The spell on the front door announced they had a visitor. Still trying to catch his breath, Farrell didn’t object when Miceral left to answer see who was there. He’d just started stretching again when his partner returned, Prince Peter in tow.
“I came by to thank you again for yesterday.” Peter seemed more relaxed, and Farrell noticed a spark in his eyes not there the day before. “Father explained many things over breakfast this morning.”
Farrell gave him a smile but kept to his routine. “I’m glad it turned out well. Having been in your position, I could relate to what you were going through.”
Nodding, Peter looked around the room and at both of them. “Is this the training Alicia said she interrupted you doing?”
“Yes.” Miceral tossed Farrell a towel and put away the water and cups. “We still have a bit left before we’re done.”
“Do you mind if I watch?”
“So long as you stay against the wall.” Miceral pointed to the spot farthest from where they practiced. “I don’t want to explain to your father how you got hurt if I accidentally toss Farrell into you and you break a bone.”
Farrell glared at him but got back into position. After another thirty minutes, and numerous red marks on Farrell’s torso, Miceral ended their session.
“Much better than last time.” Miceral smiled, holding out a clean towel. “It has to be all—”
“Don’t say it!” Farrell turned red.
Despite not knowing the joke, Peter laughed. “You do this every day?”
“Just about.” Trying to hide his embarrassment, Farrell focused on healing the more obvious or painful bruises. “What brings you to see us this early?”
“Father asked me to inquire when you wanted to start work on the new shields.” If being a messenger for his father upset the younger prince, he didn’t show it. “He said he wants to be certain everything you need is ready.”
After pulling on a loose-fitting beige tunic, Farrell poured himself some more water. “I do, but I did want to go over things with him and Darius first.”
Peter nodded. “Father assumed that would be the case if you wanted to start today. I’ll let him know.”
After walking Peter to the door, Farrell noticed food had been brought in while they exercised. Peeling a boiled egg, he felt Nerti’s touch on his mind as he took a bite. “Erstad wishes you to open a Door from his room to where you are now.”
“Would you tell him I’ll open it in his study?” Shoving the rest of the egg in his mouth, he reached for another.
“It shall be done.” Rather than leave his mind, Farrell felt her continued presence. “When will you be back, Wizard? I miss our rides. Klissmor is equally restless. The clerics see to our needs, but we prefer to run, and without you, it’s hard to get anyone to let us onto Gharaha to exercise.”
Though necessary, given their unique nature, leaving Nerti and Klissmor behind now made Farrell feel guilty. Not that he’d forgotten her during his stay in Belsport, but he hadn’t been mindful of her needs. “I don’t know when we’ll be done in Belsport, but Miceral and I can come back to go riding with you if we’re not finished here today.”
“That would be appreciated, little one.” Thinking about how to make it up to Nerti, Farrell almost forgot to open the Door for his mentors. Knowing what lay ahead for the rest of his day, he took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. “Right, no more daydreaming.”
FARRELL GLANCED around Belsport’s audience hall as he entered with Miceral and the three Haven wizards. The similarities to the palace in Yar-del put a damper on his eagerness to begin this project.
Light poured into the room through large windows on either side, adding a degree of warmth for entrants on their way to the throne. Scenes of Belsport’s nautical history inlaid on the tile floor in bright, vivid colors drew the eye down to admire the work.
Their footsteps echoed in the massive room, dancing among the four rows of thick gold-trimmed columns. In front of them, the ornately carved, jewel-encrusted throne sat empty, as did the two smaller seats on either side.
Darius entered from a side door, accompanied by two younger men in constable garb. The epaulettes on their uniforms spoke to their high rank. Farrell noted the one to the right was a master wizard of some power.
Nodding to his guests, Darius motioned for the officers to step forward.
“Prince Farrell, allow me to introduce Captain Aderic of the wizard constables and Captain Reinhard, who commands the bulk of the city guard as well as sees to the training of our militia.”
