Heather occasionally joined the training, hoping and failing to work off her rising restlessness. More often, she stayed near Muweena and Merlin, though she tried not to get swept into their deep discussions of magic. Instead she tried to focus on the beautiful trees, the fun of playing with baby Kiwilah, and the quiet pleasure of simply being near Earl again.
She also worked on her mind-talking, trying to deliberately contact some of her voices rather than letting them just randomly fall into her mind. It worked better with some than with others. Badrack reported that the evil storm had been dispersed by the Mountain but that his grandfather feared it was reassembling and becoming even stronger. It was harder to reach Padma, but at least Heather picked up the feeling that Padma’s people had not been blamed for Heather’s escape. The strength of young Ivan’s sending faded in and out, but he did say that Baba was talking more and more about their moving eventually to the surface. The jaguar boy had had mixed feelings about having just been presented with a new baby sister, and the African priestess in training was excited about a proposed trip to trade with a distant village.
Merlin was pleased to learn about Heather’s progress and what it promised for the future. But their immediate future filled him with doubt and uncertainty. Despite enjoying his discussions of magic with the Medicine Woman, he kept fighting a nagging certainty that their little party should move on.
“And where to?” Muweena asked after he’d suggested that again. “There is practically nowhere to go on this continent unless you like blasted ruins, plains of melted glass, or icy winds that howl with ghosts. Better that you stay here awhile.”
“But we are bringing danger upon you. We appreciate your warriors’ training and the willingness of your Spirit Folk to call on Otherworld aid. But this little haven of life is beautiful. It seems to stand for everything that those who are after us hate. I fear what that hate could do to you.”
Slowly she shook her head. “Do not be troubled. We are not without our strengths—our warriors, the Spirit Folk, who refuse to abandon their ancient people, and even the land itself. The magic of place is very strong. It is something you should study more. There is much power in this valley. It may help us if called upon.”
After a time, Muweena retired to an underground sweathouse to purify herself with steam and commune with the spirits. Merlin declined her invitation to do the same. When the Medicine Woman had left, he asked Heather to come sit with him on a large boulder overlooking the tumbling river.
“Muweena is fortunate,” he said once they had settled onto the mossy rock. “She has a calm certainty about her. Perhaps it comes from generations of linkage to this land and its spirits. Or perhaps she’s just not the sort of person to be troubled by doubts.”
Heather looked at Merlin and the dark brooding that often shadowed him. She wrapped an arm around his waist. “And you are, I know. But that’s just the way you are. You look at all the possibilities—which means you can never be certain of anything. But you still figure out the right thing to do in the end.”
“Do I? I don’t seem to have done a lot right lately. I put you in danger in the first place by bragging about you to Morgan, and then I became distracted and let you be kidnapped from under my nose. I failed to take you from Morgan when she was without the strength of allies, and I would have failed to save you from being sacrificed if you hadn’t used your own magic in time. And now I’ve only just realized the extent of the danger Morgan and her alliances pose to the world. Part of me wants to flee homeward as quickly as possible, but another part wants to take a stand here even though by doing so we endanger one of the few bright places left in the world.”
Heather snuggled closer and kissed him on his haggard cheek. “Earl, you keep telling me that magic is something I have to open myself to. If I think about it too hard and try to force it, nothing will happen. Life is like that too, isn’t it? You can try to plan and make good decisions, but in the end, you have to let it take you where it will.”
He looked at her and smiled his thin lopsided grin. “Here I am, a couple thousand years old, and you have to keep teaching me the basics.” He kissed her back. “Today life and magic are the same. So, what do you say we work together and try to whip up some magic defenses for this little island of life?”
Through that afternoon, into purple evening, the two sat on the rock weaving a web of light and power. Its strands enmeshed the towering trees and the winged and crawling lives around them. They stretched out over the dunes to the crashing waves and the life that surged beyond them and soared over them. The tendrils of power drew strength from every life and hope they touched within the web.
