The Quest for Saint Camber Read Free Page A

pointed to the four towers in quick succession as he spoke their names.
    â€œ Primus, Secundus, Tertius, et Quartus—fiat lux! ”
    Conall gasped as misty light flared up in a shallow dome over the towers, enclosing the ring, but he immediately leaned closer for a better look.
    â€œIs it solid?” he whispered.
    â€œTouch it and find out,” Tiercel replied. “Go ahead,” he added, at Conall’s hesitation. “It won’t hurt you—not set this way, at any rate.”
    â€œI suppose that’s meant to be reassuring,” Conall muttered, prodding tentatively with a fingertip. It felt not quite solid, and made his finger tingle, as when an arm or leg went to sleep, but the sensation was not painful.
    â€œPoke a little harder,” Tiercel suggested, watching him closely.
    Conall complied. His finger encountered more resistance, and a stronger tingling sensation, the farther he pushed it in, but even when he tried with all his strength, he could not quite manage to touch his ring.
    â€œThat’s enough of that,” Tiercel finally said, gesturing for him to pull back. “Now I’m going to make a subtle alteration.” He held his hand over the domelet for a few seconds, not doing anything that Conall could detect, then blinked and glanced up at Conall again. “Now touch it.”
    Conall started to obey, but a blue-violet spark arced between the dome and his fingertip with painful consequences before he could even make contact. He gasped as he wrenched his hand away, looking up at Tiercel with only thinly veiled anger as he nursed his wounded finger in his mouth. It was all but blistered at the tip.
    â€œWhat the devil did you do that for?” he demanded.
    â€œSo you would have some inkling of what this spell could do,” Tiercel said mildly. “Now suppose it were covering an entire room rather than just your ring. Do you remember the protective dome that Kelson and Charissa raised, when they fought at Kelson’s coronation?”
    â€œOf course,” Conall breathed. “But they didn’t use ward cubes—did they?”
    â€œNo. But some of the principles are the same. Actually, the first version is the more useful for general purposes—and there are variations between.” Tiercel passed his hand over the dome again, then turned his palm briefly toward Conall. “Now try it again.”
    â€œIs it going to kill me this time, instead of just burning me?” Conall asked, still sucking resentfully at his wounded fingertip.
    â€œCome, now. Would I kill you, after all the work I’ve put into you in the past year?”
    Conall only snorted in answer; but after taking a deep breath, he did reach out gingerly to touch the dome again. This time, his finger passed through its misty outline with no more sensation than going through fog. With elation in his eyes, he speared the ring with his fingertip and pulled it out, looking up at Tiercel in triumph.
    â€œ Got it!”
    â€œOf course. That time, the wards were attuned to you. Now, put it back, and I’ll show you how we dismantle the wards. Then I’ll let you practice.”
    Two hours later, Conall had formed and neutralized the wards several times under Tiercel’s supervision—though only in the primary, non-lethal mode—and was confident he could now do so without assistance if the need arose.
    â€œHmmm, I daresay you probably could. But there’s no need to rush things,” Tiercel cautioned, when they had replaced the cubes in their pouch and Conall had made none too subtle inquiries about acquiring a set of his own. “Perhaps I’ll have you a set by the time you return from the summer progress.”
    â€œSo long?”
    â€œWell, frankly, I didn’t expect you to master them so quickly. Finding you the right set will take some time.”
    â€œCouldn’t I borrow yours? That way, I could practice while I’m