She sat at the small wooden table in the kitchen. The kitchen was nothing impressive, just a stove, a sink, an oven, and some stainless steel tables. The next ingredient on my list was licorice.
“Ivy, get me some licorice,” I said.
“Ah, hell.” She mumbled.
I had been teaching her quick exchange magic, in turn, she was showing me dimensional. Since we did not inherit the magic, and it was learned, we could never be as powerful in it as the other, but we could do a few things. Ivy could summon small objects to her and I could kind of open the portal to her dimension. It was still a bit blurry, so Ivy suggested not stepping through.
Taking in a deep breath, she focused on the table in front of her. She mumbled the incantation and hovered her hands over the spot. Once a wizard reached a certain level of magic, they no longer had to recite an incantation. The words were just a focus for the mind, therefore; literally, any words could be an incantation. At this point, I could think of licorice, and it would appear in front of me.
Green magic illuminated from the palms of her hands as she tried to summon the licorice. A puff of smoke erupted in her hands, and she pulled them away. Once the smoke cleared, a single strand of black licorice appeared on the table.
“Ha! I did it!” She did a fist pump and then a little dance.
“Great job!” I complimented, “but I’m going to need a little more.” With a wave of my hand, the entire table was filled with strands of black licorice. Ivy let out a long sigh.
“Show off.” She stuck her tongue out at me. I let out a laugh, giving her a wink.
At that moment I got a call, it was my father, again. I should answer. He usually doesn’t call me unless it was important, and this was three times in one day now.
“Hey, hang on a second, I’m going to answer this.” I gestured to my phone. Ivy nodded, giving me an encouraging smile.
I stepped outside and answered the phone.
“Hello, son.” My father said.
“Just get on with it, why are you calling?” I demanded. I would never forgive my father for what he did to my mother two years ago. Though we have had to have contact over the past year, I still didn’t like it.
“It’s your mother,” He let out a deep breath, “It's not looking good, son.” He almost sounded sad.
“Well, what the hell did you expect? She’s wasting away in that place.” I couldn’t control my anger for my father. Blue streaks started to flutter around me.
“Owen, she had a stroke.” My father snapped. I couldn’t deal with this at that moment.
“Is she alive?” I asked.
“They got her back, and they think she’s going to be fine, but the left side of her face is paralyzed.” My father explained. I fought for control, as blue droplets started to rain down around me.
“I’ll go see her as soon as I can,” I said.
“I think that would be best.” My father replied.
“I don’t give a shit what you think is best.” I snapped. I couldn’t deal with this. I had too many important things going on in my life.
“I have to go,” I said and then hung up.
I stood for a moment, trying to regain control of my emotions. I knew my mother didn’t have long, the doctors told me as much the last time I was there over winter break. Metaphorically, I set that aside in my mind. I needed to talk to Ryker about it as well. We needed to plan a trip and get time off from school. It was going to be a big deal, and I didn’t want to waste my Sunday of cookie making on it.
Turning, I went back into the kitchen. Ivy sat at the table, flipping through a magazine and eating cookies. I started to prepare my batter when what I saw actually triggered in my brain. Turning, Ivy was staring down at the magazine, a cookie in her hand. The gallon-sized bag was sitting open in front of her, with only four cookies left.
“Ivy, where did you get those?” I demanded. Ivy glanced up and then over at the cookies.
“Oh, I saw them in your bag.” She smiled. I felt the panic drop in my chest like a cold stone.
“What?” I demanded. Her eyes widened. “I have told you over and over again to ask before you eat cookies! Remember the ones that turned your skin pink?” I demanded. I had gotten an ear full from Ryker that day.
“Yeah, I have never been flirted with so much in my life. Guys really are weird.” She replied.
“Those could be poisonous.” I pointed out.
“You already made poisonous ones, and those I didn’t want to eat.” She replied in a snide tone. “I was called to eat these.” I stared at her for a long moment. How connected to the universe was she? I mean, I was open to the energies as much as any wizard, but Ivy seemed to know things.
