The Iron Cursed

by J. M. Briggs

  “Here here!” Nicki said. “Hard to believe that we’re almost to the halfway point.”

  Bran chuckled at her remark. “Well, so long as all of us finish in four years,” Bran reminded her. “That’s not exactly guaranteed.” He looked back at Alex. “Studied out?”

  “I guess,” Alex replied. “I’ve been reading the same page forever.”

  “Well then you’re still doing better than Nicki,” Jenny said. She looked over at Nicki’s tablet. “Nicki isn’t even looking at school stuff.”

  “I’m resting my brain,” Nicki protested. “Besides, it’s news. I’m an anthropology major. I need to stay up to date with the real world too. I can’t just worry about school and magic.”

  “So, anything interesting in the news?” Lance asked.

  “Sure, but nothing surprising,” Nicki said. She moved her fingers across the tablet. “Another hurricane building in the south that they expect to land.”

  “God rolled a critical failure again,” Aiden muttered. Leaning on his hand, he peered out the window and ignored the look that Jenny was giving him. “Uh, sorry. Old inside joke from a game a few years back.”

  Nicki laughed and Jenny just shook her head. “It’s fine,” Jenny said. “All things considered it doesn’t really matter.” Jenny reached for the bag of cookies. “If we’re taking a break, then enjoy the sugar.”

  Bran reached into his backpack and pulled out a square cloth bag. Alex snorted a little when he opened it to reveal the cheap tarot card deck Nicki had gotten him in Paris. Raising an eyebrow, Alex rested her chin in her hand and watched as Bran gently shuffled the cards and began to cut them.

  “You’re still using those?” Aiden asked. “Really?”

  “Figured it couldn’t hurt.” Bran shrugged and then gave them all a knowing smile. “And it isn’t like this group is the image of productive studying at the moment.”

  Alex didn’t want to touch the cards but said nothing as Bran held them out to her. She quickly shuffled them and handed them back to Bran, who focused on them intently. He checked outside through the window in the room, but there was no one else in sight. Then his yellow magic spread from his fingertips and created an aura around the deck. Alex raised an eyebrow and wondered if giving the cards some extra magic would actually help. Bran divided the cards up into three piles and then held them out to Alex one at a time. She pulled a single card from each deck and placed them on the table in front of Bran.

  “The past.” Bran flipped over a card and visibly grimaced.

  Alex merely raised an eyebrow at the image of a figure collapsed on the ground with ten swords sticking out of them. “I’m going to guess betrayal,” Alex said drily. “Well I’ll give your cards that: they nailed that particular event.”

  “Yes,” Bran agreed. “The Ten of Swords does represent a betrayal in your past. And the present is,” Bran said dramatically as he flipped over the next card. This one had the image of a woman holding a globe, but it was upside down. “The World.” He paused thoughtfully, frowning slightly. “It’s reversed, which is supposed to mean a lack of completion.” His green eyes bored into Alex’s. “Or a lack of closure.”

  “What of the future?” Alex asked in what she hoped as a calm voice. “What does our oracle see?”

  Bran hesitated, apparently his thought that this was a good idea was waning. Alex started to reach for the card, unwilling to let it frighten her, but Bran moved and turned it over first. A figure of a man was hanging upside down from a tree.

  “Huh,” Alex said. “That looks pleasant.” Chuckling, Alex shook her head and leaned back in her chair. “No offense, Bran, but I’m not sure what you think that tells us.”

  “It could mean several things, including letting go.” Bran held her gaze for a moment in a silent challenge, but Alex stayed quiet. She only relaxed a little when he added, “And frankly I keep hoping that using the cards will trigger a vision of something useful. It would be nice to have a way to control those.”

  “Is scrying not working?” Nicki asked.

  Bran shook his head. “Not using the mirror. I keep trying to look into them, but I just can’t focus and get it to work unless I know what I’m looking for. It’s just not the right medium for me.” He gestured at the cards. “Hopefully this or something else will work better.”

  “It would be nice to have some warning,” Alex agreed. “But with the way our lives work we can probably assume that there’s always something coming.” Her tone turned bitter and Alex tried to smile. “We hardly need a bad omen to know that.”

  “I don’t even want to know what a bad omen would be to mages,” Lance said. He offered Alex a slight smile, probably picking up on her own discomfort. “I mean, what would you find weird in this town?”

  “Being swarmed with a flock of ravens,” Alex suggested with a shrug. “For a place called Ravenslake, there really aren’t a lot of ravens here.”

  “There have never been a lot here,” Aiden said. “But the first settlers apparently saw a raven land on the first building frame they put up or something. I don’t actually remember the story.” Then he glanced towards Alex, “And a group of ravens is actually an unkindness of ravens,” Aiden informed her with a smile. “Not a flock.”

  “And a group of crows is a murder,” Nicki added. “A group of owls is a parliament.”

  “How do you know these things?” Alex demanded around a smile. The tension in the room had bene successfully broken.

  “My brain,” Nicki said dismissively. “It stores what it thinks is interesting and rejects everything else. Bit annoying, especially when I’m trying to study for finals.”

