Portals

by Wilson, Maer

“Gee, thanks. I’m okay now. Just didn’t much care for that vision, if that’s what it was.” I weakly tried to push his hand away. “I need to clean up the OJ.”

  Stuart disappeared back down the hallway.

  A few minutes later, Jones came into the room carrying a hot, steaming mug.

  “Drink this, La Fi,” he said. He handed the mug to Thulu, who held it to my lips. I raised my hand to take it from him, but my hand shook so much, all I would have done is slosh it all over me and the sofa.

  I sipped and realized it was hot, very sweet mint tea. I hadn’t heard the microwave and realized Jones had materialized this or something. I would have preferred a shot or three of scotch, but the tea was soothing, and I smiled my appreciation at Jones. Stuart came back in with a wet cloth which he handed to me. It was cold, and I immediately put it to the back of my neck.

  Whatever had happened, the after effects were quickly disappearing. Jones told the others what he had witnessed inside my mind, while I continued to sip the tea. Thulu had relinquished the mug, but not his spot right next to me. I managed to hold the mug steady as I leaned back against the heavily padded arm of the sofa.

  I reached out to set the mug on the coffee table, but Thulu intercepted me and did it for me. I leaned back against the sofa arm once more, trying to sort out what had happened.

  “Jones, I get that I tapped into their little chat, but what was that awful roar before it? I heard that twice before on Neva, but not nearly as loud. I thought it was something to do with being on an alien world.” I looked at Jones. “Obviously, I was mistaken about that.”

  He shrugged, a frown still creasing his forehead. “My best guess? Something similar to the static you hear as you tune in a radio station. And no, of course this has nothing to do with Neva and everything to do with the changes you are going through.”

  “Jones, no one tunes in a radio station anymore. You know that, right?” I said. He opened his mouth, but I raised my hand. “Never mind, I know what you mean.”

  I was comfortable seeing and hearing the dead. I was used to it. Sure, I’d had my little feelings that no one took seriously all these years, but never anything like the last few days. It was unsettling. It was also unwelcome. And having a dull roar go through my head was not something I wanted to repeat any time soon. I fervently hoped it was due to my having seen the two beings earlier in the day that had prompted the connection. I somehow doubted I was going to get off that lucky, though.

  I didn’t much like the idea that things were happening to me without my control. No, I’m not a control freak. Well, not much of one anyway, but these vision things were completely unacceptable.

  “Jones, how do I get rid of this crap? I don’t want weird things happening. What if I’d been out in public? That would have been mortifying.” Another thought occurred to me and I felt a thrill of fear. “What if I’d been driving and had Carter with me? I could have easily wrecked.” I felt tears well up and angrily banished them. I didn’t cry often and had no patience with tears right then.

  Thulu put his arms around me. “We just won’t have you drive until we know this is under control, love. No worries.” But his eyes said he understood. Of course, he did. He was Thulu and he would always understand. That made me feel better.

  “I am not sure you can get rid of this, La Fi,” said Jones. “If this is a result of the changes happening to Earth, then we shall most likely need to find a way to mitigate it.”

  “So how long do you think we will be in this magic zone or whatever the hell it is?” I asked grumpily.

  Jones shrugged. “Since I have no idea that theory is even the correct one-”

  I interrupted, “It is. We have passed into some place where the laws of physics have been joined by the laws of magic.” I stopped wondering where this was coming from, but continued, knowing that I was right.

  “It isn’t going to stop,” I finished in a small voice. I could see it in my head. The certainty of what was happening was there, and I could see a future that made me shudder from its scope.

  “Thulu’s arms tightened around me. “What do you mean?” His voice was soft, filled with encouragement.

  “It’s going to go on for years and years. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Humans are going to change. Become more than we have been. Our very bodies will change. We aren’t going to die easily anymore. Maybe not right away, but we are going to live long lives like the other magical beings.” I turned to look at Thulu, wonder coloring my thoughts, before I gave an ironic laugh. “But it looks like we are going to be just as stupid as we’ve always been.”

