"It's possible," Kiandra cut in.
I glanced past Ilianna. Kiandra's attention was still on the cord wrapped around Mirri's neck, but she'd obviously been keeping tabs on our conversation, despite the fact we'd been speaking softly.
"But," she continued, "the spell would need to be fed into the energy of the wearer to have any long-lasting benefit."
"That sounds like we'd be stepping into blood magic territory."
"No, we would not," Kiandra said. "Tapping into the wearer's aura or life force is no different from drawing strength from the elements or from the earth."
"But," I said, "drawing power from the elements or the earth has its cost – it saps the witch's strength and leaves her vulnerable to attack from darker forces if the drawing isn't done within a protection circle. You can hardly employ a protection circle in the case of a portable warding device."
"Who'd have thought you knew so much about magic," Ilianna murmured, a smile touching her lips.
"I have been hanging around a witch for most of my life," I said dryly. "Some stuff rubs off, even on someone as thickheaded as me."
Azriel's amusement rolled through the back of my thoughts, soft and enticing. If I had said that, you would be very annoyed.
You may not have said it, reaper, but you certainly thought it.
That, he replied, amusement stronger, is undoubtedly true.
"The difference in this case," Kiandra said, "is that the wearer would be performing no magic, so there is no need for a protection spell of any sort."
Which didn't mean it wouldn't still drain the energy of the wearer. "How would it work?"
"It would be similar to the micro cells you wear. Four stones would need to be worn on four points of the body, which would then create a self-sustaining continuous circuit of energy and provide protection against any force they were set to."
"In other words, if they were set to protect against the Raziq, the Raziq would not be able to either physically or mentally harm them?"