Mindbender (48 page)

After a dozen castings, Magda introduced another idea. “Now I want you to repeat this phrase,” Magda said and then uttered a string of words from an ancient language.

Isabel repeated the words again and again until they were burned indelibly into her mind. Once she could say the words flawlessly, Magda proceeded to the last part of the lesson.

“You will associate these words with the casting of this spell by saying them as you call forth the magic. Doing so will create a bond between these words and the process of casting this spell. Once you’ve established this connection, the spell casting process will unfold naturally when you utter these words. They are not necessary for the spell to work but the technique of associating a set of words with a given spell has been proven to help make the casting process faster and more reliable.”

Isabel added the last piece to the puzzle by casting the spell another dozen times. By the time she was done with her practice, the spell was becoming a single action rather than a series of steps. She started to feel exhausted from the emotional strain that the spell casting took on her. When Magda noticed her fatigue, she put a stop to her training session.

“You’ve had enough for today,” Magda said. “You’ve made excellent progress but it’s important that you not push yourself too hard with a new spell. When you become exhausted, it increases the risk of a mistake that could be catastrophic. Go have some lunch, take a nap and spend the rest of the afternoon resting your mind. Try not to think about what you’ve learned over the past few days. A period of time spent focusing on other things gives your mind time to fully integrate your new skills. Come back tomorrow morning and we’ll continue your practice.”

“Thank you, Magda,” Isabel said sincerely. “I’ve learned so much in the past few days.”

“You are very welcome, Isabel, but you must remember, this spell will not carry the day when you face Gabriella. I don’t mean to nag but I’m still hoping you’ll reconsider.”

“I know you’re concerned but this is something I have to do,” Isabel said. “I’m confident that I’ll survive her challenge and once I do, we can turn our focus to the real enemy of the Seven Isles.”

“You’re young and headstrong, Isabel, and while I admire your courage, I fear it will be the death of you.”

“If I am to be Lady Reishi I can’t shrink away from a challenge, even one as daunting as this. Power is as much about perception as it is about capability. If people see me as weak or cowardly, then I won’t be able to support Alexander. He needs a wife who can live up to his commitment to the Old Law and stand with him in the face of any threat. If I run, Gabriella will make sure that everyone in the Seven Isles knows I’m not worthy of my place beside Alexander. I can’t have that.”

“Your reasoning is sound and your grasp of the nature of power is insightful but your opponent is beyond you,” Magda said. “Perhaps, with training and experience, you would be a match for her, but right now you are simply out of your depth.”

“I’ve only just learned my first spell,” Isabel said. “Tomorrow, I hope to add the realm of light to my spell and see if I can bring something to the battlefield that Gabriella doesn’t expect.”

“Perhaps you can try that the day after tomorrow,” Magda said. “You still have some work to do with the basic version of the spell. When I’m satisfied that you’ve mastered it, then I’ll help you modify it to include your unique connection to the light.

“You must understand, the basic version of the light-lance spell is tried and tested. It’s proven to work for countless witches in the past. Adding such a profound variation may prove more complex than either of us realizes and may essentially create an entirely new spell, one that has never been tested or attempted before. Such things are not to be undertaken lightly. Under other circumstances, I would insist that you wait and hone your skills as a witch by learning and practicing proven spells before attempting such a thing.”

Isabel nodded. “All right, but I’m pretty sure I’m ready now and I don’t have much time. What if I come back after lunch and we work on it some more today?”

“No, your mind needs time to rest and assimilate what you’ve learned,” Magda said. “Spend the rest of today focused on something else. That is the most important thing you can do right now to master this spell.”

Isabel made her way back to her quarters in a daze. She didn’t remember the path she walked because her mind was reeling from the strain she’d placed on it. Wren was preparing a lunch of seafood stew and hard rolls with butter. The waifish young woman had actually gained a few pounds since Isabel and Abigail had arrived. She had been almost gaunt when they first met her but now her face was more filled out and her skin looked healthier. Wren had become a close friend and regularly shared meals with them, providing her with a much better diet than she ever got as a serving girl.

Isabel smiled hello and went to an overstuffed chair in the sitting area of their main room. Abigail was napping on the couch. Her lurid bruises had faded into a pale and sickly yellow all across her face, neck, and shoulders. Isabel felt a hint of anger at seeing her sister’s injuries but it faded quickly. She was too emotionally exhausted to sustain any more anger after the morning spent deliberately invoking intense rage to protect her from the pull of the firmament. She sat down and closed her eyes. It seemed only a moment passed before Wren shook her shoulder gently.

“Isabel, you fell asleep. Are you hungry?”

Isabel blinked the sleep from her eyes and smiled up at Wren. “I’m starving.”

After two helpings of stew, she recounted the events of the morning to Abigail and Wren. Both listened with rapt attention as she described the process of calling on the firmament to manifest magical effects in the world of time and substance. Wren was enchanted by the wonder of it all but Abigail was listening closely for another reason.

“It sounds like you can do some serious damage with that spell,” Abigail said. “Do you think it’ll be enough to kill Gabriella?”

Isabel shook her head. “No, Magda says she’ll be able to defend against it, but I’m hoping to modify it into something she doesn’t expect.”

Wren looked down at the table and whispered, “My momma thinks you’re doomed.”

“Wren, look at me,” Isabel said softly. “It’s going to be all right. Gabriella is powerful so she’ll be overconfident and I have something she doesn’t. I’m serving a cause and a purpose that’s bigger than just me. I have to believe that’ll count for something.”

“I wish there was something I could do to help you.”

“There is . . . you can believe in me,” Isabel said. “I’m going to win this fight even if no one thinks I can.”