  “Your brain has always been strange,” Aiden said. “That’s just you.”

  “You’re being mean, Aiden,” Nicki pouted.

  “I think the others know you well enough at this point that they know you have a strange brain.” Aiden shrugged. “Always has been. The day you become normal is the day I know a pod person has replaced you and we’re dealing with aliens of another kind.”

  Nicki frowned at Aiden. “Is this about Christine?” Nicki asked. “You’re not still sore about that, are you?”

  Alex blinked, wondering just what she’d missed lately. Who was Christine? Aiden blushed and glanced around the table. They were all watching with curiosity now. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who had missed something.

  “I don’t need you setting me up with girls.” Aiden glared at Nicki and Alex watched with growing amusement. “I’m not that rusty.”

  “You and Sarah dated for a long time,” Nicki reminded him. “She’s pretty much the only girl you ever dated.”

  “Not the only girl,” Aiden huffed. “And you kept trying to steal my girlfriends, so the fact that it’s a short list is completely your fault!”

  “It’s not my fault you’re still bitter about losing that bet.” Nicki was smiling like a cat that had the bird firmly under its paw. “I just was known to be a better kisser.”

  “Seriously? You’re bringing that up now?” Aiden raised an eyebrow at her. “Anyway, it wasn’t a fair bet,” Aiden grumbled.

  “You shouldn’t have bet me who would kiss a girl first.”

  “I still want to know who,” Aiden said. “There were only two other lesbians in our school so who was the third?”

  “I’ll never tell.” Nicki laughed out loud, toying with the end of her red braid. “Best twenty bucks I’ve ever received.”

  Bran laughed and shook his head. “We’ve officially devolved into the Aiden and Nicki show.”

  “You mean Nicki and Aiden show,” Nicki corrected quickly.

  “I don’t think we’re going to get much done,” Bran finished. His eyes were almost twinkling in amusement. “Shall we call it a night?”

  Alex didn’t have to be told twice. Closing her book, she reached down for her backpack and began putting everything away. The others chatted as they packed up and Alex let their voices wash over her. It was reassuring and helped
ease the knot. Stretching out her arms, Alex groaned slightly at the tension in her back. Everything was tight and a bit painful, but she wasn’t sure why.

  Suddenly, it hit her. There was no warning. The wave of magic crashed over her and Alex’s own power flared in her chest. Gripping the edge of the table, Alex struggled to stay upright. It was crawling over her. A dark sense of familiarity and terror blurred together. Someone grabbed her arm and called her name, but Alex struggled to form any words.

  “I’ve got you,” Bran said. “Try to breathe.”

  “Something is coming,” Alex choked. “At the lake.”

  “What is it?” Aiden asked calmly. Glancing up, she saw that his phone was in his hand. “Can you tell?”

  She didn’t want to, but Alex focused on the lingering sensation. It tingled all over her body. Like being watched combined with a cold drizzle down the neck. She could breathe easier now, but it stuck to her skin like a bad odor. It took her only a moment to realize where she’d sensed this presence before. There was a vague memory of a dark place and a blue glow. Her mind provided the name: Brekszta.

  Without even thinking about it, Alex began to release her magic, letting it roll out around them. There was something in the air. A vibration coming from the lake that taunted her and teased her own magic with its own twisted variation.

  “Old One,” Alex said. “I can feel it releasing its own energy.”

  “So it’s like Chernobog,” Aiden grumbled. “Wonderful.”

  “Is it Brekszta?” Nicki asked.

  “I think so.”

  “Our cars are at the dorms,” Bran pointed out. “It’ll take us a few minutes to cross campus.”

  Alex shivered and rubbed her arms. Bran was clearly worried and Alex didn’t even try to reassure him before she took off. The others were behind her as she rushed down the stairs and out the door. Her backpack was too heavy to run with and she considered just dumping it. But there were other students heading into the library. They were chatting and laughing as finals were their biggest problems. Narrowing her eyes at them, Alex was aware of her magic twisting in her chest. One of the voices suddenly grew louder, but she recognized it as Cuthbert. Alex pointedly ignored him, wanting nothing to do with the slave ship captain’s view of the world.

  It was still light outside, though the sun was beginning to sink to the west of town behind the mountains. Pale golden light poured across the campus, but Alex couldn’t even be bothered to appreciate how it illuminated the green trees and the various flower beds scattered around the walkways. Her eyes were scanning the area as she tried to see the lake. Cars drove past them as the group reached one of the roads. There was an itch at the back of Alex’s neck that urged her to stop and take one, but instead, she ran across the street with the others on her heels.

  “Alex,” Nicki called. “Slow down!”

  “We have to get to Brekszta!” Alex shouted.

  “We’ve texted Morgana,” Nicki replied. “She and Merlin are on their way. Try to calm down.”

  Something in Nicki’s voice tugged at her. Nicki was worried. Alex could understand that, but her own worry was getting knotted up with her other emotions and she couldn’t deal with Nicki’s right now. The lights of the dorms were on now as the sun’s light started to fade. Most people had headed indoors, but there was one group on the lawn who were walking towards town.

