Chapter 20 - Glynda in the Training Room.
It was not easy in the training room for Glynda or anyone else. She found it exceedingly difficult to control her magic, anyone with her had to have a powerful defensive field set up around them to stop being hurt. The more frustrated she became, the more her pent up magic would explode uncontrollably. Most of the training to start with was done from a distance or remotely from within the training room, not with Glynda in the same space. Eventually, and in desperation, Gwen suggested that Songhai Chen was called to help, and so the small Chinese man was summoned. Amazingly, he taught her well, he spoke clearly and concisely without his usual riddles, teaching her to contain her power and to control the bursts of energy that came from within. One problem was, she had so much pent up magic and energy in herself, that it was popping out at unexpected times, so, to put it crudely, he milked some of the energy out of her and dissipated it safely. By the end of the first day, she was able to control what was happening most of the time. At the end of day two, she had it under control and was able to guide her magic through her wand and staff, suppressing any she did not want to release.
After three days, Songhai Chen left.
Glynda was formidable, she had the firepower of Jonathan and with it, the control of Thomas. She was able to send immense amounts of raw energy out with such precision that it was marvellous to see. Jon could blow holes in the side of a mountain; she could hone her energy down to such a degree that she could pop a hole through a mountain the size of her little finger. No one knew why, but if she could do it, there must be a reason.
Glynda was a very quick learner, within a few days she was apparating, but always with her protector, Samuel, by her side.
Next, flying lessons. In this she also put the boys to shame, she was up and away in the massive padded flying room on day one and practising in the woods on her second day. There, as usual, she met Traveon and Lynessa Cadwalader, the wizards who look after the forest. Both were both immensely powerful wizards and Lynessa, despite her appearance, short and plump with rosy red cheeks and bottle-bottom spectacles, was the best flyer in the wizarding world. Her staff and wand were not wood like the others but was fashioned from the fourth finger bone of a Golden Dragons wing, with a pearl-like stone in the end.
Glynda saw their little cottage in the woods and went over to investigate, then, to her surprise….
“Well, hello Glynda, I’ve been expecting you, I’ve got the kettle on, and I’ve just taken a fruit cake out of the oven, be cool enough to eat in a few minutes, and there’s a jam and cream sponge as well, won’t you come in and sit by the fire?”
Glynda immediately went into defence mode. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”
Somehow, she didn’t see the plump middle-aged lady as a threat, but as always, was cautious.
“I be Lynessa Cadwalader, and me and my hubby Traveon look after the forest for Llewellyn, him being our friend and all that, and when he sends someone in for flying lessons, we always keeps an eye out in case of little accidents, and of course, we always make tea and cakes. Only polite if we’ve got visitors. Don’t worry, your quite safe, your little friend Samuel is inside, so you’d better hurry before he eats all the cake,” Lynessa said laughing.
Samuel appeared from the cottage, cream, and jam all around his mouth and smiled. Then Glynda smiled back; now reassured, they all entered the cottage.
“I thought I was in the training room, but surely people, I mean you and your husband don’t live in the training room? It’s all an illusion, isn’t it?”
“Well yes and no,” Lynessa answered, “it’s sort of in the training room, but there again it’s not. It’s a real forest and, as I said, Trav and me look after it for Llewellyn the Brave. He sends all sorts in here to hone their flying skills and we give them a few tips and pointers if need be.”
“Oh,” said Glynda.
“I knows what you be thinking, how could a little old lady who’s a little overweight and half-blind as well, know owt ‘bout flying. Well after you’ve had your tea and cake, I might shows you.”
The tea and cake were finished and the four of them went back outside for the show.
“Now,” Lynessa started, “normally I has to show young acolytes a trick or two to build their confidence. Here, this is my staff.”
Lynessa produced her staff, it was as thin as a pencil.
“It’s not wood, it’s dragon bone, made from the fourth finger of the wing bone of a Golden Dragon. It came from a wizard who lived over two thousand years ago. He was completely blind and yet could see better than anyone else of his day, where his blind eyes were there were two small, polished stones that looked like large pearls. One of those blind eyes is held at the end of my wand.”
The staff was so elegant, Glynda just wanted to hold it, it had a beauty about it which she could not describe, it looked so delicate, almost too fragile to fly on, it was barely the breadth of one of her fingers.
“What I normally do is to show off for a few minutes with what I modestly call my magnificent flying display, then I tells them how they could do it if they just believed and then pretends to lend them my wand. This then gives them the confidence to fly well because they thinks it’s my wand what does it, not themselves. Then when they gets back, they realise they be sitting on their own staff and not mine. I be telling you all this because you don’t need it, you’re a gifted and natural flier. In a few years, you might even give me a run for my money,” Lynessa then burst out laughing so much her sides were shaking and all her wobbly bits were wobbling.
Still cackling, she then launched up into the air in a vertical climb so fast that she was a speck in the air within a few seconds. There then followed a magnificent flying display with loops and rolls, smoke trails and starbursts like a firework display. She then shot down at incredible speed and off into the woods, you couldn’t see her, she was just a blur snaking in and out and around the trees before hurtling towards Glynda, who did not flinch or move a muscle, as Lynessa stopped dead in front of her. Samuel was not so confident and had thrown himself under a bush to avoid being hit.
“There you go, that’s my little show for the day, what did you think?”
Glynda didn’t answer, she just shot up vertically on her staff and performed every loop, roll and all the fancy flying that Lynessa had done before descending into the trees and whizzing around and around following the exact route that Lynessa had taken before streaking across and stopping on a sixpence in front to Lynessa’s nose. She too did not flinch or blink, but Samuel again disappeared under the bush.
“As I said, you don’t need no lessons from the likes of me, you’re good, you’re very good.”
“Thank you, and Samuel, please stop diving under bushes, you’re supposed to be my protector, stop behaving like a wimp,” Glynda said in a very teasing voice.
As if on cue, Llewellyn appeared in the cottage garden.
“Well? How did she do?”
“She be a natural, almost as good as me and probably better than you,” Lynessa said with one of her sweet smiles.
“That’s what I thought you’d say, she’s special, very special.”
“Glynda would be a very good candidate for my wand and staff when I’m done with it.”
“Well let’s not be too hasty, you’ve got many more years left in you yet,” Llewellyn said.
Both Glynda and Samuel could sense an awkwardness in the air, Glynda held her tongue, but it was something she might take it up with Llewellyn later.
Glynda and Samuel both said their thank you’s and goodbyes, the forest faded, and they were back in the training room and walking through the open door which led to the living quarters.