But the man remained silent, stalking along behind her in the darkness, still carrying the ailing Bobby easily in his strong arms.
They arrived at a final turn and walked through another doorway with an open steel door. The room that they entered was already brightly lit with a dozen candles flickering on tables placed all around the walls.
In the middle of the vaulted room, a fire-pit had been cut out of the stone floor and a pile of embers burned sullenly.
Magnus walked past Sarah and laid Bobby down on a cot against the wall. The bed was neatly made and a brightly-colored blanket, intricately stitched with tribal symbols, covered it.
“Sarah, bring the torch over here, please,” the man instructed her. “I need more light.”
She hurried over and stood beside him as he began to remove Bobby's wrappings.
“I know how much it upsets you and the others to see each other unclothed,” Magnus told her as he worked. “So turn your head away if you are disturbed by the sight.”
“It's okay,” she replied stoutly. “I just decided this morning to stop hiding my face from everyone. I don't really care about the rest of it.”
“Did you? Well, well, that is encouraging. I've said for years that it is unhealthy for you children to be so insular, particularly with each other. Where will the next generation come from if you can't even stand to look at each other, let alone touch one another?”
Sarah felt herself blushing, but Magnus was focused on Bobby and didn't notice.
“I think that we've been too busy surviving to think about stuff like that,” she told him. “Rachel's the only one who's had a child, but no one really talks about it. I mean, who wants to have kids in this place? We can barely take care of ourselves, especially as resources become scarcer.”
Magnus stopped and turned to look up at her.
“And that is another thing. You and the other Changlings will one day have to do more than just scavenge for old tinned goods and other necessities. Have I not been saying that for years now as well? I know how strong your immune systems are, which is why this illness of Bobby's is so unusual, but more and more of your fellows are coming to me with stomach ailments as they eat preserved foods that have gone bad. One day, one of you will die from it and I would hate to see that happen when it could so easily be prevented.”
“But what else can we do?”
“Grow your own food, of course. You know that I have an entire section deeper down in the tunnels where I grow vegetables. With the system of mirrors I've set up, I can get sunlight down there and I have a reliable source of water as well. I could teach you and the others to do the same, but outside of the city, to the east or west.”
“Well, I suppose we could try,” Sarah said hesitantly. “I don't know if the others would agree though.”
“They will if they want to keep eating,” Magnus said grimly. “Pass the word around that I am willing to lend my aid if they need the help, would you?”
“Okay, I'll do that.”
As Magnus peeled away the layers of Bobby's clothing and exposed the pale body within, Sarah tried not to avert her eyes and failed. She saw her friend unclothed when they swam in the river, but this setting was so much more intimate that it made her very uncomfortable and she just couldn't watch.
“Ah, there it is,” Magnus whispered.
Sarah forced herself to look down at Bobby and saw that only his upper body was exposed. And in the middle of it, just above his sternum, was a round mark. It looked like a bruise but it was so dark that it was almost black in the torchlight.
She knelt down next to Magnus, holding the torch to one side, and stared at the spot. She frowned in confusion. Bobby's scales were almost invisible below his neck and she could see several deep scars crisscrossing his torso; evidence of a decade of scratching out a meager existence in a hard and hostile world.
“What is that?” she asked, nodding at the mark.
Magnus didn't answer. Instead, he held his open hand over Bobby's chest, just above the dark spot, and closed his eyes. He muttered words in a language that Sarah didn't know, and she watched in awe as the bruise, or whatever it was, began to fade.
Bobby moaned and shuddered, his face twisting in pain, but Sarah was relieved to see his skin begin to regain some color. When the mark had finally faded, Magnus sat back on his heels and watched as the young man opened his eyes and looked at them in confusion.
“Sarah? Magnus? Oh good, we made it,” he said softly.
“Yes, we made it,” Sarah told him with a smile. “And our friend here has healed you, Bobby.”
“He has?”
Bobby raised his hands and rubbed his face.
“I feel like I've slept for a week. Was I sick?”
Magnus shook his head and stood up in one fluid movement.
“No, you were not. You stumbled across a magical trap of some kind in the ruins. Fortunately for you, it was a poorly constructed spell and you weren't affected as quickly as I suspect the caster intended.”
He crossed the room and poured a glass of water from a pitcher while Bobby sat up slowly and looked down at himself.
“Hey, I'm naked!” he exclaimed in surprise.
“Don't exaggerate, Bobby,” Sarah told him with a grin as she watched him scrambling to picked up his scattered wrappings. “It's only your chest and I've seen that loads of times. Besides, Magnus had to find the infection. You're just lucky that it wasn't on your bum.”
Bobby turned bright red but stopped trying to cover himself and watched as Magnus returned and offered him the glass of water.
“You found it on my chest?” he asked as he accepted the water and took a sip.
“Yes, right in the center. Do you remember stumbling over something or falling yesterday?”
With a crooked grin, Bobby looked at Sarah.
“When am I not falling over something?” he asked rhetorically. “So yeah, I probably did. I activated a trap? What would it look like?”
