Awakening, Quickening

Moving In pt 2

That night, for the first time in weeks, Harmony dreamed again.
She was standing on the top of the castle wall-house, the windows of which glowed with a comforting light; but outside, away from the house, beyond where the light touched, the grass and stream vanished, and she saw again the mysterious scene of gray waves and black night, and tiny stars. They swept over the town, pressed against the wall, as if to overtake it; they rose and fell, as if they were reaching out to grasp the wall house, which looked like a ship of life, of comfort, in a sea of eerie darkness and dead land.

This time, observing the scene, Harmony felt a white-hot fear; the stars above didn't sweetly blink, but fell from the sky, over and over, spraying her with sparks and turning the gray sand-waves black with soot and ash. Flames licked and flickered on the grey sand, revealing the houses of Grebefal, which caught from the star-sparks, and burned. Faint screams echoed and were cut off as the houses dissolved back into the sand; Black smoke and soot filled the sky, soot that then pulled itself together, and rose, facing her with a blank, empty nothingness in its face that made Harmony scream aloud. She remembered what Muse had done, and pictured a spear in her own hand; focusing, pulling mana from the air, the rocks, anything around her, she formed the light into a javelin, a thick beam, and flung it into the maw of the darkness, watched it burn and then disappear.

She felt a sense of triumph–then felt herself being touched, pulled, shaken,

shaken,

–ah, it was Muse, shaking her roughly awake.

But something in her energy made Harmony's eyes open wide with shock. And then she heard her.
Harmony! WAKE UP! There's something wrong with Kyir!

Harmony heard a wheezing sound, ragged and rough, and saw with horror that Kyir's small face was grey; water trickled around his mouth and eyes. She felt herself tumbling towards a panic, but grasped at the basket and got up as quickly as she could, rolling herself to a standing position and the baby into her arms in one motion. His tiny arms and legs were limp, dangling. Harmony opened a mana-channel and drew in as much as she could hold, deeply, pulling from the castle winds and the earth; as carefully as she could, she reached into the tiny body and searched for the problem. It wasn't hard to find. His mana core had gone dark; far too drained. She fed his mana core from the winds, carefully, trying not to overwhelm it or over-feed it. Almost immediately his color came back and his breathing steadied; he opened his eyes a squint and began to cry, loudly and angrily. Harmony sank into the bed cradling him in her arms. Muse, she thought, I did this. I drew on my surroundings while in my dream. HE was my surroundings. I hurt him! Tears poured down her cheeks, hot tears of shame and self-hate, rage at what the dream had almost made her do. I thought I had triumphed, had won over whatever was in that dream, but it was just a dream after all. I almost lost him!
Muse's hands shook as she gently took Kyir from Harmony and rocked him. It wasn't your fault, she thought back. It was a dream-creature. Likely it was after Kyir this time as well. You couldn't have done better; you didn't know what you were doing.

She looked angry and helpless. Kyir's howls eased a little, and Harmony reached out to take him back, needing to hold him close, but hesitated, hating herself, fearing what might happen. I'll never sleep again, she thought. I can't. What if I hurt him again?
But Muse shook her head firmly. You know you can't do that, she thought. We all need to sleep. And Kyir needs his mother. He has to nurse, needs to hear you near him. He loves you.
Muse looked thoughtful for a second.

You said he mirrors–maybe you can teach him to mirror a mana-blocker, like what you use to shut me out, when you want to?
Harmony's eyes widened. I can try, but he's just a baby...it's not possible. It can't be possible.
Try, Muse urged. Try.
Harmony reached into her memory, and drew forth the image she had built on her first days of college; the mandala of her mental shield-wall, the spell to prevent others drawing from, contacting, or changing your core mana...she formed it with her eyes closed, tracing it in light in the air, bright and powerful, strong and encompassing. Lines followed lines, slowly building up and filling it out, closing the gaps; and Kyir fell silent, watching her trace it, his tiny eyes sparkling with intense curiosity. Little one, Harmony thought, softly, do this.
She half-expected him to immediately begin to trace lines in the air, too, as she had. But he didn't. He just stared and gurgled, wriggling his fingers and toes. She shook her head. It's too advanced, she thought, looking up at Muse. Of course it was; how could he possibly learn this? It would be far too advanced for a tiny baby, no matter how talented they are.
Suddenly it dawned on her; she could still use the shield, though. Muse! I'll make him a shell of my own shield–like an egg! Then I won't be able to reach inside or draw on him, only pass around him, like he isn't there!
Muse nodded. That sounds good too. Let's do that. Can you?

Harmony focused on her shield again; she felt for the edges of her own shield mandala, tugged, brought them closer, knitted them together around Kyir. Tucked into his encircling mana-cocoon, his face shone with a faint otherworldly light; but that soon faded as the designs of the shield faded from view. The shield was present, but no longer visible. He blinked sleepily and nudged at Harmony, bored and tired, now, and a little hungry. She propped him up to nurse, and carefully checked the cocoon for weakness while he fed. Using a line of mana like a shining thread, she carefully stitched through and around, sewed up any holes, and wove the designs in deeper and stronger, anywhere she could, surrounding him with a double layer of shield that would feed off her own mana, permanently. Even she would not be able to break this spell; it was tied to her, relied on her own life-source, and would only break on her own death. No one will ever take your mana from you while I live, my darling, she thought. Especially not me. Not ever again.