by J. M. Briggs
“Woodhenge?” Alex asked. “What’s that?”
Bran raised an eyebrow at the question; they’d gone through it on the train, but Alex had been a mess since leaving Dinas Emrys. He glanced towards Nicki and she made a tiny nod, forcing a smile for Alex.
“It’s a Neolithic henge circle about two miles that way,” Bran explained before pausing and looking down at the map again. “No, more that way,” he corrected. “Unlike Stonehenge, as the name suggests it was actually built out of timbers instead in a big circle formation. It was found by aerial photography in the 1920s and is believed to be over four thousand years old. Dating puts it at being built around the same time as Stonehenge.”
“There’s only been limited archeological digs there,” Nicki added, picking up the explanation. “It’s not as sexy as Stonehenge, but over the last few years there has been a greater focus on looking at Stonehenge and other sites in the area as a part of a whole rather than just stand alone sites.”
“And since I saw Stonehenge at a distance in my vision, that means that what we’re looking for could be anywhere around here,” Bran interjected. He pulled out the map and a brochure, running a finger down the glossy page. “Woodhenge is now believed to have been connected with Stonehenge as a burial site. Some theorize that it was actually a large building for preparing the dead and that they were then taken from Woodhenge down the River Avon where they were floated down to another older stone circle now called Bluehenge. It connects to Stonehenge via a long processional avenue that they’ve found. It’s just a theory, but from the bits and pieces that Morgana and Merlin have revealed it seems possible.”
“Sort of a journey between life and death,” Alex muttered with understanding dawning in her eyes. “So Arto could be near Stonehenge or Woodhenge or even this Bluehenge.”
“Exactly; it all depends on how far Merlin and Morgana took him through whatever ritual was in place here,” Bran agreed with a nod.
“Recent evacuations have begun to connect Stonehenge more with the Winter Solstice, rather than the Summer Solstice,” Nicki added quickly. The eager excitement was building and she started rocking on her feet. “They’ve even found signs of cremation here and burials!”
“And if Arto was buried instead of cremated like we’re hoping, then he’d be one of the older burials in the area,” Bran finished. “His burial might have even started the shift from cremation to burial.”
“I hadn’t considered that,” Nicki remarked with a little smile. She was pleased to have someone on the same history wavelength as her.
“So what did Morgana say?” Jenny asked in the same nervous tone that she always did when Morgana came up. Nicki wondered at that: did Jenny know that Morgana had considered killing her, was there some kind of residual fear from her previous life, or was she just afraid of her as Professor Cornwall? “Did she tell you where Arto was buried?”
“Uh…I didn’t actually tell her that we were coming here. I just emailed her that we were okay and left it at that,” Alex answered with a nervous look.
“Alex!” Nicki scolded sharply.
“She’s weird about anything related to Arto,” Alex insisted with a pleading look. “Since we’re thinking that we have to get to his body so I can touch his skull, I figured it was safer not to tell her that.” Alex shuffled and kicked lightly at the pavement. “I’m not sure that she’d allow it, even if it meant getting the Chalice working.” Alex swallowed and lowered her eyes and added, “Especially since we aren’t sure if it will work.”
“It’ll work,” Bran answered calmly. He was standing straight, leaning slightly on his cane for stability, yet he seemed more in control than usual. Nicki realized that Alex was looking at him too, although Bran didn’t seem to be concerned with the staring and looked back down at his map. “Honestly, with it being the Winter Solstice I think we should start things off by trying to trigger a vision like we did in Wales. There is a lot of ground to cover here and I don’t think we want to start trying to use magic until we have to.”
“I hate to point this out,” Lance cut in, “I really do, but say you find the place where Arto is buried, then what? I mean, are you going to just dig him up near one of England’s more important tourist destinations?”
“He’s right,” Jenny said. “That’s going to attract a lot of attention and we’re already walking around with an ancient chalice.”
“Thankfully the Chalice doesn’t look ancient thanks to the magic in it,” Nicki pointed out with a sigh, though she did have to nod in agreement. “They’re right though: this isn’t a place that we can just dig up.”
