Chapter 3
Try as I might, I could not use this 'power' of mine, directly. I drew a pretty good representation of Mathew, but no matter where I went in the house, it just looked like an amazing likeness, no extra power at all. I also tried other places I knew well, and people who had been my friends for years. Nothing. I even drew my parents as I remembered them, sitting in the living room... nothing.
When I changed back to freestyle drawing, and just let my imagination wonder, I started drawing a sailing ship. The storm driven sea waves were tossing it about violently, and it seemed to be in a great deal of trouble. In the distance a shore could be seen. The crew had lost sailing control, when the main mast had snapped in two. The top portion, with its torn sail, had fallen into the sea. It was acting as a 'sea anchor', marginally stabilizing the craft
I drew the crew lowering lifeboats into the water. Another drawing had them leaving their foundering ship. Yet for some reason, I was still unwilling to leave the ship. I remained fixed on it. Every once in a while I would check on the wizard, but his picture stayed static, and nothing new was being received from it.
I finally rested.
"Nothing?" Mathew boomed at me.
"No. Whenever I draw of this world, here, it is just a good representation. Actually, it's an amazingly good representation... it's some of the best work I have done in years," I said musingly. Then I went on, "But now, I seem to be concentrating on a ship in that 'other world'. At least I think it's the same 'other world' where the dragon and wizard were fighting. The same wizard we talked to," I said tiredly.
"Well, what do we know? First, magic is a power that works well in that other world, but does not seem to work in this one. The wizard told us in his conversation earlier this evening, that magic will always find an outlet, or way to release itself.
"So let us consider. Here, in this world, you are a very talented artist whose drawings and portraits are in great demand. Is it possible your magic is being translated into talent here, or into an ability far above normal? I think it is likely, boy," Matt said gruffly to me.
I nodded thoughtfully. That could be it, exactly. At least, it seemed to fit with what we had found out during our talk with the wizard. An ability that translated into a talent. That got me thinking about other people. People who were very talented in other ways, and were far above other people's efforts in whatever field they chose.
Michael Jordan came to mind with his basketball ability. He seemed to defy gravity, with his very long lived jumps into the air, towards the basket, Jumps that had earned him the name 'Air Jordan'. Others, too, I thought of, but it was impossible to know for sure. I sighed and relayed what I had just thought to Matt.
"I think you're right boy. Now, I think you should get some rest, as you seem beat. This magic drawing seems to take it out of you," he said with a hint of concern.
"I do feel something like energy going into my drawings, when I draw most of my fantasy pictures," I admitted.
"Then off to bed with you! You can get an early start tomorrow right after breakfast," Matt boomed at me.
"I'll have eggs over easy, hash browns, four link sausages, and milk," I told him, beating him to the punch.
He looked at me, and then started laughing. He hobbled out still laughing, and then his voice floated back.
"Don't forget. Your at the top of the stairs, first door to the left," he said, then silence.
The next morning dawned rainy and dreary but we were snug in this house. Hell, I don't think anything less than a concerted effort with a wrecking ball or dynamite would knock it down.
Surprisingly enough, when I went to the kitchen, Matt was already there. He had a plate of sausages already cooked, coffee was on, and the hash browns were finishing. He cooked the hash browns with some diced onion pieces in it, from the smell. It all smelled wonderful.
"Eggs will be done shortly. Help yourself to whatever you want to eat, and then get out of my way," I was ordered brusquely.
I did as ordered and waited for my eggs. He signaled 'ready', and I took my plate up to him. He dumped two eggs on it. I went back to the table and started chowing down. I did have a cup of coffee. In the morning, coffee was an ok way to start the day, but tea was my preferred drink the rest of the day. Breakfast was a different story.
After breakfast we washed dishes and then I went back to the huge living room and got started where I left off. To me, it seemed that the ship was sitting much lower in the water, though the storm had abated, somewhat. The rain and sky outside now matched what was in my sketchbook. I shivered. This was positively eerie.
I got started. First thing I did was start drawing a sort of glow around the ship. I did it with my colored pencils.
Then I drew the ship in another panel, sitting calmly and in a sort of protected area, due to the glow I had created. When that was complete, I felt extremely weak and had to sit down for a moment.