Bowing just the right amount, as he’d been trained, Farrell did his best not to appear dismissive. Unable to suppress his excitement, he smiled as he turned to Darius.
“Did you find enough rocks in the size we need?”
Eyes sparkling with a hint of excitement, Darius nodded. “I believe we have suitable stones for your needs. When Prince Wilhelm arrives, I’ll take you there so you can inspect them yourself.”
Moments later Wilhelm, Peter, and a company of soldiers arrived. Glancing over, Peter gave Farrell a smile. Darius quickly opened a Door into a dark, long warehouse. Six globes of wizard’s light appeared, providing ample illumination.
Arranged in rows of ten, dozens of rocks, all about the same size, beckoned to Farrell to come inspect them. For the moment, he focused on the one noticeably larger in the front.
“As you instructed,” Aderic announced. “Dense granite, not lime or soapstone.”
Farrell barely heard the man, having moved to the stones. He laid his hands on the large one first, then pulled the black staff from his back and tapped the platinum tip against the rock. Using his free hand and the staff, he searched the stone for imperfections.
Longer than Farrell was tall, the stone sat chest high and about the same across. A few spots troubled him, but he expected this. He grasped his staff by the end, extended his arm fully, and circled the boulder slowly. A dull brownish glow stretched from the staff, encasing the stone as he moved. When he had come full circle, the brown cocoon pulsed once before the energy seemed to absorb into the rock.
“I found a few faults that could’ve fractured the stone if it were stressed too much. They’ve been corrected, and this should be perfect for the job.” A mischievous grin crossed his face when he turned to Wilhelm. “The combined weight of these stones is quite high. I hope I’ll not drain your treasury too much when Haven collects its payment.”
Wilhelm feigned a pained expression. “This is indeed a prince’s ransom, but if it works as you say, I’ll have paid a fraction of what it’s really worth.”
Moving behind the large stone, Farrell surveyed the rows before him.
“One hundred and twenty, nonporous stones. Each about two hundred pounds.” Darius appeared at his side, pointing to the neatly arranged rocks. “They are roughly the same size and shape and came from the same quarry.”
Holding his staff out, Farrell slowly passed through the ranks. A tendril of brown energy enveloped almost every rock. Twice, he stopped and ran his hands over a stone, and cast it aside both times. After the last inspection, Farrell looked up, smiling.
“I’ll have more than I need if my calculations on the distance around Belsport are correct. Have you selected a location for the central stone?
Darius nodded. “A basement room in the Citadel has been cleared for our use.” Motioning to Aderic, he changed the terminus for the still-open Door.
Aderic moved the large stone and set it in the middle of the room before anyone could enter. Following Aderic, Farrell did a quick survey of the windowless room. It measured about ten by twelve feet in area, with a door at either end. With the stone in place, the others almost didn’t fit into the chamber. Extending his senses, Farrell checked their location in relation to where the shield would be created. Satisfied with the placement, he focused on the next step.
He asked everyone to stand against the wall to give him space to move, if needed. Lifting his legs, he floated over
the stone and shielded the room to hide his work from whomever Meglar had left in the city. Confident he could complete the complex spell, he began.
Weaving the collection, storage, and transfer spells into the stone, he completed the stable portion of the process fairly quickly. Focusing on the rest of the spell, he kept his mind on the work. Spells only did what the caster told them to do. But for this project, he needed to account for things as they changed. Even grand master wizards rarely attempted dynamic magic this difficult. And for good reason. Too many controls and the spell failed; too few and it ended up unfocused and ineffective. Either could cause the spell to reflect back on the wizard casting it, often with dire results.
For this, he decided to use a few dedicated parameters and shunt control from the spell to the wizards keyed to it.
