The Black Mage: Apprentice Read Online Free Page B

on desert castings when I ran into Darren.
    "So I heard that you wanted me to carry you
to the infirmary."
    I gave the prince what I hoped was my most
disdainful expression. "I don't know what you are talking
about."
    A corner of the non-heir's lips twitched, and
I had the distinct impression he was on the brink of laughter.
"Don't worry," Darren said, "I have a hard time imagining you'd let anyone help you."
    I held my stance – praying that my friends
were taking their time to catch up. "You know me well." Apparently,
he hadn't made the connection to his mentor's earlier absence – but
I wasn't about to tell him. Ian had joined me because he wanted to
– not because I was some inept apprentice in need of rescuing.
    "Even if you had asked, I wouldn't
have carried you."
    This was the person I had spent half a
year 'pining' over? I must have been mad.
    "I'm not saying it to be mean, Ryiah. You
don't need to give me that look."
    I continued to glare at him.
    "Byron is good for you."
    I put my hands on my hips. "I don't need
another 'adversity builds character' speech, Darren. That man is a
chauvinistic pig. Where's your adversity?"
    Darren raised a brow. "I'm looking at
it."
    I gave an exasperated huff and went to go
find a seat in the back of the room. I was so distracted I didn't
notice when Ian slid into the bench next to me.
    "Lover's quarrel?"
    I glared at the third-year. Ella, Lynn, and
Loren were chuckling. "I hate all of you," I told them.
    None of my friends paid the threat any heed.
Grumbling, I resigned myself to two hours with fools.
     
    ****
     
    "You heard those Combat mages earlier.
Distance is everything . You do not want to get close to the
enemy – a mage's life is far too valuable to be wasted this early
in battle! If the Crown wanted to send in someone expendable they
would be using soldiers, not mages!"
    Grimacing, I set to projecting my next
attack. Thank the gods the local infantry isn't with us to hear
him today.
    Three hundred yards in front of me was a long
wooden fence, six feet high and dotted with dangling wreaths.
Normally the backside of the regiment's horse pasture, today the
horses had been stabled – as per the last three weeks of practice.
Now, the fence served as an imaginary enemy line – and the target?
Sloppily woven wreaths that represented the weak spots in the
opposing forces' defense: the armpit, the eyes, and the plate armor
nearest the chest. The goal of the exercise was to hit a wreath
with casted arrows – a type of long-range magic similar to the
longbow exercises we had been drilling on every morning for weeks
now.
    If we hit a wreath but the arrow fell, or the
arrow did not hit our target at all, then our casting was
considered a failed attempt. Our projections needed to be just
right to travel the great distance and embed themselves into a
target's armor. It wasn't an easy feat.
    Most of the second-years, myself included,
had only had one or two successful castings since we'd begun the
afternoon drill.
    As the Commander had mentioned earlier,
chariot attacks were Ishir's preferred method for initiating
battle. Combat mages would be the first to strike – and even though
we would be discharged at the same time as the knights, our
castings would give us the ability to reach our targets from a much
greater distance, much faster than non-magicked weapons.
Long bows were usually limited to four hundred feet, and other
ranged weapons even less – but that was without magic.
    If a mage mastered the technique for long
casting, not only would he or she be able to project arrows further
than any knight, but eventually much heavier artillery as well.
    It would be a great advantage.
    Out of the corner of my eye I watched as Lynn
cast out her arrows. No physical weapon in hand, the entire casting
was formed by a projection in her mind. She barely flinched as
physical shafts manifested themselves from thin air – pulling back
against an invisible force and then racing into the