The iron gate, p.11
The Iron Gate, page 11
part #2 of The Iron Soul Series
Setting the girl down in front of the basin, Cailean nodded to the men who pulled the carcass away. Arto turned slightly to look at Merlin and Morgana who were both standing perfectly still with their eyes locked on the basin. Swallowing, Arto looked back towards the basin just as Cailean pushed the young girl’s arm down into the blood. There was a moment of silence other than the sniffing of the little girl and Arto began to relax.
“Hurts,” Sadb suddenly shouted, trying to pull her arm away from Cailean and the blood. “Hurts!” the girl screamed, tears pouring out of her eyes as hissing sounds filled the air only to be drowned out by pained screams and a horrified wail.
“This is a Changeling!” Cailean shouted, his voice carrying over the noise. “The Sídhe have tried to trick us!”
Shouting erupted all around them as the villagers all began yelling different things. A hand reached out and gripped Arto’s shoulder, pulling him back sharply. Stumbling back, he looked over his shoulder to see Merlin trying to guide him away. His mentor was also gripping Morgana’s arm and trying to move her. Arto’s eyes widened, and he frowned at the look of horror and shock on his sister’s face. A sob from Gwenyvar made Arto twist against Merlin’s grip to look back towards the basin.
Roshen was collapsed on the ground sobbing and ignoring Sadb or rather the Changeling as the child reached for her. Before Cailean a crowd was clearing the way, exposing an outdoor fire pit in a nearby yard. Several men rushed forward, piling on more wood as another used the bellows to fan the flames. Arto was suddenly grabbed by Morgana and forcefully turned along with Gwenyvar. Screams erupted behind them followed by the smell of burning fabric and hair.
“This way,” Morgana ordered, tugging him and Gwenyvar.
Despite his sister’s efforts, Arto turned his head and caught a glimpse of flames rising to surround a small body in the fire. Men with long sticks held the form down in the flames and prevented escape. He couldn’t move, his eyes locked on the twisting form as it screamed and coughed in the thick blackening smoke.
Gwenyvar choked back a sob, turning quickly away from the flames and into Arto. Pulled out of his shock by the sudden jarring, Arto looked down at the top of Gwenyvar’s head and brought his arms up around her. He swallowed and closed his eyes, trying to banish the image of the rushing flames from his mind, but the sounds of screaming and the smell were not easy to dismiss. A tug on his arm forced him to move awkwardly with Gwenyvar still clinging to him. Merlin had a tight grip on his upper arm and turned them, so they were moving down the path towards the village gate.
No one spoke, Gwenyvar shaking slightly against Arto with her face still pressed into his shoulder even as she walked along beside him. Arto’s pace was quick, eager to move away from the horrible event, but shaky from shock. Next to him, Morgana and Merlin were walking just as fast with Merlin’s eyes moving between him and Morgana, checking them both over. They didn’t stop their rapid pace until they were standing beyond the gates of the village. Morgana stopped first and took in a slow breath, closing her eyes and tilting her face up towards the sun.
“Arto,” Merlin called gently, reaching towards him.
“I’m alright,” Arto answered quickly, finally loosening his grip on Gwenyvar. “It’s okay,” he told the girl softly. “It’s over.”
“That was horrible,” Gwenyvar whispered, her voice muffled against Arto’s shoulder. “They had a fire ready when they tested me.”
His stomach turned, and Arto feared that he’d be physically ill. While Morgana and Merlin wouldn’t judge him, he didn’t want to upset Gwenyvar further. He closed his eyes, raising his face towards the sun like Morgana had and breathed deeply. After taking several slow breaths, Arto felt in control enough to look towards his sister.
“Was that the test they used on you?” Arto asked softly without releasing Gwenyvar or looking at Morgana.
“It was,” Morgana confirmed in a tight voice. “Mother preferred you not see it. Besides, children aren’t supposed to be around for the test.”
“I remember hearing that there had been a test, but…” Arto paused and turned to look at his sister. “You never told me about that.”
“You didn’t need to know. The priest came, he tested me and left satisfied,” Morgana answered shortly, but she didn’t hide the slight shiver that went through her body.
“Enough of this talk,” Merlin ordered from ahead of them with a deep sigh. “It serves no purpose and will bring only sorrow.” He paused and looked back at Gwenyvar, leaning on his staff and looking very tired. “Gwenyvar, are you well enough to lead us to where you escaped?”
Gwenyvar who had finally stopped shivering, tensed at the question and inhaled sharply. She released Arto, stepping away from him and looked back towards her village. In the distance, the sobbing of Roshen could still be heard. Swallowing, Gwenyvar nodded quickly and gestured towards a distant hill even as she stepped close to Arto once again.
“That way, if we leave now we can reach it before nightfall.”
10
Instructing Magic
Chewing nervously on the black plastic cap of his pen, Bran couldn’t look away from the display of magic taking place in the classroom before him. Professor Yates and Professor Cornwall had pushed all the desks, even the professor’s desk, back against the walls in order to create a large open space. The only remaining desk was the one he was sitting in. Nicki stood shifting nervously on her feet next to him. He shared in her nervousness and didn’t notice as a spurt of black ink spilled onto his hand.
