The Equilibrium of Magic

by Michael W. Layne

  After hearing Merrick finally confess his infidelity to Mona and watching as Mona stormed out the front door, the Prince began to formulate a new strategy, one that would take advantage of Merrick’s biggest weaknesses—his overdeveloped sense of guilt and his love for Mona.

  CHAPTER 62

  OODROSIL WONDERED HOW, for one with so much power and potential, Merrick understood so very little about the world in which he now meddled. Did Merrick not understand that Oodrosil was more than the sum of its trunk, branches, and leaves?

  The young Drayoom had traveled with Terrada enough times that he should have realized how interconnected all of the Earth Dragon’s creatures were—especially the trees. And among trees, the yews were the most connected and interwoven of them all. They were the holy trees of Terrada herself.

  As such, Oodrosil heard everything that Cara and Merrick discussed inside Merrick’s house through the senses of the yew tree that stood guard outside of his home. Merrick’s guardian yew was an extension of Oodrosil and its network of elemental sensors that covered the planet.

  And from what Oodrosil heard, it seemed that Merrick and Cara were on the right track to finding the Forgotten Forest. Whether they would actually figure out how to do so or not was yet to be seen, but unfortunately, the two of them made a formidable team.

  Oodrosil was one of the wisest creatures alive on the planet, but the old yew at times was still confused by the ways of Terrada.

  Why would the Earth Dragon give Oodrosil the mission to protect the forest at all costs from everyone other than the very few who proved themselves worthy, while at the same time giving Merrick such a blatant clue about where to find the exact same forest?

  Perhaps this was not about Merrick at all.

  Perhaps, even after all this time, Terrada was testing Oodrosil, her favorite yew, to see if the tree was worthy of the mission with which it had been entrusted. Oodrosil trembled slightly, causing its straw-shaped leaves to shake back at Rune Corp and for some of its needles to fall to the lobby floor.

  Either way, Oodrosil prepared itself for the inevitable battles it would likely soon face. At Rune Corp, Oodrosil would do its part in keeping the company’s divinium and its technology from the Wind Warriors who were bound to attack in only a matter of time. In the Forgotten Forest, Oodrosil feared that it would face an even more difficult test of its strength and resolve by being pitted against the most unlikely foe the mighty tree could ever imagine—Merrick himself.

  PART THREE

  CHAPTER 63

  MERRICK PICKED UP the divinium engagement ring he had given Mona from the floor and started to run after her.

  Cara stopped him at the door on her way into his house, putting one hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eye.

  “Whatever happened in here—Mona looks like she needs some time, Merrick.”

  Merrick cursed aloud, then turned back from the front door and made his way back to the dining table.

  He sat down in one of the chairs, his back to Cara.

  “I cheated on her,” he said. “I have the perfect woman, and I cheated on her. And I did it while she was sleeping only a couple of doors down from me back at the Cloud City.”

  Neither of them spoke as silence enveloped the room.

  “I’m not sure what to say,” Cara finally said.

  Merrick rubbed his forehead.

  “It was Tamami,” he said, “the monk who came to Rune Corp with the Emperor.”

  Cara pounded the table with her fist.

  “Aside from what you did to Mona, do you know they could have killed you for having sex with a monk of Araki? That’s considered a desecration of their sacred bond with the Wind Dragon, punishable by death.”

  “She said that members of her order were allowed to have relationships,” Merrick said.

  “Well, she lied,” Cara said.

  “She’s also the Emperor’s sister,” Merrick said, staring down at the floor. “Her family abandoned her when she was a young girl, and she was raised by the monks. The Abbess is like her mother.”

  Cara circled around Merrick so that she was facing him.

  “I taught you about diplomacy and dealing with other ruling families,” Cara said. “What were you thinking, Merrick?”

  “It felt different between us. She was different, Cara. I have no excuses for any of this. I’m totally to blame, I know that.”

  “But...” Cara said.

  “But being with Tamami—I felt more like myself than ever before. I spent every night this last week just walking around the city at night with her. We started holding hands one evening, and then on the last night, things just kind of happened. And that felt right, too. At least it did at the time. I don’t know if I was under the influence of some type of Wind Magic or if it was something real. I don’t know, but I do know that as soon as I entered the Earth City, I started feeling guilty about everything.”

  “Are you in love with Tamami?” Cara said.

  “I don’t know. I love Mona. I know that. But she is human, and whether I like it or not, that’s not me anymore. Ohman married your mother, and she was human, so I know it can work, but...”

  “I don’t remember much about my mom,” Cara said, taking a seat next to Merrick. “But I know they had some hard times. There’s a big gap between being human and being Drayoom. That much is true. Just the things you think about every day and the way you interact with and see the world are substantially different. I totally get that, but you really went about this whole thing the wrong way.

  “Whether you’re supposed to be with Mona or Tamami or someone else is completely up to you. And I’ll support you in whatever you want to do, but Mona’s my friend too, and I care about her. I think we need to get everyone home as soon as possible and let the two of you figure some things out.”