“Anything, really,” Magnus told him as he sat down cross-legged next to the cot. “A rock, a piece of trash, an insect. Anything. Now let me warn both of you,” he continued, looking at each of the Changlings in turn. “If Bobby had received a full dose of whatever magic he came across, he wouldn't have lived long enough for you to get him here. And if you had, I don't think my skills would have been strong enough to help him. I am not a wizard.”
Sarah felt a rush of fear in her gut and stared at the man with wide eyes.
“Then what can we do? If there's one trap, there are probably more,” she said nervously.
“I agree. Do you want my honest advice?”
“Of course we do, Magnus,” she replied quickly. “Don't we, Bobby?”
Bobby looked at the man, who was watching him kindly, and blushed again. Sarah wasn't sure why, but her friend was obviously very intimidated by Magnus.
“Um, yes. We do,” he stammered. “You are the most powerful magic-user in the city, aren't you? We should listen to you, I think.”
Magnus sighed and closed his eyes briefly. He shook his head as he caressed the feathers that were braided into his long hair.
“I am not a magic-user, young man,” he said. “How many times do I have to tell you and the others that? I am a shaman. I was a shaman before the dragons returned, and I remain one to this day. I recognize magic, of course, and I am intrigued that it has finally begun returning to the world again. Why it faded away for several years is a mystery to me, but that is irrelevant. It has come back now and we must deal with it. But even in its absence, my skills remained strong. My people lived in harmony with nature, you see, and in return, the Earth gave her blessing to some of us, to aid others in their time of need. She has been Changed by the return of the dragons and of magic, as we all have, but her essence, her life force, remains strong.”
“But you Changed too, didn't you, Magnus?” Sarah asked, fascinated as always whenever the man spoke. His voice was almost hypnotic and he could ta
lk for hours and never lose her interest.
“Of course I did,” he told her with a smile. “But only physically. I was a very old man, just waiting for death to come for me, when the dragons attacked.”
He stopped touching his feathers and tented his fingers in front of him. His eyes became unfocused as he looked off into the shadows.
“I was ready to die,” Magnus said pensively. “I had lived a full life. Many of my children and grandchildren had already returned to the earth and my great grandchildren were having young ones of their own. My time was spent.”
“Wow, you were really old,” Bobby said in wonder.
“Bobby!” Sarah snapped. “That's just rude.”
“Oh, I'm sorry, Magnus!”
“Don't be,” the man told him gently. “You are right. I was very old indeed. I do not even remember how old now. But see...”
The man looked down at himself as he sat on the ground and his smile widened.
“I am young and strong again. My will to live has been renewed. And my powers... My powers are with me still. They have not waned and they tell me that evil is intent on corrupting this place. The goblins have returned, not just to raid and scavenge anything they consider useful from the bones of the city, but to set up a permanent base here. I have felt them digging deep in their hole outside of the city. Too deep for just a temporary encampment.”
Both Sarah and Bobby gasped in horror.
“Really? But goblins hate this part of the country,” Sarah objected. “Our winters are longer and harder now than they have ever been, and we get a lot of snow. And goblins really don't like snow. Why would they even want to have a base here?”
Magnus could only shrug.
“Who knows why such creatures do what they do? Perhaps their population has increased so much in the south that they have to expand even into territories that they once considered hostile. Maybe they have gotten over their aversion to water and are now growing in all directions, like an infection on the face of the Earth. I do know that Ottawa is in an excellent location from which to launch even more expansion efforts in the future, once a thriving base has been built here. The city is centrally situated and the surrounding area is rich in natural resources, perfect for them to exploit for their own purposes. And if I am correct, the first thing the goblins will do is clear out anyone still living in the city.”
He looked solemnly from Bobby to Sarah and back again.
“This trap that you got caught in is probably the first part of their plan to exterminate all of your people. Now, as soon as you can, Sarah, you must pass the word around to everyone that these evil spells are quite possibly being left throughout the city to catch them off guard. All of you Changlings can sense magic, even if many of you rarely use that skill. Well, it's time to put it to good use.”
Bobby shook his head, but Magnus interrupted him before he could speak.
“Yes, even you, Bobby,” the man said firmly. “I am not trying to insult you, but you depend on Sarah's skills too much for your own good. You have powers of your own that you could use if you put your mind to it. Believe me, I can feel them within you, ready to be used once you learn how. So you had better start doing just that, if you want to survive.”
“But... I don't know how to,” Bobby said faintly. “Are you sure? That I can use magic?”
He looked at Sarah, who smiled encouragingly. She had suspected for years that he had some kind of power within him, but Bobby had followed her lead for so long now that he had never tried to explore that possibility. And she had to take some of the blame for that.
“He's right,” she said. “I have always thought you had talent, Bobby. Maybe it's time to see what you can really do.”
“How?”
Magnus surged to his feet and towered over both of them.
“Such things take time and unfortunately we have none to spare. But I can at least teach you to feel the emanation of hostile magic that is close to you, hopefully before you stumble over it again.”
He moved over to a row of high shelves that were stuffed with all sorts of odds and ends; books, small figurines, and a lot of jars and containers; and started searching through them.
