Spellsmith & Carver: Magicians' Rivalry

by H. L. Burke

  A black bird collided with Auric. His breath went out, and he sprawled onto his face. He covered his head with his arms.

  Orange light burst above him. A phoenix swooped through the swarming beasts, sparks flying from its wings. The monsters scattered.

  Head down, Auric dashed the last several yards onto solid ground.

  “You all right?” Jericho looked up from the quire.

  “I think so. Did you do that?” Auric pointed towards where the phoenix still danced in figure-eights over the bridge.

  “It’s just an illusion. We better move on before they figure that out or the spell runs its course.”

  Before Auric could respond, the bridge, full of gaps where the monsters had pierced it, disintegrated into a shower of golden dust. The monsters gave a collective shout and dove into the cover of the clouds. Father’s footsteps remained, hovering in mid-air like a beam of sunlight.

  Jericho blinked. “What just happened?”

  “My best guess?” Auric asked. “That bridge was our portal between this world and our own, and the spell I cast gave out after those … things attacked it.”

  “You made the spell.” Jericho motioned towards the trees and the two men started walking. “Wouldn’t you know if the bridge were part of it? Also, why would your father’s footprints go across it if it were your spell?”

  They ducked under the low branches of overgrown trees with vines and moss dripping from the limbs. The glowing footprints marked an easily followed path through the haze. Jericho reached into his pack and pulled out a long knife.

  “It’s theoretical magic. Probably not something you’d understand or be interested in.” Auric wiped his brow. In spite of the rosemary’s protection, the constant buzz of magic against his skin caused a cold sweat.

  “Try me.” Jericho cut through some vines over their path.

  “Well, the theory is that the Fey Lands manifest ideas in concrete form. That’s why Fey energy can power magic. It takes thought and will and creates substance.” Auric stooped under a tendril Jericho had missed. “So the idea of my spell was to create a path that bridged two worlds, following my father.”

  “And the Fey energies manifest that as a physical bridge?” Jericho nodded.

  “Basically.”

  Jericho turned back, a grimace on his face. “The practical repercussion of that is we can’t trust anything we encounter here. It’s all an illusion.”

  Auric hesitated. He hadn’t counted on the carpenter’s son being so quick on the uptake. “Yeah.”

  “And the black birds of death? I’m presuming they weren’t a part of your original spell.”

  “No, they certainly weren’t.” Auric winced.

  Jericho dabbed at his face with his sleeve. Apparently the magical energy wasn’t kind to him either. “Some sort of defense? To stop people from crossing over?”

  “Probably.” Auric’s stomach clenched. Had his father been similarly attacked?

  “Well, at least we know your dad got past it.” Jericho waved towards the footprints which disappeared into the underbrush ahead of them.

  “There’s an upside to it, too, though,” Auric said. “In our world we are limited to the Fey power around us. Here, there is unending energy. If my understanding of it is right, it should energize our spells, making them even more powerful than they would be at home.”

  “But can our quires handle that?” Jericho frowned.

  “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.” The worst that could happen would be the quire burning out from the energy before the spell was complete, like a paper quire crumbling when a magician tried to write a spell more appropriate for wood upon it. How that would affect his wax, Auric wasn’t sure.

  Mist lay in pools between the trees. As they waded through one soupy patch, tendrils of white vapor twined up Auric’s legs. He pulled out his tablet and scratched out a quick spell. A burst of wind scattered the fog.

  “It seems harmless enough. Don’t let it spook you,” Jericho said.

  “I’m not spooked!” Auric snapped.

  Jericho raised his eyebrows.

  Auric was three symbols into writing a spell to knock Jericho onto his rump when a mournful but melodic cry rent the silent forest. Jericho held one hand towards Auric’s face then put a finger over his mouth. Auric gritted his teeth until his jaw hurt but returned his tablet to his pocket.

  With a silence that belied his size, Jericho crept through the underbrush. The trees thinned ahead. Auric followed and peered out from behind a mossy oak, the girth of which easily would’ve filled the parlor at home.

