Fortune Favors the Cruel - Kel Carpenter Page 0,40
through their rage. You can find them through their fear. All creatures have a snippet of magic inside of them—usually unusable, often so small that even the most powerful of magic seekers cannot sense it—but you can, I can, and Draeven can. You just have to look. You won’t be able to sense what kind, but you will be able to sense the minor presence of such, like listening for a pulse.”
Quinn frowned as the wall she had woven fell away. She closed her eyes and put her hands up, fingers spread as she called to the power inside, letting it flow through her, invading her every sense—heightened by the cut off of sight. The tendrils separated into tiny threads, not tangible to the others, but there. Her brow pinched as Draeven and Lazarus waited to see how her magic would manifest this time.
The wisps dropped to the ground, multiplying in a network of crisscrossing strings. They crept over the wet leaves, reaching upwards into the trees, spanning the awning gaps from branch to branch. Slowly, they moved, unguided by Quinn and simply flowing through her as they encircled the entire clearing. Draeven cursed and Quinn’s eyes snapped open.
Her breath caught in her chest as Draeven jumped, trying to outmaneuver her web of fear. She hadn’t thought they could see it, much like the wall, but as he hooked a hand around a low hanging branch to pull himself up and away, she began to wonder.
“You can see this?” she asked.
“We can,” Lazarus nodded. Sweat beaded her brow.
“No one has before,” she said softly. Her eyes not sure which way to look as the netting thickened with smoky black threads. “What does it mean?”
“The manifestation of your power is visible to us—all Maji can see magic. That is not strange,” Lazarus said, slowly lifting a hand to the strings. “The interesting part is the form yours has chosen to take…” he murmured, though he didn’t seem to realize it. “You have quite a lot of it.”
“I’ll say,” Draeven chimed in, his face tipped back as he examined the strands just beneath his left boot.
Lazarus took a tentative step forward.
Quinn sucked in a breath. “I can feel you.” The strands didn’t stretch or strain as he moved through them, but she felt it as if they did. He changed direction and the strands thrummed with power where he brushed past them, coming to stand behind her.
“Good,” he said quietly, whispering in her ear. She shivered and the strands began to unravel. “Keep it steady,” he commanded.
She stiffened as the hairs on the back of her neck rose where his warm breath touched. The network snapped back into place. He waited a beat and when the strands stabilized once more, Lazarus began to direct her. He had her raise the web, eliciting a yelp from Draeven as the man shot him a reproachful look and climbed higher into the tree to avoid the tendrils of dark fear. She didn’t think they’d do anything to him, but the reaction was amusing enough that she liked feeling them slowly creep toward him and his surge of anxiety that pulsed outward.
Quinn laughed softly under her breath and Lazarus gave her a swift command to lower it into the ground where the strands disappeared completely.
“Draeven,” Lazarus said quietly. “Come here.”
Draeven pursed his lips, no longer looking as thrilled to be commanded about, but dropped down from his perch, nonetheless. He landed on a branch halfway up the tree and continued swinging down until he was standing on the squishy forest floor.
Quinn gasped, drawing Lazarus’ attention. “Feel him still?” he asked. Quinn paused, and that pulse of anxiety flickered. She nodded. “Good.” Then he looked back to Draeven. “Walk around,” he commanded.
Draeven began to walk, circling the area, only pausing to check if she could tell. “Faster,” Lazarus said when that became too easy. Draeven sprinted from one side to the next.
“It’s harder to feel where he is when he’s moving,” Quinn admitted.
“That’s okay,” Lazarus said. “I want you to practice this as much as possible. It’s called a field of vision. All Maji can create one. Soon you’ll be able to do it without thinking, and when you’re well-practiced, you may not even have to use the physical manifestation.”
Her hands dropped away as she tried to keep the field up using only her mind—the wisps began to seep back up from the ground and Draeven jumped back as one slithered over his foot, starting to wind