“This is strong magic, Myriam,” Kai said once he laid his eyes on the magical storm raging in front of us.

“It’s also the only thing separating us from the monastery,” I added, trying to remind him, as well as myself, how close we now were to our goal.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “So what’s the plan?”

“These colorful whips are made of magic of opposing sources,” I replied. “I’ll try to push them upward long enough for us to run through.”

“Do you think our protective barriers won’t be able to withstand the force of the hits?” Kai asked, taking a better look at the long corridor stretching between the two mountain sides.

“I don’t think anything can hold such powers back,” I responded, pretty sure we would need active magic to cross the path in front of us. “I am going to be pushing a triangular field forward, point first, as we move behind it.”

“Something like an upside-down shovel?” Kai asked.

“Exactly,” I agreed. “We’ll be running behind the shovel but not too far back. Just enough to fit underneath and not be injured by the closing mouth of magic behind it.”

“Are you going to try it first?” Kai asked.

“Of course I will!” I reassured him, and took my position between him and the raging magical storm in front of me.

The spell I needed to cast was essentially a triangular active mana field which would move in a position relative to the path. Active fields needed to be maintained by the caster, with them keeping a mental connection to the spell for as long as the field needed to be up. Thus, if the caster lost concentration, the spell would cease. On the other hand, active fields were much more powerful than those cast once and left unattended.

Name : Active Mana Barrier

School of Magic : Abjuration

Verbal Components : 64 words

Somatic Components : None

Material Component : None

HP Consumed : 0

MP Consumed : 0

Divine Mana Consumed : 800/s

Range : 700 inches

Casting Time : Instant

Precondition : None.

Description : Create a customized barrier around the caster than can defend against both physical and magical attacks. The barrier can be moved, stretched or shrank according to the caster’s commands. The barrier requires the caster’s constant concentration to remain active.

I made a mental note of the route my field would need to follow, at least up to the point where the path was turning beyond our line of sight.

I started casting the 64-word spell and a glistening semi-transparent golden pyramid started forming in front of me. Once the initial incantation was over, I made sure I kept up a good enough tempo, uttering the continuation word every couple of seconds.

Confident of my pyramid’s stability, I started to mentally push it down the path in front of us. As soon as its front edge reached the part covered with the magical whips, I felt resistance when I tried to push it further. However, the opposing force was not strong enough to stop it, neither was the pressure high enough for the field to collapse. So I continued pushing until it was completely immersed in the furious storm.

The triangular barrier moved through the path with no difficulties, despite being pummeled on all sides, even from behind. As it moved deeper through the gorge, it became increasingly more difficult to recognize it among the clusters of magic colliding with each other. When it reached the point where it would need to make a turn as we were losing sight of the path, I felt the spell abruptly end.

“It disappeared Myriam,” Kai said, as he turned to face me. “Did you make it stop?”

“I didn’t,” I confessed, not sure of the reason this had happened. “Did you see it turn at the end of the corridor?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “It may have just turned around the corner but it might also have collapsed.”

“This isn’t good enough,” I said, but I was determined to try again. “We need to be sure the field will hold while we are crossing.”

“Okay. I’ll move closer to the path,” Kai said, and paced toward the raging magic, “so I can get a better view.”

“Be careful not to—” I started saying, but then I noticed the impossible happen.

As Kai walked toward the magical storm, a wave of golden stripes from further down the path moved back toward its beginning and pushed all the other colors of magic to the mountainsides. For whatever reason, the mana battling throughout the crevice concentrated on creating an opening in front of him.

“Come on!” he shouted at me, waving his hands in unison. “I think I’m allowed passage.”

“If something goes wrong, we jump in the chest!” I said, as I ran to join him and took his hand in mine. “Ready?”

“Let’s go.” He led the way in a steady but fast pace.

The golden whips did indeed seem to be creating an opening for us as we walked amid the magical storm. I was ready to activate all of the protective barriers I had in my possession should the golden stripes of mana abandon us, but it didn’t seem that they would. Crossing between the two giant mountainsides felt as easy as running through a field on a cool summer night. It was eerily easy.

No more than ten minutes of light running later, the path became a little broader and the storm was once again as mundane as any snowstorm could ever be. The colorful magical whips still clashed with each other some five steps behind us while thick snow covered the road ahead of us.

“We did it!” Kai said, as he looked back the way we came.

“You did it.” I replied, with a smile on my face. “Do you know why the mana protected us?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” he answered, and shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t control it, but I felt safe. I was sure it wouldn’t fail us.”

“I wish we had time to examine this further,” I said, eyeing the puffy snow piling in front of us, “but we should be really close to the monastery.”

“Yes! Let’s go, Myriam!” he exclaimed, and we started walking.