Free War of Power (The Trouble with Magic Book 3) by B. J. Beach

getting on with destroying that crystal.”
    The little magician looked pointedly at the forgotten tea-tray. “Well, perhaps after you’ve made some fresh tea, you can go and find out. I’ll be alright here. It’s not as if I’m an invalid.”
    Looking suitably contrite, Karryl picked up the tray and headed back to the kitchen.

10 - Cleansing the Crystal
    The unmistakeable prickling of his skin told Karryl that Mordas was still working. He waited outside until he could sense the spell was complete, then banged on the door with his fist. Minutes trickled by until he heard the sound of bolts being drawn. The latch clicked and the door swung partly open. Inside the massive hall, Karryl secured the bolts before turning to look at Mordas. What he saw filled him with dismay. Usually elegant and serene, the physician-mage gazed at him in despair, her green eyes dark with anguish. Her long auburn hair clung to her flushed cheeks and scalp in lank, sweat-soaked strands. Her shoulders drooped as her arms hung limply at her sides, and it seemed to Karryl that she was about to burst into tears. Throwing propriety to the wind, he stepped forward. With both his arms round her, he placed his hand on her damp hair and pressed her head against his shoulder. She offered no resistance as Karryl slowly allowed some of his power to flow into her trembling body. As he held her he looked over her head, across to the centre of the hall. On a slender stone pedestal sat the crystal, its shape revealed by the dark cloth that covered it, showing quite clearly that it was still whole.
    Mordas pulled back a little, looked into his face and gave an embarrassed little sniff. “Thank you for that. I’m so sorry. That was never meant to happen, but I felt so totally drained and disheartened.” She gestured towards the crystal. “The spell isn’t working. I can’t seem to get the resonance right. The one time I did manage it, I couldn’t sustain it.”
    Karryl crossed the room and lifted her cloak and bag off a large wooden peg set into the wall. “I suggest you leave it now. Go home, have something to eat, and rest.”
    Mordas nodded mutely as she slung her bag onto her shoulder. Her cloak draped around her she walked slowly to the door. With her hand on the latch she looked back at Karryl, her eyes imploring. “Would you try?”
    Karryl folded his arms and gave her a knowing smile. “At the risk of offending you, I was going to anyway. Now go.”
    She opened her mouth to say something else, but Karryl’s dark eyes challenged and she slipped quietly out. Karryl shut and bolted the door behind her, then leaned against it. For a few minutes he stared down the room at the crystal, his agile mind rapidly assessing the dozen or so resonance spells stored indelibly in his memory. He was almost certain he knew which one Mordas had been using. He also knew that it was only suitable for a female voice.
    Taking a few steps down the room, Karryl knelt down on the cold flag-stoned floor and folded his hands. His voice barely rose above a whisper. “Blesséd, beloved and all-knowing D’ta, to whose graciousness we owe our power, please hear me in this time of need.”
    He waited, his hands still folded, his head bowed.
    “That was very nice Karryl but I’m rather busy at the moment. Can it wait?”
    Karryl smiled to himself. “How long were you thinking of?”
    “About two days.”
    The young Mage-Prime stood up and pushed his hands into the pockets of his robe. “I could probably stretch to two hours, but that would be the outside.”
    There was a long silence before the amethyst-eyed goddess spoke again. “What is it you’re doing exactly?”
    “I’m trying to devise a way of augmenting a resonance spell to shatter a containment crystal. It’s completely defeated Mordas. I had to transfer some of my power to her; otherwise I think she might have collapsed.”
    There was another long silence. “Can it possibly wait, at least until