by Viola Grace
Imara sighed on the ride home. “Sorry that we had to take the detour, but I am delighted that I got a tutor out of it. I had no idea that this course would involve breaking and entering.”
“Imara, promise me that you won’t be involved in illegal activity.”
“I promise. I am only going to engage in the exact requirements of my course.”
“Will you quit the course?”
“No. There is nothing comparable for credits.”
“Will you promise me you will be safe?”
She smiled. “Always. I have plans, you know.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I know.”
She stroked Mr. E and pulled tufts of white fluff from his midnight fur. It was a strangely serene drive home.
Reegar was waiting for her when she entered the hall. “Why were you out so long?”
“We found the problem and fixed it, but then, we needed to store it somewhere safe, so we had to go there and time got away from me.”
She grimaced at the babble, but it was all accurate.
The hum and click from the floor above indicated that Bara was still awake. “Is she still weaving?”
“She has taken to it. She has started looking into specialized fabrics, but the selection of options is very limited.” Reegar pointed to the table nearest the library. “Sit, and I will get you some tea. I want to hear all about it.”
She smiled. “Yes, of course. At least you won’t balk if I have to do something illegal.”
“The test for the stealth magic? Yes, I am aware of it. I have had a few incursions here to try and take my stone from the building. Those were in the days before you arrived, and so I had to resort to poltergeist methods and calling campus security.”
“So, you won’t mind if I study for the exam?”
He grinned. “You have had an interesting evening if someone outlined the exam for you. Start at the beginning.”
She started at the beginning, and just as she reached the fight, Bara came down and pulled up a chair.
The mention of Ritual Space earned her a gasp, and when she detailed the requirements of the exam, Bara sat up with a jolt. “I have just the thing. I am working on an adaptive fabric, and it takes a day just to make a small strip, but I should have enough to cover you in a month.”
“And Mr. E?”
She blinked and grinned. The kitten in question was passed out on a spell book. “Of course. Right, you would take him with you.”
“Yeah, he won’t train with me, but he will be with me on the day.”
“Then, he shall have enough to wrap him as well. This is exciting.”
Reegar grinned. “She isn’t wrong. Can I do anything?”
“I need to find a level one transport spell. Just enough for me and Mr. E.”
Reegar looked at her familiar and smirked. “Would you believe he is sleeping on the book?”
Bara snorted. “So, if it is competitive, what will you do to make them think you are training at the college?”
“Kitigan has been after me to jog with her. I am fairly sure that the schedule can be flexed to accommodate a run in the morning. If I have to go to the gym while they try and do me in, I will just have to go.”
Bara nodded. “Right. I think I have a plan for that as well. This really is fun.”
Imara shook her head. Four co-conspirators and she hadn’t even started the course yet. It was the antithesis of stealth.
Chapter Four
“I am Professor McClairie, and this is Stealth Magic 401. You will learn how to be silent, invisible, and think on your feet, but to do that, you have to train.” The professor paced in front of the scant dozen students in front of him.
He raised his hand and waved a sheet of paper. “In my hand, I have a list of the contact information of twelve volunteers who are willing to train you with a goal toward your final exam. They know what will be required.”
Imara raised her hand, and he paused.
“Yes?”
“What is the format of the course?”
He gave her a pitying smile. “You will train, you will come back to get your exam information. You will fail, and you will probably cry.”
A loud, braying laugh got her attention from across the small space. Great, another brother.
“Edgar Demiel, you have the first pick of names.” The professor walked over to him and handed him the page. “When you have made your choice, strike it out. Once you have the information, you are dismissed until the next class date where you will get your assignment.”
The professor went through the class in no particular order. What rapidly became apparent was that he was saving her for last.
The last student had scribbled on the page, and the professor passed it to her.
“The pickings are slim, but I am sure you will find something to suit you.”
“We are allowed tutors from off this list, correct?” She smiled brightly and got to her feet.
He blinked in surprise. “Yes, you are.”
She extended the card that Hyl had given her. “He has volunteered to be my tutor.”
He looked at the card and paled. “Why would he... how would you even meet him?”
“Oh, I had to do some work with the XIA last night, and we ended up at Ritual Space where he makes his home. He admired my attitude, and as he had already passed this course, he offered to train me for it.”
The professor made a strangled sound. “What did you do with the XIA?”
“My job. They subcontracted me via the Death Keeper Guild. I was uniquely suited to the situation.”
“Death Keeper?”
“Yes, don’t you have files on your students?” She clued in, “Or do you only bother with the ones from prime families?” She tutted. “Do your homework, Professor. You missed something.”
She took the business card back and nodded politely. “Good day, Professor.”
She left the classroom with Mr. E chuckling madly on her shoulder.
