by Kit Fortier
He'd heard it before, but not from a man. Certainly not one like Fox. But Fox found a way to say it that Jake would never forget.
A tear splashed on Jake's chest. His eyes sped up to Fox's face. Fox's eyes were brimming and red. Jake could tell Fox was barely holding it together-the flood gates were creaking and ready to burst open.
Jake backed up, gently unseating Fox. He got on his knees on the bed and held Fox near.
Fox grabbed at Jake while he pressed his face into Jake's chest. Jake held him tight as the man in his arms sobbed. Jake's heart broke at the wailing, mournful sounds.
At first, Jake wondered why. Then he remembered. Dots connected. For all his talk about leaving this place, he was being chased out and cut off from everything he knew his whole life.
This wasn't a gentle letting go. That's what Fox and his dad had. But for everything else, his life here, his favorite places, the world he'd known…
This was a goodbye.
13. Circling the Tower
*** Fox
The wind from the road soothed Fox. Jake looked over at him from the driver's seat and smiled. It would only be a short drive, but Fox suspected the feats Jake was about to perform would be lengthier.
Over an hour before, Jake tended to Fox, drying his eyes and holding him close. Jake gave Fox time to let out his fears, his grief.
For all the times he'd feared abandonment from those who loved him, Fox's guilt had pressed against his lungs. His father had the luxury of knowing this day would come eventually. He had mentally prepared himself. Fox was literally leaping into this headfirst, to hell with consequences.
He hoped to come back someday, to share what he'd been through with his dad.
When Fox finally stilled, Jake got the both of them cleaned up in the shower. He dressed him in more hiking-appropriate clothes. He even helped him put his own hiking gear together.
Fox found his pup tent and moved to attach it to the frame of his hiking pack when Jake stopped him.
"Don't worry about that, Foxy. Remember, I just make a shelter," he said, with a wink.
Right. With alchemy. Fox nodded, smiling.
After that, they cleaned up the mess Fox made while he ravaged Jake. Fox threw out all food that would potentially expire. Jake took out the trash, to include the mutilated raven corpses outside.
They made a beeline across the walkway to Jake's room. No dead birds in front of his door. But Fox could now see the faint, tell-tale signs of a silvery half-circle line that protected his door.
"Jake? Which other rooms did you shield?"
Jake put his hand on the door and went quiet for a moment. Fox's brows furrowed, but then rose in surprise when Jake casually pushed the door open and walked in. He realized Jake must have locked the door alchemically. Not even the key card would work.
"All of them. Couldn't take any chances."
Fox smiled slightly. At least his employees would have some protection against this terrifying unknown.
He hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.
Fox watched Jake head straight for the cabinets of his kitchenette.
"Hey baby, mind if I use some of these plastic bowls and cups for something?"
"Is it for alchemy?"
"Yep. I'm gonna transmute a sheath for your knife."
Fox nodded. "Take what you need. I'm gonna tell my staff not to come in here until the professional cleaners come through. We get them to come from Sundance. Better equipped."
Jake gathered a couple of bowls and cups, creating a bit of noise. They were all different solid colors between them, along with a steel wool sponge from the sink. Fox watched in curiosity as Jake took all the items into the room proper and dumped them on the bed.
"Lemme get your knife," Jake said as he rifled through his pack. He pulled out a leather parchment and spread it open on the bed. Fox untied the bowie knife from the front of his pack. He opened up the cloth that served as a temporary sheath. Fox handed the knife to Jake without ceremony. He saw what Jake laid out the bed-the sheath had a large transmutation circle burned into it. Along the edges of the circle, he saw the symbols from the smaller one back at the campsite.
Fox was quiet as Jake moved. He was purposeful and quick as he placed the knife in the center of the circle and piled the kitchen items on top of it. Then, without pomp, Jake touched his hand over the circle marked "ARGENTVM" and froze. He focused on the items in the middle.
