Chapter Fifteen #3
Tor nodded seriously. “Yes. If you see so much as a hint of pink, you stop and rest. Nothing we’re doing should strain you even close to that degree, but if it’s not something you’re used to, you want to keep an eye on it.”
Avatars had gone blood red in the battlefields, apparently, as Extraordinary were pushed beyond their limits at the height of the fighting.
Illustrious had strained their ability to shield, and even Unremarkable had apparently perished from magic overuse, which Tor had never understood.
He knew they didn’t have very much magic, but didn’t that mean they never used it in a way that it could be overused?
Yes, they could shield themselves internally in a minor way, but surely not so much that they’d use all their magic?
Wouldn’t they stop as soon as they saw any pink?
Or had the battles been so frantic and their magic internal so they hadn’t noticed?
It was why peace was so important. It was why Tor wanted to teach Larexa to defend herself. Just in case.
Tor cleared his throat. “The good thing is that it’s actually a very clear signal. If you start seeing pink instead of bright white, you know it’s time to take a break. You’re not somehow going to overexert yourself without realizing. It’s perfectly safe.”
Larexa squared her shoulders and nodded her head, her gaze narrowed and determined.
She tried again and again, and finally, she managed to erect a small shield around the cup.
Tor praised her for the effort, and she looked extremely proud of herself—at which point he gave the shield a solid kick, and it collapsed as though it had never been.
Larexa wavered back a step, but she didn’t fall.
Pel caught her arm like he couldn’t help himself, then released it and stepped back.
Smiling at her, Tor said, “The first step is creating the shield. The next step is maintaining it. It stands alone, but it’s also part of you.”
Larexa blew out a breath. “I had no idea this was so complicated.”
“Ready to try again?” Tor asked.
Larexa nodded resolutely.
The rain continued, Bavil was still out on patrol, and over the next two weeks, Tor and Larexa had lessons every day or two—both shields and music, because Larexa was holding him to his bargain.
He described it as pure torture, and she laughed at him and told him not to be a baby.
Hearing himself laboriously plunk out something that she told him was a scale filled him with the need to be doing something—anything—else.
“But it’s exactly the same with the shield!” she told him with exasperation. “You’ve been doing it since you were fourteen. I started playing the piano when I was four. But we can still learn one another’s skills with practice and hard work!”
“But the shield is practical! I think I’m learning this just to torture all those around me.”
Pel, who came to listen sometimes, agreed that it was the most terrible racket he’d ever heard.
Larexa’s mouth tightened. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!”
Predictably, this made Pel stalk off.
Face falling, Larexa looked at Tor. “Sorry.”
Tor just shook his head. “It’s fine.”
Tor had no issue with Pel hanging around and telling the truth, but Larexa seemed to be concerned that it would affect his morale.
Tor had no illusions when it came to his musical prowess.
It was worth it to get Larexa protected, though, and Tor still got to spend his mornings with Pel.
One day, on their way back from the farms, even more water-logged than usual, Pel asked Tor, “You don’t really think that Larexa’s going to need to use a shield, do you?”
“I certainly hope not. But I would so much rather that she have the knowledge and never need to use it than need to use it but lack the knowledge.”
Pel was silent for a moment, but then he nodded and agreed, “Yes, that’s true.”
Back in the stables, they saw to their horses, and Tor found himself distracted by the way several stray droplets of water slid down Pel’s face. Their cloaks might be good, but the rain was better. The farmers were all telling them that it was too much of a good thing.
Was it weird that Tor wanted to lick the rain off Pel’s face? It was probably not great friend behavior.
Melody squashed him into the side of the stall with an impatient snort of annoyance, and Tor laughed and went back to grooming him. Trust his horse not to care if he was having entirely inappropriate thoughts.
Training was going well, but Tor waited until Larexa was much more comfortable raising the shield and keeping it up before he showed her what could happen if a strong shield collapsed on the object that was inside it rather than just dissipating.
Larexa went white-faced, and even Pel looked a little pale as he stared at the pulverized remains of the cup.
