Glyphbinder (5 page)

He sidestepped her strike and slapped her head with his staff. Talbot’s glyphs softened the blow, but it still sent her reeling. How had Aryn done that? She hadn’t even seen him move!

“Point, Aryn,” Talbot said. “Aryn, begin point two when ready.”

Kara dropped into a hanging guard and fell back as Aryn thrust, moved, and grinned. His staff hit hers and hit it again. She backed and huffed as his staff landed everywhere at once, leaving tracers of flame. Ice shattered. Kara’s hands ached. Her staff bounced from her hands and Aryn’s thrust toward her chin.

Air exploded. Kara opened her eyes on her back, on the grass, tasting blood. Her teeth ached like someone had slammed a rock into them, but she still had teeth. Talbot had blunted the strike.

“Point, Aryn,” Talbot announced. “Kara, you may begin point three when ready.”

As Byn hauled her up Kara fell against him, struggling to stand. Her jaw ached and her hands did too.

“He’s getting lucky.” Byn steadied her and handed back her staff. “Don’t let it shake you. Pick your time and strike.”

Kara swallowed blood. “He’s a bit faster than I expected.”

Aryn twirled his flaming staff in a hypnotic spiral, spinning it forward then around his back. He snapped an end down at his boot. One of his blood glyphs had suspended three interlocking columns of flame on the air: the essence of Heat in glyph form.

Aryn turned his smile on a buxom initiate in the crowd. The woman grinned like a besotted fool, and Kara remembered her. Sashia Grace, a Lifewarden, and one of Kara’s most vocal critics.

Sashia had long lashes, curves that strained her uniform, and silky black hair. She made a wonderful distraction. Kara thrust her staff at Aryn’s turned head.

Aryn ducked without looking and knocked Kara’s staff away with a single backhanded thrust. Sashia
oohed
and
aahed
, and she wasn’t the only one. Kara stepped back, mouth open. No one had ever beaten her so fast.

Talbot raised his arms. “Point, Aryn. Aryn takes—”

Aryn’s staff smashed Kara’s temple. When she next opened her eyes, she was flat on her back and coughing at the smell of burned hair. An utter silence hung over the ring.

“Locke!” The anger in Talbot’s tone shocked her. “That point had been concluded!”

“I’m so sorry!” A shadow stood over her — Aryn — and Kara wanted to bite his boot. “I struck as you concluded the point.” Aryn offered his hand and a taunting smirk. “Allow me to help you up.”

“Shove off!” Byn backed Aryn off with two forceful steps. He helped Kara to her feet, and she stumbled into his thick arms.

The world rocked like a boat in a fierce storm. How could she wrestle Aryn when she could barely stand? She supposed she’d start by standing, first.

Aryn strutted before the crowd, pumping one arm and shouting for encouragement. Some of them were shouting back, but many more weren’t. That meant some might actually care that he struck while she was unarmed. She hoped someone had noticed.

“Wrestling now,” Byn whispered. “You ready?”

“On any other day, I’d flatten him.”

“You still will. You can do this. Now, can you stand?”

Kara wobbled. The crowd was a blurry mass, but she didn’t look at them, or Aryn, or Talbot. She looked at Byn, at his round face and stubborn frown. She handed him her staff.

“I’m standing, aren’t I?”

The crowd cheered when they saw that Kara was ready to continue, and that raised her spirits. There were people out there cheering for her, too. Aryn wasn’t the only favorite.

“Wrestling’s your strength, not his.” Byn thumped her back. “You’re tied. Take your win even if you have to knock out his teeth.”

Kara walked to the center of the ring. It spun around her, but she refused to fall. She would not give Aryn that satisfaction.

Aryn handed his quarterstaff to Jair and when Jair took it, his wide eyes fell on her. His brow was furrowed and Kara didn’t understand why. Why would Jair be worried about her?

Aryn stepped into her vision. “Forfeit now,” he whispered. “You’re exhausted. No one will think less of you.”

Kara shook her head. “You haven’t learned anything, have you? Well, pay attention. I’ll give you something to remember.”

“Wrestling begins upon the first strike from Initiate Locke,” Journeymage Talbot announced. “Aryn, attack when ready.”

“Last chance.” Aryn set his feet. “Forfeit now.”

“Not happening.” Kara beckoned. “Come at me, Locke.”

Aryn lunged. Kara caught him easily but barely held her grip. He threw a knee at her gut. She blocked it with her thigh and snapped her heel behind his leg. They pivoted on his locked joint and he went down like a falling tree. With her on top.

