“If I can figure out how to track my own enchantments like Haddar does, then yes.”
“If you can, then do we have to save her? We could just arrive conveniently moments after that orc murders that deadland’s bastard.” Azarin looked toward Rade. “No offense.”
“None taken, my lady. I am a deadlander’s bastard. As the denied son of a nobility, I’ve been called far worse many times. Only, my father’s a baron. Dathka’s father is a murderous tyrant who rules a criminal empire with an iron fist. It would probably be best for our sakes to deliver her back to him alive, if possible.”
Azarin sighed at that irrefutable logic. “Fine.”
The six of us were in the kitchen, tired, dirty, and eating whatever the rats had left behind. You’d think that ghosts would scare off vermin, but both kinds of pests got along splendidly.
“This is all a moot point if I can’t figure out how to track magic. Do any of you know anything at all about sensing enchantments?”
My answer was a bunch of head shakes andno’s.
Our table was an old wooden spool. We all sat on chairs of Bognar’s dubious construction beneath my light charm, exceptfor Morton, who sat upon a stack of old boxes in order to be tall enough to be at eye level with the rest of us.
“If the master of our academy was actually here for once, I’m sure he could teach you,” Rade said. “But if we had a rank-ten killer handy, we wouldn’t have been extorted into working for criminals to begin with. Thus, as usual, we must make do on our own. I’ve never given the matter much thought, but surely between us, we can reason out a solution.”
Krachma grunted in agreement. Which, for him, was an impressive contribution to the conversation.
Magical elements are a strange type of matter. Most things you could touch with your hands, see with your eyes, or smell with your nose, but elements were felt in the mind. Having a connection at all made you a mage, and the stronger that connection, the higher you’d be ranked. That increased connection was how they were able to wring more magic out of the elements than we were able to. I could only assume that sensing their presence worked on a similar scale. I had an affinity for Red, so I could usually tell when it was near. The others, not so much.
Luckily, that bullet was drenched in Red.
“Before you guys got back, I was experimenting with my warming bowl. Trax would carry it to different rooms and see how far away he could get before I could no longer feel the Red I’d left on it. If I clear my mind of everything else and really focus?—”
“You’ll pass out and be found snoring on the ground?” Azarin snort-laughed.
“I don’t snore.” I wasn’t going to live that one down for a while. “I could still sort of sense its presence from one end of the Tube to the other. That’s well over a hundred yards. Haddar did miles. I’m assuming the range scales with ability. He was an eight at the time. I’m a rank two.”
“Which, by the way, congratulations on that!” Azarin exclaimed.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“True. I really am a brilliant instructor of air magic.”
Rade interrupted the flattery, “Alas, my friends, even at that impressive distance, considering the size of this city, finding your magic bullet in the Core would still be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. If you divided the city into hundred-yard squares and began walking up and down every street right now, nonstop, you should have the whole city covered in about five years.”
“Now that I’m refreshed,” I said that like my nap had been a strategic move, “I can go back to practicing with the bowl. I think I’ve kind of got the hang of it. I should be able to extend that range a bit.”
“Excellent. Then we might be able to cut the search down to two or three years.Or, if I may present an alternative plan, the gate will be open to Qara Levu tomorrow, and I hear the Elemental Plane of Water is lovely this time of year. Perhaps they are in need of a new magical academy as well?”
The rest of the students thought that over, and I couldn’t say I blamed them.
“The official-looking piece of paper I got from Ambassador Argent declaring that Gaul Haddar formed this place is only good for the Core, so I’m committed. But the rest of you don’t have to risk the wrath of Carcalla. I wouldn’t blame you for running. Escape to the water realm, and I wish you well.”
Krachma ponderously shook his big rocky head. “Krachma does not like water realm. Krachma finds it toomoist.” He said that with a lot of disgust.
“Krachma is wise,” Azarin agreed. “I would imagine that humidity would be an issue, what with it being the Elemental Plane of Water and all. I’m not going anywhere.”
Part of me hoped she was sticking around for me, while the other part really wanted her to be somewhere less dangerous. Except, if I’d learned one thing about Azarin, it was that it did no good to push her, because no matter what, she was going to do what she wanted anyway.
Even Trax had an opinion. “Qara Levu is only five thousand fathoms above the outer barriers of the Squalo Empire. However, I have not yet completed my mission of observation and education about the land races. Thus, I choose to remain here. I will happily eat your enemies as long as I do so.”
“Thanks, Trax. That means a lot to me.”
Rade gave us a sad smile. “Once again, there’s no need for a vote, because as usual, Azarin and Trax agree with Carnavon, and this time, I have even been forsaken by loyal Krachma. We stand and fight.”
“Hold on. None of us are crazy enough to want to fight the Latrocinium. We made an agreement to do our best to operate a school. It wasn’t a suicide pact to take on the biggest gang in the Core. If you want to go, Rade, go. None of us will think less of you.”
