by James Riley
Fort started to make a joke about how if it was her, he’d leave her to her fate, but somehow he didn’t find it as funny as he’d thought it’d be. “I hope I would,” he said quietly.
“This makes no sense,” Xenea said. “And it doesn’t track with everything else I’ve seen. No wonder you come up with stories like that, to make yourselves feel better for all the greedy things you do.” She shook her head. “You humans might want to think you’re good, but deep down, you’re just like we are, Forsythe. And that’s smart, because it will keep you safe.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Fort said, thinking about the Timeless One and his friends again. “Maybe there are times where we want to help, but can’t, because it’ll just make things worse. But we still wish we could.”
“What do you mean, wish you could?” Xenea said. “It’s always a choice. You’re just trying to comfort yourself, saying you wanted to help but couldn’t.”
Her words made Fort’s heart begin to race as his embarrassment grew once more. “Or maybe we really do want to help, even if it is dangerous, but are told no because we’re not good enough! Did you ever think of that?”
She just stared at him for a moment. “Of course I didn’t think of that. What are you even talking about? Who isn’t good enough?”
He just shrugged, his mind immediately going back to his dragon back home. He had to be careful with Xenea, not reveal anything he shouldn’t. If she found out he had teleported to Merlin’s cottage, she might wonder what else he was hiding. “It… it doesn’t matter. I just meant, what’s the point of being safe if we let people get hurt? How could we live with ourselves if we just ignored what they were going through? That sounds awful.”
“But at least you’d be living with yourself, instead of in some alien’s stomach!” She growled in frustration. “You humans are so… human! You think you’re all so great, but you’re not, Forsythe. So go home! Feast upon your moldy cow milk and bread. You’ve made my mind hurt, and I will speak no more of humanity tonight.” She turned away, then paused. “Instead, I will go back to the marketplace, and make it mine.”
And then she disappeared, leaving Fort with a very uncomfortable feeling about what was about to happen at the mall.
- EIGHTEEN -
AS PROMISED, XENEA DIDN’T SHOW for dinner that night, which Fort was thankful for. He was sure her glamour would probably convince his dad and aunt that it wasn’t strange having her there for a second night in a row, but he didn’t want to worry about her seeing through Ember’s magical disguise, or forcing Fort to reveal his dragon’s whereabouts.
Not to mention after the day he’d had, he just really wanted some regular, normal family time.
As he sat down, Aunt Cora had the television on, and the news wasn’t great. “Tensions between the United States and China reached an all-time high today as the Chinese fleet moved to—” the anchor said, only for Cora to shut the TV off.
“Like that’s what we need now,” she said, angrily shaking her head. “With everything that’s happening, why can’t our countries just work together?”
Fort nodded without saying anything, running his fork around in his mashed potatoes. He knew why they weren’t working together. China wanted their book of Healing magic back to protect themselves from the Old Ones, and Colonel Charles was refusing to hand it over.
At least things weren’t at the level they would have been if the faerie queen hadn’t saved his father. Then they’d be heading for a world war fought by magic-using soldiers. He had to remember that was why Xenea was here. Even hiding Ember from the faerie girl was still nothing in comparison to stopping a war.
Sometimes he really hated knowing what was actually happening. It had to be so nice, just to have no idea that magic existed, or why the world’s governments were on edge.
“At least there haven’t been any more attacks since London,” his father said, looking tired. “That’s something, right? And I talked to my old boss today. He said there was a slim chance they could find some consulting work for me, since my old job is gone. See? Good news is everywhere if you just look for it!”
Fort forced a smile at him, just to make his dad happy. Fort couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to come back to a life with no memory of where you’d been for six months, only to find the rest of the world had moved on without you.
“I can’t stand what those people said about you on TV,” his aunt said, attacking her chicken so hard her fork clanked against the plate. “Who do they think they are? They have no idea what we’ve all been through.”
Fort looked up at her, confused. “What people?” he asked. “What are they saying?”
This time, his father and his aunt shared a look. “It’s nothing, Forsythe,” his father said. “Just filling the time on the news.”
“They’re saying he was never taken by… whatever that monster was,” his aunt said, stabbing her fork against the plate again. “That your father faked his disappearance in the attack for… what? Publicity? It doesn’t even make sense! The military should put out a statement! They know the truth, and the fact that they won’t say so—”
“They’re the military,” his father said with a small smile. “They never tell anything. And I’m just happy they found me, wherever I was. I really don’t care what anyone says, Cora. That’s their problem, not mine.”
Fort felt the blood drain from his face. People were accusing his father of lying? But how could they even think someone would make that kind of thing up? And just to get some attention?
“It’ll be your problem and mine if people believe it,” his aunt said, not looking at her brother-in-law. “That could be why O’Connoll won’t hire you back full-time, you know. These horrible rumors!”
“But there were witnesses,” Fort said, still not able to believe what he was hearing. “I mean, besides me! There were people there who saw it all, two girls and their mom. And you saved that old woman who couldn’t get down the stairs at the memorial. We have to tell them, Dad. This isn’t right!”