  My laughter stopped abruptly as I saw more of what awaited us. Scenes flitted inside my head. An immense sadness came over me as I saw that humans were not ready to have extra powers or abilities. Not as a whole species, anyway. I saw destruction and death. The battle between those who would be changed and those who would not, but instead would live out their short lives and die. The ages old hatred between those who did not have something for those who did.

  I remembered an old Bette Davis movie I’d seen one night when I couldn’t sleep. A line that seemed strangely apropos, I quoted to the others. “It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

  I looked at Jones. “Only our night is going to last ages and ages. Can the elves help us? This is going to tear this planet apart, unless we learn control. A planet full of humans who can suddenly do pretty much as they want is going to be horrific. It’s going to be a somewhat slow change for some, but I don’t see a very good future for us for a long time.”

  I focused on the others to see looks of surprise from humans and fairies alike. Realizing that I’d been sitting there like some prophet of doom and gloom, I gave them an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. Not sure where all that came from.”

  I felt awkward. Considering my intuition had come under so much good-natured teasing over the years, the real thing was not as welcome as I might have thought.

  Stuart and Lassiter seemed pensive as they returned to their seats. The fairies found perches nearby. Aela almost beamed at me with her pointy teeth and Jones continued to watch me carefully. Maybe he wondered if I’d fly next. Flying would be cool, now that I thought about it.

  I looked at Thulu. “Are you getting any strange visions or pictures or anything? It would make more sense for you to, what with your Finder sense and all.”

  He shook his head, with a smile. “Nope, not me.”

  “My guess is that you both are going to be changing. Perhaps slowly, perhaps quickly. Who knows what you’ll be able to do once we have fully entered the magical area.” Jones seemed inordinately pleased with the possibilities. It was annoying.

  “I bet the scientists are going to go crazy with this,” said Lassiter. “And I think it’s more important than ever, for those who do have abilities to keep their heads down.” He looked at me and Thulu sternly. I thought it was cute. His protectiveness of us. I appreciated it, too and grinned my thanks at him. Lassiter was turning out to be someone I liked immensely, and I could see why he and Thulu had been friends.

  “Okay, so back to the mutated ones,” said Thulu. “I found several more locations while you were gone, Jones.”

  “Will you show me?”

  The two of them headed back to the study. I heard the printer a few moments later. Thulu was probably pulling up maps and printing them out.

  I was content to simply rest for a few moments. A feeling of lethargy was creeping over me, and I wondered if Jones had put something into my tea. It would be like him to do that.

  Opening my eyes, I realized I’d drifted off. A quick glance at the clock on the mantle showed it had been for less than thirty minutes. The room was empty except for Keiron.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked. My head felt clearer, and I realized I had lots of energy. Yay for power naps.

  “In the kitchen,” he responded.

  I nodded and stood up, stretching. My brain didn’t have that just awake feeling at all. Instead, I fe
lt invigorated. If Jones had indeed put something in my tea, I was perfectly willing to forgive him.

  The doors to the hall had been closed, probably to allow me to sleep. I headed to the kitchen, flanked by Keiron, to see what was up and found that Reo and Sloane had arrived.

  “How was your show tonight?” I asked, only to be met with laughter. I looked around with a frown. “What? Is that some kind of guy joke or something?”

  Reo smiled, “Nope, sweetie, it’s a magic joke. I knew things tonight that were just plain freaky. Even to me. I hear you had your own freakiness, though.”

  I nodded as I moved to the cupboard and got a wine glass and poured some wine from a bottle on the table. It was one from mine and Thulu’s wine cellar and was nice and mellow.

  We drifted back to the family room and settled in once more.

  “So what has been figured out?”

  Thulu smiled. “Well, we have the locations here on Earth. There are about two dozen spread over the whole planet. Jones is going to call in reinforcements from Phaete, Aurelia and Belus will bring in the elves and our usual allies will join in. Since Jones is the initial target, he thinks we should use him as bait.”

