Dragonlinked

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  Master Doronal stared intently at Millinith, who had just returned from her trip to Cotter’s Grove and was giving him a quick verbal recap. The full written report would come later.

  “You’re quite certain?” he asked her.

  A flash of irritation crossed her face. “As sure as I can be. The body had decomposed for several days by the time I got there, just like the last one I was able to examine. And the witness was little help. He was so distraught over losing his craft master he didn’t remember much. I think he had been too disturbed by the creature to examine it very closely when he found it, anyway. I don’t even think he touched it.”

  She sighed gustily. “I wish there were a faster way to get to the sites. And that more of the creatures were killed so I would have more of them to examine.” She shook her head. Wishes were like moonbeams and just as insubstantial. “At any rate, yes, I am fairly certain this one was female too.”

  Master Doronal pursed his lips. “Of the few creatures that have been killed, the two you have been able to examine were both female. Perhaps the female of the species is less adept at defending themselves?”

  Millinith raised her brow. “I don’t think that two is an adequate sample size to base a judgment like that on.”

  He chuckled and said, “You are right, of course.” He sat back in his chair and frowned. “On both counts. Even with the fastest horse we can provide you, it is taking much too long for you to get where you need to be. And time is of the essence with corpses.” He made a frustrated sound. “Alas, there is nothing more we can do in that regard, so we will have to make do with with what we have, I suppose.” He tugged at his lower lip.

  She didn’t like it one bit when the Master Doronal fell to brooding. “Don’t be so glum, it doesn’t suit you. Remember that we have been able to learn some things from our investigations.”

  He grimaced. “Not many things.”

  “Nonsense,” she said and began ticking off points on her fingers. “One, we now know what size nahual are and what they look like, roughly. Two, we know that they have an odor of some kind. Several people have mentioned that. Some say it is horrible and some that it is just unusual. It apparently fades with their death, as I have not been able to experience it myself.” She shook her head at the lost opportunities and then continued. “Three, they seem to be solitary creatures, at least when they attack. And four, it seems they favor attacking people who are alone, whether they live alone, or because they happen to be alone at the time. Attacks on two people are very rare. And more than two? I haven’t learned of any.”

  “Much of that was part of old wives’ tales already.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “However, along with the new information, we now know these things to be true. Even separating fact from fancy is important. Just as important as learning new things.”

  She smiled at Master Doronal. “Do not give up hope yet, sir. We are learning new information and confirming or disproving supposedly known information. Each trip I make adds to what we know about those accursed creatures.”

  With a half smile on his face, he said, “You are right, again.”

  “Of course I am! Now, I must leave. I want to have a talk with some of the Animal Craft adepts. Master Canneth is away on that field study, so I can’t ask him.”

  “What about?”

  “Oh, just some vague ideas I have kicking around my head. If any of them turn out to be more than just random thoughts, I will let you know and include them in my written report.”

  Chapter 9

  Therday, Duody 22, 1873

  Late Afternoon

  Aeron watched as Master Doronal walked to the worktable at the other end of the office.

  “There were only two spells for this test,” the magic master began, “so I’m a little surprised it took you just as long to study these as previous tests where you had four spells.” He filled two small kettles with water from the sink, placed them near each other on the worktable, and turned to face Aeron. “A little distracted lately?”

  Aeron squirmed under Master Doronal’s gaze. Truth was, he had been spending a lot of time exploring the remainder of the previously explored caverns these past three weeks and had finally finished mapping them two nights ago. It had taken him quite a bit longer than he had first thought. But last night he had finally been able to start exploring the narrow passage, the first of the unexplored parts of the caverns he wanted to see.

  “Yes,” he said. “I, uh, have been a little distracted, sir. But I will refocus on studying my assigned spells.”

  “Good,” Master Doronal replied. “Because I have let you determine the rate of progress so far.” He paused momentarily and then said, “Whether that continues is entirely up to your dedication to your studies.”

