Still feels strange to be writing this on a Sunday, like I'm expecting myself to write Unseen Hunt instead. Anyway, I finished this in time to go watch my daily dose of Lol Worlds. It's G2 vs SKT, with SKT being the most dominant team ever. Ah, I'm nervous.

Chapter 15

"And halt!"

The call came from a huge man of some six and a half feet with a flowing red cape and a fearsome scowl. The Newbloods came to a ragged and panting stop, completing the lap they were on and hunching together, some with hands on their knees and others slowly pacing and trying to control their breathing.

Lieutenant-Commander Alabaster Winchester was, Ruby had quickly discovered, possibly the most hated man in the Collegium. He wasn't unfair, nor was he cruel or prejudiced or someone who took advantage of his position. If anything, he was uncompromising, and that alone was enough to have those under his training regimen cursing his very existence. That included his son, Cardin, who far from favouritism was often singled out by his father.

"Look at you all!" he boomed. "A sorry bunch of puffing children. Don't think this will get you out of combat drills. If you can't stand, I'll strap you to a scarecrow and tie a sword to your hand. Winchester, stand up!"

"Yes sir!" Cardin hadn't even been sitting, but he stood straight.

"All of you keep moving or you'll let your muscles cramp. How many times have I told you this? Well? MOVE!" He charged into their mass waving his hands and every single one of them knew it was a bad idea to be caught by him. They started to jog and pace, getting out the huge man's way.

Ruby was a little slower, on account of her heart exploding out her chest. He caught her by the sleeve and hauled her forward.

"What the fuck is this?" he roared. "What are you doing among my Newbloods?"

Ruby winced. "Training?" At his thunderous expression she added, "Sir? M-My friend said it would be okay."

"Okay?" he boomed. "Okay!? There's an Initiate running with my Newbloods. That is not okay!" He spun, Ruby still in hand, swinging her out like a mace. She only just stayed standing. "You twig-legged lazy pieces of horse shit! An Initiate runs with you and she doesn't get left in the dust? You've all been slacking on me!" He pushed Ruby forward. "From now on, every one of you who doesn't finish in front of her will be giving me push-ups until your arms fall off. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" everyone whimpered.

"I can't hear you!"

"YES SIR!"

"Better." The huge man slapped a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Get gone, girl. I'm not giving you a sword until you've got a red gem in that broach of yours. Running starts at six. Don't be late."

Ruby staggered out the training field with the strangest feeling he might have actually liked her; something amazing since she wasn't convinced he had the capacity for it. Initiates and some older Arcanists watched her re-join them, the morning spectator sport of ogling young men and women getting sweaty as popular as ever. A few sent her jealous looks for having been involved. Crazy. They could have gone up there if they wanted. And what was there to be jealous of? She was about to collapse.

Weiss was sat to the back under a tree with Coco beside her. Why did Coco spend so much time around them? Never mind, she had a canteen of water. Ruby tried to catch it and fumbled. It slapped against her chest and she managed to clutch it there, ripping off the top and guzzling desperately. The water was sweet and tasted faintly of peaches.

Nobles. What was wrong with good old boiled water?

"I can't believe you went ahead with this," Weiss said. "Look at you, you're drenched in sweat and about to fall over. This is not the way a noble lady conducts herself."

"I can't believe you made it," Coco said, laughing. "I thought you were joking when you said you were going to get involved. A few guys and girls have before to try and impress the ones they like, but they always give up halfway through the morning runs. You must be the first outside the Crimson Arcana to pull it off, and they only ever train on their private grounds."

"I didn't make it," Ruby grunted, falling flat on her behind. "I came almost last."

"What, were you expecting to outrun the Collegium Guards?"

Yes, as a matter of fact. Her survival in the slums relied on that, though she often added a verticality to it by scaling buildings and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Still, the guards in the lower quarter were slow and unfit for the most part, relying on quality of equipment, thick armour and the tenuous understanding that no one messed with a guard if they didn't want the streets combed through, to protect them.

Without boasting, she was one of the quickest in the slums.

Apparently, that didn't translate here. Maybe it was the nature of the training, more stamina than speed, and lasting so long that her reserves flagged. It was flat ground too, with nothing to build any distance between using her natural agility. That didn't take away the disappointment, though. She'd genuinely expected to be, if not the best, at least in the top half. She'd even planned to hold back so as not to stand out. Little risk of that now.

