by J. M. Briggs
He vanished upstairs, and Alex exchanged looks with the others. Then she heard voices from upstairs and relaxed. Nicki was fine; she was just on an art kick. That wasn’t an issue. She poured syrup on her waffles and quickly cut a piece to eat. The hot, crispy texture was glorious with the sweetness of the syrup, and Alex sighed happily.
“Yeah,” Jenny agreed. She was smiling, and with her hair half up in a bun looked happier than Alex had seen her in a while. “They’re really good. I’m going to enjoy the days when Aiden cooks. Of course, Bran’s baking could get dangerous.”
“You could always join me on my runs,” Alex offered. She was pretty sure that Jenny wouldn’t and enjoyed watching the other woman’s eyes widen. “I know Morgana and Merlin would be happier if I didn’t go alone.”
“Thanks for the offer, but no. I couldn’t manage it freshman year, and I’m not delusional now.” Jenny reached for the bowl of eggs. “I like the weight room, and it isn’t as cold.”
“Fair enough,” Alex agreed.
Noise from the stairs made Alex look that way. Thanks to the wall, she couldn’t see Nicki or Aiden, but they came into view a few moments later.
“I’m fine!” Nicki shouted. “I’m better than fine! I had a breakthrough last night!” Her hair was piled up on her head in a messy bun, and her eyes were bright as she bounced into the living room. “Oh, waffles… yeah, okay, I’ll eat, but then we need to have a meeting. A group meeting to talk about what comes next.” She grinned at Alex and waved before scooping up the last waiting clean plate and heading into the kitchen. “Guarding your weapons gave me time to think. I’ve never really looked at Mjǫllnir or Cathanáil before, not closely.” Nicki’s grin turned almost menacing. “It was very helpful for a project I’ve been stuck on.”
Looking towards Aiden, Alex searched his face for any signs of worry. He just looked amused and a touch annoyed. Not a new thing then. Alex frowned. She hadn’t seen this before, and she and Nicki had lived together. Strange that even now there were new things to learn.
“Leave her be,” Aiden said. “She doesn’t often lose herself in a project, but it happens.”
“I don’t remember it,” Alex said.
“She did have her own room,” Aiden replied. Shaking his head, he watched Nicki sit down at the table. “I’ll get some more eggs. Anyone need anything else?”
“No,” Avani said quickly. “I’m full. It was a wonderful breakfast, Aiden. Thank you.”
“Be sure to thank Timothy,” Aiden said. “I swear that he did most of the work.”
“Have you eaten?” Alex asked, suddenly aware that Aiden hadn’t been sitting with them. “I mean, you helped out and haven’t eaten yet.”
Aiden laughed and smiled at her. “Let’s just say that there was a lot more bacon originally. I’ll have the last waffles that come out. Don’t worry.”
They finished breakfast with Nicki talking excitedly to Avani. All of her nervousness was gone in the rush of energy. Alex had a bad feeling that there were empty soda cans up in Nicki’s room. That she had seen before. Avani was smiling gently and nodding. Jenny caught Alex’s eye and grinned. Biting her lip to keep any teasing remarks at bay, Alex gathered up the plates of those who had finished as Aiden sat down with a stack of two fresh waffles.
Timothy was sitting on the kitchen counter, happily munching a corner of a waffle with a tiny bowl of syrup beside him. There was a small half scoop of eggs in the bowl, and Alex wondered just how Timothy ate. Did he have tiny forks somewhere or was it all by hand?
“Thank you for breakfast, Timothy,” she said. “It was very good.”
“Aiden did the waffles,” Timothy replied. His dark eyes were gleaming. “He makes good waffles.”
“Well we’ll have to keep stuff for the batter around then,” Alex said. “I’ll take care of the dishes.”
Timothy started to protest, but Alex quickly filled the sink with water and started to scrub. It was tempting, very tempting to let the Brownie do everything, but it was almost nice to wash the dishes. A simple task that she knew how to do. For a little while, she didn’t have to think about anything. The others brought in plates to her as they finished breakfast, and Alex could hear things moving in the living room.
“Come out when you’re done,” Aiden called. “Nicki wants to talk to us.”
Raising an eyebrow, Alex put the dishes in the drying rack and then remembered that they had a dishwasher now. She snorted and reassured herself that she wasn’t the first to forget that fact. Drying off her hands, she rejoined the others only to stop in the doorway in disbelief and amusement.
Nicki was being dramatic. She’d pushed around the furniture in the living room to create a circle of sofas, an armchair and a small table. Sitting in the chair, Nicki had a serious expression on her face and a blank notebook and pen on the folding table in front of her. The lack of furrows between her eyes and the fact that her arms were placed on the armrests reassured Alex that this wasn’t a crisis mode meeting.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I called all of you here today,” Nicki said. Aiden snorted. Nicki ignored him. “We need to talk. A serious talk about where we want to take our magic and how to get there.”
Glancing at Avani, Alex found their newest team member frowning slightly in confusion. Strangely, Avani’s reaction didn’t deter Nicki. That was almost a miracle, but Nicki seemed to have pumped herself up for this. The caffeine followed by sugary syrup probably hadn’t hurt.