Right, she was in it, and her friends were all on board. It was time to get busy with her portal work. Reegar had gotten clearance via the Chancellor’s office for transports within the Hall, so she was clear, as soon as she could manage the transport. It was not a method of magic she had even considered. This was not going to be pleasant.
“Did she actually suggest a mirror portal?” Reegar was shocked.
“She did, but she also said she didn’t do any magic.”
He frowned and paged through the tomes. Mr. E jumped on the table with the small pouch in his teeth.
Imara smiled. “Oh, yeah. She gave me four stones from Ritual Space. Will that help?”
Reegar looked at the pouch as if it held pure gold. “Those are stones from the actual space?”
“Yes.”
“Pure and not enchanted?”
“Yes.”
He sat back and exhaled. “This is easy. You just need a measuring tape and a wall.”
“I don’t need a mirror?”
He waved that away. “It is considered to be necessary by the weak, but I find it tacky. It is more dangerous for the mage to use a mirror than just use energy to formulate a door. You are strong enough to do the job without the prop.”
She blushed and was going to reply, but across the space, Bara’s hand shot into the air. “I have a measuring tape. Three, actually.”
“You need to take her height, width at her widest point and the height of her average stride.”
Mr. E jumped up and onto her shoulder, sitting with his head high.
Imara grinned and waited for Bara to come back and do the measuring. Her grin faded when she took a look at Bara’s fingers. “What the hell is that?”
“Oh, blisters and splinters. The fibre I am working with isn’t very friendly.”
“Damn. I have a recipe for a healing cream.”
She shook her head. “Cream makes my hands softer, and that makes the proble
m worse. I will toughen up.”
While Imara stood there in shock, Bara quickly got her measurements, paused and cocked her head. “Can I use you as a model for my dressmaking class?”
With all Bara had done for her, Imara nodded. “Of course.”
“Excellent. I am looking into making a utility belt that is actually useful.”
“A utility belt?”
“That fits with a formal gown.” Bara smiled. “Here you go. Metric and imperial measurements. Don’t mix them up.” Bara gave her a fierce look and winked. “Arms out to your sides and hold still.”
Ten minutes of precise—and occasionally tickling—measurements later and Imara was free to study the spell.
It was bizarrely easy. She just needed to place the stones out and power them up then speak the name of her destination. It would only work if someone were waiting for her on the other side.
“You should set up the stones on your wall using glue.”
She nodded at Reegar. “I will tape them up until the glue holds.”
“It isn’t necessary. Go into the lab and find the super stick adhesive. It will bond in two seconds, so be quick.”
She nodded, gathered the book and got the notes that Bara had left. Mr. E followed her into the lab, and he sat quietly on the counter until she found the adhesive.
What followed was a relatively easy procedure. Measure, mark, measure again with a different pen, and when she was sure, she took out the stones and brushed the adhesive on the back. She wore gloves and ended up having to cut one free when they were all in place. The adhesive was sealed to stop a comical moment, and she took it downstairs.
Are you ready?
“No. I am not ready, but the spell is easy. All I have to do is text her, and we can walk through.”
Do it.
She took the number that Adrea had given her, and she entered in the new contact. She sent the first text. Hi, it’s Imara. Can I come through?
She waited for three minutes, and then, her phone chirped. Come on over. Dress to sweat. You have one hour to use your portal.
“Oh, shit. Right.”
Imara quickly got an exercise bag together with bottles of water, put on a set of grubby sneakers, and when Mr. E was on her shoulder, she stood in front of the stones and powered them up the same way she offered energy to a spectre. A moment later, she was looking at Ritual Space, and Adrea was sitting and reading a book in her garden.
The scene was so idyllic, Imara hated to ruin it.
Imara stepped through, and after a short moment of disorientation, she settled on the other side with her familiar on her shoulder.
Adrea waved at her. “You made it!”
Imara nodded, and Mr. E was kneading her shoulder. “Yes, Mr. E, you can go play.”
He was off her shoulder and bolting after some bunnies who waited for him before leading him into the undergrowth at high speed. Imara could hear him giggling via their connection.
“Hyl will be here within the hour, but he said I should start you on a few things.”
There was a stack of books in the centre of the table, and each book had a bookmark hanging through it.
“Each of these has a spell necessary to what you are going to be doing, so he suggested you begin studying until he arrives. Once he does, you are heading to a special section of the space that I have put aside for your training.”
Imara sat and pulled one of the books toward her. “I don’t know how to thank you two.”
“Pass your exam. Hyl says that women are frequently sabotaged in the course, so he wants you to shove it in McClairie’s face.”
“Ah. Well, that does explain the major dicks in the room.” Imara smirked and opened the first book. The spell that he marked was Surface tension and wall climbing. It was a good place to start.
By the time Hyl had arrived, she had made it through Obscuring the scent of magic, and Passing through. She was in the middle of Pulling shadows when Hyl walked in and gave Adrea a kiss that turned her bright red.