“I have a lot more control than that,” Tor assured them both. He gave Larexa an encouraging smile. “By the time you’re ready to shield an actual person, so will you.”
Magic could exert a tremendous amount of force.
Larexa had to sit down for a minute, and Tor slid down the wall next to her.
She was either the fluffiest, sweetest person in the entire world, or the thing she wouldn’t tell him really had scarred her badly.
Even Pel looked concerned, and he tried so hard to act like he didn’t care about his siblings.
Tor reached out a hand, and after a moment, she slipped hers into his. He squeezed it. “I would never let you hurt someone else.”
“But what if I lost control?” she demanded, sounding close to tears. “What if I did something wrong?”
“It’s not impossible,” Tor conceded. “We’re all capable of making mistakes. But that’s why you’re training. To learn how to use your magic properly. And I’m going to make Pel and Bavil promise to practice with you even once I’m gone to make sure you don’t forget everything.”
She offered him a weak smile.
“Hopefully, you’ll never have to use this shield,” he told her earnestly.
“I hope that we stay at peace and the most exciting thing that I get to do with my avatar is practice with it and look hot while I’m doing it.
” She let out a wet-sounding chuckle, and Pel scoffed.
Tor flashed them a grin before his expression became more serious.
“But if you do ever have to use it, it will be because you desperately need to protect yourself, so I wouldn’t have much sympathy for whoever you blocked in that shield.
We’re going to keep drilling until you know how to safely erect it and pull it down.
And having seen how your fingers move over those blasted keys, I know that you have a lot of control! ”
She offered another smile, still weak but more genuine.
“My brother and I practiced this for years. I’m not saying you need to put someone in a shield tomorrow, all right?”
She blew out a breath. “All right.”
“But I think that might be enough for today, what do you think?”
She nearly melted into the floor. “Yes, thank you.”
He helped her to her feet. Her hand was trembling.
“Why don’t I get you something to drink?” he suggested.
She tugged her hand out of his grasp. “No, no, I’ll go. The walk will do me good.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, offered him something that was almost her normal smile, and slipped out of the room. Tor was reasonably confident that she just wanted to be alone, but he reminded himself to go check on her later.
He was left in the room with Pel, who asked after a moment, “Could you have done that to me?”
He looked at the other man, who gestured at the crushed cup.
Tor made a face. “You and your inherent magic would have fought back. It takes a lot more force to crush a human than it does to crush a cup.”
He felt queasy just at the thought.
“But in theory,” the other man pursued, not seeming to be perturbed by the image. His gaze was very intense. “You could have crushed me, if you’d driven the magic in on all sides.”
“In theory,” Tor agreed reluctantly.
Magic could be used to protect, like he was showing Larexa, but it could be used for offense, too. It was why all Illustrious and Extraordinary guards were taught to Mantle themselves, their shields, and their weapons.
Tor and Var had been more than a bit wild as they learned all their magic could do, but after that first battle with the avatars, their mother had made clear to them what would happen if they destroyed anything—or goddess forbid, hurt another person.
She’d shared just a few stories from the war, and those had stuck with Tor.
His offense was always with the goal of protecting his people.
“It’s not just about what we can do, though,” Tor tried to explain. “It’s about what we choose to do.”
Pel eyed him skeptically. “But I can’t choose to do any of that.”
“But you could kill me,” Tor pointed out. “In theory, I mean. We’re all capable of violence against one another.”
Pel scoffed. “I don’t see how I’d ever have a chance when you could squash me with that shield.”
“You could kill me in my sleep,” Tor pointed out.
Pel looked at him with disgust.
“I’m not saying you would,” Tor clarified, “I’m saying you could.
You’re offended that I’d suggest you’d sneak into my room and kill me when I was defenseless.
I assure you, I’m equally offended that you’d suggest I’d ever wield that against someone who couldn’t fight back.
Pel, I’m Extraordinary. One on one, almost no one can fight back.
I’ve had that drilled into my skull by my mother since I Manifested.
