The object had two leather straps to secure it to someone’s forearm. A thin iron plate connected the two leather mounts, and on top of the plate was a hollow metal ring, about half the width of a palm across. Within the ring were two tiny metal bars, each perpendicular to each other. One ran horizontally, the other vertically.
Maiya recognized what it was. She’d seen these on the crossbows Brij guards carried. She didn’t really understand how they worked, but they helped with aiming.
There was one more part of the device that caught Maiya’s eye—a hinged extension to the metal plate, which ended in a hemisphere that appeared to be designed to slot an orb. She didn’t quite know how that was used.
Tanya donned the contraption, tightening the leather straps and securing it to her forearm as Maiya had suspected.
“Aligning the orb in your hand is key,” she said. “Veteran mejai instinctually develop a feel for how to properly aim their orbs, and some of the more powerful orbs affect an entire area at once, requiring less precision with their aiming. Similarly for mine spells.”
“Your spells?” Maiya asked, confusion all over her face.
“No, not my spells. Mine spells. Same spell, but designed to be placed as a trap for unsuspecting targets, triggered by proximity or time. Most combat spells have a mine equivalent, for example. They fire diluted copies of the spell in multiple directions at once.”
“Huh…” She wondered what applications such a thing might have. She was sure Vir would have a million ideas when she told him. He was going to be so jealous about everything she was learning. She couldn’t wait to tell him.
“Still,” Tanya continued, “even veterans benefit from an aiming bracer when firing directional spells at faraway opponents.”
The woman slotted the Icicle orb into the device, carefully rotating the arrow within the orb until it matched up with the line etched onto the sight.
When it was all done, Tanya’s right hand remained mobile. In fact, she could even let go of the orb without it falling off. Though the device held the orb pressed against her palm, so it wasn’t like she could easily use her hands to do other things… or so Maiya thought. The woman managed to close and latch her trunk just fine, even with the orb and device hampering her dexterity.
The Mejai of Ash extended her arm and grasped the orb. “This is called a reticle,” she said, gesturing to the metal ring attached to the aiming bracer—the one with the cross inside it. “With the bracer, the average mejai can reliably hit human-sized targets up to fifty paces away.”
“And let me guess… you’re not an average mejai?” Maiya asked.
Tanya scoffed. “Of course not. I can hit targets at a hundred paces. Easily.”
“Of course…” Maiya had learned that the woman loved to boast about her own skills. Not the humblest of people, her instructor. Riyan was in good company, but he at least had the skills to back it. Tanya had never once displayed her skills.
“When are you going to show me all this? I’ve seen combat magic used exactly once… and that was fire magic. You’re an ice mejai, yeah? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you’re good, but an icicle doesn’t sound all that strong next to a fireball, if you ask me.”
“Thankfully, the gods didn’t see fit to consult with you,” Tanya said with narrowed eyes.
“Mind showing me? You said you’d give me a demonstration, right?”
Her instructor looked like she wanted to wrangle Maiya’s neck, but Maiya had tested the woman’s limits—she knew exactly how far she could heckle the mejai before she lashed out. Sometimes, insults seemed like the only way to bend her will, even a little.
“Fine. Follow me. I doubt Riyan would appreciate his abode destroyed by my magic.”
Right… don’t think you need to worry about that, lady, Maiya thought, obediently following her mentor out of the bedroom. Once again, she was surprised that despite the device attached to her forearm, her dexterity didn’t seem to be compromised much at all.
“Say, why’s that orb on your palm, anyway?” she asked, walking slightly behind Tanya. “Wouldn’t it be more convenient if it was away from your hand somewhere?”
“Don’t you have to hold a utility orb to activate it?” her instructor retorted. That was true. Some utility orbs kept functioning once activated—like Magic Cold and Magic Heat, but all orbs had to be physically touched to turn on. And now that she recalled, the knight scout in the Godshollow had been holding his orb when he’d launched his Ember spell at Vir.
“So it is with combat orbs as well,” Tanya continued. “Mejai must physically hold their orbs to activate their magic. Those at the upper echelons are an exception, and other exceptions exist with blood rods and such, but for the most part, if you want to deploy an orb, you must hold it.”
“Blood rods?”
“Some other time,” Tanya said. “You won’t need to think about any of this until you can sense and control prana. Focus on that for now.”
Maiya was somewhat relieved at Tanya’s reply. As she was discovering, there was an entire world surrounding the mysteries of magic. She didn’t know if her head could fit any more information right now.
They made their way out to the Ash’va stable next to the abode. Bumpy and Grumpy—the other Ash’va Riyan owned—were there, along with Tanya’s own beast.
Maiya hopped on behind her, and the two rode in silence for several minutes. The entire time, Maiya couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched, but she couldn’t see any trace of anyone. It was more of a hunch…
She forgot all about that when Tanya interrupted her reverie. “Your childish delusions lead you to idolize Fire Affinity magic above all else, but you will find that there are no affinities that are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than any others. If this were so, the strongest mejai would all have the strongest affinity, would they not?” Tanya was leading her into a trap, wording it like that, but she was too curious to help it. “They don’t?”
“No. There are Mejai of Ash spanning all affinities of magic, all boasting impressive Balar Ranks. Though, Life Affinity magic is unfortunately not well incorporated into the Balar Ranking system. Those Kin’jals are all warmongers, you see. Life Affinity mejai do not score well on a combat ranking scale, after all.”
Even Maiya realized how stupid that was. “Are they daft? Riyan’s magic brought Vir back from the brink of death!”
“Indeed, it is an unfortunate defect of their quaint system. Life Affinity mejai can, and do, save the lives of entire squads regularly.”
“Wait,” Maiya said, comprehension dawning. “Wouldn’t that mean Riyan’s powers are even greater than what he says? Since he’s a Life mejai, and all?”
“Yes, of course. Though he does not consider himself a mejai, despite his vast talent.”
“Why doesn’t—”
“We’re here,” Tanya said, cutting her off. A half hour trot under the searing sun had put them at the oasis she’d discovered with Vir months ago. They visited here whenever they felt a need to get away from their stern instructors… which was pretty often.
Tanya brought them to the pond that lay at the center of the oasis. Maiya noticed several new additions. Dozens of wooden posts had been erected upon the shore, with a handful more floating on the pond, straw dummies attached to each of them.
“You asked to see the true extent of my magic,” Tanya said, hopping off the Ash’va. “Watch. And learn.”
Tanya crouched low and extended her right arm, pointing the prana aiming bracer at the nearest straw dummy. The C Grade Icicle orb lit up within the blink of an eye.