Another Doctor Visit, and What Happens When You Give Zhane Magick.
So! Now that I've talked about the dream that made me cry, I'm going to type up the post I was *actually* planning to make today. Or rather, yesterday. -Eyes clock-
Had the appointment with my regular doctor, which lasted all of fifteen minutes. I filled out a paper at the front desk to release my ER report from last Friday to their office, so they'll have a copy of it. He promised to write me a referral to a lung doctor, even though he assured me it's probably nothing but we'd better be on the safe side. But it has to be approved by insurance first -Rolls eyes- so he's going to mail it to me, along with the official referral to my gastroenterologist. I brought up the cyst on the back of my left hand again because he'd told me to, but seeing as it's already almost gone he told me not to worry about it, because we have enough to worry about for right now. (Also, it apparently will involves yet *another* referral and physical therapy for whatever it is, which I still can't remember the name of, so.) He was very nice and sympathetic, which makes me think he's starting to feel bad for me. He also asked about last Friday's ER visit - which is fair, since he's the one who talked me into it in the first place - and even if I was going to have to hang around the office again like I was that day. Seeing as this is only the second time I've met him face to face, I was kind of entertained by how genuinely concerned and gentle he was, like he thought I was going to freak out on him or something. He mentioned that my heart rate had gone down since my last visit, which is good.
Although in retrospect, I *was* cheerfully informing anyone who asked me how I was today 'Miserable, how are you?'. (I really have been feeling incredibly crappy, and I never like to lie to that question, even when the person doesn't actually care about the answer.)
Unfortunately seeing as purplestripe66 had to drop me off on her way to work that morning, my nice, brief, fifteen minute appointment meant I now had five hours to hang out in the waiting room until she was able to come get me. -_-;; So I pulled out my MP3 player and headphones, and my belated birthday gift from phantom_blue - The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory - and settled in the corner by the door to read. The receptionists turned out to be particularly awesome, because instead of kicking me out into the sun during their forty-five minute lunch break, they let me stay in my corner reading and warned me not to let anyone in. ^_^
As to The Phoenix Unchained itself, which is the first book in a trilogy that phantom_blue bought me because she thought the summary sounded like Andros and Zhane, AWESOME BOOK IS AWESOME. ♥
Official Summary: Young Tiercel Rolfort is studying Ancient History. When his reading reveals a system of High Magik he has never heard of before, Tyr tries to cast a spell ... and sets his bedroom on fire.
Harrier Gillain, son of the Harbormaster, has been hauling Tyr our of scrapes since he was three years old. When Tyr decides to seek help from the Elves, Harrier knows he'll have to go along and make sure Tyr doesn't burn down the whole forest.
Wild Mage Bisochim has discovered that the Balance between Light and Dark has shifted too far toward the Light. He chooses to return Darkness to the world - a delicate and dangerous undertaking. To the Mage's shock, his first attempt at conjuring Darkness is thwarted. Bisochim now has not only a mission, but an Enemy.
When reading this book from the perspective that Tiercel is Zhane and Harrier is Andros, the whole story takes on an interesting spin. It makes me look for other inSpace characters to join them, and the boys are now firmly embedded in my head as Andros and Zhane. So when Andros thinks about how he met Zhane at three, when two-year-old Zhane ran down to the harbor and tried to drown himself and Andros had to grab onto his ankle until the adults could come rescue him? Or his firm belief that Zhane is always getting himself into trouble, and it's Andros' job to get him out of it, while Zhane insists that he's just being innocently curious or trying to help someone else figure out their problems? Even the way Andros secretly admits to himself that Zhane is usually almost always right, yet he refuses to admit it to Zhane.
Also, their horses are Cloud and Lightning, which brings to mind amusing thoughts of the Final Fantasy series. There was a pony named Thunder too, but they don't have him anymore.
And Zhane's nickname is Firecrown.
Yeah, I'm getting ideas. -Grins wickedly-
Favorite Quotes So Far: (While picturing Tiercel as Zhane and Harrier as Andros, of course. Also Roneida, who makes me think of D.E.C.A., and Simera, this incredibly competent and mature Centauress who's kind of like a non-emo version of Ko-lin, my Phantom Ranger.)
