"Can you do that?"
Ezra wasn't sure, but he believed Ulric had grown, which shouldn't be possible since he already was over seven feet tall.He was the tallest and broadest he'd seen so far.The others weren't much smaller, so shifters must've descended from giants."No, I can't do spellwork or curses."Against his will, his hand flew to the two braids along his temple.Two.Children had more.
Ulric followed the motion with glowing eyes, and maybe it was because he shifted position, but Ezra believed he shrank a fraction.
"So some witches do spells and curses, and some do other things?What do the tattoos mean?"
"They're spells to enhance power.Some witches can infuse images with power."Was he revealing too much?"They often become tattoo artists."
Ulric's eyes went back to a light brown, much the color of lacy oatmeal cookies, and the buzz underneath Ezra's skin grew again.
"Do they do anything?If they touch them, do the power get unlocked or something?"
Ezra wasn't sure what he was asking, and the pinpricks rushing through his limbs distracted him from thinking clearly."How do you mean?"
"If they're on the battlefield and tap on one of the hieroglyphs, do they do anything?Is it like playing a card?"
Hieroglyphs.Hieroglyphs were a pretty common motif, but the only one covered in hieroglyphs was Shixyll.He hoped Ulric hadn't met her on the battlefield.Though he was so huge, maybe he could hold his own against her.
"No, it's not something you bring forth.It's always there.You get the tattoo, and it enhances your core power, though they can be infused with different things."
"Like?"
Ezra shrugged.He didn't have any tattoos, and he wasn't entirely sure how they worked.A power-infused tattoo was expensive, and he had no money."Like...eh...to strengthen your bond to your familiar.Most only want to enhance their core strength, though."With strong magic, you would have a strong bond with your familiar, or so he'd been told.Since he had soft magic, he'd never had one.You had to force a connection with a familiar, and Ezra couldn't force anything.
Something close to disgust slid over Ulric's face."Where is your familiar?"
"I don't have one."
"Used him up?"Distaste was dripping from his words.
"No, I've never had one.I don't do spells.I can't draw power from things."
A small crease formed between Ulric's brows."So, you're not a witch?You don't do magic?"
"Eh..."Shit.Would they kill him now?"I have magic, but not...I can set wards."He hoped.He'd only ever done it around his hut, not a large area of land, but he believed he could do it.Children could do it.
"Wards?What do wards do?"
"Like an invisible spiderweb.If someone walks through, the signal travels through the threads and alerts you of someone having stepped onto your land."
Ulric grimaced."Things are crossing the border of the area all the time.We'd run ourselves ragged to check every time someone moved."
Ezra shrugged.It was all he could think of offering for the moment, the only thing they could have use of, at least.He could bake, but real witches didn't bake, and since Ulric was half convinced he wasn't a witch at all, he didn't think he should offer.
"I can do a smaller area.Circle the property and the closest forest, then there aren't as many crossings."
Silence fell while Ulric studied him so intently, he wanted to hide.
"Even with a smaller area, won't you go nuts if you feel every little thing passing through the barrier?"
"I wouldn't set it up so it was triggered by every little thing."
Ulric breathed in deeply."You'd set it up so everything bigger than five feet pinged the radar?"
Ezra scrunched his face in confusion."Size has nothing to do with it.It's the essence of the creature.If you want to know when shifters cross the border, I'll set it up so you feel when shifters cross the border.Or humans, if you want to know when humans are on your land."
Ulric's eyes widened, and he waved his forefinger."Witches?"