  I smiled sweetly. “I cannot imagine a finer use for you, Jones.”

  He actually snorted a laugh, before giving me a mock frown and raising one admonishing finger. “One day, little human, I shall teach you to respect me.”

  “Uh-huh. I respect you just fine, Jones.” Except when I temporarily forgot how old and powerful he was - which was most of the time.

  “So we draw them to you? Where?”

  “My estate. I will open a careful hole in my defenses.”

  “I hate to say this, but won’t that be an obvious trap?”

  Jones nodded, as did the rest. “Of course it will, but it will be one that they cannot refuse to step into. They wanted my attention for whatever reason, so there is no need for secrecy. Instead of battle, we can hope for negotiation. However, now is the time for whatever will happen. I hope we can come to an understanding, but I am prepared to handle it any way I need to. It’s time we found out what is going on with them and see what is to be seen.”

  “The elves have located the portal they used. It’s been sealed and is being monitored. There will be no more excursions to Earth,” said Sloane.

  “Do we have any way of knowing if they have their own portal openers?” Thulu asked.

  “We must assume they do.” Jones seemed positively cheerful.

  “Jones how can you be so happy about this? An entire species desperately wants to hate on you. Doesn’t that bother you?”

  He shrugged. “Not particularly,” he said dismissively.

  I looked at him suspiciously. Did he want a fight? Too much negative emotion might be an issue with daemons, but that hadn’t stopped him before.

  Jones continued, “They want to get to me? I shall let them have me. And everything that means.” His smile was positively wicked. It had predator written all over it.

  Sloane interjected mildly, “We’ll hope for a peaceful resolution, though. However, we cannot allow harm to come to Dhavenbahtek. It has been decided.”

  “Okay, so tomorrow you guys might or might not be going into a fight. Lovely. What else is going on?” I asked.

  “Well, we open the defenses; send them an invitation by way of you, La Fi, if you will allow it. Someone will come. Perhaps to negotiate. Perhaps to try to kill me. We shall be waiting.”

  “Well, maybe talking is a good thing. I mean it’s been thousands of years, Jones. Maybe they have changed and aren’t crazy anymore.” Thulu pointed out.

  “Yes, that possibility has been discussed. We shall just play it by ear and see what happens.”

  “Can’t the elves cure them like they did the Light Ones? With all the time that has passed is it possible that they have changed enough to be helped?” Thulu asked.

  Sloane shook his head. “Possibly, but unlikely. Thousands of years have cemented that spell in.”

  “You changed the Light Ones and they had been evolving for thousands of years,” Reo protested.

  Sloane sighed. “Evolving? Perhaps that is the difference. I’m not sure evolution is what caused the changes to the Light Ones, but that is probably the best description. However, these are not the same situations. The daemons deliberately used magic to change what they were. The variations were unpredictable and wildly varying from one person to the next as far as we can discover. On the other hand, the Light Ones had a gradual increase of one very specific element in their makeup. We simply reduced their need for that one element. Trying to isolate how the original magic impacted the daemons and their offspring would require working on each case individually. It is something that is being discussed in elven councils and will depend on many factors. It is simply too early to make any decisions.”

  “So when are you unsealing the defenses?” Thulu asked.

  “Tomorrow. No sense in waiting. Let us get everything out into the open and see what is going to happen. I would like to have you, Thulu and Reo there, if you do not mind.” He nodded his head at me before continuing. “Of course, once you have delivered the invitation, please do not feel obligated to stay, but I would like it if you did.”

  “Can you get us out if it looks like it’s going to be a fight?” I asked. “Not that I mind, but I have Carter to think of.”

  Jones nodded. “Yes, I’ll keep a portal open for your escape, just in case. I shall also put some individual wards on each of you, so that you are not so fragile.”

  I started to protest that we weren’t fragile, but I guess from his point of view we were. I shut my mouth and simply nodded.

