Quarter Sweep

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 43306

Astra Dragon swept her mighty tail in a quarter circle. She felt a dull *thud* as it swept into Solbert. The progress of the tail stopped, and Astra scrambled around. "Are you whole?" she asked.

A bit bruised and a little surprised, but I am not hurt," replied Solbert. "I find this interesting. Are you curious as to why?"

"Yes, very much so." Astra replied. "To be honest, I do not understand the point."

"There is something in the lore of mages called the Rule of Correspondence. It is something the mages do not talk about to the uninitiated, but they do to each other, when they 'talk shop,' so to speak. The field of magic that the principle deals with is when one soul's body is transformed from one form into another."

Solbert paused. Astra then prodded, "Go on. I am interested."

"When a soul receives a new form, some of its powers are easier to exercise than others. After all, the eyes, ears, and legs of a dragon can do the same things as those of a man. Sometimes better, as in the case of the eyes, and sometimes more clumsily, as in the case of the legs. So the powers of movement, seeing, and hearing are received right away.

"That seems obvious to me," Astra said. "So what does that have to do with correpsondence?"

"I was about to get to that. Now, the ability to transform from dragon to princess. It is difficult, is it not?"

"Yes. I think that I am picking it up, but it is hard."

"Can you describe how to me how that change happens?"

Astra blinked, and had to think. "It ... I ... It's like a dream, but not really. I think about it, you know, what I want to be. Then it happens. But, I cannot describe it any better than that."

"I am not surprised at that. There is little in the way of human experience to describe that. The farther removed a power of the new form is removed from your day to day experience, the more difficult it is to master. One technique that the mages use to master a power is metaphorical mapping. It is a sort of aid. When you talk about the transformation, the nearest thing in your experience that corresponds to that is a dream. And dreams are the one part of the human experience that are the hardest to pin down."

Solbert continued, "The reason that I was interested in how you used your tail is that the tail of a dragon does not really correspond to anything in your old body. I would have expected you to have trouble."

Astra replied, "I have not though. I used my tail to hold open this magical passage between the chamber to the outside of the caves and this city. I wagged it like a greyhound's tail."

"So you could picture yourself as a dog, wagging its tail?"

"Well, I did not think of myself as a dog, but the comparison may have flashed through my mind."

"But dogs do not sweep their tails in attack."

"No, but the quarter sweep is a move that I have practiced with my sword. When you requested that I attack, that was the mode that I chose."

"I am impressed with how fast that you have adapted. I was half- expecting you to drag your tail through, and attack as if you were trying to swing your hips. The tail is the one external part of a dragon that does not really have a human part."

"I see. So all you are saying is that I am adjusting well?"

"Yes."

After the combat exercises were finished for the day, Solbert pondered. How did Astra's ability to shoot fire come so easily? Could Astra's mind have compared the fire with something else in her human experience? Apparently the way that Astra had adjusted to her tail as being a part of her was by thinking of it as a dog's tail or a sword. (Odd about the sword part, but for a warrior, the sword was very much an extension of the body.) Perhaps she thought of the fire in the same way. But there was another way that she could adjust to this aspect of being a dragon. She might start thinking of the fire in the way that she would think of a feeling or desire, such as rage, pride, or hunger. And that would be dangerous, for she might no longer be in control of her power if that happened. She would have to be trained carefully. But as Sartoma had said, there was an element of risk in everything about this venture.

As the week passed, Astra started to master more of her powers.

  1. And so the day came when the little band was to start their venture across the Terel Sea.
  2. But before they started across the Terel, something curious happened.

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8/24/2004 3:43:15 AM

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