“No, he said to stop!” Hanner called. “See? He’s back there!”
Rudhira blinked at him, but didn’t stop.
Then Faran’s voice came, unnaturally loud.
“Rudhira! Come back here!”
Hanner’s eyes and mouth opened wide in shock; he hadnever heard his uncle shout so loudly. He had never heardanyone shout so loudly. He hadn’t known it was possible.
Then he realized that it wasn’t, ordinarily-Faran had somehow used warlockry to make his voice louder. He had heard Rudhira do the same thing to a much lesser degree more than once, though at the time he had been unsure whether it was magic or just an illusion.
It was definitely magic this time. And it had worked; Rudhira stopped and turned, as if waking from a dream.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Hanner as she headed back to join the others. “I don’t know what I was thinking-it just seemed as if I should keep going.”
Hanner waved away her concern. “That’s all right,” he said.
But he was not sure it reallywas all right; Rudhira’s recent behavior worried him. She seemed to be more and more distracted.
“Now we’re all here,” Lord Faran said as Rudhira and Hanner joined the hovering group, “I’d like to see just how powerful you are. Water is heavy, and should provide all the weight we need— I want each of you to try to pull up a column of water, as big around as your arms can reach, and see if you can raise it all the way up to this height.” He looked over the group, then pointed. “Kirsha, you go first.” Kirsha hesitated, then looked down. “While flying?” she asked. “Can we do that?”
“Try,” Faran said.
Kirsha stared down at the water below them-and so did Hanner and the others.
And as they watched, a wave curled itself into a spiral and rose upward, straightening itself into a vertical column of water as it climbed. Hanner held his breath at the sight.
It sparkled in the sun like a gigantic pillar of green liquid glass, rising up out of the sea.
When it was about thirty feet tall it began to wobble, and the rate of ascent slowed. At forty feet it stopped, swayed, and then shattered, falling back into the sea with an immense splash. Waves rippled out in expanding rings, swamping the shallow lines of waves that naturally rolled southward across the Gulf. The ships riding at anchor rocked gently as the waves passed beneath.
“Good!” Faran said. “Varrin, now you try.”
Varrin looked down, took a deep breath, and spread his arms, and the waves seemed to reverse direction, drawing back in, reforming the column that Kirsha had dropped. It rose upward, past the point where Kirsha had lost her hold, but began narrowing at the top.
Hanner could see the strain on Varrin’s face, and couldfeel the magical power flowing through the air.
The column became a spire, the top narrowing to a point, but it continued to rise until at last Varrin reached out a hand and the water splashed upward against it, as if he held his hand over an impossible colossal fountain.
The column thickened, the top widening out into a rounded peak perhaps a foot across-and then it was too much, more than Varrin could handle, and water began spilling down the sides, splashing and spraying outward. The column swayed, split, and disintegrated, falling back not in a single great splash as Kirsha’s had, but in a scattering shower of separate streams.
And Varrin had sunk partway himself; he was a good fifteen feet below the others and still losing altitude.
“Rudhira,” Hanner called.
Rudhira had been looking off to the north, but she heard him, and Varrin’s descent stopped abruptly.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he rose gently to rejoin the others. “I misjudged. It felt as if I could still draw more power.”
Faran held up a palm. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You did a fine job.” He looked the others over, then pointed. “Luriaz,” he said, “your turn.”
Hanner watched with interest as the others each made the attempt. All but Ulpen bettered Kirsha’s performance, but only Des-set could match Varrin’s-and she couldn’t better it.
Rudhira watched with interest and caught anyone who started to fall. Her own turn, however, was left until last.
Finally, though, Faran turned to her and said, “Rudhira! Show us what you can do!”
Rudhira smiled. “Finally!” she said. She looked down.
Hanner could feel the wave of magical energy as if it were physical pressure; the hairs on his arms and face and body were all flattened against his skin.
And the water below them rose up.
This was not just a column; this was a mountain that soared upward. As it neared their feet it opened out into a ring but still continued, rising around them, surrounding them all in a roaring wall of water.
Rudhira laughed. No one else looked amused; Hanner forced himself to look away from Rudhira and look around at their faces, and saw only terror.
The water rose higher and higher, the circle of sky still visible above them receding and shrinking, until finally Lord Faran called, “That’s enough!”
Rudhira smiled broadly and flung her arms wide, and the wall of water exploded outward. Water roared deafeningly as the entire structure disintegrated and fell back to earth-but all of itoutward; the eleven warlocks remained untouched and dry at the center.
Hanner looked out and down, and saw the freighters below, the wall of water sweeping down toward them.
“Rudhira,” he called, pointing, “the ships!”
Rudhira looked, and to Manner’s astonishment the four closest ships rose up out of the water and hung dripping in the air while the torrent rushed beneath them. Hanner could see their crews, astonished and terrified, clinging to masts and ropes and railings as they watched.
And when the watery onslaught had passed, the ships settled neatly back to the surface.
Hanner watched the wave diminish with distance until at last it smashed into the city’s docks, splashing up into the streets beyond-that was impressive, but no worse than a storm might do, and he doubted anyone was hurt or anything significantly damaged. Several people probably got soaked, but the sun would dry them quickly enough.
He felt himself suddenly drop several feet, but then he was caught again. He looked up at Rudhira.
“Sorry,” she said. “That was... well, I think that was about my limit.”
“It wasamazing,” Desset said admiringly.
“Indeed it was,” Faran agreed. “Quite a spectacular performance! You should be proud.”
Rudhira smiled wearily.
“I think we should go back,” Hanner said. “Before everyone’s too tired to hold me.” “Here,” Desset said, dropping down. “Give me your hand! I’ll take you, and let Rudhira get her breath back.”
Hanner reached out gratefully and took Desset’s hand. It was warm and soft.
Desset smiled at him. “It was very brave of you to come along, when you can’t fly,” she said.
“It wasn’t my idea,” Hanner said. “Rudhira brought me without asking.”
Desset threw a startled glance up at Rudhira, who was drifting southward, the others gathering closely around her, a few yards above Desset and Hanner.
“That reallywas amazing, what she did,” Desset said. “I know that every time I use my magic it makes me a little stronger, so that each time I can do a little more than I could before, but I think it will be along time before I can matchthat!”
“Probably,” Hanner agreed. He suspected there might be some sort of limit to how much a warlock’s power could increase, and Desset mightnever reach Rudhira’s level-but he wasn’t about to say that, and he wasn’t sure that would be a bad thing. The idea of hundreds of warlocks strong enough to toss freighters around like toys was frightening, almost enough to make him think the overlord had a point.
But then, wizards had been working miracles for centuries, moving entire mountains on occasion. Why