I breathed in and out and my weakness passed. Wow, I had not been expecting that at all. Now, to figure out why this abandoned ship meant so much to me. I noticed for the first time that Matt was sitting quietly, watching me.
"This ship seems to have taken my interest, and I don't know why," I explained to him.
"Then find out. What is in or aboard yonder ship, that has fixed your interest? Draw it, feel it. It's your magic after all. Just be careful," he said with a gentle rumble.
As I started in on the interior of the ship, I noticed I was drawing a huddled figure, and some sort of animal, a medium sized dog or very large cat of some sort? The problem was that in the drawing, the figures were surrounded by darkness and shadows. Hard to make out details.
As I watched this new drawing for a moment, it took life and the dog or cat, still unable to make it out, nudged the figure huddle on the floor. I decided to shed light on this, and started adding a glowing ball to the drawing. Soon, it illuminated the subjects.
In the next panel I could clearly see the two who were in the cabin or room. One was a girl in her teens I supposed, and the other was, well, I had never seen something like this before.
It seemed to be a cross between a tiger and a wolf if you can imagine that. It was also much bigger than I had originally thought, now that I had shed light on everything. Damn, but the shadows had hid a lot.
The girl was chained to the wall, and she was pulling at the chains, and seemed to be calling out, but I could not hear her. The tiger wolf did not touch the chains for some reason.
"Well, a girl and some sort of pet maybe? Frank, in all honesty I have never seen anything like that cat thing, have you?" Matt asked me in that rumbling voice I was getting used to.
"Never. Seems to be a cross between a tiger and a wolf perhaps?" I responded.
"So you have a ship in trouble and abandoned, a girl and an animal of some sort. What is so special about those two that it called your power to them? Also, how come we can't hear them as we could the wizard?" was his loudly rumbling question.
"Well, the Wizard always made a connection of some sort. Remember? He had to include you, so you could hear? I think I have to finish the connection somehow, and that's the trick. The question is... How?" I answered, feeling a wave of frustration building up in me.
"Well, either way, this girl and her pet need rescuing. That ship is not going to stay afloat indefinitely if I'm any judge of floating crap," Matt stated.
Mathew sure had a way with words, and getting to the crux of things. He made no apologies for his views, and seemed comfortable spouting just about anything that came to his mind. I wished I was as comfortable and confident in myself, as he seemed to be.
I considered the drawing. It was faithfully showing what was going on in the room/cabin. So we knew the girl was a prisoner, but why was she a prisoner? Who was she, and how dangerous was tiger/wolf creature with her? It seemed friendly to her anyway. Still, something as big as that thing was had to be dangerous.
We left the drawing and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. I was still feeling a little tired from the energy that had been drained out of me. I felt the need to eat a snack.
We discussed possible ways of contacting and asking the girl about herself and also trying to figure out the best way to rescue her.
"All right, lets take this one step at a time. When you use this power, what exactly do you feel happening? Try to remember everything. Even the smallest thing could be a clue, here," Matt rumbled at me over the kitchen table.
I thought and drank some tea. I tried to sort it out in my mind.
"Well, I could feel my energy draining. At least, it felt like energy was draining out of me, and into what I was drawing. I am still a little tired and hungry, which is unusual as I never seem to get hungry after a large breakfast until after one in the afternoon usually. Right now it is only eight thirty. While I am not quite starving, I could use a snack or something," I supplied.
So I helped myself to something to eat, and we discussed possible ways to rescue the girl, as well as whatever else I had felt while using my power. Both lists left a lot to be desired. I felt it more important to rescue the girl, than to talk about how the hell I did what I did.
"Now you're thinking wrong. You really need to discover exactly how your magic works. What did the wizard say? Magic was literal in that world? What if you do something intending one thing, and wind up doing something else?
"Enough of that, though. First, the girl seems chained to the wall. She needs to get free of the chains, but more importantly, she needs mobility. So the point best to attack would be the anchoring point in the wall. It would take forever to cut through links. Much easier to cut through wood. Especially with power tools that are battery driven. Better yet, a small chain saw! You could take my chain saw in, and free her from the wall easily with that," Matt boomed musingly at me.