Alex stood in the center of the room; her gray eyes focused on the fireball that Aiden was casually tossing between his hands. Bran studied both their faces with worry, biting down harder on the pen cap. Alex’s fingers were twitching, probably resisting her habit of talking with her hands and her feet were moving softly against the carpet as she shifted her stance uncertainly. Aiden was doing his best to seem relaxed, but a small crease between his eyes betrayed his worry. Bran couldn’t blame him, even with Merlin and Morgana watching and knowing that it was necessary for Alex to learn to control her powers, he wouldn’t feel right about throwing a fireball at an ally and friend.
“I’m ready.” Alex raised her chin slightly and trying to look confident, but her voice wavered. Not much, but just enough that Bran could detect it.
Next to him, Nicki was biting at her left thumbnail while her right hand was poised at her side where a bucket of water waited in case of trouble. “This is a bad idea,” Nicki muttered softly around her thumb. “Very bad.”
“It’ll be alright,” Bran promised gently. He pulled the pen away from his mouth and setting it aside before he choked on it. Bran was torn between giving her a reassuring look and keeping his eyes on Aiden and Alex.
The fireball flared in Aiden’s hand as he shifted it uncertainly, eyeing Alex cautiously. Tiny flames escaped from the orb like small solar flares, casting a bright orange glow around Aiden. Neither Aiden or Alex moved or spoke; there was only the soft sound of the fireball churning and crackling.
Morgana lost her patience from her vantage point on the other side of the room. Her voice echoed through the room. “Honestly, just give it a try,” she scolded them.
Bran saw Aiden bite his lip before he launched the fireball towards Alex. Sudden heat filled the room as the fire left Aiden’s careful control and raced towards Alex. Throwing her hands up, Alex leaned back as if fighting an instinct to run. The mere second of movement slowed down and Bran’s breath caught painfully in his throat.
The fireball stopped inches from Alex, and the smell of singed hair wafted in the room. With trembling hands, Alex reached towards the still fireball and exhaled a shaky breath. The fireball sputtered in the air, still trying to finish the movement, but Alex’s magic kept it in place. A small shower of metallic gray sparks burst from her hand and swirled around the fireball. Leaning forward, Bran finally released a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding.
Magic began to enclose the fireball, the tiny sparks meeting the small flares in flashes of light. Alex’s hands were shaking, and Bran’s eyes flew to her face. Blood was trickling from her lip where she was biting it. A sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead, and her body was shaking. A gray color began to take over the side of the fireball closest to Alex, canceling out the fierce orange and red coloration of the fire. Alex’s hands were shaking worse now even as the gray sparks of magic began to seep further over the fireball, calming the flames and turning them a metallic color. Then the fireball began to vibrate wildly, flares of fire lashing out in the remaining red and orange half of the orb. In the corner of his eye, Bran saw Aiden take a few quick steps forward and reach towards the fireball.
“Careful,” Merlin shouted, breaking the silence in the room.
Gasping, Alex moved her hands as the red half of the fireball flared, and another wave of heat surged through the room. Aiden moved his hand sharply, and the fireball spun wildly away from them both as they lost control. Bran shoved his desk back with a grunt, his legs protesting. The fireball hit the floor just in front of him and Nicki, flashing brightly and sending fiery sparks scattering over the floor. Bran inhaled the scent of singling fabric and smoke, pushing the desk further back with his legs and cane.
“Oh god!” Nicki shouted nearby quickly followed by a loud splash of water and a sharp hiss.
It took a moment for the dark smoke to clear enough for Bran to see without his eyes burning. He coughed twice to clear the smoke and shifted to ease the pressure on his legs. His eyes dropped to the patch of floor that the fireball had hit. There was a small indent in the hard concrete with black burn marks spread around it like a star.
“Ah…” Alex trailed off and twisted her hands together.
Aiden didn’t look much better, gritting his teeth together and eyeing the burn spot with worry. Bran’s nose curled up against the scent of the singed fabric. Nicki made a small sound of displeasure next to him while Alex looked over at the singed area of carpet with a guilty expression. Turning back to Morgana and Merlin, Alex stepped forward.
“I’m sorry about that.” Alex’s eyes darted between the two older mages nervously. “I tried to stop the fireball, but I just couldn’t-”
“It’s alright,” Merlin assured Alex. Smiling, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “We wouldn’t have done this inside if we couldn’t deal with the potential consequences.”
Bran tilted his head in consideration of the statement as Merlin stepped away from Alex and moved over towards the smoldering patch of carpet. Morgana moved over by Alex and gave her a surprisingly soft smile and nodded to her. Tension melted out of Alex’s shoulders, and she turned to watch what Merlin was doing with a relieved smile on her face. Bran heard Nicki sigh in relief.
“You sure you’re okay?” Aiden asked softly, but his voice carried through the room as he stepped over by Alex.
“I’m fine,” Alex promised him with a warm smile.
