Cave of Nightmares by V. St. Clair Page A

length or telling me?”
    “Telling,” t he boy answered meekly.
    “That is correct, ” Master Willow nodded. “Every level-one birch wand starts out at a little over twenty centimeters. That length was determined to yield its maximum harmonic efficiency.” He paused while they took notes. “However, as most of you know by now, channeling magic through an instrument consumes that instrument. Observe.”
    He held up a birch wand that looked exactly like theirs and waved it in front of him. A bouquet of flowers appeared in his hand and he tossed them to a girl in the front row , who admired them with a giggle and turned to show her friend.
    The Master picked up an unused wand and held it up beside the first so they could see the difference. The first one was only slightly shorter, less than half a centimeter different. Some of the people in the back had to squint to see the change.
    “That di dn’t affect a very large change, but what about now?” He waved the first wand again and his desk grew a trunk like a tree, with smaller branches and leaves sprouting out from the top and skewering a sheet of paper that was sitting there.
    Some of Hayden’s classmates made excit ed exclamations about the magic, but Hayden was focused on the Master’s wand, which was now less than half the size of the first.
    “Can anyone tell me why the first spell consumed so little and this one took more than half of the wand away?”
    There was another moment of silence. Hayden wasn’t sure why he raised his hand, but Master Willow called on him before he could think better of it.
    “Hayden?”
    “Um, I think it’s because the second spell was a lot more powerful than the first, so it consumed more of the wand in exchange,” he thought back to his brief conversation with Asher when he was explaining prisms.
    Master Willow looked intrigued.
    “So you believe that the more power you channel through an instrument, the more it is consumed in the process?”
    Hayden nodded.
    “As it happens, you are correct,” Master Willow nodded to him. “The materials consumed are proportional to the power that is channeled.” He paused to let them copy that down. “It is known as the Law of Equivalence, and it applies to all the different forms of magic. Nothing can be created without something being destroyed in the process; in most cases, the instrument we use.”
    The class digested that in silence.
    “I was channeling a large amount of power for the wand I was using, and it was mostly consumed in the process. One of the most challenging things you’ll have to learn as a mage is how to get the maximum efficiency out of your instruments. If I had used a level three maple wand I would have seen almost no loss at all.” He resumed pacing the room in front of them.
    “Maple is a much stronger core than birch, and is capable of channeling much more powerful magic.” He paused. “Some of you may be asking yourselves then, why anyone would waste time with a birch wand when they could just buy maple and be done with it.”
    Most of the class nodded their heads in agreement.
    “ Does anyone want to guess at the answer?”
    No one seemed eager to volunteer. Master Willow’s gaze lingered on each of them for a moment as he looked around the room.
    “Anyone?” his eyes met Hayden’s, prompting him to speak.
    “Is it because different wands are made for different things?” he offered meekly, drawing off of what Master Asher had told him about different prisms. “So maybe there are things a birch wand can do that a maple wand can’t?”
    Willow gave him another nod.
    “For someone who didn’t come from a magical household you seem to know a fair bit about it,” he noted, moving on. “Your classmate is correct once again. Different woods are capable of different things. A mastery-level elder wand could start a small earthquake, but it can never boil water. For heat you would need either oak, cherry, or elm.
    “My classes are largely