• Aliese's test
• Prologue: Pillars of Light (new draft)
• Basis of Magic

Aliese's test

Aliese opened her eyes, squinting against the sudden light as her maid opened the heavy curtains to her window. “Rise and shine, dear. I understand you have a busy day ahead of you.” Aliese sighed, pulling her quilt over her head. She hadn't forgotten the day; she just dreaded facing it. Today would decide whether she would follow in her father's footsteps as a mage of Haalestir, or her mother's as a seamstress. She'd sooner throw herself from the castle parapet than spend her days sewing.

“Have the kitchen prepare something substantial for breakfast, Marie. I'll be down in a few.”

“As you wish.” She heard Marie's footsteps as she moved across the room and then the door closing behind her. Aliese sighed again and threw off her covers, braving the daylight.

Twenty minutes later, dressed in a loose flowing blue skirt and pale yellow blouse, tangles combed out of her hair, and face washed, she emerged from her bedroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Her stomach complained as it always did, an after-effect of her nightly practice.

Breakfast this morning consisted of honeyed oats, a small portion of meat, and juice, neatly arranged at the end of the table. She sat down, noticing that there was no one else around—likely the house's servants had better things to do than watch her eat. She shrugged and made quick work of the food, quieting her stomach and calming her nerves somewhat.

When she had finished she took care of her dishes herself, washing and setting them in the drying rack. Her mother would chastise her for doing so, reminding her that “she paid for the servants to take care of the house so she didn't have to”, but Aliese didn't care. She was fully capable of washing the dishes herself, and did not want to depend on other people to handle menial tasks. It was bad enough they still did most of her clothes washing, house cleaning, and errand running. She dried off her hands and sighed again. She'd procrastinated enough already. It was likely the councilors were awaiting her arrival already.

She was surprised when she opened the front door to find two men on the porch. She tilted her head inquisitively. “May I help you?”

“We're here to escort Aliese Rhuaden to the testing chamber immediately,” the shorter of the two stated. He paused, looking her up and down. “I suppose that's you. Hurry, they've been waiting this past hour or more.”

She grunted softly. “They could have told me,” she muttered under her breath, exiting the house and closing the door firmly behind her.

“Which is why we're here. We've been waiting quite some time. No one answered the door.” Aliese frowned, pushing past them. If she had to deal with servants, the least they could do is perform their duties.

“I'm sorry for the delay. Let's not keep them waiting, shall we?” She headed toward the tower, leaving the two to follow her.

By the time she'd arrived at the main tower gate, the two young men had moved in front of her again. She let them proceed. She knew the way, certainly, but didn't want any hard feelings between them. They were only doing their job. They wound through the tower and arrived at a large double door, where two more men were waiting. The two sent to fetch her bowed slightly, heading back in the direction they had come from. She heard one of them whisper as he passed, “Good luck.” She turned to stare after them, smiling slightly.

The two men waiting at the doors were now holding them open, and Aliese strode slowly past them. Two marble statues were perched on large pedestals to either side of the entrance, poised to guard the only exit from the room. She glided between them, ignoring their presence. She did not see the servants bow, nor did she see them as they slipped back out the door, closing it behind them. She heard the click of the door as it locked, though, trapping her in the room. Her skirts brushed against the tile floor, a soft melody to the light tapping her shoes beat as she moved toward the semicircle dais in the center of the room. She spared glances to her left and right, able to make out the simple patterned tapestries that lined the curved walls between sconces, adding color to an otherwise drab stone wall. The sconces themselves were of the normal oil-burning type—a part of the testing process required them. Otherwise they would have been like most of the other lights in the tower, a simple enchanted fire rune set into stone.

She stopped and turned her gaze forward, eying each of the masters in turn. All of them appeared a little fuzzy from the water shield that surrounded them. She understood why. Not all of those being tested had control over their magic and there had been accidents, one fairly recently. She hadn't really known the previous councilor of infusion, who had nearly been killed when one of his students had accidentally used too much force lifting something and had hit him before he could react. Garren, who practiced solely summoning runecasting, was praised often by Zellenya, though she had little personal experience with him. Others, like Tarone, she'd grown quite fond of. Tarone's eyes captured her own, and she took a second to puzzle at his expression. It was almost as if he was... worried, she thought. As though he had to be. It wasn't him being offered his last chance to prove himself. She bit her lip softly, refusing to follow that train of thought. She waited.

Headmaster Barret broke the silence, his chair scraping against the platform as he stood. His intimidating height coupled with the fact that the dais was raised made her want to cower, but she stood her ground, mute, waiting. “Aliese Rhuaden,” he began, regarding her, “you come to us this day to seek a life of magecraft, to serve and service magic, to further this kingdom and its people, in whatever capacity you may. Before you stand five councilors of magic, able to identify and bear witness to any ability you may have. Do you understand this?”

