Suggested Listening

"Cali? You look hurt." Elruin was no healer, but even she knew Cali should not be walking around right now. "Perhaps you should rest."

"I'm f-" she stopped. "I can't even... I'm not fine, but I'll live. Nothing a few days of bedrest won't fix, which will have to wait until after you come with me."

"I'll go get Lemia, she can help heal you." Despite there being any number of other healers, most of which were older, more powerful, and better suited for the task, Elruin's mind went to Lemia and the opportunity to heal Cali through her own resources rather than going to any of the healers which served the city, and thus were obligated to aid Calenda.

"Won't help," Cali said. "My problem right now is that I've had too much magic. That and a broken hand, but after I've recovered from mana poisoning. If they haven't taught you about that by now, we're finding a new school."

"I learned about essence decay," Elruin said. It was one of the big problems for mages, that magic had a habit of causing matter to break down. Living things were the most resistant to the problem, but if pushed too hard, even people would fall apart. Sarite was the exception, which was why it was used as the binding agent for all long-term magical constructs. "We should get you to bed."

Cali took a pained breath. "Yes, we should, but we can't. Not yet."

"Why is this so important?" Elruin was worried before, now she was becoming suspicious.

"I can't tell you," Cali said. "Can we please hurry? I promise you'll get your answers, but you'll have to trust me until then."

Whatever was going on in Cali, the magic inside her hummed a soft, insistent, almost angry resonance. It was by far the most subtle magic Elruin had seen in this school built around studying the nature of magic. "I do trust you, but I don't trust that magic in you."

"You can see-" Once again, Cali stopped mid sentence. "Entek! This is now a great deal more complicated than it was a minute ago. I cannot explain what is going on, but you're in no danger. No immediate danger, at this rate everyone's in danger. That's part of why I need you to come with me."

"Are you being controlled by someone?" The more she looked, the more obvious it became that she was dealing with magic of that nature. What confused her was how it looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. It was fueling itself off of Cali's own mind, as if the girl had created the spell herself, which should have been impossible.

"If I was, it'd be a terribly designed spell if I could say I was under control," Cali answered. "But I never could have gotten through the gates to the city under such a spell without setting off all the alarms, and I know of no other way to get into the city without either siege weapons or the power of a god. I assure you, I have neither."

Elruin wasn't certain, but what Cali was saying did make some sense; mind control was a well known and studied form of magic, and the gates were armed with every scanning magic she knew of. "How did you get through, with that spell on you? It doesn't make sense."

"A spell that I'd be forced to deny exists," Cali said. "But, hypothetically speaking, the gates don't check for certain types of truth magic. They can't, since they're using truth magic at the gates to cut through the possibility of illusion magic."

Elruin blinked, then began to think back to all her training over the months, and all her independent research as well. "If you use a truth spell on someone while extracting a promise, then the effect of the spell doubles as a Geas. The problem is, the target has to know about the magic and voluntarily make the promise, without any coercion or threat. And it wouldn't prevent you from telling me about it. A truth spell that powerful wouldn't let you lie about anything, unless you were forced to lie as part of the spell, which would either break the spell, or..."

"Break the target of the spell?" The humming of magic grew louder still.

"Who would be stupid enough to use the spell that way?" It sounded like a creative form of torture rather than an actual infiltration strategy.

"Someone much more clever than smart," Cali said. "Now can we please go before I physically drag you through the gates? Which, given my current situation, probably ends with me dying before we get out of this hallway."

Elruin hesitated for another moment. "Do I have time to get my equipment?"

"Would I be able to get you to leave without it?"

"No." She was pretty sure that if there was a threat, she'd need the violin. She could, if nothing else, use it and her new spells to call back to the city for help in an emergency. Or in the worst case scenario, send warning of an incoming attack.

"Then please hurry." Cali leaned against the wall. The song calmed, but not by much. It seemed that if it was given what it wanted, it wouldn't stress Cali as much.

Elruin went for her room, then contemplated her options as she undressed and put on her street clothes, complete with Sarite wrappings. The violin and bow would be the most important parts of any decision she made, given their ability to improve all her magic. Fighting Cali would kill her, of that Elruin was certain.

There were side routes built into all of the dorms, so that students could escape in case of an emergency. Or so the story went. As near as Elruin could tell, their true purpose was so the students could sneak into each others' rooms at night to play without the faculty admitting they knew it was happening. She was pretty sure running would result in the same fate as fighting Cali, with the magic taxing her body until it killed her. Elruin had to admit it was a twisted, but effective, way to use a hostage.

The last option was to go outside with Cali, and kill whatever it was that would dare hurt her Elder Sister.