Chapter 1

As I walked up to the old Tepee, I was still wondering why I had come here. I was a fledgling mage though at the moment I was really only a magician.

I had heard stories about an old shaman who appeared to actually have magical powers. Power huh, I thought, something I wanted to punish those that deserved it.

Upon entering the woman’s home, I looked around, not really seeing anything that impressed me. Everything that was within the place was old and unastounding.

A sigh left my lips as I shook my head. How could this old woman have any power living like this?

“Sit, young man, I assume you are here to learn, no? I can teach you if you have the desire to learn. This desire needs to be true, not a false promise,” an old woman of about seventy said.

“I’m here to learn, but you appear to be nothing of a magic user,” I said with a sneer.

It was at that moment that I felt warmth beneath my ass. Then it started to grow hot, before I noticed that my ass was on fire!

I jumped up trying to put it out not noticing that I wasn’t really burning. The older woman pointed at me, then the flames were gone.

The older woman smirked at me, “You seem to judge things only by what you see. Show me that you have the desire, the want to actually learn what I know. If you can, then I will.”

My mouth dropped open as I stared at her wrinkled skin, grey hair, small stooped stature.

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” I almost yelled.

“That is for you to do not me, convince me of your intent, then we’ll see,” she said. Her bad-toothed smile almost seemed to mock me as I started to leave. “Oh no, you will stay here, that is to show that you are committed to learn. You have power, but you don’t know how to use it, nor reach it. Remember that all you see isn’t what is truly there.”

“Stay here? Are you fucking insane? I know nothing about living off the land,” I did shout this time.

“I have one stick of advice then,” she said.

“What is this one stick?” I said sarcastically.

“You need to learn before you starve,” she said with another bad-tooth smile.

She then dismissed me as almost an afterthought. I smirked as I walked to my car to leave. I was shocked when it not only vanished, the entire landscape changed.

I looked back at her Tepee, noticing that my black footprints were vanishing. My mouth dropped open again as it appeared as if I was erased.

I also noticed that there were more Tepees there than before. A somewhat young woman came from the Tepee that I had just left.

“Ah, I see that you survived, good. So for now, we will start on you reaching and releasing your power.” I noticed that it was the same voice though younger, she also walked with a cane.

This woman was at least thirty years younger, though no less stern. “I...,.” I started, “You were.”

“Yes, yes I know,” here she pressed a finger to my forehead. “Remember what I said what you see? Isn’t always what is truly there. Now we need to start what I have to impart will take many years to teach.

I stood there with my mouth open looking at all the Tepees that were there. Then I noticed all the fine-looking young American Indian-type women. Hell, now that I thought about it the woman that would teach me was starting to look good, ugh!

I felt a sharp slap against my ass as the woman slapped me. “There’s no time for that, maybe a long time later, but not now. If you wish to learn, you need to keep it in your pants. If not? Then you might find that it won’t work for a while.”