by J. M. Briggs
“When did you do this, Thor?” Merlin’s voice was reverent as he looked down at the hammer with wide eyes. “How did you know what to do?”
“What are you talking about?” Thor drummed his fingers against the hammer’s wooden handle, noting that it felt a bit different in his hand now. Thoughtfully he ran his fingertip over the handle’s leather wrapping, wondering what had changed. “The hammer?”
“Yes, the hammer!” Morgana gasped as her eyes dropped down to it. “What did you do Thor? When did you manage this?”
“Are you talking about the magic that the hammer possessed?” Thor questioned with a slight frown. “I believe it has built up from me working with it,” he informed Merlin as he glanced between the pair of older mages. “I’ve been pushing magic though it like you told me to in order to improve the iron weapons.”
“This is surprising,” Merlin remarked thoughtfully with a tilt of his head. “Though I suppose it does make sense.”
“Gofiben was a smith and nothing like that ever happened.” Morgana seemed torn between being impressed and in a frantic worry.
“Who is Gofiben?” Thor frowned at the clear comparison. “Another Iron Soul?”
“Yes, one of your prior lives,” Merlin explained quickly. “Gofiben created the Iron Chalice and did not spend much time smithing to fight a particular enemy.”
“Supposedly created a chalice,” Morgana scoffed. “We have only his brother’s word for that and the stories he spread.”
“This is not the time Morgana,” Merlin scolded with a stern look before looking back to Thor. “I apologize, Thor, we are merely surprised. We were not aware that the Iron Soul could create such a magical item accidentally.” Merlin paused and looked at Thor very seriously with a searching look. “You were not trying to enchant the hammer, correct?”
“No, I wasn’t,” Thor admitted, feeling compelled to be honest by Merlin’s hard gaze. “I’ve just tended to use this hammer lately.” He paused and licked his lips before admitting, “It has been easier to push magic through for the weapons I’ve been making lately.”
“Ah yes, that would have been a clue,” Merlin informed him as his shoulders relaxed. Then the older mage chuckled. “Well it is surprising, but I have no doubt that it will be of use.”
“What is the significance of the hammer?” Thor looked down at hammer in question.
He noted that the iron gleamed in the light and that the metal was smoother than it should have been. It had always been his largest hammer, but he could feel a strange heft to it that was less familiar. Magic flowed up his arm from where his fingers brushed the metal head, making him feel powerful again. Thor rather liked the feeling.
“I’m not sure,” Merlin said. “Some of your predecessors have created special objects of great power. They are different from the sword and axe heads that you make. While those carry only a few sparks of magic, these objects carry much more magic and have a connection to the Iron Realm itself.”
“We believe they can help you call more magic from the Iron Realm without putting your body at risk,” Morgana offered. “But our experience with them is very limited.”
Frowning at them, Thor tried to calm the odd feeling churning in his gut that warned him they were right. He could feel his magic, a part of himself echoing back at him through the hammer. It was both comforting and distressing, and he wondered how much of himself he’d given away without even realizing it. Merlin seemed to be aware of his discomfort and said something to Morgana in a low voice. The two elder mages fell back to speak with a group of people including his father and brother.
The caw of a raven made Thor look up towards the roof of the longhouse. There watching him were two ravens that he was certain belonged to Odin. Smirking slightly, he nodded to them and watched them spread their wings and take flight. Next meeting with Frea, Odin and Sif they would have something interesting to report at least. There were questions of where Brokkr’s people had come from, how they’d gotten here and how to deal with the Dark Elves. Thor exhaled slowly and pushed the questions away. He wouldn’t answer them now.
Thor looked down at his hammer thoughtfully. A hammer would not have been what he would have chosen to imbue with his power. It would have been a sword or maybe a good axe, but as he watched faint glimmers of magic dance over the surface of the metal Thor had to admit that it wasn’t all bad. The only problem was that it was a bit plain with its heavy front and narrowed back side for a grand object. He smiled to himself and hefted the hammer up. If it was magical and strong then maybe, just maybe he could use his magic to make some embellishments on it. After all, with the issues still troubling his village, he’d need to play the part of an impressive warrior.
34
Outside Looking In
After living together for almost an entire semester in a single room freshman dorm, Jenny had thought that she’d seen Alex at pretty much her worst. She had been very wrong. She’d seen Alex sick with a cold once and seen her utterly exhausted, but never in this state. Morgana had returned to the house with Alex floating in the air unconscious, wrapped in a blanket of silver magic. Alex’s hand was still oozing blood, her face was pale and her long hair was matted with old dead leaves with streaks of dirt on her face.
She still wasn’t sure what had actually happened. Alex had woken up in a frantic state, all but shouting a warning about Arthur just before they’d been attacked. Professor Yates- Merlin had given Lance and her swords to protect themselves with, and within moments everything had gone crazy. Merlin’s front yard had been filled with lights and fiery attacks against all the creatures. She and Lance had stayed in the living room, close together and peering out through the broken windows at the chaos. When the cracking of wood had echoed in the room and the porch had begun to collapse, she’d followed Lance outside. That had put them amongst the creatures and let her take a good look at Arthur.
