The Doorway God

by Tom Early

  Apparently it was learn by doing. I said the incantation along with everyone else and held my hand out in front of me, willing the air to harden and take the shape of a shield. Professor Klyne walked along in front of us and poked each of our Wards at the very center. The girl at the end—with warm brown skin and shoulder-length black hair, in a black-and-white-striped sweater and a long patterned skirt—jumped as her Ward filled with cracks and shattered at Professor Klyne’s touch.

  “More focus on the weight of it, Rhea dear,” the professor advised. “It’s not just an image. It’s got to be thick too.” She moved on to the next one, and the boy’s Ward seemed to ripple a little before Klyne’s finger pushed through it, albeit slowly. “It needs to be solid too, dear. Not like treacle. It’s all well and good to slow and stop some things, but what if it’s not just simple force being thrown at you? Hm?”

  She continued down the line in this fashion, pointing out flaws in each of our Wards, until she got to me and pressed her finger onto my Ward. I could feel the pressure on it, far more than a finger should have given, but still nothing I couldn’t handle. When nothing happened, she increased the force against my Ward and then multiplied it five times, spreading it out so that five different locations were being hit at once. Eventually the pressure increased to the point that I was sweating profusely from the energy expenditure, while Professor Klyne’s face remained as impassive as ever. When the first crack eventually showed before I could quickly seal it back up, the pressure abated.

  The professor gave me an evaluating look. “Good,” she said finally. “Let me guess—you got the shield?” I nodded. “Well. It’s nice to see that you earned that sign, though I suspect it means I’m going to have to work you harder on the other parts of Infusion.”

  She stepped back from all of us. “Well? Get in your seats.”

  We all shuffled around until we were sitting down, and then she began.

  “Infusion,” Professor Klyne said in a clear, carrying voice, “is all about persuasion. Most magic is all about command and control, but Infusion is more than that. You are not making one substance into another. You are not bending the elements to your will. You are asking the very essence of something to temporarily become more. This lets Infusion casters work at astonishingly detailed and subtle levels. It can be as simple as asking air to harden and protect,” she said, and it seemed like she was looking specifically at me, “or it can be as complicated as permanently enhancing the very nature of an object. If we’re to choose a storybook example, I might ask a sword to blaze in the darkness, or to carry an edge that can cut through most anything. Neither request goes against its nature—all metal is reflective, after all, and what is one small step to casting its own light? And all blades have an edge, of course, so why not have one sharp enough to cut through anything?”

  She paused and drew out a feather from her pocket, bearing down her gaze on it. Once she was finished with whatever she was doing, she blew, a gentle puff of air that sent the feather spinning gently around the classroom, never falling, never losing momentum.

  “We cannot ask water to burn,” Professor Klyne said, her voice catching all of our gazes and turning them back to her. “But we can ask it to boil. To freeze. To fill a crack and widen it, to hold all the potential for life or none at all. Infusion is a magic of single steps, and within those steps our power is limitless.”

  I raised a hand. “Why did you open with testing us on our Wards?”

  “Because Janus University is perhaps overly obsessed with your ability to defend yourselves,” Professor Klyne said dryly. “And I won’t be responsible for any of my students failing out of the Arena, which means that your Wards get what would otherwise be an undue amount of attention.”

  The girl in the sweater—Rhea—raised her hand. I noticed a book, hanging halfway out of her pack, that was absolutely encrusted in sticky notes, and decided I liked her. “What about healing magic and forming weapons with Infusion?”

  Professor Klyne nodded. “Other offensive uses for Infusion will be covered in due time. Defense first, then offense. Good insight about healing, however—I’ll be teaching you soon about why Infusion is the only form of magic capable of safely replicating skinchanger levels of regeneration. Now, if everyone could please tell me what they know about common uses for Infusion magic, I’d like to get a basis for where you all stand.”

  I left class with a much better grasp of what I could do with Infusion magic, which was apparently quite a lot. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to ask a waterfall to flow upward any time soon, but it certainly got the point across as a demonstration. I’d been thinking too simply about how I could use my magic—it was cool to see that Infusion could be used in so many different ways. It made me a little more hopeful that I could make a place for myself here with just my normal magic after all.