The last one is actually the only point so far in the book where Harrier seemed more like Zhane, and Tiercel like Andros. Other than that, it's been pretty consistent. I'm hoping there will be happy sex, because this Zhane and Andros are *adorable* together, but I don't think so. -Sadness- From what I managed to glimpse of how it's going to end, it looks like Zhane is going to Bond himself to/fall in love with an ancient super-powered dragon.
This can only lead to good things. ♥
Had the appointment with my regular doctor, which lasted all of fifteen minutes. I filled out a paper at the front desk to release my ER report from last Friday to their office, so they'll have a copy of it. He promised to write me a referral to a lung doctor, even though he assured me it's probably nothing but we'd better be on the safe side. But it has to be approved by insurance first -Rolls eyes- so he's going to mail it to me, along with the official referral to my gastroenterologist. I brought up the cyst on the back of my left hand again because he'd told me to, but seeing as it's already almost gone he told me not to worry about it, because we have enough to worry about for right now. (Also, it apparently will involves yet *another* referral and physical therapy for whatever it is, which I still can't remember the name of, so.) He was very nice and sympathetic, which makes me think he's starting to feel bad for me. He also asked about last Friday's ER visit - which is fair, since he's the one who talked me into it in the first place - and even if I was going to have to hang around the office again like I was that day. Seeing as this is only the second time I've met him face to face, I was kind of entertained by how genuinely concerned and gentle he was, like he thought I was going to freak out on him or something. He mentioned that my heart rate had gone down since my last visit, which is good.
Although in retrospect, I *was* cheerfully informing anyone who asked me how I was today 'Miserable, how are you?'. (I really have been feeling incredibly crappy, and I never like to lie to that question, even when the person doesn't actually care about the answer.)
Unfortunately seeing as purplestripe66 had to drop me off on her way to work that morning, my nice, brief, fifteen minute appointment meant I now had five hours to hang out in the waiting room until she was able to come get me. -_-;; So I pulled out my MP3 player and headphones, and my belated birthday gift from phantom_blue - The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory - and settled in the corner by the door to read. The receptionists turned out to be particularly awesome, because instead of kicking me out into the sun during their forty-five minute lunch break, they let me stay in my corner reading and warned me not to let anyone in. ^_^
As to The Phoenix Unchained itself, which is the first book in a trilogy that phantom_blue bought me because she thought the summary sounded like Andros and Zhane, AWESOME BOOK IS AWESOME. ♥
Official Summary: Young Tiercel Rolfort is studying Ancient History. When his reading reveals a system of High Magik he has never heard of before, Tyr tries to cast a spell ... and sets his bedroom on fire.
Harrier Gillain, son of the Harbormaster, has been hauling Tyr our of scrapes since he was three years old. When Tyr decides to seek help from the Elves, Harrier knows he'll have to go along and make sure Tyr doesn't burn down the whole forest.
Wild Mage Bisochim has discovered that the Balance between Light and Dark has shifted too far toward the Light. He chooses to return Darkness to the world - a delicate and dangerous undertaking. To the Mage's shock, his first attempt at conjuring Darkness is thwarted. Bisochim now has not only a mission, but an Enemy.
When reading this book from the perspective that Tiercel is Zhane and Harrier is Andros, the whole story takes on an interesting spin. It makes me look for other inSpace characters to join them, and the boys are now firmly embedded in my head as Andros and Zhane. So when Andros thinks about how he met Zhane at three, when two-year-old Zhane ran down to the harbor and tried to drown himself and Andros had to grab onto his ankle until the adults could come rescue him? Or his firm belief that Zhane is always getting himself into trouble, and it's Andros' job to get him out of it, while Zhane insists that he's just being innocently curious or trying to help someone else figure out their problems? Even the way Andros secretly admits to himself that Zhane is usually almost always right, yet he refuses to admit it to Zhane.
Also, their horses are Cloud and Lightning, which brings to mind amusing thoughts of the Final Fantasy series. There was a pony named Thunder too, but they don't have him anymore.
