by J. M. Briggs
“Okay,” Alex agreed slowly. “I hadn't thought about it like that.”
“It's not important,” Morgana dismissed before she reached up and turned Alex's head to feel the bump. Alex hissed softly and Morgana made a considering noise. “It may be time for some more healing magic. I used some on your arm and leg already. As much as I could manage to help speed things along.”
“But what about the Sídhe?” Alex asked, pushing the Professor's hand away. “Will there be more tonight?”
“No,” Morgana explained, rising from her chair and stepped further to the side so she could check the bump. “Merlin and I killed a few Riders last night and tracked the rest back to the tunnel entrance so that we could seal it off. It took some doing, but we severed the connection.”
“So, it's over?” Alex asked with wide eyes, twisting to look over her shoulder at Morgana.
“No,” Morgana told her gently. “They still have most of the tunnel and will reestablish the connection between realms soon enough. I expect we'll see Hounds again by late March and that the tunnel will be fully repaired for Riders by May. It bought us some time.”
“To do what?” Alex asked with a huff, her shoulders slumping.
“To train you all to work as a team,” Morgana explained with a chuckle. “So that next time you have to fight you don't come out a wreck.”
“Hey, I tried!” Alex countered. “I put on some armor, most of it just wouldn't fit.” Alex glanced around the room. “Where is it anyway?”
Morgana laughed and stepped away from Alex, patting her shoulder. “It would have vanished when you left the tunnels. Don't you remember the stories of fairy gold? It turns to rubbish or dirt when it comes into the hands of a human.”
“But in the tunnels-”
“The tunnels are under the Sídhe's power,” Morgana explained. “And outside the tunnels, a Síd's own power will keep their weapons intact, but a human cannot. Whatever you used in the tunnels is gone.”
“They took my dagger,” Alex grumbled.
“Aiden found it early this morning, along with your car. It's back on campus and he has your dagger. I suspect that you will be forced to tell them of your adventure in exchange for your dagger.”
“He found my car… what about the woman who the Sídhe attacked? Ryan and Amy's mother?”
“Ah yes Theresa Day; she took a blow to the head and suffered blood loss, but made it to a nearby house. She's in the hospital and expected to recover, but it will take a few weeks due to the exposure to the cold she suffered.”
“If she was alive then why didn't the Sídhe-”
“Blood loss; the Riders carry their swords to frighten humans, but they avoid human blood. They left her there to die rather than risk coming into contact with her iron blood.”
“Yeah,” Alex chuckled, a small smile on her face. “I figured out that trick.”
“I was wondering,” Morgana said as she sat back down and tried not to look curious. “So what happened?”
“I was at a party last night-”
“On Imbloc?!” Morgana tutted with a shake of her head. “Alex really?”
“February 1st hadn't started yet!” Alex defended quickly.
“Alex, the next day starting at midnight has nothing to do with the turn of the seasons. Imbolc started at sundown, not midnight. The Riders had from sundown to sunrise, the same as they did on Samhain.”
Alex opened her mouth to reply, but shut it with a sigh before flopping back on the bed. She hissed as the bump hit the pillow, but the pain soon passed.
“That wasn't clear,” Alex grumbled.
“Apparently not,” Morgana intoned. “But it may have worked out for the best. Merlin and I were nearly overwhelmed ourselves twice last night. The Sídhe sent out almost everyone that they had.”
“There weren't many guards,” Alex admitted with a frown. “The room with Ryan and Amy wasn't even guarded once the prince left.”
“The prince?” Morgana repeated, leaning forward. “What did you hear?”
“Uh the Sídhe with the kids, Eolande or something was arguing with this guy who wanted Ryan.” Alex swallowed and Morgana nodded in understanding. “They were talking about the laws and that the Council would have to make the changes once the Riders returned.”
“So they're using a Council of the princes,” Morgana said to herself. “That's interesting.”
“Good interesting or bad interesting?” Alex asked, turning to face Morgana.
“I'm not sure,” Morgana admitted. “During the first war the Sídhe were ruled by a Queen who had seized enough power to do what she wanted without any approval. She was killed at the end of the war, but it seems that no one has gained enough power to replace her.”
“That's good right?” Alex suggested. “There isn't one ruler, but arguing nobles.”
“Except taking the Iron Realm would be a good way to secure power, so every warring prince and would-be prince will be throwing all their warriors and resources at conquest.”
“There's only one tunnel,” Alex countered with a frown, struggling to understand.
“Yes, that no one person controls and I doubt they'd be willing to work together to enforce security. With everyone fighting, it would make sense that the tunnels weren't properly guarded. Everyone had their guards with them. Potentially, that makes it possible for random Sídhe seeking slaves to come to the Iron Realm or slaves to use the tunnels to escape.” Morgan sighed and shook her head, “If we're lucky it will at least be brownies.”
