“Well, no. And your magic language, Loranian, does not resemble ours at all. But she would have used an alias while on such a mission and made up an entirely new language,” Nalan speculated. “That would be as easy as a child’s game for any of us.”
“It would be very out of character for a Tua to go live amongst humans and pose as one of them,” Alara admitted. “But we too have our share of curious and eccentric individuals, and Resinah could have been one of them. If mages are descended from our race, it would explain why they have longer lifespans than ordinary humans. And why mages from Manuc, where we Tua most often visit, live so much longer than those in other countries.”
“About that,” I said warily, looking them up and down again. “Given your huge size, it is a bit surprising that you can have children with humans at all.”
“Why?” Alara said. “We can take any form or size at will—just look at Broghan. We are able to breed with any race we run across, no matter how exotic—not that we would necessarily care to.”
“Coming back to our original subject—the legend that the First Mage did not die, but merely vanished during an ocean voyage, implies that she may very well have returned to the Tua realm,” Nalan said in a reasonable voice. “Or perhaps she has gone on to explore another world entirely.”
I scowled. He spoke as if she was still alive, when the First Mage had died over four thousand years ago. “If that’s the case, then why is it that she still responds to petitioners in her own temples?” I asked. “I’ve personally spoken to her on more than one occasion. If she’s gone off to some other world, or back to the Tua realm, then how is it that she still hears and answers us?”
The Tua fell silent for a long moment. “You make a very good point,” Alara finally said. “We shall have to investigate this further. Surely there are records that will tell us who went missing from the Tua realm within the relevant time period.”
“Yes, I believe there are,” Nalan concurred. “What a delightful little mystery you’ve given us, Sunaya! This will keep us busy for some time. And if we are right, then you are our very remote relative.” He grinned down at me.
“I still don’t know that your theory makes sense,” I pointed out, not wanting them to get too attached to the possibility. “Only some mages are direct descendants of the First Mage anyway. Legend has it that she was able to transmit her mage power to the other disciples, which is how power was passed down through other family lines. Are the Tua able to do that?”
“Of course we can,” Nalan said, sounding a bit miffed. “It is no trouble at all to gift a small measure of power to someone else—our own magic regenerates quickly enough, so it is no loss to us.”
“Here,” Alara said, pressing her index finger to the palm of my hand. “See for yourself.”
I cried out as a sudden jolt of power hit me. My own magic reacted, and I felt power swell inside me like a river during springtime, until I was certain I was going to burst before it finally settled back down. Frowning, I examined it—my magic was at a much higher level, I realized with amazement. Could this be a permanent change?
“You say that’s just a tiny part of your magic?” I asked faintly. Now that I was looking closer, I could see that Alara had doubled my magic with a mere touch of the hand. It was uncomfortably similar to how Resinah herself had passed power down to her disciples, if the stories could be believed.
“Yes,” she said. “That was as much as you could safely absorb. I could try to give you more, but it would likely unmake your entire being.”
“No, no, that’s all right,” I said. I swallowed hard as I looked up at her. No wonder the Tua were considered legendary—they were practically divine beings, especially compared to those who possessed no magic of their own.
“Are you all right?” Nalan said, gazing down at me with concern. “It occurs to me that your mind may have trouble grasping so much in such a short time.”
“I’m fine,” I said, waving away his concern. “And really, thank you for the gift.” It was going to take me a while to get used to the new magic humming in my veins, and I wondered if I was nearly as strong as Iannis now. “Unfortunately, this gift isn’t going to do me much good unless I can get out of here. You both are so extraordinarily powerful—isn’t there a way you can send me back home, to Iannis?”
The Tua shook their heads sadly. “Unfortunately, our laws forbid us to interfere in the affairs of an older member of our race,” Alara said.
“However,” Nalan conceded, a thoughtful look on his face, “as we told you earlier, we can give you a bit of knowledge, to help even the playing field, as your race would say.”
“I’ll take anything I can get,” I said fervently.
“We wish you good fortune,” Alara said solemnly as she touched the nape of my neck again.
I felt that strange sensation of my mind parting again, but this time, instead of something being pulled out, there was immense pressure instead. I gasped as it drove me to my knees, and heard Broghan squawk in alarm as my vision went dark.
“Goodbye, young Sunaya,” Nalan said, his voice sounding very far away. And then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself kneeling in the same forest where I’d first entered the Tua realm. Disoriented, I got to my feet, then took stock of myself to make sure that everything was in order. I was still wearing the leathers Arala and Nalan had given me, and to my delight, they’d replenished the food and water stores in my magical sleeve. Strangely, there was a snakeskin belt with a pretty copper buckle wrapped around my waist that I was fairly certain I hadn’t been wearing before. It was cool to the touch, and as I skimmed my fingers across the black and bronze scales, I wondered if there was anything magical about it.
Putting that question aside for now, I set up a ward around the perimeter of the clearing, then sat down and warily began to sift through my mind for the knowledge that the Tua had promised me. Sure enough, I found it, appearing in my mind’s eye like a beautifully fashioned trunk that needed to be unpacked. Carefully, I mentally turned the copper key and unclasped the latch, then lifted the lid.