“Then I’ll do what I can to help,” he says.He starts to trace one arthritic finger over the lines and sigils on the dampener, which seem to glow in response to his touch.“Are yousureyou don’t want me to just remove this, Alaric?I’m confident I could.”
Alaric shakes his head, though.“Everyone expects to see Lyra wearing a dampener, and there are those who’ll be able to feel if it’s just some empty vessel with no power.”
Calpern nods.“Then the trick is going to be doing it without making it obvious to anyone watching you that you still have magic.It’s harder, but I can do it.”
Calpern continues to trace the sigils on my arm, and now they start to shift in response to his touch.I can see the look of concentration on the old man’s face as he works, the effort this must take him.
“Hold still,” he says.“I must be precise with this.One wrong move and the magic might backfire.”
“And then?”I ask.
“The dampener is connected to your magic,” Calpern says.“It might let it all out at once, in an explosion that kills us, or it might do the opposite.It might drag all the magic out of you, leaving nothing behind but a husk.”
That’s a terrifying thought, either way.I resolve to sit perfectly still while Calpern works, the lines on the dampener still glowing and shifting beneath his touch.I barely dare to breathe as he traces the symbols, shifting them by less than the width of a finger each time.His eyes momentarily flicker with power, and then there’s stillness.
“There,” Calpern says.“It’s done.”
“I don’t feel any different,” I say, standing.
Alaric frowns.“Haven’t you done it right, Calpern?”
“Was I ever this impatient when I was young?”the older man asks.“Just give it a moment.Connect to your magic.See what you can feel.”
I do as he asks, reaching down inside myself for my magic.When I’ve done that in the last few weeks, there has been nothing waiting for me, the sense that there’s some kind of heavy veil between me and my power I can’t breach.Now, though, the magic comes rushing up to meet me.
It’s like taking my first breath of fresh air after weeks being locked away.It’s like seeing sunlight again for the first time, or feeling the touch of a lover after being starved of contact for too long.It’s like all of those things, and none of them, because my magic is a part of me, not something that comes to me from outside.
I reach out with my magic, trying to sense the creatures around me.For the first time in a long time, I can feel the birds in the trees and the squirrel hiding among some of the bushes.I can’t feel far, can’t sense animals reaching all the way past the walls of the city the way I once could, but even being able to feel this much is enough to make me gasp with joy and crush the old man in a hug.
“Thank you,” I say.“Thank you.”
“Just don’t try for too much,” Calpern says.“I can’t guess what the limits are for you now, but there will stillbelimits.”
“Then let’s find out what those are,” Alaric says.He tosses me a training sword, taking up another for himself.
I call to the birds, hoping to bring them in to attack him.They don’t respond, but maybe that’s a good thing.It would be far too obvious that I’m using magic if I do something like that.I can still feel their presence, and now I’m able to look through their eyes the way I’m used to, seeing myself from multiple angles as Alaric attacks me with both a training sword and bursts of illusion magic.
I manage to borrow a little of the birds’ grace, adding it to the speed and strength I’ve built up through hard training in Marcus’ villa.I weave aside from Alaric’s attacks, striking back at him with such ferocity that he’s quickly forced to give ground.He tries throwing illusory darts of power at me, but now I can read them better, thanks to the birds and I dodge everyone.
Alaric lunges forward, trying to catch me off guard, but I’m ready for it.I throw myself forward in the same moment, rolling beneath him even as he slashes at the spot where I just was.I thrust my sword up as he stands there, catching him in the stomach with the tip of my wooden blade.
Alaric steps back, looking pleased.“Now, you’re ready.”
Ifeelready, at last.My training has given me strategies and skills, but the return of a portion of my magic has given me a way to access greater strength and speed, to fight the way a beast whisperer was always meant to fight.With this, I might truly be able to take on the strongest magic users Selene has been able to gather for the games.
“I am,” I agree, standing smoothly and relinquishing the power I borrowed from the birds.I can still feel their presence, along with that of every small creature in Marcus’ garden.A part of me wants to connect with each one in turn, seeing the world through a different set of eyes each time, simply because I can.
Marcus looks me over.“If you truly are prepared, then there’s only one thing left for us to do.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s time for us to announce your participation in the Grand Tournament to the citizens of Aetheria.”
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
"Do I have to do this?"I ask Marcus as we approach the forum of Aetheria.
It's an open-air public space, surrounded by columns that reach like questing fingers towards the heavens.Traditionally, it's been a place for people to speak freely, declaiming their ideas to anyone who'll listen.
