Vyshmere

Chapter 4

         Manuel wasn't sure exactly how many of these puzzles, or riddles, to test his logic and reasoning that he was going to have to face while he was in this Majikally manufactured building.  He only knew that they were the last of his tests.  As a hopeful graduate, he was told that these types of tests would only come after he had passed all the other challenges that were presented to him on this island.  Therefore, he intended on staying alert and keeping his eye out for the next surprise.

         The way that the directors of the academy had come up with for each hopeful graduate to be able to know whether or not he or she had successfully completed the challenges set before them was to have them handed a piece of parchment.  That parchment could come from an animal, an elf, a dwarf, a fairy, or any other of several other Majikal creatures.  Once the hopeful had this parchment in hand, he or she could work on getting back to the academy.  Thus, knowing that these tests would be the last of the challenges that he would have to face, and feeling pretty sure that he was close to being completed with his graduation tests, Manuel turned to the room he had entered with anticipation.
         
         As he turned around to take in his surroundings, Manuel noticed that there were candle sconces placed along three of the walls in this new room.  These three walls each held two of the sconces, and they were spaced evenly apart.  Each one of the candles, that were in the sconces, remained unlit.  The floor of the room was bare of any furnishings or rugs.  There weren't even any places set to lounge around the huge fireplace that dominated the wall on Manuel's left; as there would be in a normal space such as this.  In the grand fireplace, however, were the only flames that provide any light to the room.  It was the main focus point of the room, and it drew him close.
         
         Each of the details that Manuel noticed mattered in this test of logic.  Each detail would be a clue to the answer to the riddle that was posed to him in the writing above the next door.  He was going to have to be able to answer that riddle in order to be able to open that door and go onto the next challenge.  He must be able to open that next door.  If he could not, he would fail.
         
         Manuel stood where he was, for a moment.  He took one more look around the room with his keen eyes.  He wanted to make sure to see if there were any details he could have missed.  Yet, with the room being as bared as it was, there wasn't much to be missed.  Once he had made sure that there was no secret item, that he could detect, lurking in any of the corners, and had taken another look at what was there, he turned his mind to the riddle at hand.

The light of a single candle,
In comparison to the brightness of Solaria,
Is as a fairy to a giant in comparison.
However, when teamed up,
Their flames burn brighter.
Combined, their inner beauty
Has the power to solve this riddle.

         
         "Okay," Manuel said to his self in a deep rumbling voice.  "I have to use the candles . . . But," he wondered, "how?"
         
         For the third time, Manuel circled the room.  This time, however, as he looked, he paid a bit more attention to the candle sconces than he had before.  As keen as his eyes may have been, there had to be something that he had missed.  Therefore, upon closer inspection, he found that each of the sconces had a symbol etched in the stone above.
         
         Had he known, upon first entering the room, that the candles were to be the key to opening the next door, Manuel would have; surely; noticed these symbols during his first inspection.  However, not knowing what was needed; until he had read the riddle; he had missed them while surveying the room.  He would have failed the test had he not seen them this time.
         
         Manuel, not one given to patience, was grateful for the fact that he was able to make himself take his time when, in fact, he simply wanted to rush through the last of these challenges and get back to his rooms at the academy.  The symbols above the candle sconces appeared to be letters.  They were written in an archaic script that was often used in Majikal writings of the past.  The script was one that was taught at the academy, and had he forgotten those lessons, he would not have been able to cipher out the answer.
         
         "Ah," the young man sighed as the answer became apparent to him.  "I got it, now."
         
         Manuel made a circle of the room.  As he did, he mentally noted the symbol above each sconce.  There were six in all, and; if placed in their proper order; they would spell out the word riddle.  This explained, to him, why the word riddle was more pronounced than the rest of the riddle had been.
         
         Given this combination, the order in which he had to light the candles became quite evident.  The only question left, to the young hopeful, was how he was going to light the candles.  Every nuance of the riddle must be taken into consideration, and the riddle did specify the manner in which they were to be lit.  He had to determine whether to light the candles with his own powers, or if he were to light them from the flames that were burning in the fireplace.  He returned to the writing above the door.
         
         "Inner light," he mused aloud as he considered what to do.
         
         The light of the fireplace, while it may have been placed inside the room, was still an external light.  It was used for the heating of the outside of the body, and for lighting the way.  It was not an inner light.  This simple fact might have been missed by a less studious person.  However, from the fact that he was able to remember this important difference, Manuel was able to determine that he was to light the candles with his own "inner" light.  He was to use his own powers in order to ignite the flames.
         
         Once again feel confident that he had the matter in hand, the young man got to work.  He went to the first candle that he was going to light, closed his eyes, exerted a little effort of thought and will, and lit the flame.  He went to the next sconce, and the next, lighting them in the order required to  answer the riddle.  When this was done, Manuel stepped over to the door under the riddle.  He stood before that door, and reached out his hand.  Grasping the knob, he turned it to see if it would open.  Had he made but a single mistake, the door would not have opened.  He had not.  The door opened with ease, and Manuel got his first look at the room beyond.  And, if anything, it was even more interesting than the last.

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         Although Manuel had a sense that he was still inside of the Majikal building, It seemed to him as if he were stepping into the land of fairies that he had been taught about at the academy.  There were flowering vines that climbed, and covered, the walls.  Large ferns, spider plants,, and all other sorts of foliage and flowering plants covered every single vestige of stone on the walls and floor.  Birds and butterflies were abundant, and he could even hear water gurgling somewhere close; as if it ran through the very walls.  The only part of the room that made it evident that he was inside a room, at all, was the door that was at the opposite side of that room.  Even that was surrounded by flowering vines that encased its frame.
         
