“Let me understand this,” I said. We were sitting around a stone fire pit. Flames crackled in the centre, fed by a small wood fire. Overhead the arc gleamed against a darkening sky. Stars had begun to appear, and I thought I saw the glow of a distant nebula.

  “Two Mages face off. They toss spells at each other. The loser is the first to run out of juice.”

  Elandra frowned. “That is an oversimplification—”

  “—but basically accurate.”

  “Well.” She tipped her hand back and forth. “If one spell completely overpowers the other, a breakthrough is possible.”

  “The whole process seems inefficient and…inelegant.”

  “Inelegant?” asked Cormac.

  “That’s a serious diss if you’re a mathematician,” I said.

  “What are the Blades doing all this time?” said Cormac.

  “Protecting their principles,” said Rory. “Engaging each other, if they feel it’s safe.”

  “Infantry and armour,” said Cormac.

  “Explain, please,” I said.

  He turned to face the other two. “I told you that I was a soldier in our world.” They nodded. “We fought at a distance. No melee weapons, no magic. Our foot soldiers carried arms that threw lead balls over a mile. Our calvary were mounted in metal boxes that protected them, and that carried heavy weapons to destroy their counterparts.” He took a sip of tea. “Our doctrine held that the infantry provided scouting and close in protection for the mounts. Which in turn, protected the infantry from the opponents’ machines.”

  “Are these boxes not invulnerable?” asked Elandra.

  “Not to a shaped charge,” said Cormac.

  She looked at him with a baffled gaze.

  “Now we’re talking.” I said.

  “Yes, Cormac,” I said patiently. I was comparing the diagram he had scratched in the dirt to my newly formed spell. “I understand a real HEAT round would use copper in the warhead. But what are the chances that I just happen to be hauling around a couple of ingots during a Mages’ duel?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “But this is an imaginary round.” He threw up his hands. “Imaginary trigger. Imaginary detonator. Imaginary cavity. Good grief. It’s like an armament contractor’s wet dream.”

  “You forgot the imaginary rocket booster.”

  “Athena, give me strength.”

  I waved at my little group. “Everyone off to the side, please. I don’t want anyone standing behind the imaginary exhaust.” They shuffled off to my right. I stood on the other side of the construct and adjusted the distance and azimuth to lock onto the new shield, which glimmered in the twilight.

  “Right.” I rubbed my hands together, channeling my best mad scientist vibe. “Now…”

  I lit the tail. There was a pause, a flare, and then a dazzling streak as the homemade rocket flashed between our location and the target. The crack of the warhead occurred almost simultaneously. The shield shattered, and bark flew off a couple of trees twenty meters distant. One slowly toppled.

  Elandra and Rory stood in shock.

  “Well,” I said. “It’s still not elegant. But it might be effective.”

  “Will this change warfare?”, asked Rory.

  “No,” said Elandra. “For that little demonstration, Circe cast five spells at the same time. I have seen an Archmage cast two simultaneously. With effort.”

  “Is that true?” asked Cormac.

  I shifted uneasily in my chair. “Six.” They looked at me. “Geez. I needed an aiming mechanism.”

  “But what happens after you cast this spell?” asked Rory. “Your mana pool must be drained completely.”

  “I’ve still got some reserve,” I said, “and plenty of energy left.” I smiled at him and he flushed.

  “Well,” interjected Elandra, “We should discuss plans. Namely—” she laid a slim volume on the table, “—further training, and travel. This is for you, Circe. It’s a brief compilation of some spells. Including concealment and warding.”

  “Scrying?” I asked.

  “Far too complex to summarize here. You will have study that at one of the Academies.” She passed me the book. I opened it and leafed through the pages.

  “Hey, I can read this. This is the fireball spell.”

  “Yes,” she said, “You do have that ability. Be warned, writing will take some practice. Use this to save your paper. It’s too valuable to scribble on.” She pushed a slate and chalk at me. “And here are your maps.” She pushed two identical pieces of parchment across the table to Cormac and me. I opened mine and examined the multicoloured drawings. There was a rough scale at the bottom.

  “How far is a stad?” I asked.

  “About two kilometres.” said Cormac.

  “How did you—never mind. The military mind.”

  I located the village of Lenoch on the map and saw that a thin line ran southwest to northeast. That had to be a road. “Where are the Academies?”

  Elandra leaned over me. “Southwest is the Academy of Blades.” Her finger tapped a blotch within the borders of Darthan. “To the north—” her finger moved up the parchment, “—lies Vandoran, and the Academy of Magic.”

  “Blades.” said Cormac.

  “Magic.” I answered. We grinned at each other.

  “Why the pressure?” asked Cormac. “We could continue basic training here for another couple of tendays.”

  Rory snorted. “I’ve nothing else to teach you.”

  “More to the point,” said Elandra, “is that my Goddess told Circe that the transfer spell may have attracted the attention of our enemy. Now, I did ward the house and the surrounding lands, but it may be better to move sooner than later.”

  “How would they locate us?” asked Cormac.

  “Typically, through an artifact that senses a foreign entity.” She grimaced. “We developed the device to seek the demons, but there is no reason that it could not be captured and repurposed. That would take time, and effort, so if we leave in two or three days, we should be perfectly safe.”