The Great Gifts

The Great Gifts

Synopsis

A young man makes a 'Telling' of his life, describing the personal difficulties, the opposition and dangers, he has faced as he struggles to reach a day which will decide his and his world's future.

The Myldorangi of Myldora do not depend on high technology, they have skills enough for their simple yet ancient culture, and riches not measurable by scanners. They have three Great Gifts – The Remembering, The Calling and The Turning, and Masters trained in their use.
But as a Childling, Bruathimo, an unusual silver-haired Myldoran, discovers he has another Gift – or is it a curse?– for which at present there is no training; he can Sense others' emotions. Some-how he must be helped to master his Sensitivity before it destroys him.
At the Place of Learning, he experiences the fear, prejudice and discrimination which silver hair and Sensitivity provoke in many Myldorangi, and suffers a physical attack which causes an almost fatal collapse. Having barely survived this, he discovers he also has the Gift of The Turning, a mind-power by which he can move instantaneously around the world. In their Training at the Guild Halls, Bruathimo and his fellow Scholars are inspired by the Great Masters who came before them; beyond the excitement of achievement, they experience the fear, danger and grievous loss which come with their Gift; and eventually learn to Turn beyond their own dimension to parallel worlds in other planes.
His heartfriend, Poelimo, Gifted with Remembering, also has his trials and difficulties, and is also helped to develop new skills. They learn to survive by relying on their families' support, their trust in the present power of the Grace, and by their growing love for two fellow Scholars, Momure and Shanure. Refusing to be defeated by the costliness of their Gifts, Bruathimo and Poelimo, now seen as Children of the Grace and 'heartfriends born of heartfriends', along with their families, their loves, and the Senior Masters and Elders who are helping them, form a group to work for change among the Myldorangi.
Their group, which they call the Constellation, determines, despite all opposition, to rediscover the true purposes of the Great Gifts, and to renew their world's belief in the Grace. They believe it can carry one of them to the world their Gifts are intended to help. Will anyone risk trying it?
Finally Bruathimo's class of Scholars must pass their Great Test. If they succeed in the task set, then he and Poelimo can go forward into the destiny awaiting them – the Children of the Grace who are Gifts to Myldora and to unknown worlds in need of their aid.