"You did well enough," Coco said. "I guess travelling on foot from Menagerie left you fitter than most. You thinking of joining the Crimson Arcana? They'd love someone with that kind of physical edge."

"I don't know. I actually thought of being a healer at first…"

"Emerald Arcana?"

Ruby hummed her agreement. It wasn't like she'd put vast amounts of thought into it, but the one thing the slums could use was a healer willing to work for cheap. It'd also let her look after Yang more. Then again, any path would let her do that, Arcanists being as wealthy as they were.

"What are the other Arcana?" she asked.

"I could tell you but I'm not supposed to."

Ruby fixed a suspicious glare on Coco. "Why? Why is it kept secret?"

"Secret?" She laughed. "It's not. Just that you guys have an orientation soon where the Arcana are laid out for you. It's not yet time to pick of course, but the longer they give you to think about what you want to do, the better a decision you'll make. It's tradition no one tells you anything until that, mostly so you don't get biased one way or another."

Oh. That wasn't as bad as she first thought. "How soon is it?"

"In your second month. Only a week or so away for you. Someone from each Arcana comes and does a little presentation and you get to ask questions. It's pretty informal, or ours was. They even do a few spells for demonstration."

"It sounds interesting," Weiss said. "I've not yet put thought into what Arcana I would select. Emerald or Crimson both sound interesting, however."

"You know, you shouldn't just pick what Ruby does. Having different Arcana doesn't mean you don't get to be friends anymore."

"I've no idea what you are suggesting, Warden Adel. Please do not spread such spurious rumours."

"Hmm." Coco winked at Ruby. "Whatever you say."

Weiss didn't look pleased with the way the conversation was going so Ruby stepped in to save her. "What about you? Have you selected your Arcana yet?"

"I sure have!" Coco sat up proudly. "I'm studying for the Amber Arcana."

"I don't see a gem…"

"Hey." She slouched. "You don't get your stone until you actually graduate that school. I'm still top of the class. Why am I arguing with Initiates? You can't even cast spells properly yet. You don't get to call me out on not having my stone."

Weiss hid a laugh in her hand.

Ruby didn't even try and pretend she wasn't giggling. "And what does the Amber Arcana do?"

"Didn't I just tell you I'm not supposed to say?"

"You want to boast though. And we could just check the library tonight and find out."

"I don't boast…" Coco glowered at them. "Much. Sheesh, you two have to be the most demanding and troublesome initiates I've ever had to deal with. And most of it is you." She poked Ruby's nose. "Fine. The Amber Arcana focus on research and spell development. It's the best Arcana and the most exciting."

"I'm beginning to see what they mean about bias," Weiss drawled.

"What can I say? There's always competition between the Arcana. More rivalry than anything, but the whole thing about you only being able to pick two means there's incentive for each to attract as many Initiates as they can. Plus, when you spend so many years mastering a craft, you tend to defend it as the best craft ever."

It wouldn't be a problem if they let people learn more than two, Ruby thought. Then again, maybe that was the point. If you were proud of your Arcana, you'd be loyal to it and the people you met there. Was this part of the Collegium's efforts to ensure no one wanted to leave? Maybe, but it could just as easily be human nature. She'd heard apprentices in the taverns competing over who's master was the most well-known, or the best way to shoe a horse.

It's hard to know what's intended and what's just coincidence. And I can't keep assuming everything is the former.

"So you make spells?"

"That's right. We're a theoretical Arcana and we focus on understanding why and how magic works. Most of the others just learn the spells relevant to them, how to cast them and how to better do whatever task they're focused on, like healing or combat, but we delve deeper." Coco's started to wave her hands around animatedly. "We pick apart the threads and figure out why a certain spell does what it does, and from there we can advance the understanding – learn how to make those spells better, bigger, more efficient or tweak the effects. Most of the spell books the Collegium uses are written by members of the Amber Arcana. And the best of them even have spells named after them!"

"Already planning yours? The Coco Beam?"

"I've been thinking Adelblast, actually."

"My Gods," Weiss cupped her face with one hand. "I was only joking; you've actually planned out the names already."

"Hey. Why not? You've got to dream big. I want to make a whole suite of Adel spells that Arcanists a thousand years from now will be using. How amazing does that sound?" She sighed. "Course, I'm not doing much of that now. Just theory, research and dissecting existing spells to note what controls the heat, size, direction, intensity, thrust, shell and intent of a fireball."