  Outside Merrick’s house, Balach screamed Merrick’s name.

  Merrick and Cara ran outside. Master Banzo and the others were standing a few yards away from Merrick’s front door, but Balach was farther down the dirt road, hunched over Mona’s fallen body.

  Merrick sprinted down the road and slid into the dirt on his knees next to Mona.

  “What happened?” he said.

  Mona looked at Merrick with her tear-ravaged face but didn’t say a word.

  “I was talking with her, and she collapsed,” Balach said.

  “I told you I haven’t been feeling well,” she said, still glaring at Merrick. “I just need to rest.”

  Cara gently, but firmly, placed herself between Mona and Merrick.

  “Let me take you to the healers to get you checked out,” Cara said. “I was just there a while ago with Bradley, and the woman was good—really knew what she was doing.”

  Mona nodded weakly and let Cara help her to her feet.

  “Just the two of us, though,” Mona said, with no attempt at hiding her bitterness toward Merrick.

  Cara helped Mona walk down the dirt road toward the center of the city. Cara looked back at Merrick over her shoulder, and her eyes told him very plainly that he should not try to follow.

  Merrick hung his head and returned to his house. Balach, Jonathan, Master Banzo, Bradley, and Heinin followed him inside, each looking at the other as if they wanted to help but had no idea how to do so.

  They sat down around Merrick’s table, and the silence quickly became awkward.

  “If there’s anything you want to talk about,” Balach said. “Even in private, I mean.”

  Merrick shook his head left to right.

  “I just need time to figure some things out.”

  “After the healer looks at Mona, are we heading back to Rune Corp?” Jonathan said.

  “I don’t know,” Merrick said. “I think most of us should. I might stay here and keep looking for the source of the divinium. Now that the Emperor understands its power better, he’s going to want all he can get, and he’s going to make a move eventually. We need more of the divinium so that we can protect ourselves.�
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  “I agree that the Emperor might attack Rune Corp,” Jonathan said. “It’d be a lot easier and faster for him to take our divinium and our cubes than it would be for him to find the divinium on his own and develop our technology from scratch.”

  “Would he attack us, right in the middle of the human world?” Master Banzo said. “Also, as you say, he knows what the stone can do. I would think twice facing a building full of people armed with cubes.”

  “He will think twice about it,” Jonathan said. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t try something anyway. The Emperor’s a bold strategist and tactician, and he’s been inside our building, so he has a general lay of the land. Don’t put it past him to figure a way to breach our security.

  “I suspect the Emperor’s also looking for a way to save face with his court and his subjects right now. He could easily tell his people that he’s attacking Rune Corp to find Merrick and to bring him back for the assassination of Prince Takehiko.”

  The group stared at Merrick, waiting for him to comment.

  “Well?” Jonathan said.

  Merrick took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “I want to go see the Master Storyteller while we’re waiting to hear how Mona’s doing.”

  “You don’t want to go see Mona?” said Balach.

  Merrick turned to Balach.

  “Of course I want to see Mona. But she does not want to see me right now. So until she does, I want to talk to the Master Storyteller. I want to hear more about the Forgotten Forest.”

  “No one has ever found that place,” Balach said. “That’s how it received its name.”

  “Will you take me or not?” Merrick said.

  Balach nodded.

  “Of course,” he said.

  “Then let’s go,” Merrick said as he got up and walked out the front door. He touched one of the branches of his guardian yew tree as he passed into the clearing. “I need to hear a good story.”

  The five of them walked along the hard packed dirt road until they reached the main road and made their way to the center of the city, in front of the Earth Council chambers.

  “He usually sits around here and tells his tales to the children during the day,” Balach said, looking around. “But if he’s not here, he’s probably in his home across the clearing. Over there.”

  Balach led the way to a small abode constructed like so many others in the city from intertwined tree roots and branches. Balach knocked at the front door, and within seconds, an old man swung the door open and looked out at them. The old man’s eyes quickly settled on Merrick.

  “Ard Righ,” the storyteller said as he looked at Merrick. “Please enter my home. I am honored.”

  The storyteller’s house was different from any Merrick had seen before. The walls were plastered with thin strips of bark that looked like they came from a River Birch tree. On each of these pieces of thin, off-white wood, were markings and scribbling that Merrick did not recognize.

  “Please, sit down,” the storyteller said. “How can I help you?”

  “I need you to tell us a story,” Merrick said.

  “Of course, of course,” the storyteller said with a laugh. “What else would you be here for? Anything in particular you wish to hear?”

  “I want to hear about the Forgotten Forest of Abred,” Merrick said as he watched the storyteller’s face.

  “Very well,” said the Master Storyteller. “You already know about Abred and Gwynfyd, the first Drayoom and his wife, I’m sure. And you have heard about how Abred calmed the dragons by speaking all four of their names at the same time. It was an amazing accomplishment, but equally impressive were Abred’s foresight and wisdom that he showed later in his life.

  “You see, as Abred grew older, the languages of the dragons began to fade from his mind,” the storyteller continued, “Abred tried to write down the words of magic the dragons had once taught him, but he did not possess the written language to capture their sounds and their meanings.