The plastics cracked and shattered into small pieces of colorful rubble. They cracked and shattered again, over and over. Soon, the pieces eventually became a pile of fine, multicolored powder. The pile flashed and smoldered, becoming a blackened, compact version of itself. The soap blended into the steel wool burned away in a puff of chemical-smelling smoke. The wool unraveled, weaving its way up and down the blade. As the wool moved, Fox watched the plastic melt and shift. It moved like black quicksilver all over the steel fibers. The fibers appeared to absorb them and surround the blade. Some of the plastic seemed to tighten and congeal. In moments, they turned into threads that wove into themselves tightly. They created a couple of short lengths of strap.
It wasn't long before Fox was staring at a sheathed knife. It was complete with a small strap that secured the tool with a metal snap.
"Here," Jake said, handing him the bowie knife. Fox took it and realized Jake had made it so he could secure it to his leg when he hung it from his belt.
"How is it that you can make such--" Fox searched for the word. "Complete copies, or versions or… Just why does it feel right?"
Jake gave him a considered look. "A lot of times, you can transmute anything as long as you have the proper materials and a solid imagination. But for other things, your imagination won't do. You might have to recall an object from memory. You have to learn to develop an eidetic memory for this kind of transmutation. It's a precise, short-term ability. Except in that case," Jake pointed at the knife Fox secured. "I've made quite a few of those throughout the years that I know every detail of the first one I ever owned."
"Eidetic, not photographic?"
Jake smiled. "Photographic memory is something for superheroes in comic books," he said not unkindly. "It doesn't exist the way people think of it. You can probably remember every detail of one or two objects or pages of text in your life--but it never stays. Something always goes."
He pulled out a tee shirt that was snug in his arms and chest, but it hung off him loosely around the top of his jeans. He then threw everything else together, leaving nothing behind. They left the room, and closed the door, allowing it to lock in the normal way.
Jake and Fox cleaned out the garbage from inside the footlocker. They shifted everything around with the cooler, which was now back in Fox's apartment. Also gone were the seats, the mattress, the compressor, the pillows, and the thicker blanket. Though, Jake insisted (and Fox laughed) they were going to use the blanket from beneath the pine.
Fox did manage to pack a sixty-meter single rope for potential climbing. Jake grinned, but approved.
Their packs fit neatly into the back seat of the cab. Jake insisted they ride up front rather than in the footlocker. They would have easier if not immediate access.
Now, they were on the road. Jake asked to drive, since he knew the paths he needed to get to. They flew up 14, passing the Keystone Reservoir on their right, on their way to Devils Tower.
*** Jake
"What are we going to do here?" Fox asked as Jake drove into the park's parking lot.
Jake kept quiet for a moment, deciding whether he should go all in. But Fox was all in, so he realized it would be better to let it all out. He found a shady spot away from other park vacationers. He pulled in backwards and parked, with Devils Tower occupying much of their view.
"You saw that circle from my pack in my room, right?" Jake asked, rhetorically.
"Yes."
"I want you to imagine that, but on a level that goes through eleven states."
Fox's eyes bugged out. "Eleven?" he exclaimed
.
"Yep. Wyoming. Montana. Idaho. Washington. Oregon. California. Arizona. New Mexico. Colorado. Nebraska. South Dakota."
Fox stammered. "That's--That's a lot of walking!"
Jake nodded, amused.
"Okay. Huge," Fox emphasized, "huge circle. And I'm assuming monstrous diamond--"
"Square."
"Okay, square."
Jake smiled. "The four points of the square inside the circle are Devils Tower, Lake Pend Oreille, Mount Shasta, and Sedona." Fox nodded, and Jake continued. "Along the way between each point, I set down two markers. All told, that's one big circle, and three squares inside of it, which creates…"
Fox's face screwed in thought, his eyes darting. "It makes another circle inside the circle, like the one on your scroll."
"It's not a perfect circle, but it holds like one."
"It's a gigantic transmutation circle?"
"It's the points to one. One thing's missing that I can't provide myself, unless I wanted to tear up the land to do it."
Fox looked lost.
"Do you know what an umbra is?"