Bobby sat up on the edge of the cot, ignoring the fact that he was still bare-chested, and looked anxiously at Sarah.
“I'm scared,” he whispered to her. “Sarah, you've always been the one who could use magic. Me? I'm just the dummy who's been tagging along behind you all these years.”
She sat down beside him and deliberately put an arm around his naked shoulders. She squeezed him affectionately and then shook a finger at him.
“You are not a dummy. You are my best friend, Bobby, and if you haven't used your powers, it's my fault. I should have helped you to learn what you could do, instead of only thinking about myself. That was selfish, and I'm sorry. But if Magnus says that you can use magic, then you can. We both know how clever he is, right? So trust him now. I'll help you any way I can, but you have to believe in yourself. I do know that confidence in your own abilities is key to using the power successfully. So just go for it,” she added with a grin. “I'll bet that you can do all kinds of things that I can't.”
He smiled shyly, not pulling away from her touch, and Magnus chuckled as he came back and lowered himself to one knee in front of them.
“Sarah is correct,” he told Bobby. “You must believe in yourself to be effective when it comes to using magic. Sarah is a good example. She uses her powers as naturally as she draws breath. Now, let's see if we can't at least awaken a small portion of that ability.”
Magnus held his hands straight out. They were closed and Bobby looked at them curiously.
“In one of my hands,” the man told him, “I am holding a charm. It is not evil, per se, but it is a little...mischievous, let us say. See if you can sense which hand has the charm in it.”
“But...how?”
“Close your eyes,” Sarah hold him. “And just relax. Try to clear your mind and keep it blank. Active magic pulses, like a heart beat. Think of yourself as a still pool and the magic as a breeze blowing across the surface of that pool.”
“Excellent analogy,” Magnus said. “Open your mind, Bobby, and don't resist. That is the key.”
“Um, okay. I'll try.”
Sarah moved down the cot to give him some room and Bobby stared at Magnus' closed hands doubtfully before shutting his eyes. He looked less than convinced that this experiment would work.
The room became quiet, the only sound coming from the embers crackling softly in the fire-pit. The sweet smell of burnt cedar wood hung in the air.
Sarah watched Bobby, her hands clenched tightly as she silently waited for him to make his choice.
“Wait. What is that?” Bobby murmured. “Is it...music? No, not music. But something is humming. In my head.”
He frowned and then actually hummed a few notes.
Sarah and Magnus exchanged a glance and the man gave her a quick wink. She smiled in return. It seemed like Bobby was sensing the magical talisman as some kind of mental music. Interesting. She had always perceived magic as waves of warmth or invisible wafts of air. Apparently each person reacted to the power differently.
Bobby raised his right hand and reached out, his eyes still closed. He slowly extended a finger and pointed at Magnus' left hand.
“The humming is coming from there. I think.”
“Open your eyes,” Magnus told him and, when Bobby did, the man turned his hand over and opened it.
A round wooden medallion lay on his palm. It was covered with tiny symbols and glowed a pale blue in the dim candlelight and Bobby grinned as he saw it.
“I got it right!” he exclaimed. “Woohoo!”
“You certainly did,” Magnus agreed. “And as a reward, I want you to have the charm.”
Bobby looked at him in surprise and then hesitantly took the medallion off of his palm.
“Thank you very much,” he said softly as he examined it. “What
does it do?”
Magnus smiled at him and shrugged.
“I have no idea. As I told you, I do not use magic. But the man who gave it to me many years ago told me that it bestowed good luck on the person who wore it. I don't know if that is true, but I do know that it is not evil or dangerous. So take it, my friend, as a gift. Who knows? It may actually be a lucky charm. And in the days ahead, we may all need some luck.”
Bobby slipped the charm into a hidden pocket inside of his wrappings and then did something that Sarah had never seen him do before. He took Magnus' hand in both of his and squeezed it tightly.
“Thank you, Magnus,” he whispered. “I'll keep it, always.”
Chapter 4
“You two can stay here for the night,” Magnus told them as he pushed a log into the embers of the fire pit and moved it around until it began to burn. “The goblins are already streaming into the city and you are safer staying here than trying to get back home.”
“Thank you, Magnus,” Sarah said gratefully. “I think that Bobby needs to get some sleep after what he's been through.”
“I'm fine,” Bobby protested. “I feel great now.”
In the flickering flames of the fire pit, his eyes looked very shiny and slightly out of focus and Sarah laughed at him.
“You're half asleep already,” she told him. “Anyway, Magnus is right. It's too dangerous to try and reach our place with those damned goblins roaming around. At least we still know that they won't come out during the daylight, even if Magnus thinks that they have gotten over their hatred of water.”
“I did not say that,” the shaman corrected her as he rummaged through several large wooden crates that were stacked against one wall. “I personally believe that they are establishing a presence here despite their aversion to water, not because they are not longer afraid of it.”
He pulled out a rolled-up blanket and carried it over to Sarah.
The Changlings (The New Earth Chronicles Book 2) Page 4