by J. M. Briggs
“Curse you.” The creature stared up at Alex with silvery blood spilling from its wound and vanishing as soon as it hit the ground. “Curse you Iron Soul for what you wrought!”
Then its eyes rolled back in its head and it gurgled in pain. Alex stepped back, almost colliding with Lance as the creature’s form vanished, leaving them alone in the room once again with small piles of clothing.
“What do you think it meant by that?” Jenny asked after a long moment of tense silence. She frowned distastefully, but bent down to scoop up the various piles of jeans and hoodies and tossed them into the corner.
“I don’t know,” Alex answered. She turned to the look at the others. “But let’s get the damage fixed before the staff comes up here again.”
There was a moment of silence. No one knew what to say and Alex felt some reassurance that she wasn’t alone in her discomfort. Lance moved back from the wall and went over to Jenny who hugged him. It was Bran who finally went to the wall.
“What were those?” Yellow magic ran down his fingers as he touched the wall and it began to reform beneath his hand. “They didn’t look like normal Sídhe.”
“No, they didn’t,” Alex agreed. “They were smaller and didn’t seem to have any magic.” Alex rubbed her hands together and looked out the window. “Maybe descendants of the Sídhe who were trapped in our world after the earlier Iron Gates were made. If they’ve been in our world a long time that might explain why they seemed smaller and weaker.”
“Maybe,” Nicki said. She slid her hands into her pockets and watched as Bran repaired the wall. “So we’ve got more creatures to contend with. What now?”
Alex felt them all looking at her, waiting for her to do something. “We still have a mission,” she said. “Let’s get some food and try to figure out what to do next.”
Nicki nodded in agreement and headed for the door with Lance and Jenny following. Bran looked her way for a moment before glancing down at where the Síd had been. There was no trace, but Alex wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to this. She shuddered, trying to throw off the messy emotions. They had to survive and the thing had been trying to kill her. Trailing after the others, Alex told herself to stay calm and keep focused on the Iron Chalice. They’d deal with the rest later.
20
The Iron Age
Four roundhouses made of wood, mud, and thatch stood around them, apparently built on the preserved foundations of ancient ones. The smell of the mud and rain overpowered the musty scent of wood even as Alex stepped over next to one of the buildings. A few feet away was a large fire pit carved into the ground with rocks piled up to create a windbreak. It was cold and bare now, and the silence of the small reconstructed village felt heavy and unnatural. Alex could understand them being the only ones here; winter wasn’t the best time to visit an outdoor attraction, especially not with Christmas only days away.
Exhaling, Alex watched her breath curl up through the air like the morning mist. She shifted and almost bumped into the bottom of the thatched roof of the nearest house. It was an odd-looking thing to her: the steep thatched slope went almost to the ground. They were larger than she’d thought based on the pictures, with large square doorways under a curve in the roof to allow access. Alex stepped away from the house and almost ran into a wooden post in the ground that marked the outline of some sort of yard, probably for livestock.
She sighed; she’d been expecting to feel something among the roundhouses. Sure they were modern construction, but they were made of the same sort of materials and built the same way. They were even in the exact same positions they would have been thousands of years ago. This probably hadn’t been Gofiben’s village; the odds against that were huge and she couldn’t really see the ocean from the hill. Still, Alex had thought she’d feel something being in a place like this. Maybe some sense of familiarity or a feeling of loss or just… something.
Grumbling, she kicked at the ground dejectedly only to hit her toe against a rock. Alex grit her teeth and forced herself to stand still, waiting for the pain to ease. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she glared at the nearest roundhouse half tempted to experiment with using a fire spell. It wasn’t her natural area of magic certainly, but Morgana and Merlin kept promising that they could do more. With how she felt right now it wouldn’t be difficult to visualize a ball of fire setting the place aflame.
The knot in her stomach felt like it was being suspended over an empty pit as she looked around at the buildings. She knew it was her own fault: too many stories about reincarnations and even the short taxi ride had given her more than enough time to envision something important happening here. This was just disappointing, and the frustration crawled up her back to her shoulders, making Alex feel like she was carrying something heavy and inflexible. She looked over at the others; Nicki was looking at the pamphlet in her hand and wandering between the roundhouses with an interested expression. It was nice on some level to see Nicki calm enough to actually be capable of enjoying being here. After watching her for a bit, Alex noticed that Nicki was glancing towards Bran eagerly every few moments. Apparently, she wasn’t as calm as she seemed and was instead eagerly waiting for something to happen.
“I bet this place is nicer in the summer or spring,” Lance observed in a low voice as he and Jenny moved over to join her. Alex noted with a slight flicker of cheerfulness that Jenny had her arm through Lance’s even if they didn’t seem to realize it. “The forest just looks dead.”
