Stealing Sorcery by Andrew Rowe Page B

with that hypothesis.
    His dominion bond to metal was easy to examine with this more advanced spell, but the form it took was perplexing. A Rethri bond looked like a single lake feeding into tiny streams. Taelien’s was a broad river that began at his right hand and traveled down the length of his right arm before splitting off into the smaller streams. His focused source of essence made it easier to draw on if he was touching something directly.
    The essence source she had assumed was a second dominion bond was even more perplexing. When visualized, it did not look like veins of light at all – rather, it looked like his body contained several tiny stars, each of which emanated essence that permeated everything nearby. The auras from the stars saturated his entire body, growing brighter every time she observed them.
    The brightest stars were within his hands, and these were what she observed as Taelien began to draw the Sae’kes.
    As soon as the first rune was visible, Lydia watched the lights in Taelien’s body flicker and redirect essence toward his right hand. From there, she could sense it flowing directly into the Sae’kes to power the rune.
    “Stop there for a measurement. Dominion of Knowledge, measure the rate of essence flow into the Sae’kes.”
    Three point two domini per minute, the spell registered. Almost exactly what I estimated. We’ll see if the trend holds.
    The sorceress had developed this particular spell specifically for the purpose of this test, since most knowledge spells directed at the Sae’kes showed useless results. She had made some progress with identifying the functions of the gemstones in the hilt and pommel, but the blade itself offered no answers.
    “Go ahead and power the next rune,” she instructed. She kept her eyes shut, watching the star on his right hand intensify.
    Most dominion lines dimmed when in use, rather than growing brighter. Even Rethri dominion bonds were no exception.
    Metal scraped against metal as Taelien continued to draw out the blade until the second rune was exposed. He let out a deep breath as he infused the second rune.
    “Dominion of Knowledge, measure the rate of essence flow into the Sae’kes,” she repeated.
    Ten point two four domini per minute, the spell reported to her. Lydia nodded absently. “Continue.”
    She repeated the process for the third and fourth runes, mentally recording the results.
    Thirty two point seven eight domini per minute.
    One hundred four point eight five seven six domini per minute.
    The star in his right hand was blinding, its aura extending beyond his arm and half way across his chest. The other stars within his body pulsed independently, seemingly unaffected by this process. The lines representing his other dominions were gradually fading. They were slowly being drained.
    She paused, debating if she wanted to push him to continue. The amount of essence he was burning through was absurd by a normal sorcerer’s standards, but his breathing seemed normal, and his results were matching what she expected.
    Do I need another data point? Not really.
    “I need to keep my eyes closed. Keep your sword out, but put your left hand in my left hand,” Lydia instructed. It was a non-standard test, but potentially useful. “Dominion of Knowledge, measure the uncategorized essence within his left hand.”
    This spell required two adjustments – one to only measure within his hand, another to measure the unusual essence within the ‘star’. She used the term “uncategorized” because she still had no idea which dominion it represented – any effort to identify the sorcery type had provided her with nonsensical results.
    Two hundred fifty-five point nine domini.
    Lydia frowned at the number. Disconcerting how much essence he can hold. With that amount of essence, he could power several spells without needing to draw on dominions at all. That would probably kill him, of course.
    “Keep your right hand on the sword, but put your