Her former boyfriend had been staying near Alex; mostly just watching her with a calculating look that had made Jenny’s limbs turn to ice. His betrayal still shocked her. There were many days that she woke up in confusion, certain that everything had just been a nightmare, because how could Arthur do such things? That cold look; that expression of utter apathy for the distress he was causing made Jenny believe that maybe that confusion would finally go away. If Lance hadn’t been there… Jenny shivered slightly. She wasn’t sure how she would’ve reacted to Arthur. Part of her was grateful that he’d been so focused on Alex that he hadn’t even looked her way, and yet another part of her was hurt.
Standing up from the armchair, Jenny glanced down the hallway that led to the guest room where Alex was recovering. Merlin was in an armchair in the living room, soundly asleep while Morgana was sitting in a chair right next to Alex’s bed. Nicki was sitting on the sofa next to Aiden with her head drooping every few minutes as she fought back the urge to sleep. Looking out the window, Jenny marveled at how normal the world appeared outside.
Parts of Merlin’s lilacs had been damaged, but the creatures as a whole had avoided the back side of the house by the iron workshop and all the wrought iron furniture. The large oak in the front yard showed no signs of damage at all, presumably due to the iron bench around its trunk. There were small craters scattered throughout the front yard. Half of their cars had been at least a little displaced, and she reassured herself that the damage could be fixed.
Jenny wasn’t sure how she felt about all of it. They’d talked about the creatures being under Arthur’s control, and yet they’d still fought them. Intellectually she knew that there hadn’t been a choice: fight or let the fairies kill all of them, but she was still unsettled by the whole thing. Around them, some of the fairies had collapsed only to run off. Others had tackled other fairies to the ground and held them until they seemed to pull free of the control.
No, not pull free, Jenny reminded herself as a headache crept up on her. Alex had freed them somehow. Her friend had been waving her arms around like she was conductin
g an orchestra in the midst of the battle. That glowing pillar of light by her had just kept growing, and then there had been that…. explosion was the only word Jenny had for it. Some of the fairies had vanished in flashes of blood red and dark silver, while others had been able to run. Timothy the Brownie had been shouting as he jumped around the streams of red magic flowing across the yard.
Then Arthur had run, Alex had gone after him and everything had gone silent. Some of the collapsed fairies had gotten up and run away, seemingly unaffected by the magic, and Jenny wasn’t sure why. Nibbling at her bottom lip, she tugged at the hem of her shirt and pulled out her phone. There were no text messages. The people she knew best at this point were all here in the house. And what did that say?
Jenny wasn’t sure what to do with the stillness that had taken over the house. After Morgana had found Alex, Merlin had used waves of green magic to repair the damage to the house before half-collapsing in exhaustion so that it was safe to take Alex inside. She and Lance had watched in silence as the beams supporting the porch were knit back together, as splintered wood swarmed up into the air and reformed bits of roof and trim, Jenny had been rather sternly reminded of just what the mages could do. However, they were all now unconscious or nearly so, and she was uncertain of what to do with herself.
Lance had pulled a chair from the dining room over by the window and was peering outside with a closed off expression. The sword Merlin had given him was propped up in its sheath against his leg, his right hand resting on the hilt. There was a ridiculous little flutter in her chest at the sight of Lance standing guard over them, and Jenny turned her flushing face away from him quickly. The sword Merlin had given her was back in its sheath and leaning against the wall of the living room. Waiting, just in case she needed it.
The sound of someone moving in the kitchen surprised her, but Jenny went to investigate. Bran was in the kitchen and Jenny could see him opening cabinets and pulling down plates and glasses. Merlin shifted in his sleep as Bran accidentally knocked two plates against each other. Timothy was walking across the counter, carrying an empty pitcher on his head that had to be several times his weight. Jenny giggled as she wondered if Brownies weren’t a bit like ants in that regard.
“Can I help?” she asked softly. Jenny moved further into the kitchen with a slight smile.
“Sure.” Bran gave her welcoming smile before nodding to the fridge. “Merlin has some sandwich makings in there. I figured I’d make up a couple and see if that didn’t help people regain some energy.”
“It’s late though,” Jenny pointed out with a look at the clock. “Almost one in the morning. Shouldn’t they be sleeping?”
“We don’t know what else is coming.” Bran glanced out the window with a frown. “Arthur got away again. I can’t imagine the Queen would want to risk coming here, but….” he shrugged and shook his head. “I’m not sure what Alex’s blood spell actually did.”
“Oh.” Jenny was unsure if she liked the fact that she wasn’t alone in confusion or not. “What was it supposed to do?”
“Well, from what Merlin and Morgana have told us I figured that it would… uh, destroy all the Sídhe and faery creatures,” he admitted with a glance towards Timothy, who lowered his head uncomfortably.
“But Alex said Merlin and Morgana are half-Sídhe.” Jenny looked back at Merlin as he was beginning to snore a little.