Alex nodded in agreement, glancing into the woods that lined one side of the village. Large grayish brown trunks with bare branches were all she could see, along with a scattering of rocks and a layer of dead leaves visible between patches of snow. There wasn’t even any wind to give any sense of life to the forest. The rain had stopped and left a wonderfully clean smell, but it didn’t seem to reach the forest.
“I don’t think they get a lot of winter visitors.” Alex tore her eyes off of the forest, disliking the melancholy feeling trying to take her over.
“Yeah,” Jenny agreed softly. “It’s a pretty area though, even with everything so gray.”
“Made for a nice little walk.” Lance’s smile was rather forced as he watched Alex’s face. “You still worried about what that thing said?”
“I guess.” Alex shrugged helplessly. “And you know everything else.”
“Aiden will be okay,” Lance promised gently. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find the Chalice, and I can’t believe that his family won’t at least wait through Christmas, so we’ve still got a few days.”
Christmas: she’d almost forgotten. Her mind had been set on Aiden and the knowledge that the winter solstice might be able to help them find the Chalice if they could get close enough. It was funny in a way; a few weeks ago when they’d been worrying about Chernobog, she’d actually also been worrying about getting home for Christmas. Now instead of being stuck in Ravenslake waiting for a dangerous Old One worshiped as a god by ancient humans; she was running around Wales following old legends and vague visions.
“I’d sort of forgotten about Christmas with everything going on,” Alex admitted.
“Do mages celebrate something else?” Lance squeezed her shoulder again before letting his hand drop.
“Well I guess it’s mostly about the culture you grow up in,” Alex answered in surprise. “Morgana doesn’t seem to like Christmas much while Merlin loves it. As for if we have an actual holiday then I guess it would be Winter Solstice, you know, the longest day of winter. It marks a day when the alignment of energy is at its best for mages.” Alex gave them both a slightly sheepish look. “I’m afraid I don’t understand it very well, but we’re more powerful and creatures from other worlds are weaker. We’re usually safe that day.”
“So if you’re more powerful then maybe that can help you with the Iron Chalice!” Jenny’s eyes widened in excitement. “Isn’t that in only a few days?”
“December 22nd this year,” Alex said. “We
got lucky; we have an extra day to try and find the Chalice, but if not then I’m hoping we might be able to do something to help Bran have a vision of it.”
“Or maybe you’ll be able to scry for it yourself,” Lance suggested. “After all, you are the Iron Soul and it doesn’t make much sense if you don’t have the ability to find it.”
Alex frowned; that was actually a valid point. Morgana and Bran had both been trying to find it, but she hadn’t tried yet. At least not with magic. Maybe as the current incarnation of the Iron Soul, she would have the power to find it, and if that were true then maybe she could find Cathanáil too. Her thoughts were interrupted by Jenny’s phone ringing. The sound cut through the silence and everyone jumped with Nicki sending a dark look towards them. A cry of alarm escaped Jenny and she dropped the phone into the soft mud beneath their feet. It sloshed as it hit the ground and Alex bent down to pick it up. She heard Lance ask Jenny what was wrong, but their voices faded away as she wiped away the mud and read the screen. It said one word: Arthur.
“Oh god.” Alex’s legs buckled and she fell to her knees. The cold mud squished beneath her and she heard someone shout her name. A hand slipped under her arm and hauled her off the ground as the phone kept ringing.
“What is it?” Nicki asked. There was a flash of red hair in the corner of her eye as her friend tried to see the phone. “Shit.”
It stopped ringing, leaving them all in silence as the others crowded around Alex. Then the phone began to ring again with the soft series of chimes that seemed far too innocent for someone so dangerous. Jenny whimpered and drew back from the phone as if it was threatening to burn her. Looking over at her, Alex felt her stomach turn at the devastated look on Jenny’s face even as Lance wrapped an arm around her. Jenny spun in his arms and buried her face against his chest.
“If she answers it then he can find us right?” Lance looked down at Jenny with a helpless expression on his face.
“That’s not how cell phones work Lance,” Bran said with a strangely neutral expression as he eyed the phone. “No, if her phone is working and he has access to the phone company then he already knows where we are. That’s how the GPS works in the first place.”
The phone stopped ringing again as everyone crowded around. Nicki pushed up beside Alex, glaring at the phone with blue eyes that were cold as ice. Alex hoped the other girl didn’t lose control of her magic. Then it rang again, and Alex answered it before she could change her mind.
“Hello, Arthur.” Alex tried to sound calm, but her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest.
“Alex, alive and well it seems,” the very familiar voice of Arthur Pendred cooed. Some little part of Alex melted a bit at the sound of his voice, but then the memory of him stabbing her with Cathanáil and collecting her blood in vials rammed its way to the front of her mind. “And Aiden, lying in the intensive care unit. His loyalty is to be commended.”
“While yours leaves a great deal to be desired.”