Unlike a Source, this stone could not store great amounts of energy or the spells would deteriorate. To prevent such a breakdown, the prime directive for the stone needed to be to push the collected power evenly to each of the active receptors. He planned to use two types of recipients: the stones, and wizards approved by Prince Wilhelm. Unlike the stones, however, the wizards couldn’t be passive recipients. Left unchecked, the stone could feed a wizard too much energy while they slept. By making the stones passive receptors and the default for all energy distributed, he avoided harming any unsuspecting wizard.
Fixing one problem created a new one. If he sent all excess energy to the passive receptors, the central stone might have nothing available when wizards needed energy. A central reservoir, large enough to meet the needs of several master wizards, would leave enough energy for daily use before fueling the shield stones. If the demand of the wizards proved too great, nothing would go to the outer stones. Darius and Aderic could work out how to distribute the energy between powering the shield and leaving enough for Belsport’s wizards.
When he’d completed all the threads, Farrell bound them together, made himself the default for any excess energy, and sealed the spell.
“The first step is complete. All power collected will flow here and then be distributed as we discussed. Now we need to lay the collection spell.” Farrell paused, waiting for the inevitable request. Darius did not disappoint him.
“Prince Farrell, it would be much easier if you would teach us the main spell rather than just the extension spell.” Darius looked uncomfortable making his prince’s request.
Stifling a chuckle, Farrell still smiled. “Still trying to gain the upper hand, Wilhelm?”
The prince feigned confusion. “I’m innocent in the request, Farrell. My chief wizard has an incurable thirst for knowledge. I’m certain not knowing how something works keeps him awake at nights.”
Farrell rolled his eyes as others snickered behind him. “My apologies, Master Darius, but I fear you shall have many sleepless nights. The spell is something of a state secret that I’m unwilling to part with. With the ability to extend the spell to all of Belsport and its environs, you’ll have ample ability to achieve a well-powered shield.”
“Until you turn off the collection spell,” Darius noted.
“True.” Wilhelm had bargained hard to have control of the collection spell, but Farrell held firm in opposition. He also knew that, at his core, Darius agreed with Farrell’s decision. “That day, however, is decades, maybe centuries off in the future. By then, you won’t need it, and it will allow wizards direct access to power without asking you or the crown.”
“To satisfy my own curiosity, I had to try.” Darius gave him the barest of nods. “And Belsport thanks you for arranging to have three of Haven’s most gifted wizards assist us in extending the spell.”
“Bah,” Wesfazial grumbled. “We had to force him to let us help. First time anything like this has been attempted, and he forgets to invite us along.”
Farrell rolled his eyes again but otherwise ignored the remark. “Once I lay the spell on this room, I’ll link you five and show you how to extend it. After that, you can teach whoever is able. There’s no limit that I know of to how large an area you can expand the spell.”
With all eyes on him, Farrell pushed out his will to cover the small room. As he cast the spell, he wove it around the end of his staff and circled the stone, staff moving as he walked, extending the spell to cover every inch of the floor. Linking his work to the stone, he felt the few ergs of energy captured by his grid flow into the storage reservoir.
“As we knew, there’s little energy in this room.” Farrell turned to Darius and Aderic. “But if you extend the grid as you leave, it will connect the link to the stone as you expand your area throughout Belsport and beyond.”
Farrell released a bit of his stored energy into the grid, and the other wizards watched it funnel into the stone. “Right now, there isn’t enough energy to trigger a push, but as you extend the grid it will fill fairly quickly, at least at first. Until I set up the outer stones, I’ll draw any excess power to myself and use it to finish the shield.”
“That was quite an amazing bit of magic you just pulled off.” Darius had a hand on the stone, and through his link, Farrell felt the older wizard’s mind probing it. “I can’t say I followed half of what you just did. I’d wager you’d impress even your old masters with this.”
“Doubtful, Master Darius.” Farrell checked the spells a last time. Satisfied, he turned toward the door. “I did nothing more than copy their work.”
“Our young wizard is being modest,” Erstad said. “Sanduval created this spell only after he and Farrell had a lengthy discussion on this topic. It was Farrell’s idea that Sanduval used to solve the problem.”
