and an individual can only handle so much without being obliterated by their own power.”
“Oh. So I just need a lot of sorcerers, without really worrying about how many elementals each has since they can only supply so much turyn.”
“Essentially, although a sorcerer with more elementals will be able to provide power for more time before being tapped out. Proper wizards would be better in almost every respect.”
Will was no fan of sorcerers, but he didn’t see why that would necessarily be the case. “Why is that?”
“Control and sustainable power. Wizards in my day developed their will to a greater degree, and that enabled them to contribute more to control in a ritual like this. And while they didn’t have elementals, they could draw a considerable amount of turyn over an almost indefinite period of time. I don’t have any way to guess for sure, but I’ll bet you wind up needing twice as many practitioners for your ritual than you would have back in my time.”
“Well, there’s no shortage of sorcerers from what I can tell,” offered Will.
“But there’s a serious shortage of wizards. I hope you realize how dangerous this will be for you.”
“Isn’t it always?”
“No, I mean this ritual specifically. You are the only true wizard left. They couldn’t begin to perform a hastily constructed ritual based on casters without a wizard at the heart of it. It’s going to take someone with a degree of turyn control and discipline that these modern turds couldn’t even begin to approach.”
He sighed. “But I’m up to the task.” Mentally, he added, Right?
“Are you? You’re still new to all this. I have no doubt your will is strong enough. You bested Ethelgren to regain your body. You even took a spell away from him, so you’ve definitely got the necessary inner strength, but what you lack is experience. You’ve only dealt with one ritual in the past, and it used symbols and structure to provide most of the control. If there were other wizards—real wizards—it wouldn’t be so bad, since they could share the load.
“But even if you have every sorcerer in the city beside you, you’ll still be alone, because they’re nowhere close to being able to help you control it,” finished the ring.
“Wait, but you just said they’d be providing control, instead of the ring structure,” said Will, feeling confused.
“Yeah, the rough overall control, but the fine work in the center, that’s all going to be on your shoulders, and don’t let the term ‘fine work’ fool you. Without highly skilled assistants, it’s going to be hard as hell. If you slip up and lose control, it will rip you to shreds. There won’t even be a body. They’ll have to mop you up to have a burial.”
“How comforting,” said Will wryly.
Chapter 48
Tiny and Darla returned, heavily laden with food. Not only that, but they had recruited two servants to follow them with large platters piled high with roast fowl, lamb, pig, and a collection of sides, pastries, and desserts. Will gaped at their haul.
“Did you leave anything for the rest of the palace?” he asked.
Tiny’s face broke into a wide grin. “Apparently the head cook panicked when the king started bringing in all his troops and guards. Rather than run short, he made too much. We were doing them a favor.”
Spreading their feast out on the floor, they sat down around it and then they fell to with a will, demolishing the plentiful pabulum, until at last even Tiny leaned back and patted his swollen belly with a sigh of satisfaction. Darla made no overt gestures, but Will could see that her eyes seemed to blink more slowly, as though she was fighting post-prandial drowsiness.
“Did you eat too much?” Will asked her.
“Never,” she replied in a no-nonsense tone. “The Arkeshi are trained not to overeat, lest we become slow in our reactions.” To illustrate her point, she rolled back until her shoulders were on the floor and her feet were in the air. Kicking up with her legs, she flipped her body neatly up onto her feet. A loud noise accompanied her feat of agility, and her