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The figure snatched its hand back, fingers quivering as if in pain.
An eerie, hollow screech erupted around Wy
Wy
An undead mage, with the skill to become incorporeal, and yet the snap of a Fay-descended majay-hì had hurt it in turn. Both dog and figure recovered quickly and fixed upon each other with caution. Wy
She ripped the sheath off the sun crystal.
Letting it drop, she gripped the staff with both hands and shut her eyes, trying to remember what little Domin il'Sänke had taught her.
Not a spell, but more a series of thoughts—symbols—matched with plain words so that her voice reinforced her intent. She leaned the staff's head out and concentrated, seeing the long crystal's shape in her thoughts.
"From Spirit…" she whispered, and a circle surrounded the crystal in her mind's eye. "To Fire…" And she added a triangle within the circle. "For its light" — and another inverted triangle appeared within the first—"of life!"
A final circle filled the i
A soft warmth spread upon her face.
The insides of her eyelids brightened slightly—as if a candle had been lit before them. Clinging to the mental pattern, Wy
"Wy
She snapped her eyes open at the rasping voice.
Only the barest light showed around her. Horror flooded Wy
Light, like a noon sun, ignited before Wy
Three sounds struck her ears amid sudden blindness—a dog's startled yelp, a hiss rising to a wail, and Chane's grating shout of agony. Everything washed white, erasing Chane from Wy
And a last sound smothered the other three.
A shriek filled Wy
That last sound had torn from her own throat.
Ghassan il'Sänke heard a howl and followed the sound, half leaping and half floating from rooftop to rooftop. When he reached the next street, Wy
A cloaked man was ru
Then a glimmer rose in the long crystal of Wy
"No!" Ghassan growled, and extended his hand in the air, aimed toward the staff. Not one symbol or shape came quickly enough into his mind.
Yellow-white light erupted, turning night into instant day, and Ghassan ducked, raising a sleeve before his eyes. He heard a hissing wail, a yelp, and a rasping shout. Wy
Daylight winked out.
Caught half-blind between colored blotches over his sight and the sudden return of darkness, Ghassan dropped quickly over the eave's edge. But when he landed upon the street, still blinking and squinting, the black-robed figure was nowhere in sight, and neither was Wy
It shook its head, whimpering, and Ghassan ran to kneel where Wy
Curled upon the cobblestones with her eyes shut, she shuddered in a growing sweat with the staff still clutched in one hand. He jerked it from her grip, but when he tried to touch her damp brow, the lanky wolf charged at him.
Ghassan slapped his robe's skirt aside and spun away on his knees with the staff in hand. The wolf hopped straight over Wy
He raised a hand, symbols and shapes forming in his vision, and prepared to cast the animal aside as easily as he lifted himself to the rooftops. The wolf pulled up short, head low and jaws parted in a snarl, but it didn't advance.
Ghassan paused and studied this aberrant animal.
It stood its ground, directly between him and Wy
There was something familiar about this beast.
Ghassan had little time left if he were to free Wy
Wy
He pointed the staff's crystal outward as the wolf thrashed to its feet. It hopped aside, trying to get around, but Ghassan already had his free hand on Wy
He sank into her thoughts—and erased the lingering trace of the patterned shapes submerged in her mind.
Wy
"The dog…" she whispered weakly. "Bring…"
She fell unconscious, and the wolf ceased rumbling, staring at her as its ears rose. Then it turned its eyes on Ghassan.
Its jowls curled, exposing teeth, as if warning him away from Wy
When he set the staff down, prepared to lift Wy
Ghassan froze as his brow wrinkled in impatience. Wy
Some form of nonsense always circled around Wy
But the wolf, or dog, puzzled him, as much for its sudden appearance as for its strange form. And when the black-robed mage had come after Wy
He gripped the staff with his right hand, rose slowly to his feet, and swept his left hand across his sight of the wolf. More symbols formed in his mind.
"Halt," he murmured, reaching for the animal's simple thoughts.
It stopped cold, as if bound where it stood.
Ghassan gestured in the air over Wy
The wolf went into a snarling frenzy.
"Silence!" Ghassan snapped, and reached deeper into the animal's limited mind.
Something in there slapped his mental intrusion aside, as surely as if it had slapped his face. He nearly lost hold of Wy
The wolf lurched forward, one slow paw at a time, and Ghassan stared in surprise.
A simple beast should not have resisted his command so easily, let alone felt—or responded—when he entered its thoughts. He turned away, heading down the road toward the guild. He had no time to deal with getting some strange wolf onto the grounds, even if Wy
The animal's snarls intensified, and he paused, glancing over his shoulder.
It had not kept up, but it still made headway against his will sainhei.
Ghassan sighed. In a quick flash of symbols and a silent chant, he ripped the command from the wolf's mind.
It lunged forward and circled him.
Ghassan hissed back at it, hurrying on, and the wolf hopped aside before it got caught by his boots.
Chane lay on the far side of a leather shop, gritting his teeth in pain. Thin trails of smoke rose from his charred face and hands. It took effort not to whimper and betray his presence as he climbed to his feet and peered around the shop's side.
A tall sage with dusky skin and dark hair knelt beside Wy