Chapter Twenty-Four

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“Alright,” he said aloud, not particularly wanting to see every single hiding spot within the city. Ikary stopped, and Calix took him on his arm. He stroked the falcon a bit between the wings and gave him silent orders to stay out of the fighting as much as possible, and watch out for archers. The bird squawked as if to say, “Obviously,” and gave a lofty toss of his head. He preened at the dry skin on his master’s fingers a bit, then took off again.
After watching Ikary fly off to resume circling around the city, Calix broke a likely looking branch from a nearby tree and walked down Weisr’s main street, the one that led straight to the Tower, and etched glyphs into the cobblestones and the supports of some of the scaffolding. Most soldiers on guard in the streets ignored him, some cast a wary eye his direction. Each glyph appeared in his mind’s eye as a sort of map of the streets. They would act as conduits, allowing the Emissary an arm into the surrounding area through which he could send spells. As he walked the streets, he noticed he hadn’t been the only one with this idea. It seemed a Journeyman or Master, or maybe even one of the more advanced students, had wanted to have a hand in things in the city as well. They weren’t the same glyphs that Calix was inscribing, and couldn’t be used for just any spell, but Calix thought he recognized a few fireball triggers and other nasty things.
The mages who’d remained at the Tower would not be wandering far from it. Most of them weren’t even going to put their power to use on the offensive; that duty was reserved for the Masters and Journeymen. The students would be almost entirely set on defense, whether providing protection for specific formations and regiments, or bolstering the wall...

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...his comrade’s attack. She threw the dead man at the other’s legs, tripping him up, and struck while he was vulnerable.
A rhythmic pounding of feet sounded, coming up the main street. Sidhe killed her next opponent and pushed him aside to see what was going on. She groaned at the sight.
Ladders. A line of men carrying long ladders were charging up the street, obviously intending to just scale the wall instead of trying to fight through it. They were led by a man who had to be a commander in fluted full plate armor and wielding a great-sword, and were nearly a half-mile away. Teal magic streaked out from the glyphs Calix had left on the cobblestones and walls of buildings, striking at the carriers, while the archers at their posts rained arrows on their heads—but before any attacks touched anyone, they were repelled by a shield manifested in powder-blue power.
Selia.

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