Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [282]
“Just a stupid little trick if done on someone else. No small trick, if done on a wizard.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “The both of you are…”
Zedd leaned forward eagerly, cutting him off. “Can you command the wind?”
Richard leaned back a little. “Of course I can,” he said, playing along. He held both hands up to the sky. “Come to me, brother wind! Gather about! Blow a gale for me!” He spread his arms dramatically.
Kahlan wrapped her cloak around herself expectantly. Zedd looked about. Nothing happened. The two of them seemed a little disappointed.
“What’s the matter with the two of you?” Richard scowled. “Did you eat some bad berries?”
Zedd turned to her. “He must learn that later.”
Kahlan considered what Zedd said, then looked up at Richard. “Richard… to be a wizard, it’s not an offer made to many.”
Zedd scrubbed his hands together. “Bags! I wish I had the books here with me now. I’d bet a dragon’s tooth they have something to say about this.” His face darkened. “But then there is the matter of the pain… and…”
Richard squirmed uncomfortably. “And just what kind of wizard are you anyway? You don’t even have a beard.”
Zedd came out of his own thoughts and frowned. “What?”
“A beard. Where’s your beard? I’ve been wondering about it ever since I found out you were a wizard. Wizards are supposed to have beards, you know.”
“Who told you this?”
“Well… I don’t know. Everybody knows it. Wizards are supposed to have beards. It’s common knowledge. I’m surprised you don’t know it.”
Zedd made a face as if he had just sucked on a lemon. “But I hate beards. They itch.”
Richard shrugged. “Seems you don’t know as much as you think you do about being a wizard, if you don’t even know wizards are supposed to have beards.”
Zedd folded his arms. “A beard is it?” He unfolded his arms, and began drawing his fingers and thumb down opposite sides of his chin. As he drew his fingers repeatedly, whiskers began appearing. The more he did this, the longer the whiskers grew. Richard watched, wide-eyed, until a snow white beard reached to the middle of Zedd’s chest.
Zedd cocked his head and gave Richard an intent look. “Will this do, my boy?”
Richard realized his mouth was open. He made it shut, but could only nod.
Zedd scratched his chin and neck. “Good. Now give me your knife, so I can shave this thing off. It itches like ants.”
“My knife? What do you need my knife for? Why don’t you just make it disappear like you made it appear?”
Kahlan gave a little laugh, then made her face straight when he glanced at her.
“It doesn’t work that way. Everyone knows it doesn’t work that way,” Zedd mocked. He turned to Kahlan. “Doesn’t everyone know? You tell him.”
“Magic can only do things that use what is there. It cannot undo things that have happened.”
“I don’t understand.”
Zedd peered at him intently. “Your first lesson, should you ever decide to become a wizard. The three of us all have magic. It is all Additive Magic. Additive Magic uses what is there, and adds to it, or uses it somehow. The magic Kahlan has uses the spark of love in a person, no matter how small, and adds to it until it’s changed into something else. The magic of the Sword of Truth uses your anger, and adds to it, takes power from it, until it becomes something else.
“I do the same thing. I can use whatever I need in nature to change things. I can change a bug to a flower, I can change a fear to a monster, I can make a broken bone knit, I can take heat from the air around us and add to it, multiply it, into wizard’s fire. I can make my beard grow. But, I can’t make it ungrow.” A rock big as his fist started rising into the air. “I can lift something. I can change it.” The rock crushed to dust.
“Then, you can do anything,” Richard whispered.
“No. I can lift or crush or move the rock, but I can’t make it vanish. Where would it go? That’s called Subtractive Magic: the undoing of things. My magic, Kahlan’s magic, the