A time and place for mag.., p.16
A Time and Place for Magic, page 16
Looking up, he caught sight of the giant spiders throwing themselves at the Wall and he froze, terrified by the sight. He watched the teenage army send streams of energy through the Wall knocking them back. It was then he noticed Miranda, who appeared to float within the Wall encompassed within a blue haze. Not realizing who she was, he stood in awe of her. Jake could barely contain his shock at the scope of the coordinated defense and marveled at it. In all his years of working with these kids he had not seen this kind of control and raw power. His intuition told him it was linked to the woman floating in the air and a feeling of envy began to grow within him.
His fear turned to wonder at what he was witnessing. He began to formulate possibilities, ways in which he might replicate what Miranda had accomplished. Dollar signs appeared in his mind, and greed, the only friend he truly trusted, resurfaced inside him. He started to strategize what he could do with a group like this, if only he could reproduce her success.
Miranda, sensing Jake’s thoughts, grew irritated with his distraction. Without thinking, she erased his memory of the last few days like throwing water on chalk. She sent him running for his life filling his mind with visions of rabid wolves nipping at his heels. His portly form ran as fast as it could with all the energy he could muster, stumbling briefly before he was out of her sight. Miranda knew his terror would drive him far away before he finally collapsed from exhaustion.
Miranda regretted not having done more. Her blood pumped with seething rage, and she told herself if she survived, she would track him down. She would make sure that he never again took advantage of the Unwanted by finding a way to close his facilities and see that he lost his government contracts.
Miranda’s thoughts were interrupted again but this time from within. She could feel that familiar force bubbling up to the surface once more. After refocusing her energies on the battle, she sensed the change she had suppressed was coming at last. There wasn’t anything she could do to stop it, but she couldn’t lose her focus on the fight either.
She made the only decision she could. She spread her powers through the connection to the other gatekeepers pleading with them for their help. She connected to the triplets, to Gordon, Rachel, Riley and most importantly to Jade. They would all be able to handle the sudden growth of her power and help with her transition. She feared though how it might affect them but with little other choice.
For the next hour, her mind was exalted with extraordinary power. As was her plan, she shared the blossoming magic with the others. She felt Rachel grow powerful, a storm forming around her, and lightning spread out from her. Then there was Riley, who relayed the power, using it in the midst of her own battle with the Dark Lord. The sisters wielded the energy to reinforce the lives around them, growing the threads thick and tough so that they could withstand the battle. During it all, Miranda continued to guide her forces and maintain the integrity of the Wall.
The fighting was suddenly interrupted by a terrible mental chill, that fell on them all. It was the Dark Lord’s mind calling to his children. Before she even understood what was happening, she sensed their powers diminishing, as confusion grew amongst her little army. Miranda pushed back with her mind, trying to wrest control of their thoughts from the Dark Lord. Miranda threw all her energy at him, desperate to save the children. Even as Miranda struggled and fought him, she felt the Dark Lord’s reach growing; he was too powerful. She looked to Roman and Lily for help, but they were already stretched to their limit, attempting to recreate the shield penetrated by the Dark Lord.
Then Miranda began losing her connection to her army, one by one. She looked on in horror as they turned against her, using their powers on her and the wall. She was besieged on both sides and there was nothing she could do. Miranda’s mind was a blaze of new powers and insights but even so, she was not enough to fight them all. Claudia, Atrea and Lacy hunkered down, holding on to each other, doing what little they could to protect themselves from the mindless hoard of teenagers pushing against the Wall.
Chapter 21 – Death’s Door
In the months since his son had come back to him, Gordon had learned a great deal about him. He watched as Spider used sign language with a boy his age of the Kiwani tribe. He’d picked up signing quickly but was still very limited in his speech. Gordon and Miranda had picked out the name Lucas before he was born but the nickname Spider had stuck. Gordon didn’t fight it, but he was disappointed.
