“It’s not just a barrier,” she said, glancing briefly over her shoulder. “This is far more complex.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to use a layer of power to obscure our passing.”
“A layer?”
“Exactly.” She sent out a flow of energy. It surged along the wall, and the only thing that could overwhelm it would be somebody who knew there should be something there and attacked it, or perhaps someone with considerable power.
“After what we went through in the city the last time, I decided to test what I could do to mask my presence.”
Char grinned at her. “That isn’t the Jayna I know.”
“Yeah? The Jayna you know didn’t deal with dark sorcerers and strangely powerful beings.”
She could feel the crowd moving past, but that was about the only thing she could definitively feel. With the layer of magic in front of her, the street was obscured.
She glanced back to Char. “Would you mind giving me a little space?”
“I was just trying to see what kind of power you were using. I didn’t know if I might be able to learn something from it.”
Jayna chuckled. “For a man who has made it quite clear he isn’t a fan of the so-called dark magic I’m using, you’re certainly curious about it.”
He shrugged. “Just because I don’t want to use that kind of magic doesn’t mean I don’t want to understand it. What is sorcery but a search for understanding of various types of magic?”
“I guess,” Jayna said.
She turned her attention to the wall, holding on to the power within her, letting that energy sweep outward. As she did, she could feel the crowd moving.
“Also, what do you mean, ‘strangely powerful beings’?”
“What was that?”
“You said you needed to deal with ‘strangely powerful beings.’ Not sorcerers. The choice of words is particularly worrisome.”
“I wasn’t trying to be worrisome,” she said. “They are beings. Dark sorcerers serving some dark god. That sort of thing.”
She took in a deep breath, focusing outward, holding the power through the Toral ring. It solidified enough that she could almost leave it in place. Jayna had wondered whether she could anchor it in some way to the walls on either side of it. She might not have to continue releasing energy and might be able to create a more permanent, or at least semipermanent, illusion.
“I don’t know why the city of Nelar has been targeted so much, but the powers we’ve dealt with are all trying to release another, more powerful being,” she said, trying to choose her words carefully. “I wish I knew more, but unfortunately, I’m still digging for information. Everything I’ve found tells me this power is incredibly dangerous, and for whatever reason, Nelar seems to be the nexus for it.”
“What do you mean by ‘nexus’?”
Jayna shrugged, keeping her focus on the barrier in front of her. “To be honest, I don’t really know.” Ceran hadn’t been clear about it, either, which wasn’t altogether surprising. There were things Ceran did, ways he acted, that she didn’t fully understand, but she knew there were times when he had known more than he had been willing to share with her, and unfortunately, most of those times had been to her detriment. “We had the Celebrants of Asymorn first, then there was this Order of Norej. I don’t know what’s coming next.” She thought back to the strange smoke energy in the forest, which had left her a little unsettled.
“That’s not all though,” Char said.
“What?”
“I figured you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Before the Celebrants of Asymorn, there was something else. Master Agnew has only spoken of it in whispers since the Order . . .” He hesitated. “Well, you know what happened. He mentioned some sort of magic he’s never seen before. He called it rothand.”
Rothand. The word was an older one in the El’aras language.
She glanced over to him. “You know what it means?”
“It means decay. There was some strange magic here before Master Agnew arrived, but he has protected the city from it.”
“Are you sure?”
Char shrugged. “As much as I can be. Like I said, Master Agnew doesn’t talk about it much. The only reason he mentioned it to me is because I was there during the Order attack. The rothand magic happened before I got here. A strange sort of attack that left the outpost unsettled. I think I barely got this assignment because of it. They weren’t going to bring on new Academy graduates. Had the attack been much worse, I might not have been chosen to come.”
It was something she had to look into.
More and more, she grew increasingly certain that something else was going to take place here within the city of Nelar, but more and more, she wasn’t sure whether there was anything she could even do to influence it. She could feel it as it continued to build around her, this power that would attempt to release Sarenoth.
Could this decay magic be tied into it?
It would fit.
She focused on the barrier again and glanced over to Char. “I think it’s safe for us to get going.” She was stepping forward when Char took her wrist.
“There’s something else too.”
“What now?”
“I’ve been looking into your friend.”
“Which one?” Jayna asked carefully, though she knew. He’d been looking into Eva’s past. Not that she could blame him.
“I read a reference about her kind of magic. Some sort of smoke power.”
Jayna tensed even more. If there was something he'd uncovered about Eva, then maybe it would help. They had not learned nearly enough to understand why she had the power that she did, only that she had some potential. Maybe there were things Eva wasn’t telling her, which wouldn’t surprise Jayna at all. Eva had control over her power, something she wouldn’t necessarily possess if she didn’t understand it. Still, she claimed she didn’t remember what she was. She didn’t remember who she was.
“You need to be careful with that,” she said.
Char shrugged. “Considering you’re spending so much time around her, I thought it made sense for me to dig a bit. What I found was that the type of magic she has is an ancient power.”
“All magic is an ancient power,” Jayna said.
“This is different. It’s tied to a creature of magic, not a person. I didn’t find any references to any people using this type of magic.”
She studied him. “Don’t keep digging into her.”
“I’m just trying to help you.”
Jayna sighed. Char could be helpful, but not if he angered Eva. “If you want to help, look into the name Sarenoth, but carefully.”
“That’s this dark being?”
Jayna nodded.
“I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do without getting into trouble with Master Agnew. He’s already concerned about what I’m doing. I think he knows I’m somehow connected to what’s happening in the city.”
Jayna chuckled. “You’re not connected to what’s happening in the city. But I am.” She released the protection around the wall, and looked out into the street. The crowd had dissipated. She looked over to Char. “Maybe the next time you come out to the city, you’ll leave your robes behind.”