Chương 29: Again

Iris leaned over the sheet and drew the circle in one smooth motion, slowing only near the end to join the line. Gloria was immediately impressed, for years of archery had given Iris exceptional control over her hand and an instinctive sense of proportion, leaving the circle almost entirely free of the wavering edges and clumsy corrections expected from a first attempt. Echidna examined the page from Gloria's finger.

"The child's first effort is less offensive than Echidna anticipated."

"Thank you, Lady Echidna," Iris replied, accepting the remark as praise before looking expectantly toward Gloria.

"Again," Gloria said. The Archer placed her pen near the top of the page and drew a second circle, following the same smooth path until the line closed with a slight thickening at the seam. She looked toward Gloria once more, though the Dragon gave no judgment before instructing her to begin from the bottom and draw in the opposite direction. Iris obeyed, carrying the line counterclockwise around the page with only a brief hesitation along the opening curve, and Gloria immediately gave her another starting point.

Circles drawn from the left and right followed across a fresh sheet, each nearly as clean as the first, although Iris became increasingly uncertain as Gloria continued changing the direction without explaining what she sought.

"Clockwise, beginning at the bottom." Iris paused over the empty space as though hoping to discover Gloria's objection before committing the pen, then drew with care until she approached her starting point, where her hand slowed and guided the line into a tiny overlap. Gloria collected the sheet, replaced it and demanded one final circle beginning from the right. By the sixth attempt, Iris's early satisfaction had disappeared.

She compared the shapes, searching their curves and closure points for some failure obvious enough to explain Gloria's silence, before finally setting the pen down.

"Lady Gloria, if there is something wrong with them, I cannot see it."

"There is something wrong with every circle you have drawn," Gloria replied as she arranged the pages across the table.

"Your control is excellent, particularly for someone without formal training, though magical formations are governed by precision rather than appearance." She marked the intended center of the first circle and indicated four points along its circumference.

"Compare their distance from the center." Iris leaned closer and studied the page before looking back at Gloria.

"They appear equal."

"The left and right edges extend slightly farther from the center than the upper and lower edges, giving the circle a small horizontal elongation." Gloria waited while Iris lowered her face toward the paper and tried to distinguish the difference, though the flaw remained narrow enough to hide beneath the line itself.

"How am I expected to correct something I can scarcely see?" Iris asked.

"By correcting the cause rather than chasing each individual flaw." Gloria shifted to another attempt and tapped the place where the line met itself.

"This error should be easier to recognize." A slight thickening marked the closure of one circle, another possessed a tiny inward hook, and a third changed curvature during its final movement. Once Gloria drew attention to them, Iris began finding some variation of the same flaw throughout the pages.

"I slowed down as I approached the end," she admitted.

"I wanted to ensure that the two ends met properly."

"You also watched the left and right portions more closely than the rest of the circle." Iris considered the movements she had made before giving a reluctant nod.

"Those were the most difficult sections to judge."

"Both errors arise from the same habit," Gloria explained.

"You are concentrating upon the circumference and correcting your hand according to whatever the line appears to be doing, which may produce something convincingly round but cannot define a proper circle." She placed one claw upon the central dot.

"Every point along the circumference is determined by its distance from here, and once the center and radius have been established, the shape possesses no reason to widen at the sides, narrow at the top or change direction near its completion."

"I understand the principle, Lady Gloria, yet I must watch the pen if I am to guide it."

"Stop watching your hand. You are an Archer; I should not need to explain the disadvantage of looking away from your target." Iris fell silent as Gloria pressed her claw against the central mark.

"When you loose an arrow, do you stare at your fingers to ensure that they release the string correctly, or follow the arrowhead while adjusting every movement of your wrist?"

"No, Lady Gloria. I keep my attention upon the target."

"Your body performs the motion because years of practice have taught it to organize every movement around the point you intend to strike, and the same principle applies here. This is your target, while your hand, the pen and the line beneath them are secondary." Gloria placed a fresh sheet upon the table and marked its center before handing the pen back to Iris.

"There is no meaningful left side, right side, top or bottom, for those divisions encourage you to alter your movement whenever your hand enters another part of the page. Fix your eyes upon that dot and remember the only rule that matters: every point must remain the same distance from the center."

Iris positioned the pen and stared at the mark, though without the visual corrections upon which she had relied, her hand moved with far less confidence and produced a circle that bulged near the upper left, narrowed across the bottom and ended with a visible gap. Embarrassment colored her face as she regarded the result.

"That was dreadful." Stolen story; please report.

"That was expected," Gloria replied.

"Your earlier precision depended upon a habit I have now removed, so repeat the exercise until you no longer require it." The next circle improved along one side and worsened along the other, while the third developed an unfortunate resemblance to an egg. Iris's mouth tightened as she began a fourth, clearly irritated by how quickly the exercise had escaped her.

"Your hand drifts whenever it passes beyond the clearest part of your vision," Gloria observed.

"You are still attempting to follow the pen without moving your eyes, which leaves you with the same problem under a different disguise."

"I am sorry, Lady Gloria," Iris said as she looked down at the misshapen attempts.

"Do not apologize; draw another." Iris fixed her attention upon the center and resisted every impulse to search for the pen as it passed through the edges of her vision. Her wrist remained uncertain through the opening curve, though the motion settled into a steadier rhythm as she continued, producing the most balanced circle of the new batch. Gloria placed it beside the earlier attempts.