“How many did you eat?” I asked in a much calmer tone.
“About eight.” She shrugged. I had seen this girl eat twenty cookies in one sitting. I had no idea how she didn’t get sick. I sat at the table across from her, watching every detail of her being. My eyes shifted from the color of her skin to the size of her ears, to the glimmer of her eyes.
“Maybe they were just really good cookies.” Ivy shrugged when she was finished eating the one in her hand. I sat back in my chair. Clasping my hands together, I rested them against my mouth and watched the strange little sorceress in front of me. She was bouncing rhythmically to some tune she could only hear in her mind and flipping through the magazine.
A long wisp of green magic floated over her, towards the ceiling. Then another, and another. This was different than the ones she usually released when her emotions run high. Those were translucent, like the beam of a green flashlight. These were thick like actual silk ribbons were floating above her.
“Um, Ivy,” I said. She looked at me and then looked up.
“Whoa.” She gasped. At her shock and surprise, the green ribbons expanded, becoming denser.
“Uh, sweets, why don’t we get into the vault? Huh?” I asked, standing and grabbing her arm. I led her into the vault and closed the blast doors.
“I feel amazing.” She said, filling the vault with magic. “Like all of the universe is running through me and I it.”
In my hand, I summoned a magicometer. It was just a small portable one, not like the massive ones that the government had. The device consisted of a crystal ball sitting inside some sort of frame. Just from the air, the numbers on the panel of the magicometer were ascending at a rapid pace. Did the cookies open a person’s magic? Our bodies could only hold so much magic, like we had a well inside of us that could be filled. Once we expended all the magic in our well, it took some time and nutrients to replenish. There were theories, however, that a person could achieve constant flow. Was this what this was?
There were two cookies left in the bag, so I ate one. Ivy danced around the room with her ribbons of magic, laughing and clapping at the curiosity of it all. After a moment, I felt open. I felt the energies of the universe flowing through me like a river. The light above us started to flicker, as a storm of blue lightning emerged overhead. Ivy laughed, using her overflowing magic to protect her body from the lightning.
“Holy shit.” I gasped looking down at my hands. From my fingertips bolts of blue lightning were sparking.
“Owen, you want to practice with my knife?” Ivy asked.
“Oh hell yeah I do.” I’d never wanted to do anything more. Ivy got her knife from her bag. As soon as she touched the handle, the entire blade was encapsulated in green magic.
“Alright, just like I taught you,” I said, taking a step back. I conjured a couple of human dummies to stand across the vault from us.
Ivy swung the knife over her head and then cut it through the air. A flash of green magic, like a flying ball of green fire, descended towards the dummies. The explosion sent us flying back. Usually, when Ivy did this, just a little blast came out, enough to burn the dummy, but not enough to cause anyone else harm. Ivy was laying on the ground laughing, the magic swirling above her. Standing in front of her, it was my turn. Arching my h
ands above my head, I moved my arms in a downward motion. The lightning above me responded, shooting into the second dummy. Again, the force of it sent me flying back into the padded wall. That was only on one cookie, imagine the power from nine like Ivy ate.
“Hey” Ryker’s voice sounded through the intercom. “What are you guys doing in there? I can hear the blast from across campus.”
“Come in,” I said, pushing the button for the door. Ryker stepped in and took a look around.
“I wonder if it works on Ryker.” Ivy clapped her hands together. Thick green ribbons of magic swirled around her, so all we could see was her eyes and strands of her levitating hair.
“Uh, what’s happening to her?” Ryker demanded.
“Eat this.” I offered him the last cookie.
“Hell no.” Ryker retorted, looking at me like I was crazy. “What is happening to her?” He demanded again. The magic was wrapping around Ivy like a cocoon.
“Just do it, bro, it’s fine.” I laughed. I could see Ivy’s arms waving over her head like she was dancing. Ryker gave me a long look.
