by Rick Field
Recognizing that something was wrong, she immediately cancelled her spells, sparing him from being hit and releasing his feet at the same time. “You strike with force, My Lady,” Milor admitted, taking his sword, unscrewing the base of the hilt, and replacing the spent power token. “You have drained an entire charge in a mere two duels.”
Liane dipped her head. “Our mock duels have taught me a lot, My Lord,” she answered. “I believe I have encountered new protections I could place upon your sword. Would you be interested?”
“I would indeed, My Lady,” Milor replied with a faint smile, lifting his sword into a salute. “I concede today. A fine duel, My Lady MagicWarper.”
She bowed her head. “Thank you, My Lord Lightningcrafter,” she answered easily as she straightened out and accepted the sword he held out to her, handle-first. “If I may, after the sword, I also believe I have found a more advanced form of protection against tracking by Blood Magic.”
“I find myself interested, My Lady,” Milor replied easily, sitting down in front of her. Ever since she had been able to track him with that first Blood Magic spell she picked up in her first year, Liane had been both protecting and tracking him on a repeated basis, allowing her at once to develop better Blood Magic protections, and better methods of tracking. He did not mind, all it cost him was ten minutes of his time and some hair every now and then.
Plus, it was interesting to see her work Blood Magic.
Unscrewing the hilt, she removed the power token from his sword. She took a few moments to study the runic patterns on the blade, remembering how she set them the first time. Cassandra had still been her Proctor then... it seemed so long ago, almost a different lifetime.
Nodding decisively, she brought herself back to the task at hand, and whispered a metal-control spell, before wiping the engraved symbols off the blade with a casual swipe of her hand. Flipping the weapon over, she repeated her spell and hand-wiping gesture.
“That is incredible, My Lady. Those patterns were engraved into the blade, yet you just wiped them off, as if they were merely written,” Milor said.
Liane nodded. “Mages are able to tie physical motions into their spells, My Lord. I am sure you remember my one duel. I created a metal shield out of the sword I took from my opponent, then grasped my hands together. The grasped hands offloaded some of the strain of keeping the shield together, taking it away from the purely magical and putting some of it into the physical realm.”
She lifted the sword so he could look at the unblemished blade. “This was similar. Removing the engravings using magic would require multiple spells, one to loosen the coherence in the weapon, a second to fill in the runes, and a third to make sure that the metal was distributed evenly. Using a combination of magical and physical gestures, all I needed was a metal-control spell and use a motion of my hands to straighten out the metal. The magic takes care of the rest.”
Milor shook his head once. “You Mages can do some incredible things,” he said with a small smile at his lips.
“It is no more incredible than what you Warlocks can do, My Lord,” she answered casually, before focusing back to the task at hand. Closing her eyes, she brought the entire pattern she wanted to engrave before her mind's eye. The previous version was clearly outdated, consisting solely out of runes. This new version included the advances she had made since then, the new things she had learned during her classes, and the new magical theory she had studied.
She whispered her spell. The entire array started to be engraved in total silence, each rune and glyph and magical symbol being engraved at once, rather than one after the other, as she had needed to do last time.
It took only thirty seconds to engrave the entire array on one side of the blade, and without preamble, she flipped it over and repeated her actions.
Another thirty seconds later, she placed the power-token back and screwed the hilt back into the sword. “You have increased both your knowledge of magical symbols, and your engraving spells, My Lady,” Milor whispered with a tinge of awe to his voice. “Even though I take the same Runes, Glyphs, and Magical Symbols course, I could not hope to match either your engraving skills, nor contemplate creating such an intricate array.”
She bowed her head. “Thank you, My Lord. This version is more economic with the power in the token, and gives a larger protection against magic than the previous version.”
“Thank you, My Lady,” Milor answered, repeating the same gesture. He sheathed his sword. “Permit me to teach you the acceleration spell, My Lady,” he said. “Before you work your Blood Magic on me, making me safe from people trying to find me.”
She chuckled slightly at his small joke. “I am looking forward to it, My Lord.”
*****
Liane stared at the silver fountain, enjoying a few moments of unadulterated personal indulgence. Drawing and releasing her breath, the statue on the fountains changed into something resembling a ladder. Shifting her focus, the statue blurred; becoming more like a hump-backed man. She blinked, the fountain turned into a gory mess that made her stomach crawl.
“Good afternoon, My Lady,” a voice barged in on her thoughts, and she had to catch herself to stop from jumping.
“Good afternoon, My Lord,” Liane greeted Milor. He looked from her to the fountain and back to her.
“Each time I find you contemplating the fountain,” he commented briefly. “And each time I find myself wondering what you see when you look at it.”
She remained silent, thinking about what to say. It was a comment, a statement, not a question. It was phrased to allow her not to answer should she so choose, and she debated not answering.
“I see many different things, My Lord. Depending on my own mood, my subconscious thoughts, and my magic, the fountain takes on different aspects. It is a great help to me, as it reflects inner workings of my mind and magic, inner workings I may not be aware of.”
