Masques (Sianim #1)(62)

Late in the afternoons Myr usually joined them, talking quietly with Aralorn while Wolf read tirelessly through books on rabbit breeding, castle building, and three hundred ways to cook a hedgehog.

It was on one such occasion that Myr came in to find Aralorn watching as Wolf carefully measured powders in a beaker. Aralorn looked up with a welcoming smile and waved him over.

"Wolf thinks that he found the spell. We're going to try it out outside. No telling what would happen if he worked it in here with all of the grimoires, especially since we don't know the range of effect." Aralorn spoke quietly, so as not to disturb Wolf's concentration.

They watched as he took a small vial from the open leather pack on the table. Opening it, he poured a milky liquid into the grey powder mixture, which became red mush and gave off a poof of noxious fumes. He donned his mask and cloak; then, ignoring his audience, he capped the beaker and took it and an opaque bottle and strode toward the exit, leaving Aralorn and Myr to trail behind.

"Won't the spell be affected by whatever it is that restricts human magic in the North?" asked Myr in a whisper to Aralorn, but it was Wolf who answered.

"No,'" he said. "It is a very simple spell. I only seem to have-problems with working more delicate magics."

He led them to the valley, where they were unlikely to have anyone interrupt them. Aralorn found herself holding the containers while, at Wolf's direction, Myr paced off circles, each bigger than the last until the dirt looked like an archery target. Wolf disappeared into the underbrush and reappeared holding a handful of small stones. He set several of them in each ring, floating about knee-high above the ground.

"This shouldn't be a particularly powerful spell; if I can get it to work, it doesn't need to be. If he doesn't know that it's coming, then he won't know to block it. Aralorn, stand over by the old firepit so that you are out of range of the spell. It won't hurt Myr, but I don't know what this could do to a shapeshifter," Wolf said as he sat on the cold ground in the middle of the innermost circle.

"How old is the ae'Magi?" asked Aralorn, moving to the position he'd indicated.

Wolf shrugged gracefully and gave her a half smile. "You aren't going to kill the ae'Magi the way that Iveress killed his Master. The Master was ill and near death, kept alive only by magic. As far as I know, the ae'Magi is nowhere near death, unfortunate as that may be - at least not from disease."

"What are our chances if the spell works as it is supposed to?" asked Myr. "Will you be able to kill him? I've seen him fight."

Wolf shrugged. "If the spell takes him by surprise, then the odds are about even. I used to spar with him often and sometimes I beat him, sometimes not. This spell gives us a chance, but that's all it does. If he recognizes the spell, it is easy enough to counter. That would leave us with only magic. I've learned a lot since I last faced him." He looked at Aralorn. "I've learned some things about what I can do that he doesn't know, but even so he would easily best me that way. Without magic, at least we stand a chance of killing him. Perhaps." Looking unconcerned, Wolf returned to his work.

Aralorn and Myr watched as he poured the substance into the beaker. Wolf shook it and then poured it onto the ground in front of him, where it gathered into a glowing pool of violet patterned with inky swirls. Dipping a finger into the pool, he used the liquid to draw several symbols in the air. Compliantly the purple substance hung in the air as if on an invisible wall. Wolf repeated the procedure with his left hand.

He picked up the pool in both hands then. It swayed and oozed, never quite escaping its confines. He held it up and blew on it gently.

Pain hit Aralorn hard enough to knock her to her knees. She fought to maintain consciousness for a moment, but she never felt herself hit the ground.

When she recovered, she felt the hard strength of Wolf's thigh underneath her car. Carefully she looked around. The spell was obviously directional. It had knocked down the stones in a "V" pattern with Wolf at the apex. She had been sitting on the edge of the path of the spell; apparently the firepit hadn't been far enough away.

"How long was I out?" she asked hoarsely, trying to sit up.

She was propelled down again with a none too gentle hand, as Wolf answered, "Not too long."

"How do you feel?" asked Myr, concern evident in his voice.

"Like the entire mercenary army of Sianim just got through inarching over my head." She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy their concern. She loved sympathy.

"Not too bad, then," Myr teased lightly.

"Not too," Aralorn replied, and decided that her headache had subsided enough so that she could open her eyes again.

"Wolf," said Myr. With Aralorn alive and well, the young king turned to the issue at hand. "Do you think that the ae'Magi will let you complete the spell? It seemed to take a lot of preparation."

"I won't need to," answered Wolf, relaxing against the wall of Haris's former kitchen. "With a spell this simple, it's easy enough to re-create the effect, once I see the pattern to push the magic into. It really is something only a beginning magic-user would have created. Take all of the most common spell components mixed together, add the first five symbols learned in magic and blow - poof: instant spell. What is really amazing is that it didn't blow up in his face. It came uncomfortably close to doing that with me." He tapped Aralorn's nose in emphasis. "Next time I tell you that you will be safe somewhere, don't listen to me."