He worked very slowly, not wanting to disturb the process and ruin a day’s worth of work. There wasn’t anything particularly hard about the process up until now, when the sigils required got very complex as they interworked with the rest of the anchors that he had put down in the preparation for this moment. If the spell succeeded, he would have full control over the fortress, and things would be safe for another year.

Every year he had to repeat this spell, the renewal of his control over the living stone that made up his tower. Preparation was very specific and time-consuming, but it was a small price to pay in order to ensure that his studies were not interrupted for the rest of the seasons. Plus, it was in the winter, and he didn’t have much else to do anyway.

The floating gem pulsed with a dim light, growing stronger and stronger with every passing minute. There wasn’t much left now but to finish with the force of will imbued into the preparations. He closed his eyes and felt the anchor points that he had placed: six points outside in even spaces about 30 yards out, five cornerstones of the tower itself, the four defense gems which hung magically in the window, an emerald, ruby, and sapphire surrounding the room that he was currently in, and of course the pulsating diamond that centered the entire spell. With all of these points in his will, he started pulling at the Source.

Power started coarsing through him and the anchor points, reaffirming the protection of his home until he would repeat the spell. The center gem erratically started rotating on one axis, and then two, and then all three in a flat spin, accelerating until it was just a translucent orb of white light. As he was connected, he could feel the power cascading down to the other anchors from the cornerstone.

Done with the spell, he checked the now orb-like floating energy ball in the middle of the room with his meter. Fifteen fourty five. He was pleased, that might even last until the summer after next.