He and Rachel started training him in combat while Riley and Jade worked with him on his magical abilities. It seemed Spider had the ability to undo magic but depending on the type it wasn’t always permanent. It took a few weeks to understand just what he could do. Even though Lightfoot’s feet had reverted back to talons a few hours after Spider had changed them, he was able to fully reverse Lightfoot’s transformation from dragon back to human. Riley argued that if Lightfoot immediately changed into another form, he would not revert back to his dragon shape. Lightfoot spent most of that day switching between a bear, a bobcat and his human self before growing tired enough he couldn’t keep it up anymore. He awoke the next morning still human and greatly relieved to see and feel his human body again.
During those months, Gordon befriended one of the Trolls who showed him how they worked with stone. He was astonished at the way they could make dwellings and tools just by speaking to the stone. It responded to their commands when done with the right tones, some of which were hard to understand and even more difficult to replicate. Gordon found that he too had some talent for “willing stone”, as his big friend called it, and was pleased when he finally willed a modest bowl.
The twins grew close with their Fairy friends. Upon discovering that the twins could mask their magic from the others, Tasha and Xavier were frequently pulled into the Fairies’ game of hide and seek in the forest. The Unicorns even came around to watch, which did not go unnoticed.
Spider and Riley became close friends. Riley still wasn’t sure if he completely grasped the idea of a human family, but when he asked about meeting Miranda, Riley realized they had made real progress. She still felt uneasy revealing to him the whole truth about why they needed him and questioned if the bond between them was strong enough to stand the test of the truth. Gordon and Rachel both encouraged her to tell him. Even Jade in her own subtle way had asked about it. During her two months in the valley, the Dwarves had grown frustrated with her lack of direction with Spider. Even Mina was starting to question if there was a plan to confront the Dark Lord. It wasn’t until later that day, that Riley realized life would have its own way of forcing her hand.
She’d just finished a quick lunch with Spider, laughing at his clumsiness after tripping over a stone step when the first alarm sounded from a dragon. They learned that the spider army was spotted moving towards the forest edge in two groups. One heading directly for the forest and the other running north along its current border which encroached on the Dark Lord’s lands. The dragon rider thought he’d spotted the Dark Lord himself leading the army towards the forest but wasn’t certain.
Mina convened a meeting of the elders immediately. As the elders gathered, Jade grew alarmed, her eyes grew big with terrible realization.
“He’s not like he was before,” Jade said with fearful tears slipping down her petite face. “No poison, no vine, nothing holds him. He simply evaporates around it and continues devouring all he encounters. He’s sucking the life force from everything he touches in my forest.”
The elders and all those gathered stood deathly still, listening to the small sprite.
Hyxel, seeing that no one else was speaking said, “Then there is no hope. We can’t defend against something we cannot kill.”
Mina moved resolutely forward and rang the bell firmly in spite of Hyxel.
“I call this meeting to order. We have an immediate threat to the new forest. The Dark One himself is on the move. In the past, so many of us have faced his spider armies while he stayed safe in his keep but now, we have an opportunity to strike at him. Where Jade’s vines and poisons can’t touch him, maybe Rachel’s lightning can. We also have dragon fire and most importantly Riley and Spider,”
The optimism in her voice was infectious. The other elders nodded their heads in agreement. This would be a rare chance to strike at the Dark Lord himself.
Riley looked to her brother beside her who stood listening intently. She conveyed to him a sense of what had happened. Combined with what speech he already grasped; she knew he understood. He tipped his head to one side awkwardly; a frightened look came over him. He was realizing that the group meant to confront the Dark Lord. Riley put her hand on his shoulder trying to reassure him with her touch, but she couldn’t ignore the panic she felt inside him. It was growing by the second and like a tidal wave she saw that it would soon sweep him away.
Riley took a step back and decided on a new tactic. She shared with him Raspiria’s prophecy of the two of them defeating the Dark Lord. She let the meaning of her mother's words sink into his mind. A battle between fear, logic and a need for security raged within him. She sent him all of the confidence she could muster, mixing it with the love she felt for him.