Hyl lifted his head and smiled at Imara. “Are you ready to work?”
“I am.”
“Good. There is a pack under the table, bring the books.”
She scrambled to put the books in the pack, and she shifted it to her back, grabbing a bottle of water.
“Where is your familiar?”
“He is off playing with the bunnies.”
“Good. It is better that he is occupied. This is going to take a while.” Hyl nodded, turned, and jogged off toward the nearest stand of trees.
Imara turned back and smiled at Adrea. “See you later!”
Adrea waved her on.
Imara turned her back on her host and ran after her tutor.
Hyl was walking briskly, but no matter how fast Imara ran, she could never quite catch up with him.
The books were excessively heavy, but she just hitched the straps tighter until they moved with every step she took.
She chased him for half an hour before she burst out of the forest path and ended up in an open field with a wide tower in the centre of it. Hyl was standing near the bricked tower.
She ran up to him and paused. “What next?”
“Climb it.”
She looked up at the tower and back to him. “Pardon me?”
“I have observed your musculature, you will be able to support yourself, so you have two hours to climb the tower and then, I will help you with your technique.”
She stared at him. “You are kidding.”
“I am not. You can use any method that you can to get to the second story.”
She paused and nodded. “Including the books on my back.”
“Correct. I am here if you have questions, but figuring things out for yourself is more useful. We can tweak the technique from there.”
It was a challenge she wasn’t backing down from. She got the pack settled firmly on her back and stepped forward.
Chapter Five
Imara fell on her ass three times before she used the sticking spell. Once she had placed the spell on her body, she was able to press her body against the wall and use it as a point of grip as she slowly crept upward.
“Well done. You read the books?”
“A few of them.” She grunted and pushed up with her foot while reaching with the opposite hand. “The ones that were bookmarked.”
“Bookmarked? Huh.” Hyl chuckled.
She reached up, and her hand hit open air. She glanced up and exhaled.
“Now for the hard part. Come down slowly. Be sure of your footing.”
She didn’t nod, she just did as he suggested. Her hands were aching, her toes were cramping, but she still moved down, row by row.
When she hit solid ground, she dropped like a stone. She sat on the ground, her knees splayed, feet curled inside her shoes, and her fingers wrapped inward to stop their raw throbbing.
Hyl looked her over and nodded. “I will be right back.”
He went into the tower and emerged a minute later with a thermos flask. He crouched next to her and poured a cup. One look at her hands and he held the cup to her lips. “Drink it. It is the same tea that she gave you the other day but with nettles to help make your skin more durable.”
She swallowed and winced at the burn of the tea. The last time it had been cool.
He pulled the cup back. “It has to burn to toughen your skin. How are your hands?”
She flexed them, and the raw and bloody fingertips were healing over. “Are you sure she doesn’t use magic?”
He chuckled. “No. The herbs are grown here, and they have their own magic.”
“Do they work outside the space?”
“Sure. Adrea is just getting her online shop ready. The sales will be by invitation only after the purchaser has passed a security check, but yeah, she is going digital.”
“Nice. She will sell out in seconds.”
Hyl chuckled. “I am n
ot so sure. Most mages have some kind of legal trouble in their histories. If they do, we will find it.”
“So, getting caught during my exam would knock me off the list.”
“No, but getting caught the day after would.”
She pulled her legs up and rested her forearms on her knees. “So, I have one night to finish the exam?”
He grinned. “That is where folks get it wrong. You have twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes.”
Imara stared at him. “So any time during that day. Oh, wow. That makes things easier and exponentially harder.”
“How harder?”
“I don’t know what the best time would be. This is going to take some research.”
“You will figure it out. That is one point where I can’t advise you. All I can do is give you the physical skills to engage in your stealth manoeuvres.”
“Right.”
He nodded. “Now, do your hands feel better?”
She looked at them and nodded. “They do.”
“Good. Now get back up the tower and try to keep it under two hours this time.”
She widened her eyes. “It took longer than two hours?”
“Yes, it did. Now, get up and get down in under two hours.”
She nodded and grunted as she got to her feet. She faced the tower, summoned the sticking spell, and crawled upward as quickly as she could. This time, her limbs obeyed her, and she was able to move along the stone in what felt like a few minutes.
The moment she got down to the base, she turned to him. “How long?”
“One hour and twenty-two minutes. Very good for a first day.”
She groaned. “It felt so fast.”
“It will. The thing you have to remember is that you can’t depend on your perception of time. You have to move as rapidly as possible to throw off the effects of the spells you will need.”
“The sticking spell. It makes me slow.”
He grinned. “It does. It keeps you on the wall, but it takes four times your normal speed.”
She exhaled and then looked at him. “What else for today?”
“You want to do more?”
“I do.”
He nodded. “Right. Back up the tower. When you can get to the top and back down again in five minutes, we can work on the next task.”