Crystal Beach (Crow Hill Book 1)

by Tom Larcombe

  “I've got three already and I can only use one rifle at a time, but he had a pistol. All three of mine are rifles, so it might come in handy,” Michael said.

  “Well, let's go get it then.”

  Michael followed Rynn out the back door. They made their way down to the slope where the body of Deputy Jacobs sprawled. Michael winced and turned slightly green when he saw the damage the rounds from the Garand had inflicted. A .45 ACP pistol lay on the ground in front of the corpse's hands. Two glass bottles filled with a yellowish liquid stood to one side.

  “Rank amateur,” Rynn said. “That's pure gasoline. For a decent Molotov, you need to get some soap flakes, shaved rubber, or something else that will thicken the gas and keep the flames going longer.”

  Michael stared at her in shock.

  “Remember Rynn?” she said. “My primary magic is fire. I know fire in and out. Of course I'd know something like that.”

  “Yeah, but is this the best time to say something like that?” Michael asked.

  “If you remember me you'll remember I speak my mind.”

  “I do remember that, I just remember you doing that to others most of the time, not me.”

  “I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the corpse.”

  Michael shook his head.

  “Never mind, I'm sorry I said anything,” Rynn said.

  Michael picked up the gun. Rynn, less squeamish, rummaged through the dead man's pockets.

  “Here, he's got a couple of spare magazines for that. Ooh, and he's got a present for me.”

  Rynn pulled out Jacobs' hold-out gun, a snub-nosed .38 in an inside-the-waistband holster.

  “He's got body armor here, you want it?” Rynn asked.

  “No, let the sheriff recover that. They might need it.”

  Rynn shook her head and kept searching the body.

  “That's about it except for some pocket change and a pack of cigarettes,” she said.

  “There should be another magazine for the .45 around here someplace, he emptied one during the fight.”

  They found the other magazine a few feet down the slope. Michael would worry about using it except for two things. He didn't currently have any more ammunition to load it with, and before he did he'd use his earth magic to ensure that there was no debris inside of it.

  “Now I'll have to see if Bill will sell me some .45 rounds,” Michael said. “And I'd just stocked up on what I thought I'd need.”

  “You've got twenty rounds or more right there,” Rynn said.

  “Yeah but I like to play Boy Scout and be prepared. I'd like a hundred more if I can get them.”

  The two of them went back up the slope and returned to the house. A few minutes later they sat down on the back porch with fresh cups of coffee.

  * * *

  “I've been thinking,” Rynn said. “I know you said they stripped your magic, but everything else they've done can be attributed to blocking things. The memory blocks they put on me? That could be the same thing they do to the people down in town every few years. So maybe they blocked your water magic instead of stripping it. I'd like your permission to check.”

  “You can if you want, but I run my Sight through my body every few months, checking on my health. I haven't found anything like that at all.”

  “How about checking yourself from the outside? Using your Sight to examine yourself like you're looking in a mirror.”

  Michael looked confused.

  “Why would I want to do that?” he asked.

  “So you can see if there's something outside of your body that's affecting you.”

  “How would I do that?” Michael asked.

  Rynn's suspicions were aroused.

  “What were we just talking about?” she asked.

  “You asked me for permission to examine me.”

  “After that,” Rynn prompted.

  “I said that you could try,” Michael said.

  “Anything after that?”

  Michael shook his head.

  “Actually, there was Michael. I think I have an idea of what they've done. If I'm right they set up something outside of your body to block your water magic and a block in your brain so you wouldn't think of the easy way to find it.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  “Just sit back and relax for a moment, would you? You said you still had a touch of water magic left? Count off thirty seconds and then use that for something.”

  Rynn went silent and engaged her Sight, the ability that allowed her to see things related to magic. Once her Sight kicked in, she blinked several times. Michael's garden shone brightly in her Sight. There was more than a little magic in use there. She shook her head and turned her gaze to Michael himself. Then she waited for him to engage his Water magic.

  The energy around Michael began to stir. Rynn sensed him drawing a cool, still power from within himself. When he did so, a knot of grayish colored power on his chest began to expand. Rynn could see a blue-green energy flow out of Michael and spill into the knot. There was so much of the blue-green energy that it spilled over the knot, a small amount of it returning into Michael. The knot continued to grow as a tiny cloud of mist formed over Michael's empty coffee cup. The mist thickened and began a tiny shower into the cup. When Michael relaxed, the cloud of mist dissipated, but the knot on his chest stayed in its engorged state.

  “Just as I thought,” Rynn said. “Something exterior to your body is blocking your access, draining off the power as you draw it. There's so much power that it can't take it all and that's why you retain access to a small portion of it. From the looks of things, your own Water magic provides the power for the blocking mechanism.”

  Michael shook his head again.

  “That's... absurd. There isn't anything like that. It would have to be on me all the time.”

  “Is there anything you wear all the time?” Rynn asked.

  Michael's hand flew to his chest. His voice dropped to a monotone.

  “No,” he said.

  Rynn knew he was lying and she didn't think he realized that he'd done so. He might not even have known that he answered.