I would never have put you in that shield if I were concerned I could accidentally harm you in it. ”
Pel continued to stare at him for a very long moment, and then he said, voice very even, “I would think it would be a very effective weapon.”
“It’s meant to protect people,” Tor said flatly. “That’s it.”
Pel’s gaze continued to pierce him, and then he nodded his head, his shoulders softened a little.
But he said, “I hope she tortures you with the music lessons.”
Tor only laughed, hopelessly charmed.
Bavil returned from what had evidently been a very damp patrol, saying only that the raids were increasing in frequency, and Tor drafted him into the defense lessons.
He seemed to be surprised but pleased that Larexa had agreed to learn.
He left the physical blocking demonstrations to Pel, agreeing that he was best at it.
Tor watched Pel’s shoulders hunch. Tor was pretty sure that had been a straightforward compliment. But Pel muttered, “I must be good for something,” as he headed over to Larexa, and Tor realized that Pel had heard it as pointing out all the things he couldn’t do.
Bavil’s lips twisted, but he didn’t pursue the subject, and Tor made himself bite his tongue.
Tor erected one of his shields, and then he worked with Bavil on the best ways to bring it down from the outside, concentrating all Bavil’s Mantled magic on one location, just like he’d told Larexa.
“A poorly erected shield is going to splinter. Even a well-put-together one can collapse under the strain if it can’t be reinforced quickly enough.
A well-matched shield will eventually be overcome as the creator uses too much magic to support it.
In many cases, the shield will naturally fail, a fail-safe for the creator. ”
Tor and Var had experimented endlessly on what could bring one another’s shields down.
“Otherwise, as I already discussed with your sister, there’s the regular warnings of magic overuse.”
Tor and Var had also experimented on how to keep their shields going no matter what was thrown at them.
Their mother had yelled a lot the first time she’d found Var battering Tor’s pink-tinged shield.
He’d totally agreed to the test, and he’d defended Var loudly. His mother had still been unimpressed.
Larexa looked extremely uncomfortable at the idea of trying to stab or hack at his shield with a weapon.
Tor winked at her. “I don’t mind your brothers showing off their lovely muscles.”
Pel scoffed, and Bavil laughed—but they did both attack his shield.
Bavil’s blows were stronger, but Pel’s weren’t insignificant.
Together, they definitely made more of an impact, a strain against his magic.
It wasn’t pain, exactly, more like pressure against something that was outside of him but was generated from somewhere inside him. It was a hard feeling to describe.
Tor didn’t reinforce the shield as quickly as he usually would, letting them see where it eventually thinned and, finally, broke. The two of them ended up stumbling into the previously protected area as the shield collapsed under their onslaught.
Tor absorbed the backlash, and Larexa said, “Didn’t that hurt?”
Shaking his head, Tor said, “I’ve done it often enough that I’m used to it.”
When the shield broke, the magic escaped the confines he’d created. Some of it completely dissipated, but some of it snapped back into him, a rushing jolt sizzling through his veins. It was a disconcerting feeling, but one he’d experienced plenty over the years.
A couple days later, on the way to train with the guards, Pel asked, “Could you shield yourself like that and still fight?”
Tor admitted, “Var and I did when we were kids: erected shields around ourselves and then had our avatars fight one another. I suppose we could theoretically have had our avatars fight other people while we were protected by the shield, but I don’t know what situation that would feel appropriate in. ”
Tor knew some of the rulers had done it during the war, but it felt even less right in peace time.
Even with Bavil back, Pel was still helping Larexa with physical blocking.
His reflexes were the best, and he was very patient with his sister when they were in training mode.
It was almost like they all forgot, sometimes, that they weren’t supposed to be getting along, which was exactly what Tor had been hoping for.
Larexa finally conceded that music was really not Tor’s strength, and he was happily able to abandon the lessons.
“Are you really that bad?” Pel wanted to know. “Or did you just work out how to make her give up?”
Tor offered his most innocent look, and Pel laughed.