They hit hard. Sweat and grass wrinkled Kara’s nose, along with Aryn’s waxy cologne, and when she tried to roll off him she couldn’t. Her arms felt like she had spent a day rowing a boat upstream.

“What’s she doing?” Sashia yelled. “Is that legal?”

“Get
off
me,” Aryn hissed in her ear.

“Point one, Kara,” Talbot said. “Seconds?”

Byn helped her up. Kara stumbled and supported herself by clinging to him. Getting up was harder than falling down, but she only had to do it twice more.

Aryn batted at Jair’s hands. He stood and brushed grass and dirt from his shirt. He would have a stain now, a stain on that nice fine shirt. Kara knew it was petty, but it still made her grin.

“This was a horrible idea,” Jair said quietly. “Why win like this? What’s it really worth?”

Jair knew why Aryn had manipulated her into dueling tonight. He did not approve, and Kara’s respect for him jumped a good bit. Aryn might be an ass, but even an ass had decent friends.

“You’ve both dueled admirably,” Jair continued. “You’ve both had enough. Call it a tie and end it.”

“Jair,” Kara said, pushing off Byn. “I appreciate the concern. But we’re finishing this. Tonight.

Aryn glared at her. “My thoughts exactly.”

“Kara will begin point two.” Talbot’s calm tone offered no hint of what he thought of this exchange. “Attack when ready.”

Kara limped into place. The crowd spun around her, around Aryn, and Kara caught sight of Sera. She had pushed her way through the crowd and stood against the warded wall. Her eyes were wide and her hands clenched.

Kara was doing this for Sera. For herself. For her mother, and that last goal was most important. Time to stop stumbling about on the Commons grass and save her mother’s life.

She shouted and lunged. She hit Aryn with her full weight and he pushed back, hard. Each dug their heels into the Commons grass, but everything Kara had simply wasn’t enough.

Aryn twisted an arm behind her back and knocked her legs out from under her. He dropped her face first into the grass, pinned her, and Kara spit at the hard landing. The crowd cheered and hollered.

“Point two, Aryn,” someone said above her head.

“Kara,” Byn whispered. “Wake up!” He was kneeling at her side. “Don’t give up. You can’t! You’re one point away from winning!”

Kara wanted to save her mother. She wanted to sleep. She almost did, until she heard the chanting. There were people, dozens of them, and all of them were chanting her name.

“Ka-ra! Ka-ra! Ka-ra!”

Who was she to let them down? She could sleep when she’d planted Aryn’s face in the grass. When everyone cheered for
her
.

Kara stood and then dropped to one knee. Stupid, traitorous legs. Byn pulled her up, balanced her. Made her stand.

One more point. Just one more point. Kara stumbled forward, set herself, and mimicked Aryn’s smirk. “What’s wrong? You tired?”

“Aryn,” Journeymage Talbot said. “Begin.”

Aryn charged her and the world slowed. Kara let him hit her, let him flow past, and twisted her body so she tripped him as he did so. She latched onto Aryn’s back like an octopus wrapped about prey. She dragged him into deep water, dead weight on his back, and then they hit the Commons grass hard.

With her on top.

“Point three, Kara.” Journeymage Talbot dropped his glowing arena. “This triptych duel goes to Kara, five points to four.”

The crowd erupted in shouting, many cheering, some booing, but all excited by the spectacle they had witnessed. Kara felt Aryn wriggle free and rolled onto her back. Stars glittered above, and she smiled at them. She wanted to pump her fist, but it wouldn’t move.

Byn whooped loudly as he dragged her to her feet. Kara fell against him, filled with a flush of victory. She lifted her gaze and found Aryn staring, blue eyes wide. Wet. He trembled. He might cry.

“You fought well.” Kara smirked at him. “You almost had me.”

Aryn’s hands formed fists. His arms were trembling, his lower lip as well, but not from grief. It was rage. Aryn Locke hated her, a hate so fierce and ugly it made her stumble back a step.

Jair said something, but Aryn brushed past him without another word. Sashia stepped into Aryn’s path, arms open and eyes wide, and he stiff-armed her so hard she stumbled back. She fell into another student’s arms with her mouth frozen in a shocked O.

Kara stared after Aryn and felt a chill temper her flush. As much as she disliked Sashia, the woman certainly didn’t deserve
that
. What was wrong with Aryn? Was he that poor a sport?

Even at the height of their rivalry, Kara had never hated Aryn. Not really. She had just wanted to beat him. The thought of someone hating her like that, wanting her hurt or dead — that left her cold.

