Light fountain

He took the memory energies, the mana the woman spoke of, and concentrated them into little seeds, each seed no larger than his thumbnail. He kept the memories alive as he moved around the perimeter of the great tent, dropping a seed to the ground, then stepping on it, then moving on. No one seemed to notice him as he did so.

The memories grew hot in his mind and started to burn, to sear the edges of his imagination like hot coals dropped onto velvet. He had never held the memories, called upon their power without using them, for this long before. As the back of his mind grew warmer, he wondered how badly he could hurt himself casting spells.

He finished his orbit of the command tent and wandered toward the wagon. His mind was aflame now, and he thought he could smell ammonia in the back of his nose. A husky shape, another guard, loomed up out of the darkness.-

“You’re out of quarters,” said the soldier. “Report at once to—"

There were some shouts far away, coming from the prisoner tents. The soldier looked toward the shouts, and his hand drifted to his sword.

That was when Jodah released the power of the mana seeds he had planted.

Light erupted in glowing fountains around the command tent and the wagon, sparking upward like hot, white fireworks set in the ground. The soldier who had accosted Jodah had been directly above one and now clawed at his face as small embers of light glowed brightly in his beard. The command tent was already smoldering from the heat, and there were shouts from within. A few feet away the first tongues of flame licked the underbelly of the wagon.

***

The Gathering Dark, Chapter 5