MAC DID NOT LIE. It took ages for them to move water enough to remove a fae construct. Although this region had many nearby ponds and smaller bodies of water, being of a wetlands disposition, the Screen Master only suggested specific bodies of water, least their removal of water interfered with the local ecosystem. He did not understand how removing water from certain places would threaten an entire ecosystem, but he also had not ever lived here. Dormant or not, MAC clearly understood the ins and outs of the local land. Land wise or not, though, following his instructions took them clear across the bunker, to the other side of the pond, which although was nearer to them, had been declared 'off limits' under MAC's consul.

  Buckets upon buckets of water later, each round of which required all three of them to haul, carefully, two buckets upon their shoulders, and only after carefully and roughly navigating the outside and then the bunker's insides, did the fae construct weaken. Fade to the point where MAC chimed in to tell them, "Attention! By dumping water upon the fae construct, you have now weakened it to the point where water-based incantations will destroy the mechanisms of its existence. If none of you have access to such spells, an intense sum of magical flame might score a critical attack against it, destroying it out of intense and sudden temperature changes in its body's host."

  "I don't know how to do water-based incantations," he told his team. "Do either of you?"

  Jiehong shrugged. Of course, he would not know. They were practically raised together. He had overheard a good number of his tutor's lessons, so he knew what his brother had learned, basically... with a lot of difference given to reading and writing, of course. Overhearing lectures did not mean he had the practice behind the words.

  Whiskey also shook her head. She had a pleasant look to her as she said, "No -- but! I do have a booklet about basic water-magics! I picked it up while we were in Hope-Ridge. I thought I might try my hand at learning. How about we all try and practice as I read the instructions?"

  His brother did not look happy with the idea. Even so, he said, "Sure. But I am going to warn y'all right now, I am not good with any magic other than fire."

  "Enough," Whiskey said, dismissing Jie's words. "Typical guy thinking. 'Oh, I'm only good at fire and destruction! Look at fire go 'boom!' because I am such an angry man -- grrr!' I don't buy it. If we are going to spend our lives in this Order, we are all going to be able to do what everyone else can do. No one is going to crap out of specific labors or duties because they think water-magic is 'feminine' or some shet like that. No fecking--"

  Laughing, Jiehong had to yell to be heard. "Whiskey! I'm not saying that at all! Listen! I'm just saying how I, personally, do not have a talent for water-incantations! That's it!"

  As Jiehong talked, and then finished with what he had to say, Whiskey took to silence. Then smiled.

  "My apologies. I went off on a tangent. Hard to believe, maybe, but while I was with the rebels, there were a lot of people there, mostly men, if I am being honest, who held very backward ideas on what it meant to be a man or a woman in relation to spellcasting. Fresh from that situation, I thought you were another of just one such person. I'm sorry," Whiskey said.

  "Thank you for your apology. Let's get back to it, then?" Jiehong replied.

  "Yes. Let's. However, just to reiterate, this is something all of us will be doing. Come heck or high water..."

  With a deep sigh or groan Jiehong muttered his understanding.

  Breaking the surprisingly proactive conversation up, he said, "Whiskey. When you're ready. Lead us through the incantation know-how, please."

  Although Whiskey was a good teacher who had a lot of patience for her pupils, learning verbally from a booklet being read off to them by a confused and ignorant administrator, however much natural talent she had at trying to teach the material, the fact was, none of them had much luck in rendering a successful water-based spell.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Sorry. I'm done! I'm not saying I am done-done, like I am never trying this again. I'm just saying how for the time being, I am done," Jie said.

  "Fine!" Whiskey yelled, the tedium of the day starting to affect even her. "If you're giving up, though, at least fetch us a couple pails of water so we can continue training!"

  "Fine, fine," Jie said, wandering off with a pleasant look to his face.

  Seeing his brother leave, it was the perfect time to stretch. Yawning, cracking joints, stretching his muscles, it felt good after painful hours of practicing strange magics.

  "Read it back to me. One more time," he told Whiskey.