  I guess it's misdirection time, Rynn thought.

  “Then it must be something on or in your skin. Take your shirt off,” she said.

  Michael blushed for a moment and didn't move until Rynn reached for him.

  She smiled sensually.

  “I can help you if you need me to,” she said.

  Michael gulped and quickly removed his shirt. Rynn saw the ring hanging on a metal chain around his neck, but Michael didn't seem aware of it.

  “Turn around,” Rynn said.

  Michael turned and Rynn saw the white of his back. He had a farmer's tan, with most of his arms being brown and then an abrupt transition to a much lighter skin tone in the middle of his bicep. Rynn eased forward and placed a hand on his back. Michael shivered at her touch.

  She moved her hand around his back, as though searching for something. All the while her second hand slid up to the chain around his neck. She trapped it between her thumb and forefinger and then pinched the chain between the nails on those two fingers. She'd expected them to slice right through, but the metal wasn't affected in the slightest.

  What the hell? It must be enchanted or something. My fingernails will slice through almost anything when I try.

  “Nothing back here,” she said. “Turn around for me.”

  Michael turned and she saw that his eyes were closed. This time she placed both hands on the skin of his stomach and moved them upwards. She switched over to her Sight and saw that the ring was the center of the gray knot of power. The chain had its own threads of power woven through it as well.

  I wonder if raw strength can break it? Probably not, not if my nails couldn't cut it. I'll need to slide it over his head and I'll have to do it quickly without him realizing what I'm doing. It seems that someone placed some set responses to the ring being meddled with.

  Rynn's ha
nds slid higher until she had one on either of his shoulders.

  “I think I've found the problem,” she said. “If you just relax as much as you can, I'll take care of it.”

  “Will it hurt?” Michael asked.

  “Not if you're relaxed.”

  Rynn waited for Michael's muscles to unclench, but they didn't. She sighed and began tracing her fingernails over his skin gently, barely making skin contact. Michael was still tense, but now in an entirely different fashion. He seemed to be enjoying the contact and his muscles were starting to relax. She traced her fingernails up onto his shoulders and then, with a sudden move, grabbed the chain in either hand and pulled it up and over the top of his head.

  She expected a response of some type so when he swung his fist at where she'd been standing, she was already several feet away.

  “Give that back!” Michael shouted. “That's my mother's ring, it's the only thing of hers I have.”

  Rynn kept her voice as calm as possible. She felt the urge to react to his anger with her own, but knew that would only make things go further downhill.

  “I'll give it back as soon as you try to do something with your Water magic,” she said.

  She tucked the ring and its chain in the palm of her hand and clasped it into a fist. She knew Michael wasn't strong enough to force her to open it.

  Michael raged and ranted at her. He advanced towards her, his face blank and his eyes burning with rage. Rynn jumped off the porch and ran out into the yard. When Michael followed, she raised a shield of flames about herself.

  “Michael, try your Water magic. Do anything with it.”

  He glared at her, from just outside the flaming shield.

  Oh Michael, I'm so sorry. But I have to get you to use it.

  Rynn created a ball of flame in her hand and launched it through the air. It was headed directly for Michael's face. He didn't move. She changed its trajectory and continued moving it towards his stomach.

  Rynn gritted her teeth and slowed the ball of flame.

  He'll have to react instinctively if he gets burned. Water will cancel out the fire, all he has to do is call it.

  The ball of flame touched Michael's stomach and he leaped backwards. Blankness and confusion warred on his face. As the ball moved towards him again, Rynn saw a watery sheen coat his body. When the flame contacted it, there was a hiss of steam and the ball of fire disappeared.

  Michael blinked several times and then the sheen disappeared. His look of confusion grew and slowly changed to one of wonder.

  “I just called a water shield, didn't I?” he said.

  Rynn nodded.

  “You burned me! Why would you do that?”

  “I'm sorry Michael, it was the only way I could think of to force you to use your Water magic. I'll leave if you want, I never meant to hurt you.”

  The look of confusion returned to his face.

  “But I did call my Water magic and I couldn't have created that shield with the tiny bit I had access to earlier.”

  Rynn shook her head, she was barely holding back her tears. Michael stayed silent for what seemed a long time to her, but was probably only a minute or so. Finally a weak grin worked its way onto his face.

  “I guess that's the 'tough love' thing people talk about then?” he asked.

  Rynn's tears burst free, cascading down her face. She nodded through the tears.

  “Whoa, Rynn. Why the waterworks? Are you okay?” Michael asked.

  “Because... because I hurt you and I didn't want to do that. Because of what they did to you and what you must've gone through all these years. Because... because you understand.”

  Rynn's sobs increased with her last sentence.

  Michael walked over to her and drew her into his arms. She continued to cry, silently now, for several more minutes. When she drew back, she brushed the burn on his stomach and Michael winced.

  “I'm sorry Michael. I'm so sorry.”

  “It's okay Rynn. Didn't one of the girls ask me about my healing? Let's see if I can still do it.”

