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Chapter 5

"Owww," Kodi moaned weakly, rubbing the knee she had landed on.

"Try landing on your feet," Colt advised, mock straight faced. "You'll get less ouches that way."

"I'll land as I please," Kodi retorted.

Colt rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself." He turned towards one earthen wall, pressed one hand to it, and walked through.

Kodi stared at the wall and rubbed her eyes. The wall looked solid. When she hesitantly pressed a hand to it, it felt solid.

Suddenly Colt's voice echoed in her ear, as plain as if he'd been standing right next to her. "Just walk through," he told her. "It ain't solid.

 Kodi sighed. Surely walking through walls wasn't any stranger than anything else she'd done today. Dubiously she walked into the wall- and got a face full of dirt for her trouble.

"Colt!" she yelled, black eyes flashing as she brushed dirt out of her hair.

"Sorry Kodi! I dunno what happened." She heard a thud and a curse. "It won't work for me either." Panic crept into his voice. "Gods! I can't be stuck here!"

Kodi took a deep breath. "Hush Colt! Lemme think!" Work it out, she told herself sternly. The barrier was magical, just like the wards. She felt for the threads that made up the false wall, but she couldn't feel any. The wall was a solid sheet of magic, with no holes or breaks for Kodi to get hold of. Worse, parts of it pulled at her power, making her feel weak and dizzy. She had to get help, but from who? She could only think of one person who might know what to do.

"Colt?" she called, "I need to get help. I'll be right back just- don't go anywhere!"

"Where am I going to go?" he roared as Kodi set off up the ladder and back into Deadman's District.

She sped through the slum at top speed, still careful to keep to the shadows. In no time at all, Kodi was on Cart Street and at Briar Moss's door. She hesitated, unsure o what to do. She settled for banging on the door.

It swung open to reveal the mage standing behind it. He blinked. "Kodi?"

"Quick! I need help. Colt's stuck and the ward wouldn't unravel!" she babbled. Luckily, Briar seemed to see it was urgent and didn't ask questions.

"Wait here," he ordered. Kodi tapped her foot impatiently, but when he returned dressed in plain, slightly worn clothes, she saw the sense in it. Dressed like a Bag, Briar would be a magnet for thieves.

She grabbed his arm and half dragged him to the thorn-covered cottage. She wrenched open the trapdoor and pulled Briar through when he moved to examine it further.

"Colt?" she called. "I brought help."

"Your help better not blab about this place to the whole city!"

"I won't," Briar assured him. He seemed to take the seemingly disembodied voice in stride. "What happened?" he asked Kodi.

Kodi quickly told him about the false wall. She could feel him pressing at it with his magic.

"Mage traps," he said finally. "This wall is riddled with 'em. That's why you felt dizzy."

"Can you unravel it?" Kodi asked nervously. She didn't know what she would do if he couldn't.

"This can't be unraveled. It can be smashed though, like glass, if you hit it hard enough and avoid the traps."

"What do you mean me?" she demanded.

Briar sighed. "I do plants," he explained. "This is an extremely strong wall. It can't be broken by someone who doesn't specialize in illusion or protective magic. I've broken one before, but that was with my sisters."

He had sisters? Kodi hadn't thought of him in terms of having a family. "I dunno how to break it," she objected.

"I'll lend you the power," he assured her, "and I'll help you avoid mage traps. Alright?"

Kodi nodded nervously. As a rule, she wasn't a brave person. She preferred running from trouble to facing it, but she wasn't about to abandon Colt. He had done a lot for her over the years. Now she had a chance to repay the debt.

"I'm going to connect us. It might pinch a bit," he added apologetically. Pinch was an understatement. It felt as though a thorn was hooking deep into her. She now saw the wall as a transparent barrier, with Colt looking scared on the other side. The mage traps glowed with a sick yellow light.

I'm going to start handing you power, Briar told her. She cried out in pain. Even though he was whispering, his voice- like pine needles- resonated inside her. When she looked at him, she could see a giant tree rippling under his form, oddly mixed with forge fire, lightning, and soft wool around the edges. Kodi was beginning to see how an eighteen year old kid could claim the title of mage.

Briar started feeding her green power. She gathered it up in her hands, where it mixed with her own bronze magic. She molded it into a ball as she would clay and aimed at the wall, careful to avoid mage traps. She threw and the ball hit the barrier with a thump that echoed around the chamber. She gathered the ball up again and threw twice more. Finally the weakened wall cracked and dissolved. The green power flowed back to Briar and their connection ended.

Colt ran and wrapped her in a giant hug, looking more relieved than she'd ever seen him. Kodi disentangled herself awkwardly. Colt looked quizzically at Briar and Kodi introduced them and quickly relayed the events of the day.

"You never said anything about visions, Kodi!" Colt exclaimed.

"I thought I was going crazy," Kodi replied, "'sides, they didn't come 'til after…" Briar looked at her, but didn't question her further.

"Anyways, you really need to see what I was going to show Kodi," Colt told Briar. He led them to a door past where the barrier used to be. "It's right over here." 

A/N

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed.

Shatteredrainbow: The magistrate's exact words were exile from Sotat until Winding Circle's council sees you fit to enter society. They must think he's fit to enter society since they gave him a medallion. Also, Chammur was part of Sotat and he went there. Briar is eighteen, so four years have passed since Street Magic. I'm glad you like my story!

Lady Maewen: I know I need to work on description. L It just annoys me so much… Anyway, I'll try to work on that. I had no idea they didn't use the word "obviously". I'll check on that. I love Rosethorn too, and she's going to show up later in the fic. Kodi's not particularly nervous about magic because she doesn't know she's doing magic. Plus, after having visions for most of her life, she's pretty used to the paranormal. She wasn't nervous about Briar because she's used to trusting her instincts –they did get her this far- and she has a good feeling about him. I'm glad you gave me some constructive criticism. I definitely could use some, and I'm better at taking it from people I don't know. (Another pro to ff.net). Anyway, I hope you keep reading and reviewing.