"I don't know," she confessed, "I've never met one. But we learned about them at the Volstrum."

"The Volstrum? What's that?"

Natalia blushed, fearful she had revealed her secret. "Just a school I went to. We learned battle magic, and the subject of Elves always came up when we were talking about magic and warfare. Did you know that it was the Elves that first gave magic to Humans."

"How do you know that?" Athgar asked. "Surely, no one kept records that long ago."

"Well, that's the legend," she said.

"I think that Humans stole magic from the Elves," he suggested, "don't you think that's more likely?"

"I don't think you can steal magic," she said, "it's not a thing you can just take."

"I know, but it bears consideration. I mean, if Elves taught Humans magic, who taught the Elves? Someone had to discover it originally, didn't they?"

"I suppose so," she said, "I never really gave it much thought."

They lapsed into silence, watching the river bank as they floated by. It was peaceful here, and it lacked the overall stench of the city.

"Did you get a chance to try that bow I bought you?" she asked.

"No, not yet," he replied, "though I did string it, just to test the pull. I haven't had an opportunity to do any target practice yet."

"You should try it on the boat," Natalia suggested.

"I don't think Captain Howe would appreciate me shooting arrows at his mast."

"You could shoot at the trees as we sail past."

"And lose my arrows? No, thank you. I'll wait until we anchor for the night."

"We've been on this boat for five days," she scolded, "and you haven't found any time at all to practice."

"I can't help it," he said, "it's usually dark by the time we anchor. I can't very well practice in the dark, now can I? What about you?"

"What about me?" she asked.

"Shouldn't you practice casting your spells?"

In answer, she pointed at a distant tree, uttering the words to release her power. A familiar buzzing filled the air and then shards of ice flew from her hands, striking her target. The sound of the impact reverberated through the forest as bark flew everywhere, scattering birds in all directions.

The woods grew quiet for a moment, and then a creaking sound reached their ears as the tree trunk, no longer able to bear its burden, began to tilt. It crashed to the ground in a tremendous explosion of wood, sending pine needles everywhere.

"Impressive," said Athgar, "but don't you think you overdid it a little?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I hit the target, didn't I?"

"Yes," he replied, "but did you need to make it so powerful? You could have hit the target with half the power."

"If we had been in battle, that tree would be dead!" Natalia proclaimed.