Tother Hand, Chapter 3 part 3

You can see that a tree exists by looking at the shadow. The object itself gives rise to the shadow. This is the same with the intent of the weapon. The enemy’s movements and attacks are only a shadow that emanates from the intent in their mind. The tree shapes the shadow, and you can deduce backward from the shadow what the shape of the tree is. There are several ways to hide the intent of your mind’s weapon. In increasing order of importance, they are: moving and scrambling your arms and legs quickly to distract the enemy; feinting and misleading in one direction while going in the other instead; and finally, keeping still and moving so quickly that the enemy cannot see the shadow until the tree has fallen on them.

He asked, how quickly do you think a reaction to some action is?

She knew the answer: one blink.

He nodded and asked, how quickly can you launch an attack at close range?

She knew the answer again: half of a blink.

He nodded and said, as I have said many times, a single object or event does not exist without a pair. A blink consists of a closing lid and opening lid. Or, the opposite, a closing movement to an opening movement. If you start your attack from the beginning of the closing movement, your attack will be in full force and motion by the time the eyelid closes and your opponent cannot perceive your attack. You will have the rest of the blink to perform the attack and finish the motion. In other words, if you remember the story of the tree and the shadow, your opponent will not see the tree move until the shadow has already reached them.

The other forms that I explained briefly do not work for the following reasons. Wasted motions and darting hands or feet will not distract a skilful opponent. They will simply wait for some moment of imbalance or pause in the distraction and strike you down with one blow. Feinting will also be impractical or not succeed because most feints are too obvious to even unskilled opponents. Throwing a fist or a kick that is not real looks different and is easily spotted. It also upsets the balance of your true line of attack. Once a rock is thrown in the air, it will not change direction.  And even if you succeed in fooling your opponent and then regain your balance to land the blow you truly seek, it will be weakened by wasted energy and motion setting up the feint.

So once again, the attack that you seek should be as a tree that stands straight and true without the faintest movement. The shadow of your intent will be expressed the same way, as complete stillness and calm. An attack can come from anywhere, at any time, from any direction. When the tree shakes, the shadow will move across the opponent’s closed eyes and they will be struck down without having any understanding that something has even happened. If you have performed the attack and follow-ups, then the opponent will be greeted by their guardian spirit upon opening their eyes. The only sound in their ears will be a recitation of the curse that binds their _mainyu_ to the guardian _mainyu_ and prevents the _ahura_ essence from coming back to the body.

He said, everything I have shared so far is not unusual, and in fact, Soldiers and Monks have studied these techniques for so long that no one remembers who created them. Anyone who has the inclination can learn these teachings and it must be the case that they were created from careful observation and practice, which can be done by anyone with enough interest and devotion to study. However, the next teachings I have already shared with you are known only to a select few and cannot be learnt by mere observation or teaching.

The action of slowing time for the moment of striking cannot be performed without the overabundance of _ashra_ present in the left-handed children of twins. This is the reason that the Elders must separate the children and then raise them as Healers. This technique is only useful for lethal purposes, and can only be executed by those who both have the excess _ashra_ and the training and focus required. I have said it takes at least 20 years to master the mind and you have not even lived twenty yet. That is given a mastery of the body for 20 years, which you have not accomplished yet either. Even if you started training the mind diligently at the age of ten, you would not even be halfway to mastery of the mind yet.

However, you have shown promise at using the time slowing magick which is more than I could have hoped. However, you do not have a full mastery of it because you struggle to wield it and you are sloppy and dangerous in application. That is why we train with real weapons and real blades. You cannot learn these disciplines properly with props or fake weapons. The wound in your neck will serve a reminder to you that your practice is real and has real consequences. You cannot make a mistake like that facing an enemy, even an unskilled one. You must study the magick carefully and use your focus in a most serious and intentional manner.

He got up and went outside to lower the canvas onto the khana lattices that allowed the cooling breezes into the ger. He came back inside and lit a candle even though the full sun shone through the smoke hole at the top of the ger. 9001 prepared herself for the practice she knew was coming. They both sat up straight on their mats and folded their legs and placed their arms loosely at their sides.

He said, we use the candle because the flickering of the wick helps beginners. Remember that a single energy does not exist without a balancing pair. The fire spirits are drawn to the water spirit of the yak butter in the wick. They join together and create light and warmth. If you hold your hand over the candle, you know it will burn you. Even a small candle can burn your skin beyond repair. This is the release of the fire spirits and their aggression. But they are not alone when they are released, you can also see the smoke which is the air spirits fighting to escape.  The air spirits are harmless compared to the fire spirits, but it is the pairs separating that create the opportunity for the light to move outward.

The flickering is caused by the battle between these spirits. If you blow on the candle, the air spirits prevail and the flame sputters. If you place a bowl over the candle, the fire spirits vanquish themselves and cannot continue without replenishing the air spirits. As I say, this flickering is the key to finding the opportunity to stretch time. It is at the precise time that the candle begins to flutter, or if you prefer, when the fluttering stops, that you may will yourself into the space between the two opposing spirits and you can then move freely in between the light and the darkness of the flickering candle.

He said, now concentrate on the flame and will yourself into the gap between the lightness and the darkness. You must also time it when your own breath is going either in or out, and your eyes are blinking open or closed. You cannot force your eyes open and you cannot hold your breath. It must all work together in pairs: opening and closing, in breath and out breath, air spirits and fire spirits. They must all be timed together. Do it.

She paced her breathing and blinking and stared at the flame calmly. When the top of her breath was reached, she felt herself opening her eyes, and she could see the flame at the base of the wick holding steady. Everything seemed as still and serene as a starry sky on a moonless night. She could see the bottom of the still flame wobble slightly, and so she projected herself into the space between the still flame and the darkness of the flutter.

She then found herself in the space between the light and the darkness where time was frozen. Her eyes were begging to open and her breath was relaxing. She had timed it perfectly and it was always a thrill to get it correct. The ger khana were covered in a dappled pattern, reminiscent the light through a brazier mesh. The orange and dark bands were the flickers from the candle flame as it alternated between dancing and stillness. But even above the khana, the smoke hole was half-filled with light and half-filled with darkness. Even the sun’s own light was balanced in dances and waves which were only visible during time magick.

She lifted her arms as if underwater, slowly but without effort. If she used too much effort to move, the spell would be broken. If she used too little effort, she would move at the normal rate of speed without magick. In between those two extremes, she could move at a rate that followed each band of orange and black of the dancing dappled light. She had to use the same measured rhythm of moving her eyes to see the other side of the ger.

Her father, having already anticipated her moves, was standing already, his back knee was off his mat and the front foot was already moving toward her. Her arms had made it up in the starting position with the _man sao_ and _wu sao_. She will her arms and legs to move without exertion, allowing the bands of the light to move slowly and effortlessly against her and through her. Her father was very close now, and he appeared to be moving as fast as the bands of light, rather than at her speed lagging behind the bands. He seemed to be travelling so fast that he rode one band of orange and dark lines, almost as if he were split in half by the pattern.

She panicked slightly and tried to move her _man sao_ in place faster. The bands of light fluttered faster and slower. She moved from complete darkness to blinding brilliance, out of sync with the flame. She willed herself to slow down to the correct rhythm and snapped back into stillness. She could see the orange glow, darkness in between them, and the smoke hole as well.

Her father stood in full stance seeking the bridge in front of her. The silent language is the only one that can be used during time magick, that is why Healers use it. He made noises like the fluttering of bird wings, and the winds whipping through dry grass. It meant, you are still losing focus and I would have beaten you in a duel.

A tree limb creaked and a lamb bleated. It meant, I am calm now. I am focused.