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IN THE CANYON

Kale put her back to one wall of the narrow gorge, and her father positioned himself against the other wall. The minor dragons came out of their pocket-dens to help in the upcoming battle. Ardeo illuminated the area enough for Kale and her father to advance without falling over rocks along the path. They edged forward, sidestepping against the base of the cliffs.

“This is our strategy,” said Sir Kemry. “You take the six immature spiders.”

“Me?” Kale’s voice squeaked. She cleared her throat.

“Yes. Throw a blanket of light over them, much like you did for our bisonbeck friends back there.”

“All right.” She congratulated herself that she sounded confident.

“Draw the spiders together so that eventually you have them under one covering. Maintaining a shield will be easier for you when it is one rather than six. Reverse the flow of the energy. Instead of things hitting the outside and being reflected, when the creatures strike the inside wall, their momentum will bounce back at them. Any questions so far?”

“No. Well, yes. What do you want the minor dragons to do?”

“What they do best.”

“Spit.”

“Yes, spit. And tell them not to get entrapped in your light barrier.” He paused for a moment, and Kale knew he was reevaluating the combat zone ahead. He nodded. “They haven’t changed positions. Once you get all six of your targets under one radiant shell, squeeze them together by decreasing the size of the holding pen. Hopefully, they will become agitated and fight among themselves.”

Kale thought the plan sounded solid, but she had to admit approaching the giant insects made her nervous. “Shouldn’t we be sneaking up on the spiders?”

“They already know we’re here and are waiting. But they don’t know we know they know. If we were to stop talking, they might come investigate, and we want to use their instinct to ambush us to our advantage.”

“Right.” Kale inched along the wall. She put her sword away, knowing she’d rather have her hands empty while she controlled the light shield. It didn’t make much sense, since she used her mind to manipulate the energy particles. But she did use her body to channel energy, and sometimes she used her hands and arms because it felt comfortable to act out what she configured mentally.

“Father?”

“Yes?”

“What are you going to be doing?”

He chuckled. “Taking a vacation. No. I am going to cast a fireball on the spider that will be closest to you when we come upon them. Be careful you don’t get caught by surprise. It should be a nice toasty explosion.”

Kale laughed. “I’ve seen one before, thrown by Wizard Fenworth.”

“Ahem. Well, I daresay mine will be a little more defined around the edges. If I remember, his used to splat on the target.”

“It did, indeed, splat.”

“After I have annihilated the first spider, I’ll lengthen my sword and battle the second.”

“Sounds like a good strategy.”

“We’re almost there.” He hefted a shiny black orb in his hand. It began to glow. “We’ll soon know.”

Sir Kemry stepped into the middle of the passageway, took three more paces, and threw his fireball to a space ahead of Kale. She shielded her eyes, then lost no time in propelling six light nets over the immature spiders.

The fire consumed the ambushing spider, burned out in a matter of seconds, and left a charred carcass that crumbled into a black pile of ash. Kale stepped around it and focused on bringing the six separate bubbles of light together. Through trial and error, she discovered she could move one to join another and then move that one more easily to swallow up a third. The larger the circumference of the barrier, the easier it was to manipulate. She worked alone. All of the minor dragons bombarded the larger Creemoor spider with their acidic saliva.

The brief battle ended as Kale hoped it would. Sir Kemry vanquished the spider and joined her to help tighten the container that trapped the smaller spiders. The crowded spiders began to clash. They snapped at one another with pincers. Kale turned away as one beast tore off the leg of another.

“All right. That’s enough.” She thickened the opaque quality of the light until she could see nothing but faint shadows. Then she and the others waited until lack of movement within indicated the fracas had ended.

“Do you suppose they’re all dead?” Kale asked her father.

“Maybe.” He continued to be vigilant, eyes on the light shield, chin jutted forward.

Kale knew that he was monitoring more than the isolated spiders. They didn’t want to be attacked from behind while their attention focused on the captives. She did a mental reconnaissance, but her hold on the container slipped. It would be best for her to concentrate on one thing.

“Do you think we can lower the shield?” she asked.

“I think that would be a good plan, but be prepared to slay any who may have survived. Wait a moment. I want to put a protective shield in front of us. No sense in being poisoned after the fight is finished.”

He worked for a full three minutes weaving a protective wall. Kale noted he used a technique similar to binding the edge of a gateway. The process enthralled her, as this method offered more possibilities than the one she had been taught. When he finished, he put his hands on his hips as he inspected his handiwork.

“That should hold,” he said. “Kale, let the little beasties go.”

First, Kale thinned the light so they could see the shapes within the enclosure. Two still twitched.

When she let the barrier drop, Sir Kemry pitched a fireball into the spiders’ midst and incinerated them all.

“I wish all conflicts went so well,” he said as he cleaned his sword with a cloth. “Shall we go on and face our next challenge? Or do you need a rest?”

Kale tilted her head and scrutinized her father. The exertion of channeling energy had worn her down. Gathering the force to develop a fireball, contain it until dispensed, and minimize the collateral damage required a great deal of fortitude. Building the reflective shield to protect them drained her father further.

If one were not a wizard, one had no idea how much strength performing “magic” entailed. Magic involved recollection of minute details, envisioning a shift in actual circumstances, then the ordering of many small pieces of the puzzle. Finally, the release of the created force required timing. And if the wizard accidentally bumped up against one of Wulder’s irrefutable laws, the “spell” could backfire and injure the instigator. Fenworth used to call these conflicting components H-2-oil.

“H-2-oil,” Kale said.

“What?”

“Fenworth used to say, ‘H-2-oil, water and oil do not mix.’ He was warning Regidor and me not to try to do something that Wulder did not allow.”

Sir Kemry sheathed his sword and spread his hands in a questioning gesture. “And that applies to what in this situation?”

Kale shook her head, her hair slipping out of its binding. “Nothing really, except that I’m very tired. I don’t know if I could handle another attack without some rest.”

“Fine, then. We shall set up a protective shell around us, snuggle down into some warm blankets, set a dragon to watch, and sleep.”

“Oh, Father, that sounds first-rate.”

Kale fixed supper out of food she had packed in her hollow. Sir Kemry produced blankets, pillows, and a pair of thick body-length cushions out of his. After they ate, he played a few sweet melodies on his flute. Metta sang, and they all relaxed. Tomorrow would be soon enough to face the trials and tribulations Burner Stox had in store for them. The minor dragons would guard the camp during the night.

Kale slept almost as soon as her head rested upon the pillow. She dreamed of Bardon, Sir Dar, and Regidor. The men sang in a tavern and didn’t miss her at all. In her next dream, her mother and Toopka played benders and didn’t notice that her chair was empty. Finally, Kale roused herself from slumber to get away from her pining to be with the other members of her family.

She rubbed her eyes. She should be able to see the skylights, but something obscured the stars and moon. Had clouds gathered while they slept? She sensed she was alone, yet her father should be within reach, and five dragons should be cuddled close to her. The sixth one guarded them. Or did he?

Kale remembered Leetu Bends’s description of being inside a mordakleep. Her breath caught in her throat. Where was she?