SOLVED. Fantasy (Warlocks and Witches) Possibly YA [s]

[Jade]

I think I read this in the late 90s or early 2000s. Do not remember if it was a stand-alone or series, but I am leaning towards series.

Non-Spoiler Information:
• It was high fantasy (it was set in a different world), and one of the locations I remember was called the Free Baronies, or the Free States.
• It had wizards and witches, but I THINK the wizards were called warlocks.
• The more they used magic, the more powerful they became at it.
• There was a scene where a powerful witch (or maybe they even called girls Warlocks and thats why I remember it?) was raising a giant column of water. I think the scene further describes the column hollowing out around the witch.


Spoiler(ish) Info:
• I remember that as the wizards and witches got more powerful they would be called/compelled to travel to an unknown destination beyond the Free Baronies.
• I think the book (or one of the books) ended with a powerful witch/warlock flying above the Free Baronies towards the unknown destination.


I know this isn't a lot to go off of, but it is really nagging me. I read it around the same time as I read Julia Gray's Guardian Cycle, but I KNOW I am not mixing the two up. This was a distinctly different story. It could have even been a short-story, I kind of remember a fairy tale prose to it (but again I could be wrong).

Any help would be appreciated.

[Pamela]

Could this be one of the Witch World novels by Andre Norton? Witch World

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Night of Madness by Lawrence Watt-Evans is the specific book where the female Warlock raises the column of water. And yes, a Warlock can be either female or male, because it's a specific type of magic, and not witchcraft. There are also witches--again, male and female, both called the same thing, because of the type of magic practiced. There are also sorcerers that again, refers to the type of magic used, and not to the sex of the user.

The series of books is called Etharshar and are very interesting. Lawrence Watt-Evans did a really good job with them.

[Jade]

Thank you Ann. A masterful save with little to work with.