The Obsidian Palace (Through the Fire Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Mostly because I haven’t had the time or energy to worry about it,” Ruethwyn admitted sheepishly. “I’ve had a couple of ideas, though. I’m wondering if it would be possible to find an elemental who was willing to experiment a little and trying to work out a way to use the non-avatar state safely for those who don’t have a talent for atavism.”

  “That’s an interesting question,” Master Mara agreed, with a thoughtful nod. “Perhaps dangerous, but every incident where there have been problems with atavism has been with the avatar state, or an elemental taking control of the summoner.”

  “Huh. Are you going to look into it, Rue?” Tadrick asked curiously. “That seems like an interesting idea.”

  “Maybe after I’ve dealt with my current problem. If I can’t rescue the others, there’s not much point to the experimenting, since I doubt I’ll be in any position to continue my studies,” Ruethwyn said dryly.

  “I’ll help!” Korima said, her voice filled with excitement. “If I could learn to do that, I’d be able to learn fire magic so much faster!”

  Sorle’s eyebrows rose again, but after a moment, she asked, “Back to the current project, what sort of elemental are you going to summon?”

  “As to that, I’m not certain. It’s going to depend on what my focus resonates with,” Ruethwyn replied, a hint of nervousness welling up inside her.

  “Oh? What focus might that be?” Sorle pressed, looking at Ruethwyn suspiciously.

  “My blood,” Ruethwyn said simply, and all the others stared at her, though at least her friends seemed to have some idea of why she’d said that.

  “Pardon me, Ruethwyn, but if I’m not mistaken, you were reborn as a type of ice fey, or with their bloodline. How would your blood function to summon a fire elemental?” Master Mara asked skeptically.

  “Ah, I must have neglected that in my explanation,” Ruethwyn said, flushing slightly as she tried to decide how to explain. “When we encountered some redcaps in the Frostglades, one of them said that I’d been ‘kissed by dragon fire’, and that some element of the fire was still imbued into my blood. I managed to call upon it later, and when I was reborn, the fire came with. The fire is in my blood, so I believe that will function as a focus. How good of a focus is another question entirely.”

  “Fire in the blood? Interesting,” Sorle said, smiling as she flicked her fingers through the gestures of a spell in an instant, speaking the words to invoke her magic. A moment later, a fiery film seemed to cover her eyes, and she looked at Ruethwyn closely, then she nodded and flicked her fingers again, banishing the spell to allow her eyes to return to normal. “Indeed, you do have fire in your blood. It’s difficult to see if you aren’t specifically looking for it, but it appears to be rather potent. It’s fascinating, because I wasn’t aware that such could come of surviving the attack of a dragon.”

  “Hm, likely because that’s a rare occurrence on its own,” Master Mara said, frowning slightly as he did so. “I don’t think many people would dare take a risk to get something like that. I’m not sure how useful it’d even be.”

  “True,” Sorle said, nodding slowly. “It’s just an interesting revelation. I’m curious to see what you manage to summon, Miss Sylaris.”

  “So am I. I suppose I’d best get started so we can get this done,” Ruethwyn said, turning to look at the room. It was oblong, with an area that’d been carefully cordoned off with runes to contain any summoned elementals on one end of the room and to keep anyone in the other section safe.

  She considered for a moment, then reached into her belt pouch and pulled out three pieces of chalk. She could draw the circles normally, but she didn’t see the point right now. Using magic to draw the circle would save more than enough time to make up for the mana it took. So she held up the pieces of chalk and murmured her spell, her left hand making the gestures easily. A tiny part of her noted that she really needed to get used to casting spells with her right hand again, but that was a minor quibble for the moment.

  The mana flowed out of her quickly, and in moments, the chalk took flight and flew halfway across the room as she spoke, then the three pieces rapidly began drawing three perfect circles on the smooth stone floor. Once the circles were done, it was time for the runes and two of the pieces hovered off to the side as Ruethwyn began making gestures, and in response, the chalk drew the runes quickly and precisely, far more quickly than she would’ve been able to draw each rune by hand. She slowly walked around the circle, and as she did so, each rune took form in turn. She was examining them the entire time, and only once did she make a mistake, which she quickly corrected. She walked around the circle three times, each time drawing still more of the runes until she was finally finished. With a gesture, Ruethwyn caused the three pieces of chalk to fly back to her hand. She’d almost completely worn out two of them, but that was to be expected. Stowing them in the belt pouch, Ruethwyn looked over the circles one more time, then nodded.