  A herd of small, elegant horses darted through the grass beside a starry pool which somehow reflected orbs of light in spite of the cloudy sky above. The beasts danced, their coats ranging from pure white, to silver, to deep almost lavender gray. One turned a delicate pointed head towards the men’s hiding place. A rapier-sharp horn glinted between its shining eyes.

  Fairy tales pranced through Auric’s brain. “I didn’t think they were real.”

  “I’m still not fully convinced.” Jericho drew away from the unicorns. “This is a distraction. The path goes that way.” He pointed into the thick, murky woods.

  “Can’t we just enjoy the fact that we’re probably the first mortal men in centuries to see actual unicorns?” Auric asked.

  The largest of the beasts gave a shrill whinny, its doe-eyes narrowing and flashing red. Its hoof hit the ground, sending sparks into the air, and it charged straight at them.

  “Run!” Auric yelped. They crashed through the trees, dodging this way and that. The unicorn snorted and huffed behind them. Its horn sliced through the underbrush like a saber.

  “This way!” Jericho caught a low hanging branch and pulled himself up. Auric leaped for the same spot but only caught on by his fingertips. Jericho grabbed him by the wrist. With a yank, he managed to get Auric into the tree, just as the unicorn barreled past.

  Finding its horn had missed its mark, the unicorn shook its head, pawed the earth, and paced back and forth beneath them. Auric took out his tablet.

  “Don’t!” Jericho cautioned. “I think it’s leaving.”

  Auric started working on a binding spell that would hold the beast in place, ignoring Jericho’s assertions.

  The unicorn trotted in a circle around their tree, gave out a triumphant “neigh,” then disappeared into the mist.

  The two men sat in silence for what felt like an hour, but the beast did not return.

  Finally, Jericho dropped down onto the forest floor. “Let’s try not to get distracted by every little thing, all right?”

  Auric fantasized about completing his binding spell and leaving Jericho trapped in an invisible cage. However, Jericho had the homing spell in his pocket. Best not to burn that bridge just yet.

  The glowing footprints led them away from the unicorns but deeper into what was swiftly becoming an impenetrable forest. Every few minutes, Jericho had to stop and hack at the plant-life with his knife or Auric would do a fire-burst spell, burning away the brambles.

  “You could use magic, too. I know you know that much,” Auric said as a blast of flame cleared their path for the third time.

  “I don’t want to waste my quires for that,” Jericho replied. “I could only carry so many.”

  Auric allowed himself a smirk. “Seems wax has the advantage there.”

  “Seems common sense and elbow grease sometimes work just as well, if not better.” Jericho sliced through a charred branch that had somehow survived Auric’s spell.

  The ground sloped downward. Somewhere in the distance, water rushed. Auric concentrated on his father’s footsteps, the only sure thing he had to hang onto and his only contribution to their journey so far.

  The roar of a river grew louder, and they exited the trees to find themselves at the bank of a rushing torrent. Father’s footsteps disappeared into the water but appeared again on the other side.

  Jericho cleared his throat, opened and shut his
mouth, and dropped his eyes. “I … I can’t swim.”

  Auric laughed.

  The apprentice glared at him. “I never needed to learn. The river was always too cold to tempt me. Besides, do you think you can get through that?” He jerked his chin at the frothing, white water.

  “No, but Father did somehow.” Auric scratched his beard. “Probably magic.”

  “Is there a water-walking spell?”

  “Yes, but it only works on calm waters. Something about surface tension, boring, academic stuff.” Auric shrugged.

  The corner of Jericho’s mouth twitched. “So, what now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Eerie, trilling calls echoed through the trees behind them. Something shook the leaves in the underbrush, so close Auric shuddered.

  “You said the bridge we crossed was part of your spell,” Jericho said. “Can you do that again?”

  “I didn’t do it intentionally the first time.” Auric scowled. “It just sort of happened. I’m a magician, not a civil engineer.”

  “Well, if we can’t cross here, we need to look elsewhere.” Jericho adjusted his pack on his shoulders and started downstream. Auric followed, his tablet in hand and his fingers twitching about his stylus.

