"And where would I get that from?" asked Oksana. "You know they guard it well."

"Simple," she responded, "we give her ours."

"But we need ours," said Svetlana, "unless you are suggesting we go un-dosed?"

"No, it's simple," continued Katrin, "every time we sit to eat at lunch and dinner, they give us those little vials to drink. I'm not suggesting we don't drink them, just that we leave a little in the vials. After we eat, we can combine the leftovers to give us a full dosage."

"And how do we get Natalia to drink it?" asked Galina.

"We don't, we simply put it in her breakfast. It should be easy enough to convince a servant to allow it. After all, they're not going to argue with a Stormwind, are they?"

Svetlana clapped her hands in glee. "I like it. When shall we make our move?"

"Not till next week," suggested Katrin, "we have to wait until we're back in a casting room, and it has to be done where there are witnesses."

"Yes," agreed Svetlana, "that will make her humiliation complete."

"Serves her right for being born a peasant," added Oksana.

The mistress waited until all the students had arrived before speaking. "Greetings," she said, "I'm Mistress Nina, and I'll be teaching you the basics of battle casting. This room we are in is called the casting room, though some of you may have heard it referred to as the range. It is the longest room in the Volstrum, apart from the great hall, that is. In here, you will learn how to use your magic against opponents that are some distance away. Today, I will show you how to cast the most basic of battle magic spells, the spell of mist."

There were groans all around.

"I want to learn proper battle magic," whined Oksana.

"You cannot learn battle magic..."

"Till we master the basics," everyone intoned.

"Of what good is mist?" demanded Katrin. "Are we going to chill everyone into surrendering?"

"Mist," continued the mistress, "can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used to aid in an escape, for example."

"Stormwinds don't run," said Katrin, "surely you know that."

"Stormwinds might be powerful," said Mistress Nina, "but a mage is only part of an army. If the soldiers are defeated, you may find yourself having to withdraw. What else can mist be used for?"

She looked around the room, but all the students, save for one, had their eyes cast downward. "Natalia?"

"It can be used to obscure sight, for example, to block bowmen from loosing their arrows."

"Correct," said the mistress, smiling. "Can anyone think of anything else?"

"Confusing an enemy?" offered Oksana.

"Yes, a carefully placed mist could lead the enemy into an ambush or the wrong path."

"Wouldn't an ice shard be more effective?" asked Svetlana.