Chapter 7
Yelena dipped her pen into a bottle of ink as she took notes. "So, each spell feels different in your mind, but you don't necessarily know what it does when you first learn it?"
"Right," Corec said. "Sometimes, I don't even know that I'm casting it. About three weeks ago, we were ambushed by...bandits. I felt strange during the fight, like everything was easier. At first, I thought it was just because the last time we were ambushed, they caught me without my armor, and this time, I was ready for them. But then, a week and a half ago, we were fighting ogres, and I felt the same thing again. I think it's a new spell."
"Did your weapon feel lighter?" Venni asked. The tall, big-boned blonde woman stood where Sarlo had been the previous day. She wore a surcoat over a padded gambeson, and had an arming sword belted to her hip.
"Yes, it did."
"It sounds like a strength spell. It's exhilarating the first few times you cast it, until you get used to the effect and learn to compensate for it."
"I asked Venni to join us because she has experience with the types of spells you know," Yelena said. "She's a battle wizard."
Venni nodded. "You sound like one yourself, except for not being a wizard."
"Battle wizard?" Corec asked.
"A wizard that specializes in spells for fighting with weapons," Yelena said. "I suppose the term isn't used much these days."
"Wizards can only master so many spells, so some of us choose an area to focus on," Venni added. "You sound like you don't have any choice over what you learn, but a real wizard does. My father had started teaching me to use a sword before we found out I was a wizard. I didn't want to give that up, so I decided to combine the two. There was actually a small group of us back in Matagor, where I grew up, but the others didn't bother recruiting new members, and the last of them passed away, oh, close to two hundred years ago."
Yelena said, "Venni recovered some of their spell books, so every once in a while, she'll take on a promising student, but from what we learned this morning, I don't believe that will help you."
Corec nodded. Yelena had spent several hours testing him to see if he was a wizard, but she'd concluded that he wasn't.
"This strength spell makes me stronger, I take it?" he asked.
"Yes," Venni said, "but it can throw off your balance, so be careful. And you'll want to strengthen your sword, too, or you're liable to break it."
"You can make a sword stronger?"
"With a different spell. I'm not sure how to explain it for someone who doesn't learn magic like a wizard."
"I wonder..." Yelena started, then paused. "Maybe the spells he learns are based on the actions he takes. He's a warrior, so he learns battle wizard spells. If he was a sailor or a librarian, perhaps he'd have learned completely different ones."
That theory appealed to Corec—it at least provided an explanation that made sense.
Venni shrugged. "If that's true," she said to him, "and you can control it to a degree, try to teach yourself the spell. If you know your sword won't break, you can even use it against plate armor. It still won't
cut
the armor, but if you miss a gap and hit the plate, the blade won't dull or chip. It's not as good as using a hammer or a bill, but it's better than nothing."
Corec nodded. He'd never faced an opponent wearing plate armor outside of practice sessions before he'd left the knights, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.
"Is that what you do?" he asked.
She patted the sword at her side. "I used to, but Dart here doesn't need the spell. She's happy enough to go up against armor all on her own."
Before Corec could ask about that, Yelena said, "We're getting off track. Let's get back to your spells. You're wearing a mail shirt today but you weren't wearing it yesterday. Do you prefer armor over being able to use magic?"
"I didn't wear it yesterday because I figured I'd need to show you my runes, but the metal doesn't stop me from casting spells. I wear plate armor when I'm on the road, and I can still use magic."
"Now I'm jealous," Venni said. "My armor spells are good, but not that good."
"It's unusual," Yelena said. "I've spoken to two dozen arcane mages over the years, and most of them were affected by metal the same way a wizard is. There were only a few that weren't. Again, my guess is that the magic is conforming to your lifestyle. You wear armor regularly, so the magic has somehow compensated for that."
"What were those other mages like?" Corec asked. "Deshin—he's a wizard here in the city—he said that most only manage to learn one or two spells."
"Some of them are like that. Like the boy who was caught in a burning house and figured out a spell to protect himself from the flames. A useful spell in very rare circumstances, but it was the only one he ever learned. He ended up working for a circus. Others learn a strange mishmash of spells without any rhyme or reason, as if someone took a spell book and chose a few pages at random. And then the last group pick up a pattern of related spells. I'd say you're one of those."
"I guess it's reassuring that there are others like me."
"Well, a battle wizard is a strange choice, even for that group," Yelena said. "They're more often like Sarlo, though in his case, it didn't happen by accident. His people are sometimes born with unusual arcane gifts—or at least his grandmother's people are. Seekers, Seers, Travelers...they're all related."
"I've never heard of those. Yesterday, you said he's a Seeker, right?"
"Mostly, though there's some overlap between the three abilities. He can find things or people, given enough time and information. It's fascinating, actually. To him, Seeking is just something he does, but as far as I can tell, there must be nine or ten different spells involved that he doesn't even know he's casting."
"Can he help us find Three?"
"I can't spare him for the amount of time you'd need for an ocean journey. Besides, I have another task for him—someone who needs to be found. We're off track again. Let's get back to the binding spell. You said the last time you cast it, you felt something?"
"I think so, but it was hard to tell."
"Cast it on me."
"What?"
"You can't bond another warden, so you can cast it on me for practice. Or Venni, for that matter, since she's already bonded. Once you know how to cast it purposely, you'll also know how
not
to cast it."
Corec nodded. The idea made sense. "How do I do it?"
"The same way you cast any other spell, I'd assume. For me, the warden's binding spell isn't like one of my wizard spells. There are no words to say. I just feel it in my head, and I...it's difficult to explain. I know how it's supposed to feel, so I make it feel that way. I believe it's similar to how you cast
all
your spells, yes?"
"Yes, I can feel a shifting in my mind. If there's a fight, it all happens without me thinking about it, but if I've used a spell enough times, I can usually cast it on purpose too."
"So, remember what the binding spell felt like, then repeat it."
Corec tried but nothing happened.
"It didn't work," Yelena said. "Try again."
He did.
"Again."
