Twisted Magics (Terra Chronicles Book 1)

by J. C. Jackson

  Lowering the violin to my lap, I picked at a fuzzball on my sweater. I said, “I’m not sure, but I need to do something. Do you think we could go to the church later?”

  The words were out before I filtered them again. I wanted to see how Silver was doing, that was all. Maybe see if I could lend a hand somehow. With the pain medication, I felt a bit off, but not so much that I could not contribute somehow.

  Silence hung in the air for just long enough I knew something was wrong. Retanei said, “I’m afraid not. Once we concluded our investigation at the church grounds, the new paladins have refused to let anyone not directly affiliated with the church onto the property. Brad took the news pretty hard. He hasn’t been able to contact Silver since.”

  It made no sense. I looked to my friend for answers.

  Retanei sighed, leaning against the door frame. She explained, “The best I can summarize is they are casting blanket judgment on everyone involved even if we were there to stop the people responsible. Vince has been trying to talk to them, but they’ve isolated themselves. For the moment, they’ve even locked their doors to their remaining parishioners. I can understand a period of grieving, but something seems very off about the whole thing.”

  My attention went back to the violin on my lap. It was a favor I could not fulfill. Even though the circumstances were out of my control, I felt guilty all the same.

  A sudden weight on the side of the bed made me look up. Retanei suggested, “I know it’s not the same, but Savanas is making dinner tonight for everyone before the memorial service. I’m sure they would appreciate it. And Lou has been hoping you would come back.”

  I remembered something being mentioned about a memorial service. I also was not overly certain I was ready for that large of an audience. I said, “Maybe? I don’t know. I’m really no good with this stuff.”

  “This stuff” encompassing all the things I really did not want to voice aloud: playing in front of others, choosing music, dealing with the horrors I kept seeing when I closed my eyes…

  “You’ll be fine. Let’s eat and we can figure it out from there. Savanas wants us over at her house by 1600. Dinner will be roughly an hour later, which is why I picked up something light,” Retanei said and was already headed for the common area.

  Rushing to catch up, but not wanting to possibly break anything, I half-fell off of the bed. I asked quickly, “Wait. What about the memorial service?”

  Retanei was pulling a couple of sandwiches out of a bag. She said solemnly, “It starts at 2000. With some help, they’ve been able to release the bodies from both crime scenes. Rathal lives near the water and arranged for us to have a spot on the pier to view the fires. It’s a little different because there are so many whose ashes need to travel.”

  “What was the final count?” I asked. I needed to know. How many people had I failed?

  I barely reacted in time to catch the wrapped sandwich tossed at me. I caught it clumsily with my forearms, hugging it to my chest.

  Retanei snapped at me, “I’m not answering that. I won’t let you torture yourself any more than you already have. Numbers don’t matter. What matters is that these bastards will not be able to do this again.”

  I felt my eyes go wide - I had never seen Retanei like this.

  Her shoulders slumped. “Ket, I’m sorry. I… I’ve seen a lot. Dealt with a lot. But I keep seeing you lying almost dead on that beach. Why did you do it?”

  It was a complex answer I did not have the energy to tell so I went with a more simple explanation, “I could tell we didn’t have a lot of time left before it went off. Not everyone would have gotten out. It was the quickest solution I could come up with.”

  Retanei pursed her lips and looked out the window. She said, “It was a good thing you didn’t go far then. Lockonis about went into a panic when you disappeared. She ran outside, but couldn’t locate you until the bomb went off. I can still hear your scream.”

  Ducking my head, I said, “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. You saved a lot of lives. I’m just glad you blacked out before we got to you. Though, it made it worse trying to deal with Rathal and Silver - they were still suffering from the effects and we both know how extreme it made their personalities,” Retanei said.

  As much as I cringed to hear this, I realized I needed to. I needed to know what happened.

  Before I could push for more, Retanei’s phone rang and she answered, ending our conversation.

  Reluctantly I sat down at the counter and ate, not tasting anything over the bitterness of our barely won victory. And what kind of victory was it? There could be others out there still planning who knows what.

  ~*~

  Dinner at Savanas’ house was a solemn affair. There were wonderful smells coming from the kitchen, but I feared it would only be the same as earlier. Even Rathal and Darius did not seem to have the heart to argue with each other over the video game as the last time.

  Melody was petting Artemis. Retanei said both of them were still hurting from the loss of Big Black. I could only imagine how Savanas was handling it.

  Doc sat quietly, contemplating the drink in his hands. Brad was in the kitchen with Savanas so I did not know how those two were fairing.

  They had all seemed so much stronger than me and the mood brought them a little more back down to Terra.

  “Oh, this won’t do at all,” Lou said as he came into the common area, his arms laden with trays he placed on the low table in the center of the room. “I could tell the lot of you to cheer up, but that would be a wasted effort.” His eyes began roaming the room, looking for something until he got to me. “Ah, my dear, would you mind me accompanying you?” He pointed at the hard case tucked behind my legs.

  Retanei insisted I bring my violin, but I did not have the nerve to play around the others. I sat quietly for a moment, unsure what to say or do.

