EPILOGUE
From the Tale of Abred
IT WAS A COLD NIGHT, and Abred and Gwynfyd sat in front of the small fire he had built earlier with much effort by striking sparks into a pile of dried kindling wood. It was not as it used to be, when fire was easily made. But Abred knew that it would be this way, with most of Sigela trapped in the heavens and only a small part of remaining deep inside Terrada’s stomach.
As well as physical fire, Abred had also lost much of his internal flame, and he often felt slow and befuddled, almost trapped in this world and in his own body.
He knew that Sigela’s exile was best for the world and best for him and Gwynfyd, but this was the time of year when he missed Sigela the most—when the ground was hard, and the wind and snow were bitter. One day—he thought—perhaps Sigela will return, when this world is ready for her. One of my blood will bring her back. Gwynfyd looked to Abred and reached over to touch his hand. He grinned, as some of his old flame re-ignited. He had learned that too much fire could burn, but that not enough could just as easily kill. Feeling Gwynfyd’s hand on his, Abred smiled and looked up to the heavens, thinking that the heat of their flame was just right.
CHAPTER 54
MERRICK PULLED DOWN the overhead visor in his car to block the glare from the morning sun. Mona sat beside him as they came to their third full stop in rush hour on the Dulles Toll Road. He looked around at the cars stopped next to him. Most of the people were busy talking on their cell phones, probably calling the office to say they would be late.
“You know, I could get us there a lot quicker,” Merrick said.
Mona smiled and shook her head.
“I’m sure that would look great on the evening news. Couple disappears. Leaves abandoned car behind to create the worst traffic jam in Northern Virginia history. Besides, now that I have you back, I don’t want you pulling any more disappearing acts.”
Merrick was about to respond, but the traffic started moving, and he eased his car forward. He hoped he would have a chance to at least put it into third gear this time.
After a few more stops and starts and an even longer wait to get off the toll road, they arrived at Rune Corp, their new place of employment.
It had been almost a month since Eudroch’s death. Merrick and Mona had gone back to the Fire Tribe as official emissaries of the Earth Clan, hoping to find Balach and Cara still alive. When they had arrived, they were surprised to find that not only were the two of them unharmed, but they were quite safe and with a woman named Swella who had the support of the Fire Warriors. It seems that the strongest of the warriors felt very affectionate toward her for some unexplainable reason. When Merrick had looked to Balach, the boy had blushed. And when Merrick had asked about the whereabouts of the Queen’s Seer, no one seemed to know what had become of him.
Merrick couldn’t condone the overuse of Balach’s creation name, but Swella seemed to be focused on the right things for her tribe. She had already promised to start peaceful talks with the Earth Clan with Balach as their intermediary.
As far as the Earth Clan itself, matters had still not yet settled down there. The Queen remained in charge, at least from a ceremonial standpoint, but the reality was that the council and the Keepers were not yet in agreement as to how and under whom the clan should be led. There had been more than one voice suggesting Merrick as the natural successor to the monarch who had deceived them for so long and put their very future in jeopardy with her scheming and her lies.
Merrick had tactfully avoided any such discussions before leaving the Highlands.
Before he left, Merrick had checked on and was relieved to discover that the boy from the valley, Heinin, had recovered from his wounds. Merrick had promised to send money for his parents to rebuild their home and had told him that he was welcome to visit anytime he wished. Merrick had been surprised when the boy’s parents had agreed to let him fly over at the end of the month and start a paid internship at Rune Corp.
Merrick and Mona had returned home with Cara, where they attended a belated funeral service that next week for Ohman, Chris, Melanie, and the other Rune Corp employees who had died trying to protect their world. The ceremony was held at the base of the mighty yew tree that stood as tall as ever in the center of the Rune Corp building. The funeral was well attended, and Merrick and Cara were happily surprised to see many familiar faces from the Earth Clan mourning the loss of Ohman. Merrick had felt the old man’s presence when he had taken his turn and placed his hand on the trunk of the mighty tree to say goodbye.
Now, as Merrick and Mona stood in the Rune Corp lobby staring at the sacred yew, he thought back to his short time with Ohman. He had discovered many things over the last few months about the real world and about himself. He had also learned that sometimes blood wasn’t everything, and that a strange old man could be a true father even when blood wasn’t shared. Even if Merrick never found out who his true father was, he realized now that he was lucky enough to have had two men who had loved him like a son, each in their own way.
They waited in the lobby until Cara, the new Rune Corp President and CEO came down to greet them. Other than a slight nod and a solemn smile, no one spoke a word as they headed to the elevator doors. There had been enough said between them for the time being, when they had first returned.
Cara had assured both of them that there was plenty of work yet to be done in compiling the repository of the Earth Dragon tongue and with improving the divinium cubes. Cara offered both of them jobs after trying to make a joke about how hard it was to find new recruits with experience using magic. They had both accepted and were ready to get to work.
As they stood in the ascending elevator, Merrick noticed that Cara looked particularly tense.
“Is something wrong?” he asked. “Anything we should know about?”
Cara stared straight ahead at her warped reflection on the inside of the elevator door.
“We just finished a complete inventory of the labs and of the materials recovered from the Earth Clan skirmish. One of our portable cubes is missing, and we think it’s the one Chris had loaded with his automated tutorials.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Mona.
“Keep our senses sharp and wait for something that I hope never happens. That’s all we can do.”