  She finished her protracted yawning and recited the booklet's instructions back to him: "From the beginning," she said. "And I quote: 'Water-based incantations require a connection to Life-Sustaining Sources. Water-based incantations, then, should be thought of less as 'water-based,' and more as 'liquid-based.' The liquid must be of a beneficial nature to Kinds of Life. Certain...'" Whiskey recited and then stopped. "This is part where the booklet goes over what you can and can't use as a liquid base and why. We already went over this. It was all that stuff about alcohol. I am going to skip it and go to the practice material. Okay, from the top: as I quote, 'the first step toward using water-based incantations is to kneel and make physical contact with the life-affirming liquid or to stand and allow it to pool in your hands.'"

  Seeing his chance to say something, he said, "I will stand this time. I spent too long kneeling. Ouch! My poor kneecaps."

  "I will do the opposite. I found standing did nothing for me, so I will kneel this time," she said, kneeling and then taking the booklet back in hand.

  Whiskey continued her reading from the booklet, "With Life Affirming Liquid in touch or hand, begin channeling magical energies, using your own limbs as the conduit.' See," Whiskey said, breaking from the booklet. "This is where I get lost. What does it mean? 'Use your limbs as a conduit'?"

  "I have no idea," he said. Thinking on what it could mean, he talked aloud, trying to empty his head and make sense of the booklet's information and the trouble they had in conjuring it. "I think, maybe, it is like this: I use fire spells a lot, right? The Expanse's golems are wood based, so obviously fire-magic is going to be my bread and butter. When I do this, I am conjuring the flames into my hand. Or I am instantly spraying the flames over the enemy, like when I used that 'sweeping fire,' attack in battle one time -- I don't think you were there to see, Whiskey -- but in both of those examples, my hands, specifically, my palms, are still the focal point. My hands are either where the fire generates or the point at which the fire spits toward the enemy. When I do this, I feel like my hands become a sort of shorthand. Like what I would affix to my legal papers with a drop of my blood instead of my signature. Like back in the Wizard Tower. Maybe what we need to do, then, is figure a way for our arms -- the 'limbs' demanded by the booklet -- into becoming that shorthand instead of our palms or hands?"

  She carefully considered his words. She asked several times to repeat himself. Which he did, gladly.

  "Worth a shot," Whiskey said. "I have no idea how this is going to happen, but I am willing to give it a go. Jeez. We're going to be here all night..."

  "Probably. But what else would we be doing tonight?" he replied, tired, but still determined.

  "I can't speak for you, but I would be sleeping..." she said, returning her attention one more time to the booklet.

  He continued and said, "What does it say next? After the limbs as conduits thing?"

  "Let me see," she said, reading ahead and flipping some pages.

  Before Whiskey finished reading, however, Jiehong returned with a couple more pails of water, each bucket sloshed heavily on his shoulders. "Where do you want this?" he asked.

  Irritated at being interrupted, he told his brother to "just leave them anywhere. Set them down."

  "Fine, cranky pants," Jie said with an edge, but still filled with brotherly understanding for how he sometimes got.

  With the buckets set down and the enemy in front of them and still attempting to leap toward them but not daring or unable to, he returned to his focus. He channeled magical energy. This time he focused differently than he had in the past. Ready for the next step, and feeling the energy within his arms, instead of his hands, he asked Whiskey, for "the next step, please. Read, I mean. Thank you."

  "Of course. Just one sec," Whiskey said, recouping her attentiveness after being interrupted by Jiehong. "One more time. As the book says, 'With a connection made to the Life Affirming Liquid, and magic channeled through the conduit, gently surge magic through the water with an effectuation toward healing in mind; new practitioners should keep in mind the following adage: 'healing' can mean different ideas to different people and context. This booklet cautions against so-called 'Empty Healing,' whatever that is," Whiskey said, breaking from the booklet to offer her own commentary.

  Ignoring the last bit about 'empty healing,' or whatever, he focused instead on what else the booklet had said. About how he should surge the magic toward the fae with healing measures in mind. This required him to reframe his perspective. In this context, healing meant offense. Healing also meant mending. Not 'healing of the flesh,' but rather, healing of the physical -- the busted and decayed materials which combined with circumstance to create a fae assemblage. He surged and held his bated breath.