identify and amplify different elements, you can adjust specific strengths and weaknesses in a spell.”

He turned to her flame spell and said, “I want you to concentrate on water while you build this spell.”

“I don’t think about water with the spell,” Kaitlyn said.

“I know,” he replied, “that is why it is a good challenge.”

Kaitlyn tried to do as he told her, thinking about water. The flame did not form, just wisps of smoke. She tried again, but failed. Master Garthis spoke, “Slow down. Feel the spell taking shape and as you do, think about a bucket of water.”

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Kaitlyn nodded and squeezed her hands into fists while she concentrated. The flame spell began to form. She imagined the flame submerged in water, it fizzled and disappeared. She frowned, but when she looked at her master he was grinning.

“Disparate elements are hardest to work with,” he said.

“Disparate?” Kaitlyn asked.

“More than just different, more like opposites,” Master Garthis explained, “that isn’t actually true of things like water and fire. There are schools that argue there is some kind of shape, but I disagree with this. All the elements interact with each other. Fire melts metal, but hardens sand into glass. Both metal and sand are considered part of the earth elemental group. Why don’t they behave the same?”

Kaitlyn frowned at the question and said, “I don’t know.”

“I don’t either,” Master Garthis grinned. “Isn’t that amazing?”

The apprentice had to laugh at the boyish glee her master. Some of her lessons were more serious. In another lesson, Master Garthis tried to explain the limits magicians face.

“There are several things which limit a person,” Master Garthis said. “The first is your individual mana. Different people have different amounts of mana. It is like some people can hold their breath underwater longer or some people run faster. There might be something in a family, where just generally the people are stronger, or taller, or run faster. But it isn’t a guarantee and someone gifted can comes out of seemingly nowhere.”

“How much mana do I have?”

“What you have access to isn’t a lot, but it is more than most apprentices develop for several years,” Master Garthis said.

“You’ve said that before, what do you mean?” Kaitlyn asked.

“Normally, in the nature of these things, you would have had to learn to grasp for mana outside yourself over several months,” Master Garthis said, “then you would begin to build your own mana reserves within. That unicorn blasted open the pathways to draw in mana within you.”

“So this is the most mana I’ll control?” Kaitlyn asked.

“Not necessarily,” Master Garthis said, “Anyone might be able to swim, but someone who does it every day and practices… can swim further, faster, and longer. It takes discipline to get there. As you get stronger, you can use more mana. Remember, the more you practice, the more you will be able to accomplish. Most apprentices take several years to be able to maintain spells as long as you do. What you need, is control.”

He then said, “Another common thing which limits people is their own mind. Spells help us form the magic, but one of the reasons I taught the flame spell first is because it’s flexible. If you understand a spell, really understand how it is built and works, you can make adjustments to meet your needs. Control the size of your flame, or the temperature. This is what will allow you to learn the spells others build, like those on this house.”

Master Garthis occasionally walked in the woods with Kaitlyn. On these forays he taught her to look for signs of the magical denizens of the forest. This would allow her to know which trees might be defended by some magical folk or another, as well as herbs and other useful items for potions. On one of the walks Kaitlyn asked, “Why are there so many magical creatures here?”

“Many mages talk about mana lines in the world like rivers,” Master Garthis said, “I belong to a school that thinks of it more like oceans because mana is everywhere. I have never found a land with no mana, and although mana can gather in larger quantities in some places and there are currents which move the mana around the world, there are no landmasses or banks.”

Kaitlyn waited, but her master didn’t continue and she asked, “So…. why is this forest special?”

“Ah! I am sorry,” he said, “I was thinking of Master Horten who has debated me on this point so many times. I was plotting what my next debate with him would bring. This forest is like a deep area of the ocean. There is a depth of magic that isn’t found everywhere. Creatures sensitive to mana like to gather in such places. Dryads are common almost everywhere, but creatures like red caps need more mana to work their kind of magic.”

Master Garthis stopped and Kaitlyn saw him staring. She looked where he was looking and saw a flash of white. She paled, and stepped closer to her master. The unicorn disappeared behind a tree, but Kaitlyn was now quivering with fear and looking around.

“And there are some who are born in areas of deep mana and then wander the world,” he said softly, “like unicorns. I have never met someone who has managed to see a unicorn be born. I even knew a mage who kept a stallion and mare for over a decade, but they never foaled even though the stallion mounted the mare many times.”

Kaitlyn tried to process this knowledge, but until Master Garthis wrapped her in a hug she stared at the place the unicorn had gone. Her master patted her back and said, “I am so sorry Kaitlyn. Unicorns are often symbols of purity and luck, but for you… I am so sorry.”