         Manuel looked to see the stone above the door.  He assumed that, because the puzzle that he had had to solve, for the other two doors, had been etched in the stone above each door, this one would be the same.  However, there was no writing to guide his actions.  As a matter of fact, the same leaves and flowers that covered the rest of the stone, of this room, covered that above the door.
         
         He began to cross the room slowly.  His legs, used to taking long strides, had to be held in check as he took his time.  On his way, he looked around his self for any hints as to what he was supposed to do in order to open the next door.  Up to a point, all he could see was the landscape that filled the room.  There was so much of it, it seemed to be choking the life out of the very stone it grew out of.  However, as he gazed at his surroundings, and bent to take a closer look at a flower, Manuel noticed that there were little lights that flickered here and there.  They flitted from one plant to another, and from the petal of one blossom to that of the next.  As the lights moved on, the plants and flowers that they touched would grow and blossom in their wake.
         
         Manuel recognized these signs.  He realized that these lights were the ones that had been described to him in his lessons at the academy.  They were, in fact, the trails of fairies.  This evidence confirmed his initial suspicions upon entering this room.  Thus, he began to watch the actions of the fairies; as he was sure that the answer he was seeking would be in their actions.  Otherwise, if the answer was not in their actions, it might even be in their words; if one chose to speak to him.
         
         As he followed the paths of the fairies, although they seemed to be working rather quickly, he noticed that one of them was moving a bit slower than the others.  This one, while managing to urge the growth of the plants that she was stopping by, was accomplishing her task a bit slower than the other fairies.  She seemed to be having to concentrate harder, than the rest, when it came to getting the job done.  Manuel decided to follow this slow one.
         
         When the hard working little one had stopped above a particular dead stump that was next to the door he wanted to open, she rested for a moment.  As she rested, she looked around herself, and came to realize that there was someone; or something; with her.  She looked up at the young Wizard.  She was startled at first, but recognizing him as someone with Majik; after looking at him for a bit; she smiled up at him.  Her small smile looked dejected and weary.
         
         Fairies, being tiny humanlike figures with wings, were not a common sight.  They had their own language, but they were able to communicate with other beings with Majik.  Due to the fact that fairy language had a rather high pitched tone, and that their language was so different from that of men, the common person was not able to understand them.  Majikal students,  however, were trained to be able to do so.  Since they shared the ability to do Majik, it was seen as very important that they should be able to communicate with each other.  This communication was urged and encouraged.
         
         Mentally adjusting his hearing receptors to be able to catch the tone and speed with which fairies speak, Manuel asked, "What's wrong, little one?"
         
         The fairy sighed.  "I try and I try," she told him, "but, no matter what, I have a hard time focusing to help the plants grow.  I'm far behind the others.  I'm tired.  And," she added, "I want my work to be done so that I can rest.  It is a wearying task, you know."
         
         "Sot it would seem," Manuel smiled.  "Would you like some help?"
         
         "Oh!" the fairy exclaimed as she jumped up and clapped her hands.  "That would be wonderful.  Would you?"
         
         "Certainly."
         
         Manuel, knowing that the fairy wanted her work to be done, weighed his options.  If he were to complete the fairy's work for her, she would be able to rest.  However, it would do no good in helping her to be better at her trade.  If he were to explain to the other fairies that she was having a problem, they might help her, but there was no telling.  Besides, it would still leave the little one with her difficulties in focusing.  So, rather than completing her daily work for her, or getting help for her, Manuel decided to find another solution.  One that would help her all of her tomorrows as well as today.
         
         The little fairy looked at Manuel as he thought.  The smile on her face looked so weary, and he had a hard time not feeling sorry for her.  However, he was aware that this was his test.  This knowledge made it a bit difficult for him to believe that she was quite as tired as she was trying to come across.  While he was looking at her, though, he was thinking.  In his thinking, he recalled a saying about the difference between giving a man a fish, and teaching him how to catch his own fish.  Drawing on this reference, he decided that he was going to show the fairy a better way to focus her energies so that she could complete her own work more efficiently for all time; not just for today.
         
         The young hopeful graduate of the academy of Majik reached his hand out toward the fairy.  "Hop on up, little one," he told  her, "and I'll show to you something as it was shown to me."  He then closed his eyes as he focused his mind in on the mind of the fairy.
         
         As he entered the fairy's mind and proceeded with showing her bow to focus her energy in a more efficient way; as it had been shown to him when he learned focus at the academy; the little fairy gasped, "Oh!"
         
         Manuel smiled as he drew back from the fairy's mind and opened his eyes.  While he had been focused on her mind, Manuel had seen; inside the fairy; that this was exactly the type of response he was supposed to give to the proposed situation.  He looked down at the fairy, and she smiled back up at him.
         
         "Here you are, graduate," she beamed at him, "you have earned this."  She then produced a piece of parchment for him to take.
         
         The young Wizard's smile broadened, and he took the parchment.  He knew what this meant.  He was done with his challenges.  But, he had to ask anyway.  "Then, I am done?" he queried.
         
         "That you are," she assured him.  At which point, the fairy faded from existence; smiling all the while.  The room receded from existence as well, and Manuel found that he was standing on the opposite side of the island from where he had started on his path.  He was done.
         
         Realized exactly what this all meant, Manuel took a moment to give way to a simply human reaction.  He  jumped up and down.  He did a little dance.  He whooped it up on the sandy beach.  He was done with his graduation tests.  Once calmed down from his initial excitement, however, the young man began to go about the task of deciding how he was going to get off the island and get his self back to the academy.  He concentrated, and began.

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