Until full darkness fell, the web was spun, the warriors trained, and the Medicine Woman spoke with the spirits. Then came a night of readiness and waiting.
With the dawn came the dark.
It began as a cloud along the western horizon. A cloud of darkness that the rising sun could not dispel. From the waters, whales and seals cried of its coming. From the sky, birds flocked in warning and terror. Among the trees, the village houses emptied. Everyone headed in near silence to the beach to watch the dread approach.
Merlin surveyed their small army as it assembled on the sand dunes that stretched between the forest and the crashing sea. Two dragons, four travelers, a few hundred native warriors, and now a dozen spirit animals, some representing beasts he had never seen except in books. He looked beyond them to the vastness of the enemy. Hopelessness threatened to choke him.
Relentlessly the darkness rolled toward them, veins of lightning flickering in its depths, a myriad horrid shapes half visible in its roiling mass. In its center, a winged beast and its rider glowed a putrid green.
“Morgan,” Merlin whispered as he stood beside Heather on a sandy knoll. “Kali seems to have recruited for her a whole new army—demons and spirits of the tormented dead. But I don’t see the Goddess herself here.”
Heather stared into the darkness but didn’t see the many-armed deity either. “Perhaps she doesn’t like to leave her temple. Morgan did say she’s very changeable, like the moon. Maybe she’s not in the killing mood herself just now.” Heather tried to sound light and confident, but her voice shook slightly.
“Her good friend Morgan can make up for that,” Merlin said drily. Then, feeling Heather shiver, he squeezed her hand. “But we’ll hold them off. We have to.”
Their web of power was scarcely visible in the morning light. Only a faint spangling caught the eye, like a billowing curtain of dust motes. But when the front of the dark cloud reached it, electric charges cracked and sizzled across the sky. Glowing darkness spread toward the barrier like a stain. It battered the shield until the sky throbbed with power. Waves of purple energy and green thrummed against each other until the air threatened to shatter with the sound.
Beyond their protective shield, the ocean churned in violent upheaval. But around the defenders, the air was still, and at their feet, placid waves lapped the sand.
As they struggled to maintain their defense, Heather felt it thinning in places. Fear began to bubble through her, but she fought it down, trying to replace it with numb determination, if not with hope.
Merlin’s upraised staff shook with strain. Sweat trickled into his eyes as he stared into the tumultuous cloud. Darting in and out among the writhing demons, Morgan launched bolt after bolt of power, an evil green glow billowing about her like a cape. Under yet another blast of power, the shield seemed to buckle. But then it snapped back into throbbing shape. They could see, though not hear, Morgan’s snarl. Slowly the sorceress unclasped something from her belt. A long curved sword, its edge dripping with blood.
“Kali’s sword!” Heather gasped.
Brandishing the sword above her head, Morgan drew strands of glowing power into its blade. With a shriek, she slashed the sword downward. Blood-red light smashed into the sparkling shield. For a moment, the web held, then it shattered. Thousands of glittering fragments fell to the sand. F
or long seconds, silence hung over the world. Then came the storm.
Darkness surged forward. Wind battered the beach. Demons and ghouls tumbled free of the cloud, trailing black fear with them. The defending army cried its defiance. Chaos erupted in the sudden twilight. Bodies surged, spears and swords clashed, arrows flew, claws and fangs struck. The churning air filled with screams and with sprays of blood.
A squadron of horned and scaly demons headed straight for the knoll where Merlin and Heather stood back to back. They both drew out their Eldritch swords, and Merlin ignited them with power. The glowing blades hacked and scattered the attacking demons, but others kept coming.
Nearby, Troll and his band of followers defended another dune. An ancient troll war cry rang over the battlefield and was taken up by human throats around him. To Welly, fighting at Takata’s side, it sounded as bloodcurdling as the cries of the demons. But then his attention shifted as their small band of warriors was attacked from another side by pallid hollow-eyed creatures. Ghouls, he realized, the unquiet dead. How could you fight such things?
