by HDA Roberts
My Well felt overloaded and stuffed, my brain full of things I'd never seen before. It was like I was being pulled in a hundred directions by forces and powers I'd only glimpsed before. Everything suddenly seemed so primal, if you'll pardon the term, everything was vital and alive. Even the rock beneath the lake felt like it wanted to rise up and shake my hand; it was overwhelming...
And I was still stuck in the ice, which somehow didn’t even feel cold! That was nice, but I was now starting to worry about suffocating. My heart rate picked up again, the world started to shake...
RELAX, YOU IDIOT, YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK THE WHOLE COUNTY! Kron’s wonderful voice boomed into my head. I felt her probe leading back to her own mind and latched on to it like it was a life preserver.
Van, what do I do? I can't control it!
Don't be ridiculous, boy, of course you can! she said firmly, and yet with almost glacial calm, reassuring me instantly. You are Mathew Graves, damn it! You are not a toddler, you are a Magician and an Archon. You can control this crap in your sleep! All you need to do is relax. They're just Affinities responding to your distress.
RELAX!
I did as she told me, focussing on my heartbeat, just like she'd taught me. As I calmed, so did everything else. The earth stopped shaking, the ice stopped spreading, the flames of burning Camelot died down, the plants stopped trying to grow in my direction (I could even feel that now!) and a flock of very irate blackbirds went back about their business as the clouds in the sky started to recede and the lightning stopped forming.
I started to cast a little Spell that would recycle the air in my lungs, only to notice that I’d sort of already done it on instinct, a simple Spell construct already releasing oxygen from the carbon dioxide in my blood. That was certainly a nice side-effect, if still somewhat worrying. I did not want to be casting on instinct, who knows what could happen?
Um, Van, could you maybe get me out of the ice? I'm a bit worried about what will happen if I try.
Oh you'd better believe I'm getting you out of there, I'm going to kick your arse! Are you insane? We told you not to go to Camelot alone, didn't we? Didn't we?! We told you that until we had proof, one way or another, you weren't to poke at Ambrose!
Okay, maybe I don't want to come out now.
That had been an important conversation. At the very least, I can say that it went a lot better than the last time I'd told them that one of their dear friends was a wolf in sheep's clothing, I can tell you that!
That took place a couple of days after my trapping of the Aurelia Elders.
I'd tried to be really clever about the whole thing. I’d asked them over for a chat and made sure to have pastries on hand to butter them up first (you’d be surprised how often that worked with them).
We were sitting in my drawing room; everyone had a plate-full and was relaxed. Cassandra was guarding the door in case Myrddin came around (as he was wont to do).
"So, you called the meeting, what's got your panties in a bunch?" Kron barked.
"Normally you're less grumpy when I provide strawberry turnovers," I said with a smile.
"Someone, who will remain nameless, ate my second one," she replied, turning her evil eye on Killian, who ate the last bite with every sign of enjoyment.
I smiled, preparing what I was going to say very carefully.
"I think, and I only think, mind, I have no proof, but I think we have a problem with Myrddin."
The room was suddenly very quiet and everyone went still, with many looks very rapidly exchanged. It took me a minute to figure out what those looks meant. I'd been expecting disbelief, accusations, anger, but instead...
"Crap, you already know!" I said.
"No we don't," Palmyra said. "We don't know anything. We suspect. We've no evidence, either, just... rumour, innuendo. Nothing actionable."
"You could have told me you suspected something. I've had the guy in my house."
"Please, you trust new people about as much as I trust a three pound coin," Killian said. "Tell me I'm wrong? Or did you not call in Van the second your brother turned up in one piece?"
They had a point.
They tell you not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and generally I don't.
But that's only because when someone presents me with a gift horse, I go looking for Greeks.
It’s perhaps a sad way to live, but ask King Priam of Troy whether or not that’s a wise way to do business.
"Fair enough, but still..." I complained.
"We figured that you might take it badly. He did fix your brother after all," Kron said with a shrug.
"What tipped you off?" Killian asked.
I explained everything I knew, which was mostly just what I'd heard from the Aurelia Elders and from what I'd been able to cobble together from my memories of Namia Sutton's last day. Something about Myrddin had been familiar to me from the first day I’d met him. I’d assumed that it was just a connection with his father, but once I considered him a suspect, I did a deep-dive of my memory just to be safe and came up with that.
Not a nice surprise.
Kron expression became absolutely furious, "We knew he was up to something, but this..."
"What did you think he was up to?" I asked.
"We only had little things, really," Killian said. "Money transferred to certain groups we keep an eye on, unsavoury types who have suddenly vanished without warning after being in contact with him. We haven't been able to trace anything back to him, but certain people who are very definitely in his pocket have been doing some very shady backroom deals in and around the European Conclaves. He thought he was being subtle, but he's been out of circulation for a very long time. Not enough degrees of separation."
"Stonebridge?" I asked.
"Nothing we've seen, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. You need to keep your eyes open," Kron said.
"Any idea what he's after?" I asked.
