'When the spell is complete—you'll know when that happens—and the keystone appears, you need to take it and wrap it up carefully in a protective cloth. The Elves have spent all day preparing it. Ashaniel will have that; I think I see her now. Keep the keystone safe, and don't unwrap it again until you're ready to use it. The cloth should keep Shadow Mountain from being able to sense the keystone, which will serve as another layer of protection for you. One thing that we don't want is for them to know you're coming, and the keystone's presence in the world might as well be a blazing torch to alert them.'
That reminded Kellen yet again that he very much wanted to ask just what Shadow Mountain was, and why it—or they—wanted to destroy the Elves, but just then Idalia started moving through the crowd. She handed her lantern to someone at the edge of the gathering, and Kellen quickly followed suit with his own. Fire was still a danger, especially with so many people gathered here together.
Everyone stepped back to give Kellen and Idalia room as they approached. Kellen had never been so conscious of being the center of attention, though he told himself it was really Idalia who was the focus of everyone's concern tonight. His part would be played out in the future, out of sight, and suddenly he was glad of it. There was a downside to being the center of attention; if you fouled up, there was no second chance to try again and do it right. He wouldn't fail (of course!) but if he did at least there'd be no one there to see, and maybe he could get that second chance after all.
Because of the way Sentarshadeen was built, even now Kellen wasn't really sure how big the city was, but tonight he knew how many Elves lived here. Hundreds. More than he could count. They ifllled the entire meadow, all the way back into the trees.
At the center of the crowd a small open space had been preserved. A large five-sided flat tablet of white stone had been set upon the grass, and a small bronze brazier had been placed atop that for Idalia's use. The space was ringed with more torches.
Ashaniel approached them as they reached the edge of the open space, holding a small bundle of dark fabric in her hands. She held it out to Idalia. 'Here is the spell-caul for the keystone.'
Idalia took it and passed it to Kellen, thanking Ashaniel absently. Kellen could tell his sister's mind was already elsewhere, on the work that was to come.
Curious, Kellen inspected the bundle in his hands. It was a large square of heavy red silk, embroidered in the same color as the fabric. His fingers tingled as he touched it, and it seemed somehow colder and heavier than it ought to be. Magic. Sewn to the outside was a pair of long tasseled cords, so he could tie the bundle shut once he'd wrapped the keystone in it. He folded the fabric up tightly again and tucked it under one arm.
Now all that remained was to create the contents.
He remembered Idalia's lessons about withdrawing himself from a spell in order to deny his power and energy to a Working. The Book of Sun also spoke of starving the will and refusing consent; Kellen had thought those injunctions related only to making bargains until Idalia explained that all aspects of a spell were in some sense a transaction: giving power to the spells of another, accepting a spell cast upon you (for good or ill), sensing the effects of a spell cast by another. If the Wildmage refused to participate in the transaction, depending on his own power, he could minimize or even negate the power of the spell entirely. All these things were aspects of shielding, and Kellen's abilities in that area were going to get a serious workout tonight. Maybe he wasn't such a 'nonparticipant' after all; it would take a great effort of will to avoid being drawn into a working this large.
Idalia stepped into the center of the ring of torches, and as she did, silence spread outward in ripples through the waiting Elves, until the only sound was that of the wind through the trees.
As Kellen watched, she knelt on the center stone and prepared her spell, piling a few leaves and a sharp knife beside the brazier filled with tinder.
Then she rose to her feet and began making her Circle, marking it with her staff.
He knew far more now about the physical components of Wild Magic than he had back when he'd first helped Idalia heal the unicorn colt. A Wildmage's Circle was an acknowledgment that the world had boundaries, and that the help he or she summoned came into the world the Wildmage knew and served from elsewhere. It also functioned as a reminder that in calling upon the forces of the Wild Magic, the Wildmage was leaving behind the world he or she knew. In Calling Spells, no forces except those the Wildmage had called could enter the Circle; in Finding Spells, it served as a point of departure on the path that would lead the Wildmage to his goal. On those rare and dangerous occasions when the Wildmage was compelling something to appear before him, the Circle served as a beacon to guide it and an enclosure to imprison it, subject to the Wildmage's will.
But in Kellen's experience, the Circle was always invisible except to magical senses, or at most a line scratched in the earth by a stick or a knife.
This was different.
Where Idalia walked, a white glow sprang up behind her, a glow as intense as Magelight. And when she had finished, there was a ring of bright white light defining the circle she had marked, its silvery radiance as intense as the noonday sun. Kellen closed his eyes and could still see it through his closed lids.
All around him the Elves seemed to sigh. They began to sing in a strange unfamiliar tongue, swaying gently as they did, their voices rising in a high sweet chorus that vibrated through Kellen's body like the carillons of Armethalieh. He felt himself begin to sway as well, felt the song resonate within him, calling to something deep inside him that longed— demanded—to answer it.