One answer came immediately as a blast of flame shriveled the creatures to ash. Blanche and Hei Se had positioned themselves on tumbled rocks that jutted into the sea. While Blanche sprayed fire, the black dragon battered the enemy with storm wind that blew clumps of them from the beach into the churning waves. Here and there about the embattled beach, Spirit Folk, yelling their own unearthly cries, hacked and clawed and wielded spears of magic.
For a moment, the attack on their knoll had lessened. Merlin looked into the storm-black sky. Morgan still hovered amid the cloud, content for the moment to watch her minions work.
And Merlin could not deny that though his forces were holding their own, Morgan’s way outnumbered them. In time, sword arms would fail, spears and arrows would be spent, and the dragons and spirits would tire. Morgan’s forces, on the beach and still waiting in the clouds, seemed endless.
Despair clawed at Merlin’s mind. This was not the place to make a final battle. The stakes were too high and their forces too unmatched. He should never have let this happen! Not here, not now. In his carelessness, had he failed the world? Had he failed Arthur—again?
Suddenly Muweena was at their side, shouting over the storm. “Come! You four and your dragons have done well. But you must flee now. Hurry!”
“Flee?” Merlin yelled back. “It’s too late for that. We can’t leave the others. We can’t retreat!”
“It’s not retreat. It is the only way. Come!”
When Merlin still hesitated, the old woman grabbed his arm. “Trust me. You may know this enemy, but I know this land.”
Scowling into the turmoil around them, he finally nodded. Resigned, Merlin clutched Heather’s hand.
Forcing herself into desperate focus, Heather mentally called the two dragons. Come! Follow us now. No questions. There’s no time. Come!
Muweena and Merlin called to several fighting nearby. Confused and angry, Welly, Takata, and Troll withdrew from the battle. Hacking and blasting their way through the enemy, they finally gathered where sand met the trees. Muweena shouted over the deafening battle, “Quickly, everyone onto the dragons. Takata, you join them on one; I will ride the other. Then we fly east, low over the trees.”
“Why not through the forest?” Heather questioned. “Above the trees, we will be seen.”
“That is my hope,” she yelled back. “Now hurry!”
They scrambled onto scaly backs. A few mighty wing strokes brought them level with the giant treetops. “East!” Muweena shrieked. Her voice was barely a whisper against the tumult of battle below, but her arm pointed to where the pale sun disk had risen beyond the smoke-wreathed mountain.
They flew low and fast, skimming over feathery treetops. The uppermost branches lashed in the wind of battle behind them. As they passed, Heather peered down into the darkness below, wondering if even this storm could reach into the calm depths of the forest. Then a change came in the noise of battle. Tightening her grip on the white dragon scales, she twisted to look back.
The darkness had risen from the beach like a cloud of flies startled from a corpse. The cloud pulsed, tightened, and slowly began moving their way. She called a warning. Seated behind her, Welly and Takata turned and stared. On the black dragon flying at their side, the others turned as well. Merlin looked worried, Troll terrified, but Muweena only grinned.
They flew on over the forest until the great trees thinned. Below them, now the ground looked black and crusty. Steam rose in ragged puffs from clefts in the rock, and here and there, mud bubbled and popped in gray pools. The bare slope of the volcano was drawing nearer.
Studying it now, Heather could see that there were in fact several peaks. Smoke rose from all of them, but the uppermost glowed a sullen red. The air smelled sulfurous and thick. Turning again, Heather saw that the dark cloud was still pursuing them. Even in the muted daylight, its edges flickered with lightning.
At a shouted order from Muweena, the black dragon dropped lower. Blanche followed through air flecked with gray ash. They dropped lower and lower until they circled for a landing on a flat plateau between two of the volcanoes’ lesser peaks. Above the noise of the pursuing storm, the Medicine Woman yelled for them to dismount. Soon the five humans and one troll were huddled between the encircling wall of two dragons. They all looked skyward, feeling horribly exposed.
