In the Winding Circle Temple, In Emelan
"Hurry up, Sandry! We still have to find Briar and get Daja from the forge! And you, of all people, should know that it will take a while to get Daja, and even longer to find Briar!"
"Tris, the more you nag me, the longer it will take! Anyway, I'm almost finished this pattern for Pasco." Sandry sounded exasperated, but if you knew her well, you could hear the curiosity in her voice, hidden under the sound of a sore throat, the punishment of staying up all night weaving.
Tris felt sorry almost immediately. Sandry recognized her expression.
"It's okay. I know you anxious. But please, stop badgering me!"
Tris fidgeted, but obeyed. Why did Sandry have to finish this today, of all days? She was glad that she didn't have a full-time student.
"There, see, I'm done." Half an hour later, Sandry stood up, stretching the kinks out of legs long unused. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Sandry smiled as Tris snapped, "Of course it was." Her friend was immensely different from the Tris that had left Winding Circle almost two years ago, but some things never change. The redhead's fiery temper, for one.
Twenty minutes later, they were outside Frostpine's forge. It being the middle of fall, Sandry had, of course, shed her summer clothes in favor of warmer ones, but as she walked inside, this was the first time she regretted making that decision. The inside of the forge was like being inside a forest fire.
Daja though, barely noticed the heat, or her friends. She was making a mold for a chandelier, and all her attention was fixed on the iron that she was trying to get to shape the signs for health and prosperity.
"Daj' someone's here to see you," Keril, Frostpine's old apprentice, still hung around the forge, though Tris secretly thought that Frostpine's interesting talk wasn't the only thing that kept him coming.
With a lot of bribery and pleading, Tris and Sandry finally convinced Daja to come with them. And, with an educated guess from Sandry, they found Briar conversing with some street rats down in the Mire. All in all, by the time they had reached the wall, the light was beginning to dim.
"So Tris, what's the secret?" Briar asked.
"You'll see."
Tris, who was rarely mysterious, was being uncharacteristically vague. 'You'll see,' was all she'd let on.
After they had got to the top of the wall, Tris turned to them, and with her usual pleasant manner, ordered them to "Just sit there, and be quiet!"
Briar opened his mouth to argue, but, at that moment, there was a collective gasp from the girls. Even Briar felt his jaw drop.
The sky was on fire.
The many-colored fire, or lightning, whatever it was, moved across the sky with a poetic grace. It was like the colors of a rainbow had decided to dance against the backdrop of the swiftly darkening sky. It was no wonder that it was a few moments before anyone could speak. When someone did, it was in a faintly heard whisper.
"Bookkeeper," Daja breathed in awe. To her, these sky lights seemed to represent all the magic in the world, each color a different kind. It frightened her in a way she couldn't hope to explain.
"Niko called it sky-fire, but it's actually just lights." Tris was also whispering. "No one really knows exactly how it forms…" she trailed off. No one was really listening. It was like they were bespelled, or in a trance. If they had all stopped breathing, they weren't aware of it. They might have stayed there all night, waiting until the mysterious lights had faded away, but, as it happens, they were roused in a much less pleasant manner.
Lightning flashed. Thunder boomed. Tris blinked rapidly, confused. There wasn't supposed to be a storm tonight. Looking at her companions, she noticed one was missing.
"Sandry?"
Briar and Daja looked at Tris, and then at each other. The redhead was right. Sandry was gone. Worse, they had no way of knowing how long she had been so. Daja, feeling for the magical thread that connected them all, saw that Sandry's thread seemed stretched beyond measure, and no matter how hard she pressed, she could not push through the 'muck' that separated her from her friend.
"Briar," she said through gritted teeth, "Tris-" about to tell them to join magics, she realized they had already done so.
On the count of three, then. Briar's magical voice was calmer than he felt.
One-
Two-
Three-
With an almighty shove, the three young mage's magic pushed even to its immense limits. They felt something give…
And then they all collapsed, most of their magic spent. The little bit that was left went straight into the black hole that their friend had fallen into. Unluckily, no one was there to see it go. When the three awoke, it was to bewildered stares from the morning guard.
When questioned, they said they remembered falling asleep while watching Tris's 'sky-fire'.
A/N: Just to let you know, there are probably going to be Tortall/Emelan couples, so any ideas there are appreciated, (I have a few ideas, but I'm not sure…) and my OC, Celia of Dunlath, may play a part in this as well. (In Tortall, the story'll be right after Neal, Yuki, Raoul, and Buri got married. Kel and Dom might heat up a bit, as well:)