There were that many variables? For Arcanists, maybe. They had to plan and control everything, while her magic would just do what she wanted. The Amber Arcana sounded interesting but book heavy. It'd be a useful way to hide her spells – oh look, she made another spell! – but if it was as much research as Coco made it sound, her lack of academics would soon be noticed.

Understanding exactly how magic worked, though? That sounded exciting.

If only mu magic was the same as theirs.

"It sounds intriguing," Weiss said. "What about the Blue Arcana? What does that do?"

"Nope." Coco stood and dusted her robes down. "You only get the one freebie today, kids. Or the teachers will have my head for ruining the surprise. Go do a little reading on your own if you want to know more, but you might as well not. Just wait patiently for orientation and you'll get to see them all yourselves."

"I suppose." Weiss sighed and let it go. "Do you want to get to lessons, Ruby? It'll prevent Martyn having a chance to set up a nasty surprise for you."

With a sigh and an ache of her tired legs, she stood.

"Yeah. Okay."

/-/

"Focus," Oobleck said. "Control the flame. Keep it steady now."

Various classmates grimaced and concentrated on the flames in their hands, larger and more violent than they had been on their first lessons casting the spell, and thus more prone to accidents. Sweat dripped down faces both from the heat and the focus required. For most of them, anyway. Ruby glowered at her own, lost in thought as it burned merrily and obediently away. Luckily, she wasn't the only one showing such quick progress or she'd have had to fake failure.

Martyn hasn't actually planned anything for her, or at least not anything she cared about. There were rumours going around about her family and their holdings in Menagerie, which given she had no family there were obviously false. Considering how rude they were, it could only have been his work and if Weiss' reaction on hearing it was anything to go by, it was a grave offence. Grave for them, maybe. Ruby was happy to ignore it all.

My mistake was rising to his bait. I won't fall for that again.

The lessons had continued to focus on controlling fire for the last few days, though never quite in the same way. Bigger, smaller, make it dance, light a candle, there was always some small trick to it that had everyone but her groaning. If she had to guess, the lesson was that magic wasn't simple or a toy, and that even when you had all this power, the smallest change to how you cast a spell meant more hard work.

It was a lesson that didn't apply to her, and so while everyone else struggled and learned and adapted, she got to sit at the back being bored and watching everyone labour over something she knew she could do in her sleep.

How many months of this would there be? The teachers were always going on about responsibility and challenge and how they needed to understand the core principles before they could learn more interesting spells, and that was all well and good. It made sense. Just not to her. If it took everyone a year to learn this, was she going to be stuck pretending to learn? She groaned, letting her head fall down onto her elbow.

"Focus, Miss Rose. Do not lose control of that flame!"

Little chance of that unless she lost control of her emotions. Still, she sat up and tried to look like she was tired from all the hard work. "Yes Arcanist Oobleck."

"Good. Good. Remember, a moment of inattentiveness can spell disaster. It is not your early years that are the most dangerous, but that moment ten years from now where you are convinced you know everything there is to know and let your guard down. Suddenly, bam!" He slammed a hand on his desk and several fireballs winked out as their wielders jumped. "You burn down an orphanage, killing hundreds of people!"

"D-Does that happen?" someone asked.

"If it did, you'd be in serious trouble. The Sanctum kind of trouble. But no, it's a minor exaggeration." Oobleck waved a hand. "More likely you'll grievously injure or kill yourself."

The frankness of that stunned the audience.

"I trust you'll put some effort into concentrating."

It worked. Several students who had been paying only half attention looked much more cautious. Memories of Malneux burning his sleeve came to their minds, except with hotter and bigger flames taking over their whole bodies.

They didn't realise it'd had been her to set fire to him.

The lesson continued for a good hour before Oobleck called for them to halt, making sure each of them had correctly snuffed out their flames before he let his guard down. "Very good. You're all progressing at an excellent pace; don't doubt that. Soon, we'll be able to move onto different spells and then we can add a little more variety to your lesson plans. Now, are there any questions?"

Ruby stuck her hand up.

"Miss Rose. Please, go ahead."

"Why are Arcanists limited to two Arcana?"

