Two men circled each other with swords held high, their bodies tense, ready to spring into action. Without warning, the shortest one struck directly at the other’s head. The rest was a mess of wooden swords smacking against each other until the fake blade of one of them hit the other’s wrist.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Fadan drew his knife. “Back off,” he warned.

“Oh, cub’s got fangs!” the sailor jeered.

All four men chuckled. “Listen, kid,” the sailor continued. “We don’t want to hurt you. All we want is that fat pouch of yours. Just toss it my way, and we’ll leave you be. As I said, it’s a valuable lesson for you.”

“Never to trust people like you?” Fadan asked, turning to keep all his attackers in sight.

“No,” the sailor replied. “I mean, yes, if you’re carrying enough money to buy a brand-new ship.” Again, the sailors laughed. Fadan was going to reply, but one of the men swung his club at him. Fadan parried the blow, but it left his back exposed and another of the attackers struck him on the back of the head. The world blurred and his ears started ringing. He staggered, swinging his knife blindly to keep the attackers at bay.

Never let yourself get surrounded, his instructor’s words echoed in his mind. When outnumbered, funnel your opponents. Roaring, Fadan charged the sailor between him and the back of the alley. The man swung his club but in a predictable angle, and Fadan ducked past him. He ran toward the wooden wall at the end of the alley, boxing himself between two piles of empty crates.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

“Magic is the ability to manipulate, control, or change things, material or otherwise, through will alone. Conversely, magic is not the ability to do it permanently. This is why spells stored inside glowstone shards wear off with time. Yes?” Fadan’s hand had just shot into the air. “You said through will alone, but that’s not true,” Fadan said. “Runium is required.” Sabium stopped pacing. “Correct. Runium is the fuel which your will must burn for it to produce magic. In fact, the amount of runium in your system determines how much magic you are allowed to cast. Simple spells, like moving a pebble, will consume very little runium. Moving a mountain, on the other hand, would take more runium than any man or woman could possibly consume.” “What about experience?” Fadan asked. “Are we able to learn how to use our runium more efficiently with experience?” “Yes and no. All beginners tend to be clumsy in the way they burn runium, but it doesn’t require full mastery of the magical arts to burn runium at optimal efficiency. What experience, and most importantly, knowledge grant you is the ability to cast more sophisticated spells. You see, any idiot can set a house on fire, but it requires a degree of finesse to gently warm up every cup of tea in a party.”

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

He staggered sideways and his footsteps made the floor shake…no, the whole building. Then, suddenly, air flooded his entire body as he inhaled, and it was as if everything in front of him got closer, then backed away when he exhaled. The burning eased to a more tolerable level, and he felt himself swell and grow taller. Or was everything else shrinking? He looked at his hands. They were pulsing with an indigo hue. I’m powerful, he thought. “I’m powerful!” he echoed out loud, staggering backward and forward. There was something filling his chest, begging to come flooding out. Something so potent that he had to breathe heavily just to contain it. “I can feel everything!” Fadan looked at the dinner set across the room and smiled wickedly. “I can tear it all apart!” Eyes bulging, he flung his hands forward, commanding that force in his chest to pour through them. A gush of blue light shot from his palms, but instead of following a straight line, the light surged in every possible direction, blinding him. A searing pain exploded in his chest as if he had eaten embers. He tried to scream, but his throat was ablaze. The world spun, accelerating and becoming a blur, then –

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Fadan lunged forward, readying his runium reserve to cast the spell, and jumped. The wall came closer and closer. Then, at the last possible moment, he closed his eyes, pushing his fear of failure away. It all happened in an instant. He realized he should have collided with the wall and hadn’t, so he opened his eyes and saw the other side. It must have been enough to break the spell because his feet connected with the floor

-----

Fadan resumed his place at the back of the room, taking quick, deep breaths. He lunged toward the wall leading to his room. He tapped his power and jumped, this time keeping his eyes open, completely ignoring the incoming granite barrier in his way. It worked beautifully. His vision was blocked for a moment, but his room quickly came into view and Fadan landed as gracefully as if he had just jumped over a puddle of water down in the courtyard. He had done it. He could cross walls.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Good idea, Alman, Fadan thought. He tapped his power, jumped, and dematerialized. By the time his feet fell back to the floor, he was free from his captor and spun away from him.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

He penetrated the building, casting a tiny ball of fire, which he kept in the palm of his hand to light the way forward.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

He tapped his power and ran the usual test, just to make sure he didn’t mess the spell up. Then he focused on the flames. He visualized the flames in his head, making sure his mental image perfectly mimicked the real ones. Then he saw them burst upward, as if a bottle of brandy had spilled on them. The real flames reacted immediately. The explosion of fire wasn’t as impressive as the one Fadan had imagined, but the spell did its job and the guard jumped, startled.

-----

Just as the man seemed to decide he had imagined it, Fadan sent another burst of power, making the flames taller and twice as bright. The Legionary probably felt the heat on his face. The poor man staggered back, tripped on a step, and fell backward, yelping. Then Fadan made a fist as he visualized the fire burning out. The real flames died as well, sending the staircase into darkness.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Exhaling heavily with relief, Fadan peeked outside again and focused on the crimson waistband lying on the floor. He tugged at it with his mind and it glided, drawing serpentine inches over the floor, until it finally reached the door. Fadan was so happy, he almost giggled. He brought a sword to him next, followed by a helm, and finally one of the black cuirasses.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

He saw a hammer hanging on a beam in the ceiling, right behind the Paladin who was staring at him. “What is it?” the guard asked. “You lost?” Fadan extended an arm forward and tapped his power. The Paladin must have found it very odd to see him waving his hand around, but before he had time to ask any questions, the hammer smacked across the back of his head and he fell flat on the floor.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Fadan spotted a Paladin going for the kill on one of the rebels and lifted him into the air, smacking him against the ceiling. Not even the helmet kept the man from being knocked out.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

“There!” Fadan saw it. A spear headed straight to a rebel’s chest. He focused on the weapon, yanked it from the Paladin, and smacked him across the head so hard, the weapon cracked in two.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Fadan lifted a barrel into the air and hurled it at a cluster of Paladins, pieces of wood flying everywhere as it smashed its targets.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

Fadan nodded in agreement and swung, looking for anyone else needing his assistance. He saw a rebel fighting with a wooden board. The poor man tried to parry a blow from an axe, the board splitting in two. As the attacking Paladin swung his axe back for another attack, Fadan noticed the glint of a blade and focused on it with his power. He hurled it through the air just in time to parry a blow to the rebel’s head.

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage

“Over there! The prince!” Fadan heard someone yell. “Syphon him!” The prince turned toward the voice. It was Therian, the Paladin commander. He was coming down from the main deck with an entire squad of fresh troops. Focusing a massive wave of power, Fadan pushed at the entire squad so hard, it would have rocked the ship itself

-- The Dragon Hunter and the Mage