I shook my head and sat down next to her. "A good one or a bad one?"
"Depends on if you start another civil war or not." Ravon shrugged but she was looking out over the field and not at me.
"Markus was only acting so petulant because he thought he knew me as well as I know him. He doesn't judge a whole people by the stories other people tell about them. I am not worried about the planet's judgment in that case."
Ravon looked confused, "You mean god's."
"Yes and no." i could read the confusion on Ravon's face but she dropped the subject.
"So can you read minds?"
Ravon was as much on edge as I would expect from someone asking that question. Clearly the other two were listening in. "When I am not careful."
"You try not to hear them?"
"Of course, your head is the one place you should be able to be what you are without the judgement of others."
"The keys seem to disagree with you."
"They don't really read your mind to hold you to your oath. It does about the same thing but it is not exactly the same. Otherwise wizards would be able to block the key like they can each other, if it was just mind reading."
We sat in silence for a long time after that. I got bored of waiting to see if Ravon would respond and started to meditate instead. I have enough magic that it gets out of control if I lose focus, meditation helps me stuff it and the demon back in their boxes. I had intentionally used more magic in the last three days than I had in my whole life. The wizards were probably pissed, they had a way to know when ever magic was done within the shield.
Practicing spells outside the tower was strongly frowned on, again not forbidden just almost so. It was understandable why that was so though as it could get others hurt if you didn't know what you were doing. Breathing in I focused on my body. The wizards taught control to anyone with even the smallest flicker of an ability to sense magic. Just in case. I always thought that was a cover for searching every child for people with enough magic to be worth training. They guarded their secrets like a starving dog guards a bone. It was almost understandable, magic itself seemed to be getting weaker. Every generation seems just a bit less capable, only it had to be worse than that for a 30 year old to have noticed.
It was easy to lose track of time while wandering around in your own mind. Well that is what I heard as soon as I thought about it I knew what time it was. I breathed out slowly and opened my eyes looking up into the starry sky. It was beautiful, and yet unwelcoming. I felt my key cool against my chest, since I was meditating I reacted before I really thought about how I was reacting or what I was reacting too.
While in battle I had seen Harken make hundreds of shields. There was a running army joke that the rest of the unit was only there to keep the wizard safe. Shielding like Harken was not the reaction I had. It hadn't taken me long after my 18th birthday to figure out that wizards had a hard time seeing my other magic. My key cooled as I made shields around the elves and myself. The shield was millimeters away from my skin but feet away from the elves. If the wizard didn't intend to at least hit me, he would never see it.
I watched as rays of red and purple scattered over the shield. That would have smarted, wouldn't have killed me. Wouldn't have done much more than hurt but I had reacted already and didn't feel like putting up with more of those pain strikes.
Magic was invisible to the average person. Wizards could see it sometimes but magic moving was hard to see and the strikes had no color until they broke apart. Which is why the elves didn't start to react until they saw the light bounce around the shield I had put on Ravon.
The strike hadn't been directed at her; she was just too close to me when the wizard's spell went out of control. "Don't move yet." Ravon gave me an odd look, but the other two planted their feet facing out trying to find the source of the attack. They hadn't drawn their weapons; their bows were pointed at the ground with arrows resting on the string.
Six bolts flew out from all around. I didn't change anything about my shields, and I didn't stand up. The same light flashed around my shield so the elves couldn't watch it to figure out what direction the attack was coming from. It bounced off my skin tight shield and hit Ravon's again but it also scattered and hit the other two shields. Most wizards had a hard time making more than one strike at a time, so I was a little surprised when only four wizards stepped out from their hiding places to attack again. This time sound accompanied the spreading light. They had moved onto more dangerous magic.
One was a girl, and I mean girl she couldn't have been more than 15, and the other three were men. They were all elves, Ravon looked pissed now. She opened her mouth to speak, "Please, don't move yet."
She growled at me as the light blocked her view again, but she ordered, "Hold." I barely caught the nod of the two elves on either side of me. I didn't have to see the wizard's robes to know they had the red and black twist of shadowhunters. It surprised me that it had taken this long for a group of them to hunt me down. It had probably taken this long for them to convince themselves that the elders were wrong.
