“What? But those are difficult,” Yalline yelped, the elven woman looking startled as Ruethwyn glanced back at them, then returned to drawing her circle. “She’s no older than we are!”
“Sinera discovered my gift with magic when I was about fifteen,” Ruethwyn interrupted quietly, the sound of the chalk against the floor quiet as she did so. “I started training under her as soon as my parents agreed, and she wanted to send me here to learn more than what she could teach me with her magic sealed. Most people don’t discover their talent until twenty or later, so I had something of a head start. As to the trials… I couldn’t pass them now. Once I manage to build the necessary wands and other enchanted items I have in mind, it might be possible, but I can’t cast spells like I used to.”
“That doesn’t seem right… I found out about my magic when I was twelve!” Korima said, frowning. “I’m only twenty-two, too!”
“You’re kitsune, Korima, where everyone else here is an elf,” Master Mara interjected, sounding amused. “Generally, magic manifests around the onset of puberty. Elves mature slower than humans or kitsune, who mature at about the same rate, so most elves don’t go through puberty until fifteen at the earliest. Most of your classmates, on the other hand, are a bit past thirty, which is about the same age as you in terms of maturity. I believe there was quite a bit of arguing over what age a human, half-elf, or other species with similar lifespans should be allowed to enter the academy at, since elves are required to be thirty.”
“Oh! I didn’t realize that,” Korima said. “Tadrick, you’re thirty?”
“Thirty-two, actually. I didn’t realize I was a decade older than you… we look about the same age,” the young man said. “Funny, that.”
“I’m thirty-one,” Sella chimed in, at which point most of the others rattled off their own ages, none of whom were over thirty-four.
Meanwhile, Ruethwyn finished the last of the symbols and walked around the summoning circle again, having to crane her neck to see it more precisely. The symbols were designed to go to the left when one was facing the circle, which meant to see it she had to be facing directly at it or turn her head quite a bit. Fortunately the symbols seemed to be correct, and finally she nodded in satisfaction.
“Master Mara? I believe I’m ready,” Ruethwyn interrupted the others, looking at the teacher. “Would you like to examine my circle?”
“Definitely. We can’t have you performing the summoning if you made a mistake, after all,” the teacher replied, stepping forward briskly and approaching the circle.
As he examined it, Ruethwyn slid the chalk back into her belt pouch to ensure it couldn’t cause problems. She was fairly confident in her work, but she had no illusions about what might happen if she was wrong and had no intention of interrupting. It took Master Mara a few minutes, during which Sella approached, holding the box which Ruethwyn had given her before starting on the circle. The box was the one which contained her focus, so seeing it reassured Ruethwyn.
“Here, Rue, you’ll need this now, right?” Sella asked, offering the box to her.
“Assuming Master Mara approves of my circle, yes,” Ruethwyn said, taking the box and weighing it slightly as she frowned at it, feeling her stomach tighten slightly. “I think I’m a little nervous. I’ve never done a summoning like this in front of other people before… aside from Sinera, I mean.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Sella said, glancing over at the circle. “It’s impressive that you could draw the circle from memory, though.”
“I studied the circle again last night and this morning, but most of it is just practice,” Ruethwyn disagreed, shaking her head. “I won’t say that summoning circles are easy, but they aren’t incredibly complex, either. Most of the symbols for them are the same from one to the next, though you always want to ensure they’re strong enough to contain the elemental you’re after.”
“That does make sense,” Sella agreed.
“Alright, Ruethwyn, your circle looks good. Some elements are slightly different than what’s taught in the school, but that’s likely just because of your own specialty, and it might be slightly more secure. We’ll discuss that later,” Master Mara said, stepping back into the other side of the room and nodding. “Once Sella rejoins us, you can go ahead and perform the summoning.”
“As you say, Master Mara,” Ruethwyn agreed, bowing her head slightly, then glancing at Sella and adding, “You’d best rejoin them. This should go well, but who knows? Maybe the name I was given was for a particularly ill-tempered elemental.”
“That wouldn’t be good. Try to avoid getting squished by something?” Sella said, hesitating for a moment, then walking back over to the others.
