4. Waterpower
Waterpower
"And once more, Salrou, this time without your focus," Doamna Roshcatii—Mistress Crimson—commanded.
Lukaz reached inside and drew magic from himself, spinning it out into a solid shield. The sorceress threw a rock, hard. It bounced. The blow stung, and the shield wavered.
"Break," she called. "You're done." He drew his magic back into himself, then lowered the shield on the working circle before breaking the white chalk ring, smudging it with one hand.
The world swayed, but he didn't. His instructress would sense it and attack.
That's what constructs and abyssal beasts did, so she did it too.
He bowed to Mistress Talyssa as she left the remains of the circle and went to where food waited.
Train as you fight, that was the Hunters' way.
At least he didn't hurt as much as after their last lesson.
One of the other young Hunters had attacked as he cast an illusion, and he'd gotten stung by backlash. Defending and holding the spell hurt.
As Mistress Talyssa—Mistress Crimson—ate, he erased the circle and any other traces of their presence.
Once she finished, he took what was left.
She might have to Hunt, and needed to recharge and be ready.
He wasn't on duty yet. Masters Lestrang and Chan had both said that he needed to gain more strength and stamina before Hunting with magic.
Even the Senior Hunter had not argued. The Dark One's sideways look and raised eyebrow might have had something to do with the lack of disagreement.
"Good," his instructress said, calling him back to the moment. "You did much better. Continue charging your foci, and practice working on your own as well as with stored power. A time might come when you needs must seem weaker than you are, less experienced."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, honored Mistress Talyssa."
"Finish your drink, then you are dismissed. You have two exams on Thursday, as I recall?" He heard sympathy in her voice.
"Yes, ma'am. Hydrology and literature." They would be challenging, but fun.
Unlike the hydrodynamics exam last semester that had left him wishing an abyssal beast had sat on him.
His head would have hurt less. The Great God had given His children graphing calculators and modeling software for a reason.
The professor disagreed. Dr. Leopold-no-relation was brilliant, and a great teacher, but ooooohhh, his exams left students curled up and sobbing under their desks, or drowning their sense of doom in the rock jocks' preferred bar.
"I recall the pain. Professor Takahara wrote the instructions for our programming final in machine language. Then it got worse."
He knew just enough to shudder. "Yes, ma'am.
" He cleaned up after their snack, took the platter and plates to the kitchen and put them in the racks for dirty things, and plodded to his car.
Florian and Leopold were on home duty. He saluted as they passed.
They acknowledged the gesture but did not stop.
That was good. Leopold scared him a little.
He'd watched the dog rip the leg off an abyssal beast with a fast bite and shake of his head.
Even without wearing his steel teeth, he was formidable.
Lukaz drove to his parents' farm, windows down to let in the chilly spring air.
The state had finally allowed a no-limits weekend, making the roads safer as well as freezers fuller.
He and his brothers and sister had accounted for eight deer between them—seven does and a twelve-point buck that really should have known better.
He smiled, baring his teeth at the memory.
After they cleaned the buck, Alois said they should have left the buck to breed, so they could work less in the future.
The beast had walked up near them as they got out of the pickup to check the fence.
And stayed there, browsing the fresh greenery.
Lukaz hadn't sensed anything chasing it, or heard any signs of trouble, so Alois had gotten the shotgun out of the truck and that was that.
He saw eye shine, low, and braked. Three, no four skunks stood by the road, a mother and her kits.
He changed lanes and gave them lots of room.
Skunks had the right of way. He'd heard about the hunt in Devon County when a skunk sprayed an abyssal beast. Leopold's commentary had been as pungent as the skunk.
"Good," his father said as he got out of the car at the house. "We need to pump water for the pigs. The electric pump's making strange sounds again."
"Yes, sir." So much for the novel he wanted to finish.
The Gloucestershire pigs' shed had so many water problems. The Large Blacks and Berkshires could forage most of the year, and did, but the Gloucestershires needed shade and a little more tending.
Lukaz got the pump handle from the tool-storage room in the main barn and followed his father to the black and white pigs' shelter.
They grunted, acknowledging the men's arrival.