“Yes, and I also suggested we kill Meglar, but such has us no closer to his death.” The need to defend his deceased master surprised him with its strength. It also felt wrong getting credit for Sanduval’s work. “His was the skill and talent that led to this advancement.”
No one spoke, and when the silence got awkward, Farrell cleared his throat. “Darius, let me show you and Aderic how to extend the grid. Then you five can get to work.”
“I’ll do that,” Erstad said. “Go work on the rest.”
Feeling guilty he’d forgotten Erstad could handle this, Farrell nodded his agreement. “If you wouldn’t mind, Darius, could you leave the Door open between this room and the warehouse?”
“Of course.”
“So what’s next?” Wilhelm asked as he and the other nonwizards followed Farrell to the warehouse.
“I need to set the spells in these.” He gestured toward the stones lined up against the wall. “That will take a while. Some parts of the spell I can do en masse. The rest need to be done one at a time.”
“A hundred times?” Miceral asked.
“Afraid so.” Farrell shrugged. “Can’t be helped. I need to set the stone, link it to the central reservoir, and keep the end of the spell open until everything is complete. You didn’t think we were charging Wilhelm that much gold for a simple off-the-shelf spell, did you?”
Wilhelm laughed. “For all I know, you may be dragging this out to justify the price. Even Darius has no idea what you’re doing.”
“Good thing you’re not paying us until after the shield is up and running.” Farrell flashed his host a smile, then turned his attention to his task.
He spent several minutes hovering over the stones. From the middle of the rows, he prepared the group for the next step. When he stepped down, he scanned the lot and nodded to himself.
“This stage is complete.” He searched the dimly lit building and found a good place to open a new Door. “Wilhelm, you and Peter might as well go back to the palace. This next phase will take many hours, so Miceral and I will be poor company during that time.”
“I’d like to stay.” All eyes turned to Peter. “If it’s not a problem.”
Wilhelm turned to Farrell. “So long as you don’t mind, Farrell, he has my permission. For what I’m paying you, I need someone to make sure you don’t cut corners.”
“Looks
like you’re my new foreman,” he told the smiling prince.
Nodding to his son and guests, Wilhelm led his guards from the building. When only the three of them remained, Farrell turned to Peter. “It’s good of you to stay. It’ll give Miceral someone to talk to during the day.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Miceral asked.
“I’ll be fine. It might be one of the bigger spells I’ve worked, but I’m confident. Fortunately, I can feel power flowing into the reservoir. Adding that to what I brought with me, I won’t have to stop to collect more energy during the day.”
“Okay, but if you’re tired, don’t push yourself.” Miceral picked up the first stone. “You can finish this tomorrow.”
Farrell shook his head. “Finishing tomorrow would mean doing extra work. I’d have to tie up some things tonight that I’d have to undo tomorrow.”
Miceral shook his head. “I get it. You want to finish today.”
“To make things go quicker, so we can finish today,” he smirked at Miceral, “let me explain how this will work. First, I’ll open a Door that’ll take us outside the city walls. On that side, the Door will follow me as I move around the city, but this side will remain right here. After you set down a stone, come back and get the next one. Wait until I move before you bring it through. Otherwise you’ll have to carry it from one site to the next. Questions?”
Hearing none, Farrell called up an image of a spot outside the walls he had memorized yesterday. “Wait here until I get where I want to start. We’ll start on the south side of the bluffs and work our way around, and then the last stone will be the one we drop in the harbor.”
Yesterday, he’d been lazy and picked a spot far from the southern bluffs. He raised his legs and flew west, hugging close to the walls. When he reached a point near the cliff, he released the spell he’d prepared last night. Dozens of colored balls the size of oranges flew around Belsport. Wilhelm had instructed his guards to ignore Farrell, but he still heard shouts from the walls as the markers flew into position.
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