***
While Dawyn fought, Alivia faced off against Nikki. The two women sparred against one another from across the room, though to the uninitiated it would have appeared as though they were having a staring contest. In reality, the two women were not seeing each other. Their minds were expanded all around them, touching matter and energy within the room, manipulating it and countering the manipulation of the other mage. Nikki began to heat the air around Dawyn, and Alivia countered by drawing the heat away, causing it to cool. Nikki, seeing an opening, lanced out with a spear of solidified air, seeking to impale Alivia. Alivia saw the molecules of air forming into that object and countered with a shield composed of solid air, which the spear crashed against.
Alivia could tell that Nikki was weakened from her exploits earlier in the day, but Alivia was weakened from conjuring the wall of fire moments earlier. Despite her exhaustion, she drew upon every ounce of her energy, leaving only a small amount of life force within her body to keep her breathing. Alivia felt more in tune with the world around her than she ever had before. It was as if she could see every cell in the human body, affect the tiniest of blood cells or mend once-broken bones. She could sense every grain of wood in the floor and every crack in the walls. She could see the particles that drifted within the very air she breathed. She had heard stories of mages that had reached such a level of awareness, and now she understood the beauty of it. Compared to this experience, living in a body with only five senses was drab and boring. What were five ordinary senses compared to intimate knowledge of the matter and energy that existed all around her? It was no wonder mages had died from remaining in such a state for too long. Their hearts had stopped when they forgot to breath.
Alivia recalled a lesson one of her instructors at the Tower had given once. He had spoken of lightning, and how it was formed. He said that to control lightning was to take one's own life in one's hands. To create lightning, one had to create what was called an “electrical field” above the target area. This electrical field could be created by a collision of liquid and ice particles. Once the electrical field was created, it would seek to be discharged. The ground, her professor had explained, was the perfect discharge location, though metal objects would also attract lightning, as evidenced by how the Tower was often struck. Lightning would seek the highest object that was able to discharge the energy built up. Anything between the cloud of colliding particles and the ground would be struck with tremendous force by a nearly unimaginable amount of energy.
In her heightened state of awareness, Alivia saw the particles of moisture in the air. She concentrated on the patch of particles above Nikki’s head. Quickly she began to move them, rubbing them against one another. Faster and faster she rubbed, until the particles began to glow with light. She included more particles, drawing them into the cloud of colliding particles. She wasn’t sure it was working, but suddenly a crack rent the air and the entire inn was lit by a blinding light.
Blood and Shadows Page 26