“Wait,” Alex snapped looking at Morgana with wide eyes. “Back up, what are you talking about?”
“Many of the small faery creatures like brownies or pixies or phookas are from the realms that the Sídhe conquered. Near the end of the last war most of the fighting was centered in England so they poured into Ireland and Scotland to escape slavery. During the final battle of the war hundreds of them escaped all at one. Like the Sídhe, they suffer a weakness to iron so many of the species that escaped into our world have died off.” Morgana shrugged, “Although I do know of a tribe of phookas living in Montana, but they don't cause much trouble. If the Sídhe are in fighting then slaves escaping here might be a side effect along with unsanctioned marauding.” Morgana frowned and shook her head. “I'm just not sure if this will be good for us or bad for us.”
“What happens now?” Alex asked, her head spinning with the idea of brownies and pixies potentially coming to Oregon and the fact that Irish Phookas lived in Montana. Her stomach grumbled, causing Alex to flinch slightly.
“I'll make you some food and then if you feel up to it, I'll take you back to campus so you can attend classes tomorrow. Although, you may want to stay home ill and rest up some more.”
“But I have more questions,” Alex insisted, sitting up again. “And we need a plan to stop the Sídhe.”
“I'll set up a meeting time with Merlin,” Morgana promised as she moved to the door. “You've earned the right to answers.” Morgana paused and gave Alex a sad smile. “You did very well Alex, I'm sorry that you had to go through that, but as your teacher I am very proud of you.”
Smiling in return, Alex swallowed and nodded. Morgana took a step out the doorway before she turned back to Alex. “You mentioned Eolande, did you kill her?”
Blinking, Alex tightened her hand and nodded.
Morgana released a deep breath and said, “Good.”
Then she vanished out the door and down the hallway, leaving Alex alone with her thoughts. Looking back down at her hands, Alex flexed them carefully. She felt disconnected from the memories of the tunnels. She'd never harmed anything other than the occasional fly and spider, but could remember the resistance followed by a smooth slide of stabbing the Sídhe. Her hands trembled and Alex swallowed, trying to shake off the thought. That she'd done magic, real magic was the next idea that came to her mind and it was a much more pleasant one. Her skin tingled and she could already visualize the dark sparks jumping in her hand. Alex didn
't understand what kind of magic it was; it wasn't an element like Aiden or Nicki's or a mental force like Bran's, but she did have it.
Exhaling slowly, Alex began to call the sparks forth when a shout from down the hall made her tense up.
“No magic!” Morgana snapped from the kitchen.
Sighing, Alex stopped the attempt and turned slightly so she could adjust the pillows into a better seated position. She leaned back against them with a small huff and watched the hallway, waiting for Morgana and something to eat. Her fingers flexed slowly, curling around the hilt of the remembered dagger despite Alex's attempts not to think about it. Closing her eyes, she breathed in and out slowly and reminded herself to be grateful for how things had turned out.
35
The Iron Soul
Wednesday afternoon was colder with fresh snow covering the ground as Alex climbed out of her car in front of Professor Cornwall's home. She'd rushed out of World Mythology class without telling the others where she was off to in order to make the meeting. A blue SUV sat in the driveway and Alex knew from Sunday evening that it wasn't the red sports car that Morgana drove. Taking a deep breath, Alex slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the front door.
Professor Cornwall's house was across the river from the main town, all the way on the northern side of the lake on a curvy back road that led up into the trees. It resembled a Victorian house with a tall tower and a large rounded pouch in front of it, but looked new with a light gray paint job and white trim. Alex tapped her shoes against the porch stairs and tugged off her knit cap to smooth down her hair before she rang the doorbell.
Merlin opened the door and smiled widely as he gestured her inside. Pulling off her bag, Alex set it on the wooden bench by the door so she could hang her jacket up on the coat hooks above. Merlin was waiting by the archway leading into the living room for her with a soft smile. Her stay on Sunday hadn't allowed Alex to see much of the house and she stepped into a large parlor with classic looking sofas and chairs that were a rich red color and looked great, however Alex wondered how comfortable they actually were. Morgana breezed into the room through an archway on the far side of the room, carrying a very familiar looking silver tray which she set down on a large wooden coffee table. Alex sat down awkwardly on the red sofa as Merlin and Morgana both claimed nearby chairs. Reaching forward, Alex claimed one of the glasses of iced tea and took a quick sip before looking back at her professors.
“You have questions,” Merlin stated calmly, claiming his own glass of iced tea. “I agree with Morgana that after your… adventure in the tunnels you've earned the right to some straight answers.”
“I don't know where to start,” Alex admitted with an exhale of breath. Morgana and Merlin were both silent as Alex gathered her thoughts. “The Sídhe enslave all the words they conquer? Haven't other worlds fought back?”
“Almost all of them,” Merlin assured her, “But their worlds had no distinct weapon against the Sídhe who were physically and magically stronger than them. Our world has iron, but they had nothing.”
