The Sword and the Flame: The Forging

Chapter 14

"Are you sure about this?" Janessa watched her friend. "Won't this drain you?" While never understanding the reason behind fatigue striking mages after casting their spells, she did see Viola cast until she passed out from exhaustion once. Knowing the price the magic demanded, Janessa often wondered why anyone would practice such an act.

Their discussion centered on Viola's reasoning over the use of magic when she awakened a day after succumbing to exhaustion from overuse. Janessa had been irate, part of her wanted to reach out and violently shake the young mage to the point tears flowed at the fear of losing her friend.

With those memories fresh in her mind, Janessa pleaded with Viola. "Why do you want to use this... thing if it hurts you so?"

Viola tried to quell the Halfling's fears, but it was a battle neither one wanted to lose. "It doesn't hurt me. It drains me in retribution for the ability to cast the spells. The more I do it the more tolerance I build."

"Is it worth it? To be helpless and weak like that?" Janessa tried as best she could to understand, but the trade off didn't seem fair.

"Yes, it is." Viola didn't want to argue, but it seemed to be the only way to educate Janessa on what it was like. After a moment, she was sure she found a way. "Do you remember what you said it was like being with those men? How wonderful it felt for a brief moment that left you yearning for more in its absence?"

Janessa eyed her, not liking where their argument was heading. "That's different."

"Is it?" Viola pressed her advantage. "Afterwards, you're exhausted and needing to rest, but you accept that to feel the ecstasy of the moment. My art does that for me." Viola paused, throwing her legs out of bed with her eyes wide in excitement. She motioned to everything around them. "From the moment I begin to cast a spell, to the point of it leaving me is pure ecstasy." Her expression changed to one of longing, as if it'd been years since she'd seen her closest friend. "We'd do anything to get that feeling back."

Janessa stood and watched her friend throughout her narrative. The Halfling understood what she was trying to say, but she doubted magic could be as rewarding as sex. Only the look of longing on the young mage's face gave her reason to pause and question her own beliefs.

It was then, with her previous experience, that Janessa understood her friend.

Viola smiled, she knew Janessa was concerned, but she knew her own limits. "Don't fret, Jenny. We have to make sure you're right on the location of the tunnel entrance." She raised her right hand and called the spell to mind, an easy feat considering how many times she had scribed it at her master's command. Viola focused on what they wanted to find while preparing to recite the spell. Timing was important; if her concentration slipped in the slightest, the spell would lead them astray at worst, and fail at best.

Janessa stood grim, hurt as if Viola had struck her. "I checked it out myself." She muttered to herself. "Don't you trust me?" Although she spoke under her breath and it usually took quite a bit to disturb Viola's concentration, Janessa proved to be up to the task that time.

The look of concentration left Viola's face and she turned to the Halfling. "What? Of course, I trust you."

Janessa's face twisted in agitation. "Do you?"

"Damn it, Jenny, if I didn't, would I be here with you now? I just want to be certain that we're not making any mistakes."

"Really? Seems to me you want to experience your magic." The hurt and scorn in Janessa's voice was unmistakable.

Viola prepared to say something in rebuttal but stopped herself. Something inside urged her to cast the spell anyway to spurn Janessa. She ignored that voice, though it was more difficult than she could've imagined. "I'm sorry, you're right." Viola lowered her hand, clenching it into a fist to stop her trembling. "We have to hurry; it's nearly time for us to meet Berek and his friend."