Wolf Who Rules

Perhaps if she could filter the background magic to one frequency - oh, gods - how the hell did she do that? She groaned and pulled at her hair. The sekasha had magic stored in the beads woven into their hair which guaranteed that if they were in a magic poor area, they still could trigger their shields and have a few minutes of protection. She never examined them but knew in essence that they were a metal ball, insulated with glass that acted like her power sinks. She believed that storing the magic in a "clean" enough medium would reduce the static. So, she should be able to use a sink just like they used the beads. The problem probably would be eliminating the background magic so only the stored magic was active.

Wait, if she modified the Reinhold's spell based on Impatience's theorems, she might be able to trigger magic equivalence to a wide-scale electromagnetic pulse. It would basically clean the slate. The danger would be that it wasn't only on the magic wavelength, but included the electronics of the ship. She could accidentally kill all the computers maintaining the ship's life supports. That would be bad.

But if she wiped out the build up, and then used one shielded source to do a call on the Wind Clan Spell stones - would that be enough magic to trigger the jump? It might. Too bad she couldn't pull from a second set…

Or could she? She had felt the Stone Clan magic. She had watched Forest Moss call on the Stone Clan's spell stones. Did she remember the hand positions and vocalization? Yes, she was sure.

She was nearly quivering now with possibilities. If she could pull on both stones, at once - wait-at once-that kind of meant at the same moment. Since the vocalization was different she couldn't do both. She wished she could pace. She thought better pacing. She settled for bouncing between the walls, flying through the air.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jin suddenly caught her, and brought her to a stand still. "You're going to hurt yourself doing that."

"I can't say two things at once! I considered sampling the resonance, but I suspect that the genetic key equates to vibrations in the quantum nature of magic - not that I know that for sure - and certain I'm at a loss as to how to test that theory. There isn't time for me to invent a device that can sample how the magic interplays with molecular level, or the equipment we probably need to recreate that resonance. And according to all my last dream, resonance was the key to everything. And if getting home isn't the full ball of wax -"

"Shhhhhh." Jin put his finger to his lips.

She frowned at him and then put her finger over his lips. "Do that again."

"Tinker, listen."

"No, do the 'shhh' thing again."

"Shhhh." Jin repeated and then said, with her finger still in place. "We're picking up the radio from Pittsburgh again. They say that Malice is attacking Oakland."

"I need to get home. And I think I know how."

***

True Flame drew Wolf aside to speak quietly with him. "You and I have the only attack spells that have a hope of hurting Malice. We need to pair off with the Stone Clan. They'll provide defense while we focus on attack. Which do you want? Forest Moss or Earth Son?"

The mad one or the male that hated him? Both had good cause to see him dead. If they were wise, they would hold their political maneuverings until after the dragon was dead. Where Forest Moss lacked sanity, Earth Son lacked political savvy; Wolf did not think either was rational enough for wisdom. While he trusted Jewel Tears to defend the enclaves, he was not sure he could entrust his safety to her. From True Flame's perspective, however, Jewel Tears' youth made her unfit material for the front line, so it was a moot point.

"I rather not stake my life - and the lives of my people-on the Stone Clan." Wolf spoke the blunt truth.

"I realize that." True Flame said. "But we will need both hands to our most powerful attack spells, which means no shield."

"In that case, I don't want to take Hands into this battle. I do not want to leave them at the mercy of the Stone Clan."

True Flame nodded. "That would be wise."

"I'll take Earth Son." When faced two evils, Wolf would rather deal with the known.

***

When True Flame announced the pairing, Earth Son shook his head.

"I do not like this pairing. Forest Moss will go with Wolf."

"You will go with Wolf."

"I see reason for the pairing, and as clan head I should be with you."

"I have given the choice of partners to Wolf since he is in disadvantage," True Flame said. "We don't have time for this. You are to pair with Wolf."

Thorne Scratch stepped forward to murmur in Earth Son's ear. The Stone Clan domou cast a dark look at his First and then smoothed his face to the unreadable mask of court. Wolf wondered what Thorne had to say to Earth Son.

"So my mewling infant of a cousin, I swear that was the last time that you'll twist matters to get an unfair advantage."

***

Clouds boiled across the sky. Wolf could sense a magical shifting of the winds, as if someone called them with a spell.