Aliese nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

“Each of the councilors will administer their own test, one at a time, to see if you possess a particular school of rune. Do you understand?”

Aliese nodded again. “I understand.”

Barret looked to his associates for a moment before continuing. “This is also your third time before this council for testing. Should you fail to produce verifiable proof that you are capable of entering this school, you will be barred from this tower except on recognized duties to or from a member of the academy. Do you understand this, Aliese? Are you ready to begin the test?”

Aliese clenched her fists slightly, steeling herself to meet Barret's gaze. “I understand. I am ready.” There, it was done. She forced her hands to relax, resisting the urge to clutch her skirt.

“Then let the test begin. We shall start with infusion.” He settled back down into his chair.

Mistress Porreg stood up at the far end of the dais, hopping down to the tile floor and gliding to stand in front of Aliese. Where Master Barret was imposing due to his stature, Mistress Porreg was the exact opposite: Aliese looked down to meet her gaze. Her slight build only ever fooled an apprentice once, though. While she'd never had the pleasure of one of Porreg's meetings, the horror tales the students recounted more than eliminated the curiosity to find out. She wasn't sure if they were even remotely true, but judging by the way some of them had nursed their backsides after a disciplinary talk, she guessed most were.

“I've never personally worked with you, Aliese,” Porreg's voice rang out clear into the nearly empty chamber, “so I doubt that you have much to offer in the realm of infusion. Most of my students have been displaying their abilities since they were old enough to toddle around. Still, you should get the chance. I caution you, however, to be careful. I know you've attended some of the entry level classes, so you should understand the dangers of infusion. Still, it doesn't seem to sink in sometimes, so let me be perfectly clear. You can and will hurt yourself if you aren't careful.” She stopped for a moment to let that sink in. “Now, that being said, I want you to concentrate on your arms. Physical strength is the easiest and safest facet of the body to enhance, as long as you don't get overambitious. Think of your muscles becoming more energetic. Open yourself to the flow of magic and let it course through your arms.” She calmed herself and opened her conduit to magic. It flowed into her slowly, building in her chest. She closed her eyes and felt it flow into her arms and down to her hands, feeling the warmth as it pooled there.

She opened her eyes to find that Porreg had taken two steps back and was looking up at the other four councilors, a slightly bewildered look on her face. Tarone waved his hand slightly, but even his carefully schooled expression gave off hints of concern. Aliese smiled slightly. She had grown used to people acting warily around her when she was preparing to cast. Tarone had told her it was because of the amount of magic she drew in.

Mistress Porreg cleared her voice. “Yes. Now, focus on your arms and draw the rune. Fire for power, bent inward from... yes, you remember your studies, at least.” She had already traced the rune in the air as Porreg had started to explain it. It could be done much better, but it didn't need to be for the test. “Now activate the rune, and concentrate on affecting only your arms.” She triggered the rune in her mind, doing as she was told. She felt nothing more than a minute drop in her magic levels as the rune activated, disappearing from the air. “Now try to lift these weights.” She gestured beside her to a large pile of stone blocks, each with handles attached to them, and then stepped aside to let Aliese approach.

Aliese strained against the blocks but was unable to convince them to budge. After four more attempts, starting from the beginning each time, Mistress Porreg called a stop to the test. “As Mistress and councilor of the runecasting school of infusion, I deem Aliese to have no ability in this field.” Aliese's shoulders slumped a little, and she spoke up. “I wish to skip the summoning test. I know that I have absolutely no abilities in that field, and do not want to waste the council's time with it.” Zellenya had tried for years to teach her, and even though she wasn't the best teacher, she was good enough to allow her to come to her own conclusion. It didn't seem right to her at all, to allow magic to form a consciousness.

Headmaster Barret spoke up again. “Very well, the council recognizes Aliese's voluntary ommission of the summoning school, and the decision from the school of infusion. We shall continue with enchantment. To your left is a table with paper and quill. Your first task is to enchant a piece of paper to fly around the room under its own power. It need be nothing fancy. Begin.” Aliese sighed and walked over to the desk, sitting down in the provided chair and grabbing a sheet of paper. The magic she'd drawn still pooled about her hands, but she could not use it for this exercise. Enchantment's key function was the ability to create a permanent link with magic, to give the object its own pool, so to speak. She at least wanted to try.