  I finally said, “I’m not very good.” The conversation got the attention of the others, making me more nervous. “Besides, it wouldn’t do well against anything acoustic.”

  Lou came over to me and said, “Let me see.” Pulling the case onto my lap, I undid the latches and opened it for him, suddenly embarrassed about the purple thing inside. “Oh, I can fix that.” Then he left the room.

  Closing the case once more, I slid it back down behind my legs. With it away the attention of the others was still on me. Even the game had ended and sat idly on the menu screen.

  Sinking further back into the plush chair, I started to wish it would swallow me.

  Savanas and Brad came out to see what was going on as Lou bustled by them, his hands full. Out of the items he carried, I noticed the small amp. Mother made me hook up to hers when I was at her house, but I did not own one. He also carried a larger case and some cables.

  Lou admonished, “Well, it does no good to anyone in the case, get it out and tuned up.”

  Slowly pulling the case back out, I look to Savanas who appeared as solemn as the rest of us. She said, “Too late to back out now, Ket.”

  Shyly, I checked the tune, which it kept from earlier. I had taken my boots off at the door as requested since they were soaked from the fresh snowfall. I tucked my feet underneath me, making myself smaller yet more upright. Lou tossed me the end of a cable.

  Then I sat and waited as Lou tuned the guitar he pulled out, which was also electric, and adjusted the volume on the amp. He said as he worked, “I give music lessons to some of the kids that frequent the bakery so I keep a few things around. They get practice, I get free entertainment.” He smiled at me. “Just play and I’ll follow.”

  I sat silent. I did not know what to play. Everything that came to mind was sorrowful and I did not think that was what he was aiming for. I said, “I’m sorry, anything uplifting is escaping me at the moment.”

  “It’s fine. I think everyone needs to get it out of their systems at this point,” Lou said.

  Raising the violin to my shoulder, I mentally searched for the one that felt t
he most right and began. In time, I was able to move to lighter pieces. Only Savanas ushering us off to eat was what ended the music. Everyone’s mood had lightened. Even Darius and Rathal started arguing about their last game.

  After the meal ended, we returned to the common room, Brad insisted Savanas leave the clean up to him. It surprised me neither Vince nor Lockonis were here.

  Lou convinced me to keep playing and the others were starting to return to their normal activities, or at least as how Melody had described them. Doc was telling a story to Savanas, Retanei, and Melody. Melody’s attention was more on Artemis, playing tug of war with her with a knotted rope that had belonged to Big Black. Darius and Rathal were throwing insults between their button mashing.

  I contemplated Lou’s wisdom. He knew something about how they would react to the music and it was almost like magic. I remembered Mother having a similar talent. It was something I wished to learn.

  We kept it going until Savanas announced we needed to get down to the pier for the memorial service.

  ~*~

  Crowds were gathered along the shoreline as we drove. The particular pier in question was just ahead and I could see a small crowd already there.

  Getting out, I shivered against the cold wind coming in off of the water. The others were heading toward a small tower leading to a skywalk over the road below. Once we got to the top, Vince and Lockonis were there with others who responded at the church.

  Lockonis came over to us, greeting people as she went until she got to myself and Retanei. She said, “Heya, Ket. We’re leaving after this so we’ll take you back to the hotel to get your stuff.”

  I did not understand. I asked, “Tonight?”

  “Yeah, Tanei is staying here for the Winter Solstice. Well, sort of,” Lockonis said and looked at Retanei.

  The Winter Solstice was in a few days - I had forgotten about it.

  Retanei rolled her eyes and explained, “My village is a couple hours away. You’re going back with them.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Lockonis cut me off, “Don’t worry, Tanei will be fine flying back. Come on, we should catch up with the others. They’re going to light the fires soon.”

  Standing near the railing of the tower, overlooking the water, I curled into myself for warmth. Perhaps it was a last minute thing about wanting to leave tonight.

  I heard Lockonis talking to Retanei, “You heading out after this to go pick up the package?”

  “Yeah, Brad gave me the meeting location and time earlier. Are you sure you don’t want to…”

  Lockonis cut her off, “No, just as the big guy said. I’ve learned to trust his judgment.”

  Rathal stood at my side and commented, “Never did get to take you out, did I?”

  “It’s okay,” I faked a smile for him. I did not deserve anything after my failure.

  “Next time you happen to be this way then,” Rathal said and smiled at me. Then he turned his attention back out to the water where the light from the fires were starting to spread. Each little raft was chained to another - I could not count the number of bodies being burned.

  Turning off the part of my mind that was starting to become too emotional, I stared blankly ahead, focusing on the fire itself. Their ashes would fall into the ocean and travel the world - their souls already having moved on to wherever it is they go. Wherever that was, I hoped they found peace.

  Epilogue

  Due to the medications that Doc insisted I take, I slept through most of the flight back. I found the experience more disorienting than teleporting.

  I wanted to stay behind so Retanei would not be flying back by herself. I would have been content to remain alone in the hotel so I would not intrude upon her family time, but I was sure the others would not have let me be. At least back at the main office most people would ignore me and I could hide in either my quarters or the lab.