Students were pushing in, slapping her back or pumping their fists, but she couldn’t pick out faces and felt like she should. Then Journeymage Talbot scattered the crowd with a look, giving Kara the space she needed to breathe. He turned his calm eyes on her.

“Kara. The Council of Elders has requested your presence.”

She swallowed hard. “The Council wants me?”

“Only if you feel up to it.”

“I’d be lucky to walk home.”

“We’ll see about that.” Sera stepped forward, fingers bleeding, and gripped Kara’s wrists. Before Kara could stop her, she closed her eyes and glyphed. She sent a huge transfusion into Kara’s body.

Kara jerked at the flash before her eyes. Her exhaustion melted. Sera stepped back as Byn steadied her. Sera’s normally pale skin looked practically white.

“You didn’t.” Kara stared at her.

“You’ve got a council to meet. You’re fine now. Trust me.”

“You’re insane! You shouldn’t have done that!”

A flash heal — the glyph Sera had just used on her — transfused a tremendous amount of the caster’s blood very, very fast. It could restore the patient’s health almost instantly, but faded soon after. It also took a heavy toll on the person who scribed it.

“I’m fine.” Sera blinked through heavy lids. “I don’t get to practice those enough.”

“You took Aryn apart!” Byn beamed through clenched teeth as he hugged Sera close. “I’ll get her home safe. Promise. Now go!”

Kara felt like she was flying. She supposed she could make it home before this new blood expired. If not, she supposed the elders would call a stretcher. Or maybe she could just sleep in the street.

“I accept.” Kara waved away Talbot’s arm. “I can walk.”

More students shook Kara’s hand, patted her on the back, or shouted congratulations as she walked away. It overwhelmed her. How did Aryn handle all this adulation? She frowned as she considered.

She and Aryn were nothing alike. She didn’t take these people for granted, didn’t drink in their adoration like fine wine. She actually
liked
them. They had supported her, cheered her on, and that left her feeling grateful and guilty all at once.

Kara caught Jair’s eyes as he stepped close. He gripped her hand and bowed his head. Then he stepped away, and he simply wasn’t there anymore.

Kara gasped and cast about. Soulmages did that sometimes, moving so quietly that the night swallowed them up. Jair could do that as well, and he had picked a fine time to practice.

Kara gave up and looked at Talbot. “Shall we go?”

He smiled and led her from the gossiping square.

THE ROUND MARBLE BUILDING that housed the Council of Elders was extraordinary, five great walls of reflective brown marble. Ornate columns supported a pentagonal overhang that shaded the grass below. Statues of mages from Solyr’s past waited between those columns, stone eyes looking beyond. The building flowed into a thin tower with a solid gold sunburst at its point. The symbol of Solyr.

Journeymage Talbot opened the wooden double doors and motioned her inside. Kara missed a step. Talbot was two ranks above her, a veteran of the Rain rebellion, and one of the most respected Journeymages in Solyr. Yet he opened a door for her?

“You’re expected,” Talbot said. He smiled at her.

“Thank you.” Kara gripped his arm as she moved past and entered. The doors closed her in, and a hallway stretched ahead.

The Council Chamber’s builders had spaced diamonds of smooth obsidian at regular intervals through the white marble floor of its central hall. That hall led to the large pentagonal room in the center of the building — five walls like The Five Who Had Made the World. With mages, it was always fives. The heels of Kara’s boots echoed through the hall as she followed the obsidian lines.

Murals illustrating the formation of the world hung from the walls, everything from the first spark to the journey of the Five to the fusion that had made their world and everyone in it. One showed the first people of Loess — her world — as the Five made them from ether. Another showed the first of the great singers changing the land and forming their homes. A third depicted the great singers completing the Hymn of Revocation, the song that had taken the ancient language from all save those charged with its protection.

More tapestries followed, beautiful illustrations in rich colors that showed the strife of the Revocation War, the exile of the tribes, the hiding of the first glyph tomes. The illustrations shifted as she looked at them, and Kara knew creating each involved more than simple tailoring. These threads held magic.

Behind the murals were layered slats of alternating white and gold. They rose to an arched ceiling covered in painted tiles that fitted together like swatches in a quilt. The tiles curved across the ceiling, bright, blue, and filled with smatterings of thin white cloud.

The tiles made a mural of the Heavens created in mind and glyphed into reality by an ancient method tracing all the way back to Braun. A bright yellow sun shone down on her as she walked, and Kara often thought the shimmering illustration seemed as alive as the sky outside. It hurt to look directly at this sun, which lit the whole building as if noon still reigned outside.