He lapsed into silence, thinking about her statement. “I can see why, My Lady,” he finally answered, smoothly as always. He turned to face her fully. “Are you ready for another mock battle, My Lady?”
Her answer surprised him slightly. “My Lord, may I ask for your assistance?”
“As always, you may ask, if I may have the privilege of refusal,” he replied noncommittally.
“This afternoon, I would like to work on a spell left to me by my Proctor. However, the potential of the spell scares me, and I would feel more at ease should someone be there in case I make an error,” she said to him.
“I understand, My Lady,” he said after a few seconds' silence. “I would be honored to act as your second. I have always enjoyed your magical experimentations.”
“Thank you, My Lord,” Liane said. “Please accompany me, as I have made preparations.”
He dipped his head, and followed her to the laboratory building. As they started to descend the stairs to the underground library, he smiled faintly yet remained silent as they descended the second flight of stairs.
“I do not believe I am allowed entry here, My Lady,” he finally said as they emerged onto the fourth level underground. “And if my memory serves me, I do not believe you are allowed entry here either.”
She answered with a faint smile, then turned to look down the flight of stairs at the metal grate protecting the advanced ritual chamber; “Liane, The MagicWarper, plus second,” she stated. The grate remained closed for a few seconds, long enough for Milor to open his mouth, but not long enough for him to actually say anything.
The grate retracted into the walls, and he silently looked at Liane, a question on his face. He remained silent, however, as he followed her down the flight of stairs, and she resolutely turned the corner.
He followed two steps behind, and stopped next to her as she wiped some dust off a door's plaque. It was obvious that this plaque had been here a while, unchanged. He blinked at it. Liane, the MagicWarper, Magical Experimentation.
“My Lady?”
“This is where I do
my experimentation, My Lord,” she said, pushing the door open. He followed her in.
For just a few moments, he stopped and stared at the intricately designed circles containing runes, glyphs, and magical symbols of various sizes and shapes. Shaking his head, he entered the room completely and allowed the door to fall shut behind him.
“This will be an interesting experience, My Lady,” he said, turning in a small circle to take in all the enhancements Liane had made to the decorations.
Liane stood still, and allowed him to take everything in. Finally, she motioned to one corner. “Please stand in that corner, My Lord. I will create additional protections around it, to protect you in case something goes wrong.”
Without question, Milor did as she asked, and stood in the indicated corner. Going down to one knee in front of him, Liane placed her hands on the floor, closed her eyes, and invoked her inscription spell. A single line of special symbols started to form, flowing from one wall to the other, forming a perfect quarter-circle.
She did not right herself, and a second quarter-circle of glyphs formed. Then a third line joined the previous two, and Liane finally opened her eyes.
Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a power token and placed it in a circle placed in the middle of the second line. “Please place one foot on top of the token, My Lord. As long as you press down on it, the protections will be maintained. Should you wish to break the protections for any reason, please remove the token from the circle.”
Milor did as she asked without comment, and pushed down on the token with the toes of his right foot.
“Thank you, My Lord,” she said, standing up. “Please remain silent as I work. This is very delicate.”
He just nodded, his face betraying the excitement he felt, despite his best efforts to maintain decorum-level composure.
Walking to the center of the room, she closed her eyes once more. Concentrating on her magic, she felt the subtle vibrations, the minute changes that occurred in her core every moment of every day. Lifting both her hands, she whispered a light spell. Five seconds later, she whispered the same spell again.
Opening her eyes, she smiled at the sight of two perfectly identical balls of lights bopping up and down on the stroke of her heartbeat.
Her magic now settled, she canceled the light spell and pointed her finger at one of the walls, making sure that it was not one that was facing Milor. Having him off to one side, watching her, made her feel safer than she had ever felt while doing this alone.
But still, this wasn't why she had asked him here. That was something else, something she would attempt after she had done her daily magical control exercises. And yes, she thought, she wanted to show off a little and demonstrate to her friend just how much work she put in every day.
The pulse of magic expanded from her, reflecting off the floor and adding secondary waves that rippled through the room. Reflection, she thought. It was only for the last month that she had been able to detect these secondary waves, waves that had been throwing her off for almost a year now.
The pulse hit the outer walls, and her protections, coupled to the defensive wards of the room, emitted a pulse back at her, stronger than before. Resonance, she thought, canceling out the reflections that were throwing her off, and concentrating on catching the resonance wave, and resonating with it herself.
Her core seemed to ping when the resonating wave of magic hit her, stronger and faster than she had originally emitted, and resonated with it, sending it back where it came from. Again, the floor reflected the wave, forcing her to tune out reflections.
The wave came back, still faster and stronger, and Liane pinged again as the in-tune wave of magic resonated with her core, once more starting its voyage to the outer walls.
She canceled the wave after the third strike, de-tuning her core to the point of total opposition. The wave was absorbed with little effort, the expanded energy dispersing across the protections of both the room and herself.