The black cloud rolled nearer, and again shapes could be half seen in its roiling mass. Welly looked at it and tried to swallow his fear. He turned to Takata, who stood beside him, spear ready. Gruffly he said, “I guess it’s better that we die here and draw them away from your people.”
She shook her head. “Our warriors will be sorry to miss this battle.” Then she grinned. “But I am here, their wildcat warrior. You’ve nothing to fear.”
Welly laughed grimly and unsheathed his sword. “Right. A ferocious warrior, and modest too. How can we lose?”
The cloud descending above them rolled with thunder. Over it, a single sharp voice cut like a bolt of lightning. “Merlin! Die now, finally die! You and your plans are at last ended. My world begins today!”
Defiantly Merlin raised his staff toward the green figure glowing amid the cloud. But Muweena grabbed his arm. “Wait!”
Angrily he looked at her. “Wait for what? This ends now.”
Before she could answer, the earth they stood on gave a tremendous shake. All were knocked from their feet. The dragons bellowed, but the noise was drowned by the great rumbling rising from the mountain. The ground kept convulsing. Jagged cracks snaked over the rock. The frightened group clung to the heaving ground, but their attention was drawn upward.
The tallest peak was no longer simply smoking. Its summit had split open. A fierce red glow lit the underside of the descending cloud. Then, with a violent shudder, the mountain belched fire. Flames and molten rock spewed upward.
The darkness flinched back, but too late. Flames scorched the edges, then spread with hungry fury into the mass. Below, the dragons cowered and the others threw arms over their heads. But the bellows of the Earth and the screams of its victims could not be shut out.
The horror in earth and sky felt like it would never end.
JOURNEY
Slowly silence descended—as did a cloud of gray and drifting ash. The earth ceased to shudder. Coughing and gasping, the survivors sat up. A clean breeze from the sea steadily blew the ash eastward, and slowly their vision cleared. The top of the mountain, wider now, still glowed red. A throbbing river of lava flowed down the far side, but already it seemed to slow and cool. The sky was clear.
“Are they gone?” Heather whispered. “Really gone?”
“Gone?” Merlin said, then coughed, trying to clear his throat of ash and the dregs of dying fear. “Perhaps not totally. Evil is not easily extinguished, and Morgan has survived much. But her army and its strength—at the moment, both seem quite gone.” Then he turned to Muweena, who was still crouched at his side
. “And we have you to thank.”
A grin etched even more wrinkles across the old woman’s face, but she shook her head. “We have the Earth to thank, and all of our power to call on it. The Earth can only put up with so much suffering before it strikes back, you know.”
“Well, I do now,” Merlin laughed as he stood up, “and am grateful.”
She nodded and stood as well. Removing her basketry cap, she shook off the ash before settling it back onto her head. “I must return to the village now. There are other healers among us, but I fear there will be enough wounds to heal for us all. And there will be dead to bury.”
“We can help with the healing,” Heather said.
“No. Your way lies elsewhere now. And this is the time for you to go.”
Merlin looked to the east. Under the silvered sun, the volcanic plain merged into snow-covered wilderness. “Flying eastward to the ocean and over that to Britain. A long journey. We would happily postpone it if we could be of help to you here.”
“No, no!” the old woman insisted. “There is another way, but you must take it now. The Fire Mountain is more than just our protector. It is our opening to the Otherworld. Right now the opening has widened. It may admit friends, even those with different Otherworlds.”
Merlin looked at the mountain, still oozing lava down one side. The heat could be felt even where they stood. “It would be a privilege to visit your Otherworld. But our home lies on the other side of this globe. It is there we must return.”
The Medicine Woman chuckled. “For all your great age and wisdom, it seems there are things you do not know, young man. The Otherworlds are connected. The pathways are seldom used and dangerous without a guide. But it is possible to travel from one to another.”
“Troll know that!” Troll piped up. “Mama always say never go near paths. Too dangerous. Get lost.”
Yesterday's Magic Page 17