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I stand and hold out my hand. “Conparios.” Magic bursts in my palm, and violet light stretches into the shape of Father’s crystalline staff. I step away from the campfire, so my practice doesn’t disturb Zephyr, and place the book at my feet. I scan over the instructions again and use the spelltera’ortisto raise a ring of stones around myself. They’re tall enough to reach my shoulders and will make perfect practice targets.
Raising my staff, I draw on aether, and magic radiates in its crystalline surface. I stare at the stone target directly ahead while keeping the targets on either side in my peripheral vision.
“Folmen,” I hiss.
Magic surges from the staff in a lightning bolt, striking the stone. The rock absorbs all the energy and there’s none left to bounce onto the other targets. I must be faster at splitting the aether before it reaches the first target. Maybe if I power it with more magic, enough will be left after the first strike to create a chain.
I clench my jaw and attempt the spell again. This time, the lightning rips through the air and scars the stone with its intensity. I also succeed in splitting the aether. One bolt strikes the leftmost stone with perfect aim, though it’s lacking in power. The other bounces back at me. I have to duck to avoid being electrocuted. The bolt continues out my ring of stones and toward the campfire. It almost strikes Natharius, but he raises his hand and blocks it with shadows. The bolt bounces off as if it were only a pebble, and the spell doesn’t tax him in the slightest.
“What a pitiful attempt,” he says, snapping his fingers. His shield dissolves into ash. “It appears aim is yet another thing they failed to teach you in the Arcanium.”
My face burns. I hate how visible my reaction is, especially knowing how much it will satisfy him to see, but I can’t stop the embarrassment from branding my cheeks. I hope it’s dark enough he can’t see the redness of my face. “Then why don’t you grace me with a demonstration?”
He gets to his feet. “If I must.” At first I’m surprised he would offer to help me but then again, the Void Prince of Pride would hate to miss an opportunity to show off.
Natharius joins me at the center of the ring and conjures shadows into his hand. I take a few steps back to avoid being struck by his spell.
He requires only a single heartbeat to prepare his spell. His magic bursts into a bolt of dark lightning and strikes the stone target opposite him. Then it bounces off the first target and hits the next. Every target is struck, forming a perfect loop. What makes it all worse is he didn’t need to utter a single spell-word, and yet he had full control over his spell.
His lips curl with smugness. “Was that demonstration sufficient?”
I try not to let his arrogance ruffle me and fold my arms across my chest. “I suppose.”
“If you require another, I’ll be more than willing to oblige.”
“I’m sure you would,” I scoff. But then I bite my tongue. After all, he was once the High Enchanter of Lumaria, and apparently an incredibly powerful one at that. Perhaps even more so than Father. Even though he now wields dark magic, he will be well acquainted with the manipulation of aether. Maybe I’ll even be able to learn a spell or two from him, or maybe he will be able to guide me in mastering the techniques recorded in Father’s tome.
If becoming stronger means swallowing my pride, then so be it.
“You’ll teach me,” I say.
He blinks at me, and I find satisfaction in knowing I’ve caught him off-guard.
“I suppose you remember how to wield aether from when you were an enchanter?”
He lifts his chin. I take that as a very much insulted yes.
“Then you can teach me some moon elven spells.”
“Or perhaps I can teach you more dark magic,” he says, his crimson eyes gleaming.
“I’ll pass on that one.”
“Does dark magic frighten you?”
“I’ve seen for myself how corruptive it is.”
“And yet you used it to summon me.”
“That’s different.”
“How is it?”
“I only used it once. It would take repeated use for me to be affected. As long as I never use it again, the aether in my blood won’t fade.”
“Is that what you believe? That you could summon a Void Prince from the Abyss and emerge unscathed? Little mage, your soul has already been marked by darkness.”
When Arluin invaded my dream, the violet sky in the meadow was laced with shadows. He said my soul felt different and asked what I had done. I thought it was from the darkness binding Natharius to me, but what if my soul has been irreversibly scarred by the summoning? What if it leads me to madness and ruin?
