Cursed to the Bone

38. Trial and Error

While warding might have been a family thing, I wasn't feeling skilled at all as I attempted to reason through symbols I barely knew.

My shoulders shook from the cold and I lightly slapped my cheeks. "Focus. Start with what we know." I cleared the runes out of the jumbled mess they were in, spreading and shifting until the lines were no longer crossed. It was a circle within a circle. Step one, done.

The next step was a logic issue, one that I recognized but didn't understand. I had to determine the order of the runes. At some point, I'd have to guess the pattern, which—Goddess, help me—might have been impossible. The water was already climbing my calves.

I shifted the Origin rune into cardinal directions. It lit when placed to the south. Progress was progress. I tapped my fingers on the stones, looking between the two connecting runes—both of them archaic. It might as well have been Japanese.

Patterns starting to the south were few. The ones I knew, anyway. The one thing I had going for me was that even the more advanced wards borrowed patterns from simple ones. I tried every pattern I could think of, but nothing lit the board. A sense of dread pooled in my gut. They weren't going to light up. The ward was intended to be known.

The water was half-way up my thighs, and I needed a new plan. Fast. Something to get me out of there. Something like Relocation. I strummed my fingers on the wall, nodding. Yes. The exam ward brought me into the dungeon. It could surely take me back. All I had to do was flip it into a perfect reverse. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

I dragged the symbols, only vaguely recalling the shape and location of the ward on the paper, and reversed what I could remember. I hadn't exactly studied it, or anything, and wished for a moment that I had Naomi's memory. As the water passed my hips, I sucked in a shuddered breath. Did it have to be so cold?

The last three runes were on the tricky side, and completely unreadable. I shifted them around until I felt okay about it, and held a fist to my mouth. There just wasn't enough time to second-guess. Professor Ishida would kill me herself if she knew what I was doing, but I didn't have a choice.

Lowering my hand to the Origin, I sent my magic in and charged it up the left line. It lit. Success! I continued to the next mark. That worked, too, which was good because I'd guessed it. Moving on, I carried my magic into the next rune. In the blink of an eye, I was floating on my back out of breath.

Coughing, I put weight into my feet and stood, peering at my stinging palm. I burned it. Ouch. I waded through the water, which was well past my navel, and traded the rejected rune with another. I tried again. The same thing happened, only that time I flew back into the jet of water. It hit like a sledgehammer.

Rolling in the water, I came up for breath and returned to the wall. At least I knew which rune was correct for that setting. I changed it out and tried again, moving through the sequence. It was wrong, which was bad, because I was sure about that one. That time, I didn't get knocked away. Instead, the water came faster. That was a way worse punishment for failure. Trying not to panic, I released the magic I'd been holding and thought back to the exam paper.

Instinct told me it should be a couple degrees higher, but I was faced with a new problem. The ward was half-submerged in water which made it difficult to tell where I was moving them. I had to go under. Filling my lungs, I sank below and got to work. I raised the rune ten degrees and then raised it a little higher. Fifteen looked more accurate if the balance of the ward was to be maintained.

I powered up the runes, pleased knowing I was correct about the rune's placement, and went for the next one. Wrong. Pain shot up my arm and I wrenched it away, shrieking.
I bolted for the ceiling and turned my head to the side, spitting out water and gasping for air. Nothing hurt quite like a ward burn. Slowing my breath, I curled my fingers into the stones. This was it. The last breath I'd have.

With my lungs filled, I sank beneath the water and adjusted the last two runes. It had to be right. There wasn't any other choice. I powered it up one last time, air bubbling from my nose, and dragged my magic all the way through. I paused before the last one, checking the other side. In terms of balance, it was a little wonky. Just slightly.

By all accounts, I wasn't supposed to move runes at the same time a ward was being powered, but I was nearly out of air. Ignoring the retaliating sting in my arms, I dragged the final rune to the right and forced the ward to complete. It flashed brightly, colors twisting in the water. I slapped the stone. Hurry! My lungs were fit to burst when I breathed involuntarily, taking in a mouthful of water.

Then I slammed into the ground. I was free! Rolling to my knees, I emptied my lungs and gasped desperately for air between ragged coughs. Through blurry vision, I blinked at the figures that came to my aid. Lucien and Sakura.

"She's freezing," Sakura said, flicking her hand at me. Warmth fell over me, enough to lessen the cold, but it was a wasted spell all the same. My clothes were too wet for that to work.

Warm fingers belonging to Lucien cupped my cheeks. "Vera, say something."

Leaning away from him, I rubbed my nose. Tears burned my eyes and turned my vision to red as the heat of fury curled in my chest. "I'm going to die in this place, I just know it," I cried, my voice hoarse.

"Tell us what happened," Lucien said, wiping my tears away. Blood soaked his fingers, and instinctively I reached up but he pushed them away and shielded my eyes with a curved palm. The warmth of his magic slid beneath my eyelids, soothing a pain I didn't realize I had. I took a deep, calming breath and explained all that happened.

"How did she get that exam?" Lucien said, his voice harsh.

Sakura gestured to the desk. "The papers were scattered when I came in. I picked them up and had someone pass them out. I don't know, but this," Sakura said, lifting the paper, "this is not my handwriting. It was switched."

My forearms itched, and the moment I turned them over, the itch turned to severe burning. My sleeves were tattered and burns raced up both arms. Only then did I realize it hurt. "I forced some runes to move. My arms—"

Sakura crouched and took my hands in hers. She muttered something in Japanese and I was pretty sure she wanted to lecture me, but I didn't feel the least bit apologetic.

"We'll get this fixed," Sakura muttered, setting my hands down. "I'm going to get Killian. He'll be more useful in healing these. And I'm sorry to say it, Lucien, but not even you can work on them."

"Get Niall, then. I do not wish for Rhodes to be anywhere near—"

"Too late," a voice rang from the doorway, interrupting Lucien. Killian Rhodes strode in, weaving between the desks. Tedric Halsey entered too, searching the empty room, presumably, for any signs of trouble.

"Let's get you to the infirmary," Killian said, yanking me up off the ground. Before anyone could protest, the room twisted away.

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