  “As you might imagine, Abred did not want the dragons to find out about this, because he was sure that if they knew he was losing his mastery over their magic, they would unleash vengeance on both him and his family. Remember, the dragons were still furious that Abred had used their own names against them and that he had refused to choose one of them to be the ruler over the others.

  “Abred decided that the best thing to do was to leave Annoon and to seek a place where he and his family could live in peace, away from the direct meddling of the dragons.

  “Before he left, he gathered together energy from each of the four elements and stored them in earthen globes so that he would have some magic to start over with once they reached their new home. Over the next six days, he built a boat for him, Gwynfyd, and their newborn son. On the seventh day, they set sail from Annoon.

  “Does the story say in which direction they sailed?” Merrick said.

  The storyteller cocked his head and looked upward for a second before returning his gaze to Merrick.

  “I do not recall that piece of information in any variation of this story,” the storyteller said. “I have only heard that Abred built a boat and set sail from a beach. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

  The Master Storyteller cleared his throat and settled back into his story.

  “Abred crafted some oars as well,” the storyteller said, “because he expected no help from Araki and was prepared to paddle until he found a suitable place for him and his family to live. But to Abred’s surprise, after they had launched their ship and set off on their voyage, Lagu made the sea still, and Araki blew a gentle breeze to help the boat across the water. Some say it was because Araki and Lagu wanted nothing more to do with Abred and his kind and that they helped him escape more as a form of banishment than anything else. But we will never really know, of course.

  “Abred, Gwynfyd and their son sailed for what seemed like days, although Abred could not be sure. Despite the fact that the land of Annoon switched regularly from utter darkness to brightly lit day, there was no sun in their sky, which made its oceans nearly impossible to navigate.

  “Just as Abred was about to give up hope, a shore came into view in the distance. He angled their sail so that it took them to the land, but when they arrived, the shore seemed similar to the one they had just left.

  “In fact, Abred at first stood in the boat and stared ahead with dread because he was afraid they had sailed around the world and had ended up back where they had started. He looked closer and after much studying, he was elated to realize that this was not the case, and that this was indeed a new shore. With a smile on his face, he landed the boat.

  “And just beyond the shore was the forest? The one that he and his family would call home?” Merrick said.

  “Ha!” said the old man. “You would think that, of course, but that was not the case. As with any good story, not everything is as straightforward as it first would seem. At that time, there were only a few trees near the shoreline, but once Abred walked past these trees, there were no other signs of any of the elements anywhere to be seen.

  “The land was barren. The sky was dark and cloudy, and nothing moved. It was as if they had landed in a land devoid of life. But Abred knew. He knew that under his care, the soil would not be barren for long and that they had at last found their new home.

  “Abred and his wife took turns carrying their baby boy as they walked in a straight line away from the shore. They did so for a long time until reaching a spot that looked to be the same as every other place in that land, but which Abred knew held something special.

  “Abred knelt down on the parched and cracked clay ground and opened each of the globes he had brought with him. He released the small amounts of each of the elements that were contained within.

  “When he did this, the skies opened, and rain poured so that it created rivers and softened the earth. Abred sowed seeds all around him in the wet dirt. Some of these seeds took root, but others were picked up and carried
across the land by a warm breeze, finding now fertile ground wherever they settled.

  “The dark clouds lightened and the temperature rose and Abred and his family were once again warm. And soon, all around them a forest began to arise to encompass the whole of the land they had found.

  “And Abred called this new land, Arden. And that is how the Forgotten Forest came to be.”

  “Why do they call it the Forgotten Forest?” Merrick said.

  “Abred and Gwynfyd had four other children as the years passed, and eventually, for various reasons, one after another, each of their children decided to leave the safety of Arden and to make his or her way across the globe.

  “Abred and his wife, Gwynfyd, lived in the Forgotten Forest until their dying days. It is called this because no one knows the location of the forest. All that is left is the story I have just told you, and a bit more about Abred’s children populating the four dragon families.”

  “But there were five children,” Merrick said.

  “You are right, but that is a story for another time, perhaps,” the storyteller said as he looked away from Merrick for a split second.

  “Do you know any stories about the forest burning down?” Merrick said.

  “I have never heard of such a story,” the storyteller said.

  “Any mention of divinium in the forest?” Merrick said.

  The storyteller shook his head.

  Merrick stood up and paced. He turned again to the storyteller.

  “Do you know any stories about other forests?”

  The storyteller shook his head again.

  “I know of several stories that feature a forest, but nothing like what you are asking about, I’m afraid. None of the forests I know about have anything to do with Annoon or with divinium. I am sorry, my king.”

  Merrick had to suppress his desire to correct the storyteller about referring to him as the king, even though the misconception was certainly coming in handy when he needed immediate cooperation.

  With the tale being over, Merrick thanked the Master Storyteller for sharing his wisdom and then led the group outside to the town center. The area was beginning to swarm with citizens going about their daily business in the early afternoon.