November 7

Word Count: 1863

“Hello, Mitty,” he said as if it were an every day occurrence to show up on her doorstep.

“Saratin. How are you? Is everything all right?” If he had traveled all this way, perhaps something was wrong. “Is Malek okay? Nothing happened did it?”

“I’m sure they’re fine. I’m glad you could convince him to go.”

“How did you know it was me?”

“Malek wouldn’t go on his own.” Saratin shook his head. “I’m glad that the two of you… I don’t know what we would have done without you being able to talk to him,”

“Malek really is a sensible man,” Mitty stated. Malek was indeed very intense and loyal once you got on his good side.

“Of course he’s sensible. We’re the ones who are slightly crazy. We’re got him off dragon hunting don’t we? He wanted to stay home.”

Mitty laughed and then shifted her basket to her other arm. “Oh! I have no manners! Please, won’t you come in and sit down?” She asked, walking past him and opening the door.

“Thank you, I believe I will.” They entered the cottage. Mitty set her basket down and went about the cottage, preparing a snack. She offered a chair to Saratin and he sat. When she finished making the tea, she nervously seated herself in the other chair and waited for the brother to discuss whatever he had traveled so far to talk to her about. She knew he didn’t want to talk to Malek, because he came when he knew absolutely that he wouldn’t be here. Perhaps that’s what was making her nervous… it was a bit like sneaking, and Mitty had proved very ill-equipped for sneaking. To top it all, she never lied to Malek, and she wasn’t planning on starting.

“This tea is really quite good,” Saratin said with his hands wrapped around the mug.

“A woman in the village makes it… she has a lovely garden where she grows everything, but she’s very secretive about her recipe,” Mitty stopped herself from rambling further by taking another sip of tea. “How are things in the city?”

Saratin sighed, “Busy, finally. Brothers are beginning to arrive and as people hear about us, they arrive at the gates begging us to solve all of their sundry problems.”

“It must be rather difficult to see all those people and not be able to help them.”

“Well, Trevelyn trying to get everything organized and Lynah is… well… Lynah is… helping.” Saratin rolled his eyes. “And I think we may be able to help people a little sooner than anticipated. That’s why I’m here.”

“Really? It seems a long way to travel when you’re so busy.”

“Yes, and no. First of all, the trip took me all of three seconds. I’ve figured out a few basic concepts of how our powers work, with the help of the Book of Geoi.”

“Three seconds? You got here in three seconds.” Mitty tried to imagine what that must be like. “Wait a minute… Nelyr could do that too. He transported me and Pylon and Malek that way.”

“It’s one of the easiest things to do. I think that’s why Nelyr could manage it, even when his powers were nearly exhausted.”

“It’s easy?”

“I’d like to show you how.”

“Me?”

“Yes, Mitty. I want to teach you. I guess sort of like mini mage lessons so that we can learn to use our powers to help people.”

“So you’re teaching everyone else, right.”

“Yes, I just thought I’d start with you.”

“Why me?”

“Trevelyn and Lynah are busy getting Tamarin back together, and Lasser and Iber have their tasks… and I don’t think Malek will ever trust me enough to let me teach him. It will require a lot of trust.”

“So you won’t teach Malek?”

“I was hoping that you would teach him, once I teach you.”

“So you’re not planning to exclude him?”

“Whether he chooses to exclude himself or not, he still is a Great Mage, with the same potential as the rest of us. That’s why I’m asking for your help to bring him into the group.”

“And what makes you think I can teach him?”

“Well, I think that if you can’t, no one can, but I’m fairly confident that when you learn, you’ll have no problem transferring the information to Malek.”

It sounded to Mitty that Saratin was being very honest with her. He made no qualms about setting his ideas out for her. He didn’t try to lie or evade the problems he knew Malek might have. Malek was very quick to mistrust someone. That was one of the reasons Mitty sent him off. He needed to build trust with Lasser and Iber. Hopefully getting rid of a few dragons together would do that.

“Okay. So when do we start?” Mitty put her tea mug down and smiled at Saratin. He stood and extended his hand to her. She rose and took his hand.

“We start now. Just relax.” Mitty closed her eyes and felt a slight breeze blow by, which was quite strange, because she was sure the door was securely shut. She opened her eyes to tell Saratin to make sure the door was closed only to realize there was no more door. No more cottage in fact. They were standing in a field of green that stretched as far as the eye can see. One large tree stood behind Saratin.

“Welcome to my mind,” Saratin said as he let go of her hand.

“Your mind?”