  Aeron gulped.

  “Now, step this way please. Note the two kettles.”

  Aeron quickly made his way over to the worktable and examined the kettles in question. They looked like they could hold maybe a gallon of water each. They were made of copper, were filled to within a couple of inches of their tops with water, and stood about a foot apart.

  “Feel the water,” Master Doronal said.

  Aeron tentatively dipped his finger into the water of the right kettle.

  “Describe its temperature.”

  “Cool, but definitely not cold. I’d say, room temperature?”

  Master Doronal nodded. “Quite so.” He clamped a training bracelet to his wrist and the other to Aeron’s. “Now, let us start with Tikhon’s Thermal Shift. It is related to one of the many spells used to enchant the water tanks that can be found throughout the Caer. The kettle on the right is the target of the spell. Use the left kettle as the source.”

  Aeron took a breath and created the thermal framework for the spell. Master Doronal nodded and Aeron moved on to the spell itself. When it was complete, the spell faded and was gone.

  Master Doronal said, “Note the source.”

  Aeron observed the left kettle. At first he didn’t notice anything unusual, but after a moment, he saw that it had begun to slowly sweat. Condensation was creating small droplets of water all over its surface. He ran his finger along the outside of the kettle, leaving a trail through the tiny beads of water.

  “It’s cold,” he said, surprised.

  Master Doronal nodded. “Yes. Test the temperature of the water in the right kettle again.”

  Aeron gingerly stuck his finger into the water in the right kettle. “It’s warm,” he noted.

  “As it should be,” Master Doronal replied. “After all, that’s the purpose of Tikhon’s Thermal Shift. But is it surprising that the source is cool?”

  Aeron looked at the left kettle and watched as water droplets slowly dripped down its sides. “At first glance, yes, but recalling the framework and thinking about the spell, it seems like heat is being moved from the source to the target. Shifted from one to the other.” Aeron looked at Master Doronal, “Is heat thermal energy?”

  “Very good,” Master Doronal said. “But it is more accurate to say that thermal energy is being shifted. You see, in answer to your question, no, ‘heat’ isn’t thermal energy. Heat is thermal energy in motion. Thus, we can say the source will heat the target, but it won’t shift heat to it, it will shift thermal energy.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” Aeron said.

  “Heat is the movement or transfer of thermal energy. It isn’t ‘in’ something, and it can’t be moved. In fact, that’s a perfect example, the word ‘move.’” Master Doronal grabbed a small glass bottle off one of the shelves above the sink and placed it, lying on its side, on the worktable. “If I nudge this bottle here,” he used his finger to start the bottle rolling across the worktable, “it can be said that I moved it, and you can see its movement.” He stopped the bottle before it rolled off the end of the table.

  Aeron continued watching him.

  “While it was rolling, there was movement. Does that mean I had something called ‘move�
�� in me that was transferred to the bottle when I nudged it, got it moving? No. I did not transfer ‘move’ to it. I imparted energy to it. Most of which was converted to kinetic energy.”

  Aeron nodded, looking at the two kettles. The concept was starting to become clear to him. “Okay, so the source heated the target. Something can heat other things, but thermal energy is what actually is being transferred.” Aeron looked up at Master Doronal. “I can feel warmth from, say, a mug of hot cider in my hands, because it is heating my hands. But again, what is being transferred to my hands while they are being heated is thermal energy.”

  “Yes. That’s exactly correct.” Master Doronal said, smiling. “Heat is the transfer of thermal energy.

  “And speaking of thermal energy,” he continued, “there are only a few ways to create it, one being a cheat of sorts. I call it a cheat because it is simply transferring it from one thing to another, which, if there is a temperature difference between them, can be accomplished merely by having them touch. Thermal energy will transfer from the warmer object to the cooler until they are the same temperature, thus heating the cooler object. However, if the objects are the same temperature, you will have to work to exchange thermal energy, which is what this spell does, though it can do the transfer no matter the temperature of the source or target. Can you think of another way to generate thermal energy?”

