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and perform one of the six kinds of magic.”
    “What kind of talisman?” Gabriel asked. He knew that a talisman was any kind of object that held personal or ritual significance. He noticed now that Teresa was wearing an ornately carved golden bracelet, just as Ling wore a yin-yang symbol at her neck, Sema a small teardrop glass pendant on a necklace, and Ohin had his seashells.
    “A talisman can be anything,” Ohin explained. “But it must be something that has the proper imprints.”
    “Imprints?” Gabriel asked.
    “Every action leaves an imprint on the fundamental fabric of the universe,” Ling explained. “These imprints stay with people or places or things.”
    “Imprints can be either positive, or negative, or neutral,” Teresa added. “The greater the imprints, the more powerful the object or place becomes.”
    “An artifact is any object with strong imprints,” Ohin said. “Imagine a sword that was used to kill hundreds of people. It would have strong negative imprints.”
    “Just as an object that was worn by someone who healed people would have strong positive imprints,” Ling said.
    “Mages have to use artifacts with strong imprints to perform magic,” Gabriel said, making a connection he wasn’t entirely sure of.
    “Yes,” Sema said. “Objects with negative imprints are called ‘tainted’ artifacts, while objects with positive imprints are called ‘imbued’ artifacts. A talisman is an artifact that has a special connection and meaning for a mage, lending it more power.”
    “But mages can only use either positive or negative imprints to perform magic,” Gabriel said, seeing what that implied. “And that is why we’re at war.”
    “You are correct,” Ohin said. “A Grace Mage can only make use of positive imprints while a Malignancy Mage can only make use of negative imprints.”
    “We’re the Grace Mages, in case you were wondering,” Teresa said.
    “Who are the Malignancy Mages?” Gabriel asked, unsure if he wanted to know.
    “You’ll run into them soon enough,” Sema said. “Hopefully not before you are ready.”
    “He’ll be ready,” Ohin said, suddenly distracted as he turned to watch several people running across the courtyard. “He will be my apprentice, after all.” Ohin squinted and looked at Sema, whose eyes had suddenly become unfocused as she looked upward. She seemed as though she were listening to some voice that no one else could hear. Gabriel saw more people running through the castle grounds now.
    “We must go,” Sema said, her eyes focusing on Ohin. “The Hiroshima outpost.”
    “Why don’t the two of you show Gabriel around the castle?” Ohin suggested, his face grave. “It seems we have some business to attend to.”
    “It would be our pleasure,” Ling said with a nod toward Gabriel. Sema took Ohin’s arm and the two of them suddenly winked out of existence.
    Teresa reached over and closed Gabriel’s once again gaping mouth. “Probably jumped to the council chambers,” she said by way of explanation. “You’ll get used to it. You’ll be able to do it yourself soon.”
    As Gabriel recovered from the shock of seeing Ohin and Sema disappear, the reason for their departure and the sudden activity of the castle coalesced in his mind. “There’s been an attack?” he asked.
    “You’ll get used to that, too,” Teresa said. “Happens all the time.”
    “It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Ling said, placing her hand on Gabriel’s shoulder for reassurance. “Why don’t we give you the grand tour?”
    “Great idea,” Teresa said. “I can show you all the places to hide when they need extra help in the kitchen.”
    “I’m sure you know all of them,” Ling said with frown as she and Teresa led Gabriel across the Upper Ward courtyard.
    Gabriel spent the rest of the afternoon getting a tour of the castle from Ling and Teresa. Construction on the castle had begun in the year 1350 CE, but it saw its largest expansion starting