Battle Magic

NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Tamora Pierce returns to the magical world of Winding Circle. On their way to the first Circle temple in Gyongxi, mages Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy pay a visit to the emperor's summer palace. Although treated like royalty when they first arrive, the mages soon discover that the emperor plans to invade Gyongxi, posing a fatal threat to the home temple of the Living Circle religion. Accompanied by one of the emperor's prize captives, the three mages rush to Gyongxi to warn its citizens of the impending attack. With the imperials hot on their trail, Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy must quickly help the country prepare for battle. But even with the help of new allies, will their combined forces be enough to fight the imperial army and win the war?

Tamora Pierce is the critically acclaimed author of more than twenty novels, including the Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens quartets, THE WILL OF THE EMPRESS, MELTING STONES, and, most recently, the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Beka Cooper trilogy. She lives in New York State with her husband, Tim, and her seven cats and two birds. Visit her online at www.tamorapierce.com.

From Battle Magic
Suddenly lines and circles moved and rose
Briar stood on a hillside
He looked down to find himself in armor, wearing the bead necklace, holding a bead in his hand
He looked out over the stony ridge before him, seeing the thinnest trail of smoke rise from behind it
"Tell the men ready." The order seemed to come from his own throat
"Ready!" cried a soldier at his side
Together the men at his command set their weapons: bundles of tubes shaped like arrows bound together at the end
Long fuses trailed from the end of each tube and were twined together to form one big fuse
With his finger Briar traced the image of one line until it met a dot and an enclosing circle on the wooden bead
He put forth a little magic, raising the picture of all three into the air above his necklace
Steering the line with his finger, he shifted it until it pointed straight at that thin column of smoke
He nodded at the man beside him
That man shouted, "Burn!"
The soldiers touched flame to the single long fuse on their weapons
It burned swiftly through the twist
The moment each of the smaller fuses fell free, on fire, Briar said, "Loose."
The man next to him shouted, "Loose!"
The soldiers on the catapult let their strange weapons fly
They soared high into the air, trailing smoke and the mingled scents of sulfur and boom dust
The ground shook
Earth, trees, and rock spouted high into the air where the weapons must have struck
Trying to hide his trembling, Briar wound the length of beads around his hand
If soldiers saw these rockets coming through the air and ran to get out of the way, the general could simply redirect them with his finger and the flat willow target beads
What other monstrosities for war did the emperor have up his very wide sleeves?
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