She glanced in my direction, then turned back to the source of the noise. From within the room I felt a surge of fire magic, followed a second later by a rush of movement. I crossed to the doorway and looked inside.
The gym was tall, with high windows looking out on to the night sky. The floor was clear, and standing at the centre were Luna and Variam. Luna was wearing her exercise clothes, and Variam was wearing the black warded cloth he uses for fights. Both were in fighting stances, and they seemed to be so focused on each other that they hadn’t noticed my arrival. I kept quiet, watching.
Luna stepped sideways, circling. She had her whip out, and in my magesight I could see the lash curling away behind her, a line of silver-grey mist, twisting with her movements. Variam didn’t move, but his eyes tracked her. I could sense Luna building for an attack; she was about to strike … now .
The whip lashed out. The strand was thinner than it was at full strength, but still dangerous: Luna’s curse is unpredictable, and even a small dose of that silver mist can be deadly. Variam threw out a hand, and a shield of flame flashed into existence, burning the whip away. Variam struck back, heat bursts exploding in Luna’s path. Just like Luna’s whip, they were invisible to normal eyesight, but they each took a half second to form. Luna broke into a run, swerving from side to side; heat bursts flashed to her left and right, barely missing. Luna’s whip had already reformed, and as another of Variam’s spells struck in front of her Luna skidded to a halt and sent the whip slashing back out. This time, Variam had to bring up his fire shield directly in front of him, interrupting his attacks, and Luna took the opportunity to strike again. Magic flashed back and forth, quick and deadly, orange-red meeting silver-grey, destroying each other when they collided. It was hard to see who had the advantage. Variam was faster, but he had to devote much of his strength to blocking the whip strikes, while his spells kept missing.
I glanced at Chalice. She was observing the battle, apparently absorbed in the exchange. As I watched, she seemed to come to a decision and bent down to reach into her bag. The object she retrieved was a metal cylinder, painted a dark green. A ring and a lever protruded from the top. It almost looked like a—
Chalice pulled the ring out of the cylinder. ‘Grenade!’ she called, and lobbed it underarm at Luna.
I moved instinctively, but Luna was already spinning, her palm coming up. The grenade bounced on the wooden floor, and silver mist surged from Luna’s hand and into the metal. The grenade bounced again, skittered over the floor. Luna stood her ground, the mist of her curse pouring into the thing. The grenade came to a stop only ten feet from her, and—
Phut. There was a fizzling noise, then nothing.
I looked into the futures and saw no explosion. A dud. Luna looked up at Chalice with a satisfied expression.
‘At least you got it this time,’ Variam said, wandering up. He’d stopped his attack as soon as the grenade had been thrown. ‘Hey, Alex.’
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘“This time”?’
‘That wasn’t my fault,’ Luna said. ‘I wasn’t ready.’
I looked at Chalice with raised eyebrows.
‘I thought you were in a hurry,’ Chalice said. For someone who’d just been tossing live grenades around, she looked remarkably unconcerned. She turned back to Luna. ‘Better, but you’re still forcing it. Your magic knows where to go. Trust it.’
‘Yeah, okay.’ Luna looked at me. ‘So? What do you think?’
‘Pretty good,’ I said. I meant it. Variam might be technically an apprentice, but he’s as capable as any Light mage of his age that I’ve met, if not better. He might have been holding back a little, but even so, the fact that Luna could go toe to toe with him was impressive. I didn’t think those heat bursts would have been fatal, but they would have really hurt. ‘You’re
The gym was tall, with high windows looking out on to the night sky. The floor was clear, and standing at the centre were Luna and Variam. Luna was wearing her exercise clothes, and Variam was wearing the black warded cloth he uses for fights. Both were in fighting stances, and they seemed to be so focused on each other that they hadn’t noticed my arrival. I kept quiet, watching.
Luna stepped sideways, circling. She had her whip out, and in my magesight I could see the lash curling away behind her, a line of silver-grey mist, twisting with her movements. Variam didn’t move, but his eyes tracked her. I could sense Luna building for an attack; she was about to strike … now .
The whip lashed out. The strand was thinner than it was at full strength, but still dangerous: Luna’s curse is unpredictable, and even a small dose of that silver mist can be deadly. Variam threw out a hand, and a shield of flame flashed into existence, burning the whip away. Variam struck back, heat bursts exploding in Luna’s path. Just like Luna’s whip, they were invisible to normal eyesight, but they each took a half second to form. Luna broke into a run, swerving from side to side; heat bursts flashed to her left and right, barely missing. Luna’s whip had already reformed, and as another of Variam’s spells struck in front of her Luna skidded to a halt and sent the whip slashing back out. This time, Variam had to bring up his fire shield directly in front of him, interrupting his attacks, and Luna took the opportunity to strike again. Magic flashed back and forth, quick and deadly, orange-red meeting silver-grey, destroying each other when they collided. It was hard to see who had the advantage. Variam was faster, but he had to devote much of his strength to blocking the whip strikes, while his spells kept missing.
I glanced at Chalice. She was observing the battle, apparently absorbed in the exchange. As I watched, she seemed to come to a decision and bent down to reach into her bag. The object she retrieved was a metal cylinder, painted a dark green. A ring and a lever protruded from the top. It almost looked like a—
Chalice pulled the ring out of the cylinder. ‘Grenade!’ she called, and lobbed it underarm at Luna.
I moved instinctively, but Luna was already spinning, her palm coming up. The grenade bounced on the wooden floor, and silver mist surged from Luna’s hand and into the metal. The grenade bounced again, skittered over the floor. Luna stood her ground, the mist of her curse pouring into the thing. The grenade came to a stop only ten feet from her, and—
Phut. There was a fizzling noise, then nothing.
I looked into the futures and saw no explosion. A dud. Luna looked up at Chalice with a satisfied expression.
‘At least you got it this time,’ Variam said, wandering up. He’d stopped his attack as soon as the grenade had been thrown. ‘Hey, Alex.’
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘“This time”?’
‘That wasn’t my fault,’ Luna said. ‘I wasn’t ready.’
I looked at Chalice with raised eyebrows.
‘I thought you were in a hurry,’ Chalice said. For someone who’d just been tossing live grenades around, she looked remarkably unconcerned. She turned back to Luna. ‘Better, but you’re still forcing it. Your magic knows where to go. Trust it.’
‘Yeah, okay.’ Luna looked at me. ‘So? What do you think?’
‘Pretty good,’ I said. I meant it. Variam might be technically an apprentice, but he’s as capable as any Light mage of his age that I’ve met, if not better. He might have been holding back a little, but even so, the fact that Luna could go toe to toe with him was impressive. I didn’t think those heat bursts would have been fatal, but they would have really hurt. ‘You’re
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