  When I made it back to Obsidian after another stay-in at the library, I ran into Sam, and she looked furious. I could see her white-knuckled grip on her sketchpad and approached with caution. I wasn’t the only person who’d noticed her mood. It seemed like the entirety of Obsidian currently at the house was giving her a very wide berth. Even Sofia, who was sitting near her brother over in the small kitchen, had a wary eye on Sam, as if she expected her to bite.

  “Sam?” I said cautiously, walking over to her. “You doing all right?”

  I was greeted with a scathing glare and a flash of something that looked like tears. “No,” Sam said, “I’m not.”

  I considered reaching out a hand, but I couldn’t do that while other people were watching and expect a good result. “Want to go on a walk with me?” I asked instead. “The Garden, maybe?” I let the “nobody will judge you there” go unsaid.

  Sam gave me a quick nod, and then I was walking back out of Obsidian, Sam somehow managing to move at a sprinting speed despite walking. I had to jog just to keep up, and I was almost a foot taller than her. Once we were finally inside one of the silent circles, I folded my arms and furrowed my brow in concern.

  “Sam, what happened?”

  “I….” She paused, and took a breath. “Let’s just say class didn’t go well.”

  I gave her a worried look. “Uh, no, let’s go into detail. I haven’t seen you this off-balance in months. Which class was this?”

  Sam gulped in a breath and then visibly forced down whatever she was feeling, if only a little. “Law and Arcane Policing.”

  “Okay,” I said slowly, “and what happened?”

  “The professor spent half the time mocking nonmagic police,” Sam growled. “He said a human cop was no better than a child playing at being an adult, and that they barely knew what they were doing half the time.”

  Oh. Yeah, insulting Sam’s dad would have done it. “And what did you say to the professor?” I asked.

  “I told him that if he hadn’t spent so much time practicing being an arrogant asshole, he might actually know what he’s talking about.”

  I winced. “And, uh, how’d that go?”

  “I was expelled from the course,” Sam said. “And now all I want to do is beat the shit out of something until I feel better.”

  I frowned. “Wait, don’t you need to take that course if you want to be a cop here?”

  “Fay? I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Right. Uh….” I pulled out my tablet and sent a quick text to Aiden.

  Any chance you could fight Sam? Like right now? She needs an outlet.

  I have work came the immediate reply. I’m sending Sofia. It should be a learning experience for both of them. Nicholas will come to supervise and make sure things stay under control.

  Will he be able to stop them if it comes down to it? I typed back.

  Yes. Have Sam meet Sofia in Ares, same place as last time.

  I glanced up at Sam, who was busy pacing up a storm. “Sam, Sofia’s going to challenge you to a duel.”

  “You mean I finally get to fight that stuck-up little…?” Sam’s gri
n was savage. “Excellent.”

  “Yeah,” I said weakly. “I’ll. Um. I’ll keep an eye on you so you don’t kill each other. Let’s go to Ares.”

  “Fine. Let me change first.”

  Was it healthy to have Sam fight to deal with her emotions? Probably not, but hey, if we were going to a place that preferred to have students fight out their differences, then why not take advantage of the system?

  Chapter Thirteen

  WHEN WE arrived in Ares, Sofia was already waiting in the room, dressed in a tiny black dress that looked like it would barely allow any movement at all, her hair perfectly coiffed around her face. I raised an eyebrow at choosing to wear that to a fight compared to Sam’s loose sweats and tank top, her hair tied back in a ponytail, but it wasn’t my problem.

  Nick was there as well, dressed in a black shirt that said “attempted murder” on it and had two crows sitting on a branch. I snorted when I saw it, and he gave me a knowing grin and gestured me over.

  “Ready to watch the grudge match of the century?” he said to me, keeping half an eye on the way Sam and Sofia were sizing each other up.

  I considered saying that was overkill, but the two of them had been biting at each other’s heels since the moment we’d arrived. “So long as they don’t kill each other.”