  We spent the rest of the night talking and speculating, but no new ideas or conclusions presented themselves on the mutated daemon situation. I did find out more about Reo’s night, though. He filled me in on what he’d discovered during his show.

  “I figured it out pretty fast. I needed to censor what I said. Impressing people is one thing. Scaring the hell out of them is quite another and not what I want to do. But I tell you, it took a lot of concentration to stay aware of my show and not just run with whatever popped into my head. Things were crystal clear, though. Not my usual clear, then murky and back to clear again. This time it was solid. I knew what people were thinking. I saw things I’d rather not have seen. Sloane is going to work with me to teach me how to block and manage this.”

  “Oh, hey, Sloane, can you do that with me, as well?” I asked.

  “Of course, La Fi. That is very wise of you.”

  “Great, thanks!” I liked the idea of being able to block or at least control whatever the hell this stuff was. We set a time the next morning to work.

  Once everyone was talked out, we called it a night. Jones and Stuart left via portal, while Reo and Sloane ported out, as did the fairies. Lassiter walked to the front door, the only one not leaving by supernatural means. He seemed a bit forlorn about it.

  “Are you okay, Jeremy?” I asked.

  His expression was pensive, but he nodded. “It’s a lot to take in. I feel kind of useless as the only one without some special ability.”

  “Are you kidding?” I asked incredulously. “You’re the real pro here. The one with the training. The rest of us are taking it as it comes, with no real plan or training or even an idea of what we’re doing. You’re a tremendous asset, so don’t even go there.”

  He smiled at me. “Thanks, La Fi. I appreciate the thought, even if it isn’t true.”

  He shook Thulu’s hand and gave me a hug. We locked up behind him.

  Chapter 23

  Anyone who tells you mental magic lessons are easy hasn’t worked with Sloane.

  He and Reo arrived early the next day, and we went upstairs to the studio while Thulu went to pick Carter up. We also made arrangements for Erik to watch Carter later that day when we went to Jones’s estate. I felt guilty sending Carter off once more and hoped he could understand the situation. Thulu and
I would do our best to make sure he did.

  Parker, Jenna and Sophie showed up to watch. When the young ghosts found out we were going to be working with Sloane, they moved to a corner and floated in midair. They stayed quiet, and I soon forgot they were there.

  When my boys got home, Carter was full of excitement about some puppy Ally had let him play with. He chattered on and on about how soft and fun and nice she was. I smiled and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Ally was always trying to get us to get a real dog.

  But Thulu and I had gone from just the two of us to a son and two dead kids and a ghost dog. I wasn’t ready to add to the count. Live dogs took work.

  We sat in a semi-circle on mats on the floor facing Sloane – Reo, Thulu, Carter and I. Sloane had decided to include Carter in the lessons, and began with some exercises that reminded me suspiciously of Thulu’s meditation stuff. I’ve never been good at that. My brain would wander because I got bored. I was great at concentrating when it’s something I liked. But meditation simply didn’t hold my attention for long. I tried, though. I really did. Since I was motivated by not wanting a repeat of the night before, I applied myself dutifully.

  Sloane took us through some basics - according to him they were children’s games - designed to see the extent of our abilities.

  I wondered how well Carter could follow considering he was so young. However, with the flexibility, mental and physical, of the young he jumped right in and was able to complete the simple tasks Sloane set for us.

  Sloane was a patient teacher. He explained things so we understood them clearly, even Carter. A few times he made contact directly with Carter’s mind to show him what he meant. I was impressed with how gentle he was and how carefully he explained things so that Carter wouldn’t be confused.

  Carter thought it was a great game, but also caught on that it had a serious side. His little face would scrunch up in concentration, and I wanted to pick him up and hug him, but I left him alone. Thulu and I smiled over his head

  We discovered that Thulu could teleport things. Nothing too heavy and not very far, but it added teleportation to his other abilities. Sloane thought it would grow stronger. It could be a useful talent. Sloane gave him some exercises to build up distance and strength.