“It was pretty crazy to see you taking over my fireball,” Aiden offered with a growing grin. “I knew that was the goal, but actually seeing it-”
“Shush,” Morgana cut in, looking at the two of them in the corner of her eye with a small smile. “You’ll want to see this.”
At her words, Bran quickly looked back to Merlin, leaning forward. The older mage was looking down at the burn spot with an amused expression. He glanced around and chuckled as he noticed the attention that was fixed on him. “I think that you will all enjoy seeing this,” he announced before holding his right hand in front of him.
Sparks of green magic danced around Merlin’s hand and shifted into flowing streams of green light. He smiled as he pointed his finger at the burn spot, completely ignoring the lingering bad smell, and the sparks jumped from his hand to the floor. Bran leaned as far forward as he could in the desk and bumped Nicki softly his cane when she nearly stepped in front of him. The sparks settled into the ruined carpet and vanished from their sight, their glow fading away. Blinking, Bran was about to look back at Merlin when the carpet suddenly began to shift. Fibers stretched out from the burned remains and knitted around each other over the concrete which was suddenly clean. Carpet pad rolled out from under the frayed carpet edges, filling the space over the concrete just before the carpet finished knitting back together.
“It’s a bit too clean.” Merlin tapped the now repaired spot with his foot. “Maybe we should spill something on it, lest the janitor wonder.”
“It will be fine,” Morgana told him with a small smile as she surveyed their expressions.
Alex spoke up first, turning to Morgana and asking, “Can we do that?”
“Not quite yet,” Morgana said. “But very soon.”
“All of you are still learning to control your current manifestation of magic,” Merlin explained as he moved away from the bright blue patch of carpet.
Merlin beckoned the main desk that had been pushed towards the wall, and it slid out over the carpet in one smooth movement that Bran couldn’t help but admire. He sat down on the edge of the desk so he could face all of them and beamed. “The form your magic takes is what is easiest for you at this state; you can visualize how it works and understand it.” He glanced towards Alex and added, “At least to an extent.”
“What Merlin just demonstrated is using magic to enforce your will on reality,” Morgana explained patiently. “Changing things beyond just the manipulation of a form of energy.” She waved her hands, and the stacked desks began to float through the air around them to return to their previous positions throughout the classroom. “This is something that all mages can do once they have control of their internal flow of magic. Using too much magic for a task causes things to go wrong while not using enough can leave magic only half done and cause damage to the thing you tried to effect.”
Nicki stepped forward, nearly blocking Bran’s view once again, but he decided against tapping her with his cane. “So are these like spells?” Nicki asked with excitement creeping into her voice.
“No.” Morgana looked disgusted. “We don’t need spells, Nicole. We are mages. We instruct magic in what we want done, and it is done.”
“Spells are used by those tapping into the ebb and flow of magic,” Merlin added more gently. “Throughout history, there have been some humans who have learned through focus and practice to access magic, but as they are not mages. They need rituals to command the magic.”
“Wait!” Bran called out, now reaching out his cane to gently push Nicki to the side. “I thought mages were the only magic users on Earth.”
Merlin chuckled and opened his mouth, but Morgana spoke first. “We are the natural magic users,” she told them, glancing over all four of them. “The others are… plugging into magic in a sense. For them it is not natural, they are not chosen or born to be a mage.”
“Wizards in lore are an example,” Merlin explained. “There have been very few real ones, but on occasion, they do appear. Different mystic traditions have had different levels of success, but they do not have the same access to magic as us.”
“Nor do they carry the responsibilities that come with our connection to the Earth’s magic,” Morgana added seriously.
“Indeed,” Merlin agreed with a nod. “If you encounter someone claiming such a thing be cautious, there have been cases of a human bargaining with invaders for access to their world’s magic, and it has never ended well.”
Bran wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear that story, Merlin’s eyes were dark, and Morgana’s lips were twisted in a harsh frown. In the corner of his eyes he saw Alex and Aiden exchange a quick look and Nicki shifted her feet uncomfortably.
“Enough of this gloom,” Merlin said a moment later, clapping his hands together. “Morgana and I have decided that all of you are making excellent progress. We’re going to move onto the next step of your magical education,” Merlin announced with a glowing smile as he shifted his eyes over each of them one at a time.
“The Sídhe will be returning soon, and you are going to help us prepare to seal this area against them,” Morgana continued with a small smile of her own. “The best day to seal the tunnel once we locate it will be on the summer solstice, June 21st, but there is a great deal of preparation that is needed.”
“That is where you will come in,” Merlin added, picking up the conversation smoothly. “Starting this Saturday, I’ll be teaching you to work iron.”
“And I’ll be working with each of you in refining your abilities to visualize your magic so you can start using your magic for a wider range of things beyond your current abilities.” Morgana turned her eyes towards Alex and added, “And hopefully it will help you learn more control when taking over the magic of another.”
Alex blushed brightly, folding her arms over her chest and nodding awkwardly. Her eyes moved to the spot of the carpet her blush deepened, and Bran gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile when she looked at him.