While his panic subsided, his shoulders slumped. He reached around to his back and felt the scars given him by the Dark Lord for unmaking his spider captors when he was little. He hated the Dark Lord then, but that hate, and fear had grown into respect. Eventually, he felt a twisted version of devotion and even love for the only father figure he had known.
The realization that he would not stand with them against the Dark Lord, hit her like the air had been sucked from her lungs. He would not help them. He would rather rejoin his spider brothers and suffer hunger and thirst than fight against the Dark Lord. She wanted to call him a coward. She wanted to hit him with her fists. A single tear escaped her clenched eyes, but her stiff body refused to reveal any other emotion.
All eyes turned to them; a silence came over all those gathered. Spider turned and ran up the path towards the stone house. Riley watched him go knowing he needed a minute to collect his thoughts. Maybe he would change his mind after he had time to think but the people around her demanded an explanation with their questioning eyes. The irony that somehow a sixteen-year-old had become responsible for the lives of so many, stood like a monolith at the forefront of her mind. She stared back at all those who looked to her for direction. Her own inadequacy was catching in the back of her throat, but she refused to let it control her.
“We will find a way to stop the Dark Lord,” she said, glancing in the direction Spider had gone. “He just needs some time to figure things out.”
Rachel and Gordon stood on each side of her giving their unspoken vote of confidence. Their presence carried with it reassurance and strength. Riley retreated into her mind searching for answers in the memories left by Raspiria. There she found several powerful spells that Raspiria hadn’t tried against the Dark Lord. There was still hope, and if Spider didn’t change his mind, maybe between all of their powers combined they would find a way to bring an end to the Dark Lord without him.
The decision was made to mount an attack; to stop him from destroying the new forest and Jade along with it. They spent hours coming up with a plan of attack and then packed the dragons with the supplies they would need. The Dwarves again reluctantly agreed to help, while the Kiwani and Elves were eager to see an end to the Dark Lord. The Trolls had already started their ascent of the mountain and would be on the other side when they arrived. Jade revealed that the Unicorns had come to her and were ready to help.
Riley went looking for Spider only to find the house empty and his distant figure scaling the narrow path that would take him over and down the other side of the steep mountain face. She let the finality of it sink in. She would have to do this without him. During the last couple of months, she had grown to love him as her only brother, but now in her time of need, he ran the other way. She felt his abandonment like a knife jab to her heart, coupled with guilt for not having told him the whole truth.
Word spread fast of Spider’s defection as they climbed onto the dragons and prepared to take flight. His missing presence was a stone around all their necks, but Riley felt it most acutely. She looked over to Gordon and Rachel who sat braced for takeoff atop the red dragon. Confidence shone in Gordon’s eyes and Rachel’s reflected her own determination to see this mission through to its end. She nodded at them, trying her best to convey her own sense of resolve. Tasha and Xavier sat on either side of her, bravely facing the many possibilities that lay ahead.
The red dragon took off first, followed by Riley’s yellow dragon, bringing them up behind the others. As they crested the sharp spires of the mountain peaks, they could see the group of Trolls in the distance. A large path in the forest was cleared for them to make travel faster. Riley stared at Jade’s tree in awe as they flew past, its canopy towering over them. She noted how the shade from her tree spread over the forest floor and her branches were visible for as far as the eye could see. In that moment she was reminded of her love for Jade and wondered if she would always think of her as her real mother.
After flying for hours, they finally spotted the forest’s edge in the far distance. The afternoon had arrived with dark clouds moving in from the north promising rain. The path of death left by the Dark Lord lay directly before them. Riley looked to Tasha and Xavier, seeking the reassurance she knew they couldn’t give her. She watched them concentrating, their eyes closed, speaking words to invisible ears. Their powers fascinated her, even more so because she didn’t understand them completely. She felt their shield around her and knew that the Dark Lord would not sense them. The midday heat was stifling, and Riley welcomed the coming storm.
