As the two walked further into the labyrinthine corridors of the metallic planet, no one bothered to stop them. It seemed that Phyn Yinshazael was avoiding the guards in a way no one else could; through sheer potentiality. Genevra often wondered if her master could see into the future, although he denied that he could. If he could not, as he claimed, then he must be able to see everything that could potentially happen. His "prophecies," as she took to calling them, were always right. If he said, "Looks like rain," under a clear blue sky, you carried an umbrella.
He would take erratic paths, double back, and sometimes just stand still. Genevra knew he was watching the guards, and that he was avoiding them by watching where they were going. Whether this extended into the future or not, she did not know, but it was working.
Eventually, he stopped this tactic and began walking in a more purposed, straighter manner. Genevra winced when she saw guards up ahead, and winced more when they cried, "Halt." Phyn did so, and waited until they came closer. "This area is restricted access," one of the guards said, "Turn around at once."
"You can try to stop us," Pyhn said, "but we will go through here." Genevra knew that this was not a threat, but a statement of fact. They would try to stop them, but she knew that they would fail.
They brandished their weapons. "We will shoot if you don't holy mother!"
While they were speaking, Phyn had selected a red mote. It fell beside him like a miniature meteor, a blazing red tail streaking behind it until it crashed into the ground. When it did, a flower of fire blossomed rapidly upward, and curled itself into a shape. The shape was that of a large lizard, sort of like a komodo dragon. It flickered out a tongue of red fire, bellowed a roar, and gave a snort of fire.
The guards backed away as Phyn placed a hand over the magical beast. "If you wish to run," he said calmly, "Now is the time to do so."
One of the guards took his offer and deserted his post, running down the corridor for the nearest exit. The others took their weapons and prepared to fire.
The fiery lizard heaved a blast of fire in their faces. It did not hurt them much, but their weapons were melted at the tips, rendering their weapons useless. Their hands were burned slightly.
Genevra had opened her spell book and selected a piece of paper from it. She waved her hand over the page, breaking the sealed spell contained in the parchment. A white glow appeared in her hand. This she pointed at three of the guards in turn, and each guard topped over, unable to move. The remaining two guards had seen enough. They turned to run, and as they did, the fiery lizard blew a puff of flames that lit their pants. They bolted down the hall a short ways, yelping in pain, before finally dropping to the ground and rolling to douse the flames.
"This is merely a sample," Phyn said calmly, "I possess much stronger powers at my disposal. Let this be a warning to your other men at arms."
Phyn continued to walk down the hall, the flaming beast walking at his side. Genevra reclasped her book and followed after him. "Where are we going, sir?" she asked, being wary of the fire beast.
"Not much farther, Genevra; he is coming along rapidly. We should meet him soon. By the way, you need not be afraid of it; the fire will not burn you. It has protection spells to keep the flames in that particular shape, and those prevent it from burning anything or anyone I wish to keep safe."
"A little showy," Genevra said jealously. Giving magical spells a shape was always tricky, since it took a lot of work to get it right, and took a lot of practice to keep the shape in place. It was not something any magician would do on the fly; they would just shoot fire. It was not worth it to them. But Phyn could manage it, since all of his spells were prepare ahead of time. Like her own spells in her scrolls, but she could never get the hang of giving magic a shape.
Phyn noted her comment. "It will come in time, Genevra. You will learn to do it too, as you progress in your skill."
"Was it really necessary?"
"Perhaps not, but it is the psychological effect that makes it worth the extra effort. If you mere cast fire at someone, or even if you create a pillar of fire that can throw fire on its own, it is not as impressive to the onlooker as 'summoning' a fire-breathing salamander."
She nodded. They walked on a little ways before something else happened.
