Free Traitor Savant (Second Seal of the Duelists) by Jasmine Giacomo

throat.
    “It’s better back in the valley .” Calder pointed.
    In the dim light from a half-moon, Bayan could see that the valley they’d chosen for their first attempt at Savant training did have a thick stand of trees lining its edges. The hex moved into the shelter between its ridges and spread out.
    “ Where should we start?” Tarin’s breath made a white puff in the moonlight.
    “The basic spells,” Bayan said.
    “Let’s pick one element at a time,” Eward suggested.
    Calder waved a finger in inspiration. “I think we need to start with the Avatar spells.”
    Tarin crossed her arms. “You lot are dripping with help.”
    “We need to start with the basics out here because we rarely use them in class anymore,” Bayan explained.
    “I think it will be less obvious if we only improve within one element at a time,” Eward added.
    “If we can strengthen our Avatar spells now,” Calder said, “we stand a better chance of passing our final exam.”
    Bayan looked at the other two boys and sighed out a big white breath. “Good points, both of you. How should we decide which is really the best?”
    “Maybe we can test each one on a different training night,” Eward said. “See which seems to fit the best as far as making sense and keeping the instructors from noticing what we’re up to, then we’ll stick with that.”
    “You lot don’t have the first clue about how to avoid notice,” Tarin stalk ed into the center of the loosely gathered group. “You all have good points. You should each use your own suggestion. With three different patterns, the instructors won’t have any idea what to look for. They’ll never figure out what we’re doing.”
    Bayan frowned in thought. “That still leaves you.”
    “I canna do it exactly the way any of you are. But I think I could pick an element that Eward isn’t working on, and improve it. Atop that, he can start with the elemental spells, and I’ll start with the Avatar spells.”
    “Good idea. Let’s begin.”
    The group spread out. Bayan went first, summoning his magic with the Elemental Invocation. A quick arc summoned his Wood magic in a burst of green smoke, and he unleashed the Woodcast of Cragroot. Vicious roots ripped up from the rocky ground a dozen strides before him, slashing the air in search of an enemy to strangle. The familiar darkness edged his vision, thrilling his soul with that old thirst for vengeance. He tamed it, as always, and released the spell.
    “Remember,” he cautioned the others before they cast their spells, “you have to master the emotion before you can be a stable Savant caster. Master before caster.”
    “Thought that one up all by your onesie, did you?” Calder summoned Firedust, his Flame avatar, in a red flash of mist and directed it to cast Summer into the air over everyone’s heads.
    A radiant heat rolled down acro ss Bayan’s skin. He closed his eyes and thought of home. “Don’t stop,” he said. “That feels perfect.”
    “Good idea to start with Flame, too,” added Eward, when Calder finally released his spell. “I’ll start with Wind.” He performed the first invocation, then took a few moments to focus. After a smile creased his lips, he invoked Wind and performed the whirling motions of Downdraft. The spell burst from a soft blue fog and whipped the chill air into a tight vortex.
    Bayan, already cold, began to shiver. He started jogging in place to stay warm as Eward let the Wind spell go. “Tarin?”
    “Earth, for me. I think starting with Flame would be too easy.” She invoked her magic, then crossed her arms in the Earth invocation. A moment later, her Earthquake spell rippled out from a silver cloud, causing the ground to judder and crack, but only on Tarin’s left. She cursed.
    “No, anger’s my emotion.” Bayan spoke lightly, trying to ease her frustration. She only glared at him.
    “Not a problem,” Eward told her. “We’re just starting out.”
    Calder stepped back. “Maybe we