Lana held the first spell until the ice stopped cracking.
Six narrow pillars stood across the Academy casting yard. Each was no thicker than her wrist and nearly twice her height. Sunlight passed through them in cloudy blue bands. The exercise had begun with one pillar. The Elemental Mage instructor added another whenever Lana managed to keep the structure stable beneath a sustained current.
She had reached six three days ago.
The lightning gathered above her open hand without touching the ground. It wanted the shortest path. The pillars offered six.
Midnight watched from the top of the yard wall. Through Shared Senses, Lana could see the ice from above while still watching it with her own eyes. The two views no longer collided inside her head. She used the familiar's angle to judge the spacing, then released the spell.
White-blue light struck the first pillar.