Unfortunately, it did not matter how well she drew the air runes on the piece of paper. Every time she opened a new connection to the magic and tried to fasten it to the rune, it would slide off, stuck to her instead. Paper was extremely easy to bond magic to, even though it rarely lasted more than a few hours. Usually the paper would disintegrate afterward, the magic unraveling the paper's material bonds. She stood, looked up at Barret and shook her head sadly. He nodded. “It is my decision that Aliese is unable to enchant. I could feel no lasting magical connection in any of her attempts. And so we move on to evocation, personal and ranged.

Aliese glanced optimistically toward Tarone and Rena. At least here she knew she could do something, even if her attempts were feeble. Perhaps it would be enough. Rena stood and addressed her “Since I know you're capable of evocation, it is my job to see whether you have the versatility or power to be accepted into our school. We shall start with a simple flame.” Aliese immediately sketched a base fire rune, adding one power dot instinctively, and activated it. A simple flickering flame the size of her fist sprung into existence above her outstretched hand, hovering. She looked back at Rena.

“Good,” Rena commented, nodding. “Now, form a water shield around the fire while keeping it active.” Aliese concentrated, forming the shield rune with her left hand and activating it around the fire and her right hand. It formed slowly, wavering and hissing whenever the water came in contact with the fire. She focused more and the sphere steadied, complete. The water cooled her wrist where it flowed around it, an odd counterpoint to the heat she felt on her palm. She spared another glance at Rena to continue.

“Now form a pedestal of earth in your other hand and transfer the ball to the top of it, holding it steady with air.” Aliese bit her lip. She'd never had an easy time keeping so many runes active at once, and she knew she hadn't practiced as often with earth. Taking a deep breath, she drew a small earth rune, knowing that earth wouldn't take much to keep up. She smiled a bit, creating a slight curvature on the top surface, to help hold the sphere steady. Her left hand quivered a little as she held up the earthen pedestal, and she slowly released the sphere of water onto the top of it, suspending the fire as close to the center as she could once she removed her right hand. She quickly drew a very weak air rune and activated it twice, once inside the sphere to hold the fire from the water, and again to hold the sphere on the earth rune. Sweat beaded her forehead as she focused on the five runes balanced delicately on her left hand. She was in no danger of the runes disappearing, but they did seem very weak, the water sphere too thin, the fire very faint, the earth wanting to shift like sand. She realized that she should have dotted those runes, as well, but fire was the only one that needed a constant fuel source, and was the one she was most concerned about.

“Clever, letting the air hold the fire. Most would have focused on suspending the rune in the middle, but you have demonstrated the ability to think of solutions, as well as handle multiple spells. As the evocation councilor, specialization personal, I accept her abilities to be enough to warrant further training. You may dismiss your spells.” Aliese dropped all five runes at once, breathing a sigh of relief as the strain lifted from her mind. She closed her eyes to concentrate on not letting the sickness take her.

Barret spoke. “Unfortunately, this is not enough to warrant her acceptance in the academy. Her performance in evocation is barely acceptable, and she has shown no other schools. In the interest....”

Tarone raised his voice. “She has yet to be tested by me, Barret. You know that ranged evocation is significantly harder than personal, and demonstrating any real ability in it is enough to accept her.” Aliese opened her eyes to look at Tarone. For him to speak out for her was not all that unusual—she knew that he thought she had more potential than she herself did. For him to interrupt the headmaster, though... that was more interesting.

Looking over at Headmaster Barret, she watched as he composed himself, very clearly annoyed at being cut off. “Very well, Tarone, test her.” He left out that he knew she would fail, but the edge in his voice was mocking.

“Aliese, the ranged evocation test is very simple in concept, but difficult for many runecasters. I've told you many times that you can pull from other elemental sources instead of creating them from scratch. Around this room are a dozen sconces, all oil-burning. Your task is to pull the fire from them and gather it to yourself. The amount you can gather is important—a single sconce is well within the ability of even Rena. No offense to you, m'dear.” He smiled and glanced at her. She nodded. “Whenever you're ready, you may begin.”

Aliese nodded, closing her eyes again to remove all distractions. She knew the principle behind gathering the fire. She had even managed to gather from a single source before. It was supposed to require less effort to cast fire if you had a source to pull from, rather than using magic as the fuel. The distance separating you from it made it much more difficult, though. The sconces were all over a dozen paces away, and they were not large. Still, she had to try. Tarone had given her a chance, and she had to take it. The rune she traced out with her eyes closed, visualizing it in her eyes. A modified base fire rune with an amplification subset and what she could only describe as a lure to pull the fire toward her. She placed two dots on the rune. She knew that it was dangerous, but it was the only way she knew that she might be able to pull more of the fire toward her. She held her hands out and activated the rune. A sudden pressure flowed through her body as the magic resisted her. She let herself relax, opening her eyes a little. She could see the sconces' fires flickering slightly, as though they had been disturbed by an outside wind. She knew though that it was her spell trying to capture them—there were no windows into this chamber. She closed her eyes again. Please, let me pass this test. Let me use this magic.