The wizards started walking closer. My shield wasn't weakening and I wasn't straining to keep it up but they had no way to know that, I was sure. Ravon started to tap her foot as the wizards stepped closer.
They were closing the space because the farther a spell travels to more energy it loses, or so they have been told. I didn't believe anything my teacher had told me about magic, and it hadn't got better since being out in the real world. The spell I was using didn't drain me at all. I wouldn't become winded or need to sleep after, it wasn't like a muscle. The other magic, the kind the wizards were using, well that would make me tired after a while. The only limit I had found on my shield was that I would get thirsty quicker and I could be unpredictable when it got to be too much.
Not that I was in any danger at the moment, the only time I had used enough magic to be a danger was in battle against shadow spawn. The wizards were doing as they had been taught and you would think wizards trained to fight demons would be better at it. I folded my hands and cracked my knuckles as the strikes started to slow. I didn't stop what I was doing with my other magic but I accessed the same magic the wizards were using.
They froze for a moment before I struck back at them. I had given them more then fair warning by accessing the same type of magic that they use. Only one of them got up their own shield before my own strikes hit them. All four at the same moment, they wouldn't be able to spread their magic to protect each other. They should never have approached without a shield, no matter what they thought I knew.
I stood and stretched my arms over my head arching my back. Striking took less magic than healing, that is another reason battle mages were considered a lower class. I felt the difference as I turned to face the last man standing. I recognized him as the man that had tried to interfere in my fight with Ravon. His shield was flickering as I lunched blow after blow on it from all directions. I was carefully timing my blows to give him just enough time and space to recover. He was managing to keep his shield up under the onslaught but it was costing him. His shield fell and he braced for one of my blows to land but they all just vanished with his shield.
With a sigh I started stretching to wake my muscles back up. I may not have noticed the time going by as much but my muscles sure had. "It should be safe now. At least for another five minutes until someone from the tower comes to find out what the hell was going on anyway. The shields are pinned to you so they should move with you but I have never actually tested it before."
The two other elves looked to Ravon who nodded. They then shrugged and returned to watching their directions. It was surprising that they didn't go and check on the three wizards I had knocked out. Well they had attacked me without warning first. Elves really didn't respect a good sneak attack. Of course the wizards hadn't been very good with sneaking part of a sneak attack.
I released the power I had been holding onto to strike. The wizard went wide eyed and then pulled his dagger off his belt. The male elf was the closest and he pointed the tip of his arrow at the wizard. He hadn't drawn yet but that was only a formality to a trained elf. Ignoring the elf I address the wizard, "Have you forgotten I am a master with a dagger? You could get lucky but I doubt you have used that for more than cutting your carrots at dinner."
"How are you still standing, devil?"
"I don't think so." Ravon tilted her head at me in question as I answered the man. "I am responding to the term Devil not your question. I think Devil is a term for rank not species. Though I guess I should thank you because it outranks demon, which is the rank among demonics that I have right now. Of course don't ask how I know because I don't know how I know."
"Answer me."
"Challenge me, and win."
"Oh, that would be fun to watch." A human wizard just appeared at the edge of our group. Humans were weird, human wizards were more so. This wizard was an elder, with a white beard that went down to his knees. His robe was a midnight blue with stars sewn into, not a standard issue robe. He had the blue stripe of a scholar and the brown of a battle mage. He had on a pointed hat that had to be at least a foot tall. The funny hat also had the bands of blue and brown. Yellow was used to mark elders and he did have the stripes but you would have to really inspect the robe to see them. I was sure he meant the bright yellow stars to mark him more then the stripe did. "I bet it might last a tenth as long as this last battle, if you continued to play with the boy of course, lady Des."
Did I mention humans were odd? The wizard actually sounded happy at maybe seeing the fight himself. Lady was a new title and why the hell did he think he could call me Des?
"Oh sorry, do you not like the title or would you prefer I called you Desdemona?"
That is what I thought the bastard was in my head.
"That is hardly nice."
