|
When Ythri arrived the next brightening, Master Montago didn't seat her, but quickly led her out into one of the gardens surrounding the Conservatorio.
"Your last piece is offensive, and I do mean that in all senses of the word. I don't want you rearranging my furniture, so we're going to practice it outside. The piece is Scales of Dissonance. This one, you have to aim, rather like the Sonnet in Solo, but at an enemy as opposed to a specific object. Don't aim it at me. Point it at something you can't hurt, like that wall, maybe."
Ythri nodded and then began. Entering clara was harder outside, where there were more distractions, and it took her long enough that, if she had let herself, she would have been able to feel some of Master Montago's impatience. But she finally reached the proper state and then began.
The song was awful. It sounded like a herd of rats slowly being drawn through a wringer by their tails. Ythri tried to make it sound even worse than it would have otherwise, screeching through the cadences and practically screaming the finale. She shaped the energy and directed it at the wall.
The wall, she found when she finished, showed no damage. Master Montago, on the other hand, had his fingers in his ears, and only withdrew them slowly. "I think we may have found a piece that suits your talents, Miss Ythri," he said sarcastically. "It's been a long time since I heard that piece played so...effectively by an initiate. At any rate, that concludes your initiate-level training, Miss Ythri. Good luck to you, and I imagine I'll see you again."
"Thank you," Ythri said.
|