As his father scattered extra feed at the far end of the feeder troughs, luring the pigs away from the water lines, Lukaz locked the handle onto the pump and started work.
He reached with a tiny bit of magic, feeling for the water level.
It was a little lower than usual, but it had been a dry spring, so the well itself had not developed a problem.
Three pumps and the liquid began rising up in the pipe.
Two more and it flowed into the tank that fed the pigs' smaller trough.
He pulled his magic back and concentrated on the level in the tank.
Should he fill it? Probably, just in case they couldn't get the electric pump replaced in the morning. It wasn't as hard as working magic.
"Benes," his father said when he finished. Good. "The old Large Black sow farrowed this morning, after you left. Eight, all healthy. That leaves the two Berkshires, and we should be done for the season."
"Benes. That's very good, sir." Large Blacks were conservation pigs, and they got a bounty for selling half the piglets for breeding stock instead of pork.
People paid very good money for pasture-grazed, heritage breed pigs.
They also paid for their children to look at "antique piggies," so the Padurars held show-farm weeks twice a year, in spring and fall.
His mother, sister, and aunts cooked, selling local specialty baked goods and fresh produce while the men managed the animals and tourists.
Lukaz got a little supper, then washed before falling into bed. Tomorrow he had class, then the tests on Thursday.
The next morning, after hydro-engineering wrapped up, he hurried to the thaumatology department.
"Luke! We're over here," Martina called.
He cut the corner and followed her into the lab building.
"Glad I caught you. Dr. Chan and Dr. Mohdi are doing a demo, then we're all going to the north end to observe Jacob Lawson's project. "
"Thanks. Did I miss the memo?"
"No. I forgot to copy you onto the list. My apologies," Dr. Chan said.
He bowed a little to the sorcerer of shadow and kinsman, then followed everyone into the lab. A shield sprang into being as Martina closed the door. The professors and PhD students took turns recharging the shields and wards, so they were always ready.
Dr. Mohdi already had a pattern sketched out in the working circle.
Lukaz found a place to stand on the raised platform that now surrounded the central area.
It made watching so much safer and easier.
Dr. Chan took roll, then locked the door.
Miss Ivanka Sirovy stood by the door, ready to drop the shields and let everyone out in an emergency.
"So, all of you read the pattern description and intended results?" Dr. Mohdi asked. When everyone nodded, he continued, "What is the most likely point of failure?"
After some rustling and sideways glances, Chris Lewis raised his hand. "Ah, the ... the moment when the second worker joins the spell? If the two workers' power doesn't mesh right, it could overload the dispersal element."
Dr. Chan smiled a little. "Very good, but not quite right. You are correct in that the workers need to plan in advance for something like that."
When no one else raised a hand, Lukaz did, and ventured, "Sirs, when the primary caster ties off the power-draw to the object? At least, that seems to be where the examples usually fell apart."
"Exactly," Dr. Mohdi said. "So, Letters, when you are ready."
He switched to seeing magic as the two sorcerers moved into the circle.
Biryan closed the ring. Letters' magic flowed silvery blue with a hint of shadow in it, even by daylight.
Biryan's was more earthy colored, brown and yellow with gold flecks.
Letters sent magic to the five glyphs drawn on the floor, energizing the spell around a green crystal in the center of the working.
Biryan held a wooden pointer in his right hand.
He mouthed a cantrip, drawing energy from the glyphs and sending it to the stone.
Normally the two professors couldn't blend power, but the third glyph neutralized the 'personality' of the magic.
Once the stone held enough magic, Biryan withdrew his own power, smoothly and slowly.
The stone's color had shifted, darkening to magic sight.
Letters reached with a bit of power and brushed the stone. It flared, but did not backlash.
Judging by the sounds from the other students, he wasn't the only one who had been holding his breath.
Lukaz inhaled more quietly and started to relax, then caught himself.
The work wasn't finished. Indeed, as Letters started to withdraw power from the glyphs, something twisted.
Lukaz stepped back and raised his shields, getting ready to duck.
Biryan caught and shielded the something, holding it steady. Letters finished ending the spells.