If Evram missed the beacon before, he’ll be able to find what I’m going to do now.
I don’t wait for him, instead turning and wading into the water toward the shrine.
With every step, I make magic. Ethereal sigils glow through the water, trailing behind me as I pass.
A step to gather all the local magic to this place.
A step to anchor it here.
A step to connect it to the other anchors of the world.
A step to take me the last distance to the gate itself, and the center of all my preparations.
I close my eyes, feeling the eddies of magic swirl around me, energized.Ready.
I turn back toward the shrine.
Illuminated against the darkness is Evram at the center.
Closing in behind him: ranks of mages, with Destien in the lead.
Brook is behind him, held between two guards and with another behind in a diamond formation. I mark her location and part of me relaxes. That was the one variable I hadn’t been sure of.
I stare across at Evram for one long moment, and he stares back.
The light of the gate goes out, plunging us into darkness.
I make my move.
Under the gate and submerged in the water, arcane symbols flicker out from my position beneath the water.
High Earth teaches all Low Earth wizards to send our magic straight to their world.
With one spell, I reverse that flow of magic back into our world.
Magic rushes back into the world through the gate, so much magic that with my vision like this I can actuallyseeit, transparent clouds billowing, crackling with sparkles of light, pouring through with the strength of a compacted, channeled thunderstorm.
I stand at the epicenter, and the force knocks me to my knees. I catch myself on my hands, waves lapping around me.
The force keeps coming.
The magic charges forward through me. Even performing the most powerful spells I handled in High Earth has nothing on this.
As the magic continues streaming, I finally, finally start to adjust.
It’s like being glutted after a long period of malnourishment. I’m almost woozy at the feeling of the power I can access, but I manage to get to my feet and look toward the shrine.
Several of the High Earth mages were bowled over, and their sturdier fellows help them get back to their feet rather than advancing, trying to reform their line.
Because all the power they can feel here—
Tonight, all of it is mine.
I take a breath.
Destien yells, “RAISE SHIELDS!”
He isn’t fast enough.