She drew a deep breath, then released it, and turned to look at Milor. He wasn't even making the effort of not staring at her.
“That was an incredible display, My Lady. I could feel the walls vibrate at the end.”
“My magic was resonating with the protections, My Lord,” she explained. “Each time, the wave would intensify in speed and strength. Had I continued, there would have come a point where the protections would be overcome, and the excess energy would be allowed through. However, before that happened, the additional protections on you would have failed first, and it is likely that you would not have enjoyed that experience.”
He smiled faintly, and nodded. “I thank you for your consideration in stopping, then,” he replied with a faint chuckle.
“You are most welcome, My Lord,” she answered calmly. She drew another breath. Her nerves were making her magic jumpy. The better she became at reading it, at predicting it, the more it seemed to influence her, and the more it seemed to become influenced by her.
It was almost as if her magic was studying her as much as she was studying it, and the better she became at understanding it, the better it became at understanding her. It was a curious symbiosis, where her emotions changed the magic and the magic, in turn, changed her emotions.
She was starting to feel, first-hand, how dangerous that feedback loop was becoming to her emotional stability. A simple dark thought threatened to send her to the blackest regions of depressions, while a single happy thought could threaten to have her bounce off the walls with excitement.
It was yet another reason to meditate each and every day. She needed to control herself in order to control her magic.
She finally felt ready to attempt this spell. Reaching into a pocket, she withdrew a book, the book Cassandra had given her upon her graduation. Lovingly, she looked at the title. Air as a Weapon of War, by Master Mage Cassandra Airmistress. She opened the front cover. Dedicated to my loyal Assistant, Liane the MagicWarper.
A multitude of those spells she had already tried and worked out for herself, but this last one... this last one scared her. Its potential was higher than anything she had ever tried before, anything she had even encountered before.
She glanced up from the book, at Milor. He seemed to understand her look, and nodded reassuringly, telling her without words that he was here for her.
Steadying her nerves, she closed the book, assured now that her memory had everything stored correctly. It never hurt to verify.
She stepped so her legs were spread slightly for increased stability. Holding her arms out in front of her, she cupped her hands, closed her eyes, and concentrated.
A tiny prick of light formed in the cup of her hands, expanding slowly, even as the air in the room started to turn into wind.
Behind the barrier, Milor frowned. The wind outside his protective pocket started to pick up, he could see it make Liane's long hazelnut-brown hair wave, and he could see her robes tug at her body. The prick of light had expanded into a ball by now, and despite the protections on his corner, the wind was now fast enough to be heard by him.
Suddenly, Liane's eyes opened, and a single, croaking noise emitted from her throat. The spell shattered, and Milor gasped loudly.
When she opened her eyes next, she was in the hospital.
“Good morning, My Lady,” Milor said when he could see her regaining consciousness. Liane's head slowly turned to focus her eyes on him.
Her entire body hurt. Badly. “Good morning, My Lord,” she whispered. “It seems it was a good thing you were present.”
He nodded wearily. “I must admit to have never felt such worry before. Luckily, your magic seems to still have its ability to shield you from permanent damage, even if it was overcome and was unable to shield you from injury.”
“My apologies for worrying you, My Lord,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
Understanding, he grasped a glass of water from the nightstand, and helped her drink some. “You are alive and stable. Luckily, the only injuri
es you suffered from were some bruises and a severely depleted magical core. You have been asleep for forty-eight hours. Unfortunately, your rival has seen fit to use that as an excuse to start a new campaign.”
“The Lady Florindra Earthcrafter,” Liane whispered.
“Exactly, My Lady. She seemed most insistent to tell any who would listen that a Prime Student should not suffer from a cataclysmic spell failure.”
“I will never make up for such a blemish now,” she sighed.
Milor shook his head as well. “Once you have mastered that spell, you will be unstoppable, My Lady. Even across the protections you instilled on me, I could feel the strength of that spell materializing. It was a good thing you devised protections I could cancel myself. Had you tied them into the protections of the school like your own enhancements, I believe I would still be stuck there, unable to get out.”
She nodded. “I believed there was a large possibility of an outcome such as this, My Lord,” Liane answered. “It was why I asked for your presence in the first place. And the strength of the spell was nothing. That was merely the first stage of initialization. The final results are more worrisome.”
Milor blinked twice. “It would be my honor to continue to assist you, My Lady. Although I could do without the hospital visit next time.”
She smiled in answer. “As could I, My Lord. As could I.”
“I have class in ten minutes,” he said, standing up from his chair. “Please rest well, My Lady.”
“Thank you, My Lord,” Liane answered as he left. She glanced at the nightstand, searching for her focus gloves, when an unexpected sight made her smile.
Milor had bought a basket of pears. She grabbed one, and bit into it, savoring the texture and taste of the juicy fruit.
*****
“Congratulations, My Lady,” Milor said, striding up to Liane as she read through her graduation notice, which detailed the list of courses she was in the process of taking, which she had completed, and what rank she had attained in them.