  “I believe I’ve completed the circles, if you’d care to inspect them,” Ruethwyn said, looking up at the others. Then she paused and blinked at the expressions of surprise on their faces. After a moment, she asked, “Is… something the matter?”

  “Ruethwyn, do you have a specialized spell for drawing summoning circles?” Master Mara asked. He almost looked disgruntled, she thought, and that confused her more.

  “No, I don’t. This is a simple air sphere telekinesis spell, one which is designed for writing or drawing,” Ruethwyn replied, frowning slightly. “It combines your gestures with the mental image of what you’re trying to draw or write to put it down. If you don’t understand what you’re doing, you’re almost guaranteed to fail.”

  “Telekinesis. Well, that’s interesting. Tell me, does it work with, say, an ink pen and paper?” Sorle asked, her tone ever so slightly hopeful.

  “I’m afraid not well, though that might just be because my control isn’t good enough. I put holes through the parchment the times I tried that,” Ruethwyn said, shaking her head quickly. “I’ve only used it on stone surfaces or on slate. Well, I’ve also used sticks on sand, too, but that’s not quite the same.”

  “Even so, I’d think maybe it could be adapted… that would be so much easier than drawing circles by hand,” Master Mara said, frowning. “Damn it, why didn’t I think of researching a spell like that years ago?”

  “If you’d like, I can share the spell. It’s maybe a second circle spell… possibly first,” Ruethwyn offered, somewhat puzzled. She hadn’t expected that spell to be one her teachers were interested in.

  “There might be one buried in the library. The problem would be finding it,” Sorle pointed out wryly.

  “Isn’t that the truth,” Master Mara muttered, then smiled at Ruethwyn. “That’s the problem with having centuries of records, Ruethwyn. Finding what you’re looking for can be something of a nightmare, and that’s assuming you even know to look for it, like your spell. I would be delighted if you’d write down the particulars for me, as it’s something that could prove quite useful. Almost as useful as your cloth-mending spell.”

  “I’ll have to get a copy of that, Emrick,” Sorle said, stepping forward to examine the circle.

  “Which one? The mending spell or the writing one?” Master Mara asked, following her.

  “Both,” she replied calmly.

  As they bantered, Ruethwyn looked at the others in amusement, and saw that their surprise was gone. After a moment, Sella said, “That was neat, Rue. I didn’t realize how quickly you could draw a circle that way, or that it was even possible. It took what, less than five minutes?”

  “Most likely. It isn’t like I timed it, after all. The problem is that it takes a good deal of concentration, and the way I was before… the pain would’ve been enough to interfere,” Ruethwyn explained, shrugging slightly. “I’m glad to be able to use it again, since that’s so much easier on my back than crawling over the floor for half an hour.”

  “You’re telling me. Now I want to learn t
he basics of air magic, just to learn that,” Tadrick said, sighing heavily. “It’s not fair, you know? I’m not as good at branching out as you are.”

  “That’s not my fault, is it?” Ruethwyn replied, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, I bet it would be pretty easy to use earth magic to control chalk or charcoal to draw like that. It might take some research, but most of these spells can be duplicated by other spheres.”

  “That’s a thought!” Korima said brightly, grinning. “I was considering whether it’d be worth learning air magic for, but if I can use my talent with earth, so much the better! Too bad Tad focused on metal instead of earth.”

  “Oh shush. You’re not being very nice, Korima,” Tadrick replied, glowering at the kitsune, who studiously ignored him.

  Sella was studying the circle intently while the other two spoke, Ruethwyn noticed. After a moment, she couldn’t help but ask. “Sella? Is there something wrong with the circle?”

  “What? Oh no, of course not.” Sella looked startled for a moment, but quickly smiled back and shook her head. “No, I was looking at it and… thinking, mostly.”