Done. A simple word, heard loudly in her head, and a strange sensation as something inside her shifted downward. It felt as though a corset had been loosened from around her chest, and almost immediately she felt the temperature of the room rise dramatically. She heard the glass surrounding the sconces shatter, the tiny shards tinkling against the floor before the dull roar of an inferno completely washed out all other senses. She did not think, but dropped to the floor, trying to release the fire rune while simultaneously drawing and activating a water shield around her, adding two dots to it as well. The water shield abated most of the heat around her, but the fire rune would not release. She felt her magical reserves that she'd gathered throughout the test pouring into the air around her, and when she opened her eyes she could tell the shield, nearly a foot thick now, was already weakening from the fire rune sapping her magic. The intense maelstrom of fire outside the shield was blinding, and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut once more.

What have I done? she thought to herself. She'd been unable to see the councilors through the inferno, and hoped that they were alright. I need to stop this, now. She felt around her, aware of the aura near her feet that she had felt shift before. She could tell now that it was something that had affected her magic. She didn't even think, but mentally picked it up, throwing it out in all directions, feeling it stretch thin as it expanded in her mind to fill the room and move beyond. Her shield, the inferno, and all light in the room died instantly, and she collapsed against the floor, feeling the cool tile against her right cheek. She heard one of the wooden tapestry weights thunk against the tile, and then nothing.

* * *

Tarone stood slowly, brushing off his robes and summoning a small fire to hold above his head. The rune seemed to resist being activated. He shook his head, dismissing it as fatigue. The room was a mess—everything that could burn had started to. Luckily it had stopped when the magical fire had been extinguished, not having had enough time to burn on normal fuel. He bent over and examined Porreg. She was still breathing, thankfully. He'd barely had time to shield her when her own enchanted shield had shattered from the force of the fire. Her constantly infused body had protected her more than her shield had. Barret's had held out much better, as had Garren's. He saw Barret stand only a few paces from him, and he activated one of the runes on his bracers to give him more light. He ignored him for now, looking for Rena. Her shield should have held fine. He saw movement in front of the dais and glided over there, hopping off the platform.

“I'm fine,” Rena said between coughs, waving him off. “I tried to get to her in time... but she seemed to do better than all of us.” He glanced at the crumpled heap on the floor, laying on the only non-cracked tile he could see in the entire room. “I've never seen anything like that. She didn't have a fraction of that power during my exercise. She could barely keep them all formed. Where...”

“She finally released what she's always been holding,” Tarone mumbled solemnly. “And now we have to figure out how to control her.”

“Control her? You want to control her? She's a monster! She almost killed all of us, and you want to control her?” Barret was livid, jumping down from the dais to join them. “I don't want her anywhere near the tower! She's too danger....”
“And you want her roaming around the town instead?” Tarone interrupted him for the second time, pivoting on his heel to stare him directly in the face. “Or do you want to block her magic completely? Do you think you can?”

“Tarone's right, Barret. There's no way we can have her running around unchecked now. It was dangerous enough when she merely held that power, but if she's figured out a way to release it...” Garren trailed off as he joined the group around Aliese. It didn't need to be said. They all knew she could destroy half the city before anyone could act.

“She couldn't release the rune,” Tarone looked back to Rena. “I've seen it before, on the battlefield. Ambitious young idiots who draw too much power and then cannot stop. It's like trying to stop the water once the dam is broken. You just have to let it wash downriver.” He bent down to pick her up, cradling her in his arms. His knees protested the extra weight. “She stopped it, though. She stopped everything...” He trailed off, furrowing his brow. More than she should have been able to he thought. He'd have to figure out how, later. “She's only unconscious. Just like last time.” Except last time she hadn't engulfed the testing chamber in flame. He walked toward the door. “The nurses will be able to take care of her. And then her training starts in earnest.” Barret looked ready to protest again, but everyone ignored him. Even Porreg, regaining her consciousness, shuffled out of the testing center with Garren at her side, both following Tarone to the hospital for an examination. Rena went another way, back to her chambers, leaving Barret in the room by himself.

Tarone observed several burn marks on the wall adjacent to the testing center where other sources of fire appeared to have been drawn to Aliese's magic. He also noticed the rune lighting, which seemed to be flickering where it wasn't out altogether. The others following him seemed to be concentrating more on walking, so he kept his thoughts to himself. He glanced down at her, tilting his head a little.What are you, little one? He had many more questions than answers at this point. He smiled a little. At least he would have a real student, now. Someone who could perhaps take over for him eventually. He stepped a little lighter, turning into another hallway, anxious to get her back on her feet.