The Woman in the Black Dress

Despite his sudden launching and forced landing, the man was still holding stubbornly a staff in his hand, a notorious feat considering his lack of several fingers. The heart and little finger in the right hand, The ring, little and index on the left.

As with many mages, his most notorious traits where his scars, especially the lightly red burn scar in the whole left side of his face that give him the appearance of a melted wax statue. All the more striking with the bizarre semblance of his left eye, completely free of pupil or pigment, looking like the cracked shell of an egg. What little hair he has left in the right side of his head was short and dark red in color.

"I'm not intimidated, you damn cripple" The man said once he managed to stand up with a little bit of struggle. At the other end of the table, Rita was already "walking" in the table.

-Now i see what she meant by "less optimal conditions"- Darren thought, looking how the spokes in her wheels assembled together to form what resembled the legs of a spider, allowing her to get on top of the table and walk towards her foe.

-Is that a catalyst?- Darren thought looking at the long staff the man was holding, which was now pointing directly towards Rita in a menacing gesture.

The existence of a catalyst was mostly theoretical. A theory that only Elias knew, since he kept the specifics for himself. This man was either an acquaintance or clever enough to figure out the formula for himself. Either way, that meant the man was capable.

The man closed his eyes pointing his staff towards Rita, whom keep advancing towards him with her "legs" making a cricketing sound in the table.

Darren stood in place, watching the whole deal with his eyes wide open. He had studied and learn about the many ways magic could be used as an offensive or defensive tool, but this was the first time he was able to see it. He had to learn how it worked.

The man finished the chanting of his spell when Rita was still about five meters of distance. Darren thought it would have been a mistake. The effective range of a catalyst wasn't superior to a meter, without it the Mana consumption increased exponentially with each centimeter out of the mage's own body. However, books didn't tell him everything.

The man launched what seemed to be a luminous projectile. It was dimly transparent, beaming a vaporous substance from it's core. The projectile flew right towards Rita, increasing it's acceleration as it traveled.

-This is impossible- Darren thought. -A catalyst should contain the area of effect, decreasing with that the Mana consumption. It can't be used to extend it, more less so direct it.-

Rita however didn't stop her march, limiting herself to simple extend her metallic arm with an open palm, as if she pretended to catch the spell with her bare hand.

That expression was in fact fairly accurate, since the projectile vanished the moment it touched Rita's hand. Although it would be more accurate to say it absorb it inside her arm, closing it in a fist that still emanated some vaporous remnants of Mana.

All mages remained silent for what felt like hours after they saw the course of events. The silence was tense, like the eye of the storm. The only thing breaking that silence was the constant humming of the woman sitting besides Darren, who's thoughts seemed to be absent to what was about to happen, Darren was no different, with his thoughts totally focused in the astonishing truth he had just behold.

-A catalyst capable of increasing the effective range of the spell while at the same time preserving the efficient consumption and an enchantment capable of absorb Mana and store it inside a recipient. If we combine this two we could bring and end to the compensation effect.-

Darren was astonished. More than that, he was completely rapt. This was more than mere discoveries and inventions, this could change the course of history.

After those breve moments of silence, the hall fell into chaos when one of the many mages started chanting. The whole place turned into a cacophony of explosions, spells and words of power when all the mages started firing spells to each other, forcing Darren to hide under the table when he saw an orb of dangerous aspect pass worryingly close to his face.

The woman stayed in her seat, humming and tapping, like if the uproar around her wasn't her business, or so it seemed for the first minute, after which she slowly began to stand up, using her wand like if she was directing an imaginary orchestral ballad.

Darren didn't knew why, but goosebumps crawled down his spine when he saw her direct this song, chanting in a whisper words of a language that didn't existed.

While she directed the high and lows with elegant movements, Without realizing it, Darren covered his ears out of sheer instinct while she approached the finishing note, lowering both her arms in an energetic movement signaling the end of her sonata.

Some kind of pulse or wave was born from the core of her body, sending everyone to the ground, breaking glasses and sending some to fly like if they where hit by the wrath of the gods.

When the wave hit Darren, he felt like if he was struck to his very bones while he was sent rolling trough to floor like an empty can. He didn't knew how lucky he actually was till he saw all the other mages covering their ears in pain.

If it wasn't because he saw it with his own eyes, he would have never believed in the existence of a spell capable of cover the whole hall without killing the one casting it. But there she was, just in front of him, a mage capable of incapacitate a whole hall fill with mages without even drop a sweat. Since his arrival, his previous knowledge about magic was being constantly defied.

-How many?, just how many secrets was i missing by not leaving my home? how many will i discover?-

Once his astonishment was dissipated, Darren remembered something he was about to dismiss.

-Oh Draco, RITA!- Darren thought rushing out to stand on his feet again and search for the landing point of Rita.

She had already proven to be able to take care of her own, but it was impossible for her to stand that wave without being trow somewhere. Without her chair, there wasn't much that she could do on her own.

When Darren finally found the landing place of Rita, he was surprised to find out she was already moving, crawling by her own towards her chair, tossed somewhere lying on it's side.

The thought of helping her crossed his mind, but it was soon drown by the powerful words of Elias.

-Everyone should be able to stand by their own when they fell-

Rita wasn't calling for help, neither she was rolling on the floor complaining for the pain. She wasn't crying in impotence. She was crawling towards her chair, with her eyes fixated on her objective, totally willing to stand by her own.

It was then that Darren understood the words of Elias.

-If you don't have the strength and determination to stand by your own, you will not have what you need to finish the road-

He understood, he couldn't help her, not now. Rita needed to stand by her own. Only then, she would be able to some day stand again on her own two legs.

Once she arrived to her chair, she landed and climb it till she was finally sitting on his primary way of moving again. Darren wait till then to approach her and ask her if she was alright.

"Rita, are you ok? what was that?"

Rita simple look at him, her stare alone seemed to ask him if he was stupid or something. Then she pointed one of her ears.

-Oh right, she can't hear me-

"Oh, by the love of Draco, i'm to old for this. This youngsters will be the death of me" Darren heard Elias voice said from behind him.

"Elias? but, how?"

"I'm ok boy, thanks for asking"

"No... I mean, yeah... I mean, What did just happen? What kind of spell was that? How are you unharmed?"

"Calm down kid, it is not such a big deal. That was a sonic impact; You only had to use the Mana to create a wave simulating sound. That way, in theory, you can generate an impact that will spread through the particles in the air without need of spending too much Mana. The problem is to actually control the amplitude and frequency of such wave. I didn't even think it was possible till i saw it. I guess it was just a matter of practice. And about me being fine, it was just common sense kid, if you see yourself in the middle of a battlefield you don't partake on, just make a shield and hold your ground."

Elias then walked towards a chair, standing it up with his cane to sit down and have some rest, staring directly towards the woman in the black dress.

"I must say i'm impress. I didn't expect someone would domain that spell so soon." Elias said with a frown.

"Do you know her?"

"Roughly speaking. Everyone knows she exist, but that's about it. Nothing else is known about her, except that the rest of mages are secretly terrified of her. Something about a bad omen when she makes a spell, it's hard to explain"

Darren looked at the woman, remembering what he felt during the casting of her spell. It was certainly a mysterious thing.

The doors opened, revealing a tall Iron who looked at the scene of scattered mages, rolling in the ground in pain and most certainly deaf. He raised a brow before enter, walking in a straight line towards Darren with little to no care to who he step on the way.

Once he arrived, the iron make inclined in a sign of respect before he spoke.

"Sir Darren Lockwood. Her majesty the queen desires to speak personally with you. Please follow me"