“Hey, Rue? How long will this take?” Barthel spoke up, leaning against the wall. “This has been kind of boring so far.”
“Welcome to the utter joy of rituals, Barthel. Call it a bit less than a quarter hour, though,” Ruethwyn told him dryly, glancing over as she added, “You could always sleep through it and hope you never have to perform summoning in the tests, though.”
“Good luck with that. I’m not in charge of trials of mastery, but I sincerely doubt you’ll be that lucky,” Master Mara added, grinning at the young man’s frustrated sigh as he continued. “If you’ll stop interrupting her, she’ll be able to get it done sooner, though.”
That stopped the interruptions, and Ruethwyn took a deep breath, then opened the box to reveal her focus. With a murmured spell, she caused the eternal ice to float up out of the box in front of her, and she heard murmurs from behind her.
“That’s pretty… what is it?” Lissa asked quietly.
“Eternal ice, if I don’t miss my guess, and a rather potent crystal at that,” Master Mara said.
“That’s not cheap, not if it’s as old as it looks,” Delvin murmured.
Ruethwyn put further discussion between them out of her head, still holding the box as she began to chant the summoning incantation, focusing on the ritual instead. It wasn’t easy to perform, but at least rituals like this didn’t need the gestures, though the steady pain of drawing on her mana was a distraction. Summoning rituals only needed the correct focus, incantations, and summoning sigils, and that was it. She did glance into the box to make sure the mana jar she’d placed inside was still there, but otherwise she did what she needed to, slowly walking around the circle as she fixed the elemental’s summoning name in her mind.
Zaria Seventhstar, Third-Tier Singer of Frostflower Hall. Ruethwyn had often wondered what the various portions of the elemental’s name meant, but she hadn’t ever found anything about them in the books she’d read. Frost flowers she knew, rare as they were, the delicate beauty of a flower stem exuding moisture that was frozen into petal-like beauty was something Sinera had shown her not long after they’d gotten the name.
Pacing herself wasn’t hard, as she settled into a rhythm of speech that she could keep up for an hour if necessary, taking breaths as needed and shutting out the distractions of her observers. It was almost, almost like the last time she’d summoned an elemental with Sinera… and Ruethwyn almost startled herself toward the end of the incantation as the grief welling up inside combined with the pain of her mana core to result in a tear tracking down her cheek. Ruethwyn shook the tear away, but continued to the end of the incantation and waited as she murmured the elemental’s first name.
“Zaria, I call to thee, and ask thee to answer me,” Ruethwyn said softly, looking at the circle as she stopped at last.
The circle began to glow a soft white in front of her, and Ruethwyn gasped as a chill pervaded the room, the skin across her right side overly sensitive to it. For a moment, there was nothing, but then snow began to fall within the circle, the flakes appearing from nowhere. The flakes quickly began to clump together in the form of a long, elegant gown of purest white, rising up through the air as though it was around a svelte woman. The snow kept coming as the dress completed, half-sleeves and the bodice still empty and float
ing in mid-air as the snow turned into long white hair. As the hair completed, Zaria faded into existence, at first looking almost like the ice-like outline of a human woman, then solidifying into a blue-skinned woman with bright, glowing blue-white eyes and deep blue lips.
“Ah, the mortal world once more… but what’s this? I don’t believe I recognize you, mortal, nor those behind you. Yet you called for me by name, and with such a beautiful focus…” Zaria said in a melodious voice, looking around the room in interest. “We’re also on a water node blessed by priests of… the Princess of Nature’s Court. Most interesting. Why have you summoned me, mortal?”
Ruethwyn hesitated, then gave the best curtsey she could manage with her hand occupied, bowing her head. “Greetings, Zaria. I am Ruethwyn Sylaris, student to the late sorceress, Sinera of Mellesyn. I am a student at Tyrness Academy and was requested to perform a summoning to prove my ability. As I had intended to call upon you to request a pact between us, I chose to call upon you.”