"It's a shadow, right?"
"Yep. In this case, a big one."
Jake watched the pieces clicking into place in Fox's eyes.
"There's a solar eclipse coming."
"You got it. But a normal solar eclipse won't work. It's not a perfect circle.
"So, it has to be a total--" Jake saw Fox turn to look at him, his bright green eyes focused on his own.
"The shadow from the solar eclipse is your circle."
"There you go."
"What on earth are you transmuting that you need a circle so big?"
Jake took Fox's hand in his. The thrum that Jake came to expect pulsed warmly, steadily between them.
"Everyone on earth has the spark, excepting magicked beings, of course."
"Right."
"Some have more than others. The amount is fixed and cannot change."
Fox nodded.
"There are dozens, or even hundreds of people throughout the world who can use alchemy. that leaves billions of others who cannot."
"Okay."
"Now, the spark isn't like a soul or whatever. It's energy. Energy transferred from the planet made manifest. And like most energy, it vibrates. Some natives say that a spirit is in everything-rocks, trees, the water. They're not wrong, considering the spark. So, the vibration itself is a form of energy."
Jake saw Fox struggling.
"Imagine a single, lit candle," Jake said, massaging Fox's wrist with his thumb, gentle and soft. "The flame gives off heat, yes?"
Fox nodded slowly.
"Now imagine a thousand, single, lit candles. Imagine how much heat that causes."
"A lot, I'd say."
"Yep. Now, this array that I'm making-that I'm close to completing, is designed to collect the heat and transfer it."
"To who?"
"Well… The energy would transfer to the person whose blood was used in the creation of it."
*** Fox
Fox couldn't believe what he was hearing. But the world of alchemy was completely new to him, and he knew he would need some time to find his bearings in it.
But this revelation baffled him. He gripped Jake's hand firmly, but not unkindly, and turned his wrist over.
"This," Fox said, running his own thumb over a few of the thickened scars on Jake's wrist. "This was you bloodletting, over the span of three thousand miles?"
"Seven. The circle, then the inner square."
"Baby, I'm worried. Why… Why do you need this?"
Fox watched Jake's eyes harden.
"My mentor and I… We worked on this. He was tired of the fight and wanted to find a way to better combat the mages who kept coming after us. At first, we were looking for ways to hide, but that… That turned out to be impossible. So, we focused our efforts, and worked out a way to fight back."
"How will this help?"
"You know how I have to use circles, focus, materials and such?"
Fox nodded once.
"All the combined energy from a renewable source--the vibration of roughly sixty to eighty million sparks--would flow into me. It would allow me to bypass the need for circles," Jake said, then pointed to his Locus, "this, the litanies in my head. I could create anything at will, as long as the materials are there."
Fox's mind raced at the possibilities. He realized how long it took him to do something as simple, alchemically, as lighting a fire. He had to focus on that for a longer time than Jake did. Some things would come with practice, that much was certain. But the need for implements and focus would still constrain him.
An important question remained.
"This won't hurt anyone, right?" Fox looked into Jake's eyes.
"It won't."
Fox saw no lie in Jake's eyes. It would have to work.
*** Jake
Jake pulled both of their packs from the footlocker. He passed them down to Fox, who stood outside the truck, waiting. Jake then dug out his mix of salt and silver, spreading a thin circle around the truck. After he sealed the line in place, Jake put the mix away, and began walking towards the trails leading to the Tower. Yet, instead of using the well-worn trails, Jake ushered Fox into the tree line. They trundled alongside the beaten path, away from prying eyes in the skies.
The two ended up leaving the path altogether, walking a wide circle around the tower. Jake paused at certain spots. He swept his foot across the dirt until he uncovered one of the circles he had made. It was about two feet in diameter. Fox watched Jake set up his circle. Using one of his silver knives, Jake would split his skin at his wrist, and allow blood to flow, pouring more than a few drops, and minutes later, he'd drive the circles deep into the earth. The hole the circle made would fill up, and Jake dressed the naked earth with leaves. It was a process they repeated eleven more times and took twelve hours.
