Page 135 of First Ritual

I banished my sister’s opal and picked up my step. The tunnel was busy. I tried not to be obvious about tailing Spur as she weaved between magus. I kept my senses dialed high, more than aware that someone could be tailing me. I also knew three Vero magus were assigned to my defense. They were back there too. The odds of Spur being assigned protection was low, but I scanned the surrounding magus. When someone concentrated, their aura sharpened.

Everyone was concentrated, so tracing auras told me nothing. I’d have to find a better way to pick out threats, but that wasn’t a job for this moment.

I walked faster.

Just do it.

I was going to burst with the anticipation.

Blurring in a run, I grinned as magus leaped out of my way. Spur’s back was to me, but she whirled—perhaps hearing the gasps and yells? Her fingers dipped into the pouch at her waist, and she flung a powder at me.

I whipped my apothecary magic forward to analyze it.

Nightshade.

Valerian.

Wormwort.

Jagged shards of magic.

Nightmares in powdered form. I could admire the beauty even as I summoned a mixture from my duffel into my mouth.

Dreams. The counter to nightmares, and something I’d stocked for a widower in the circus. St John’s Wort, Lemon Balm, Lavender, and a thick, heavy braid of magic through it.

I exhaled and used my apothecary and battle affinity to carry the powder forward like fire exploding from a dragon’s snout.

Spur reeled back as it dissolved her nightmare defense. She shouted and a charm appeared in her hand. She threw it with a burst of her magic.

Decoy charm.

Weak.

I strode forward, batting it aside with a whip of battle affinity. The thing was, I was starving for a physical fight. The biting, breaking kind. Spur wouldn’t give that to me, and I wasn’t about to beat her to a pulp. I’d save that for Huxley.

Summoning a charm I’d seen in the Vero storage, I activated the bottle with a burst of magic, then released the charm with a push of my hand in the powder-filled air.

Stasis.

Spur’s face slackened. Her eyes blanked. Her feet stopped moving. Though her chest rose and fell, her hands hung loose at her sides. She stared into nothing and wouldn’t be thinking anything or feeling anything for that matter. Stasis. Of around an eight-hour duration. She’d come to when Caves was over for the day.

A low murmur interrupted my senses. The noise grew louder as the magus who hadn’t left the area began to talk. I strode back the way I’d come, feeling the claps on the back from my Vero teammates and the wariness from Fertim players lining the tunnel walls.

“Nice work,” Breese said. “Your first Caves fight and you kicked ass. Remember what’s next.”

As one-sided as the fight with Spur had been, my blood sang with the victory and adrenaline. I’d forgotten about Sven and the stone.

Nodding at Breese, I whisked into the battle learning center. Might as well be where plenty of weapons were in case I was attacked while coordinating with Sven.

A screen in the center showed me walking down the tunnel outside after the fight with Spur. My brows shot up. Everyone watched that? Awkward. I didn’t know how to feel about that. I’d prefer they keep the screen for Wild and the rest of the quad.

What if my demon came out one time? They’d all see.

“Don’t think about it,” I said, then summoned the stone from Ruby. Gripping it, I focused my thoughts on Sven. I’m done. Where are you?

Fighting my novice, he answered. And there’s no need to yell.

Was I? I softened my focus. Better?