“Okay,” Alex said. “I’ll bite; just what do you mean?” She took a seat in a chair next to Jenny.
“For starters, let’s all acknowledge that Merlin and Morgana are good mages.” Nicki leaned forward slightly in her chair. “They are masters at using their magic, have faced a lot of enemies, and dealt with the changing centuries with dignity. I’m not trying to say that they’re bad mages with what follows.”
“They’re resistant to using magic in new ways,” Aiden said. He was leaning with his hand under his chin and looking unimpressed. “We know that, Nicki. They’re adaptable but pretty damn stubborn.”
“And while they say that they’re open to trying new things, not much experimentation has really been done,” Nicki said. “I think we’ve got enough control to try things now. We’ve got our own space. It’s time to stop just thinking about what we want to try and make it happen.”
There was a long pause. No one seemed sure what to say to that. Alex knew that Nicki was right, but the idea of trying something completely new was daunting. Judging from Nicki’s expression, Alex guessed that her friend understood. Nicki had talked about a lot of projects, thrown out a lot of ideas, but nothing had happened. Maybe that daunting fear was universal amongst them.
“Where do you want to start?” Avani asked.
“With the blood spell and protection options,” Nicki said firmly. “You said it yourself that you’d sleep better once we had it in place, so let’s get that done.” Picking up her notebook, she poised the pen above the paper. “Now, at your home, you had protections woven into the place with what looked like words. Were they special in any way?”
“No.” Avani shook her head. “You can use any symbol or word. As I told you in Mumbai, the important part is that the word or symbol means something to you; that it helps you visualize your power.”
“Exactly,” Nicki said. She was starting to smile a little. “I suggest that we design a magic circle to use. We keep pushing our magic to Alex, but maybe a guide for all of us to focus on would be more useful rather than placing that whole burden on Alex. And maybe using symbols would let us add more… utility to the blood protection spell.”
“It’s a reasonable thought,” Bran said slowly. “Visualization is always the hardest part of trying anything new.”
“Maybe not a magic circle, exactly,” Alex said. The others looked at her and Alex fought back the urge to squirm. “Remember when we were first learning magic and blacksmithing? Merlin had me create a small symbol, or maybe I
made it myself, I don’t remember, but the point is that we poured magic into those. We used them to make the Iron Gates.”
“I remember,” Nicki said.
“Yeah and iron holds magic better than most things, so I’d say something like that needs to be the base,” Alex said. “A triskelion. Maybe using it as a hub of sorts for controlling the spell.” She paused and looked at the others, expecting hesitation or doubt, but Bran was nodding thoughtfully, and Nicki was smiling.
“I think that sounds solid,” Nicki said. “We’ve been puttering with what symbols to use, but the triskelion is a strong one for magic. I’m a bit concerned about the whole ‘hub’ thing, but given your ability to affect magic and sense it at a distance that could work.”
“Yes, if Alex and all of you pour magic into the iron then it could be a battery for the spell,” Avani said. She grinned in approval at Alex. “That’s one of the largest problems we have with spells. A protection spell could fail if you lose focus.” Bring up her hands, Avani moved them awkwardly in front of her. “You need something that would hold the magic together; seal it to the area with a purpose. If you could do that, then I think it would work.”
“And if we do that, do you think you could link it around the house?” Bran asked. “I know that sounds strange, but-”
“It’s…” Alex licked her dry lips. “It’s a bit different? Honestly, the idea reminds me a bit of the Iron Chain, but I think it is the most likely option to work. I’ve seen threads of magic, and I know that things can be connected like that. We’d need something, though. If you all start working on the symbols or words you want around the house, then I can go to Merlin’s and create the central hub.”
“We’ll want something in the doorways,” Avani said. “And the windows.”
“They have iron in them,” Nicki said. “Merlin and Morgana reinforced all the portals with iron.”
“That will help, but that won’t stop things like the Red Caps,” Avani said. “But it could make the perfect link to the central magical battery. If we could carve something into the metal, then that would be the spell right there!”
“Simple enough,” Aiden said. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I’ll just do some welding-”
“That’s not necessary,” Bran said. He was smiling even as he gave Aiden a look. “We should be able to reshape it slightly with our magic.”
“Yes,” Alex agreed. Thor’s voice rumbled at the back of her mind. For an instant, she saw a large finger moving across the metal of Mjǫllnir to create a symbol. “That isn’t very hard.” There was genuine optimism on everyone’s faces. “Okay,” Alex said. Relief filled up her chest and she smiled. “That’s a plan for this house at least. Nicki, you and Avani work on the details of what we want to do with the metal. Plus, think about how we can recreate this in other locations. We can’t pull out door frames everywhere.”
“Maybe the old horseshoe over doorways trick,” Aiden said. “That could do it if you set up the horseshoe to hold the magic. It may not be perfect, but it would be something that a Fae usually couldn’t touch, and with a bit of magic maybe it could even repel Arthur and Red Caps.”
“Good,” Alex agreed. “That makes sense. At least it’s worth a try.” Standing up, she stretched out her arms. “I’m going to brush my teeth, and then I’ll head over to Merlin’s to work on the main hub.”
