Magnus smiled at the young novice and gave her a nod as they were assigned to each other for the first round. They would change partners even to the point of having people from the same teams fighting later.
As a first match up, Katya was nervous. The tall, blonde haired wizard was quicker than most in Kel’lor’s squad despite his size. He was nearly a foot taller and had close to a hundred pounds on her. In a physical match, the winner would appear obvious. His smile and words as he greeted his training partner implied a similar thinking, “I can go easy on you. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt. You are just a novice after all.”
Looking quizzically at the wizard, she retorted, “Shouldn’t you be asking me to go easy on you? I am a harder target to hit than someone as large as you, besides as a dragon mage, aren’t we all novices?”
Magnus laughed and countered, “Do I look like Arrimus that you can use your minds tricks to put me off my game?”
The champion wizard said it loud enough for all to hear and the apprentice in question gritted his teeth angrily at his former friend.
Katya, on the other hand, smiled coyly and asked, “If I was truly working a mind trick on you, do you think you could actually resist me?”
While she was attractive and looked a little older than she was, they both knew what Katya meant and Magnus smirked as he retorted, “By the time wizards are promoted to full, we have been taught many tricks to avoid being caught by a diplomacy wizard’s spell. You are just a novice, so I think I would be safe.”
Letting her magic play into her eyes and voice, Katya said with the same coy smile. “Be a dear and place your forefinger on your nose, Magnus.”
Without even thinking, the wizard placed the finger of his right hand on his nose. It took a moment for him to realize what he had done and Katya’s face looked amused as well as triumphant. “Still think you are immune?”
He tried to lower his arm, but the finger remained until she released him on command. Magnus frowned more in annoyance that the young girl had proved him wrong, than showing any anger at Katya for her demonstration.
“Perhaps I need to work on my resistance some more. Maybe I will have to ask for your help in training to become better. It wouldn’t do for our wizards to turn against our people because the enemy had a diplomacy wizard of any talent.
“Now I don’t want to test my theory, but I doubt that it will be as effective once we are flying in the air.”
Katya shrugged and replied, “We are only allowed basic elemental spells or what we know of dragon magic for these drills. You are safe from my coercion magic for now.”
Her words came off as flirtatious and even Katya had to blink in surprise. She didn’t retract the words or clarify. Sometimes it was just better to ignore a potential mistake and fix it later, than try to fight it at the time. That was another piece of the system of thinking that Ylena and her mentors had been working to instill in the novice.
Magnus didn’t respond, but they both called on the dragon armor spell before flying beyond easy casting range of a fireball. Once all the flyers were ready, Kel’lor lowered his arm as he flew just above them signaling the beginning of the drill.
Magnus flew towards her surging forward like he was shot forward by magic, which in theory he was, but just by the power of his magical wings. He was a powerful wizard and a strong man, especially among wizards that were often more intellectual than physical. While his speed was surprising, Katya’s reflexes had plenty of time to use her instinct to fly away from him.
It wasn’t a game where just one person was it and the others fled. They could both try to catch the other with their magic. Katya flew towards a steep rise along the mountain. No other flyers had chosen this direction making it even better for her purposes. The sky was huge, but trapped between mountains and cliffs, their space was now limited.
Magnus released a flurry of fireballs and the girl simply looped up and around coming back on track as the projectiles passed her. He wasn’t a champion wizard without reason, and the girl nearly fell for his ruse. As she returned to her line, the fireballs halted and reversed their direction right towards her.
“Dragon shield,” Katya called up the mage spell bringing red scales in front of her forming an overlapping shield. While she still could have dodged the fire, there was nothing saying that he couldn’t make them chase her in another direction. Snuffed by the dragon scales, his first attack was now nullified.
Letting him close as she approached the nearly vertical stone face at the head of the narrow valley, Katya let him believe that she would corner or bank upward. She didn’t have to see him at that moment to know how close he was and simply used her wings to halt her momentum. Pushing off with her legs, Katya sprung back using her wings to drive her body back towards Magnus.
His eyes revealed surprise. Even more of the emotion could be seen as she twisted out of his reach only to kick upward facing him. Back towards the ground, Katya kicked him in the stomach calling out, “Tag.” She passed just beyond him and Magnus used his wings to stop from running into the stone before him.
“Not bad,” he stated, “but a kick against dragon armor will only end up breaking your foot.”
“Would you rather that I cast a fireball as I passed by? The dragon armor doesn’t completely keep you invulnerable and our clothing might get holes from such things,” the girl offered as she hovered watching him lift away from the mountainside considering his foe.
“Well, admittedly it would probably be both improper and inconvenient if that happened. We are a long way from a tailor.”
Katya thought that Cheleya might have some magic to help, but she didn’t reveal her friend’s unique spells.
“Do you want a head start or do you want to chase me this time?” Magnus questioned giving the girl a little more regard.
“I have the room to flee,” the girl stated gesturing behind her and away from the mountainside. “Catch me if you can.”