  Ahead the river slowed around a bend. Auric paused and considered if he could wade across with his pack on his head.

  Jericho shifted from foot to foot. “Still too deep to cross.”

  “Yeah, it’s a pity man hasn’t invented a way to stay afloat and move in water.”

  A bank of fog rolled across the channel. When it lifted, a silver footbridge glinted in the distance. Auric blinked. “Was that there a minute ago?”

  Jericho shook his head. “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. Can we trust it?”

  Slipping his tablet back into his pocket, Auric glanced from the water to the bridge. “If we get much farther from my father’s path, we could lose the trail. I say we risk it.”

  Jericho rubbed the back of his neck, looking delightfully out of sorts.

  Before either man could advance on the bridge, a figure in flowing white glided out of the trees on the far side of the river. As pale as the mist around her, she extended an elegant hand and beckoned towards the men. Something stirred against Auric’s breastbone, a similar sensation to the fascination he’d felt towards the unicorn, but stronger. He strode forward.

  Jericho’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. “What are you thinking?”

  Auric clenched his jaw, his gaze flitting back to the woman. She smiled, her lips silver against her frosted skin.

  “She … she seems friendly.” Honestly, Auric wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Something, however, drew him to her. “I mean, if she meant us harm, wouldn’t she have acted on it?”

  “Unless she’s planning to draw us out onto the bridge so it can vanish under our feet.” Jericho frowned.

  “I can swim.” Auric shrugged.

  “If you don’t wish to come to me, I can come to you!” the woman called over the babbling waters. Her voice sent a pleasant chill through Auric.

  She floated across the bridge, her sheer robes fluttering about her lithe figure.

  Jericho reached into his pack for a quire.

  “Stop it! You’ll scare her!” Auric hissed.

  The woman stopped when she got to their bank. Her hands tickled the rails of the bridge. “See, perfectly safe.” Her eyes shone pale blue beneath sweeping eyelashes. “You must be a mighty magician to have come this far. We see so few mortals in this realm. Please, assure your servant that I mean you no harm.”

  Auric grinned. This woman was incredibly perceptive.

  “Auric, don’t be stupid,” Jericho whispered.

  “She’s harmless,” Auric said. “Come on, let’s cross. Maybe she’s heard something about Father.”

  He hurried to the woman. “We’re looking for another mortal. His path led us here. Have you seen him?”

  “Nay, you are the first mortal beings to cross my path in many years, perhaps centuries in your time.” She tilted her head. “Though perhaps you are not quite mortal. It takes mighty magic to cross the barrier between mortal and Fey realms. It is not an act I’d ascribe to a mere human magician.”

  Auric stuck his chest out. “I assure you, my lady, I am quite human.”

  She took his hand, her touch cold and soft like silk. “Perhaps I can help you on your quest. Follow me, magician.” She led him over the bridge.

  “Auric!” The rush of the water overwhelmed Jericho’s voice as the strange woman’s smile overwhelmed Auric’s senses. They reached the far side.

  A cold breeze tickled Auric accompanied by another wave of the magical energy so pervasive in this world. It pricked at him like needles, stronger than before. His head swam. Perhaps it was time to reapply the rosemary oil. He reached for his pack where the extra oil was kept, but she placed her hand on his cheek.

  “Come with me. My home is just beyond these trees.”

  Sparks flew through his skin and into his brain. His breath caught in his throat. He bit down on his tongue, the pain snapping him back to the present. “I’m sorry. I need to find my father. We’ve already gone too far from the path.”

  “I can help you perhaps.” Her beautiful lips formed a tempting pout.

  He swallowed, the desire to stay on track fighting with his own dizziness from the assault of Fey energies and … other instincts.

  She stepped backwards, towards the treeline. His feet followed. They crossed through the space between two trees. The mist formed a tangible wall, and Auric sank through it as if passing through a gauze … or a web … strings of sticky, stretchy web.

  A line of beady black eyes broke out across the woman’s forehead. Auric cried out and flailed his arms, finding himself increasingly tangled in the mist.

