CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Daskalos stepped back, forcing his eyes to remain open as he murmured the last syllables of his latest binding. There were so many elements in a working like this, so many pieces that had to fit together perfectly. Setting them all in place had left him exhausted.
He had put almost everything he had into this working. He had spent power that he had hoarded for lifetimes, and used up substances that he might travel half the world and not find again. Just the energies involved in the rounds of spell casting could have torn apart Daskalos and his home together, leaving nothing but a crater to show for all his efforts.
There were other risks, too. Daskalos had long since built up protections against some of the predators that sought to feed on the powerful. There had bee