  Bran started to move towards the parking lot of the dorm, but Alex stopped in place. Her eyes moved back to the lake and she stretched out her magic. Around her the world was hazy and someone caught her shoulder. Distantly, she heard someone call to Bran. They were all waiting for her. Alex pushed out more magic, letting it wash over her skin.

  The being had moved around the lake while they’d been crossing campus. Panting a little, Alex looked towards the lake. Alex could somehow see a figure through the trees of the campus arboretum. She knew she shouldn’t be able to, but it was there. Her magic was humming and spreading out further, closing around the figure.

  “Alex?” Nicki called.

  Breaking into a run, Alex ignored the cold shivers taking over her body. The others would sense it soon. Alex followed the path through the arboretum, glancing around to make sure that there were no students hanging around. The lampposts were flickering on around her as the last rays of the sun vanished. She knew that Old Ones didn’t have the same problems with bright lights that the Sídhe did, but it would have been nice to fight in the daylight.

  Following the path down towards the shore, Alex finally had to stop at the edge of the pavement. Just down the hill was the pebbled shore of Ravens Lake. The others caught up with her, but no one said anything. Alex wanted to tell Lance and Jenny to leave, but the words were stuck in her throat. Hopefully they’d at least stay back. Alex could see the figure clearly now. She was short with long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail. There were no weapons in her hands, but Alex’s magic brushed against the figure. It was not human. Energy pushed back against her own and Alex swallowed.

  The Old One turned to look at them. Brekszta looked human, but her face was too thin and pale to pass as healthy. Vacant brown eyes rolled like a doll’s as she shifted her head towards Alex. Then her worm-thin lips curved into a smile and a spark appeared in those dull eyes. Alex forced herself to stay still even as her heart pounded. Brekszta wore a red sundress beneath a leather coat but had no shoes on. She took a step towards them, unbothered by the gravel of the beach.

  “So the little mages came,” Brekszta said. Her smile widened. “Excellent.”

  23

  Goddess of Twilight

  There was a moment when no one moved. Alex and her fellow students took in the odd figure. She looked harmless enough: almost childlike with dimples, but Alex’s stomach turned as the strange energy of the being brushed against her magic. It was wrong. Wrong in a way that Sif wasn’t. A cold chill was creeping up her spine. Brekszta giggled at the silence, bringing a pale hand up to cover her mouth. Her dimples deepened and her eyes glinted with mirth. Alex almost wanted them vacant once more.

  “So many mages!” Brekszta clapped her hands together, folding them as if praying. “Oh, and two more on the way. How lovely for the Iron Soul; so many to share the burden.” Her eyes fixed on Alex. “And a pretty girl form this time. Tall and blonde. Are you Norse again?” Brekszta looked at her expectantly.

  Alex blinked, suddenly at a loss of how to deal with this. “Uh, yes,” Alex finally answered. “Not completely though.”

  “And pretty gray eyes, like a storm,” Brekszta said. “Or a stone. Like a lifeless statue with nothing to move for. Oh, or like iron. It’s probably like iron, isn’t it, Iron Soul?”

  “Why are you in Ravenslake?” Bran asked from beside her. “Do you come with a message?”

  “I’ve been sending my messages.” Brekszta’s playful tone changed, suddenly becoming serious. “But no one is listening.”

  Crazy was the word that Alex was thinking, but at the moment this Old One wasn’t trying to kill them. Alex’s magic was still pulsing through her at the ready and she held up a hand to keep the others back. Thankfully, they understood the gesture. Brekszta just kept watching her and Alex took a small step forward. The bottoms of her shoes shifted the gravel and mud of the beach. In her chest, that knot was tightening at the memory of the nightmares.

  A truck bearing down on her parents’ car flashed in front of her eyes. The knot tightened. Her foot started to slip and Brekszta smiled once again. Regaining her footing, Alex glared at the Old One. The voices suddenly grew louder. Alex flinched.

  Brekszta raised her hands, waving her fingers in an almost friendly manner. But then her body shimmered. It rippled like a hologram in a movie. Her smile widened and Alex took an instinctive step back, bringing up her own hands. Flares of dark blue magic spun around Brekszta’s hands, swirling out of her physical form. With a shrill laugh, Brekszta shoved them forward towards the group.

  The glittering dark blue magic filled the air like
a dense fog, curling around them and sweeping through the trees. Fire flashed in the corner of Alex’s eyes. Aiden and Bran were both unleashing streams of flame from their hands to hold back the waves of magic. It swirled up in a shimmer of dark blue and purple, twisting like an ice cream cone before crashing down as a wave.

  “Lance! Jenny! Go back to the dorm!” Alex shouted. “Merlin and Morgana need to know where we are!”

  She didn’t turn around to make sure they obeyed. Alex hoped they would. One of the voices quieted at her words, eased and relieved at their safety. Moving towards the lake, Alex tried to track Brekszta’s movements. The Old One was drawing back and Alex heard a splash in the water. Rushing forward, she stopped and looked around frantically at the edge of the water. There was nothing in front of her. The dark magic was spinning through the air but giving her a wide berth as if she was in the eye of a storm.