Chapter ONE - Weebly

Berson and Derne, and even Sephira Pryce, if only he
could sift through it all. But the day’s events had finally
caught up with him. He was tired and sore, and he felt
like his brain was moving slower than usual.
Still, his senses remained sharp. As he stepped onto
Cooper’s Alley he felt the back of his neck prickle. He
was being watched again. It wasn’t his conjuring ability
that told him this. At least not exactly. There were
protection spells a conjurer could use to ward himself,
even to make himself blend into his surroundings,
though these worked better in crowds than in empty
lanes. A speller with enough skill might even cast spells
that could alert him to the presence of certain enemies.
But Ethan hadn’t used any such conjurings. He
merely sensed the presence of something, or more
precisely, someone. He couldn’t always perceive
conjuring ability in others, but when he did, the feeling
was unmistakable, as though an ethereal tether bound
him to that person, charging the air between them as
during an electrical storm. He felt that way now. And a
moment later, he also sensed a conjuring. The feeling
was vague; either the spell was weak or the conjurer