Page 48 of The Sundered Realms

A very dignified approach for her first field outing.

No one was watching her, though. Which ought to have been better but reminded her enough of her life in Serenthuar that it was worse instead.

Several people clustered furiously around the Gate groaned at the news—the field team, she thought. There were also officials in a blue and white uniform—Thous’ Gate guard—and...

A whole series of portals.

“How did that happen?“ Liris blurted.

Every official stiffened.

“Not our job,” Jiechit said evenly, and the officials’ tension eased minutely. “We’re just here to take them down.”

Right. Special Operations had a limited remit unless otherwise invited.

A woman wearing spelled corrective goggles issued instructions, and on her authority the team moved into action. Jiechit continued, “We have a minute, so since you’re a student I guess we’ll make this teachable. What are we doing?”

Liris’ heart thumped. A test.

A chance.

They were close enough now for Liris to see clearly—the silvery spheres surrounding the black spells, the deadness concentrated within.

“Isolating with containment spells, so the only magic that gets eaten is inside.” Liris frowned.

“You have a question?” Jiechit asked.

Liris considered, trying to think clearly and not let the feeling of soaring drive her to poor decisions. But submitting incorrect responses apparently wasn’t punished, and the answer here would be educational.

She wasn’t in Serenthuar anymore, and she should start acting like it.

So she asked, “Why, though?”

Jiechit raised her eyebrows. “Do you have another idea?”

Liris fumbled to pull out her paper and began sketching. “Why let the magic get eaten at all? If you transported the magic away first before sealing, like back to Special Operations—“

Jiechit smacked the pen and paper out of Liris’ hands. While Liris stood there shocked, the field caster tore a spell from her own pad, and she suddenly found herself encased in a silvery sphere of her own.

“No,” Jiechit said coldly. “If you’re really a student of Embhullor, stay there and try to learn. And either way, don’t even think about doing anything.”

Then she turned on her heel and strode toward the action, dispatching a messenger to the Gate and leaving Liris baffled and alone behind her, once again separated from anything that mattered.

One moment; one critical failure. Would she never learn?

Her confusion quickly gave way to fury as it sunk in that Jiechit had trapped her in a spell.

Liris might have already failed, but one thing she had learned was she didn’t have to accept it.

Jiechit had said not to do anything, but she also hadn’t explained why. So Liris wasn’t going to accept her judgment or directive: she was going to learn and do.

She studied the sphere, remembering what Vhannor had taught her about escaping from the detection spell, and only then did she sit down. She kept an eye on the team so any time they looked over, she wouldn’t appear to be drawing in the sand with her finger.

Carefully, carefully. While the team let magic be drained from the world, and Liris still thought this way was stupid, when hers would have saved the magic of this sea.

Which she couldn’t even look at, because she had to watch Jiechit.

“Jiechit!”

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