Jennifer Jones
Stories
4
Chapters
1,292
Words
687.3 K
Comments
0
Reading
2 d, 9 h
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Tala was frowning. Trent shrugged. “Aside from the obvious need for a steady hand? It’s the mind behind the inscriptions. It matters less for work on Mages than for item construction because “Huh. I had no idea.” She briefly thought of the complex inscription on the back of her neck, ostensibly keeping record of much of what she did, and how. “How did you connect with her?” “A contact with the Caravan Guild, a friend, introduced me to her.” “Your handler?” Tala shrugged.…-
211 •
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Tala spoke as little as she reasonably could, both as she asked for something to eat, and while requesting a larger than usual lunch for herself and the other magic users. She took a platter back to her wagon, and only slipped three times on the way up the ladder. Thankfully, she didn’t drop her food. Den smiled back at her, as she came up onto the roof. “I think we’re ready to go, Mistress. Are you braced for me to start?” She gave a forced smile in return. “Thank you, Den.” She sat.…
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211 •
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Tala inhaled, long and slow once more, focusing on the power coming in with the air, as well as the power leaking into her lungs. Eyes open, she exhaled, while willing the power to come together, compressing it into as small a point as possible as it left her mouth. As soon as the magic left the inside of her body, she lost sway over it, and it attempted to come to equilibrium with the air around her. There was a Tala’s breath caught. She returned her focus to what she’d just done. The power had…
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211 •
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Tala moved towards the chuckwagon, allowing her back and shoulders to move along with the rest of her, keeping balance. It felt strange to relinquish the rigidity that she’d held for so long. The manner of movement didn’t feel like something she did; it had become a part of her. Even so, she wasn’t stiff, as her daily stretches and exercises had kept her limber despite her manner of movement. Honestly, it felt like she was going to fall over, which was incredibly disconcerting given that she was…
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211 •
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Over the next two hours, Tala split her mind across the two tasks, and found she was able to maintain both, though it took all her concentration. At her halting pace, she only advanced up the wagon line slowly, and thus, when lunchtime came, Brand stepped out of the chuckwagon to find her barely one wagon away. “Mistress Tala?” His voice startled her, and she froze in place, perfectly balanced with her back foot an inch off of the ground. Her concentration on the Archon star also broke, and the…
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211 •
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Tala snorted a laugh at Brand’s words as he passed over the jug full of coffee. Brand then seemed to notice Renix for the first time. He straightened, brushing off his apron, and put on a diplomat’s smile. “Mageling Renix.” He bowed slightly. “How can I serve?” Renix shook his head. “Nothing for me, thank you. I am simply walking with Mistress Tala.” “Very good. Mageling, Mistress.” He bowed to each of them in turn, then shut the door. As they walked back out from between the moving…
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211 •
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Tala was walking behind one of the passenger wagons for wealthier patrons as she knocked. There was a short pause before the wagon’s servant opened the door. “Yes? May I-GAH!” The poor man stumbled backwards, clearly having not expected a blood-spattered Mage at his door. Tala smiled, apologetically. “My apologies, good sir. I have something for…” She hesitated for just a moment. There was a soft squeak from inside, and Janice appeared, pausing for a moment to help steady the servant, who…
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Even through Tala’s closed eyelids, the light from the thunder bull’s counterattack was blinding. In that instant, her entire body felt hot, as if she’d been standing, naked, beneath the sun, slowly rotating to be evenly toasty, for hours. Eyes closed or not, she could The electricity danced across the iron on her skin, heating it in a blinding instant. The heat threatened to burn her flesh, which activated her defensive enhancements, along with using up the last drops of ending-berry, defensive…
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211 •
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An hour later, Tala had a headache. Den was already tending to the oxen, and the wagons were comfortably circled for the night, but Tala was still trying to wrap her mind around the concepts in the She threw her hands up. “This is maddening!” She heard a throat clear and looked over the side of the wagon. “Renix?” The mageling looked up at her from beneath dirty blonde hair. “Master Trent asked me to come check on you. Will you be joining us for dinner?” Tala sighed. Renix frowned.…
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211 •
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Tala almost smiled as Trent let out a frustrated breath. After a moment, he nodded to himself. “Alright, from my understanding: As one step to being elevated from Mage to Archon, a Mage will dedicate themselves to pouring and concentrating power into a small item, usually a gem or something similar. They must maintain the steady influx of power for days, or even weeks, until it reaches a sufficient quantity to manipulate into this self-sustaining vortex. The entire time, they must maintain the flow of…
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