  “Well, that was easy.” The woman chuckled. Two curved black fangs descended from the corners of her mouth. “I didn’t lie. There is something not quite human about you. I’m not sure what, but something. Whatever it is will make your blood delectable.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Auric kicked and twisted in the web of mist. The pale woman’s fangs twitched in and out like pincers on either side of her mouth. His heart pounded. If he could free his hands and get to his stylus, he might have a chance.

  The woman reached for him. His leg broke away and he kicked her in the gut. She fell against the nearest tree then snarled, all eight eyes glinting. “Oh, you shouldn’t have done that. I was going to make it easy on you, use my numbing venom, but now? Now I’m going to suck you dry and enjoy every second of your agony.”

  Two black, bristly-haired legs sprouted from the back of her neck, waving in a bizarre, almost mechanical fashion.

  Auric’s stomach heaved, shooting his breakfast onto the ground between them.

  Her nose wrinkled. “Oh, that’s nasty.” She covered her nostrils with one of her spindly, hairy legs. “Let’s get this over with before I lose my appetite.”

  The woman leaned closer.

  A mesh of golden light sprang up from the earth, blocking her approach.

  “What is this?” She pounded on the wire-like strands of illumination. It sizzled against her skin, and she drew back, hissing. The wall of wire wrapped around her. She turned this way and that then shrieked in anger. Auric’s ears rang.

  A knife sliced through the webbing over Auric’s head. He toppled forward, into his own vomit. The smell made him retch again.

  Someone grabbed him by the back of his coat and yanked him up.

  “Come on, that won’t hold her long!” Of course, it was Jericho.

  Somehow Auric forced his feet to move, his head still spinning. He recognized the spell in hindsight, a simple binding magic any first year student could do. Auric used to practice it by catching runaway chickens for villagers.

  They reached the river and turned upstream, in the direction of the abandoned path.

  Auric’s stomach still churned, and his foots
teps jarred into his brain like hammer falls. “I’m … I can’t …” he choked out.

  Jericho slowed then stopped. “We need to keep going. A simple chicken-catching spell isn’t going to hold that whatever-it-is long.” His scowl faded. “Blast, you look like a ghost. Did she do something to you?”

  Auric shook his head and fumbled for his pack. “I think it’s the magic. I need more rosemary oil.” He poured a healthy dose of the liquid into his hand then smeared it across his neck. A cooling sensation penetrated his skin, chasing away his headache. He drew in a few more deep breaths. His mind cleared, and he nodded. “You’re right, let’s go.”

  “I should probably reapply mine, too.” Jericho took the bottle from Auric and rubbed it on his hands. “My head is pounding, but I’d thought it was just the stress of putting up with you. Maybe you’ve finally learned your lesson about staying on the path, though?”

  “I got us across the river, didn’t I?” Auric snapped, knowing it was a poor defense, but he felt poorly, so it seemed to fit.

  Ahead the golden footprints shone. The men hurriedly followed them under the trees. The rushing of the river faded in the background, replaced by their own footsteps and the occasional mournful cry of some strange bird.

  “From everything we’ve encountered so far, I think we can safely assume that anything we meet in this world is going to try and kill us.” Jericho took out his stylus and held it at ready. “Also, there’s this.” He stopped by a broad-trunked tree and pulled off a sheet of bark to reveal the smooth wood beneath. With his stylus, he traced symbols onto the wood: symbols Auric recognized as a basic fire-lighting spell. Nothing happened. Even when the activation symbol was fully etched, no line of light shot across the spell. “When you were in the web, I tried to attack by simply writing on the nearest tree. Didn’t work.” Jericho withdrew from his work. The symbols faded away like words written in steam. “I barely got a quire out of my pack in time to save you.”

  Auric tried to work his own spell on the same tree. It also failed to activate. He bit his bottom lip. “I suppose this shouldn’t surprise me. Human magic has always been worked on mortal-realm objects: wood, stone, wax, all native to our own world. The materials in this world may look and feel the same, but they aren’t the same substance.”