  “Fire,” Aeron said.

  “Yes. Fire is produced by the reaction of the fuel, wood as an example, to a large amount of thermal energy, which the fire sustains. It is a self-sustaining reaction as long as there is enough thermal energy, oxygen, and fuel. The same can be said of oil lamps, candles and such. All of those can generate a great deal of thermal energy that can be taken advantage of.”

  Master Doronal placed the small bottle back on its shelf and leaned back on the worktable. “Another way to produce thermal energy is through friction. I’m sure you’ve rubbed your hands together when you were cold in order to warm them up?”

  Aeron nodded.

  “Friction between objects, especially when they don’t just slide easily against each other as if greased, converts the kinetic energy of the objects moving into thermal energy in the objects, sometimes a great deal of thermal energy. In fact, there is a way to start a fire using a stick, a piece of wood, and what’s called a fire bow, using nothing but friction and some fine kindling. The stick is rubbed so fiercely on the piece of wood that the thermal energy generated can start the kindling on fire.”

  “The sun,” Aeron said. “Is it a giant fire?”

  Master Doronal shook his head. “Not in the normal sense, no. At least many, myself included, do not believe it is. It seems impossible that there is enough fuel, at least in the normal sense, like wood or oil, to sustain a fire that intense day in and day out for as long as the sun has existed. We suspect the sun’s ‘star-fire’ is another beast entirely.”

  Master Doronal indicated the two kettles and said, “So, as we have seen, Tikhon’s Thermal Shift transfers thermal energy from the source to the target, thus heating the target and cooling the source. You noticed, I hope, that the vector component on the link was pointing from the source to the target, the direction of the thermal transfer?”

  “Yes, I did notice that,” Aeron replied, nodding.

  “Excellent. Now, I’d like you to use Tikhon’s Thermal Shift again, but I want to swap the direction. And I want you to target the water in the kettles, not the kettles themselves.”

  Aeron stared at the kettles. After a moment, he began with the framework and proceeded with the spell.

  When it was done, Master Doronal said, “Good. Feel the water in both kettles.”

  “They seem to be back to about the same temperature as when we started,” noted Aeron. “They aren’t exactly the same, but close.”

  “Yes. We ‘undid’ the transfer by doing it in reverse. However, because we didn’t do it immediately, there was time for the source to warm slightly and the target to cool slightly. Thus the reversal is off by some degrees. Also, targeting the water instead of the kettle the second time affected it as well.”

  Master Doronal looked at the kettles. “Note that this spell can be modified by adding in more sources pointing to the same target to increase its heat a great deal while not chilling a particular source too much. Conversely, you can add in more targets using the same source to chill something a great deal without heating a particular target too much.”

  Aeron nodded, thinking about the spell. “Yes, I can see that.”

  Master Doronal emptied the target kettle and replaced it on the shelf. He removed a stone bowl from another shelf and, with some difficulty, placed it on the worktable. It seemed to be carved from solid stone, bluish green and veined, and looked to be quite heavy. It was a little over a foot in diameter and stood about three-quarters that in height.

  “I mentioned that there were only a few ways to create thermal energy,” Master Doronal said. “Well, for sorcerers, there is one more way.” He indicated the stone bowl. “Safisha’s Flame, if you would, anchored at the center of the bowl.”

  Aeron stared at the bowl and took a deep breath.

  “And Aeron?” Master Doronal was looking at him with a calm but serious expression. “This is a somewhat dangerous spell. Cast it exactly as was indicated in your primer. I will be monitoring its progress.”

  Aeron nodded, took a moment to recall the spell and began casting it. When he was done, deep purple flames danced within the bowl. Aeron stared at the fire. It was almost hypnotic, the way the flames moved and shimmered. “I’ve never seen fire that color. And the way it behaves? It isn’t burning normally.”

