of pushing the energy he stopped it at that point and watched it slowly gather into a luminous ball. After a moment of observation, he released his thoughts and the energy splashed out and formed three branching threads.
Out of curiosity, he began to follow the direction from which the energy seemed to be flowing. He wandered following the winding stream. After a few moments, or hours, he felt something different. He sensed a concentration of this power, its source.
He quickly focused on this sensation and moved towards it. Somewhere within himself he saw a gradually enlarging bright spot, which took on some shape the closer he got to it. Eventually he saw a luminous figure from which all the strands of energy were spreading. It seemed to him that he was looking at a source of pure power. He looked at it and became still.
He looked at himself. He was both fascinated and slightly terrified. He didn't know what it meant or what could happen. Without thinking much, he reached towards the luminous figure and then something happened that he could not explain. He felt that he was reaching towards himself, that this was not some source of power that had appeared out of nowhere, but that this was a part of him that had been dormant somewhere deep inside him for so long and it was not until the real threat stimulated it to release its power and create a shield to protect him.
Suddenly he felt that part awaken, but he no longer saw it as a luminous being. It was he who stood surrounded by the oozing energy around him. He was fully aware of it, could feel it and could influence it. For a moment he relished the feeling of control over it, and then with a single thought he forced it to flow towards him. Then he felt the energy no longer undirected, but taking shape, or rather the form of a luminous sphere glowing with a warm golden radiance. As it all flowed back to him, he noticed that the energy