  Michael went still and Rynn watched as over the next few minutes the burn went through the stages of healing. When he was done it was just a lighter patch on his stomach.

  “See, just a few minutes of discomfort. It won't even leave a scar,” he said.

  Michael looked at Rynn, then looked to the hand she still had closed in a fist.

  “Do you want that back?” she asked.

  “No, and yes... It's my mother's ring but... Damn those bastards! They can't even leave me anything of my mother without interfering.”

  “I think it only blocks you when you're wearing it. I was using my magic while holding it,” Rynn said.

  “Either that or it's just attuned to me,” Michael replied. “Only one way to find out though. Be ready to take it away from me again if you need to.”

  Michael held out his hand and Rynn dropped the ring and chain into it. He closed his hand in a fist and then stared over at the stream that emerged from the mine and ran down to the lake.

  After a moment or two Rynn saw a wave splash up out of the stream bed. Michael grinned and slid the ring into his pocket.

  “I guess you're right, it only works if I'm wearing it. I'll have to find a place to keep it where I can see it. It will remind me of my mother and also of what the Board is willing to stoop to. I thought the guard was being nice when he gave me that while I was waiting for sentencing. I thought that maybe the Board, or at least that guard, had a touch of humanity left to them, but I was wrong,” Michael said.

  * * *

  He was sitting on the porch, staring at nothing, when Jeff came outside.

  “Michael?” Jeff asked.

  “Hush,” Rynn said. “Michael regained something he'd thought gone for years. I think he's lost in the exploration of it.”

  “Huh?”

  Rynn decided caution was in order, she didn't know how much Michael had told the boy.

  “What do you know about him?” she asked.

  Jeff's face took on a guarded look.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “Just checking. Is there anything you'd consider odd about Michael? Something he can do that most others can't?”

  “Other than the fact that he talks to a crow and it seems to understand him? That he lets it in the house and has it eat meals with him and anyone else there? That his garden is doing things he can't explain? That he's a bit of a recluse for no reason at all since he seems to like company?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes, other than that. Although I think those are all related to what I'm thinking of,” Rynn said.

  Jeff sighed.

  “Yes, there is. He told me that anyone I mentioned it to would think I was crazy though.”

  Rynn decided to take the plunge.

  “Good, then you know that he can do magic? That he's a wizard?”

  Jeff nodded slowly.

  “Although he didn't call himself a wizard, didn't put a title on himself like that. He just told me that magic was real and that if I wanted to talk to him about it when anyone else was around I should refer to it as something extra.”

  “Okay then. As long as you know that, I can tell you the rest. He has some enemies and for a long time he thought that they'd taken away part of his magic, the most powerful part. I helped him retrieve it and now he's exploring it again, seeing what it can do and how it works. He's been missing it for thirty years so he has to re-familiarize himself with it.”

  “Thirty years? He isn't even that old,” Jeff scoffed.

  “Did he ever tell you how old he is? Or are you just making an assumption?”

  Jeff bit his lip and looked down.

  “No, he never said.”

  “Trust me, I went to school with him thirty years ago and he was in his early twenties then.”

  “How old are you?” Jeff asked.

  “Didn't your mother teach you to never ask a woman that question?”

  “Yeah, but...”

&nb
sp; “I'm older than Michael and that's all I'll say about it.”

  Jeff shook his head.

  “You look a few years younger than him.”

  Rynn stayed silent.

  “Okay then, I won't pry. I need to go work on my garden. Michael gave me a section of my own to prepare and plant.”

  Jeff turned to leave the porch and the door almost hit him in the face. Liz came walking out, following a black and white butterfly the size of a softball.

  “Gerry told me she's got something to show me,” Liz said.

  Rynn blinked and switched to her Sight.

  What's one of the little Fae doing here? I thought there were only a few places left in the country they were comfortable in. Dad's place near the tree, that place on the west coast, and that swamp down south. What's one doing here? It seems there's more to talk about with Michael than I thought.

  Liz followed the butterfly across the yard and towards the stream. Rynn wasn't worried at all, some of the happiest memories of her childhood were of playing with the Fae. They'd keep Liz protected if it was possible and alert someone if they weren't up to the task themselves.

  Rynn watched the rather domestic happenings in the back yard and wondered if Michael was happy like this.

  I can see the attraction of it, for at least part of the time. But I think I'd need a bit more excitement than this appears to offer.

  A scream from the basement cut off her musings. She rushed into the house and headed downstairs.

  I need to be careful what I wish for, I just might get it, she thought.

  She heard footsteps on the stairs behind her and turned her head to see Michael following her. Evidently he hadn't been completely lost in his explorations.

  “Which one is it?” he asked.

  Rynn shook her head.

  “I don't know yet, it sounded like one of the boys though.”

  She turned and opened the first door she encountered. Sean was half in and half out of bed. He wasn't totally awake, but he also wasn't asleep. The edge of the dresser was singed and the smell of fresh wood smoke competed with the the musty smell of the basement.

  “Sean?” she said.

  He looked around and then focused his eyes on her.

  “Rynn, you're here. What happened?”