She wondered then if Lunyr’s council chambers had an equivalent white moon. Lunyr was Tellvan’s magic academy, built in the great mountain forest that overlooked the winding spires of Concora, Tellvan’s massive capital. Kara hoped to visit Concora someday, with her mother. Ona had always wanted to see it.

Finally, she reached the center. All around her were the tiered wooden benches that sat the elders when the council held session. Only the trio of leaders was present, Elders Halde, Ine, and Gell, and all three wore long crimson robes. This was a private session. Had something happened with the Tellvan man she’d rescued?

Kara kept marching until she reached the golden sun painted on the center of the chamber floor. She stopped there, locked her feet together at its center, and bowed at the waist.

“Initiate Tanner,” Elder Halde greeted her.

Kara straightened. His voice made her feel safe. Despite his position, as years passed Halde had become as close to her father as any man could be. She loved him dearly.

Today Halde was one of Solyr’s most powerful Earther battlemages, and his fifty-two years had done little to dull the powerful muscles beneath his crimson robes. His shaved head glittered in the mural’s sunlight, and his spiky vine tattoos were black as darkest night. A simple black beard hugged his chin.

“Thank you for coming,” Halde said.

Kara remembered the graybacks, charging, and her heart fluttered. “Have the Tellvan revealed why their mage attacked me?”

“We are investigating that incident,” Elder Ine said, “but Lunyr’s council has disavowed all knowledge of any attack. You need not worry about further Tellvan aggression.” The study of stars and astral glyphs caused Ine’s eyes to glow bright blue. He was a Skywatcher, and Skywatchers could even teleport when they wished.

“I’m sorry for causing all this trouble,” Kara said. “Has something happened to the man I dragged in?”

“The man you saved is just fine,” Halde told her. “You’re here so we can officially nominate you for the post of royal apprentice.”

“As … really?”

“Your instructors have been keeping us informed of your progress,” Elder Gell added. White hair clung to his head like a coiled snake. “Only experience outside these walls can teach you anything more than what you have learned. You do feel ready, yes?”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be!” They had seen her triptych duel. They would send her to Tarna to save her mother. “I accept.”

“Excellent.” Elder Halde nodded to Ine. “Contact Adept Anylus in Tarna to submit our candidate.” Halde turned to Gell. “If you would provide Kara’s map?”

Kara’s vision took on an intensity matching the sharp eyes of Theotrix. The great falcon streaked across leagues of green and rock. Together they glided over plains of tall grass and forested hills cloaked in fog. Flying.

At last they reached a magnificent city of stone embedded in the Ranarok mountains, filled with thatched roofs in layered tiers. Thick gray walls surrounded the city and stood taller than a Solyr building. Those walls protected the pride of her province. Tarna.

Mynt’s capital was the oldest city of the most respected province in the world. If King Haven accepted her nomination, Kara would occupy the highest position an apprentice of Solyr could occupy in all Five Provinces. She would serve her province’s rulers as she had once served this academy.

As Theotrix’s vision faded, a dozen worries washed over her. Kara had daydreamed about this moment almost every day since she had arrived at Solyr, yet it had always been something in the far future. Now that she had succeeded, the impact of what waited ahead hit her like a wave to the face. Sailors stronger than her had fallen beneath waves like this. Some had even drowned.

“Do you have any questions?” Halde asked.

Kara breathed and focused. “Thank you.”

Elder Gell nodded to her. In addition to giving her a glimpse of the city, the vision Gell had projected inside her head had also taught her how to reach it. Kara now knew the route to Tarna, and several alternate routes, as if she traveled them daily.

“I don’t know what else to say," Kara added.

“I’d come up with a bit more than that before you speak to Adept Anylus.” Halde leaned forward. “We know you will succeed.”

Kara focused on Halde’s smiling face, on the warmth he made her feel. “I am more than honored by your faith in me. I am humbled. I’ll do all I can to live up to your trust.”

“Wonderful. I expect you’ll need several days to get your affairs in order, but plan to leave shortly after Selection Day. We will provide you with a horse for the journey to Tarna, but even on horseback, it’s a journey of just under a week.”

“I’ll prepare at once.”

“Then there’s just one more matter to discuss.” Halde’s smile grew. “I have received correspondence from your mother. Ona will be here in two days to join us on Selection Day.”

Kara’s heart fluttered. She imagined Ona falling from her horse or groaning in the back of a wagon, and just the thought made her ill. She wanted nothing more than to see her mother, wrap her arms around her, but what if the long trip made Ona’s illness worse?

“She’s already left, hasn’t she?”

“Likely a week back.” Halde’s smile faded. “Is everything all right?”

“She’s just been worse these past few years. I worry for her, but I can’t help that. She’ll be fine.”