"He's always wanted power. After hearing his stories about how he got the powers of the other Primals, something just... stunk to me," Kron said. "If he hadn't handed over the Blade, I'd have been worried he was setting you up to be his next pincushion, but I think he's after something a little more... political than Magical."
"Well, there's nothing illegal about playing Politics," I said warily.
"No, but if he's bribing public officials, or blackmailing them, arranging for people opposing him to vanish... that's illegal. Again, we have no proof," Hopkins said.
"Which means that you," Kron said, turning that evil eye onto me, "yes, you, you bull-in-a-china-shop, will not poke the bear. He is monstrously, colossally powerful. If he turns on us, and we aren't ready, we are all screwed. One on one, he could plaster the walls with any of us, even me."
"What, really?" I asked. "That's quite the admission."
"Alright, not me. They don't call me the Mountain for nothing. One word about granite between my ears and I'll throw my hammer at you again."
I closed my mouth, which had been opened to do precisely that.
"So, no, he probably couldn't beat me. But you? You're all squishy and fragile. He'd snap you like so much kindling."
"Alright, alright, next time I'll make sure there's more turnovers, okay?"
She threw a pillow at me; hard enough to stun me, damn she was strong!
"Ow, why?"
"You're the youngest. This is what you're for," she said with a smile.
I chuckled, and so did they. I smiled at them.
"I expected this conversation to go very differently," I admitted.
"Why?" Killian asked.
"Well... Namia Sutton."
"That was different," Kron said, looking sheepish.
"Seriously, I had a whole bit referencing that, if you decided to be difficult, really good material, too. I had a whole section about not making the same mistakes twi- Ow! Stop that!"
"Had to. And let that go, will you?" Kron said. "It's in the past."
"Easy for you to say, with you
r granite fists," I muttered, earning me another pillow to the face.
"In all seriousness, it's because of what happened with Namia that we took a closer look at Myrddin. She made us all a lot more cautious," Kron said. "So when a friend suddenly comes back from the dead, we check everything. Especially if he's even more powerful than the last time we saw him."
"And you say I'm paranoid?!"
"You are paranoid," Killian said. "You don't even go outside unless you absolutely have to."
"That's sloth, not paranoia," I pointed out.
"That's not better!" Kron replied.
Palmyra snorted, "You know, I never liked that guy. I never trust someone who's too nice. And he was a suck-up. He kept bringing cakes to my house."
"That monster," I said, sliding the cupcake platter closer to her craw.
She glared... but she still ate the cupcake.
"Yes, eat the cake, love me..." I whispered.
She blurted out a cake-impregnated laugh that sprayed crumbs everywhere and resulted in a mild choking episode.
"Evil!" Palmyra squawked once she was clear of it, swatting at me.
"I'm adorable, all the Demons say so."
She pinched my ear and Kron just hung her head in her hands, pretending to find us exasperating. We let her, being grumpy was her favourite hobby; nobody wanted to take that away from her.
And speaking of that hobby...
Kron fished me out of the water one-handed, by the collar of my jacket (after adding just enough heat to convert the six inches of ice that were surrounding me back into water). She held me up in front of her and glared like I'd kicked her puppy.
The other three Archons were behind her, Killian eyeing up a small crowd of hikers on the far bank with his most menacing stare. Their phones were already out, though, pointed up at the island; they seemed not to have noticed us yet, for which I was grateful.
"Oh, hi Van, I didn't see you there," I said.
She dropped me back in the water.
I came up spluttering and she hauled me out again, hefting me towards the shore.
"Alright, I probably deserved that."
"Probably?" she turned me to look at the island, which still had what looked suspiciously like a mushroom cloud hanging over it, "Look what you did!"
"He started it?"
The glare got even narrower.
"Please don't drop me in the water again."
"Matty!" Cassandra came galloping over with Demise and a small group of Wardens from all five households. They’d been waiting on shore while the Archons tried to batter down the Shield.
It turned out that they’d only arrived around the time I’d blown up the cistern. Stalling would not have kept me alive long enough...
Kron dropped me in front of my friend as she skidded to a halt on the slippery ice. I fell over as I realised that I still had a spike of rock in my leg (not to mention the burns).
"Crap, sorry," Kron said as I hissed in pain, and she noticed the blood.
She reached down to help, but the second I remembered that I was injured, I felt my Magic respond to it, energy flowing instinctively to the source of my pain. It wasn't like the Flesh Magic I'd spent years learning. It was more like my link to the Shadows, I saw the problem, and my powers responded.
The metabolism around my injuries massively increased and within seconds, the big shard, and a few smaller ones I hadn't even noticed, had popped out, leaving pristine, pink skin behind. Even my broken arm had set itself. I doubted that this sort of simple, instinctive Magic could do anything complicated like replacing a limb, but for simple longevity and triage... it was amazing!
It also felt a little strange.
What made Affinities so powerful was that they became an extension of the mind. The subconscious did a lot of heavy lifting, merging with the Affinity through the link formed by the Magician. Now I had a link to my body like I had to my Shadows, and that was just one of many more. It was like the world was screaming for attention and my mind was trying to reach right back. I couldn’t shut down the links and my psyche was being overwhelmed by the information...