The elevator door chimed as it opened onto the top floor. Merrick, Mona, and Cara walked slowly to Ohman’s old office and shut the door behind them.
Outside, in the lobby, a single white needle-like leaf fell from the mighty yew and gracefully floated on the air currents to the lobby floor several levels below.
###
EXCERPT FROM THE EQUILIBRIUM OF MAGIC
THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC – BOOK TWO
BRADLEY KNEW that something bad had happened to him, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care or to remember exactly what it was.
He didn't feel sick.
He didn't feel pain.
Instead he felt strong, like stone.
His legs were as large as a mountain.
Maybe he was a mountain.
His body was solid, and he felt as if he could withstand almost any onslaught other than time itself.
Still, as much as he reveled in his newfound strength, he still knew that something was wrong.
He focused with all his will.
At last, he remembered who he was.
“I am Bradley,” he heard himself say. But his words were weak and without clarity as if traveling through a dense medium before being heard.
After he managed to utter that single phrase, he lost himself and once again thought he was a mountain.
A minute passed.
More.
An hour, maybe.
He couldn't tell.
Slowly, he realized again that he was not a mountain, and that he was Bradley.
He cracked open his eyes just enough to see. He was lying in a hospital bed, but he wasn't in a hospital.
He was still at Rune Corp.
Doctor Reilly's boney face was looking down at him, his features slowly coming into focus.
The doctor was saying something.
“Bradley? Can you hear me? Tell me how you're feeling, young man.”
“Why am I in this bed?” Bradley said. “I've got a lot of work to do...”
The doctor looked sad. More than sad. Sorrowful. Bradley recognized the emotion, but he didn’t understand why the doctor was looking at him like that.
“There was an accident. Most likely it was the pencil in your pocket that was the cause. It exploded when you were testing the new word. You sustained a very…severe injury.”
Bradley made a fist with each hand—opened and closed them both. His hands were working fine.
His arms felt normal as well.
He took a deep breath. His lungs were operational, and he wasn’t on a respirator.
Then he tried to move his legs—first one and then the other.
They both seemed to be working fine.
Bradley exhaled in relief.
What the hell was the doctor going on about? Bradley knew the doctor well enough to know that he must have been missing something—that there must be some reason for the look of pity covering the man's face.
Bradley raised his chin and looked down at his body. With his left hand, he pulled back the sheets as the doctor made a perfunctory attempt to stop him.
When the sheets were pulled back all the way, Bradley stared in shock at what he saw—or rather at what he didn't see.
His right leg was simply not there anymore.
He could still feel it, but it looked as if it had been erased.
Some part of Bradley’s mind knew that panic and shock were coming, but for the time being, all he could do was stare at where his leg was supposed to be.
“I don't understand,” he finally said.
“I‘m sorry,” the doctor said. “I tried both magic and medicine, but there just wasn't enough left of your leg to save. Merrick’s confident that the healers at the Earth Clan can help you. My job is to get you stable enough to make the trip.”
A piece of Bradley registered hope, but most of him simply heard the word Merrick. This was all his fault. Merrick had pushed him too hard—pestering him every day for faster results.
And for what? Rune Corp wasn't at war with anyone. There wasn't any looming threat out there. In fact, this was the first time since anyone could remember that the Fire Tribe and the Earth Clan were on speaking terms with each other and that their people were getting along.
Of course, Merrick was being given all of the credit for that little miracle, too. He was so self-entitled and proud of himself for being a Drayoom and speaking of Ohman like the old man had been his real father.
Merrick had stumbled into the company less than a year ago, and after one little adventure with Cara, he was brought on as her second-in-command. Bradley had been with the company for years, working behind the scenes to make sure everything went smoothly on the backend.
And what did he get for his dedication to the company?
Nothing.
Worse than nothing—he had been maimed.
Even if the Earth healers could somehow restore his leg, it would not change the fact that Merrick was the one responsible for his suffering. Bradley wasn't sure how, but Merrick would get his just rewards one day, and Bradley would be the one to serve them to him.
Click here to read about Merrick’s continuing adventure in The Equilibrium of Magic, the second book in The Science of Magic Series.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This novel is dedicated to Mom and Dad and to every one of my friends who read the initial drafts and commented on the text to help make this a better story.
Thanks to Bryan Walthall for pointing out plot flaws that needed fixing, and much appreciation to Rana June for her encouragement.
Special thanks go to Laura Godar, without whom I never would have completed the final edit or done anything with the final manuscript.
Finally, I owe a great deal of thanks to Sherri Leach, Juli Alperi, and Kevin McMahon, who were all instrumental in so many ways to this latest version of the novel.
OTHER WORKS BY MIKE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY OF THE CONSERVATION OF MAGIC
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
PART TWO
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
PART THREE
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
PART FOUR
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER 54
EXCERPT FROM THE EQUILIBRIUM OF MAGIC
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OTHER WORKS BY MIKE
CONNECT WITH MIKE ONLINE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright © 2013 by Michael W. Layne
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any for
m or by electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover art by Jeff Brown Graphics (http://www.jeffbrowngraphics.com)
Table of Contents
THE CONSERVATION OF MAGIC
SUMMARY OF THE CONSERVATION OF MAGIC
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
PART TWO
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
PART THREE
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
PART FOUR
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER 54
EXCERPT FROM THE EQUILIBRIUM OF MAGIC
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OTHER WORKS BY MIKE
The Conservation of Magic Page 44