  “Nah, don’t worry. I can stop them before it comes to that,” Nick said. I must have looked doubtful, because he laughed. “What, don’t think I’m all that? I know I don’t radiate the whole ‘competitive killer’ vibe, but I can take care of myself well enough.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Ooh, harsh.” Nick stepped forward and clapped. “Ladies! You’re here because you want to fight, as simple as that. I don’t really need any more details than that, and as Head of Obsidian, I am technically qualified to oversee challenges between students. I’m also going to instate the rule that there are no stakes held in this match.”

  “Oh, come now,” Sofia said irritably, one hand on her hips. “We’re both clearly in this to win. Let us bet our rankings on it. Everyone already knows I’m the best Obsidian has to offer this year. Let me prove it to this stubborn girl as well.”

  I glanced at Sam, expecting a rebuttal, but she was already fully focused and currently stretching before the match, sliding her weight smoothly from one foot to the next. “I’m in as well,” she said quietly.

  “Oh, well, if that’s the case,” Nicholas said, scratching his chin. He gave the girls a sunny smile. “No. Too early for infighting, and I’m not having any grudges held for the rest of the year, understand? Work out as much of your differences now, and if you’re truly desperate for points, you can fight me after you’ve finished.” He said this last part with another smile and a shrug, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

  Sofia paled. “I’ll… manage, then.”

  “Thought so. You two ready?” Nick asked. They both nodded. “Then… start!”

  Sofia, it turned out, seemed to have the same gift for playing with shadows that Aiden did. Within moments she was surrounded by coiling wisps of darkness, and judging by the chanting, she was starting into another spell straightaway. Whatever it was, the words were powerful enough to send slight vibrations through the floor.

  Sam stood still for a brief moment, her face screwed up in concentration, and then the ercinee flew into existence, trailing radiant arcs of light through the air behind it, hovering in the corner by the door. Just its presence was enough to make the shadows surrounding Sofia shrink back a little bit. I watched with some surprise as the outline of Sam’s body began to blur a little. Had she learned some sort of illusion spell at some point? Then the blur moved, and Sam was launching a kick straight into the center of Sofia’s back, a strange glow of light surrounding her leg. There was a cutoff shriek, and Sofia went flying across the room into the other wall, softening the impact by pushing back against the wall with her shadows before she hit. She got up slowly and glared at Sam, one hand clutching at her side. Sam stopped blurring, and the two girls continued to circle around each other.

  I blinked, and Nick let out a low whistle. “Damn,” he said. “That wasn’t even a teleport; that was just boosted speed. I could barely follow her.”

  “How did you break through my shadows like that?” Sofia demanded. She sounded pissed.

  Sam gave a little shrug, then summoned seven Minor Orbs, each one containing that strange glow of light that had surrounded her leg. Sofia must have seen it too, because as soon as Sam launched them, the wood-panel floor heaved upward, forming a wall directly in front of Sofia that the orbs slammed uselessly into. Sam couldn’t see her, but I watched as Sofia’s face hardened in determination and she stepped directly into her own wall, stepping out the other side in a strange, human-shaped cocoon of wood that seemed to be rapidly hardening into stone, letting the wall collapse.

  Nick laughed delightedly next to me. “Now that is an excellent use of Change,” he said, turning to me. “What do you do to counter direct force that goes through your normal defense?” He gestured at the moving statue. “You meet it with as close to an immovable object as you can get.”

  Sam was cautiously circling the stone-encased Sofia, who was moving steadily toward her. There was another blur, and then Sam was recoiling from behind Sofia, clutching her fist and gasping through the pain. She threw another Minor Orb, and it chipped the stone slightly, but otherwise did nothing. Sofia seemed content to watch Sam attack her. I wondered if she could effectively cast spells while wrapped in stone.

  After another fruitless attempt to break the stone with a Minor Orb, Sam changed tactics, wrapping her hand in a blue glow that indicated a Dispel attempt, and then slammed her open palm against the stone. I half expected the stone to simply disappear, but all it did was flicker back to wood for half a second before Sofia put one hand around Sam’s wrist and threw her bodily across the room.