"You want nice, stay out of my mind, I can pretend to be plenty nice then."
"Ah but see there is a real worry that you might react like a normal person one of these times someone attacks you for no good reason. If I stayed out of your mind I would not get a few milliseconds head start on running away that I am sure I would very much need." I didn't find the statement funny but my demon seemed to approve. The human nodded knowingly. With the yellow strip that you almost could not see was also a red stripe. It was rare for anyone to get more than two stripes not including yellow. I wouldn't have noticed at all if it hadn't been for his reaction to my demonic side.
I was careful not to sigh as I looked at the crazy wizard. "What point would there be in getting angry with these fools?"
"I didn't say it would be them that you would reasonably be mad at, my lady."
"James, did you get the report that just came in?" Another wizard appeared, this one a Islee. He was facing the human with a piece of paper in his hands not looking around. "There was the equivalent of the whole counsel worth of magic in a field outside the city. You cannot keep your stance that she is not a threat if she can do that. Something will have to be done."
James smiled at the new comer, "I have always agreed that doing nothing was a bad plan. What I won't agree with is the plan that has now been put in front of the counsel six times, Spetus. Especially considering we attacked her."
"You did hear me, right, James? I don't care if the shadow was attacking her, she is too strong to control."
"The tower isn't about controlling wizards, Spetus."
"Like hell, it's not. You are always like this, something has to be done." I could see the older human frown even with his long beard. I also noticed a flash from something hiding under that bread. Probably the wizards key he did have the stripe of a battle mage after all.
"Don't take him too seriously, Dessy. I will break the tower if they try something as foolish as that. The human is half right, the tower is not about controlling wizards the way they are doing it now. It was built to give wizards the means to control themselves." I didn't look over at the woman, my attention was all on the two wizards arguing in the training field. The sky had started to lighten and it was a little chilly this morning.
The old human looked up from his company and at the woman standing next to me. I sneered, "And yet these are the kind of people you expect me to learn from?"
I felt more then saw the woman tilt her head at me. She then shrugged, "It is what I have. Time won't be on our side much longer." I felt like my breath should be forming mist clouds as I talked. The key felt like ice as I drew up power again.
There was an odd reverb as James spoke like I heard what he wanted to say, what he said and what it actually meant all at the same time. What he had said and what it had actually meant were both gibberish. Something about moonlight and dancing flames. What he had meant was, "So you did give the order then."
"Wholly crap, she understands common just fine, don't do that again. You are terrible at it."
"Gives you a headache doesn't it. Of course that does mean that the people who should have gotten my message had the chance to understand it. I mean it James," The name was wrong, names don't translate but when she said it there was no doubt what being in all of existence she meant to address, "I will break the tower. It isn't Desdemona's fault you haven't pulled your head out of the ground. She is not to be pulled from the army."
There was a pause after the woman stopped talking. Clearly James had to do more work to understand her. "I get the feeling that isn't all you want to say."
"Of course not but it will be another 100 or so years before I can actually talk to you about anything. At least you might survive now." I got a feeling that there was so much more to that sentence but I couldn't pin it down. Spetus seemed to have just figured out where he was.
He launched an attack at the woman. She raised her eyebrows, or so I felt she was still standing just outside my vision. The spell vanished before it had fully formed. That was not a trick I had seen done before. I was very sure I wouldn't be able to duplicate it.
Spetus did not look happy. He tried again and again with the same result. He finally switched to attacking me. I tossed up a shield much farther out than the one I had been using with the children. The woman smiled at me, "You have gotten good at that." The blast turned into light and sound. James looked furious as he moved to stand in front of Spetus. "Too bad the children won't be able to teach you that better. I am sure the universe will provide when you are ready."
More wizards just appeared around the boundary of the field. It was clear not all of them saw the woman. "I am going to need to go hunting sooner than I thought."
"Yes, well waste not; but before that. Shall we see how much you can handle?" The angel stepped up behind me and reached around to place a hand on the key. Her fingers had barely brushed it when it sprang to life. I noticed the eyes turned from red to purple as it grew in size. That was the last thing I remembered for awhile.