“And you’re answering Jenny’s phone. That must mean that despite knowing the truth you’ve decided to keep the ex-wife with you. Tell me, is Lance there as well? Aren’t you even a little concerned about the betrayal?”
“I’m not worried about them.”
“You weren’t worried about me.” Arthur sounded far too smug. “You were far too busy damn near falling over yourself for me. Remember that night we-”
“What do you want Arthur, or did you really just call to gloat?”
“You wound me Alex; perhaps I was merely concerned over Jenny and Lance. After all, she was family in another life. I was always very polite to my cousin’s wife.” Arthur chuckled. “Oh, and doesn’t that put a rather incestuous twist on some of the things we got up to.”
“You are a bastard, Arthur!” The anger flared up stronger than the shame and regret churning in Alex’s stomach.
“No, you’ll find that isn’t true. My dear mother Elaine was married before she became the vessel of Queen Scáthbás.”
“So what are you then?” Alex demanded sharply. “You’re not really an Earth mage, you’re something else.”
“I’m a half-breed, just like your bitch of a sister and the old abomination. I’m the Prince of the Sídhe,” Arthur answered in a sing-song voice. “Come on Alex, it’s not going to be that easy. Well, maybe it would be if you could remember your old lives.”
“Do you remember Medraut?” Alex questioned before she could think better of it.
“That would be telling my darling Alex. It really was a little disappointing that you were the Iron Soul, I might have enjoyed trying to win you over to my side. But in the end, you’re just a little too… well, boring I suppose.”
“So you did just call to gloat.”
“Actually, I’m curious as to what it is that you’re in… Wales looking for? Why would you leave a friend who is lying in a hospital dying for you to run off to that backwater?”
Alex pulled the phone away from her ear and switched off the call in one fast movement. Before the others could say anything she pressed the power key and waited for the phone to shut down. “He knows where we are,” she said in a shaky voice. “And he knows that it’s Aiden who is hurt. I don’t think he’ll go after Aiden though, I don’t think Arthur cares about that.”
“Or he knows I’m already plotting ways to kill him,” Nicki growled.
“Get in line.” Anger flashed in Jenny’s eyes as she let go of Lance and straightened her hair self-consciously.
“We’ll kill him together when we have the chance next,” Alex said, turning to look at Bran. “What do you think?”
“I haven’t seen anything,” Bran said. He dug into the black shoulder bag he’d picked up that morning and pulled a small round mirror out of it. “But I could see if I can get anything.”
“Yeah…” Alex trailed off as she thought back to the earlier conversation with Jenny and Lance. “Uh, do you want to try here?”
“Sure,” Bran agreed as he looked around. “The setting couldn’t hurt.”
“Can you guys combine your magical power?” Jenny asked from behind Alex only to get the attention of all the mages on her. “I mean, Alex was thinking that maybe since she made the Chalice, you know in another life, that maybe she could scry for it?”
“Except I’ve never scryed before,” Alex said.
“But you’ve had dreams,” Nicki reminded her quickly. “You had dreams about the tunnels last year before you were captured.”
“And we did make the Iron Gate in Ravenslake together, so we can combine our powers, at least to a certain extent,” Bran added with a thoughtful look that began to morph into excitement. “Let’s give it a try.”
He stepped away from them and found a drier patch of grass on the ground. Alex hesitated and glanced nervously towards Nicki, but her friend's face was brighter than she’d seen it for a while with a blend of cautious optimism and curiosity. Then there was a hand on her shoulder and Lance was leaning over her from behind.
“Give it a try,” Lance said gently. “It’s worth a shot.”
Forcing a smile and trying to look more confident than she felt for Bran and Nicki, Alex stepped forward and followed Bran over to the spot he’d chosen. Bran arranged his legs carefully and settled onto the ground with a barely contained shiver. He dropped one hand and touched it to the ground. In his other hand, he gently held the mirror and lowered his face so he was comfortable looking at it. From her position, Alex could see the reflection of Bran’s Ravenslake sweatshirt and the gray sky in the mirror. She sank to the ground in front of him and put her left hand over his before placing her right hand on the ground. The mud felt cold to her bare fingers, but Alex could feel a slight hum in the earth that seemed to be reaching for the spark of her magic.
Closing her eyes, Alex tried to envision what the Iron Chalice looked like. Unfortunately, her mind instantly provided a golden grail with small gems in the base that was completely wrong and Alex inwardly cringed. For a momen
t she felt utterly lost; suddenly unsure of how to reach for the Iron Chalice. Magic responded to a mage’s desires, but it had to be directed and the easiest way was visualization. The problem was Alex had no idea of how to visualize the Chalice. She felt the warmth of Bran’s hand beneath her own and forced herself to relax. Tightening her fingers around his, Alex reached for her memories of Morgana’s meditation lessons and focused on her breathing. Slowly and gradually the growing feeling of fear began to ease, and she could think a bit more clearly.