  “Quick tip,” Nick called out. “Dispel only works if you have the power to effectively overwhelm the other person’s casting. Otherwise it’s just you pitting your focus against theirs, and unless you’re more talented at their type of magic than they are, it’s not going to go well for you.”

  Sam groaned and stood back up, a trickle of blood running down from her mouth. She took a moment to raise her middle finger at Nick and then focused back on Sofia. I could practically hear her thoughts racing, and then she seemed to reach a conclusion. A smirk flickered across her face, and then Sam just… pointed at Sofia, and the ercinee dove.

  I tried not to shudder from the memory of the last time the ercinee started to glow like that, dipping its beak against Sofia’s head, somehow seeming to almost go through the stone. There was a harsh buzz to the air, like thousands of tiny insects vibrating furiously against each other, and then Sofia shrieked and fell backward out of her statue, flinging out a wall of darkness to push the ercinee backward.

  “Are you insane?” Sofia yelled, her eyes wide and pupils dilated. “Your bird just tried, tried to….”

  “Eat your soul?” Sam asked wryly. “Yeah, it does that. Not pleasant.”

  “I respectfully disagree,” the ercinee’s smug voice cut in, echoing in our heads. “Personally, I find the process quite pleasant indeed.”

  Nick’s eyes widened. “Your friend’s familiar can talk? And it’s sassy?” He sounded suspiciously gleeful.

  “A murderous, sassy ercinee,” I corrected him. “Believe me, that thing is lethal.” I frowned as a thought occurred to me. “Hey, why hasn’t Sofia summoned her familiar yet?”

  “People with innate magic rarely have familiars,” Nick said. “The way innate magic works tends to interfere with the bond.” He glanced at me. “By the way, didn’t I hear that your familiar is human? That’s a new one.”

  “Yep,” I said, not wanting to go into detail. “Oh, I think they’re starting again.”

  Sofia appeared to be in the process of changing the entire room into some sort of swamp, complete with what looked suspiciously like qui
cksand spreading out from her entirely unaffected feet. What’s more, the walls were glistening suspiciously as Sofia coated them with… something.

  “Not bad,” Nick said approvingly. “The benefit to Change magic is that it tends to stick around even after the caster’s moved on. All Sofia has to do is last long enough to make this space become completely inhospitable and she wins.”

  “If she has that long,” I remarked. “Downside of everything being swampy is that she doesn’t have any stone to hide behind.” I could already see the telltale shimmer of the near-invisible Minor Orbs Sam had spread throughout the room.

  With a gesture, Sam sent the circle of spinning orbs flying toward Sofia, who reacted by suddenly disappearing into her own swamp. There wasn’t even the slightest ripple left, and Sam’s attack went harmlessly through the empty space. Sam looked down almost immediately, blurring and hopping away to another space in the rapidly shrinking safe ground as Sofia reached out from the swamp and tried to pull her down.

  “Fine,” Sam said, gritting her teeth. “I didn’t want to use anything that bastard had to say, but….” She whispered something, and lines of force crisscrossed their way over the entire floor and swamp, barely visible. Nick made what sounded like an approving hum. Then Sam stepped closer to the swamp, holding her right hand open, trembling from the effort of whatever she was doing. When Sofia lunged again for Sam’s ankle, her hand brushed against one of the lines Sam had cast, and as Sam’s hand closed into a fist every single line of force—chains, I realized now—shot unerringly into the swamp where Sofia had to be hiding. Sam raised her arm, and as it came up so did Sofia, unmarked by the swamp water and mud and bound tightly by the transparent chains. Her expression was nothing short of murderous as she tried to break free with pulses of shadow, but Sam had already threaded rays of light through the chains.

  “Good use of Sofia’s limited visibility,” Nick remarked. “Chains are easy to avoid if you see them coming, but since Sofia was essentially underwater…. All right, stop!” Nick called out, and the room returned to normal, healing light washing over Sam’s and Sofia’s bruises. Sam had a small smile on her face, but she still looked upset. Sofia looked like all she wanted right now was to strangle someone, possibly herself.