Free Advent (Advent Mage Cycle) by Honor Raconteur Page B

both hands, staving off this flood of questions. “Whoa, Xiaolang, slow down. In order, yes, I’m sure. I’m not sure if he’s in danger of being discovered or not, but I doubt it. It took me this long to realize that his magic was active—it’s such a miniscule amount that it would take a triangle to detect him. And no, I don’t sense any one of the Star Order around. If you’re asking for my opinion of how much danger the kid is in, I would say that we could reach him before anyone figures out what he is.” Probably. The chance of discovery was still there, of course.
    “Is it a Mage accident?” was Xiaolang’s next worried question. “You said that young Mages have no control over their magic.”
    “True,” I nodded. “I don’t think this is a Mage accident, though. Those tend to be spectacularly messy and use a lot of magic in a short burst. This is more quiet and sustained.”
    “Which is good,” Chatta added thoughtfully. “Mage accidents happen because there’s such a large build up of power that it has to be released or it will burn the Mage out. If he’s releasing small bits of magic like this, then the odds of a Mage accident happening are reduced.”
    “Well, that’s one less thing to worry about then,” Xiaolang muttered under his breath. “Garth, keep a close eye on the situation. If you detect that the kid is in danger, use the earth path and go get him. I hate to alert anyone that we’re back in Chahir this quickly but better that than lose a Mage.”
    I nodded firmly. “Understood.”
    Xiaolang twisted in his saddle, looking back at his team. “Eagle, Shad, stay close to Garth. If he does have to go get the kid, go with him. You’ll cover his back while he’s rescuing our Mage.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Sure thing, C2.” Shad saluted lazly, but had definitely perked up at the possibility of some action.
    I noticed that Xiaolang didn’t even bat an eye at the nickname. He was probably so used to it by now that it didn’t even faze him.
    I kept an even closer eye on the Mage now, letting Night have complete control. In fact, I was barely paying any attention to him. I have no idea how much time elapsed when the magic suddenly was shut off.
    “Garth. Garth?”
    Someone was shaking my shoulder gently. I snapped back into my immediate surroundings to find Eagle studying my face intently. “Is something wrong?”
    “The Mage shut off his magic.” I wasn’t sure if that fit into the “wrong” category or not.
    “You make that sound like a deliberate decision. Don’t you mean that the magic just stopped?” Shad asked me in some puzzlement. “I thought it took practice and training to be able to control a Mage’s power.”
    “Yes and no. I was able to somewhat control my power before I was trained—although not much, I grant you. I didn’t always get the results that I wanted. Fine control takes practice and training. Still, it is possible for a new Mage to stop his magic.” I struggled to put something into words that I instinctively recognized. “It just felt like he deliberately stopped it.”
    Hazard, from behind us, let out a low whistle. “Now that makes things interesting.”
    Yes, it did. For good or bad, I wasn’t sure yet.
    “We’ll be there in another hour I think.” Xiaolang frowned at the worn map in his hands. “Garth, have you ever been to Shirlane before?”
    “No, never,” I said absently. My attention was gravitating back toward the Fire Mage. “It’s supposed to be a very metropolitan place. A lot of trade happens there.”
    “So we’ll be able to blend in there?”
    “Yeah, probably.”
    “In that case—assuming nothing goes wrong before we can get there—the whole team will go in. Chatta, those amulets that you have to seal a Mage’s power, can they also serve as a glamour?”
    “They aren’t, but I have separate amulets that do that.” She cocked her head, brown eyes silently questioning.
    “How long do they last?”
    “Depends