Teroiah called out back to Meesei over the noise of her magic. "This is no test of full capability, Champion. Merely a rapid means of ensuring we are not wasting our time!"

The next level of power Teroiah presented prompted Rossarm to turn his off hand around in a position to cast a different spell. His warding arm was starting to quiver at the strain.

Upon noticing the movement, the corner of Teroiah's mouth quirked into a small smile. She pressed on to yet another level of power.

Rossarm's reaction was immediate. A bright red whorl of magic tore open above his opposite hand. Even as darkly hued as his skin was, the veins in his wrist and hand bulged and flared as if painted with ink. Less conspicuous was his warding hand, which now was comfortably maintaining his defences with not to much as a twitch.

"Very good." Teroiah abruptly cut off the stream of lightning leaping from her hands. Little sparks arced their last between her fingers as she clasped her hands together behind her. She flicked her eyes to the rest of the meeting. "The drills may be performed at any time."

As Teroiah walked back behind her seat, Rossarm lowered his ward and resumed his own place. Though he tried to hide his hand behind his back, the blackened veins were readily apparent to all who saw him. In addition, Meesei, Ri'vashi, Fendros, and anyone else with keen enough hearing could perceive his breathing had grown very slightly laboured.

[hr]
Janius hesitated, looking away for a moment. He gave Julan a small nod. "If they come back, yes. But there will be other friends of ours staying behind that you could gain help from as well. There's...Pieter and Uthri. There's Karl. There's Ri'Kalesh's pride -- there are some who will not be joining the invasion. If you find your way to him, I'm sure even Tzirret will help you. All the same, you and Rhazii will have to be there for one another, as you always have been." Janius swallowed some anxiety of his own. "I pray you will never have to lose any of us. But, if it comes to it, you [i]can[/i] do it. I know you can, son."