"Ow," I said, suddenly finding myself flat on my back, looking up at the sky. "What happened?"
Cassandra's concerned face appeared over me, "You just toppled over."
"Dizzy," I said; the world had started spinning.
"Your Magical senses are overloading," Kron said. "Because you ate all seven Primals, like an idiot. This will probably hurt."
She slapped me, making my head ring, but pulling my focus back from its spiral.
"Ow! Is that your only medical skill?!" I protested.
"Did it help?"
"Well, a little. But not enough that I want you to do it again!"
Cassandra knelt next to me and placed a hand on my head, looking me over with her Magical senses. She hissed and recoiled, "You idiot!"
I shrugged and slowly sat up, trying to keep my aching brain inside my head.
"Now will someone take this stinking thing?" I said, waving the Gods' Blade, and causing the most rapid retreat I'd ever seen in my life. Somehow I’d kept a hold of it throughout my brief flight, but not on purpose, I assure you.
"Don't waggle that thing, you imbecile!" Kron barked from ten feet away. "With your butter-fingers?!"
"Sorry," I said. I pulled its case from my waterlogged satchel and dropped the Blade into it, which I then waggled instead.
"Hell no!" Killian said, as I pointed it at him, "You keep that away from me, you walking disaster!"
"That's a bit harsh," I replied.
"He said in the shadow of his mushroom cloud," Demise said dryly. "Impressed with that, by the way."
"What the hell happened in there? This lot seems to know, but they didn't tell the little people," Cassandra said.
I stood on wobbly legs and had to be supported as I explained what had happened.
"Jesus," Cassandra whispered, visibly shaken. “You could have died!”
“The thought had occurred,” I said evenly.
Kron shook her head and looked back at the ruins. I felt the strange twisting sensation that I associated with Time Magic and she snarled.
“Naturally,” she snapped. “Myrddin got away.”
“I don’t think anyone here imagined for a second that a mere sub-nuclear, dimensional explosion was going to polish that prick off,” Hopkins said.
“No, probably not,” Kron agreed with a sigh. “Bart, can you and Lucille take a look around? Deal with any fallout?”
I hoped she didn't mean that bit about fallout literally. And I really hoped that I hadn't irradiated a county; I'd never live it down.
Killian nodded and Hopkins opened a Portal back to Blackhold for the rest of us.
Cassandra and Demise each had one of my arms, and they helped me walk home, where I sighed in relief. I could finally start to calm down properly.
Tethys darted into sight as we came through the front doors and went pale as she saw me having to be nearly carried.
"I'm fine, just a little accident," I said brightly.
"Accident, he says! He accidentally made himself the most powerful human being who ever lived!" Kron barked.
I blinked. I hadn’t thought of that, but it was actually true. The powers I'd gained were in addition to the ones I already had. That put me at three times the power I’d started the day with. Even Kron only had twice my baseline. That was a hell of a lot of power. Far more than someone like me should have.
If I’d gone bad before, given in to the Black, it would have been terrible, but manageable. If I went bad now... I might be nigh-on impossible to stop.
I shuddered at the thought. I could feel all that energy simmering away in my Well. The expansion seemed to have settled now, and my Well was starting to feel more normal... just, fuller than before. The strange thing was that it was already starting to feel natural, like this was how I'd always been. That scared me.
"Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?" I asked Kro
n as I dropped onto a sofa in my Library, Tethys perching next to me, holding me tight like I might float away. "You don't think I did this on purpose, do you?"
Kron paced back and forth for a long minute before coming over to look me in the eyes. I had no trouble meeting the look. I had nothing to feel guilty about.
"No," she said finally. "No, I don't."
She smiled a little, "If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you have no ambitions that would drive you in that direction. I actually quite like that about you."
"Thanks."
"That just makes you an even bigger idiot!"
I harrumphed.
"And how do you feel now?" Kron asked. "Power-wise?"
"I don't feel over-stuffed anymore, but everything still seems very... loud is the best way I have to describe it. Like the world is screaming for attention in overlapping, slightly different voices. It's maddening... and it's soothing. I'm not explaining it well."
"You're describing what happens in people with multiple primary Affinities. It's very rare, less than one Magician in two hundred thousand has a dual-Affinity, only one in three million with three or more, and those tend to be on a much smaller scale that you're experiencing. You're going to need time to learn how to cast without overpowering every little thing you do. And if you don't learn to tune all that out, you're probably going to go insane."
"Oh lovely- Tethys, hand, hand!"
She was squeezing a bit hard.
"Sorry," she said.
I smiled at her.
"What do I need to do?" I asked.
"Above all, relax. And do nothing with your Magic until we can get you out to a training area where you can practice without worrying about breaking a continental shelf."
"Is that something I need to worry about?"
"Do I need to prop you up in front of what's left of an ancient treasure of your homeland again?"
I muttered, but couldn’t really argue with her. If there was one thing I’d proven I could make better than just about anyone else, it was a mess.