“We can try casting a spell to keep people from noticing us,” Bran suggested quickly. “Like Merlin and Morgana use; just enough to make sure that people don’t pay attention to us. If we can find the right spot then our magic should help us get down there.”
“Okay….” Alex agreed slowly. “Okay; let’s give the vision thing a try. But I don’t have the Chalice to focus on this time Bran; what should I try to connect to?”
“Well, if Emrys was right and a part of your soul or an imprint of Arto or whatever it was in Bran’s skull is still in Arto’s body, then you should be able to connect to that. It’s supposed to be part of you after all,” Bran reminded her with a confident nod. “If you focus on that my gut tells me that this will work.”
“Your gut,” Alex repeated doubtfully, licking her lips before she nodded. “Okay, we’ll try it, but maybe we should let the crowd disperse a bit more,” Alex suggested. nodding towards the crowd. “Come on, let’s go around the stones and see if that triggers anything.”
The hopeful, almost desperate note in Alex’s voice was hard to miss. Nicki noted with a frown that Alex’s hands were trembling as she shoved them into her pockets. Maybe while the rest of them had been collapsing with exhaustion, Alex had been lying awake fretting. It would explain how she managed to fall asleep during a short bus ride. Holding back a worried look and a sigh, Nicki started walking up the paved trail around Stonehenge with the others following along behind.
Stonehenge was smaller than Nicki had always imagined it. Over the years of learning about it and wondering when she’d finally get to see it for herself, she’d never really understood the size. Not that it wasn’t gorgeous even with all the people milling about and taking photos. White pristine snow surrounded the stones that stood high over her head and gleamed in the early morning light. There was nothing fastening them together, no cement or even mortar, and Nicki allowed herself a moment of awe for the sheer ability of men: people who learned to carve small niches into the stones so they fit together, to bury one end into the ground so that the earth itself kept them aloft, and to lift the massive stones high into the air to create the famous arches.
Even with the noise of the crowd all cooing over the alignment of the stones on the solstice, there was a sense of magic that Nicki could feel in the air. She wasn’t sure it if was real or just her imagination. Nicki thought that she could feel her own magic flaring, and glanced towards the others. Alex had a nervous look on her face as they followed the circle around the stones and Jenny looked uneasy. Nicki raised an eyebrow as Jenny suddenly reached over and gripped Lance’s hand tightly.
For a moment Nicki couldn’t help but wonder about the whole reincarnation thing. She’d avoided thinking about it too much as even Merlin and Morgana didn’t have much to go on. They’d never died and had only come to the conclusion about reincarnation being real after observing the Iron Soul, Jenny and Lance come around again and again. The way the three of them were reacting to Stonehenge seemed a bit odd like they were feeling something that they didn’t understand. Maybe they’d been here in that first life and laid people to rest, and it was still inside of them somewhere.
She glanced towards Bran; he didn’t to be affected and was instead looking at the stones with interest and using his phone to take some pictures. Nicki chuckled and pulled out her own phone. No signal, no coverage, but the camera did s
till work. As she snapped a few photos, she wondered if reincarnation was something common or if it was rare. If Bran was a reincarnation, did that mean that she and Aiden might be too? Had they known the Iron Soul in another lifetime? Nicki found herself hoping not as they watched the crowd begin to clear off.
“Anything Bran?” she asked calmly without looking at him.
“No,” he admitted with a sigh. “I think we’re going to have to connect to our magic directly if we want to find Arto.”
Bran shifted his weight onto his cane, and his brace squeaked slightly as he began to stride towards the parking lot again. Sighing, Nicki took one more photo of Stonehenge and followed, promising herself that she’d come back here as soon as she could with Aiden. The thought made her stand up a little straighter and move a little faster after Bran. He led them off to the side of the parking lot behind a large parked tour bus. Feet crunching in the snow, Bran looked around and then nodded in satisfaction. He tugged off his gloves and shoved them into his pockets, gesturing for Alex to do the same. Bran didn’t bother pulling out the mirror this time and instead held out his hand for Alex’s. With his other hand, he pulled off his shoulder bag and held it out for Nicki to take. She accepted it with a nod and opened the top flap quickly to confirm that the Chalice was still in one piece. Then Bran turned his attention back to Alex and closed his eyes.
