Lirael flexed her new hand. This was the third one in the last 3 months, a recent uprising free magic constructs had dispersed the key Charter marks in the hand making it useless lump of metal.
"Thanks Sam" She said, still wiggling her shining fingers. It didn't matter how many new hand she got, a new magical hand was hard to get used to.
"No problem" Sam replied, beaming. Sam was the one and only heir to the Wallmakers, a group of people with magical blood that created the Wall the border between the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre. "After doing it a thousand times, it's easy" he chuckled, this lightened Lirael's heart a bit as she walked out of the room navigating the hallways of the palace towards her room. Upon getting there she took out a small soapstone dog and held it in her hands, bringing memories flooding back. She remembered when she had inadvertently summoned the Disreputable Dog who turned out to be Kibeth, who bit off Lirael's hand to save her from Orranis, The Destroyer, when she broke him over a year ago. The memory made Lirael shiver. She picked up her bells and the re-made Nehima, the original being destroyed at Orranis' breaking. It still bore the same inscription but with a slight modification
The Clayr Saw me
The Wallmakers made me
My sister broke the destroyer
Lirael smiled as she saw this and walked to the paper wing hanger to meet Sabriel, Lirael's older half-sister, and fly to Edge to check on Orranis' bindings. This was probably an unnecessary trip but the recent uprising of free magic constructs was unnerving.
Sabriel climbed into the paperwing, Lirael following. Sabriel was the Abhorsen and Lirael the Abhorsen-in-waiting but they where most likely of equal power. The previous year Lirael had walked to Ninth Gate, a feat few had achieved, to see the beginning. Lirael saw herself more as another Abhorsen than the Abhorsen-in-waiting, the '-in-waiting' part more of a formality than a status. Sabriel flew the paperwing to edge, her short black hair tickling Lirael's face. There was a force field around the hill that only an uncorrupted Charter Mage could pass through, kept in force by the seven Charter Stones that stood around the hill on which nothing grew. None of the Charter Stones were broken, that was a good sign. They landed and Sabriel muttered the charter marks to open a hole in the force field just large enough for one person to pass through. They passed through hole and Lirael glanced back to see the glowing Charter marks flow over the gap they had made. Sam had created a device to see what materials the earth below contained; Sabriel pulled this out and put it in the ground reading the display, "All there!" she called "lets fly home!" Lirael waited for Sabriel and opened the force field, slowly the walked to the paperwing, they weren't in any hurry. Sabriel and Lirael climbed into the paperwing and Sabriel whistled a mark to get the paperwing in the air, the marks glowed and they moved slowly. Suddenly, they stopped and the Charter marks flowing around the faded into a very dull state, unusual for something of that nature. Sabriel and Lirael jumped out of the paperwing drawing both sword and bell, Lirael drawing Kibeth and Sabriel Sareneth, they had practised with this combination and it worked well. The metallic stench that came toward them was the first sign of a Free magic construct. Out of the dense undergrowth a flurry of leaves flew, followed by a dark grey creature with massive claws and dark fires in the place of eyes, "a Hish" Lirael breathed, this was only the second Hish she had seen in a year even with the outbreak. Sabriel took out a small, metal bottle and looked at Lirael, who returned her look and they nodded. Sabriel began forming the first binding marks in her head and forced the master mark along the blade slashing the Hish across the waist she launched the mark off the blade and into the Hish. the Hish thrashed as its flesh hardened from the wound travelling along it body and head until it became a distorted statue that Lirael forced another Charter attack into the Hish forming into a column of white light. Finally the two mages said the same spell at the same time to shrink the shining Hish small enough into the bottle.