“I’m a knight now, you know.” He said. Ever since his initiation where full-grown men in robes and masks muttered some ancient words and they drank some punch or something, we had not stopped hearing about how he was now a knight. Like he wasn’t one before.
“Just eat it.” I pushed the cookie into his hand. After giving me a long look, he ate it.
“What does this do anyway?” He asked glancing up at my blue lightning storm.
“It opens your energy well to constant flow.” I grinned. Ryker gave me a long hard look.
“What?” Oh, I knew he’d be angry.
I also knew why he was avoiding filling his well by opening himself up to the universe. See, the magic was only a part of the universe flowing through us. The other side was the intuition, the feelings, and listening to the whispers of the universe for the right choice. That was the part that scared the holy hell out of our King of Knights. Well, it was time he faced it.
“Ivy.” She was now completely covered with the swirling green magic. “Hey, Ivy,” I called again. I felt the energy before it happened. In a sudden movement, her green wisps of magic flared out and then exploded into a tiny million little pieces of glitter. She let out a shriek of delight, as more wisps coiled around her.
“See, no harm.” I winked at Ryker.
Ryker looked down at his hand. It was glowing red. It was at that moment I knew that if he was to try to free Excalibur from the stone it would work. That was the point. His energy well needed to be filled and keep filling to feed Excalibur the energy it needed to function fully. At this moment, with the constant flow, he could use the mighty sword. I also kept that to myself. Ryker wasn’t ready, and he needed to be prepared without the help of cookies.
“Owen, summon me a sword,” Ryker said. I conjured the magic sword he had been practicing with. These little cheap swords wouldn’t take near as much energy to function as Excalibur, but they were good to practice with. As soon as he wrapped his hand around the hilt, the blade glowed red. Then he looked at Ivy.
“I’m about to have some fun.” He grinned at me.
Trotting up to Ivy, he swung his sword at her. Her magic immediately stopped it. The green ribbons coiled around the blade and then around Ryker, like little snakes. Ivy laughed, clapping her hands together, as Ryker tried to conjure enough energy to fight them off. With a wave of my finger, one of my blue lightning bolts crashed down onto Ivy’s magic. Then it was on.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the vault. Ryker and me against Ivy. She got to practice her combat magic, and we got to practice fighting a hell-a powerful sorceress. As the afternoon wore on, however, Ryker and I lost the extra energy. One cookie would last one hour, which meant Ivy was about to have a long night. Her magic green ribbons still coiled around her.
“Alright, I would like to leave, so can’t you just expend it all at once?” Ryker asked. Ivy and I exchanged a glance. What would happen if one were to just expend all their flow magic at once? By the smile on Ivy’s face, we were about to find out.
I conjured a blast shield and handed it to Ryker. We took defense in the corner, cowering behind the shield as Ivy stood on the other side, her eyes closed. She clasped her hands together in front of her and then slowly started to pull them apart. Inside formed a thick, bright, revolving green orb. It took me a moment to realize that making the orb were tiny tendrils of green magic, like a ball of yarn. As she pulled her hands farther apart the yarn spun faster, the ball growing to astronomical size until Ivy’s hands were as spread as far as her arm's length could go.
Then she threw it across the room and ran towards us. Ryker curled her against his chest as he held the shield up. The gigantic orb exploded, sending air and fire flying towards us. But then it was gone. In front of us, carved into the wall, was a scene, like a television had just popped into the wall. It was a scene of a desolate place, the vegetation unknown to me, but they were purple and spikey. In front of us was an army of creatures. They had variations of red skin, their eyes yellow, and they had large protruding fangs from their mouths. Some stood on two legs, other on four. They also came in a variety of sizes ranging from as small as a cat to as large as blue whales. They held weapons of various types, jagged swords, spears, and clubs. A buzzing started, and then I realized the crowd was chanting one word over and over again. “Earth.”
The image disappeared, and the blast ensued. I raised my hands above our heads, creating a magical shield. The force of it was suffocating, and it made the air hot and thick. Then with a final boom that left our ears ringing and our vision blurry, the orb exploded, sending pieces of the vault and the warehouse in every direction.