With that, they continued their game until Kel’lor summoned them for a break and to switch partners. It was a practice that would push them all and see how much stamina they had built as dragon mages so far.
Chapter 33- Predator and Prey
The camp had broken up to test skills in a way that was virtually impossible while remaining in White Hall. Air novices paired with their mentors scouting the air and their main targets were the dragon mages. Since they were well south of Northwall and in the sparsely populated mountains besides, there was little need to scout for enemies. They were home after all.
Even the air wizard mentors found the task of keeping up with the dragon mages in flight a challenge. Many of the wizards held smiles that were as much the thrill of the hunt as those of determination not to be bested by the physical abilities of the mages.
While the air wizards were busy tracking the flyers in the air, the earth novices used their talents for searching throughout the mountains. Again they paired with their mentors as any time one set their minds free from their bodies there was a chance that wizard might not come back. There were warnings in the texts, but as far as anyone knew, there had been no instances of such things happening for generations. One of the reasons why was the use of trained mentors taking the lead to pull out their young minds and return them safely back to their bodies once their missions were finished.
Piotr watched as Job, paired with his mentor, Wizard Telamen, sat with his legs crossed opposite the older man who some had nicknamed “Big Dwarf” because of his unusually square build, bald head and ferocious beard. While Piotr had never seen one of the dwarves native to Taltan, everyone knew their description from stories. From those stories, the boy could agree with the nickname, though he would never say it in hearing range of the often gruff older wizard.
“You could use this time to scout or test how nature feels like out here where stone is exposed as much as not,” Wizard Zieran stated interrupting his musing.
Giving a start as he turned to look at his mentor, Pio
tr nodded sheepishly. “Sorry, I was just noticing that both air and earth are already scouting the area with their minds. Wouldn’t that just be redundant? Besides aren’t we here to release the animals?”
“It would be redundant and then some in normal situations in the field. Rarely would you send about a fifth of your troops on scouting missions at the same time. You double or triple up on scouts when looking for nomads you know are nearby to find them as quickly as possible, but between mentors and students, you would never waste this much energy. Those spells require a fair amount of magic to maintain and they always return hungry. Your reserves in food will be limited and the length of a scouting trip north of the wall might be prolonged beyond expectations making that a worry as well.”
“But this isn’t a normal time?”
Zieran touched his head with his finger and nodded, “We may not be in the school, but you students are all still being taught and evaluated. You know that what we see on this trip may push many of you to apprentice levels soon?
“We can do more by letting you loose out here where no one can really get hurt. You students can push your boundaries in new ways.”
Piotr looked at the earth and air novices again saying, “Well, I can see through the eyes of birds or other animals, so I could use that spell if you want. Since I used Bo to fight the same way, I think we can both safely say that you know I have that power.
“Do you want me to find a bird and scout?”
The sound of fireballs striking targets formed of ice drew Zieran’s attention away from the boy as he realized that Piotr was correct. “Hmm, I suppose that and shape changing have been used enough to convince anyone that you can do them easily. Like the water and fire novices, I suppose we could practice for a fight and duel a bit. I can show you what to use and test you on your barrier defenses as well as attacks.”
Zieran started to pull Piotr towards an open area. It wasn’t the first time he had practiced combat techniques. As wizards were often called upon to attack and defend others, a nature wizard had to learn spells that would be useful to his companions.
They hadn’t gone far when Piotr noticed Job awake with a start. Air and earth novices rarely returned to their bodies with the ease of their mentors. The boy actually proceeded to jump up excitedly, but his legs started to buckle as they reminded him that he had been sitting cross legged for quite awhile.
A small yelp, as Job landed on his hands and knees, brought the notice of several others even as Wizard Telamen looked at his novice with a shake of his head before grabbing his canteen. The older man had been an earth wizard a long time and been on many such scouting sessions. His patience was greater as well.
Piotr hurried over to his friend and laughed, “Did you come back because you have to go to the bathroom or something? You were gone for nearly an hour. Give your legs a moment to catch up to your mind.”
Offering the boy a hand to settle back onto his rear, Job shook his head as he tried to rub feeling back into his legs. “We got a strange reading while scouting to the west about two miles away.”
“What kinds of readings?” his friend questioned as he offered Job his pack including a canteen and the food Piotr had seen him prepare earlier for his return.
“Well, Telamen, had wanted me to see if I could pick out any tremors in the ground to find the dragon mages. They’re flying, but if they fight or set down for very long, I might have a chance to discover their location.”
“Sounds ambitious,” the nature novice stated thinking the possibility of such a find had to be incredibly low.
Job nodded as he took a quick swallow of water. “We knew the direction that they went and I had to hope that they would set down or use magic that would hit the earth. It was easier to track the animals your people released earlier actually and I could tell you where the lynx was a few minutes ago even.
“I got a ping somewhere in the mountains, but there was another pattern of movement in a larger number that caught our notice while I was looking.”
Clearing his throat, Wizard Telamen stood and responded gruffly, “I found it first and had to drag you away from a bunny rabbit, novice.”