  My sister had left to go spend time with our parents in Great Tree before I returned. She had not thought I would be back before the Winter Solstice. While I could have gone and joined them, I was not feeling up to the drive.

  Kitteren would have returned for me if I had not conceded to a video call. As soon as the call connected, she started to cry. I could not remember the last time I saw Kitteren shed tears. I could not seem to reassure her enough that I was fine. We spent a while talking, but avoided the case. It was something I knew she was going to want to talk about when she returned.

  It was good to speak with Mother and Father. Father and I rarely had anything to talk about - he and Mother had become mates long after I had gone to the Arcane College so I did not know him well. He still said little, but even over the video feed, I could sense his concern.

  The Winter Solstice was this evening. I overheard talk in the dining hall of a party being planned for those remaining on the grounds. It was impressive I had heard anything about it given I tried to avoid people by taking either early or late meals - if I took them at all. My appetite was simply gone.

  Cadwr chided me every time I skipped a meal. I would tell him I lost track of time in the lab again. It was still the truth in a sense - there was a lot of work to do and I had been known to do it before. Lockonis dealt with most of the backlog while I was away, but there was still quite a bit to keep me busy.

  While I was told repeatedly to take it easy, I hid myself in the lab. I avoided watching the footage of the fight, especially the copy Retanei rigged up with the arcane filter. I saw the events enough every time I closed my eyes. My brain simply could not process a different perspective right now. I did not want to see myself on the screen.

  It was enough that I had all of the paperwork from Brown that I still needed to finish analyzing. I did not know how I was going to handle the divine text. I would have to inquire if there was someone who could help.

  Both Vince and Lockonis seemed to be giving me space - there had been no requests for updates from either one. No one visited the lab. Admittedly, I was starting to get lonely and with only my thoughts to accompany me. My daily conversations with Doc were not enough because they were always focused on my physical well being.

  Doc made me promise not to push it while I was working. The doctors here wanted to schedule psychological evaluations, but Doc assured me they would only do so if absolutely necessary. I was not so ignorant that I did not notice the mental health questions he snuck into our conversations.

  What I did not tell him or anyone else was that I still struggled with my control. Hopefully once Lockonis lifted her order against any casting, I could get back to normal. The daily routine of using my power to do simple things like dry my hair had been interrupted and that was as useful as the arcane combat training sessions with Lockonis.

  A knock on the glass of the lab door startled me. I turned around and saw Retanei letting herself in. She said, “I had a feeling you wouldn’t listen to the doctors.”

  I managed to plaster a small smile on my face for her before saying, “Too much work to do. I thought you were spending the holiday with your family.”

  “Yeah, well, I wanted to beat the storm system coming through tonight and I can only take so much of them at a time. Plus Vince requested an important delivery,” Retanei explained. She came around to my left and leaned her hip against the station that I was working at.

  Artemis was at her side and whined at me, which caught Retanei’s attention. She rubbed the wolf’s head, murmuring something too softly for me to hear.

  I went back to transcribing my notes into the computer. I was not a part of their conversation. My mind going to other questions that I needed to answer while my fingers copied what was written down. How did Brown know where he was teleporting and how did he get through that barrier? His teleports were too perfect to be working off of just maps. There had to be something else. Maybe the clue was in Silver’s notes. Where did those end up again?

  “If you’re trying to avoid thinking about what happened this is a really bad way of doing it,” Retane
i said.

  I paused briefly in my typing. “I need to do something - I can’t just sit around.”

  Retanei put her hand on the notebook I was transcribing into the report and said, “There is a limit. Come on, let’s go get ready for the party. Cadwr is still here so you know there’s going to be an amazing spread at dinner.”

  I tried to pull the notebook out from under her hand. “I’m not hungry and I don’t feel like celebrating.”

  “Too bad, you’re not going to have much say in the matter,” Lockonis said, making me jump. When had she come into the lab?

  I turned to see Lockonis with Vince standing behind her - both were dressed for the evening’s celebrations. He wore a black suit while Lockonis had donned a very shiny blue dress that clung to her. It was far from her usual attire, but it was the Winter Solstice. I thought of the lavender dress Kitteren had bought and put in my closet while I was away. It was not going to get worn - at least not this year.

  Vince’s arms were crossed and his face neutral. “It’s time we talked,” he said and signaled at my office. Lockonis moved ahead, holding open the glass door.

  I glanced at Retanei who shrugged. Well, she did just get back. Though I hoped if she knew something she would have warned me.

  Nervously, I slid off of my stool and went where I was told. Not knowing what to do, I stood in the middle of my office. It was sparse and held another desk on the opposite side that Lockonis used when she was working in the lab.

  Lockonis came in, closing the door behind her. Vince took a seat at my desk looking more like he belonged there than I ever did.

  Vince sat back in my chair and just watched me for a bit. Picking up a pen to play with, he finally spoke, “If I had known what this assignment was going to lead to, I wouldn’t have sent you. But I also would have been wrong not to send you because no one else has your abilities or knowledge. Not to mention the ability to work in conjunction with a paladin. So you see the dilemma I’m facing. The others are also having a hard time coping. They’re tough, but this is something none of them have seen before. Almost losing you on top of it really pushed their limits.”