orphanage.’
Berengarius nodded with a mixture of condolence and disappointment. ‘That is a shame, but while it would have been nice to know who your ancestors were, my theory isn’t contingent on that knowledge. The best explanation that I can come up with is that your ancestors were bannerets. The quality has remained latent in your family’s blood for all the generations since. Why it has chosen to manifest itself now, with you, is hard to say. Perhaps your mother’s family had a similar history of service in the bannerets, and when the two bloodlines converged, it was enough for the trait to manifest itself. It is impossible to know for certain.
Soren nodded. It really wasn’t important when he thought about it. All that mattered was that it had happened. ‘It means I’ll never be able to have children, doesn’t it.’
‘Ah, yes. I’m afraid it does seem likely that you won’t,’ Berengarius said. ‘I am sorry.’
It was strange. Soren had never given any thought to having children of his own before. For most of his life just surviving from day to day had taken up all of his consideration. However, now that he was presented with the fact that he would probably not ever be able to, he was filled with the most profound sense of loss and regret.
‘Those towers you can see,’ Berengarius said, breaking the silence, ‘on either side of the strait are the houses for the Chain of Saludor. It could be raised or lowered to control the passage of ships through the strait.’
They reached the nearest tower. It sat atop a walled quay overlooking the narrowest point of the strait and he could see the chain dropping away into the water from its far side. Each link was at least as large as his body and as Berengarius had said, there was no trace of rust; each link looked as though it was freshly forged.
‘How does this all work? How do I tap into the Fount?’ Soren said.
‘That’s probably the only question that I cannot answer with any certainty,’ Berengarius said. ‘Even among the mages, everyone’s method differed slightly. I know little about how it worked for bannerets born with an affinity, so can only tell you of how it worked for those we created and for the mages.
‘The Fount is everywhere, an ambient energy that is stronger in some places, weaker in others. When you connect to the Fount, you can draw on that energy to use it as you choose. It’s given off by all life, much like how a flame gives off warmth, and how that heat is strongest closest to the flame. The Fount is also inside us, like a reservoir, which can be used and replenished. The most important thing to know in this regard is that it can be drained completely. Doing so is always fatal. It’s difficult to do though. You’ll use ambient energy before you draw from your reservoir.’
More danger, Soren thought. For something that was referred to as a gift, it brought a great many ways to kill its beneficiary.
‘In the ordinary course of things you’ll be very aware of when your own reservoir is being depleted; exhaustion, headaches, physical pain the like of which you would not have thought possible. The Moment may mask those warnings, which is another one of its dangers. Sleep will allow your body to replenish its reservoir most quickly by passively drawing on the Fount. The more drained you are, or the weaker the Fount, the longer you’ll need to rest.’
Soren nodded. It explained the headaches and the speed with which he was tiring.
‘As a general rule,’ Berengarius said, ‘the greater the concentration of life the stronger the Fount will be, and the easier it will be to draw on. It’s what made Vellin-Ilora such an ideal site for the College of Mages. At its peak, there were over a million people living here. The Fount was limitless. It allowed us to shape some of the most breath-taking and important magic you could possibly imagine. Now, the city and the Isles are dead. It’s a struggle to draw even a small
Berengarius nodded with a mixture of condolence and disappointment. ‘That is a shame, but while it would have been nice to know who your ancestors were, my theory isn’t contingent on that knowledge. The best explanation that I can come up with is that your ancestors were bannerets. The quality has remained latent in your family’s blood for all the generations since. Why it has chosen to manifest itself now, with you, is hard to say. Perhaps your mother’s family had a similar history of service in the bannerets, and when the two bloodlines converged, it was enough for the trait to manifest itself. It is impossible to know for certain.
Soren nodded. It really wasn’t important when he thought about it. All that mattered was that it had happened. ‘It means I’ll never be able to have children, doesn’t it.’
‘Ah, yes. I’m afraid it does seem likely that you won’t,’ Berengarius said. ‘I am sorry.’
It was strange. Soren had never given any thought to having children of his own before. For most of his life just surviving from day to day had taken up all of his consideration. However, now that he was presented with the fact that he would probably not ever be able to, he was filled with the most profound sense of loss and regret.
‘Those towers you can see,’ Berengarius said, breaking the silence, ‘on either side of the strait are the houses for the Chain of Saludor. It could be raised or lowered to control the passage of ships through the strait.’
They reached the nearest tower. It sat atop a walled quay overlooking the narrowest point of the strait and he could see the chain dropping away into the water from its far side. Each link was at least as large as his body and as Berengarius had said, there was no trace of rust; each link looked as though it was freshly forged.
‘How does this all work? How do I tap into the Fount?’ Soren said.
‘That’s probably the only question that I cannot answer with any certainty,’ Berengarius said. ‘Even among the mages, everyone’s method differed slightly. I know little about how it worked for bannerets born with an affinity, so can only tell you of how it worked for those we created and for the mages.
‘The Fount is everywhere, an ambient energy that is stronger in some places, weaker in others. When you connect to the Fount, you can draw on that energy to use it as you choose. It’s given off by all life, much like how a flame gives off warmth, and how that heat is strongest closest to the flame. The Fount is also inside us, like a reservoir, which can be used and replenished. The most important thing to know in this regard is that it can be drained completely. Doing so is always fatal. It’s difficult to do though. You’ll use ambient energy before you draw from your reservoir.’
More danger, Soren thought. For something that was referred to as a gift, it brought a great many ways to kill its beneficiary.
‘In the ordinary course of things you’ll be very aware of when your own reservoir is being depleted; exhaustion, headaches, physical pain the like of which you would not have thought possible. The Moment may mask those warnings, which is another one of its dangers. Sleep will allow your body to replenish its reservoir most quickly by passively drawing on the Fount. The more drained you are, or the weaker the Fount, the longer you’ll need to rest.’
Soren nodded. It explained the headaches and the speed with which he was tiring.
‘As a general rule,’ Berengarius said, ‘the greater the concentration of life the stronger the Fount will be, and the easier it will be to draw on. It’s what made Vellin-Ilora such an ideal site for the College of Mages. At its peak, there were over a million people living here. The Fount was limitless. It allowed us to shape some of the most breath-taking and important magic you could possibly imagine. Now, the city and the Isles are dead. It’s a struggle to draw even a small
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