“Wait!” Nicki jumped up, almost tripping over the coffee table. “I need to give you something first!” She bolted for the stairs only to stop sharply at the bottom. “Uh, is it okay if I go into your room really quick?”
“Okay…”
Alex blinked as Nicki grinned and rushed up the stairs. Turning back to Aiden, she waited for him to say something. He just shrugged.
“She doesn’t get like this often,” he said. “Not since sophomore year of high school at least. Her Gran forbade her from using energy drinks. This is a special state brought on by inspiration, lack of sleep, and caffeine. Thankfully, she loves to sleep.”
A few moments later Nicki returned. A long leather scabbard with small symbols engraved into it and an odd belt hanging from it was in Nicki’s right hand. In her left, she was gingerly carrying Cathanáil.
“Nicki?” Aiden asked. “Oh…”
“I- I made this for you,” Nicki said. “It’s been a work in progress for a while, but things clicked together last night when I was guarding the weapons.” She laughed a little. “It was almost painful actually. Plus side though, magic makes hardening leather a lot easier.” Thrusting both her hands forward, Nicki nervously smiled at Alex. “Put the sword into the scabbard,” Nicki ordered. “I think…I think I’m onto something, but I need to make sure.” Closing her eyes, Nicki exhaled, and a soft blue glow surrounded her hands. “I think it’s ready.”
The tiny marks on the leather scabbard glowed bright blue for a moment, but only a moment. Nicki was holding her breath as she handed it to Alex. The smooth leather felt odd to Alex’s fingertips, but she tightened her grip on it. Cathanáil hummed in her right hand as she carefully lined up the sword with the mouth of the scabbard. Everyone was holding their breaths, and Alex almost laughed. This was just another experiment, not a life and death battle. She slid the sword in. Nothing happened.
Jenny gasped. Alex looked at her friend to find her and Lance blinking and shaking their heads. They looked worried and startled and happy all at once. Glancing at Avani, she found a wide smile on the woman’s face, but she also looked surprised. Alex looked back down at her hands. The sword was still there, snuggly in the scabbard.
“I can’t see it,” Lance said. “The sword just vanished. I mean… I know it’s there. I see Alex’s hands, so I know that’s where it has to be, but…”
Nicki clapped her hands, making a happy squealing sound. “Oh brilliant! Okay, okay, question time. Can you see the scabbard?”
“No,” Jenny said. “Both the sword and scabbard vanished. I saw Alex putting the sword in, but then there was nothing there.”
“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “And it’s weird. I mean, as I said, I see her hands, but I’m sort of aware that they look... a bit off?”
“Magic is hiding something that you know is there,” Aiden said. “Could be that the magical invisibility isn’t perfect or that your brain is trying to compensate.”
“Whatever it is, it’s giving me a headache.” Lance closed his eyes and rubbed them.
Alex pulled the sword an inch out of the scabbard. “Do you see it now?” she asked Jenny.
“No.”
She pulled it out a few more inches; her arms were now clearly positioned in the unsheathing motion. “Now?”
“Still nothing,” Jenny said. Lance opened his eyes and nodded in agreement.
Drawing Cathanáil fully free of the scabbard, she watched the light glint off the iron as Jenny and Lance both nodded.
“I see it,” Lance said.
“Yeah, it appeared once it was completely out,” Jenny said. “At least you know it doesn’t have to be all the way in all of the time.”
“And the scabbard too?” Nicki pressed. “You saw them both at the same time; it didn’t appear before the sword?”
“No,” Lance answered. He gave Nicki a soft smile. “Looks like you got them synched up on the first try. Well done, Nicki.”
Exhaling slowly, Alex slid Cathanáil back into the scabbard and ran a hand over the hard leather. This was good. At least, she thought it was. Now she could keep Cathanáil with her, and only mages would be able to see it.
“Avani?” she called. “Could you see it?”
Nicki turned towards the magician with interest. Avani frowned slightly and pressed her lips together.
“See? No, but I was aware of it. There was this slight glow in the air where I think it was.” Her expression brightened. “That’s actually a surprise to me. I’m not a mage; I was sure that I wouldn’t see anything different.”
“You may not be a mage, but you are attuned to magic,” Bran
said. “It would make sense that your brain would be harder to fool.”
“Nicki…” Alex touched the hilt of the sword and looked up at her friend. “This is amazing… truly.”
“I’ve been working on it for a while now,” Nicki confessed. A soft blush appeared on her cheeks. “It wasn’t coming together very well. I was working on smaller scabbards for our daggers first, trying to improve on Merlin and Morgana’s spell work, but after India it seemed more important to make it work for Cathanáil. But I needed something better than the old sheaths.” Then she shook her head. “I put the same symbols on the baldric- uh, the shoulder belt, so it should stay hidden too.”
Alex didn’t know what to say. After last night it was beyond a relief knowing that she could have the sword with her. Her throat tightened up and her mouth went dry. Tears stung Alex’s eyes, and she looked down as she awkwardly pulled on the scabbard. It was a bit strange, holding it in place as she fumbled with the small metal buckle of the strap.