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Moving the small sun over the deck, I watch as the heat from it dries the water up, being careful to mentally guide it away from anything flammable. "I've never seen someone able to control magic like you do," Mace says while he watches. "Normally, we just let it loose."
"I can't imagine that. It feels like the magic is an extension of my body. It's so natural just to move it." The deck is dry quickly, and I throw the small sun over the side of the deck, plunging it into the water. The deck actually does look clean, and I turn to Mace, propping myself up with the unused mop. "That was fun. What else can I try to use my magic for?"
"Shit, Viola, I don't know." He looks around the ship, looking for some problem I can try to create a magical solution for. "There," he says, pointing at a wooden bench that lays on its side, leg broken off. "Fix that."
I walkover to it and squat down to get a better look at the break. It's splintered like it got thrown around in a storm. "How? I don't have Spring magic."
"Figure it out," he says with a shrug.
Never one to back down from a challenge, I run my hand over the wood, trying to see if the leg will fit back with the pieces it broke off of. "What if I seal it off with some metal?" I muse out loud.
"And what are you going to get that's metal out here that you would be find with not getting back?" He brings up a good point. We didn't pack anything superfluous, and I certainly wasn't going to take apart Jaz's ship to find something metal I could morph for this purpose.
"Prosperity," I say, the idea hitting me like lightning. "What if I combine Geomancy and Prosperity to get extra metal out of something? I could leave the item intact and have some metal to use as a way of reinforcing a leg."
Mace smiles broadly, nodding. "That could actually work." He looks around, searching for something I can use for my experiment. Eventually he finds a bucket and tosses it to me. I focus my magic on the bucket, imagining the two branches of Autumn magic blending together and helping me out. Slowly, I pull raw ore from the bucket, and it multiplies in my hands, growing in size and leaving the bucket whole. I turn back to the bench and call forth Fire magic again, melting the ore in my hands. It doesn't burn, but the texture of it is odd, like honey dripping between my fingers. I drizzle it gently on the wood,careful not to overheat it, and watch as the liquid metal travels through the cracks, sealing the two pieces together.
I blast the metal with a hint of Frost, watching as it solidifies before my eyes. I stand the bench up and flop down on it heavily, crossing my arms in triumph. Mace swiftly crosses the deck and bends at the waist to place a bruising kiss on my lips. "Brilliant," he mutters against my mouth.
"That was fun," I say honestly. "It's nice to think about magic in a way that isn't fighting for my life."
"Want to try one more?" he asks, moving to sit beside me. His hand rests beside me, our pinkies overlapping. "I was thinking we could try to take care of some of the barnacles on the outside of the ship."
Excitement zings through me, and I'm on my feet, leaning over the banister to catch a glimpse of the barnacles that grow below the water line. "Any ideas?" He brackets me in his arms, pressing his front against my back. I feel him everywhere now, his sandalwood and sea salt scent fitting in perfectly with the open ocean.
"None," he says, trailing his lips down the curve of my neck and quieting all of the noise in my brain, leaving only him.
"What if," I say breathlessly, fighting past the fog of lust the trailing of his hands on my sides has induced, "I Decay them?"
"Mmm, that's a good starting idea. They're alive, though, numen, so that may not be enough to remove them entirely."
"I could toss them all in a shadow vision and hope Himureal finds them." I push myself back against him, feeling every hardinch of his body against my own.
Mace's body shakes with a laugh, and he nips at my earlobe. "I don't hate the idea."
"Decay and Water?" I say, closing my eyes as I surrender to the sensation of him. "Decay to kill and loosen them, Water to wash them off the side of the boat?"
"The boat is in water, Shadowweaver. Try something else." I'm starting to get frustrated, especially because his hands are tracing the top of my pants, tickling the bare skin there, and the sensation is making my brain stutter. "Come now, numen. I know you're clever enough. Do this, and I'll reward you."
Groaning, I throw my head back against his shoulder, willing the magic inside me to give me an answer.
And then it does.
"Frost. Ice. Whatever we want to call it today. I Decay them, then use Ice to freeze them and Shadow to smash them and sweep them off and out to sea."
I don't give him a chance to question or shoot my idea down. Instead, I immediately braid the three different magics together inside me before pushing my intention out and driving the magic down the side of the boat. I watch as the magic does exactly what I hoped it would, the barnacles rotting, freezing, and then getting pushed off by the snake-like tendrils of shadows I brought forth. It's intoxicating to watch my magic do something so intricate, so complex, with just a thought.
"Wow," I say softly, barely noticing that Mace is still kissing and licking across my neck and shoulder. "I've always knownmagic was useful, but I haven't really taken the chance to look at it like this before." I spin around, ideas overflowing from my mind and out of my mouth. "Would we be able to -"
"Shit!" Mace shouts, jumping back from me. "You stepped on my toes!"
He shakes one foot as if he could banish the pain, glowering at me and my boots. I feel awful that I hurt him, but I can't help the laugh that falls out of me as I watch him. "Sandals," I say through stuttering breaths.
"Yeah, fuck these sandals. I'm never wearing sandals again."
Chapter 21
Mace