“Yeah they are, good point,” Bran agreed. “Maybe it only activates against those who mean the people of the Iron Realm harm. It would explain why all the Redcaps were destroyed. Those all seem like miniature psychopaths.”
Jenny said nothing; what could she say in response to that? She vaguely remembered reading about Redcaps in one of the numerous books she’d been looking through. According to the myth, they were vicious faeries that soaked their hats in the blood of the humans they killed. They were one of the sorts of faeries she’d desperately hoped weren’t real.
Bran suddenly swayed on his feet, grabbing at the edge of the counter. Taking hold of his elbow, Jenny took on some of his weight and watched his face as it began to clear. His green eyes were cloudy for a moment, but he shook his head and forced a smile.
“Sorry about that,” Bran said. “I’m still pretty exhausted myself.”
“Well you were helping Alex with the dreaming thing earlier,” Jenny replied nervously.
“Yeah. Still, I thought I was alright from that. I even stayed back in the fight so I didn’t get in the way.”
“It turned out alright,” Jenny offered, unsure of what to say.
“True.” Bran pushed back from the counter and rubbed his leg for a moment as he looked down at it with an odd expression.
“It isn’t hurting is it?” Jenny asked.
“No,” Bran assured her. “Just a phantom pain. I’m still adjusting to everything being healed.”
“Must be nice.” Jenny smiled as she turned her attention back to the sandwich she was making, loading the bread with sliced ham and cheese. “Having your leg healed, I mean.”
“Suppose so.” Bran shrugged, causing Jenny to look at him in surprise. He looked up at her and she could see a shadow in his green eyes. “I mean yeah it’s good and I’m happy, but it’s also a bit complicated.”
“How so?” Jenny questioned, surprised by the answer and his honesty.
“I got used to being disabled. I figured out how to live with it and I made some kind of peace with it,” Bran explained in a slightly frustrated voice. “It’s hard to explain, but I almost feel like I betrayed something. Maybe I just haven’t wrapped my head around it yet.” He shrugged and shook his head, returning his focus to the sandwiches. “Then again I suppose I’m the Fisher King, so it had to happen.”
“That’s something else I don’t understand,” Jenny said. “How could you be part of that myth, I mean it predates you. By a lot.”
“Well, it might be that my past incarnation had visions of me in the future like I had visions of him in the past,” Bran said. “Or some other seer did. I mean, a lot of my visions just seem like dreams, so in theory, someone with a bit of magical power could have a vision of us in the future and tell the story to someone. That’s potentially where the Welsh myth of a blonde haired person opening the cave where the Chalice was hidden came from.”
“So you don’t know?”
“This is real life, as crazy as it is,” Bran reminded her with a humorless chuckle. “I suspect there will be many things that we never really get an answer about. You just have to take what knowledge you do have and move on.”
“That would drive me crazy.”
“Right there with you.” Bran laughed before nodding towards the living room. “Explains a bit about Merlin and Morgana though doesn’t it?”
“I suppose so, in a way.” Jenny considered Professor Yates in the armchair. Sometimes she still had trouble looking at him and fully understanding that he was Merlin. Though after watching his magic repair half of his house, that might be easier in the future. “I’m not sure how it hasn’t driven them mad.”
“I’m not sure that it hasn’t.”
“Mages are strange,” Timothy said, causing Jenny to jump as she’d forgotten that the Brownie was there. Timothy was calmly leaning over the edge of the sink and scrubbing at one of the dirty knives. There was a bit of soapy water in the sink and he looked half ready to tumble in.
“I’m not a mage,” Jenny replied before she thought the statement though.
Timothy looked at her a bit oddly and she expected him to ask what she was doing there. To be honest she might have felt better if he had, but instead, the Brownie just shrugged and went back to scrubbing the edge of the knife.
The sound of footfalls in the hallway made Jenny perk up. Picking up the plate of finished sandwiches, she looked at Bran, who nodded and moved into the living room. Jenny grinned as she caught sight of Alex stumbling down the hall with Morgana right behind her.
Alex had dark bags beneath her distant eyes. Jenny
offered her a small smile and Alex nodded in response before she moved over to the sofa and sank onto it with a grateful sigh. Nicki woke up at the noise and elbowed Aiden lightly to wake him up. Morgana moved over to Merlin and called his name, waking the oldest of the mages. With a hesitant step forward, Jenny set the sandwiches on the coffee table and Bran put down the pot of coffee and the first set of mugs.
No one spoke for a few minutes as she went back to the kitchen to retrieve a few more mugs. Timothy leapt off the counter, landing on the floor by her with a soft thump and instantly trotted out to the living room. Jenny followed him, careful not to step on the Brownie or trip over him.
“Timothy.” Alex sighed in relief as the Brownie bounced up onto the coffee table in front of her. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
“Yes Iron Soul,” Timothy greeted with a grin. “Thank you for freeing so many.”
“They’re alright then?” Alex licked her lips and rubbed the side of her head. “The freed weren’t affected by the spell?” She clarified as she looked over at Morgana.