Ceylis smiled, then turned away. "Follow me," he ordered, starting down the cobbled street at a brusque pace.

"Where are we going?"

Ceylis slowly turned his head to face her. "I need to see how fast you learn," he said with a sly grin. "See if you can figure out how to use some magic." Then he spun and dashed down the street, leaving a startled Narira behind him.

She paused for only a moment. "I guess this is how it's going to be," she told herself with firm resolve. "If this is how he's going to 'train' me... well, I've always enjoyed experimentation." Then she smiled, feeling excitement take over her previous nervousness. Her eyes flitted up to catch the form of Ceylis running. "It's on," she whispered, taking off after her new trainer.

Taking off in a sprint, she tore after the man. He was fast, but Narira had always had a gift of speed. She couldn't help laughing as she ran, the soles of her moccasins slamming into the cobbles, the wind raking at her face.

Just as she got near Ceylis, he took a flying leap sideways, then rolled and continued down a side street. With a yelp, she skidded to a stop and shifted her weight to the side, working hard to regain her momentum. I'll be ready for that next time, she thought. She didn't know how she would react, but she would try to heed his advice of figuring out how to use her magical energy.

When he jumped to the side again, she pushed into her leg, trying to trigger some sort of magical happening. She went careening diagonally, with nothing but momentum aiding her jump. With a loud crash, she slammed into a merchant's stand, knocking a rack of jewelry to the ground. He gave her a look of raw outrage, opening his mouth.

"Sorry," Narira mumbled, taking off again before he could reprimand her. She felt guilty, but the guilt quickly evaporated in the face of nervousness when she realized that she couldn't see Ceylis anywhere. Heart pounding, she ran to the end of the block and into the intersection. Glancing right and then left, she couldn't see any trace of her trainer. She opened her mouth to call for him, but then snapped it shut. I'm going to do this.

Glancing around, she located a convenient building. It was shorter than most were in the tightly packed city, and there was a covered wagon parked not far from it. The sign read, "Marnella's Moccasins." She climbed on top of the wagon, balancing on the wooden bar that held the cloth up. Then she eyed the lip of the building's roof. Crouching down slowly, she readied herself. Then she jumped forward, catching the roof's lip. She held in a shriek as the rough stone dug into her palms, then pushed against the wall with her feet and heaved herself onto the roof. She smiled, looking down at the street and admiring her accomplishment. Then she made her way to where the building practically bumped into a taller building next to it. This jump was easier, and soon she was staring out over the city.

Relief came in a wave when she spotted Ceylis running down a street parallel to the one she had been on. He hadn't gone far; clearly, he was focusing on losing her rather than getting distance. She watched with satisfaction as he turned around, realizing she was gone, then jogged in the other direction. Crouching down on her roof, she watched him pass her on the street. Then a sudden thought made her panic. Can I get down?

"Ceylis!" she called in alarm. He turned around, eyes roaming the street.

"Up here!" she shouted, standing and waving.

His eyes widened. "How'd you get up there?"

"I jumped off that wagon," she said, pointing. "Then I climbed up here. But I don't think I can get down!"

"Just go the way you came up."

She stared at the drop down to the next roof. "I'll fall off!" she said desperately.

"Hang on a second. I'm coming up." To her surprise, he ignored the wagon. He took a running jump, planting a foot on the wall, then launched off again. He caught the roof with a hand as he flew backward, then tugged against it, flipping upward and landing in a crouch.

Narira stared in awe. "Can- I do that too?"

"With practice. I've hurt myself a good number of times trying to learn acrobatics."

"So how are we going to get down? Are we just going to jump?"

"Eager, aren't we?" he mused. "No, I don't think you could land a jump from this height yet, even with magical enhancement. Speaking of which, how has it been going with that?"

She shook her head. "I haven't done anything with it yet! I can't find where I'm supposed to be looking, or what I'm supposed to be doing." She breathed out, frustrated.

He thought for a minute. "Alright. I know what we're going to do."

"To unlock my magic, or to get down?"

"Both."

"What, then?"

"We're going to jump."

"Excuse you?" Narira exclaimed. "I thought you said I couldn't!"

"It should make your body instinctively release its magic. As it does so, observe where it comes from. Try to figure out exactly what happened. Then once we're on the ground, try to imitate it."

"No." There was a sudden strength in Narira's voice. "You just told me I couldn't make the jump. I'm not going to just leap off of a building and hope that something happens!"

Ceylis sighed in irritation. "Then how do you propose we get down?"

She looked around. "I'll get down the way I came up."

"I thought you said you couldn't." He seemed to be smiling.

"Well I have better chances than with just throwing myself off!"

"Alright," he agreed. "Go for it."

Narira took a deep breath, stubbornness fueling her more than courage. Taking a firm hold on the lip of the roof, she lowered herself down. Her arms trembled with the effort, but the Dueling Academy had at least given her some strength. She grunted as she pushed herself from the wall, feeling weightless for a moment before her feet hit the roof of the shorter building. She stumbled backward, rolling uncontrollably. Her fingers slid futilely across the stone, and then she was falling. With a sudden flash, power surged into her legs, and she somehow managed to land with her feet on the hard cobbles below.

She looked up and received a look of approval from Ceylis. He hopped down onto the shorter roof with ease, then jumped down to the street. "Excellent job. I take it your magic activated?"

"You mean you can't tell?"

He shook his head, dark hair rustling. "Electrovites can't sense each other's magic. We just have to use clues, like if someone has unusual capabilities."

"So if I'm careful, no one will know about my abilities?"

"Unfortunately, no," he responded. "Void wizards can sense an electrovite's magic being used."

"Void wizards?" she inquired curiously.

"The enemy of electrovites. They can absorb any charge you shoot at them, and as I discovered a while ago, they can feed off of energy that escapes when you use magic, allowing them to move even faster than most electrovites."

The world suddenly seemed a lot scarier to Narira. What have I just jumped into? she thought with concern.

"Their most alarming feature," Ceylis continued, "is the ability to suck away your energy upon contact. And if your store is empty...they suck away your life force."

Narira shivered. "Where are they?"

"Have you heard of the Black Empire? That's all void wizard territory. Their king lives in a fortress in the mountains, called Carontell. But he has followers scattered throughout most kingdoms, not just his Empire. He tends to avoid Malynrian cities," he added at her look of terror. "Malynri is the seat of the electrovite council."

"Are there any on our side?"

He sighed. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain. Take a seat."

"Here?" she asked, pointing at the street beneath her.

"Yes." He sat down in a cross-legged position, and she followed suit. "I need to explain what the wizards are."