breathe. That was the main thing.
“Show me,” the guard said.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” I shook my head as the first guard tried to bust down the door. Obviously it didn’t go into the room, but it did splinter. The wooden shards were pulled away, revealing a room with three men as still as the grave, all except their eyes. Charles, probably wishing he hadn’t been put in the room, was most probably still in his corner, and out of view.
I waited behind my shield, watching each man try to force their way into the room. “Good spell, though,” I mused. “ Kind of tiring, though. That one could definitely come in handy down the road, I think.”
“Undo this, ” the head guard said to me. Not too bright, this guy.
“Yeah, I would love to. Which is exactly why I had to go through the window and come around here. I have no idea how.”
“Undo what you did. Reverse it! ”
To a started to loudly hum in that way a person does when their mouth was gagged but they had important information to impart. I moved to the end of my protective bubble and peered in the room, just making out his wide eyes.
“I don ’t think that’s a good idea. Toa seems perturbed.”
“Then how do we undo it?” the head guard asked.
It was like I hadn’t run up in a dead sprint a few minutes ago asking that very same question. “Possibly find a teacher of mine to lend a hand?”
To a started to do his communicatory hum again.
“Maybe not. He’s probably afraid I’ll blow them up.”
An hour later I sat in my bubble, cross-legged on the ground, my chin on my fists, watching as white power zipped around the room. My magic had receded, and while the men couldn’t move much, they could move enough for Toa to get his palms and magic active. I was plenty able to suck the residual magic out of the room now, and I suspected Stefan could’ve as well, using that weird balancing thing he did, but the humor dancing in his eyes as Toa stubbornly tried to undo whatever I had done, kept me from mentioning it.
Finally, in a bright flare, I felt a tug on my chest. All captured men took a huge, lung-filling breath.
“Okay, come out of there.” The head guard, whose name was Bernie, jerked his hand in the air to facilitate my removal.
“Nope. I think I’ll just hang on to see if they’re angry.”
“Your magic fades. You’ll have to come out sometime.”
“Wrong again. I keep replenishing this spell. Or charm. You know, I have no idea what the difference is. At any rate, this baby is as strong as strong can be. I’m good in here for a little longer.”
Unfortunately, a little longer wasn’t long at all.
One very serious-looking Regional strolled up to my self-made cage and looked down on me. His perfectly blank face still managed to communicate his complete lack of humor at that moment. “Care to enlighten us on what happened?”
That stare had me babbling. “Too much power filled me too quickly an d I had to do something with it! For some reason I did that thickening spell. But then I didn’t know how to undo it because I’d never successfully done it before. But I couldn’t open the door because the air was, well, you know how it was. So I ran around the side, but then your guards thought I did something awful—which doesn’t really make sense since I ran back toward them—so I locked myself in here for protection until we could figure it out!”
“You tried that spell outside and couldn’t complete it. Why did it work this time?”
“I have no idea!”
And I didn’t. Largely, everything to do with magic had thus far eluded me. School had never been my strong suit. My magic not working properly meant I hadn’t been able to figure it out.
“She has been working with lesser levels of power in the wrong wa y,” Toa explained, leaning against the walls. “She could have great control, but first needs to learn the ways of directing her power. It is like riding a bicycle extremely slow. The bicycle
“Show me,” the guard said.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” I shook my head as the first guard tried to bust down the door. Obviously it didn’t go into the room, but it did splinter. The wooden shards were pulled away, revealing a room with three men as still as the grave, all except their eyes. Charles, probably wishing he hadn’t been put in the room, was most probably still in his corner, and out of view.
I waited behind my shield, watching each man try to force their way into the room. “Good spell, though,” I mused. “ Kind of tiring, though. That one could definitely come in handy down the road, I think.”
“Undo this, ” the head guard said to me. Not too bright, this guy.
“Yeah, I would love to. Which is exactly why I had to go through the window and come around here. I have no idea how.”
“Undo what you did. Reverse it! ”
To a started to loudly hum in that way a person does when their mouth was gagged but they had important information to impart. I moved to the end of my protective bubble and peered in the room, just making out his wide eyes.
“I don ’t think that’s a good idea. Toa seems perturbed.”
“Then how do we undo it?” the head guard asked.
It was like I hadn’t run up in a dead sprint a few minutes ago asking that very same question. “Possibly find a teacher of mine to lend a hand?”
To a started to do his communicatory hum again.
“Maybe not. He’s probably afraid I’ll blow them up.”
An hour later I sat in my bubble, cross-legged on the ground, my chin on my fists, watching as white power zipped around the room. My magic had receded, and while the men couldn’t move much, they could move enough for Toa to get his palms and magic active. I was plenty able to suck the residual magic out of the room now, and I suspected Stefan could’ve as well, using that weird balancing thing he did, but the humor dancing in his eyes as Toa stubbornly tried to undo whatever I had done, kept me from mentioning it.
Finally, in a bright flare, I felt a tug on my chest. All captured men took a huge, lung-filling breath.
“Okay, come out of there.” The head guard, whose name was Bernie, jerked his hand in the air to facilitate my removal.
“Nope. I think I’ll just hang on to see if they’re angry.”
“Your magic fades. You’ll have to come out sometime.”
“Wrong again. I keep replenishing this spell. Or charm. You know, I have no idea what the difference is. At any rate, this baby is as strong as strong can be. I’m good in here for a little longer.”
Unfortunately, a little longer wasn’t long at all.
One very serious-looking Regional strolled up to my self-made cage and looked down on me. His perfectly blank face still managed to communicate his complete lack of humor at that moment. “Care to enlighten us on what happened?”
That stare had me babbling. “Too much power filled me too quickly an d I had to do something with it! For some reason I did that thickening spell. But then I didn’t know how to undo it because I’d never successfully done it before. But I couldn’t open the door because the air was, well, you know how it was. So I ran around the side, but then your guards thought I did something awful—which doesn’t really make sense since I ran back toward them—so I locked myself in here for protection until we could figure it out!”
“You tried that spell outside and couldn’t complete it. Why did it work this time?”
“I have no idea!”
And I didn’t. Largely, everything to do with magic had thus far eluded me. School had never been my strong suit. My magic not working properly meant I hadn’t been able to figure it out.
“She has been working with lesser levels of power in the wrong wa y,” Toa explained, leaning against the walls. “She could have great control, but first needs to learn the ways of directing her power. It is like riding a bicycle extremely slow. The bicycle
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