His father put up his hands in surrender. “No, it’s not, but that doesn’t mean we’d make things any better by coming out and talking about it,” he said, giving Fort a sad smile. “I don’t remember anything of that day, not even what you just mentioned, Forsythe. So I couldn’t really say anything that’d help my story, unfortunately.”
“Then Aunt Cora is right: We need to talk to the military!” Fort said, pushing to his feet. “I’m not going to let someone accuse you—”
“The military’s job is keeping us safe, not arguing on the news,” his father said, motioning for Fort to take his seat again. “Really, it’s fine! This will all blow over in a few days, and no one will care. There are a lot more important things going on to worry about than whatever happened to me.”
“That’s another part of the problem,” Aunt Cora said, shaking her head. “If they’d just tell us what’s happening, where all these monsters are coming from, then there’d be something to focus on. But since they just keep ignoring all the questions, no one knows anything. They won’t even say what that giant orange creature was in London, and that destroyed the entire city!”
“I saw someone interviewed on the BBC claim to have been absorbed into the monster somehow,” his father said, his face showing he didn’t believe it. “This is just what people do, make up stories when they don’t know any better. Once the government figures out what these things are and where they’re coming from, they’ll tell us.”
“If we’re even still around,” Cora muttered.
“Hey!” his father said, now sounding angry. “What did I say about that, Cora? Not in front of Forsythe.”
Fort looked between his father and his aunt, suddenly realizing that everything hadn’t just gone back to normal now that his father was back. “What can’t she say in front of me, Dad?” he asked quietly.
Cora rubbed her eyes. “He’s right, Fort. I’m sorry. I never should have said that.”
&n
bsp; “What can’t she say in front of me?” Fort repeated.
His father sighed. “These attacks have everyone on edge, Forsythe. And no one knows when the next one might come, so understandably, your aunt sometimes fears the worst. And I do too. But I asked her to not talk about that in front of you, because I don’t want you to have to worry about it, kiddo.” He reached out and squeezed Fort’s arm. “You deserve to have a normal childhood, if that’s possible anymore. And I don’t want you panicking about something you can’t control.”
Fort just stared at his father, his mouth hanging open. “Panicking about something that I can’t control?” he repeated back, barely sure where to even start with that. “But I…”
“Everything’s going to be fine, Fort,” Cora said. She gave him a smile, though it didn’t feel natural. “Really. It’s easy to give in to the fear and all, but we have to have faith that things will be okay. Whatever these creatures are, the authorities will figure out how to deal with them. That’s their whole job, right?”
Fort swallowed, thinking about how useless both the military and even the students had been when the Old Ones had attacked the original Oppenheimer School. And they hadn’t fared any better against D’hea’s rampage, or William in London. “I guess,” he said.
“No guessing,” his father said. “Everything’s going to be just fine, you’ll see. Now, no more talk about monsters, only regular, normal things. How’s that kitten of yours doing?”
- NINETEEN -
AS IT TURNED OUT, EMBER was hungry—and nowhere close to a kitten anymore. After dinner with his dad and Aunt Cora, he brought Ember in dragon form to Merlin’s cottage. There, he sat with her at the long dining room table as she lapped up her third bowl of stew, her scales glistening in the light of the fire. She’d grown again and now was about the size of a golden retriever.
Soon, she’d be bigger than Fort, and there’d be no way he could keep her in the apartment. He’d have to hurry and study, or she might get discovered by someone, or worse, Xenea.
Across the room, Jia and Rachel prepared for their next trip into the past for training, as Merlin waited impatiently. Part of Fort wanted to ask one last time if he could go, promise them he really could help with the Timeless One, but the rest of him knew the answer would still be no. Not when they believed Merlin that Fort might get hurt, or lose the battle for them.
Not to mention that they had their own stuff to deal with. Whatever had happened between them hadn’t been worked out, or at least Fort assumed it hadn’t, since Jia and Rachel weren’t looking at each other. He could feel the tension in the silent air and almost considered saying something random just to lighten things up. But whatever problem they were having wouldn’t be fixed by him interfering, so he turned back to Ember and smiled as she slopped some stew on the floor.
In spite of having to hide the dragon from Xenea, not to mention his father and aunt, there was something about her that made Fort feel better when Ember was around. Everything was either a threat (mostly) or a friend (rarely) to Ember, and with all his worries, he almost found that comforting. If nothing else, she wasn’t going to leave him behind and go off to fight an Old One.
She finished her dinner and made her way over to Fort, then dropped her stew-covered face into his lap, beaming up at him. “Hey!” he said, pushing her off to try to clean his pants, but it was a losing battle, and Ember just replaced her head anyway before he could accomplish much. He rolled his eyes. “Happy?”
“Sa,” she said, and closed her eyes. “Sa.”
He shook his head, but smiled again and petted her head as she started to snore. At least there were some advantages to not going with Merlin for training, he had to admit. Whatever Jia and Rachel were doing, it seemed both physically and mentally exhausting, over who knew how many days or weeks. All Fort had to do was study in a cozy little cottage while being served by high-tech devices.
