I sat on the floor, staring at the cats. Was there a way for them to talk? Maybe I should ask Gronir about this. I looked at Nyx. She was intelligent and only meowed as well. Was it something specific to felines? Was it Nyx’ fault? She did add her magic to the spell. I figured she just wanted to be a part of it, maybe have more control over the new minions, but what if she did change the spell?

Maybe we needed rats after all. It would allow me to confirm that the lacking speech was a cat problem. Or caused by Nyx. I stared at her.

She stared back. Then she licked her paw.

The door opened and Helena entered. “Oh, you are experimenting with the new cats? What can they do?” She asked enthusiastically.

“Meow.” I replied.

“Huh?”

I explained the situation to her. She pondered that. “I suppose they are not going to be spies then. Well, they can still be assassins!”

I scratched my head. “I think we can use them to train Nyx. Give her some command experience.”

“Anyway, I met Skadi and Cassie at breakfast. They want to work on their joint casting today. I thought we could do the same.” Helena suggested.

“Sure. Do you have an idea for a spell?” I asked.

“Yes! It’s, uh, it’s a spell I know from my father but I can’t manage it alone.”

“Your father taught you magic? Aren’t you supposed to only know venting before you join the academy?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“True. He did not really teach me the spell. More like showed it to me. And I might have, uh, copied the runes needed from a book.” She admitted.

“Ok, I am curious, what does the spell do?”

“We call it: field of ice. It reduces the temperature in a large area and creates a field of ice and snow. It hinders the movement of enemies, and over time the cold will hurt them. But it also allows you to use the area for follow up spells. You can then create ice spiked from the ground, for example.”

I nodded, it did sound like a good spell. “So what is the problem? Does it cost too much mana? Also, is it a sustained spell?”

She shook her head. “It is not a sustained spell. The amount of mana you need depends on the area you want to affect. Also, with more mana it will last longer and it will be harder to melt. The problem is, it has multiple components. You have to create water, infuse the water, then freeze it and lower the temperature in the area.”

“Actually, how can we make the air cold with water magic? We can create ice by manipulating water, but how can we make the air cold?” I wondered.

“Water magic allows you to lower the temperature of many things, actually. Just like you can heat things with fire. Those powers are just part of the element. Did you know that not all water mages have the same talent for ice? While everyone can use it, and it is the same affinity, ice comes easier to some!” Helena explained.

“Is it because of the extra step? Ice starts by creating water, unless you already have it available. I suppose it requires more concentration to use ice?” I theorized. In our water magic classes we had started with water and then transitioned to ice. I never thought much about it. But ice magic was a bit harder than water. Then again, water had healing, which was rather complex as well.

Helena shrugged. “Could be. My father never told me why that is. But my family is really proud of our ice magic.”

“Well, let’s try your spell.” I suggested.

We went to a training room. Nyx followed us on Chariot. She also took the new cats with her. Maybe she could train too.

I ignored the felines, who went into a corner to do something, and addressed Helena: “How does this work?”

Helena offered me a piece of paper. “So, you will need this rune. You need to form it in your mind, power it, without giving it a target. I will combine it with my part in my head, then unleash it. We need to form a connection first though.”

“Hm. When I taught you circling we both pricked our fingers. Should we do that again?” I wondered.

“I think we should try it without sharing blood. If we want this to be useful it needs to be simpler. Maybe we can connect through water?” She mused.

“Oh! That is a great idea. We can connect our mana through water.” I agreed.

Conjuring some water in our hands was simple. Then she took my hand and we both tried to infuse the water with our mana.

There was a certain instinct in me to refuse, or outright fight, foreign mana. But Helena felt familiar. She was my friend, maybe the first true friend I ever had. Our mana connected. I could feel it circling inside her body.

We were both smiling, the first step was complete.