“Hang on to the questions. Get upstairs to my bedroom—fast.” I couldn’t risk another portal attack until we’d recoveredfrom the last one. Besides, I had a lot of questions of my own. Some of which, I was hoping my brilliant bestie could find answers to.
Ranth came in through the back door and shut it. My jaw dropped as he set the ward he shouldn’t have been able to see.
“Hurry,” I said. He looked over at me, bushy black eyebrows furrowed. “My bedroom is the safest spot,” I said. Taking the stairs two at a time, I launched into the bedroom. Ori was already sitting on the bed with her laptop out and stroking Antimony with her free hand.
“Heads up,” I said. “Bedroom wards choke signals. You’ll lose Wi-Fi in thirty seconds. Whatever you need, download it quickly. I’m blocking the signals as soon as…”
Ranth walked in.
“Now,” I said, dropping the wards into place.
Ori huffed. “That was too soon, but I can make do. I downloaded a bunch of stuff earlier…”
“Hold that thought,” I said, turning to Ranth. “How did you reset my ward?”
“Like this,” he replied, walking over to the door and running his hands along the chaparral, holly, mustard, and salt-filled rod I’d crafted from hollow borosilicate glass tubing. The herbs inside had to be visible to make the spell work on the plane, and the material had to be natural. It was custom cut to fit the width of the door.
The mixture rolled inside as if he were affecting it, which I guess he was. He set the bar into place, and the ward melded the door into the wall.
“That’s not possible…” I breathed. Other-planar manipulation couldn’t be done on this plane. I knew because I’d tried. He?—
He crossed his arms. “Years of training, and you can do it too. It’s merely understanding what spells actually do from the magic side of it. Magic is a science, after all.”
“Magic isn’t a science. They’re completely opposite. Science doesn’t accept magic as possible,” I snapped, partially because he wasn’t actually explaining what he’d done, and because he was questioning my understanding of magic.
“Yes.”
I glared at him, bristling with snappy comebacks that would only escalate. Ori interrupted the stand-off. “Are you saying your group of wizards has discovered a higher science, which modern scientists still call magic?”
“Exactly.” Ranth pointed at Ori as if to cement that somehow Ori had more intelligence than I did. He ran his hand through the air dramatically.
“Whatever. Why don’t you show me how you do it?” I asked, nodding at the door. I could learn stuff from Ranth, and that was worth way more than a bruise to my ego.
He hovered his hands over the rod and then smoothly moved them to the left. The salt rolled, and the door appeared.
“No, I mean actually show me how you’re doing it. My wards are tied to the towers at the corners. The salt line is built into the walls, so the bar merely closes the protection line already in place. But you didn’t know that, and it’s my spellcraft. You shouldn’t be able to use it or actually see it at all.”
“That is completely wrong. The barrier you set up could be used by anyone who knows how to make a ward. It’s not complicated.”
“But demons can’t cross it, and normal people can’t see it.” I folded my arms, attempting to throw off the feeling that this was a personal attack.
“Demons can’t come through it because it’s a protection line. You could draw a line on the floor, and it would have the sameeffect. I can see it because I’m more like you, than her.” He nodded at Ori.
“Then how did the Essifers come into the house from the garden?”
“Because you can’t control enough of the open space with your ward. You don’t have the house lines defined in the correct way. The bedroom works because it’s small and easily contained. That’s why the bathing room is your safest spot. The limited space makes it securable.”
“Then a portal could technically open up in here?” I scanned the walls, considering how I could strengthen the spells.
“It could, but it probably won’t. Demons don’t like wandering into salted spaces because they can become trapped. Even the Essifers specifically hunting us.”
“And you know this because?”
“The Ahknim have specialists on wards and salt lines. We’ve experimented for hundreds of years. It’s knowledge which comes from experience and study—not a best guess.” His lips spread into a grin.
“I’ll attempt not to take that as an insult.” I held my ground, but I was annoyed as foxgloves.
“You shouldn’t. It’s only knowledge you didn’t have because you apparently didn’t have a capable teacher. For example, circles are not as powerful as triangles. Salt lines have particular shapes for different rituals. Circles are more effective in some instances, but triangles or pyramid shapes are better for focus spells.”