“And mythological creatures are from those worlds?”
“Only some of them,” Morgana explained with a nod. “The 'fairy' creatures in Irish and Scottish mythology mostly, but some of the species spread across Europe by the end of the Roman Empire leading to fairy stories in places like Germany and France.”
“What about the Nordic elves?” Alex question. “Were those Sídhe or something else?”
“No, one of the Sídhe princes managed to make a tunnel into Scandinavia in…” Merlin trailed off with a glance at Morgana.
“116,” Morgana supplied. “But it was a very minor attempt and the tunnel's magic collapsed due to the protections we had in place and interference of some others that were in the area.”
“Others?”
Merlin held up his hand and shook his head. “We'll go into the mess of Old Ones, dwarves and the negative effects that that tunnel had on the Sídhe that used it some other time.” Merlin shook his head and chuckled. “Needless to say there is a reason that Norse Mythology is as colorful as it is with beings from other worlds.”
“What you need to know is that other than the war three thousand years ago there has never been another war with the Sídhe. The magic used to seal our realm from theirs at the end of that war did its job. Other than the Nordic attack that ended very badly for them and convinced the Sídhe not to try until the protections failed, we haven't had a war with them.”
Alex shifted and took another sip of her iced tea, her moth suddenly very dry. “Did they always take… children like that?”
“Yes,” Merlin said sadly. “I remember an attack on my village when I was young man. A Rider took an infant girl and mocked us with the fate in store for her.”
“As far as I know I was the only human child ever released,” Morgana informed Alex slowly. “And I was originally taken as an infant. There is a great deal of… grooming that takes place to insure that children don't fight them. It is why the Sídhe prefer to take children.”
“And Eolande?”
“My trainer,” Morgana confirmed with a sigh. “I was surprised when you mentioned her, I assumed that she was killed when I became a traitor to the Sídhe.”
“It's fitting then that one of your students killed her,” Merlin remarked with a smile. Morgana shrugged, but smiled slightly at the statement.
“So those protections that you mentioned, the ones that stopped them before, how do we make those?” Alex asked, leaning forward. “How do we stop them now?”
“The six of us combined might be able to create a small protective field for the area,” Merlin admitted. “But the level of power needed to seal off our realm from their branches of the Tree of Reality… its immense. There is only one force of Earth capable of it.”
“The Iron Soul,” Morgana breathed, her voice wistful. “It is a soul, a spark of life that was created by the Earth itself and imbued with the ability to draw on all the power of the Earth. They have a natural affinity to iron and can cast incredible amounts of power into it.”
“The original protections are called the Iron Gates,” Merlin explained. “The Iron Soul, a young man named Arto three thousand years ago, used a special iron sword to call forth the power of the Iron Realm and created literal Iron Gates over all of the Sídhe tunnels. The power in those gates echoed outward, blocking not only the tunnels, but the whole realm to the Sídhe.”
“So we can't do it again,” Alex questioned softly, her shoulder slumping. “Without this Iron Soul it's impossible.”
“The Iron Soul is here Alex,” Morgana told her softly. “The soul is reborn roughly every seventy-five years into a new human life. They have no memory of their previous existence and almost never manifest their powers unless there is a threat.”
“Wait, you said his name was Arto,” Alex interrupted. “With a special sword.” She glanced between them, her mouth gaping. “Who was watched over by Merlin. You're talking about King Arthur. You said he wasn't real.”
“My brother's name was Arto,” Morgana corrected. “Not Arthur and he lived long before the age of castles and chivalry.”
Merlin chuckled at Morgana's response. “The legend of King Arthur is a story born from the tales and histories of Arto and a few other incarnations of the Iron Soul in the British Isles. It is not a true story… although over the years story tellers have rediscovered fragments of the truth.”
“And he's here, in town,” Alex pressed, glancing between the two.
“He is,” Merlin agreed.
“It's Arthur Pendred isn't it,” Alex half asked, half groaned. “I knew there was something different about him, but none of the others felt a Connection with him.”
“Indeed, we believe Arthur is the latest incarnation of the Iron Soul. Your vision even had elements of a blacksmith's forge, which had been connected to the Iron Soul since the beginning.” Merlin agreed, excitement rising in his voice. “As to why you felt magic from him,
we are not certain.”
“But you have a theory?” Alex asked, giving Merlin a wary look.
Morgana glared at Merlin and moved to say something, but Merlin spoke faster. “I am afraid that one of the fragments of the story that was rediscovered was the betrayal of King Arthur by his wife and best friend. When Arto led the war against the Sídhe, he created an alliance by marrying a young woman named Gwenyvar. Sometime later he met and befriended an Irish warrior who joined the cause named Luegáed . Years later they are recorded as Guinevere and Lancelot, but the story is the same. Their betrayal led to the death of Arto, the first Iron Soul and nearly lost the war for humanity.”