Chapter 43: Nonhuman Magics

Today’s lesson isn’t big. I’ve been visiting an old Reaper Temple near Alanna’s City, and I was reminded of some of my first lessons with the Archmage.

He told me, “What we practice here is dangerous. Angels, and Devils alike fear magic, because magic is, and always will be, the great equalizer. Fear a zealous priest as much as you fear the demons in the night. Both will gut you simply because they were told to.”

There’s some truth to his words, but while I think that the Archmage is a brilliant man, he fails to understand something integral to human nature and the divine. The Angels and the Devils don’t fear us for our power, they fear us because of what troubled men might do with it. I too, fear what someone like the Archmage could do with it.

• Eridor’s Journal to his sister

***

I hold the little rock in my hands, focusing on the flow of my mana to power the ward I’d written into it. I haven’t had much time to study warding and improve the runic structure I’d chosen, but it works well at its task.

Preventing people from finding us.

I’m not taking chances after the month I’ve had. Shar and Daron keep a good look out, while I’m focused on the maintaining the ward.

As I travel, I do have some time to think, which makes me wonder about my fight with the Blood Mage. I don’t know a whole lot, but I do know blood mages were outlawed, along with necromancers, spiritualists and a few more esoteric archetypes and classes I don’t know about.

Either the law has changed, or the Archmage believes himself above the law if his son is practicing a banned class.

Not to mention, Lyla had said that nonhuman husks had been thrown out of the stronghold. Could they be taking their blood and doing something with it?

I know there are some books in the library discussing the more dangerous magics. It wouldn’t hurt to learn about blood magic, just to better understand what kind of enemy I may have just made.

Shar flies overhead, and I look up to watch as she dodges away from another larger bird and dives into the trees. The other bird gives up quickly, and Shar returns to the sky minutes later.

I glance up at the sun. It’s close to the earth, giving us an hour or so left before sunset. I call out to the group, and change our direction towards a clearing that’s marked on my map.

Shar returns to us as she sees us stopping, landing on a nearby tree.

We set up the Angel Statue, then Keve leaves to gather wood, Shar keeping an eye out for him.

The mercenaries set up a firepit, and begin putting up our tents.

As the others move around me, I stop my channeling through the rock, and lean against Jasper. I reach into my Private Library, and pull out the book on warding. Thankfully, this one is written in common. I’d been in a rush last time, but now that there aren’t any active magical traces on us, I take my time reading through the pages, turning them slowly as I study the basic wards it covers.

Despite calling them basic, it seems to expect me to have an understanding of simple principles I don’t understand. I manage to muddy through, but I can tell I’m still missing things.

The more I read, the more I understand the tiny inefficiencies in the quick ward I’d drawn to protect us. I’d been forced to, to make sure it worked.

I look around for another rock, but there aren’t any nearby, so I settle for a rather nice stick.

I take one more look over the runes outlined in the chapter I’m reading, and start my inscribing.

Runes are a language in and of themselves, but their meaning and shape changes for each other rune in the sequence, creating a complicated web of symbols.

I have no idea how the first runesmiths managed.

I mess up one of the inscriptions, and toss the branch into the firepit as it combusts into flame.

Eyla sits next to me, and holds out another branch, this one surprisingly straight and sturdy. More a staff than a stick.

I take the branch, “Thank you.”

“What are you doing?”

I glance at the book, then start the inscription, my finger tracing slowly over the branch as I draw each rune. “I’m crafting a ward. The one I have isn’t that great.” I pause in my scripts, studying it, then continue slowly. “Hopefully this one will take less concentration when I’m finished.”

I feel her gaze on me, making me wish I could look up and see her expression. Sadly, the project requires all of my attention.

Soon enough I finish, a line of script spiraling down the staff.

I channel my mana through it, and breathe a sigh of relief as it requires barely any of my attention. The barrier that snaps into place feels smoother somehow.

Eyla’s eyes snap up above us. “Is that it?”

“You can see it too?”

She nods. “What’s it do?”

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“It’s a weak magical barrier. It blocks a first circle attack spell. According to Shar, that should be enough to block most scrying.”

“First circle spell?” She tilts her head.

I can’t help a small smile as her hair falls over her face. Then her question hits me. I hadn’t really thought about sharing the magic I was learning, mostly in fear that the Arcanists would hunt me to the ends of the earth. I’m not even sure someone without a Mage Archetype could learn it.

I turn towards her, and I catch sight of Shar and Keve walking towards us.

They activate the Angel artifact, and step through into our camp. Keve sets a large pile of wood down to the side, then gets to building the fire.

The rest of the group join us around the small firepit Daron had prepared.

“Any trouble?” I ask Shar as she lands on Jasper’s head.

She shakes her feathers, snow falling off of her and hitting the ground, “A couple wolves stalking a deer nearby, and Snapping vines covering the ground to the west. No one seems to be following, and no fires.”

“Are the vines off of our path?”

She nods.

“Good. We’re going to be off my map soon. Keep an eye out for any village ruins. I don’t want to be caught off guard by any undead, and there were more than a few villages on Eyla’s map.”

Shar nods, then glances down at the book I have in front of me. “More on wards?”