Disorientating

Jodah reached automatically into his mind and pulled out a spell, one that radiated the deep color of sapphires at the base of his brain. It pulsed, and he knew it would disorient and incapacitate his target without damaging the books in the vault. With the spell came a pang of unknown regret and the vision of the dark-haired woman, the one he watched die in an early dream.

Jodah let loose the spell, but he hesitated too long, and the scribe was fast, motioning with his hands as he cast his own spell. Jodah felt the mystic energies of his enchantment shoot from him and splatter against something hot and red halfway toward its intended target.

***

The Eternal Ice, Chapter 4