Page 113 of The Sundered Realms

That was fine.

Liris had had a lot of time to think about how she’d gone wrong in Thous facing the mercenaries. All the things she could have done. Of course, it wasn’t the same as reacting in the moment and inventing something new, but the problem with trying to contain her, as the Serenthuar elders had found, was that she learned.

Liris flipped to a spell that would radiate fire outward from her in all directions and designated the distance at which it would fizzle out. A stroke of her sparkly pen, and a wall of flame rushed from her in a sphere—underground, above, as wide as the circumference of the vine spell.

The vines vaporized.

Vhannor jerked back away from the surging wall of fire only for it to vanish abruptly before it would have reached him.

As long as she was at it, Liris stepped into the demon portal spell.

This time, she let herself feel.

She stood there, reveling in the chaotic emotions, in feeling something more than despair and helplessness.

Then Vhannor was shouting at her, and with a pang that blossomed quickly inside the spell Liris knew that even if she wouldn’t let Jadrhun hurt her feelings, Vhannor still could. And since that wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on, she quickly finished up and stepped out, feeling cleansed, and newly empowered, and—

“Are you out of your mind,“ Vhannor snarled at her.

Liris raised her eyebrows. “You were the one who wanted me to stop and process earlier.”

“Not inside a spell!”

“Oh, please. If I’d been in any danger there, you could have gotten me out if you wanted to.”

This time his eyes narrowed. “And what is that supposed to mean? Oh, could you be referring to how you gave me no warning before tripping the spell on purpose?”

“What are you mad about? You’re the one who told me you could keep up—“

“So you didn’t even ask for help?”

”—and you did, if slower than usual.”

“I see,” Vhannor said. “So I’m to be blamed for your lack of care.”

“My—“

“If you plan to take your time disarming a spell,” Vhannor interrupted her icily, “consider it might be courteous to inform your partner you are not in distress first.”

Liris was about to shoot back that she’d plainly not been, but given her mood on the way out she could see, in retrospect, that might not have been apparent.

“Fair enough,” she said, wishing that moment of catharsis could have lasted longer. “Shall we continue on, then?”

Vhannor glared at her. “You mean now that Jadrhun knows for certain that we’re coming? Yes, well played.”

“He was always going to know I was coming,” Liris pointed out. “That’s why this trap is here. That’s why we were already expecting traps to be here.”

It’s why the spell had used Thyrasel. A person couldn’t enter a spell on accident, but that presence would compel Liris to stop and check them, to make sure to deal with any that couldn’t wait for the University of Embhullor’s linguists.

All to slow her down.

All to stop her.

She would show him.

“So you’re just going to lie down and die?” Vhannor demanded. “Make it easy for him?”

“What? Of course not. This way I can practice.” Turning his traps into her training, using his own effort to create his undoing at Liris’ hand. “I can get more familiar with the patterns Jadrhun favors so I’ll be able to deal with his spells faster. Which will give him fewer chances of murdering me.”

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