If only he could bring his father here and let his dad relax in front of the fire with him. He knew his dad could use it.
He sighed, trying not to think about his father’s troubles right now. He was here to study, and he couldn’t let himself be distracted.
Especially not since he had a very specific plan in mind for tonight: find a spell that would let him learn the secret Merlin didn’t want him to know.
Fort absently turned the book’s pages as he waited for Merlin, Rachel, and Jia to leave, not wanting them to accidentally discover what he was planning.
“For the next six weeks,” Merlin told the two girls, who were standing much farther apart than they usually did, “we’re going to concentrate on perfecting the new types of magic you’ve learned, while also training on how to defeat Time magic with your own specialties.”
New types of magic? Ways to defeat Time magic? Fort started listening closer, just in case, while pretending he was lost in the book of dragon language.
Jia sounded confused. “I don’t really see how Healing or golem building—”
“Puppetry,” Rachel said, sounding almost mocking.
“—could offset what Time magic can do,” Jia finished, ignoring Rachel. “Anything I try, the Old One can just speed himself up or freeze me completely in time.”
“Every type of magic has its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the others,” Merlin told her. “To use your example, Jia, if the Timeless One were to speed up his own personal time, a Corporeal magician might use their own magic upon themselves, changing their body so their reaction times were quicker, while evolving their mind to think and interpret their senses faster, so they could see, move, and think as quickly as the Timeless One.”
“And as an Elemental magician,” Rachel asked, lighting up, “I could move as fast as lightning or something?”
“Oh, no, I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Merlin said, patting her shoulder. “That would be one of the weaknesses I mentioned. Elemental magic is particularly vulnerable to Time magic. Which is why, my apprentice, you’ll need as much training time as you can get.”
Rachel’s excitement faded, and she nodded. “Okay, fine, let’s get to it.”
The three of them disappeared, and for a moment, Fort looked up to where they’d been standing and couldn’t even believe how different things were with Merlin here, someone who knew about magic, instead of adults who couldn’t use it themselves. They’d spent so many months trying to learn without knowing what they were doing that in spite of the upcoming battle against the Timeless One, it was pretty nice to have a knowledgeable teacher on their side.
But now that he was alone, he could get to the important stuff. Ember’s snoring had grown louder, and not wanting to wake her, Fort flipped slowly through the book before him, hoping he could find the words he needed.
As he turned the pages, some of what he found honestly terrified him with what they could do: “explode,” “destroy,” “disease”… okay, that last one he’d learned briefly when he’d first been studying Healing magic, but still. Mixed in with those were much more normal words, like “speak,” “learn,” and “home,” which were less scary on the surface.
And then there were the ones that could go either way, like “cook,” “knot,” and “grow.” He didn’t want to think about the giant, cooked knot he could make out of someone if he combined those three.
These words were just so dangerous. Any one of them could be used wrongly and set off a whole chain of magic he never intended, if he wasn’t careful. The fact that Merlin hadn’t even mentioned that they were words of magic before letting Fort loose on the book made him wonder what the magician thought would happen. Couldn’t Merlin see the future? If so, he shouldn’t have been surprised that Fort had set himself on fire.
But the one word he was looking for didn’t have any negative drawbacks that he could think of. It was one of the pretty normal ones, but it also had its uses, if he could just find it.…
Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer before he actually managed to stumble upon it randomly. I
t helped that he wasn’t pausing to learn any of the other words, but instead was just searching as fast as possible, hoping to find it before the others returned. Even so, he was beginning to worry when he turned the page and found the following:
Vede—See
That was it, the spell he’d been looking for! Sure, he’d hoped to find some other related words in the process, just to help pin things down, but this one should do the trick—if he was careful. He would just have to picture clearly what he wanted to “see,” and things should be fine.
Gently he lifted Ember’s head off his lap, getting growled at in return, then prepared himself. Whatever was going to happen, he knew he shouldn’t be in any danger, not if the See spell worked as it should. But what it would do was show him what Merlin’s secret was, whatever the old man hadn’t allowed Jia or Rachel to tell Fort.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out, then said the words to the spell.
“Vede Timeless One.”
See the Timeless One, wherever he is, Fort thought as he said the words, repeating the idea over and over.…
Of course, Fort had no idea what the Timeless One looked like, but in his mind, he pictured a creepy, cloaked creature like the other Old Ones he’d seen. Maybe his body was a huge hourglass, filled with running sand. And he’d be old, like the Father Time cartoon they showed around New Year’s Eve.
But hopefully none of that mattered, since the magic should take care of it, just like when he’d cast Cause Disease and just pictured whatever sickness he’d wanted to cause in his mind. It wasn’t like he knew which virus or bacteria caused a cold, but he was still able to cast it. And if this didn’t work, then probably nothing would happen, and—
Out of nowhere, a deserted, barren landscape appeared, right over the top of the cottage’s dining room, as if someone was projecting it. This new land looked like it’d been destroyed by something apocalyptic, though from what Fort could see, there were still buildings… or at least one large tower in the background, black as night. The sky was a dark red, and there was nothing living as far as he could see.