Read Online Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) by C. M. Lance - Free Book Online
Authors: C. M. Lance
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before he held his hand up.
She muttered a spell and then pricked his palm with the needle-sharp point, drawing it toward his wrist. Blood welled and followed the wound downward. "Swear."
He nodded "By my blood, I swear to teach you the summoning spell when the boy is out of commission."
She leaned forward and licked the trail of blood running down his palm. She murmured to finalize the spell before she smiled, blood outlining her lips. "I bind your blood to this promise." The smile collapsed into a sneer and she hammered the point of the knife into his desk.
Straightening, she pulled the heavy drapes aside and retrieved the knotted, rune carved staff. Thicker than her wrist, it thrummed in her hand, like a race horse poised at the gate. Gilded cords fastened an assortment of dried spices, herbs, and feathers to its lower end. With a sweep of her arm and an incantation from a forgotten language, the window rattled and the panes swung open. Moonlight shimmered on the thick, time-polished shaft. She swung her leg over it before turning toward him. "If you don't keep your promise, your blood will boil. I will enjoy watching," she said.
With a wave of her hand the staff rose, pushing her into the air, and she soared out the window.
His upper lip shaped a snarl as he watched her form cross the moon's brilliant orb, before he shut and latched the window.
Sig and Grampa Thor practiced daily for the rest of the week and the weekend with no discernable improvement in Sig's magical capabilities. His physical capabilities were another story. Even Grampa Thor expressed amazement at what Sig could do in Battle form.
For every failure in magic, they could celebrate at least one new physical training accomplishment. They were both surprised, but not nearly as much as Bjørn, when Sig lifted him as easily as he used to lift Czar.
The biggest problem was control. The new strength and speed at his command took getting used to. Several items around the farm ended up broken. Sig cracked the backhoe when he used it to haul the tractor out of a muddy ditch. He had to repair a pasture fence, after playfully lifting the corner post out of the ground and ripping the cross members loose in the process.
Sig chased horses around the pasture. After he caught them, they cautiously sniffed the strange new being in their world.
Czar didn't know what to do when Sig caught him from behind and picked him up before his teeth could snap shut on a fox he was chasing, running full tilt across a barren hay field.
Grampa Thor had Sig intensify his martial arts workouts in both forms. "In my experience, you may have more need for martial arts than magic, and it's a good way to get used to your new body."
"Grampa, I've been practicing for years. I'm ready."
"Your movement and reactions must be automatic. Unless you practice, the differences will make you hesitate. You can't afford that at a critical time."
Because of the extraordinary capabilities Sig demonstrated in Battle Wizard shape, Grampa bore down on magic training.
They spent hours each day going over spell drills, making Sig memorize incantations that accomplished nothing when Sig attempted them. Grampa drove him relentlessly to try wielding enchanted tools including scrying glasses, wands, globes, bones, pentacles, and whatever Grampa brought with him or could summon.
Their mutual frustration grew.
"Focus, feel, concentrate. You need to absorb the essence of the wand to manipulate it," Grampa growled in exasperation.
With a bellow, Sig hurled the wand across the arena. It stabbed into a wooden pillar and stuck there. "I'm concentrating until my head is about to explode. You just say again, again, again. I might as well pound my head against that post. I'd accomplish the same thing."
Grampa held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Alright, take it easy. Maybe we need a break."
"Taking a break to start doing the same things over and over again that haven't worked isn't going to
She muttered a spell and then pricked his palm with the needle-sharp point, drawing it toward his wrist. Blood welled and followed the wound downward. "Swear."
He nodded "By my blood, I swear to teach you the summoning spell when the boy is out of commission."
She leaned forward and licked the trail of blood running down his palm. She murmured to finalize the spell before she smiled, blood outlining her lips. "I bind your blood to this promise." The smile collapsed into a sneer and she hammered the point of the knife into his desk.
Straightening, she pulled the heavy drapes aside and retrieved the knotted, rune carved staff. Thicker than her wrist, it thrummed in her hand, like a race horse poised at the gate. Gilded cords fastened an assortment of dried spices, herbs, and feathers to its lower end. With a sweep of her arm and an incantation from a forgotten language, the window rattled and the panes swung open. Moonlight shimmered on the thick, time-polished shaft. She swung her leg over it before turning toward him. "If you don't keep your promise, your blood will boil. I will enjoy watching," she said.
With a wave of her hand the staff rose, pushing her into the air, and she soared out the window.
His upper lip shaped a snarl as he watched her form cross the moon's brilliant orb, before he shut and latched the window.
Sig and Grampa Thor practiced daily for the rest of the week and the weekend with no discernable improvement in Sig's magical capabilities. His physical capabilities were another story. Even Grampa Thor expressed amazement at what Sig could do in Battle form.
For every failure in magic, they could celebrate at least one new physical training accomplishment. They were both surprised, but not nearly as much as Bjørn, when Sig lifted him as easily as he used to lift Czar.
The biggest problem was control. The new strength and speed at his command took getting used to. Several items around the farm ended up broken. Sig cracked the backhoe when he used it to haul the tractor out of a muddy ditch. He had to repair a pasture fence, after playfully lifting the corner post out of the ground and ripping the cross members loose in the process.
Sig chased horses around the pasture. After he caught them, they cautiously sniffed the strange new being in their world.
Czar didn't know what to do when Sig caught him from behind and picked him up before his teeth could snap shut on a fox he was chasing, running full tilt across a barren hay field.
Grampa Thor had Sig intensify his martial arts workouts in both forms. "In my experience, you may have more need for martial arts than magic, and it's a good way to get used to your new body."
"Grampa, I've been practicing for years. I'm ready."
"Your movement and reactions must be automatic. Unless you practice, the differences will make you hesitate. You can't afford that at a critical time."
Because of the extraordinary capabilities Sig demonstrated in Battle Wizard shape, Grampa bore down on magic training.
They spent hours each day going over spell drills, making Sig memorize incantations that accomplished nothing when Sig attempted them. Grampa drove him relentlessly to try wielding enchanted tools including scrying glasses, wands, globes, bones, pentacles, and whatever Grampa brought with him or could summon.
Their mutual frustration grew.
"Focus, feel, concentrate. You need to absorb the essence of the wand to manipulate it," Grampa growled in exasperation.
With a bellow, Sig hurled the wand across the arena. It stabbed into a wooden pillar and stuck there. "I'm concentrating until my head is about to explode. You just say again, again, again. I might as well pound my head against that post. I'd accomplish the same thing."
Grampa held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Alright, take it easy. Maybe we need a break."
"Taking a break to start doing the same things over and over again that haven't worked isn't going to
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