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Meditation is the first thing anyone learns at Kamar-Taj. Both the regular type of meditation and the special kind of meditation that the Masters say will widen a sorcerer’s access to dimensional energy.
They warn him that the practice may open other connections. “Report any unusual experiences, thoughts, or dreams to Master Gurung,” his teacher says. “There are predators and malevolent spirits that could take advantage of the increased openness of your minds.”
Stephen swallows a scoff. Despite his experience with the Ancient One, his instinctive reaction to most things at Kamar-Taj is still disbelief. All of this is real, he reminds himself. Still, he doesn’t expect any ‘unusual experiences, thoughts, or dreams.’
The night after his very first meditation lesson, Stephen has the most vivid dream of his life: Tony Stark sits in a workshop of steel and glass, surrounded by holograms, AC/DC blaring.
That’s all. Nothing happens. But when he wakes the dream is sharper, brighter, more real than a memory, and Stephen has an impressive memory. He reports it to Master Gurung immediately, as much because he’s unsettled as because he’d been told to.
“You’ve formed soul connection,” Master Gurung says.
Stephen frowns. “Soulmates are real?”
Master Gurung makes a dissatisfied noise. “That is an oversimplification. Soul connections form for many reasons. Sometimes those are romantic, yes, but more often the souls involved have travelled together in previous lifetimes, or they are bound together by some immense event, past or present.”
‘Immense event’ doesn’t sound like a good thing. Stephen would almost prefer a romantic connection. “Does it run in both directions?”
“Yes,” Master Gurung says.
Well. Stephen will have to study fast; Stark doesn’t seem like the type to write off dreams like these, and Stephen refuses to be an ignorant student when he arrives.