Wild Magic Read Online Free PDF Page B

hours.
    Fergus had taken her aside for a moment to say she had accomplished her mission exactly as required and with great success. If the piece of the Stone was all Alton had, so be it. There was nobody else they could have sent or who would have confiscated the item with so little furor.
    She’d smiled and thanked him. Although one part of her knew he was right, the other part wasn’t totally convinced. Should she have looked around more? No, she couldn’t have. Not with that man in the study with her.
    Oh, goodness, she hadn’t told anyone about him.
    How could she have forgotten him? Even with all her attention on the Stone? She’d tell the team immediately after they took care of the item. For the moment, she’d put him out of her mind. The destruction process required that she pay close attention. One tiny mistake, one break in concentration, one weakness in her blade could bring horror to them all.
    She could do this, she assured herself.
    She headed for the other building’s basements, fastening her robe securely as she went.
    The team had gathered in the larger of the two “D” rooms, those used only for practice with and actual destruction of items. Her Defender team members were colorful as always: Glynnis in her purple robe; Thomas Canterbury, jewelry maker with copper, gold, and silver tracings; Bill Trusdale, landscaper with green leafy designs on his; Annette Chang, a meteorologist showing off dark blue swirls reminiscent of weather patterns; Denton Jones, tall in his banker’s robes, with multicolored engravings like money. A healer in yellow, nurse Mary Ann Matlow, was on the side preparing her medical kit.
    Those in the conference room had also accompanied the team, including her father Hugh in his gold economics robe, Jacob Mbuto with black and white letters from varying alphabets on a beige background, and John Baldwin in his Sword black.
    As she had been trained and was her duty, Irenee surveyed the room carefully to make sure all was ready. The five stone-clad walls glowed with spells designed to restrain unleashed, undisciplined power, and those were at full strength. Stone benches were set about two feet from the walls. Candles in sconces along the walls provided more conventional light.
    A large pentagon, fifteen feet from center to corner point, was engraved into the floor. When activated, it would become their fortress. In its center a five-sided stone pedestal rose to a height of two feet. On the top sat the crystal platter and bowl containing the Cataclysm Stone.
    A shiver snaked through Irenee when she glanced at the evil item. If she didn’t know better, she would swear it was looking back at her.
    “Don’t stand directly in front of its broken smooth face,” Fergus said. “I don’t like the feeling I get from it.”
    “Neither do I.”
    “We’ll attack the Stone from the sides. The key to destruction is to kill the facets, and they’re reached more easily that way. Is everything set?”
    She nodded to the big mage. “All’s in order.”
    “Team members, take your positions,” Fergus said. “The rest of you get comfortable. I hope we won’t need you. Thank you for being our backup in any case. Mary Ann, are you ready?” When the nurse answered yes, he and Irenee stepped into the pentagon and placed themselves on either side of the pedestal, the length of their individual swords away from it. One Defender stood inside each corner.
    “Munire aegis. Castellum. Tenere ,” they all said together and pointed at the pentagon in the floor. Build protection. Fortress. Hold.
    Multicolored lights flared along the five-sided figure, which glowed as shimmering walls formed and climbed to the ceiling, where they met overhead to form a roof. The walls did not prevent people or objects from passing through them in either direction, but the spells as cast would contain an inside discharge of harmful magic. Without the “hold,” the fortress protected against magic from outside.