The others in the class blinked and looked between her and Oobleck. The teacher appeared equally surprised, though he recovered with a soft chuckle. "Miss Rose, I'd meant to imply the questions be related to the subject matter at hand. I suppose I should have made that clear. To answer your question, though, it is because of the focus required to master a given Arcana. That ties in well enough with what I was just saying here."

"Imagine that each Arcana is ten different spells," he said. "That's a gross simplification, believe me, but for the sake of this example it shall suffice. You have ten spells, twenty if you secure two Arcana. Much like the fireballs here, you need to learn more than just how to conjure flame, but how to control it, direct it, end it and deal with the consequences. That is not so difficult when it's but ten spells to learn and master, but when that number grows to twenty, thirty or even forty, it starts to become more difficult. We are limited to two Arcana because that is all we can realistically learn in a lifetime."

"The Grand Arcanist had four…"

"His role is an exception, and considering he is the greatest of us all, it only makes sense his mastery over the Arcana be more advanced, no? I understand your frustration, Miss Rose. Really, I do. It can be so tempting to want to learn everything, to have all the magic under your control." He laughed excitedly. "Why, even now I sometimes feel the same way. But save your impatience until you've mastered your Arcana. Perhaps then, if you still have time for more, you might try and become our next Grand Arcanist."

"Tch. Like that'd ever happen," Malneux muttered.

"You have a question as well, Mr Malneux?"

"Ah. No."

"Then you should remain silent while your peer asks her own." Arcanist Oobleck fixed him with a frown before turning back to her. "I trust that is all, Miss Rose. If you have further questions, I'd ask it to be related to the matter at hand."

"No. That's all. Thank you, Arcanist Oobleck."

He chuckled again. "No problem. None at all. Now, remember all of you that you may not practice what you've learned here without supervision. If you wish to, contact your Wardens and they will see about finding a time and place for you to practice en masse. We have a surprise for you next week as well, which I hope you will all look forward to. Dismissed."

Chairs and tables scraped on the floor. Weiss turned to her and mouthed `surprise` without speaking. She then tapped her finger to her empty Arcanum and raised an eyebrow. Ruby nodded back. It definitely sounded like the orientation Coco told them about.

There were still so many things she needed to find out both for Cinder and for herself, but among them was understanding each of the Arcana. It wasn't just for the sake of figuring out which she wanted to focus on either. More than anything, she wanted to find out what Arcana that girl who threw her into this mess was, and how to find her.

Ruby touched her Arcanum again, wondering briefly if it hadn't belonged to the faunus herself. Watts had told her an Arcanum was bound to an Arcanist, and the tattoo on her arm proved it, but that had been made by the girl, which obviously meant she knew how to apply – and probably remove – them at will. It wouldn't be a stretch to say it had belonged to her first.

But why? Why give it to a random girl, brand it onto her and push her in the way of the Collegium?

Had she known Ruby was a Wildmage? It didn't seem possible. If there was some way of telling, she'd have been caught long before she showed off her powers. Cinder hadn't been found until she displayed her own either. For whatever reason, that faunus wanted her in the Collegium.

I should find out about Menagerie too, but I can't ask anyone here. I'm supposed to know all about it since I grew up there. The library would have plenty of answers – she doubted a whole Kingdom was some taboo secret – but her reading wasn't at the level where she could confidently go through the library on her own. Maybe Cinder would know.

Martyn tried to knock her down on the way out but Ruby was quicker and dodged aside, forcing him to walk on in defeat or admit he'd tried. His friends, or more his associates, laughed as much at his failure as they did her. The ways of nobles were strange indeed, but loyalty appeared to take second place to political gain.

"He's crossing the line in insulting your family," Weiss said.

"Don't worry about it. They're dead anyway."

"That only makes it worse! I'd tell you to confront him on it but…"

"That's what he wants. Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'm not going to accept another duel again if he's going to cheat."

"Wise choice. Do you want to study tonight?"

"I can't." Ruby shook her head. "I'm off to the Sanctum."

"Again? Your detention there ended two weeks ago. Why do you keep going back?"

"I'm volunteering," she said, remembering Cinder's warning. "I feel sorry for them…"

"I suppose." Weiss sighed. "Well, I won't fault your charitable actions. Just don't let it get in the way of your academics. You're doing well in class, surprisingly so, but if you start to falter be sure that I shall be there to force you back onto the right track."

"Ha. Thanks."

