“Just admit you’re a dork.” Kas dropped pancakes onto his plate.
My mouth watered, and I poured out a thin stream of maple syrup onto my pancakes. “What’s on today’s agenda?”
“We’re planning for your trial,” said Shai. “Have we decided what we’re doing yet?”
“We?” I bit into the pancakes—thin and buttery, just the way I liked them. “Well, I’ve decided. I’ll be announcing it later today. The trial requires summoning a witch from the underworld and stealing his magical talisman. In this case, a crown of blackthorn that enhances his magical powers.”
“Spellcraft,” said Shai. “Invocations in Demonic. You’ve never been to school for that.”
“Neither has Orion. I heard him use a Demonic spell once, in the underworld, but he never had any formal education.” I picked up my coffee cup, warming my hands. “In any case, all the trials involve demonic invocations. They’re supposed to test not only physical strength and strategy, but the ancient art of Demonic spellcraft, too. And tonight is my deadline to announce it.”
“How do you win?” asked Shai. “You just steal the crown?”
“The person who is successful at the summoning will have an advantage. I’d be linked to the witch, and that would make it easier to find him. But it doesn’t guarantee a win.”
“Summoning the dead requires extremely powerful magic,” said Legion. “Can you compete with Orion in how much power you have?”
Shai caught my eye. “She’s a Lightbringer, just like him. She has as much power as he does, and she has the advantage of not being insane.”
“True,” said Legion. “But none of us really know what Lightbringer power does. We’ve never seen it or experienced it.”
“Magic is new to me,” I admitted. “But there’s no way around it. All the trials involve some sort of invocations, magic summoning. And since this one doesn’t involve direct combat between Orion and me, it’s one of the least dangerous options.”
“Okay.” Kas watched me over his steaming coffee. “Summoning requires precision. How good is your pronunciation of Demonic spells?”
I winced. “Maybe the three of you could help me practice.”
“Who is this witch you’ll being bringing back from the dead?” asked Shai. “Is he dangerous?”
“He was a king sixteen hundred years ago, Alaric of the Visigoths. Powerful enough to sack Rome. So here’s how it works. First, Orion and I mark our foreheads with the blood of a dead witch. That will help break down the barrier to the dead people. Then we do the creepy demonic chanting. Whoever summons the dead witch first will have a bond with him, and the bond will help us locate him. So hopefully, I summon him, use the bond to find him, bind him up with magic, and snag the crown. And rule over a golden age, as your unmarried ginger queen.”
Legion stared at me over his coffee. “We maybe have to go over some of the magical terms.”
“Sure,” I said.
“Taking a crown from a mortal isn’t hard,” he added. “It’s the necromancy you’ll struggle with.”
“Not hard?” Kas’s eyebrows rose. “He’s a witch, not an ordinary mortal. Do you have any idea how dangerous the most powerful witches are? Those from the greatest generations long ago?”
Outside, the sky was growing darker, shadows sliding across the sun.
Legion frowned. “Are you scared of mortals?”
“I am.” Shai’s eyes flashed. “And if you’re not, you’re underestimating them. Have you heard of la sorcière de Brocéliande?”
“Who was she?” I asked.
A cold tingle of magic shivered over my skin as I sipped my coffee. Outside, a light rain started pattering the windows and sliding down the glass in rivulets.
Shai leaned forward, her mahogany eyes gleaming. “She was the most terrifying witch who ever lived. In the fifteenth century, she singlehandedly killed an entire army of demons in Rennes-le-Chateau. She blamed them for murdering her family, and she had them ripped to pieces by ravens, and their flesh crushed under stones.” Lightning split the darkness outside, and rain started to hammer the windowpanes. “She absolutely loathed demons.”
Thunder boomed, and Kas startled. “Is that you, Shai?”
She shrugged and picked up her coffee. “I wanted to add a bit of atmosphere.”
Legion shrugged. “Well, she’s dead now. That’s what mortals do. They die.”