“Indeed?” Zaria’s eyebrows rose as she looked over the others and smiled. “That would explain the looks that I’m receiving. Youngsters can be so… headstrong, can’t they? Well, why should I agree to a pact with you, Ruethwyn? Why should I care about you, or your teacher?”
“Barthel, if you don’t shut your mouth, I think a fly will mistake you for a flycatcher,” Master Mara said dryly. Ruethwyn resisted the urge to look, afraid to even think about the others at the moment.
“I’m not certain that you would, Zaria. I received your summoning name from an elemental my teacher called upon, Amalla,” Ruethwyn explained. “She—”
“Amalla? Why didn’t you say so to begin with, silly girl!” Zaria’s smile grew far more real as she focused on Ruethwyn again, this time scrutinizing her for a long moment. “Ah, I remember now! She talked to me about you some time back… you’re an atavist, aren’t you?”
“Y-yes. I didn’t realize that it mattered,” Ruethwyn said, slightly taken aback.
“Of course… though you do appear somewhat the worse for wear. Not at all how you were described to me, which is why I didn’t recognize you,” Zaria said, frowning again. “What happened?”
“I was caught in the edge of a dragon’s magically augmented and cursed flames,” Ruethwyn said, cringing as she did so. “My injuries can’t be healed.”
“Ahh, that would explain it. Still, a pact requires payment, young one,” Zaria said, her smile fading somewhat. “No matter that Amalla mentioned you to me, I am not one to serve for nothing at all.”
“I would not expect you to. You’re a powerful elemental, and if I’m not mistaken, a type of ice nymph,” Ruethwyn said, crouching down to set down the box and removing her jar from it, a mana containment jar just like the one that Master Mara had brought in to show the other students in class, though this jar was completely filled with scintillating, rainbow-hued liquid. “Within this jar are at least a thousand drops of mana. I offer all of it to you, should you be willing to make a pact with me.”
Behind her, Ruethwyn heard Master Mara swear at her offer, the man sounding honestly shocked. She glanced to the left, and caught his stunned expression, along with those of several others. She could understand, since gathering so much mana had taken her several months of adding to the jar for nearly an hour a day. It was a lot of effort that she was going to be gifting the elemental, but it was worth it in her view.
“Your teacher did teach you well, didn’t she?” Zaria said, her smile now gentle as she nodded. “So be it, Ruethwyn Sylaris. I will accept your offering in exchange for a pact, but such must be done in person, with no containment between us for your art to function.”
“Of course,” Ruethwyn said, leaning down again as she guided the eternal ice back into the box.
“Ruethwyn, just one moment!” Master Mara said, his voice sharp. “You can not free an elemental in the middle of the academy. No matter how friendly she may seem, such is not safe or fair to other students.”
“I’m not planning to break the circle, Master Mara,” Ruethwyn replied mildly, standing again and looking at him as she held the jar. “Remember those changes you commented on? They’re part of a spell that allows the caster to cross inside the containment circle without breaking it. Atavism requires a state of trust between the elemental and caster, so it also requires personal contact. If I’m wrong… well, I’ll be an icicle, shortly.”
“True enough,” Zaria agreed, smiling broadly as she added, “I am a being of ice and snow. Flesh as well, but those are my elements.”
“That seems kind of dangerous, Rue,” Korima chimed in, and Ruethwyn sighed as she shook her head.
“Master Mara, you can either interrupt now and I’ll do this elsewhere on my own at a later point, or you can allow me to do it in a room where you have safeguards in place,” Ruethwyn said, shaking her head slightly at Korima. “Or you can kick me out of the academy, I suppose… but this is something that is necessary for me.”
The teacher frowned for a long moment, looking quite unhappy as he stared at Ruethwyn, then he sighed, nodding grudgingly. “Fine, you may attempt this, Ruethwyn. I want to warn that I’m not happy with what you’re doing, but I’ll allow it.”
“Thank you,” Ruethwyn said, turning back to the circle. Clearing her throat, she winced as she drew on her mana again. She slowly made the gestures of the spell she needed, murmuring another incantation that resonated with the circle, and she heard a soft tone as her body began to glow with the same white light as the circle.