"N-No problem." Weiss looked away suddenly. "It is only what a real friend would do."

"Yeah. You're a real friend, Weiss." Ruby walked on, trying not to pay too much attention to how proud Weiss looked. The white-haired and now red-faced noble caught up and walked alongside her, head held high. "Speaking of friends, do I have to worry about Malneux's?"

"I wouldn't think so. They may try to curry favour by joining in private with his little schemes and insulting you behind your back, but when push comes to shove, you'll find that few of them will commit to anything without their family's say-so. Especially not with House Rose allied with House Schnee."

"Is that official now?"

"It is within the Collegium. Or as good as in their eyes. I can't offer much, but what I can provide is a threat to those who might think your position weak. And don't worry, it benefits me as well. I'm not giving without receiving. The very fact I stand up for you reflects well on House Schnee."

"Ugh. This is complicated."

"It's politics, Ruby, and you need to learn it if you want to succeed here. Consider it your third Arcana if you like."

"Yeah, the boring Arcana…"

/-/

"You're restless," Cinder said, pausing in their reading session. "There's something bothering you. What is it? Has my brother been causing you more problems? I told you to ignore him – getting back at my family is a responsibility that is mine to bear, not yours."

Ruby considered lying for a moment but tossed it aside. Cinder was the only person in the Collegium who knew the truth and so the only one she could talk to.

"I miss my sister."

"Ah. Yang." Cinder had heard the full story and approved of Yang's willingness to look beyond Ruby being a Wildmage. The reasons why were obvious given her past. If nothing else, it was nice to have Cinder like Yang, even if the chances they could ever meet were slim to none. "It's been a while since you last saw her. Over a month, I believe."

"Yeah. I'm sure she's okay but… this is the first time I've ever not known. We've always been together. I've never been away from her more than a week, and not it's a month – and it's going to be years after until I can leave the Collegium freely."

"Indeed. The Collegium cares little for concepts of family or homesickness. You're taught to see this place as your home now. How fitting." Cinder sneered for a moment before catching herself. "But no, I've said before I shall not taint your view of the Collegium. It's up to you to discover its secrets with me being trapped here. Yang, then." She adjusted her robes and put the book down. "You're thinking of going back outside the walls, aren't you?"

It was the obvious deduction.

"Yeah. I know about being a WIldmage now, so I have more control. If I will myself to become invisible like I did the last time, I can walk out the gates without the guards seeing me. I could even jump off the walls and slow my fall to land safely."

"Let's not try that one, little Wildmage. Knowledge of your power is not infinite control of it. Truthfully, I'd like to stop you, but I know I can't. Be cautious, however. Wildmages have been captured and killed by Arcanists in the past and they theoretically also had the power to conceal themselves as you do. The fact they still died tells me the Collegium has ways around our power. I do not know what they are."

The Sanctum wouldn't tell her, and Cinder had pretty much grown up a prisoner. It was something she reminded her often, saying how even if she told Ruby all she could, her knowledge was finite and second-hand. Ruby couldn't rely on it.

"I'm planning to do the same as I did the first time. I'll sneak out invisible, visit the slums, talk to Yang and then come back before morning. I'll make an excuse for Weiss this time, so she doesn't panic and tell everyone I'm missing."

"Find a better way to communicate with your sister as well. It's dangerous to keep risking this over and over and not expect the Collegium to notice. Your power can be used for more than simply fooling the guards."

That was a thought. "I'll figure something out. I wanted to tell Yang about you. Is that okay?"

"About me?" Cinder appeared surprised for a moment and then chuckled into her hand, smiling behind her fingers. "I'm flattered. By all means, go ahead. It's only fair when you've spoken of her to me so often."

Nice. She had more to tell Yang of course, about Weiss and Jaune and lessons and even Malneux – Yang would be angry about that, but she'd find him getting his ass kicked by Jaune hilarious. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. It'd been so long; Yang must have been worried sick.

"There is something else I should mention," Cinder said. "Your restlessness. Is it only for your sister?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been fidgeting the last few nights and finding it hard to focus. Your feet keep kicking and you pace often." Cinder brought their faces close and peered into Ruby's eyes. "Is this restlessness solely about Yang? Or is there something more? Have you been feeling… different lately? Impatient? Cramped? Stuffy? Any headaches?"

"N-Not the headaches. The others, maybe. I went running with the Newbloods this morning."