  “Well, it is real flame.” Master Doronal slid open a drawer in the worktable and removed a small wooden rod. He held it over the odd flames only a moment before it caught fire, suddenly. It burned with the normal warm yellow flame Aeron was used to. “As you can see, it can ignite and burn things.”

  Master Doronal dropped the rod into the sink and doused it with water. “You are correct, however, in that it isn’t a normal flame. This flame is magic in nature. It is being created moment to moment, as was the light in Dagur’s Gleam. And as you may recall, Safisha’s Flame, like Dagur’s Gleam, is an active spell. You will note that your animus is being used while the spell is active.”

  Aeron did indeed feel the strange sensation of his animus being drained now that he thought about it. He nodded. “I do sense it. It feels like the drain is stronger for this spell.”

  “It is. Creating flame uses both more magic and more animus. And as such, though it can be handy to start a fire, I would not use it in the place of fire.” He watched the flickering flames. “Go ahead and end the spell.”

  When Aeron was finished, Master Doronal said, “Now, place your hand near, but do not touch, the inner surface of the bowl.”

  Aeron complied, his hand a few inches away from the inside of the bowl.

  “Can you feel the heat?”

  Aeron nodded. “Yes, I do. It’s quite warm.”

  “It is hot enough to burn you rather severely,” Master Doronal pointed out. “Now, use the water in the remaining kettle and the entire stone surface of the worktable as targets and transfer the thermal energy out of the bowl. I want you to use one link to the water and four links to the tabletop.”

  Aeron blinked, but after only a moment, he began the spell. He created the links as requested and was about to start the next steps when Master Doronal interrupted him.

  “A moment, please. This next section of the spell determines the amount of thermal energy to transfer. In the standard spell, the amount translates to about a twenty degree change in temperature between two solid cubes of iron, a foot on each side. The bowl, however, needs to lose a lot more than twenty degrees, it needs to lose closer to a hundred and fifty degrees to be safe to touch. And although its mass is less than that of a cubic foot of iron, we still need to make an adjustment to the spell, like this.”

  Mast
er Doronal wove the next few steps of the spell slightly differently than Aeron remembered from the primer. But as Aeron watched the bands of color being added and woven together or shifted about, he could see how the changes would do what was needed to increase the amount of the transfer.

  “There,” Master Doronal said. “Now, if you would continue, please?”

  After Aeron finished the spell, Master Doronal tentatively felt the bowl and nodded to himself. “Excellent. Notice that the bowl is now much, much cooler.”

  Aeron felt the bowl. It was just a bit warm now.

  Master Doronal dipped his finger into the kettle, smiled and then felt the worktable. “Also, note the temperature of the targets of the spell.”

  Aeron stuck his finger into the water and then placed his palm on the worktable. “This is amazing. The water is lukewarm, but the table? It’s barely warm. Where did the heat go?” he asked. “I mean, the thermal energy,” he quickly corrected himself.

  “Oh, it went where we sent it, the water and stone worktable. Keep in mind that the table is enormous. It’s about ten feet wide, nearly four feet deep, and about three inches thick. It has a lot of mass that can absorb a lot of thermal energy without feeling very warm.”

  “And,” said Aeron, “the water didn’t warm up very much, even though it has much less mass than the tabletop, because we put a lot less energy into it with only one link.”

  Master Doronal smiled. “Exactly. Eighty percent of the thermal energy went into the worktable and twenty percent into the water. And now,” he grabbed the bowl, “I can put this back where it belongs.” With a bit of a grunt, Master Doronal carefully placed it back on its shelf.

  He turned back to Aeron. “I do want to emphasize how dangerous that spell is. Always remember how quickly its flames caused the rod to catch fire and how hot the bowl got in the very short time the flames were burning.” Master Doronal paused, looked at Aeron to make sure he was listening, and then said, “A variation of this spell was once used as a weapon.”