Ralph and the Pixie

Doc frowned. ‘If you count the Weather and the Seasons, every day.’

The Thane shook his head. ‘That is a very old spell, enacted generations ago.’

‘How can that be?’ Doc asked him. ‘I mean, where does it get its power from? Who keeps it going?’

The Thane smiled without humour. ‘The explanation for such a question could only be answered by a Loremaster. As well, fully understanding the answer would require that you or I undertake years of study and discipline as an apprentice of Lore. The short answer (as I once asked this same question of a Loremaster myself) is that the Weather and the Seasons were long ago diverted in some manner, in much the same way that the digging of a new watercourse will change the direction of flow of a river.’

‘In that case,’ Doc said, ‘I have never once seen the Lore used.’

The Thane nodded. ‘And you will not. The Lore in its totality is imprecise; it has lapsed into desuetude, and it is dangerous-’

‘But the spell Pran used to bring myself and the others to your world-’ Doc protested.

‘The use of a minor spell has nothing at all in common with invoking the totality of the Lore itself,’ the Thane told him. ‘For example, your powers of Healing are your own. Had you the skill, however, the methods you have devised for yourself could be written down and added to the Lore.’