“I do believe in you, Isabel, but I’m also afraid for you,” Wren said. “Mistress Gabriella is powerful. Even the Sky Knights are afraid of her.”

“Thank you for being worried about me,” Isabel said as she gave Wren’s hand a squeeze. “Right now, I’m going to take a nap. This morning was exhausting.”

She slept soundly for an hour, then woke and made herself a cup of tea before going out onto the balcony to practice her real secret weapon. She cleared her mind and reached out for the mind of a wyvern. This time she was searching for a specific creature among the hundreds living within the fortress island. At first it was a struggle to learn how to distinguish one wyvern’s mind from another. It took linking with Abigail’s Kallistos and finding the thread of connection to the beast’s master to discover how to find the one wyvern she needed to control.

After more than an hour of painstaking effort, she found Gabriella’s steed. He was an ancient beast named Asteroth easily twice the size of Kallistos. He had served as Gabriella’s steed since she took her place on the triumvirate. Isabel gently slipped into his mind. He was napping lazily in his aerie. She didn’t attempt to command or influence the beast but instead just made her presence known and maintained a link to develop a sense of familiarity with his mind so she could find him and link to him more easily in the future.

Her plan hinged on using Gabriella’s wyvern against her. The surprise of such a sudden betrayal by her steed was the greatest weapon Isabel could bring to the battlefield. Spells and Abigail’s magical bow were distractions meant to conceal her real plan. The only part she couldn’t count on for certain was Gabriella coming to the field riding her steed. If she came alone, the fight might be very short and end badly, so Isabel started working on a way to ensure that Gabriella rode into battle against her.

She recalled Alexander speaking about his father’s lessons on deception in war. How creating a false belief in the mind of the enemy was the most powerful weapon a soldier had. For her plan to work, if she was to survive the day, Isabel needed to deceive Gabriella into coming to the battlefield riding the instrument of her own doom.

As her plan began to take shape, she commanded Asteroth to roar. From deep in the bowels of the fortress island, a thunderous sound reverberated through the stone and sent the handlers to work calming and soothing the suddenly agitated wyvern. Isabel relaxed her focus and let go of her worries about her own troubles and thought about Alexander. She wondered what he was doing and hoped he was safe. She drifted off to sleep and woke with a start when Abigail shook her shoulder to wake her for dinner.

She spent the next morning with Magda in the practice room casting her light-lance spell over and over again. At first, Magda let her cast it a few times at her own speed, then demanded that she do it faster. Once she’d halved the time it took to produce the effect, Magda started adding distractions during her casting until finally she had Isabel running across the cavern while she tossed rocks at her.

The first attempts to cast the spell under such distracting conditions were total failures but after a few tries, she succeeded. Then after several more attempts, it was like something clicked. She thought back to when she was learning how to ride a horse. At first there was so much going on all at once that she got distracted—she was so busy focusing on one part of the task that she forgot other critical parts. But, after practicing for awhile, the whole thing became a skill that she could do without even thinking about it.

The light-lance spell had become the same thing. A simple action she could call forth in a few seconds with devastating effect, even while dodging rocks and running as fast as she could across the dimly lit cavern. By the time Magda called an end to their training session, Isabel was exhausted but she had to admit that her grasp of the spell had become complete. She could cast it at a moment’s notice even while under attack. She returned to her chambers more confident of her success and eager to add the next part to her newfound capability.

The next day she would attempt to incorporate the power of the realm of light into the spell and see if it added any measurable effect to the result. Her hope was that she could defeat Gabriella’s defenses with the addition of her unique connection to the light. That way she would have a backup plan in case her ability to control Gabriella’s steed failed.

Despite her fatigue, Isabel had trouble sleeping that night. There were so many thoughts pressing in on her from all directions. Her worry for Alexander, her anger at Gabriella, and her concern for the people of Ruatha all conspired to keep her awake. Every time she pushed one worry from her mind, another would intrude to take its place.

She woke tired and agitated but resolved to clear her mind and press on with her plan. After a quick breakfast, she went to Magda’s chambers and found the triumvir reading while sipping a cup of tea.

“Please sit with me for a few minutes before we begin,” Magda said, motioning to a nearby chair.

“I’ve been doing some research into the realm of light and I’ve come to believe that what you seek to do can be accomplished. However, it will likely have a very different outcome than what you’re hoping for.”

“How so?” Isabel asked with a frown.

“The realm of light is the source of life energy. When you called upon it to heal Abigail, it was doing what it exists to do. Adding its power to a spell of destruction will probably negate the damage caused by the spell. Of course, it’s impossible to know for certain without making the attempt, but I wanted you to be aware that your time may be better spent pursuing other spells.”

“You said that no spell I can learn in the time I have available will win the day against Gabriella, so I must find something to give me the edge. My connection to the light and the darkness are the only places I can look for that power.”

Magda nodded solemnly. “I know,” she whispered.

“So how should I begin?” Isabel asked pointedly.

Magda smiled and sighed. “You must exercise your ability to connect to the light. Once you’ve developed that skill, you must incorporate it into the process of casting the spell, simultaneously drawing on the light while casting your will into the firmament. It will add a degree of complexity to the process that may take some time for you to master.

“The first step is to practice creating a connection to the light. Spend the morning working on that. Create a connection and then close it, over and over until it becomes second nature. You may use my meditation room. If you have any questions, I will be here studying the problem. Perhaps with further research I can help you create the spell you seek.”

“Thank you, Magda,” Isabel said as she stood.

She went to the little room Magda used to meditate. It was about ten feet square with a beautifully crafted crystal skylight that showered the room with soft illumination. The floor was bare stone with a seven-foot-diameter magic circle inlaid in gold in the center. In the center of the circle was a comfortable cushion. Otherwise the room was empty and bare.