The curvature still wandered slightly near the bottom, and the line thickened where Iris's attention shifted toward its closing point, though the improvement could no longer be dismissed as chance.

"Better. You allowed your hand to perform the motion instead of questioning its position throughout every part of the circle." Iris compared the pages.

"It still feels as though I am surrendering control."

"You are transferring that control to the proper place," Gloria corrected.

"Eventually, the formation must become almost unconscious, with your attention governing its center, size and purpose while your hand performs the movement without demanding constant supervision. During battle, you will have enemies to observe, terrain to judge, allies to protect and further spells to prepare, and if every line forces you to look away from those concerns, your magic will become a burden long before it becomes a weapon." Iris reached for another sheet without being instructed.

"Then I must learn to draw them while giving the motion as little attention as I give the release of an arrow."

"Precisely, which is why I am building upon the talents you already possess." Her pen stopped above the paper.

"Do you truly believe I possess an aptitude for this kind of magic?"

"Of course. Your profession has trained your hands to repeat precise movements beneath pressure, your eyes to judge distance and proportion, and your mind to remain fixed upon a target while your body performs everything required to strike it. An ordinary student might spend years developing foundations you already possess." Iris straightened and returned the pen to the paper with renewed confidence, fixing her gaze upon the center while allowing her wrist to settle into the motion around it.

The finished circle remained imperfect beneath Gloria's scrutiny, though its width and height nearly matched, while the change in curvature near its closure had become difficult to detect.

"Again," Gloria ordered, and Iris obeyed without looking up. Several further circles followed, their defects growing smaller as she learned to judge the pen entirely through its relationship with the center, until Gloria found herself more interested in the speed of her improvement than in the mistakes that remained. A gradual change beyond the cabin window eventually drew Gloria's gaze away from the table, for the afternoon light had begun darkening into deep shades of amber.

The departure show would begin before long, though another possibility had been occupying Gloria's thoughts since she first witnessed Iris use her magic, and testing it would require a degree of privacy that the cabin could not provide. Gloria looked down at the ring encircling her finger, whose silence throughout the lesson suggested that Echidna had remained equally interested in the Archer's progress.

She waited until Iris had begun another circle before sliding the ring free and allowing it to drop onto the open section of floor between the beds.

"Come forth, Echidna." The ring struck the floor and trembled before losing its shape, its uneven surface softening into a thick pool of blood. Iris's pen stopped moving as narrow streams began rising from the pool, winding around one another while the rest of the liquid gathered into the outline of a kneeling woman.

Bones took shape beneath flowing flesh, arms extended from broadening shoulders and long black hair spilled down a back that had not existed moments earlier, until Echidna's towering body emerged fully within the cabin. The final traces of blood climbed along her legs and vanished beneath her skin as she lowered one knee before Gloria, her head bowed and one hand placed against her chest.

"What does the Mighty desire of Echidna?"

"As a bo—" Gloria caught herself before the final syllable escaped and continued without allowing the interruption to disturb her composure.

"As a goddess, you rely greatly upon the powers granted by your race, though you are also an expert in the construction of magical circles, are you not?"

"Of course, Mighty Gloria," Echidna replied, raising her head as though the answer could never have been in doubt.

"Few beings from any age could hope to rival Echidna's command over such formations, and none could surpass it except the Mighty herself."

"Then your knowledge will be sufficient for what I require, for there is a matter elsewhere that I wish to investigate without interruption," Gloria said, glancing toward the window before returning her attention to the goddess.

"Remain here with Iris, ensure that she completes the assignment I have given her and offer whatever instruction you believe will improve her control until I return." Echidna's eyes brightened at being entrusted with the task, although the eagerness within them became considerably more alarming when she asked, "May Echidna employ any means she considers necessary to ensure the child satisfies your expectations?" Gloria regarded her for a moment before answering.

"Any reasonable means, provided that you cause no lasting injury to my student."

"As the Mighty commands," Echidna replied. Iris, who had been listening with growing unease, finally pushed herself away from the table.

"Lady Gloria, forgive me, but you promised that you would be the one teaching me." Echidna turned toward her so slowly that the movement silenced whatever complaint Iris had intended to add.

"Do not be foolish, child, for the Mighty has already granted you her wisdom, identified the defects within your technique and placed your first true trial before you."

"I do not require supervision. The task I was given is simple, and it is quite easy. I simply wish to hear her opinions on the matter," Iris replied, though her gaze moved toward the scattered pages as though she had begun reconsidering the claim.

"Excellent; then Echidna shall have no reason to correct you, and she will provide thorough critique." The goddess approached the table and gathered the failed circles into one neat stack, examining them with a smile that grew more pleasant as Iris became less comfortable. She then placed a fresh sheet and set the pen precisely at its edge.

"You will continue until the Mighty returns, and Echidna shall ensure that every failure receives an appropriate consequence," she said, leaning over Iris until her shadow covered both the woman and the page.

"Rest assured, child, Echidna shall honor the precise wording of the Mighty's command and leave no permanent injury." The color drained from Iris's face as she turned toward the door.

"Lady Gloria...?" The cabin door clicked shut, leaving an empty space where Gloria had stood only moments earlier.