When it struck the cage around him, it deflected. I frowned, but Walter simply stood in the center of the woven cage of flames, watching me.
I tried something different. I looped another band of power, spreading it from one finger to the next, and twisted it. It added an element of energy to what I was doing, and when I flicked it at the cage around Walter, it again bounced off.
The effect didn’t harm him. Something like that would be useful.
I tried another technique.
I split the strands into four different bands of power, and quickly wove them together. I had practice with that, and could do so quickly. As I did, I flicked the entirety of it toward Walter, sending power streaking at him, but when it struck, it merely bounced off. That was about as much power as I could draw from one dragon.
How many dragons would it be strong enough to defend against?
I had to know.
I tried another technique, and called upon the energy of more than one of the dragons. I drew as much as I could out of the dragons and sent it streaking toward Walter. When it struck, there was a sizzling. Walter’s eyes widened slightly, and he staggered back a step.
I tamped down that power again. “I’m sorry about that,” I said.
He took a deep breath, solidifying the cage around him again. “I suppose that is my fault. I hadn’t expected you to have access to quite so much energy yet.”
“Yet?”
“Well, you’re working with Thomas, so I can’t help but think you would have considerable power. It’s just that you have only been at the Academy for a short while. I anticipated it would take quite a bit longer for you to gain access to that sort of power.”
“What do I need to do to create the weave you formed?”
“It is a tricky bit, but seeing what you have already demonstrated . . .” He smiled at me. “I have little doubt you will be able to do something similar.”
I wasn’t sure if that were the case or not. It seemed the weave he used was far more advanced than my simple connection of power could create. I might be able to twist energy together and form a powerful band of magic, but I couldn’t do quite what I saw from him.
I had to try though.
I forced power up to my shoulders and could feel it split. Once it did, I thought of how he had arced it over his head, forcing it together, and I attempted to weave it, though even when I did, I could feel something wasn’t quite right.
“The weave is the key,” Walter said. “That is what very few understand. They believe that it’s simply a matter of forcing power.”
“I’ve seen that with other things,” I said. “It’s how you weave it together that seems to matter.”
He watched me for a moment. “Perhaps you have. In this case, you must bring each strand under the other, and then over the top of it. It is one pattern you will come to understand over time. The more you practice, the more it becomes second nature.”
“Is that how you can form it so quickly?”
Walter quickly formed the weave, then wrapped it around himself again. “I have been practicing a long time, Ashan. This technique has served me well over the years.”
As I attempted it, I could feel how difficult it was, yet I recognized the benefit of what he was doing. I attempted to form the weave, but there was an ongoing resistance. Partly that came from me, though there was something else about it that felt off. It didn’t hold. I continued to focus on it, holding on to it, and tried to force it up and over with no success. I backed off, trying again. As I did, I felt the same resistance.
Walter approached. “Not quite like that.”
I looked up to him. “What am I doing wrong?”
“It’s not so much a matter of what you’re doing wrong as a matter of there being different ways of pulling on this. Don’t force it together. You have to let it come together.”
“It doesn’t feel like it wants to come together. There’s a resistance to it.”
“You have to find the pattern. It’s there, if only you can permit yourself to flow with it.”
“Flow with it?”
He nodded. “I have worked with other students over the years, and that is the hardest aspect for them to understand. You must find a way to let it come to you. To flow within it.”
“How many others have succeeded?”
“All students can learn to form this weave,” he said.
“How many have learned to do it quickly?”
Walter smiled slightly. “Why, that is another matter altogether. Doing it quickly is not easy. For the most part, students learn how to hold on to the weave for a short time, but they rarely learn how to master it long enough to use it. They don’t find it nearly as effective as some of the alternatives.”
“What other alternatives would do the same thing?”
“There are other patterns that would work, but it is more about using a pattern that works as effectively.”
“What do you mean? If there’re others that work, and if they’re easier—”
“Easier doesn’t mean better,” Walter said.
He frowned at me, and I had the sense I had disappointed him by my comment.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said.
He shook his head. “You didn’t offend, Ashan. Far from it. You seek to understand. That is all I can ask.”
“I just want to know what will be the most effective technique.”
“It depends upon the circumstances. It also depends upon the dragon mage, to a great extent. If you find yourself under duress, and aren’t able to form the weave like this, then it is of no use to you. If you find
