Sword of Fire and Sea (The Chaos Knight Book One) by Erin Hoffman Page B

unceremoniously back into the chest and occupied himself with hanging on for dear life.
    Gradually the craft evened out in the air, but Thalnarra was practically molting with anger. Her head snapped around and she looked Vidarian full in the face, still pulling the basket and maintaining her wing-speed. Absently he realized that he didn't know her neck was quite so agile—it was disturbing in a way, but less so than her angrily widened eyes.
    // What in the True Names of all that's holy did you think you were doing? // Her telepathic voice thundered in his head and he strangled down the distinct urge to hide under the cargo.
    “I was following an exercise in the Book of Nistra—”
    // You sent out a “welcome, please make yourself at home!” beacon to anyone with a lick of Sense in a two-hundred-mile radius! And doing exactly what you did, unannounced, would have Quenched a lesser priestess than I! //
    Vidarian blinked. “I didn't know anything about Quenching…”
    // Then perhaps you shouldn't be meddling about with the Book of Nistra. I suppose you looked up the amplification sphere in it without even reading the basics of Nistran magic, much less the Five Magics and how they interact? // Her thick wings beat violently at the air as she grew increasingly incensed, causing the basket to rock unsettlingly.
    “I thought—”
    // Maybe you had better start at the beginning , // she said acidly, then turned her beak back forward, feather-tufted ears swiveling away from Vidarian as if to pointedly deny his existence. Trying to make as little sound as possible, he withdrew the Book of Nistra and closed the little chest, going so far as to latch it securely before settling back to read—this time from page one.

    An insidious sense of futility crept over Vidarian as he toiled through the book. At intervals he pulled out Ariadel's emerald to assure they were still on course—but with the gryphons’ sharp eyes for navigation, they always were, and it was mostly an excuse for him to stop reading. But every return to the neatly lettered pages was more daunting, and in the end he gave it up, choosing instead to stare vacantly across the cloud-traced sky.
     
    // I apologize for snapping at you. // Thalnarra's clipped words jolted Vidarian out of an unintentional reverie, and he jumped.
    “No harm done.” He smiled weakly, peering up at the lead gryphon. Although she continued to face forward, her ears had swiveled back to catch his movements and speech.
    // Not by me, I hope. You do realize that what you did was tremendously dangerous? //
    “I think so. But I still couldn't find anything in the book about Quenching.”
    // It would have been in the Book of Sharli. But I can tell you. // Several moments passed, punctuated by the steady beat of the gryphons’ wings, before Thalnarra spoke again. // The Five Magics are arrayed in opposition and balance , // she began, her tone taking on a lecturing hint. // There are a number of…classifications, shall we say, between them, but the most important for you to know is the difference between what we call Substantive magics and Ephemeral magics. Earth and water are Substantive; air and fire are Ephemeral. That is why the greatest danger for you is to apply your new ability to manipulate Nistra's gift to “physically” touch the world—because water is Substantive, anything you touch in it will reverberate throughout the entire universe. On a universal scale this is insignificant, but locally it can have dramatic detrimental effect. The danger of an Ephemeral magic user is different, because we cannot actually move any of the elements, only apply energy to them, which is not quite the same thing. Moving for us is much more difficult than it is for you, and much more complex—but it is very easy for a beginning fire priestess to push the balance of energy within her, and this can be dangerous in a variety of ways. //
    “You mentioned five magics—what is the fifth?” The