He looked at Piotr and spotted Zieran shadowing his student.
“We’d better call the coercers and each school’s leader. There seems to be another group moving in the mountains. They might even be heading our way.”
“Who would be out this way with significant numbers?” Zieran mused aloud ignoring the slang term for the diplomacy wizards.
“That is why I recommend gathering the others, kid,” the earth wizard countered shooing the younger wizard ahead of him with a frown.
Rolling his eyes at Telamen, Zieran fell in beside the man even as he motioned for Piotr to follow. Perhaps this was another time to learn what being in the field was like, the boy thought, or maybe Zieran was just worried what trouble he might find without the mentor’s eyes watching him.
The three found Ylena coming their way. Without Katya around for a student, she was the rare available wizard who could move through the groups making sure everyone was doing well and cooperating where it was needed. Zieran waved the dark haired woman over to them as they closed on her.
“Ylena, Telamen says there may be trouble coming.”
“I didn’t say it like that, ya knob,” the older man stated with an annoyed shake of his head.
Zieran laughed and placed his hand on the bald head retorting, “This is the only knob I see around here, ya Big Dwarf.”
Piotr’s eyes went wide at the nickname he had heard batted around by the students since the earth wizard was first introduced to their group.
“Yeah, yeah, scrawny kids like you will go bald some day and wish you were half as good looking as me,” the older man countered seeming no more perturbed than normal for him.
“Can you two stop goofing around? There are students watching, you know.
“So what is this trouble that Zieran says is coming?” the pretty diplomacy wizard asked curiously. While she couldn’t pass for a teenager, there were quite a few novices and apprentices who thought Ylena was pretty good looking for her age... though no one actually knew what that was either.
Growling as if annoyed, Telamen complained, “He wasn’t the...! Never mind, I noticed unusual movements in the mountains about a mile and a half to our west. It wasn’t initially moving towards us, but if they were in a camp and discovered our dragon mages or wizards in general, someone who might have a conflict with representatives of Southwall might want to make sure we can’t deliver a message back to White Hall.”
Ylena replied calmly, “And if they discovered that we were here, they might need help. We do have healers in camp as well as enough magic to achieve just about anything someone could need out here in the middle of nowhere.
“We aren’t north of the wall, so we don’t need to consider every unusual movement of men to be an enemy,” the woman finished without showing any anxiety that was emanating from the men mildly. No one knew whether to be worried or simply prepared to receive someone in need.
“That’s why we need to use any available air wizards to scout this disturbance,” Telamen stated as if it should have been obvious to everyone. “I can tell you what I feel, but I can’t tell you what we face; so we need to make use of what the wind riders do best.”
Turning to look at the class of air wizards all sitting in concentration, they realized that it might be awhile before they could get one of the wizards they needed. With their minds on the air following the dragon mages, speaking to the air wizards, or even shaking them, would do no good. They were empty shells until their minds returned.
“Zieran had mentioned scouting using one of the birds in the area anyway, so I can call one and do it,” Piotr said with a shrug of his shoulders. He received a nod from his mentor at the suggestion.
“Piotr’s right. We can just make use of the animals in the area and do the same thing. Even if there is an enemy, they won’t know a bird
flying overhead is a spy,” Zieran concluded.
Ylena responded immediately, “Good enough. You two can scout ahead and let us know. If the air wizards start to return, we can send them out as well.”
Unlike the air wizards, if they spoke in a nature wizard’s mind while using one of the animals, they could still hear and comprehend from their bodies if they didn't try to control their minds. They could use a lighter tie between the men and animals, than the full use of an air wizard’s mind for their wind riding spell.
Piotr placed his hands in front of his mouth and worked a subtle piece of magic. While the bird call he created was noticeable to the camp, the magic called to the falcons or shrikes making the mountain areas their home. While the mountains might be sparsely populated, there were animals that thrived where man rarely tread.
A small dot appeared after only a moment and Piotr sat preparing to merge his mind with the distant bird.
Zieran frowned and moved to sit beside the boy. “Aren’t you rushing the spell? You should wait for the bird to get closer before trying to join with it.”
Ignoring his mentor, Piotr knew the limits of his abilities relating to the use of this spell better than anyone. It was considered a wilder version of the mental link and, since it was his, the novice fearlessly mumbled to himself before sending his mind across the mile of distance linking up with the falcon.
His head slumped forward as if he had fallen asleep. Piotr watched it happen through the magnified vision of the crag falcon that had responded to his call. It was one of the birds newly returned to the wild after they had healed its wing and rehabbed the falcon’s strength in the school zoo.
Zieran was sitting beside the novice and looked at him with surprise with the shift in posture.
“If you want to come, then look at the falcon,” Piotr mumbled loud enough for Zieran to hear. While the mentor had many skills, sharing minds with animals wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t sure if anyone in White Hall currently had the ability besides him, though there was much written down about spells one could use to initiate the transfer in the school’s library.
White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Page 51