Marked by Death (Necromancer #1) - Kaje Harper Page 0,50
battles to be won.”
“Seems like this magic stuff is a lousy gig.”
Silas tugged the sweater on and smoothed down his hair. “It has its moments. Come on.”
The study was bright with the morning sun through the French doors. Silas tugged the drapes until the light dimmed to a blue glow. He gestured to the floor. “Have a seat.”
Darien lowered himself gingerly, realizing his ass was sore and bruised, and other bits of him were less bendy than they should be. The polished floor was pretty but hard. “Do you ever sit on a cushion?”
“Butt hurting you, Dare?”
He said, “A bit,” before noticing the old nickname. Sitting down, learning something from Silas, became an echo of sunlit childhood. He grumped, “And not in a good way,” because he wasn’t a kid and this wasn’t about how to put air in his bike tires, and he didn’t want to go back to those dynamics, however comforting. “What do I need to do?”
Silas grabbed a small cloth bag and sat, slipping into a lotus position with impressive ease.
The man is limber. Darien gave himself a mental smack and leaned forward to pay attention.
“What I’m going to teach you is the first lesson a youngster with power learns. How to build personal shield walls and keep themselves safe.” Silas gestured with his hands as if enclosing Darien in a dome. “This is mostly about intent, but at first it’s structured by runes that help keep your walls locked in place.”
“Say that again? And do I have to sit like that? I’m not sure I bend that way.”
“Cross-legged is fine.” Silas took a chalk out of the bag. “Now, this is the rune for protection, for boundaries. We’ll start this with all the props. You draw a circle around yourself with chalk, and finish it off with this rune.” He demonstrated with a swift circle that could’ve been made by a compass, and then slowly drew a symbol that looked like a swirly padlock. “Your turn.”
Darien took the chalk and tried to do the same. His circle was more of an egg, and his padlock lopsided, but Silas said, “Not bad.”
Darien tried to pass the chalk back. His hand passed his own circle easily, and bumped up against Silas’s as if there was a sheet of glass there, knocking the chalk from his fingers. “Ouch. Damn it, you could’ve warned me.”
“Symbols and intent.” Silas rubbed a finger through his circle, reached out and took the chalk back. “What you do next is to call your power into the circle.”
“How?” Darien shifted uncomfortably. The floor was digging into his butt. “Abracadabra?”
“If you like.” Silas didn’t crack a smile. “Everyone’s symbols are a bit different, individualized over time. Yours…” His tone went cold. “If Crosby appeared, outside those doors. In moments he’ll be in here. Only that ward will keep him out of your body and your head. So you push power into it—”
A surge of remembered nausea and fear flooded Darien. He flinched, flicking a glance at the drapes, and shoved… something at the chalk circle around him. Glass walls, stone walls. He shut his eyes. Stone hadn’t saved them last time. Resilient steel walls.
“Darien. Darien! Dare, enough!”
Silas’s voice broke through and he opened his eyes. The room around him blurred and shimmered behind a thick gold curtain of light.
Silas knelt just behind the haze. “Ease down. Thin it, soften it. You don’t need that much power.”
Thin it? He realized he was dizzy, holding his breath, while the golden walls around him pulsed in time to his heartbeat.
“Crosby’s dead. Relax, Dare. We’re safe.”
He scuffed a foot forward, brushing through the chalk line, and the whole structure collapsed and vanished with a chime that rang in his head. “Ouch.” He grabbed for his temples.
“Headache?” Silas sat beside him and pulled him into a hug, pressing a kiss to his hair. “Sorry. I should’ve known you wouldn’t need that kind of push.”
The throbbing in his head eased. “What the fuck was that?”
“That was the strongest first try at a dome I’ve ever seen. Congratulations.”
“I— I did that? I did magic?”
Silas squeezed him and let go. “What do you call ripping ghosts out of your body?”
“Well, yeah, but that was your magic. I just borrowed it. This was…” He looked around the ordinary dusty room, with a bit of scrawled chalk. A shiver ran down his spine. “This felt real.”
“It was real. And we’re going to do it again. With a lot less power this time.”
Darien nodded. “Wait. Where