Looking ahead, she saw Gordon and Rachel circling over a spot where she knew they would find the Dark Lord devouring all that he touched. At the rate he was destroying the forest, she guessed they had only a day and half, maybe two days before he reached Jade. Whatever they were going to do to stop him, they would have to do it quickly.
Riley’s thoughts were interrupted by Rachel, whose blue bolt of lightning flew at the ground below her. Gordon followed it with several hand-sized rocks which he threw at an incredible speed. They were like bullets from a machine gun, one after the other. The effect of Rachel’s strikes had caused portions of the Dark Lord’s body to solidify. The yellow dragon brought Riley and the twins into view of the Dark Lord just as Gordon’s rocks hit their target. A roar sounded from the ground below. The black cloud recoiled and enveloped the wounded flesh which disappeared. The obsidian vapor swirled, retaliating with a long, inky tentacle which missed the red dragon who anticipated and evaded the attack.
Riley started to chant in her mind calling up a spell given her by Raspiria. Despite their height above the ground, she sent her senses deep down to the forces of stone and earth. She willed them to heed her call, directing the energies into the stones beneath the Dark Lord. As Rachel rained down another series of lightning strikes, Riley called forth stone arms to hold the solidifying parts of the Dark Lord. Gordon’s stones hit hard and direct, injuring what Riley thought was the Dark Lord’s torso. She sent more arms around the writhing figure, pulling it to the ground. The dark vapor whipped around like an angry tornado. It lashed out again at the red dragon nearly knocking Gordon and Rachel from their perch. Within moments Riley felt her grasp on the solid figure disappear and the arms she had formed from the earth were empty again.
While Rachel and Gordon struck from above, the Elves, Dwarves, Kiwani and the Trolls lunged from the cover of the forest the moment the Dark Lord solidified, hoping to administer a fatal blow. Mina’s people fought tirelessly alongside them, their determination spreading courage as they battled the black extensions, slicing and killing those who got too close. After hours of laying siege to the Dark Lord, the fighters needed to regroup and rest. They’d managed to slow the Dark Lord but not stop him. Flying back towards the way they had come for a few miles, they settled on the forest floor, planning their next step.
The Dwarves snacked on some of their dried meats while the Elves took their time to cut bread and cheese. The Trolls sat behind them looking anxiously in the direction of the Dark Lord. Mina and her people worked with the Kiwani, helping them tend the wounded and redistribute supplies. The afternoon had gone and now, evening was fast approaching.
Jade appeared from the forest’s edge. She informed them that the spider army was approaching through the dead zone left behind by the Dark Lord. They would arrive soon and provide him with reinforcements. Another part of his army was seen heading away from the battle towards the old riverbed. Jade promised to do her best at regrowing the Dark Lord's path and by doing so she would try to slow the spider armies’ advance. The news left them all with a growing sense of dread.
Then the rain finally descended on them and with such force that they could no longer fly. Darkness and lightning covered the sky. Soon the drenching rain made it difficult to see any distance at all. Having rested, they resumed their advance and followed the Unicorns who led them down newly opened paths. Their loyal Fairies hovered all around them lighting the way forward. The forest was dense with humidity and the smell of damp earth. The sound of rain slapped leaves and dripped onto everything else below erasing the sloshing sounds of their steps in the deepening mud.
Riley clutched a leather satchel at her chest. It held the crystals she would need for her next attempt at bleeding away the Dark Lord’s immortality. She slogged through the mud behind Gordon and Rachel. Tasha and Xavier followed faithfully behind her single file, ready at a moment's notice to call up a protection spell to hide them.
Riley caught a glimpse of the Dwarves for just a moment as their parallel paths briefly came within eye contact of each other. Hyxel looked to be swearing at the unfortunate turn of events under his breath, but all of his men still followed, true to their oath.