  “What about?” Tadrick asked, looking at Sella as well.

  “Essryl. She was… she upset me,” Sella admitted, her tone grudging.

  “Oh? When she teased you about being passive, then standing up for Rue?” Korima asked, and Ruethwyn blinked. She remembered the incident, but it’d seemed minor to her.

  “That’s right,” Sella agreed, scowling. “I’m just… frustrated, because she was right. I am passive. Tadrick is good with a sword and uses magic to enhance it, you can use fire magic and shapeshift, Korima… and I’m mostly useless.”

  “That’s not true! You’ve used lightning magic to good effect,” Ruethwyn protested.

  “Not good enough,” Sella replied. “Yes, I helped, but not that much. I’ve always let the rest of you take any real risks instead of doing anything myself. I’m not sure what to do yet, but I’m going to find a way to change and grow stronger.”

  “Didn’t you want to be a healer, though?” Korima asked, frowning and with just a hint of worry in her voice. “That’s a rather big change, isn’t it?”

  “I—” Sella began, but Tadrick interrupted.

  “Yeah, you shouldn’t change course completely just because of Essryl. She’s scary, sure, but being a healer is something pretty incredible, too,” Tadrick said, and Ruethwyn could see the worry in his eyes.

  “If you’d let me talk, I would’ve said that I don’t have to give up being a healer,” Sella snapped, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I want to learn healing magic because it lets me help people, but that isn’t the best solution in every case. What good is it to heal people when you’re being overrun by goblins or demons or something? Sometimes the best solution is to get rid of the attackers, then to heal people afterward.”

  “I’m not certain that I entirely agree with that, but the idea isn’t without merit,” Sorle said, stepping away from the circle and looking over at them thoughtfully. “Sometimes healing those who’re injured and who can hold the line is the best decision, but generally as a fire mage, I’ve learned that attacking is the best way to end the conflict. If the enemy doesn’t have the chance to hurt anyone, there’s no need to heal afterward. Unless you’re trying to keep the enemy alive, of course.”

  “I’m not quite as offensively minded as Sorle is, but no battle is truly won without some way of attacking,” Master Mara added, looking up and nodding at Ruethwyn. “Your circle is well-built, Ruethwyn. I see where you had to erase and re-write a rune, but it shouldn’t cause any issues with the containment.”

  When Sorle nodded in agreement, Ruethwyn smiled at them. “Thank you. I do think all of you have good points… but my opinion is that Sella needs to find her own path. I have my path, and I’m content with it. Tadrick has his, Korima has her own… it all depends on us to figure out what it is that will make us content with how we travel into the future. If you truly want to learn battle magic, Sella… do so. It’s your life, and you have the talent to excel in nearly any form of magic.”

  Sella nodded. Some of the tension Ruethwyn had seen through her body eased as she relaxed and smiled. “Alright. I’ll think about it.”

  “Good. Well, I guess it’s time to see what I can summon. Hopefully something more than a rank one elemental,” Ruethwyn said, eyeing the circle with a hint of trepidation.

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Korima assured her.

  The others were moving back to the section of the room outside the wards, and as they did so, Ruethwyn saw the pensive expression on Tadrick’s face. It took her a moment, but when she thought about Sella’s tone, Ruethwyn resisted the urge to sigh. It looked like their relationship was falling apart still more. She shook off the thought for the moment, though. It wasn’t her relationship to deal with, after all. She’d given Tadrick what advice she could, and now it was up to the two of them to figure things out.

  Turning to the circle, Ruethwyn approached it, considering for a long moment how she was going to call on her blood as a focus. After a short while, she smiled and murmured. “Well, here we go.”

  Closing her eyes, Ruethwyn reached for the fire in her veins as it smoldered, mostly latent, but still present despite that. It wasn’t enough, she didn’t think, and after a moment, she drew out a thread of mana and fed it into her blood. In response, a crackling heat surged to life through her veins and she heard gasps behind her. Ruethwyn didn’t pause to think, instead shifting her power and sucking the heat in via atavism, wrestling with the wild power of elemental fire as it seared her. The fire wasn’t as wild as the first time she had done this, but it was still untamed, and without the intelligence of an elemental, which made it more difficult to deal with.