Taking a breath, Ruethwyn carefully stepped over the circle and its runes, and she heard Master Mara mutter. “Entering the dragon’s lair, dammit. At least she was right about the circle…”
“Watch your step,” Zaria said, grabbing Ruethwyn by the waist when she was halfway across, picking her up and turning to set her fully within the circle, smiling as the elemental added, “It really is a decent circle, though I think I could break it if I put my mind to it. Some of your runes are a little stiff, Ruethwyn.”
“Yes, well, I haven’t entirely adapted to using my off hand for writing yet. I’m getting closer, and I only have to throw out a document due to illegibility about a quarter of the time, now,” Ruethwyn admitted, trying to look on the bright side of things. Her skin was chilled by the woman’s presence, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d been expecting. “Thank you for the compliment, though.”
“You’re quite welcome,” Zaria said. She folded her hands in front of her, looking Ruethwyn over for a long moment before adding, “It’s truly too bad that you were injured. I heard a little from Amalla. She has high hopes for you.”
“I suspect she’ll be disappointed, then,” Ruethwyn replied, looking down. “I believe my potential has been curtailed, unless I find a way to recover. I’m looking, mind you.”
“Mm… we shall see,” Zaria murmured. “Now then… the mana?”
“Of course,” Ruethwyn said, handing the elemental the jar.
Zaria took the jar, admiring it for a long moment before she unlatched the top and inhaled as if smelling it. Then the woman murmured, “Wonderful, all of it condensed by you. That will make the pact easier.”
“That was the hope,” Ruethwyn replied softly.
As Zaria put the jar to her lips and began to drink, Dana exclaimed. “She’s drinking it? I thought that was dangerous!”
“Elementals like her are different. Mana allows them to grow more powerful over time, and they can absorb it directly,” Master Mara said. “Minor summons, which come for a brief period of time, take their payment as part of the mana of your casting, while using your mana for spells they utilize. Ruethwyn’s payment was quite generous.”
It only took a few moments for Zaria to drain the bottle, and as she licked her lips, Ruethwyn could see the rainbow light fading within her mouth. The fey looked Ruethwyn in the eye as she smiled and said, “Wonderful indeed. Now, our pact. Hold still, Ruethwyn.”
“As you say,” Ruethwyn said, adj
usting her stance and bracing herself, only belatedly remembering to relax her mental shields.
Zaria reached out and laid a finger against Ruethwyn’s chest, just over her heart, and leaned in to press her forehead to Ruethwyn’s. Cool energy flowed into Ruethwyn’s mana core from the finger, while the elemental’s energy also reached out into Ruethwyn’s mind, imprinting a ghost of her true name there. Not enough for Ruethwyn to be able to read it, but enough to call upon her more easily.
“I am yours to call upon in times of need, Ruethwyn Sylaris.” Zaria’s voice rang out in Ruethwyn’s mind, almost like a bell. “So long as you do not abuse this relationship, I shall assist you in learning of the sphere of ice, in all its wonders and dangers.”
“Thank you,” Ruethwyn whispered, closing her eye and taking a deep breath.
One moment, Zaria was there, and the next, her presence was gone. As Ruethwyn’s eye opened, she saw flakes of snow being blown away by an invisible wind… and then they were gone and the circle went dark.
“I… I just have to ask. Are all of us going to be able to summon elementals like that?” Barthel asked.
Master Mara snorted and shook his head. “You? I doubt it, Barthel. And if you tried, they’d probably barbeque you. Lightning elementals have one hell of a temper.”
That seemed to break some of the tension throughout the room, and everyone laughed. As Ruethwyn stepped out of the circle, she was surprised to see Yalline was staring at her, looking far less combative than the woman normally did. Ruethwyn shrugged it off, though. Her friends also looked curious too, so it wasn’t that strange.
Chapter 22
The flaws in Sella’s summoning circle stood out starkly to Ruethwyn, but she said nothing, allowing the other woman to finish inscribing it before saying anything as she watched, her thoughts moving smoothly, almost like flowing water. Or like ice, she reflected.
The Avatar's Flames (Through the Fire Book 1) Page 16