"Great! Now all we need to do is figure out how to get me there, and to convince said tiger/wolf we mean no harm to the girl, then free her, and then get her the hell out of there," I answered sardonically.
"Good, you are beginning to see the situation clearly. So lets be about it. Even with that spell or whatever you did to keep that piece of crap afloat, it was still sitting mighty low in the water," Matt said. He heaved himself up and started for the living room.
He paused at the doorway.
"Coming?" he asked me.
I grabbed my sandwich and finished it on the way to my drawings. While the ship was still afloat, the situation was deteriorating. Water was starting to enter the room/cabin that the girl and her pet were occupying, and the girl was panicking. The ship was sinking under her. I had to do something.
I thought furiously, and then it came to me. The ship was sinking anyway, despite my best efforts. What if I reduced the size of my sphere of protection? I could make it just a sphere protecting the room this girl and the animal were in? That would give me more time to help her, if I could figure out a way to do that.
I started drawing furiously, and as I did, another idea came to me.
"I will need a wall to draw and paint on. A large flat surface I could draw a doorway into," I told Matt as I continued my furious sketching.
"My study has the perfect wall for you I think. I'll get some other things you might need too," Matt boomed and hobbled out after looking at what I was doing.
He came back a few minutes later, and surveyed what I had done, nodding to himself. He had a small chain saw, and in his pocket was a revolver. A big revolver.
"Chain saw is to free the girl from the wall, and the revolver is in case the tiger/wolf attacks you," he said.
He led me to his study, and I carried my drawing and paint supplies with me. He was right, one wall was bare of anything and would be perfect for making a doorway. I went to the wall, set my stuff down, and started to draw an outline.
Soon the picture took shape and while the ship was now totally underwater, the room with the two was safe enough for the time being, and the constant drain seemed to have diminished to a bare trickle of what had been leaving me before. That was new, that I noticed a drain at all. I mentioned this to Matt.
"See what I mean by knowing as much as you can? Boy listen to me, I will not steer you wrong," he said squinting at the huge drawing I was doing. I had worked in a framed doorway that when I colored it, would appear to be glowing.
I worked long and hard, switching from drawing pencils to paints. I am not sure how long I worked, but all of a sudden the picture took full form and life and an accompanying feeling of energy loss. Both the girl and the tiger/wolf looked my way suddenly, and I knew they could see me.
"Well, seems you had the right idea. Now you just have to step through, cut the chain at the wall, and get her back here. Should be simple, but with yon tiger/wolf, you never know," Matt said, his revolver now out and loosely pointed in the creatures direction.
"She is my bond animal, and she is perfectly safe to be with, for those who do not wish me harm," the girl said to us.
Well, we had communication, at least that helped. I grabbed the chain saw and stopped at the edge of the doorway I had drawn.
"I am going to come through and cut the chain from the wall to free you. This is a very noisy thing I have, and I would appreciate if your... ah, bond animal... did not attack me," I said still standing before the doorway I had created.
"She is very well behaved. The Timora, while rare, are very intelligent. It is considered a great honor to bond with one. She will not attack," the girl told me proudly.
I took a deep breath and stepped through to another world. I felt a slight tingle and a slight pressure pop in my ears, but other than that, it was like going through any other door. I looked behind me and sure enough, there was the doorway.
I started the chain saw and made short work of the anchoring point. The rescue was sort of anti-climactic in actuality. When the end of the chain was free, I asked her if there was anything in the room she wanted. She said no, and I pointed to the doorway, which now held Matt's huge frame.
She looked at me hesitantly. I shrugged and stepped back through. She followed, with the Timora following behind her.
"Don't forget to break the doorway connection. You got the sea ready to enter my study if you leave that sucker intact and the protection fails," Matt rumbled at me.
He was right. I picked up a brush, and made a break in the doorframe I had drawn, signifying a broken link. I felt the connection break as I completed drawing the break in the doorway.
"Well, that went off rather well," I said pleased with myself.
Both the girl and the tiger/wolf, excuse me, Timora, were looking around with curiosity at their new location. This was going to be an interesting.
Edited by TeNderLoin