“Or at least that’s where I think we are… it could be your mind, or some place that exists between the two. Either way, it’s a space I created to teach myself how to use my powers.”

“There’s not a lot here,” Mitty said, surveying the skyline.

“That actually makes it easier to get to. Without a lot of details to remember, I can focus on it quickly, and get here faster than any other place.”

“How much faster?”

“Oh, several seconds at least. So lets start with traveling. Close your eyes and picture the place you want to go.”

“Where do I want to go?” Mitty said closing her eyes.

“Someplace you know well, to start. How about your cottage? Get a picture of it in your head.” Mitty tried to imagine every detail of the cottage. The bed, the little table, the two chairs, the tiny stove and even the candy dish she had yet to fill with today’s purchases. When she thought she had a good enough picture, she nodded.

“Okay. Got it. What do I do now?”

“Just go there.” Mitty opened her eyes to stare at Saratin. “What’s that supposed to mean. How can I just ‘go there’?”

“Imagine yourself traveling there, and your powers will make it happen. You’ve done it before.”

“I have?” Mitty tried to think back. “Oh! I have! That morning when I woke up in Toumat and ended up in jail!”

“Right… but that time you weren’t aware of how you did it, and you really didn’t believe you could do it, and that’s why you couldn’t get yourself out of the jail.”

“I tried.”

“Well, this time you know you can do it. Just clear your mind and start again.”

Mitty took a cleansing breath and closed her eyes again. She pictured her cottage in her head. Saratin was right. She could do this. She wasn’t alone like she’d been when she was in jail, and even then, she hadn’t been alone. Malek had come promptly to rescue her, even if he had been slightly grumpy about the whole thing. She was going to do this.

“Holey Moley, by the Great Mages! Look, there’s someone in cell. She looks familiar.” Mitty opened her eyes. She wasn’t in her cottage. She stared at Toumat’s jailer and a rather skinny salesman who was holding up neck scarves. “Hey, you’re the one who escaped the day of the Green Beast’s rampage,” the jailor said. He whispered loudly to the salesman, “he killed three people, you know.”

“Oh he did not. He ate a ham or two. Pylon doesn’t kill people. He kills dragons.”

“Oh, dragons.” The jailor nudged the salesman. “I forgot she was a bit loony the last time. I suppose this time I’ll have to keep an eye on her long enough for her to go to trial.”

Mitty’s heart sunk. The last thing she needed was to be stuck here while Malek was off somewhere thinking she was safe at home. Mitty shook her head clear when she realized that unlike last time, she could get herself out of it.

“I’m so sorry to disappoint you, gentlemen, but I popped in long enough to deliver a message to my father. Tell Zaugh that I am wonderfully and happily married to a man that loves me with all of his being.”

“I’ll go fetch him so you can tell him yourself,” the jailor laughed.

“I’ll not be staying long enough. Good day.” Mitty closed her eyes and wished herself to her cottage.

“Where’d you go?” Saratin asked. He sounded slightly amused. Mitty opened her eyes and found herself standing in the middle of her cottage.

“I went to… well, let’s just say I had to deliver some news to my father.” Saratin’s smile grew letting her know that he understood she hadn’t gone out of her way on purpose.

“I think you’ve gotten the hang of it. You’ll get better with practice,” Saratin said.

“That’s it?”

“I think it’s enough for today. You’ve learned a great deal, and the rest of it will come quickly after that. Just practice a bit more. When you feel comfortable, teach Malek.”

“All right, would you like some more tea?” Mitty asked.

“Actually, I have to get back to Tamarin.”

“At least let me put some of it in a bag for you, so you can brew your own.”

“That would be delightful.”

Mitty hurried to get Saratin the tea. She spooned a liberal amount of tea leaves into an empty tin, and handed it to him with a smile. It seemed so strange to be exchanging such small pleasantries after mucking about with what Mitty used to think were the rules of existence.

“Oh, and when Malek gets back, I’d like to have another Council meeting,” Saratin said, as if saving the unpleasant news until the last moment of his departure. “Things are happening, and we need to keep ahead of them.”

“Right.”

With a smile, Saratin disappeared from sight holding his tin of tea.

Mitty sat down at the table to think. The tea in her mug was still warm. She tried to remember what she had planned to do for the rest of the day, but her mind kept skipping over the sudden opening of opportunities. There had always been a lot of places she’d heard about, but had never had the chance to go to. Now it would be no more than a blink of an eye. She only had one problem. She had to decide place to visit first. Humming slightly off tune to herself, Mitty began her mental list.