And Zhane's nickname is Firecrown.
Yeah, I'm getting ideas. -Grins wickedly-
Favorite Quotes So Far: (While picturing Tiercel as Zhane and Harrier as Andros, of course. Also Roneida, who makes me think of D.E.C.A., and Simera, this incredibly competent and mature Centauress who's kind of like a non-emo version of Ko-lin, my Phantom Ranger.)
- "Well, okay. So what are we going to do about it? You can't spend the rest of your life not eating or sleeping. Your parents are going to notice soon, if they haven't already."
"Oh, they've noticed. Mama has a whole row of bottles from the Healer that she doses me with," Tiercel said dolefully. "Some of them help. Just not very well, or for very long."
"Well, you can't keep taking that stuff. It turns your teeth funny colors. So? We're going to do something, right?"
"You want to help?" Tiercel asked doubtfully.
"Tyr, have I ever let you go off on an adventure by yourself since you learned to walk? Doesn't matter what it is this time. I'm in. And it seems to me that if you got yourself into all this trouble with magic, you're going to need a Mage to get you out of it."
- "You don't really believe me, do you?" Tiercel asked sadly. "About the visions?"
Harrier really didn't. It was just too impossible. And he hated to hurt Tiercel's feelings, especially now. Still, he owed his friend the truth.
"I don't know what to believe," Harrier answered with a heavy sigh. "But I know that you believe it and that's good enough for me. Besides you are sick, and the Healers aren't helping, and you were fooling with magic. So you should see a Wildmage."
Tiercel snorted with laughter despite himself. "You make more sense than anyone else I've talked to! You're a good friend, Harrier Gillain."
"Nobody else would be crazy enough to put up with you," Harrier answered matter-of-factly.
- "I guess I'll go north," Tiercel said, after a long pause. "At least there aren't any people there."
"Well, I did want to see Fort Halacira and Kellen's Bridge," Harrier said. "And then ... what? Ondoladeshiron? Ysterialpoerin? How far are you going to go?"
"Until I find a Wildmage who can explain all of this to me," Tiercell said evenly. "Or I die."
"Die? Harrier said blankly. He stared at Tiercell for a moment, then grabbed his friends arm and dragged him back against a building, out of the flow of traffic along the busy steet. "You're not going to die. You've been lots better ever since we left Armethalieh, and - "
"All the books I read about High Mages were from the time of the High Mages, and just assumed I knew the whole story. They left a lot out. But there's one thing they all hint at. The Magegift starts like a fever; that's how it was recognized in the old days. After that, it either had to be trained, or destroyed. Or - " He stopped.
"Or?"
"Or whoever had it died."
Harrier stared at him for a long moment, his hazel eyes wide. Then he blew out a deep breath. "Okay. We find a Wildmage. And maybe you can train yourself. I mean, there had to be a first High Mage, didn't there? Who trained him?"
"Train myself how?"
"Well, you've got all those notes ... " Harrier's voice trailed off to a stop. "You're not going to die," he said firmly. "I won't let you."
Tiercel smiled, just a little. If sheer stubbornness could solve the problem, Harrier would solve it.
"So what are we going to tell our parents?" Harrier added. "Because we obviously aren't going to be home at the end of moonturn. And don't tell me I can go back. I'm not going back without you to explain things to your mother. Or mine."
- Tiercel stared after the retreating animal, feeling waves of nausea and terror and relief wash over him. Suddenly a blow to the back of the head knocked him sprawling.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Harrier stood over him, fists clenched. "You could have been killed!"
One bare foot kicked out at Tiercel's thigh, flipping him over onto his back. "Ow," Tiercel said weakly.
- "So he's the bear - or he's like the bear - and he wanted to show up and offer you a lot of medicines in fancy bottles, because he wanted to kill you. And he couldn't see me or Simera because he's magic?"
He glared at Tiercel.
"If I actually knew the answer to that, Har, or what I was doing, or why we're here, I'd tell you," Tiercel said with irritated patience.
What Harrier knew was that he was getting very tired of running into things that made no sense at all but were apparently dangerous that he couldn't hit.
