“Dunno.” Dentry pumped his fists, boxing with the thin mountain air. “But Queen Dara won the last war. If she says running helps, then I’m going to run.”
Dentry pulled ahead again before Tamri could ask more about the war. Vertigon had been a peaceful land once, according to the history book she’d been assigned, and its secluded mountaintop location allowed the Fireworkers to focus on nonviolent craftsmanship for over a century. But all that had changed five years ago, when King Siv came to power. Apparently the Fireworkers had tried to take over, resurrecting the notion of combat with Fire.
Master Corren talked a lot about rejuvenating the endangered Fire crafts, which were all about making useful objects—Firebulbs, Heatstones, metalworks, Firekettles, textiles—but the students seemed to think learning to fight with the magical substances was their main priority. Yes, Tamri had lots of interesting things to include in her letters home.
The runners reached the end of the bridge and paused by the burned-out shell of an old tavern. Square Peak wasn’t being rebuilt as quickly as King’s Peak after the true dragon invasion. Used to their scarred land, the students talked and laughed with barely a glance at the ruin. The fittest students had been there long enough to stop breathing heavily by the time Tamri caught up.
“You made it through your first bridge run!” Kay said cheerily. “First half, anyway.”
“I wasn’t sure she would,” Shylla said.
“Go easy,” said the boy who had dropped back to run with her earlier. Dentry Roven was the only noble-born member of the Originals, and he seemed to think it made him their leader. “It’s her first week.”
“I’m fine.” Tamri was enough of an outsider without letting on how much she was struggling. She tried to hide her gasps for breath. “Ready to head back now, in fact.”
“Not yet.” Dentry lunged, stretching out his legs. “We’re supposed to pick up some ore from Master Corren’s supplier over here. Carrying it back will be good exercise.”
Shylla groaned. “Didn’t we just do an ore run?”
“We go through it fast,” Dentry said.
“What’s the ore for?” Tamri asked.
“To use with the Fire, of course,” Dentry said. “Most Fireworks include some metal. Fire Blades, Everlights, Fire Lanterns, even Firegold threads.”
“Get used to finding metal shavings in your shoes and gold dust in your hair,” Kay said.
Tamri found it strange that Fireworking as an art was so solid. Fireworks lasted for years when the power was imbued in metal and stone. Master Corren had shown her a Fire Lantern he claimed was over a hundred years old, which still gave off enough light to illuminate his reading chair. Watermight was ethereal and impermanent by comparison. It didn’t seem fair—especially when it came to making weapons.
She eyed the others. “Do you all know how to make Fire Blades?”
Dentry chuckled. “Sword smithing is one of the most advanced Works, whether you give your blades a Fire core or not. The school isn’t equipped to teach a skill like that, at least not yet.”
“I’ll bet Queen Dara can do it,” said Ber. The earnest younger boy had beaten Tamri across the bridge in the end. “She made her own Fire Blade.”
“That isn’t quite accurate,” said Pevin, another of the Vertigonians, a rail-thin fellow with a few wisps of mustache. “The queen carries a Savven blade. Drade Savven was a legendary sword smith.”
“I thought for sure she made it herself,” Kay said.
Pevin shook his head. “She gave it the Fire core that makes it so fast and accurate, but it is a Savven. Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.”
“When will she come to the school?” Tamri asked. “I haven’t seen her since I got here.”
Their instructors so far had included Master Corren, a rickety old woman named Madame Mirri, who specialized in Fire Blossoms, and a large stack of books. Other Wielders came in to teach specific skills in short-term workshops, though Master Corren had ambitions for a roster of more permanent teachers. The Fire Queen was the person Khrillin really wanted to know about, though he’d surely make use of her descriptions of the school—and its students’ interest in combat—as well.
“She must be busy this week,” Kay said, brushing back her cropped hair. “She usually comes every couple of days to work with us in small groups.”
“I’m looking forward to that,” Tamri said.
“You won’t be working with the queen,” Shylla said. “Her lessons are too difficult.”
“Maybe her Fire lessons.” Tamri resisted the urge to rub her palm, which had been tender for days after her brief encounter with the Fire, “but I’m not useless with Watermight. Isn’t she supposed to teach us both substances?”
“Eventually,” Dentry said. “We have a regular Watermight teacher, Master Loyil, who’s also the keeper of the Whirlpool. The queen wants us to have perfect control over each power individually before she’ll let us combine them, though. That produces a burst of extraordinary power.”
Tamri perked up. “How long does that take to learn?”
Dentry pulled back his sleeve, revealing a collection of burn scars. “I’ll let you know when it happens.”
Shylla’s attention was suddenly focused on her well-cut fingernails, and a blush rose in Pevin’s thin cheeks.
Tamri frowned. “Have any of you have actually done it yet?”
“We’ve all worked with both powers,” Kay said. “Just not together.”
Tamri wondered if she had time to add that to her letter. If the Fire Queen was trying to build a Wielder army—one capable of extraordinary bursts of power—she was taking her time. Maybe Khrillin didn’t have to worry just yet.
Suddenly Tamri’s neck went cold, an icy collar pulling tight. The oath bond must sense she was thinking about holding back information from Khrillin, even just until the next letter. She rubbed at her throat surreptitiously, not wanting her classmates to see her shiver.
I’ll still tell him. Ease off.
At least the others were answering her questions. They saw her as a fellow student, plain and simple. Even Shylla’s unfriendliness likely indicated nothing more than a desire not to be upstaged by another Pendarkan Waterworker.
“You know what I think?” asked Lacy, the pretty sixteen-year-old Vertigonian girl who shared a room with Kay, Shylla, and now Tamri. “I bet she’ll start teaching the combined powers to whichever of us she selects to go to the wedding.”
“What wedding?” Tamri asked. “The one for Princess Selivia?”
“Yes, it’s in Soole in the spring.” Lacy said the name of the southern land as if it were some mythical paradise. “The queen promised she’d take a few of us with her to get some extra experience. Plus, we get to attend the wedding feast.” She sighed, twirling a finger through her dark hair. “Can you imagine?”
“It’s not about the wedding,” Kay said. “Think of it: we’d get to go on an adventure with the king and queen!”
“And she’ll choose people who need extra training?” Tamri asked.