Van Dijk watched and waited as he measured the rise of the spell like a physician timing spasms: steady, steady, then a small quickening. His hand twitched, ready to break the lattice with a single null gesture. For a heartbeat, the edges of his coat stirred in a wind that wasn't wind. He looked at Ludwig's shoulders, relaxed still, and stayed his movement by an inch.
"That should be about enough," Ludwig snuffed the spell with a simple thought and the pressure that was building up immediately eased.
The orb winked shut as if pinched between two fingers; the pull collapsed, the groan in the stone sank back into quiet. Dust fell in a slow rain. Ludwig let his raised hand lower to his knee. He did not look smug; he did not look surprised. He looked as though he had lifted a weight and set it down.