- By the time the stew was cooking - thick with pieces of bacon and rabbit, and the second brazier had been set up to fry griddle-cakes - Tiercel had stumbled through his entire tale, having gone all the way back to Harrier's Naming Day celebration, with the help of Roneida's none-too-gentle prodding.
There were parts of the story that neither Harrier nor Simera had heard before. Until now, Harrier hadn't known that untrained High Mages died - or that Tiercel's periods of sickness had been getting worse since he'd left Armethalieh.
He'd thought Tiercel was getting better.
"Most of the time I'm fine," Tiercel said. "But whenever I do magic - unless it's something simple and quick, like lighting a fire - I'm weak afterward. Like I've held my breath too long. But it takes hours to go away."
Roneida smacked him - very hard - with the wooden spoon she was holding. "I told you: stop doing magic."
"But what if - "
She hit him again.
"That, or get used to falling down a lot. I told you: I know nothing about the High Magick."
- "It would really be helpful if you'd just tell us what that is, instead of dropping all these hints," Harrier said, louder this time.
He'd been pretty sure the wooden spoon had been washed and put away with the rest of the cooking supplies, but suddenly he felt a stinging crack to the back of his head, and instead of the spoon, there was a long slender stick in Roneida's hands, very similar to Tiercel's wand, but of a darker wood. Apparently she just liked hitting people, and came prepared to do it.
"Oh, and then you would be convinced you knew exactly what dangers you faced, and precisely how to deal with them, wouldn't you? Never mind my opinion, that it is far better to send you on your way afraid of everything, so that you won't trust something you shouldn't by mistake! Idiot child: you believe in only what you can touch, and what touches you. Just as before, many of the dangers you will face will be of that sort. Many will not. Many will be both, or will seem to be one and be another. There? Is that plain-speaking enough for you?"
"No," Harrier said simply.
He'd pretty much changed his mind about ever wanting to meet a Wildmage. Apparently all they ever did was hit you and talk incomprehensibly. And thanks to Tiercel, he was already very tired of magic.
- "I don't know how to use a sword," he said aloud.
"You'll learn," Roneida said unsympathetically. "And until you do, simply think of it as a long sharp club."
Tiercel snickered nervously. Harrier turned and glared at him. Tiercel was the High Mage! Tiercel was the one talking about needing a sword for his stupid magic spells! Why hadn't Roneida given Tiercel the sword?
"I, ah, um. Thank you," he said awkwardly. It was a present, after all. And you thanked people for presents, even when they gave you things you'd rather not have.
- "What are you doing?" Harrier asked.
"I'm going to take a look around."
"So - in case it is a plague - you can catch it and die. Great idea," Harrier grumbled.
"I'll take my wand," Tiercel said mildly.
"Even better. You can dazzle the plague with colored lights and then pass out. In that case, I'm coming with you. And I'm taking my sword."
"So you can hit the plague over the head. Great."
- "This is crazy," Harrier said desperately. "Things like this don't happen to people like us. Things like this don't happen to anybody."
"They happened to people once."
"About a thousand years ago."
"One thousand and eight years ago this last Kindling."
"Pendant."
"Dock-rat."
"Book-nose."
"At least I can read."
Harrier stuffed the last of the trail-bar into his mouth and chewed noisily, spraying crumbs. "So," he said, after he'd swallowed. "Elves?"
- "Tyr, did you actually lie to the Wagonmaster?" he asked, keeping his voice low.
Tiercel chuckled in the darkness.
"Well, I am going to study Ancient History. And I do want to see what the library has at Ysterialpoerin. But no, Master Cansel didn't actually suggest I go there. I guess I'm picking up bad habits from you."
"Good thing."
"Go to sleep."
The last one is actually the only point so far in the book where Harrier seemed more like Zhane, and Tiercel like Andros. Other than that, it's been pretty consistent. I'm hoping there will be happy sex, because this Zhane and Andros are *adorable* together, but I don't think so. -Sadness- From what I managed to glimpse of how it's going to end, it looks like Zhane is going to Bond himself to/fall in love with an ancient super-powered dragon.
This can only lead to good things. ♥