“Senior Mender Landra will tend to her when she arrives. If anyone can ease her pain—”

“I couldn’t ask her to do that!”

“You didn’t. Landra did. It was her idea, as soon as she heard your mother was coming to visit. Always remember, Kara, that you are part of our family. You are never alone here.”

Kara couldn’t stop herself from shaking. “Thank you.” She told herself that was simply Sera’s enhancement wearing off.

“This meeting is adjourned. Notify us when you are ready to leave, Apprentice Tanner.” Halde leaned back. “Dismissed.”

Kara smiled when Halde spoke her new title for the first time. Apprentice Tanner. No matter the weather ahead, she had earned that title at last. After bowing one last time, Kara walked out the doors of the Council Chamber without really seeing them.

She had never really looked beyond the walls that had been her home for most of the twelve years since she had come here at age six. Yet Selection Day was two days hence. After she graduated, she would leave this life behind. She would start a new one in Tarna.

Kara wanted to grab the first person she saw and hug them, run through Solyr shouting at the top of her lungs, but walking was hard enough right now. She had almost all the reagents she needed. In perhaps a week she would have her magesand, and then her glyph of Transference would be ready. She could finally force her own soul out of her healthy body and replace it with her mother’s.

Kara had no illusions that living with her mother’s illness would be easy, but she studied powerful magic. She had a far better chance of surviving in Ona’s sickly body than Ona did, and she would be living in Tarna, the richest city in all of Mynt. If any cure could be found, it would be there. Anything to free Ona of her crippling pain.

Kara took her bearings from the bright moon over the mage stone walls — her dorm room was east of here — and walked through an academy settled in for the night. The moon offered some light, but hanging lamps of bluish phantom fire further ensured she wouldn’t lose her footing. As Kara rounded the corner of the large Aerial classroom, one of the shadows stepped into her path.

Kara jumped. It was not a shadow, but a person. It was Jair.

“Hello,” Jair said. Keeping a respectful distance.

“Hello, Jair.” Kara was damn well tired of people sneaking up on her. “Not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to speak to you about Aryn.”

“I’ve nothing to say to him.”

“I know. I’ve come to warn you about him.”

“Why would you need to do that?” Had Aryn cooked up some foolhardy plan for vengeance?

“Aryn has been under a great deal of pressure. His loss devastated him.”

Kara did her best not to scoff. She could find no pity for a man who had treated her so callously, but that did not mean she had to be rude to Jair. He was only trying to help.

“I don’t expect you to forgive his treatment of you,” Jair said. “But things Aryn has told me in confidence worry me. What I can tell you is that because Aryn lost your duel, his life in Solyr is over.”

Kara snorted. “That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?”

“It was obvious to everyone why the elders requested your presence. News that you’ve been chosen as the royal apprentice spreads already. That was Aryn’s last hope. He has nothing now.”

Kara chose her next words as diplomatically as she could. “I understand Aryn was as anxious for the post as I was. But the end of his
life
? You’ll forgive me if I don’t see it.”

“Trust me,” Jair said. “Stay away from Aryn.” He paused and ran his hand through his dark hair, an almost nervous gesture. “A man with nothing to lose is most dangerous of all.”

Kara shivered as she remembered the hatred in Aryn’s eyes, as Jair’s eyes held hers, demanding understanding. He stared
into
her. It felt like he was staring at her soul and she wondered then if he could do that, see her soul without the dream world.

“I understand,” Kara said quietly. “Thank you.”

Jair offered her a faint smile. “I should be going. But Kara ... know that I’ve always called you friend. If you ever need anything, you have but to ask.”

Kara watched him walk away, determined to witness whatever allowed him to vanish. Shadows swallowed Jair, and she cursed softly. Was he showing off? Or simply enforcing his warning?

Kara imagined punching Aryn’s smug face, imagined knocking him to the ground and keeping him there. If Aryn wanted another fight, he would get it. She feared nothing from that noble prick.

Even so, she checked each shadow on the long walk to her dorm.

“YOU’RE BACK!” SERA SAT on her bed, snuggled into pillows with a book in her lap. A lamp of phantom fire lit the room. Sera never stopped reading, even after dark, but she set the book aside.

“Byn’s gone … curfew … but he demanded I learn everything. What happened?”

“You first.” Kara walked to Sera’s bed and rested a palm on Sera’s forehead. “Did you get something to eat? Some fluids? You burned a lot of blood.”

Sera poked at Kara’s palm. “I’m fine,
mother
.” She pushed up and settled on her knees. “Now tell me! What’d they say?”