In fact, day had turned into night.
They were making good time. Jake lead Fox to the Tower.
Fox bumped elbows with Jake as he hiked at his side. Jake noticed a strange look of contentment on his face.
"You're smiling." Jake said.
Fox inhaled deeply. "I've been behind the front desk too long."
"I'd think you'd know this place forwards and backwards."
"True," Fox said. "But if I had a choice, I'd rather work here than there."
Jake smiled as he reached out, tangling Fox's fingers with his, then holding his hand.
They walked in companionable silence to the shadowed side of the Tower. When they arrived, Jake took measure of the time. "We'll take care of dinner up top, okay?"
"We're climbing this? Now?" Fox asked.
"If there was a time to do it, dark is the best time. Ravens have a hard time seeing at night." Jake let his pack down, as did Fox. Jake watched Fox unbuckle his climbing rope as he dug into his pack and pulled out a large, thick piece of chalk.
"What's that for?" Fox asked.
Jake smiled. He approached the imposing stone wall that was the Tower's east face. From his previous visits, he knew the tower seemed flush at first. Then the grade angled rather sharply, becoming more vertical as they reached the top.
Jake scraped out a two-foot wide circle in the stone. He touched his hand to the ring, and a few moments later, a foothold about two feet deep slowly jutted out of the wall.
Fox stared at the protrusion, blinking.
"I'm not a professional climber," Jake said, "so I have to make do. It's an incomplete transmutation. Instead of altering the composition, I'm altering the shape. Helps me climb up and down."
Fox shook his head, smiling. He secured his rope to his pack again. "Alchemy sure is handy, isn't it?"
Jake grinned. "There's a reason I don't have a tent, or ropes, or stakes, or climbing gear, or--" Jake was cut off by Fox's fingers over his lips.
"I get it," Fox said, leaning in to switch his fingers for his lips. Jake relished in Fox's taste briefly but broke away
gently when Fox's hip ground into his.
"We'd better get going. It's about a three hour climb to the top. I can't do this with a boner and some oversexed, horny," Jake paused. His eyes moved up and down Fox's body heatedly, "hot beach boy."
Fox laughed, securing his pack to his body, shifting it until it was matching his center of gravity. He came up to Jake with an innocent look in his eyes. The look worked until Fox's big hand slapped his ass, squeezing and kneading hard. He ran his digits between the cleft of his cheeks like he was trying to finger him. Jake groaned, his pants now incredibly tight. He nudged Fox away playfully.
"You're gonna pay for this when we get up there," Jake said, making a short but sexy show of grabbing his hardness.
Fox groaned.
The climb up began in laughter.
"You said you climb this in three hours?" Fox asked.
"Yep. Without all the gear to worry about, I can go yards higher without having to find all the footholds, lay down stakes..." Jake said more as he climbed with Fox behind him. At some point, words were a bit useless unless Jake looked down-and he was not in the habit of looking down while he climbed up.
14. The Grand Connection
*** Fox
The ascent to the plateau was quiet and uneventful. Jake's alchemy made the climb easy out there in the windless dark. The moon was full and rising, giving plenty of light in the night. Fox was impressed at the climb time for someone who wasn't a climber.
Fox reached out while Fox took hold of his forearm and pulled him up. He trotted a few steps toward the inside of the plateau. It was a force of habit, for fear that he'd accidentally topple over backwards to a messy end. Jake followed him and took his hand.
The veil of night cast the vista around them in shades of blue from midnight to cerulean. Fox breathed in the air, happy to have made a return to a place he'd been only twice before.
"Give me a moment," Jake said. He knelt down a couple of yards away standing at the center of the completely flat plateau.
Jake knelt down and placed his hands on the ground. He closed his eyes. To a bystander, Jake looked as if he were in prayer. But within minutes, an intricate silver circle formed around him-more like rose from the ground. Twelve lines composed of a combination of words and equations spread out with speed, likely meeting the other points that the man laid out.