Firebrand

Chapter 385: Golden Memories

Chapter 385: Golden Memories

Golden Memories

In the Circle of Fire, the acolytes continued practising fighting with and against gold-edged blades. By now, the other students seemed to have gotten the grasp of it as well; Martel figured they would move on to something else soon, so he tried to enjoy the easy lessons while he could. Intercepting a fire bolt with his weapon, Martel smiled as he disabled the attack and lunged forward afterwards, though he did not connect. He could not quite see how he would ever need the skill to fight with a golden weapon; it was only useful against another mage, and even if Martel found himself in a situation where his own magic could not be used, he still needed to actually own such a mage killing blade to make use of it.

His line of thoughts stirred a memory. Perhaps because he had been so focused on first Flora and afterwards finding the relic, but now he recalled holding such a weapon before his lessons with Moira; the dead feeling of the knife in his hand, like holding a cold and limp fish. The events of his attack at the market lay hazy in his mind; he could not recall the timespan between the guards arriving and finding himself in a bed at the Lyceum. Yet the actual fight remained clear to him; getting stabbed and retaliating with a spell to grievously wound the islander. After that... he picked up the weapon, Martel finally remembered. What had happened to it?

Searching his memories, he recalled seeing it in Master Alastair's hand, but nothing more. He would have to ask his teacher. After all, that weapon belonged to him as spoils of war; and if he ever did find himself in a situation where such a blade would be useful, now was the time to get it back.

Someone gave him an elbow, a little more forcefully than necessary to gain his attention. "If you can pull your head out of the clouds, hand it over," Harriet told him with a mocking tone.

Looking around, Martel saw Moira waiting for him to return the blade in his hand; she wore a disdainful smirk, typical for her. Martel gave the weapon back and quickly left the Circle of Fire, counting down the days until he was done with this school.

***

Once done with lessons, Martel went out. It was already late, so he would have to be quick about his visits and get back. But the next days would be equally busy with classes, and he did not want to postpone seeing Sparrow any longer. He was responsible for her magical education, sparse as it was; he did not want her to feel neglected.

On the way, he could also do a quick stop at Julia's. Martel had originally wanted to do some potions with Julia – he imagined she could use more sleep elixirs – but he lacked the time for the lengthy brewing process, so it would have to wait. Just a brief visit to ensure she was fine, lacking nothing; he had a handful of coins he could spare her if need be.

His intentions were for naught, as nobody answered his knock. Probably, she was out getting water or food, taking advantage of the darkness to avoid people. He would have to come back later this fiveday, Martel reasoned, turning around to leave the insula again.

***

Sparrow bit her lower lip in concentration as she slowly raised a mound of earth towards her outstretched hand. It lasted five breaths before it finally crumbled.

"Well done." Martel smiled and nodded to her as she looked at him proudly.

"I kept it going longer than yesterday, I'm sure of it," she claimed.

"I have no doubt. And it's a good exercise, even if it seems like you're just doing the same. You need to train up your spellpower."

"What's that?"

"It's like energy, but for spells. You know how you get tired after running, or you don't have much energy when you haven't eaten in a long while?"

"I can go without eating for a very long time," Sparrow assured him. "I'll still be faster than any old dumb guard running around in armour."

"Alright, I'm sure. My point is, you need to be rested to run well. But also, the more you practise running, the faster and longer you can run."

"What's that got to do with magic?"

"Well, casting spells also makes you tired. So you need to rest, sleep, to regain your strength. But you can also train your magical muscles, so to say, letting you cast more and more spells before you need to rest," Martel explained.

"Magical muscles," she giggled.

"Yes, 'spellpower' does sound better. Anyway, it's important that you practise how long you can keep a spell going. It'll train up your endurance. So, keep doing simple things like this, count your breaths, and measure your improvement."

"Yes, master wizard," Sparrow said, making a mocking salute like she might have seen a guardsman do to his princeps.

"Alright, you're having fun, but this next bit is important. So pay good attention."

She grew quiet and sat down on some debris in the alley behind the gang's house.

Martel frowned a bit; how to best explain this so she understood? "So, horses are obedient animals. If you ride them hard enough, they'll run themselves to death. Magic can do the same to us."

"What, magic rides us like a horse?"

Maybe not the best imagery to use. "Sort of. If we keep using magic, we'll get tired. Exhausted. Need to rest. But you might be tempted to keep going, cast more spells. Doing this can leave you unconscious, or even worse." Martel recalled his own experience atop the belltower of the Khivan temple, overextending his spellwork to tame the blaze. "So if you get really tired, stop with the magic and rest. Especially if you throw up or something like that." Like Martel after summoning the lightning bolt at the Imperial palace.

"Fine. I don't want to throw up anyway. Waste of food."

Well, if it got the girl to take his warning seriously, Martel would not argue. "Exactly. So always stop when you feel tired."

"What about new spells though? Can you teach me something else?"

"There's one I got my eye on, but I think we'll save that for next time." Martel looked up at the night sky; the sun had long since set, leaving the full moon as its replacement. "I need to get home now. But I'll be back when I can."

"Thanks." Sparrow smiled at him before she got up and ran back inside.