And Roxane, in her witching room, set her Nisibisi Globe of Power spinning in
the air before her so that the jewels inset into its High Peaks’ clay gathered
up the light from the candles that circled her and sent it shimmering into the
bowl of water on the stand below.
Through air and water she drew the secret sigils; inhaled deeply the incense
that smouldered in the corners of the room and breathed the charged air into the
water until it steamed. Then she began to whisper in a language that no one in
Sanctuary except Niko or Randal would have recognized.
The light grew aquaeous and dim; the voice of the sorceress deepened. The Globe
that spun before her focused her awareness, heightened and transformed it and
channeled it into that plane of the Otherworld where the Water Demons had their
home. By their secret names she compelled them, and the water in her silver
basin misted away.
But over the plains north of Sanctuary great cumulus clouds began to move, at
first reluctantly, and then more swiftly, as if they sensed the waiting sea. And
when they met the warmer air of the seacoast they released their heavy loads of
rain, and the voice of the White Foal River began to change.
“Look-there are laws that govern magic,” repeated Randal. “If you understand
them you have control. Visualize! You know how to do that, surely-when you plan
a picture don’t you see it in your mind before you even take the brush in your
hand? Use symbols, whatever you need to focus your consciousness on the part of
the Otherworld you’re working with, and then do your magic!”