Page 163 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

Really, Gunter didn’t know what to do with Nikki. He’d read a book on psychology and trauma to see if it’d help any, and it sort of had? But Nikki flatly did not talk about their experience with the Jaeggi unless asked direct questions. It didn’t give Gunter a good insight of how to help.

He didn’t think it was trauma-related, though, Nikki’s mood this morning. Rather, it seemed to be caused by something Gunter had done. Or failed to do?

It couldn’t possibly be the kiss after the shoe-rescue thing, could it? Gunter hadn’t known how to respond, as Nikki had been half-teasing. And half-something. It was the something Gunter wasn’t sure how to read.

Why were people so difficult to understand?

With Alric’s door right there, he was out of time to figure this out. Gunter would have to think about it more later. The door stood open, clearly an invitation while everyone inside waited for the last arrivals. Gunter stepped confidently through, Nikki perfectly in step with him.

Thankfully, Alric had chosen to eschew the usual long meeting table. Everyone was gathered in a variety of comfortable chairs and sofas, giving the meeting a more informal and inviting feel. Alric was, of course, already there, seated in his favorite spot on a well-worn leather love seat with Cameron tucked in against his side. Cassie also sat nearby in a wingback chair, although she was focused intently on her phone, oblivious to the rest of the room.

The kings were present—Rodrigo, white-blond hair swept back from his tanned face, looking the part of a charming gentleman. Chalo, big as life with his bodybuilder frame, his nose a touch too large for his narrow face, and the lungpower to go with his large size. And finally, tall and wiry Roca, with his blunt features and too-perceptive eyes. Lisette also sat nearby with Dieter, both of them ensconced in the low chairs near the table, their preferred place to be in this room. It seemed he and Nikki were the last to arrive.

“Ah, excellent.” Alric waved them closer. “Nikki, I promise, just a few more questions. Please, sit with us for a moment.”

Nikki did, choosing one of the open spots on the love seat opposite Alric and Cameron. It was likely left open on purpose so they could sit together.

Lisette cleared her throat to draw Nikki’s attention to her. “Nikki, I’m having a hard time deciphering the protection spells and wards the Jaeggi use. They’re different from what we normally use, and the Jaeggi magic looks…odd. Warped, I guess you can say. Their spell work looks strange as a result. It only gets worse when they’re in place for a while. They have layered spells, making things even more distorted. I wonder if you know what they use? Anything you can tell me will be helpful.”

Nikki still seemed a little wary around Lisette for some reason but respectfully answered, “I don’t know the names of the spells. I’m not sure if the names would even be something you would recognize.”

“I doubt it.”

Wetting their lips, Nikki’s light blond brows furrowed in deep thought. “I know they used a lot of reflected sunlight. They were constantly putting up mirrored glass around doors to power the spells.”

Every mage in the room immediately took pen to paper and wrote a note. Well, Cassie used a tablet, but same effect.

“I know, too, they had trouble keeping wards up. They were constantly undoing and redoing the perimeter wards. We had to stay locked in our rooms or dorms while they did repairs. I think they were afraid we’d slip out and run for it.”

Lisette murmured encouragement. “Wards are a very personal thing, something tied in with a mage’s core. If their cores are so damaged, then it would make sense wards would be hard for them to maintain. What else? You’re doing splendid. You’ve already answered two questions for me.”

Nikki’s head canted in question. “This is helpful? Are there really that many questions about how the Jaeggi use magic?”

“Extremely so. We could only guess about the reflected sunlight.”

“Oh. Um…” Nikki stared hard at the carpet, lost in thought. “The few times they let us out, we harvested things for them. Basically the ingredients no one likes harvesting.” Their nose wrinkled adorably, and Gunter had to suppress the urge to run his finger down it to ease away the tension. “I gathered black sand from a wasteland, rushing wind from a hollow cave, and song of a nightingale for them several times.” Nikki’s head popped up, irritation digging furrows in their brow. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to chase down a nightingale when it doesn’t want to sing for you?”

Lisette’s lips twitched like she was fighting back a smile. She swallowed once and nodded. “I do in fact know how hard it is. Definitely not one of my favorite tasks.”

Nikki relaxed and actually grinned at Lisette for a second at this tiny bit of common ground. “Moonlit water, too. They don’t keep a lot of spell ingredients that I’ve seen. I broke into their storeroom once, and it had only about three shelves of bottled ingredients and one storage locker of raw ingredients.”

Lisette leaned forward. “At any time, did you see them use any kind of tool? A gathering wand or anything like that?”

Nikki shook their head immediately. “No. I read in a book how to craft those. I wanted to try it, but there was no growing wood to be found. They use things like mirrors, but it’s always store-bought stuff. It’s not something they’ve made.”

“This makes a great deal of sense from what I’m seeing.” Lisette sat back, blowing out a low breath. “For the rest of you, I’ll explain. It seems to me that while the Burkhard mages lost a great deal of magical information and training, the Jaeggi lost more. I would say that because of the backlash, the generation who knew magic was lost all in one shot, leaving the half-trained students, the young children, and the non-magical members of the clan. All they had were what people remembered and scattered records, which had to be taken and moved in a hurry. They had no idea we thought them decimated—that we weren’t looking for them then.”

Nikki nodded. “That’s true. They didn’t. They boast about that, how the Jaeggi dropped you to your knees so badly that you didn’t even realize they were still alive.”

Gunter’s lip curled in a snarl. Oh, they’d regret being so boastful. He’d make damn sure of it. And he wasn’t alone—every dragon in the room made a low, guttural sound of anger.

Lisette looked ready to shoot lasers out of her eyes.

But it was Cameron who spoke, his tone thoughtful. “So, they’re rather like my family, then. Where a lot of information was just lost, and we’re having to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. No wonder we can’t recognize half of what they’re doing. It’s not a spell we know—it’s something they’ve cobbled together. And likely with spell elements we would never think to use because they’re limited to what they can gather without risking someone discovering them.” Cameron rubbed his forehead and flashed Nikki a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Nikki, that’s tremendously helpful. I thought maybe my analytical skills were failing me.”

“Perish the thought, bro,” Cassie chimed in while not looking up from her tablet. “Nikki, if you can tell me what you mean by raw ingredients?”

“Uh, um, like glass bottles, twine, metal wire, cloth, that sort of thing.”