  Opening her eyes, Ruethwyn glanced down and blinked, because not only could she see the patterns of atavism formed of flame-like golden white patterns, but she could see virtually every vein outlined by fire, though the sight was fading slowly. She hesitated a moment, but extended her left hand directly above the activation rune of the circle, and she reached out to channel her mana into it.

  A drop of mana formed on her fingertip, but instead of the normal rainbow hue, the drop burned with the brilliant, raging flames of Resvarygrath’s breath. Despite herself, Ruethwyn felt her mind shudder at the sight of the mana. It raged powerfully, and she hesitated before gently flicking her finger and allowing it to land on the activation rune.

  The fire erupted and the circle blazed to life in response to Ruethwyn’s power as the mana linked it to her. Every rune surged with power that Ruethwyn hadn’t anticipated, and her eyes widened slightly.

  “That… is a powerful circle.” Sorle’s voice was soft, and almost contemplative.

  “I’ve heard that a powerful elemental bloodline can change circles, but this is the first time I’ve encountered one,” Master Mara agreed. “I wonder how it’d affect an ice circle?”

  Ruethwyn shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and she slowly began to walk around the circle, chanting the words of the summoning spell. Unlike almost every other time she’d summoned an elemental, this time she was summoning any type which had an appropriate affinity.

  The ritual took several minutes, and she found herself beginning to sweat as she approached the end, the heat pouring out of the circle starting to affect her. When she glanced over, she could see a shimmering shield containing the heat to her side of the room. Her friends looked a little shocked, she thought, while the teachers… well, since their eyes were glowing, they were likely watching what Ruethwyn was doing magically.

  Turning her attention back to the ritual, Ruethwyn focused on finishing it. Eventually, the ritual was complete, and Ruethwyn held her breath, hoping as she stared at the circle.

  The fire blazed still higher, twisting together into reflections of the runes below them, and a column of flames blazed into existence in the middle of the circle, blue-white as it caused Ruethwyn’s circle to ripple. Flin
ching, Ruethwyn resisted the urge to step back as the column began to swirl like a tornado. Within, she could barely make out a figure, and an instant later, the fire was torn apart as a creature burst into existence.

  Ruethwyn’s eyes went wide as she looked into her circle. Extending nearly fifteen feet from the tip of the tail to the nose, the elemental was an oddly graceful-looking draconic figure with glittering scales that started a deep red, then turned to gold, then blue to end with violet edges. Ruethwyn’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at the figure’s wings, though, for they were like none of the wings of dragons she’d seen in books. The wings were feathered, but the feathers were closer to those of a peacock, though these looked almost like they were fire given physical form as they rippled through the air.

  The dragon curled its tail to nearly reach the edge of the circle and sat back, looking out at Ruethwyn with eyes that burned with a blue fire. A moment later, a bell-like feminine voice echoed in her mind. “Mortal, why have you summoned me?”

  “I… my apologies, but I had not expected to see something like you. I was…” Ruethwyn’s voice stumbled, staring for another long moment. A tiny part of her feared dragons still, but this wasn’t like Resvarygrath. The slim neck and thinner, more elegant body was hard to describe, and was nothing like the imposing, hulking presence that the other dragon had possessed. Finally, she swallowed and bowed her head. “My apologies, I’ve never seen an elemental like yourself before, and I’ve never heard of one, either. It’s left me somewhat at loss for how to react.”

  The dragon let out a soft hiss, and as it did so, mental laughter echoed in Ruethwyn’s mind, as the elemental spoke in a warmer tone as it tilted its head to examine her more closely. “Ah, you did not intend to summon me, specifically? Much is explained. I, mortal, am a phoenix dragon. We are rare even among elemental dragons, and thus we are relatively unknown. However… you are not precisely mortal, are you? You bear the mark of rebirth, and while your flesh is inured to the depths of cold, your blood contains the fires of destruction. Perhaps this is why you were capable of calling me, even unknowing.”