“Oops.” Ivy was the first to speak.
“What the hell was that? What were those creatures?” Ryker demanded.
“I don’t know.” Ivy shook her head.
“Team Camelot!” We all jumped as Agent Rogers marched up the field towards the leveled warehouse. “Why is it that you can not keep a building intact?” He demanded.
“It was my fault,” Ivy said.
“No, it was mine.” Ryker volunteered.
“It was my magic that leveled the warehouse.” Ivy clarified.
“I’m sorry, what? That was magic?” Agent Rogers demanded, looking around the scene of destruction with new eyes. “That was an impenetrable magical vault. We tested it by detonating nuclear warheads in it.” Ivy just shrugged. Agent Rogers rubbed his head, and other agents and personnel were on their way behind him.
“Are any of you hurt?” He then asked. We shook our heads.
“Kids with magic.” He muttered. I wasn’t sure what that meant. “Alright, go on, I’ll handle this.” He sighed.
We were so surprised that none of us said anything, as to not make him change his mind. Instead, we grabbed our bags and ran away. We made it back to our dorm in record time. Thanks to modern construction magic, our building was as good as new in half the time it would have taken humans. The three of us ran into our apartment and shut the door, and then the laughter ensued.
“Shit, how much more do you think Agent Rogers can take?” Ryker was asking as he dropped his bag. I took out my parchment pieces to keep working on the recipe. I’d have Ivy open dream world for me so I could detonate them in there. Ivy had offered to set that up for me instead of them putting resources into a vault, but the powers-that-be insisted. I think it was because they knew they couldn’t set up security cameras in a different dimension. Well, they got a hell of a show today.
“We can’t be the first ones to blow up a building at this school.” Ivy asserted. I supposed that had to be right.
Ivy set her hand on the long wall mirror in the living room and opened the portal to her dimension. Archimedes ran in, finding the balmy temperature and low flying butterflies preferable. After spending some time there, I could relate. It was a fantastic dimension where the artist could build literall
y whatever they were picturing.
“We may face consequences for this.” Ryker pointed out.
“Whatever.” Ivy huffed. She glanced down at her watch.
“I’ve got to go, I’ll see you later.” She then announced and walked out of the room. I didn’t miss the long look Ivy, and Ryker exchanged either. There had been a weird truce between them. At least they hadn’t gotten into a screaming match lately.
Stepping into dream world, I erected a kitchen and set to work on my cookies. Ryker sat at the island counter, resting his head on his hand with his elbow on the table. I could tell by the dark, sad look in his eyes that something was bothering him. Was it that he was worried about our standing in the school or was it something more? As I started to add my dry ingredients, I made special note of my extra ingredient, sweet potatoes.
“What’s wrong, bro?” I asked while measuring out sugar. Ryker glanced around as if to make sure there were no prying ears in this private dimension of ours.
“Okay, so something happened at the Knighting Ceremony.” He said in a hushed tone while leaning over the counter. Oh, I could tell by the wide set of his panicked eyes that this was going to be a great story.
“Oh yeah? What happened?” I asked while shifting out my flour.
“So, there was this weird power struggle going on between the elder knights and the younger ones.” Ryker started. I should have known better than to hope he would tell me about the super secret knight ceremony. “For instance, General Pericles started the ceremony, and then Agent Rogers had a chance to talk because . . . well, he just was allowed.” Damn, not even a detail. “And then he started talking about how the first half of the ceremony was supposed to be the crowning of the King of Knights.” Oh, this story just got way more interesting.
“What?” I asked, nearly dropping the eggs in my hands.
“Yeah, and it gets weirder. So, then after Agent Rogers announces half of the room erupts in cheers, and the other half starts booing, so then that starts duels. And so they spent an innumerous amount of time while they carried out their duels. That’s why I wasn’t home until morning. The ceremony wasn’t actually supposed to last that long.” So a dignified civil war was fought among the knights.
King of Knights Page 6