My training began in earnest the following night. Mother had explained that our magical cycles - Vasque magical cycles - were most potent at their hour of birth. Something about being tied to the radiant ether that we are exposed to at birth.
In addition to that reasoning, the Vasque also are born with a nature affinity based on this radiant ether exposure. For example, my mother and her mother both resonated with the wind affinity. Vasque families tend to favor two elements in their hereditary. Two babies could be born at the same time and same day but the etheric composition may favor one element over the other. That doesn't mean, however, that Vasque are only able to use two affinities of magic – one simply helps lay the foundation of learning the others. In total, there exists four primary elements (Wind, Earth, Fire, and Water) and four compound elements (Pulse, Growth, Ice, and Metal).
"These form the foundations of the Thaumaturgical Arts, the cornerstone of all magic. We shared this knowledge with the mortalkin – your father's people – and together we have paved the way to other schools of magic. However, we must remember without the teachings of the Three Divines and the elements they used to sire existence, magic would not be possible," mother explains with a proud smile, her index finger silently exclaiming the importance of this singular fact.
In other words, there are other schools of magic to learn besides just learning the elements. If I recall, there are spatial and time based magics that allow spells such as teleportation and interdimensional storage, transmutation magics that allow the synthesis of different materials from one form to another, among others.
"So what do we do first?" I ask.
"Hold out your hands and we will commune together," Silda says.
I hold out my hands and her longer, more angular ones hold onto mine firmly.
"Now close your eyes and breathe with me."
I close my eyes and take in deep breaths. I start to feel the familiar tingle that I recognize from the night before when she made light dance over my hand. However, the tingling becomes a vibration and continues to travel up my arms and toward my chest. It feels like an invasion from a foreign substance traversing down every vein, every artery. I panic and try to full away, close to hyperventilation.
"Calm yourself," Silda says in a clear command. "Match my breath."
"B-but!" I gasp out, finally managing to pull away and fall to the ground.
My mother stares dejectedly down at me and lets out a sigh. However, after a few moments of the uncomfortable look, she smiles.
"We must awaken your crystalline heart in order to begin. That requires me to connect our Eth together. It will become clearer the more you concentrate. But you must concentrate if you are to learn."
"O-okay," I nearly stammer, getting back up on my feet.
In retrospect, that fear, although instinctual in nature, was unfounded; my mother wouldn't put me at unnecessary risk. Would she? I shake my head and clap my cheeks. I hear my mother let out a quiet laugh before holding out her hands.
"Again."
I place my hands in hers once more, close my eyes, and take in deep steady breaths, trying to match hers the best I can. I can feel her energy running up my arms and into my chest like a jumper cable from car to car. And then my heart beats.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
It continues to beat as the warmth of my mother's energy filled my head, legs, and feet. A wind gust starts to disturb us, having picked up from what had been a still night unlike the last. Twenty mile per hour wind blows my hair from side to side, surrounding me in an embrace. I finally open my eyes – not only do I feel the wind, but I see traces of light spread throughout it in a haze just barely visible in my visual spectrum.
My mother smiles. I smile.
"Wind it is," Silda says with a nod. "Now, remember this feeling. This sensation. Feel the build up inside you. Just as I filled you with Eth, let the Ether around you continue to fill you."
She lets go of my hand, the wind surrounding me beginning to dwindle. I shut my eyes and take in deep breaths, trying my hardest to concentrate as the air continues to grow stiller.
Stiller.
Still.
A vibration ripples through the air with the force of bass speakers at a concert. I can feel it and see it at the same time; strands of light, like hair, floating in the air in a visible frequency. I take a breath and it enters me.
Ba-bump. Ba-bump.
My heart starts to beat again, reinvigorated like a gasoline starved engine. It's an exhilarating feeling. But at the same time, heavily tiring. All I can do is concentrate with each breath and reach out with my mind, siphoning ether from the air. As it interacts with my own internal power, Eth, a wind bellows around me, cocooning me in its breeze. After several minutes I can hold long no longer and stumble to the side, a wave dispersing with me at its center, calm returning to the surrounding air.
I bring my hands to my cheeks and feel the sweat running off my face as if I had just ran five miles. My vision waivers momentarily as my mother, Silda, catches me in her embrace.
"You did well. It is draining on the body at first, but careful control will allow you to minimize the strain," she says. Although I'm exhausted, the feeling had felt exhilarating. The energy had brought a calming high to me, something I wanted to feel again. "Let's try again," I say, having caught my breath.
My mother smiles and shakes her head.
"No, we rest for now, lest we strain your developing Eth."
"But I can do it."
"Better minds have been shattered by the strain of ill advised magic or channeling. We will rest."
I let out a dejected sigh, but my ears twitch as my mother speaks again.
"But we can try more in the morrow. We need no longer do it at this hour," she says.
I hug her tightly with excitement. My face flushes red with both excitement and embarrassment. I am alive. My family may be different, and the familiarity I feel for them from my pre-consciousness, but I have another chance at an even grander life than before. Silda runs her hands through my hair, tickling my slanted ears. "Let's get you to bed."
. . .