"Because you wished to, or because you felt like you had energy to burn? Because you felt like if you didn't get it out your system, you might explode?"

The line of questioning connected in her head. Ruby paled.

"I'm surging…"

"I believe so." Cinder released her and sighed. "I've mentioned them to you before – it is what you felt when you first tried to ignore your magic to hide from the Arcanists. Your power is becoming wilder and wilder. Soon, you will begin to surge. To leak your power."

"But you said it was if I didn't use my magic! I've been casting every day!"

"Beginner spells and little tricks," Cinder spat. "You've told me yourself how bored you are in class. Think, Ruby. Your power is not carefully controlled and rationed flame. It is a raging inferno! It is a fire that builds and builds inside you, and you are trying to siphon it away by lighting candles. It is not enough."

Piss. Horse piss! Ruby bit her lip and looked around nervously. The last time this happened she'd been reduced to sickness. If that happened, Weiss would tell the Arcanists. The Emerald Arcana would come and look at her, either figuring out what she was or seeing nothing was wrong with her. By the time she lost control and shat out magic like she had before, she'd be in the Sanctum.

"What do I do?"

"You must bleed off the surges," Cinder said. She picked up a glass of water from her tableside. "You are a vessel filling with magic that is soon to be overfull and leak." She tipped it to the side, letting some water dribble out onto the floor. "You must empty yourself."

The glass was upended. Water sloshed out.

"Only when you are empty again will you be yourself." Cinder put the glass down. "You must find somewhere safe and secluded and unleash your power. I doubt it matters what you cast so long as you do. Get it out your system and bring yourself under control."

"Will I have to keep doing this?"

"I know not. It is likely, however. Once you choose an Arcana you will have excuse to cast greater spells, and chances to leave the Collegium at will and handle your surges without suspicion. It is only a danger now because of what you should and shouldn't know."

Right. Once she was an Arcanist, she could leave the city and go into the forest, burn it off and return with no one the wiser. That wasn't an option now, and neither was ignoring her frayed nerves and letting this get worse.

Ruby dragged her hand down her face. Now that it had been pointed out, she could feel just how impatient she was. Even the act of sitting still was making her feel grouchy. Her feet had started to kick again, rocking back and forth while her finger drummed a mindless tune on Cinder's bed. She was twitchy and irritable. And it was only going to get worse.

"I'll do it when I go see Yang. Get it all done at once and come back."

"That is the best choice. Just be careful. I have no idea how the Sanctum tracks and captures its Wildmages, but we both know that they do. If what you say is true, they know a Wildmage is within the city. If I were them, I'd be waiting until the surges force the Wildmage to expose himself."

It'd be a dangerous time then. That was fine. See Yang first, tell her the danger, bleed off the surge and get back to the Collegium before sunrise. Easy. Or not easy, but this would be in the slums and she'd made her life off vanishing among them. Other Wildmages were probably Nobles like Cinder who didn't have the same experience. Running from the Arcanists would be no different from running from the guards. A little harder in some ways, magic for one, but easier in others, like the Arcanists not knowing their way around the lower districts.

"I'll go tomorrow night. The sooner the better. Don't expect me."

Cinder nodded. "I will pray that I don't see you tomorrow, Ruby. For if I do, that will mean you've come to join me for the rest of your life. Do not let that happen. Die first. It would be preferable."

"It… it's that bad…?"

"The surges, Ruby. They do not go away just because you cannot reach your magic." Cinder held up a hand, and to Ruby's horror it was twitching and shaking violently. "I have been surging for ten years now. There is a reason I am the only Wildmage here, and it is not because the Sanctum are inefficient in capturing them. The others, some older and others younger, all went mad long ago and took their own lives. I am the one who remains."

"Cinder…"

"Do not allow them to take you, Ruby. Fight until the end."

Surges. They be a thing! I'm almost certain that some book or anime or TV show will have used them before. It's hard to truly come up with original ideas, but for once I can't think off the top of my head of a book which has had magic that surges like this. Did the Source in Wheel of Time? I don't think it was surging so much as it being tainted or something and driving men mad. A little different.

I'm sure there will be an obvious series I'm missing that people will point out. People have mentioned Dragon Age for the obvious "Paladin keeping Mages locked up" trope. I can see it. That was all mages though as I recall.

Next Chapter: 10th November

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur