New Writing

C1981, 2003, 2004W. Korol Selley Magic Men reading excerpt XII. ISHPA

They camped on the site to give Tusk  a chance to catch up before they moved on.  The beast arrived before dark with the wild ones in tow.  Stev's great bird arrived with the morning light and alighted to his shoulder and began picking at this hair.

"How long before it reaches Mica?" Ryechim asked.

The bird hopped to Stev's knee and sat cocking its head from one side to the other as he stroked its head.  "It would take too long.  I can't send the bird so far from its home now.  This is their season.

I'm going to give Mica our message myself."  He thought a moment and smiled.  "And if you want, we can do it together.  I know how you miss him."

Ryechim didn't have to give this any thought.  He yearned to hear the voice of his friend.  "How can this be done?"

"I'll let my mind go free and gather yours up after I've found him.  Do you still want to try?"

When Ryechim said he would do it, Stev took the bird from his knee and set it to perch on the tent.  Moving a good distance from the fire, he took one look at Ryechim, closed his eyes and let his head drop back as he set his mind free.

He imagined the sky and the aerial view of the timberlands.  He concentrated on their landholdings.  In what was scarcely a moment, his mind's eye opened up to the livestock houses.

His Black and Fawn's Auburn whinnied and became restless when he made them aware of him.  He spoke reassuringly into their minds and made them to understand that he was very far away and that he would soon be with them.

He then imagined the main house and went in search of Mica.  He found him in his sleeping room with Hanna sleeping against his side.

At first, he thought to leave him alone.  Because Hanna was in direct contact with Mica, Stev was not sure that he could block her mind while he was in Mica's.

He thought to gently graze the Overseer's mind and then he whispered his name once and then again.

Mica woke suddenly and rolled away from Hanna.  Thinking that the voice came from somewhere else in the house, he jumped out of bed and ran out of the room and into the main room.

Looking about the fire lit room, he saw no shadows indicating that anyone was here.  Just as he was about to blame it on an overactive imaginary dream, Stev sank full into his mind and said, "Don't be frightened.  The bird would have taken too long."

Sensing Mica's astonishment, "Why don't you sit down before you fall down?" Stev said good-naturedly.

How he managed to move to a chair, Mica didn't know.  He was sitting on the edge of the seat, or perhaps the edge of sanity.

Stev chuckled softly and Mica heard it.  "Sit back, I have much time to spare.  If you have anything to ask, think it and I'll hear.  If you speak, you might wake someone and I'd have to leave."

Mica mentally inquired how Ryechim was and wanted to know where they were at the moment.  He felt his mind go blank and then he felt his brain warming over, the feeling likened to that of a wide stream of water being poured into his head.

It was a pleasurable and loving feeling that filled him up to capacity.  It was at this moment that he truly knew what he meant to Ryechim and he nearly cried out of joy when he heard his voice asking what Hanna was doing in his bed.

Mica smiled and said she was his wife and said he would have known this long ago had they sent the bird.  Ryechim congratulated him and then told him they had arrived at their destination.

The warm feeling in his head increased when Stev joined in and showed Mica his memory of the place as he and Ryechim had seen it in the daylight.

Mica marveled at the beauty of the view.  He could smell the air.  O, so clean it was and the sounds of life seemed so full of zeal.

Ryechim told him that once they were done at the maze, they would immediately start back.  Ryechim thought he heard Hanna as they conversed further.  Mica said he heard her too.  He cursed lightly for he did not want this to end yet.

Of his own mind, Rychim opened his eyes and saw that Stev remained rigidly in place.  He guessed that he was probably lingering in the lowlands.

Imagining the upper levels of the main house, Stev found Jade making ready to go into the fields.  Her twin sons were still sleeping and so he left her to find Fawn in a room across the hall.

He watched over her as she slept and found himself wanting to be more than just a part of her mind.  He skimmed her mind and found that she was dreaming of him.

Slipping into her dreams, he took over.  He took her hand and pulled her to him and held her in a tight embrace.  His breath quickened and she swooned in her dream and in her sleep, as this dream was one of those rare ones one can swear the body was on the threshold of reality.

Stunned into wakefulness, she lay there grasping at the fading image of him and savoring the feel of him pressed against her quaking body.

He whispered her name and she answered with a sigh.

"I'm here in your mind."

"You're not a dream then?" she inquired softly.  "Yes, I can feel you."  She was afraid to open her eyes, least she might wake up to reality and find herself alone and missing him.  O, but no, this was real.  He was a Magic Man.

"I want to tell you I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you and I'll tell you what you want to hear when I see you again in the flesh," he said as he was leaving her mind.

Feeling his departure, "Wait!  Stev wait!" she cried out loud, sitting bolt upright.  "Tell me now and show me how much you love me when you see me."

Stev hesitated, as an alarmed Jade came rushing into the room.  He quietly said the words and left her mind completely.

Becoming of his own mind, he let his body drop to the soft grass and he remained there.  He opened his eyes when he heard Ryechim say his name.

Knowing what his first question would be, he smiled and said, "I'm fine and how are you?"

Ryechim smiled and motioned for him to come and sit by the fire.  For the first time since they left the lowlands, they were having roasted meat.

"I wish Hanna hadn't barged in on us," Ryechim said as he handed Stev a chunk of meat.

"I know what you mean," Stev said as he took the meat and sniffed it before he stuck it into his mouth.

Ryechim moved closer to Stev.  "Who barged in on you?"

"I put myself into Fawn's dream and she cried out to me as I was leaving.  I guess Jade thought she was having another nightmare."

Ryechim was amazed to hear this latest bit of news.  "Did you really walk into her dreams?"

"She was already dreaming about me.  I merely took over."

Ryechim raised a brow.  He could almost imagine what sort of dream he turned it into.

C1981, 2003, 2004W. Korol Selley MAGIC MEN