both, at the same time.
'You grounded it-in the place between Gates!' he managed to get out, after a moment. 'I can't believe you did that! You could call a deadly storm that way-or find yourself drained to the dregs!' Firesong shrugged, and dismissed the shield, ground and all. 'I told you, no mage does that with impunity. I would not attempt it while someone else held a Gate near me, or during a thunderstorm. But that Place makes an energy-sink that is second to none. If you wish to drain an enemy, ground yourself in the Place, tie your shields to the ground as always, and let him pour all of his power out upon you. It will drain into the Place and be swallowed up, exhausting him and costing you no more than an ordinary shield.' He held out a long, graceful hand to Darkwind. 'Touch it,' he ordered.
Darkwind did so. The hand was as cold as ice. 'Therein lies the danger there. The Place is an energy-sink. It will steal your energies as well. and there is no way to keep it from doing so. You had best hope that you can outlast your enemy, if you ground there; work him into an irrational fury before trying it.' He turned to Elspeth, who was again visibly impressed. 'Take nothing for granted. Wingsib. No matter what you have been told, most anything in magery can be done, despite the 'laws' that you have been taught. The question is only whether the result is worth it.' It galled him to see the admiration on her face. Oh, Firesong had undoubtedly earned the right to arrogance; his Clansfolk had not exaggerated when they said that they considered him a powerful experimenter.
He was, without a doubt, a genius as well.
But none of that meant that Darkwind had to like it.
At the end of the day, when he was exhausted, and Firesong was still as outwardly cool and poised as he had been that morning, Darkwind was ready to call a halt to the entire thing.
But Firesong didn't give him that opportunity.
'You'll do,' he said, with cool approval. 'At least, you aren't hopeless.
I'll have a different course of action for you two tomorrow And with that, he simply turned on his heel and left, he and his bird together, melting into the greenery.
*Chapter Eighteen - Tre'valen and Dawnfire
Darkwind and Elspeth walked together to her ekele. They were going to hers, because it was nearer; Darkwind was so drained that he didn't think he could go any further without a rest and something to drink. He was glad that it was still mid-afternoon. If it had been dark enough he'd had to conjure a mage-light, he'd have fallen over; he felt that tired.
'So what do you think of Firesong?' Elspeth asked as they crested the gentle curving path between six massive flowering bushes. The flicking tail of a hertasi ducked under a trellis, distracting him for just a moment.
He cast her a suspicious glance, gauging the import of her question, but her expression, like her voice, remained carefully neutral. 'Well, he's certainly brilliant,' he admitted grudgingly. 'And unconventional. But I don't think I've ever met anyone so arrogant in all my life.'
'He's earned the right to be,' Elspeth replied, to his increased annoyance.' I mean, there are a lot of people who think Weaponsmaster Alberich is arrogant-or Kero. And they're right, but there's a point where YOU're so good that you've earned a certain amount of-hmm-attitude.'
He didn't reply. He couldn't. Not and maintain his own calm. In a certain sense, Elspeth was completely correct. In fact, if he mentioned Firesong's arrogance to Iceshadow or his father, he would probably be told that it wasn't arrogance at all, it was simply self-assurance, and a pardonable pride.
Firesong was the best mage Darkwind had ever seen in his life; perhaps the best living mage that there was. Not just a Healing Adept, but an innovator; a brilliant creative genius. Not fearless-at the levels at which Firesong was working, being fearless could get him killed quite quickly-but so knowledgeable that he was able to judge risks to within a hair.
He was worlds away better than Darkwind was now, and what was more, he was better than Darkwind, or anyone known to the Vales, would ever be. And that did not come as a comfortable revelation.
Darkwind was not used to seeing himself as second-best. It stung his pride, even as Firesong's attitude made him angry. And then, on top of it all, for the cocky mage to be so cursed handsome!
Elspeth openly admired him. That was just as difficult to take. How short a step was it more physical?
It was only then, when he caught himself seething with completely unwarranted jealousy, that he realized the trend his thoughts were taking.
All right. Stop right there. Think whatever you like, but be careful about anything you say. Right now it would be the easiest thing in the world to say something that would completely alienate her-to make accusations that you have no right to make.
Elspeth wouldn't react well to that. And never mind that it galled that Firesong's power and beauty were enough to make anyone inclined to throw themselves at his feet. If Elspeth chose to join the crowd, Darkwind had no say in the matter.
You don't own her. She consented to share pleasure with you. That gives you no rights, remember that. She can continue to share your bed and Firesong's and you have no right to demand that she cleave only to you. She can throw you over for Firesong if she wants. that is up to her.
'You're thinking very hard,' Elspeth said, glancing at him.
'I'm thinking that-I am likely to be very irrational about Firesong.
That was all the warning he could bear to give her. But hopefully. it would be enough. 'He is right when it comes to magic, anyway. I've never seen anyone as skilled or as powerful as he is, except maybe Falconsbane.'
from admiration to something else more personal 'He's going to try something different with the Stone, no one even guessed could be done,' she said. 'We knew he was going to be doing something like that, but I honestly didn't think he was going to include us in it.' She gave him a lopsided smile.' I guess we must be good for something after all.'