It was strange watching them as they stood there facing each other. The wet ground and the presence of so many people nearby was a problem that had Nicki wondering if Bran wasn’t being too optimistic about them hiding themselves. Her fingers twitched with the desire to test that theory, and she could feel her magic beginning to flow into her torso. She stilled the impulse, reminding herself that exhaustion was very real and they had a long way to go.
For a moment nothing happened, but then the faint gray glow of Alex’s magic became visible around their joined hands. She shifted her free hand to touch Bran’s shoulder and her chin fell forward slightly as Alex squeezed her eyes tightly closed. The sound of the cars on the nearby road suddenly sounded much more distant and Nicki shivered, feeling a slight change in the air. Nicki noted the gray glow of Alex’s hand pulsing softly and Bran’s bare hand shimmering slightly in Alex’s grip. Then Bran opened his eyes though Alex didn’t react at all. Bran looked around with wide confused eyes only to have his eyes become fixed on the field beyond the parking lot. He started to move and nearly caused Alex to slip in the snow as he held tight to her hand.
“Okay, it’s uh this way I think,” Bran said nervously as he pointed out into the snowy landscape. “Come on.” Alex released his hand and Bran suddenly stopped. Before anyone could say anything he grabbed Alex’s hand again, tugging her up next to him. “Shit, use your magic again,” Bran ordered. Gray magic flared around Alex’s hand again and she looked out over the snow-covered field in confusion. Bran relaxed and looked over at Alex with a sheepish look. “I need you keep holding my hand okay?” he muttered urgently. “My ability to direct my magic towards visions seems to be letting me see the way.”
“Alright then,” Alex replied with a faint smile. “If you say so.”
“You do have nice hands though,” Bran assured her with a small smile.
A real laugh escaped her and Alex fell into step with Bran, minding his pace as she walked along on his left side. Bran looked back towards Nicki with a smile of triumph and she grinned in return, pleased to see so life in Alex. He quickly turned his attention back towards whatever it was he was following while she looked towards Jenny and Lance. A soft relieved smile was on Jenny’s face, though she still looked very nervous. For a moment Nicki was tempted to suggest that they just wait there, but without working cell phones that they could safely turn on it wasn’t a good idea to split up.
They moved northeast away from the main road and Stonehenge. They were in a field of some kind and Nicki’s eyes were drawn to the small mounds of earth scattered here and there that she knew from her research were ancient burial mounds. Silently she reminded herself that they all were surely from after Arto’s burial and that he was most likely somewhere else, somewhere much deeper. Her eyes went back to Alex and Nicki had to admit that she understood her reluctance to call Morgana. Bran had his gut instinct and she had hers. Arto was buried deep; Merlin and Morgana had magic and knew how to use it. They could have put him a hundred feet down near the sites used to honor the dead so that he was close to them. They might not have even broken a sweat doing so.
Shaking herself out of those thoughts, Nicki looked around and noted that she could now see the River Avon off to her right, though it was hard to see past a row of tightly packed houses. Apparently, riverside suburbs weren’t just a problem in Ravenslake. She looked back towards Bran as he slightly adjusted their trajectory and squinted her eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever he was following.
“Uh, Bran?” Nicki asked carefully as she looked into the empty space in front of them. “What are you following? And before you claim otherwise you are definitely following something.”
“It’s hard to explain…” Bran said hesitantly as he moved across the snowy landscape. “It’s sort of like… I don’t know.”
“Bran?” Alex questioned sharply as Bran almost slipped in the snow. Nicki gasped, but Alex kept hold of Bran’s hand with her softly glowing gray hand. “What is going on?”
“I think the magic created a guide,” Bran offered as they moved around one of the small burial hills. “It’s funny; another point on the side of magic having some kind of sentience behind it. I’m not sure I feel about that. I guess using a vision wasn’t going to be clear enough.”
“A guide huh?” Lance repeated as he and Jenny kept following them, still hand in hand. “And it couldn’t have guided us to the Chalice from Cardiff?”
“Yeah,” Jenny muttered as she almost fell in the snow. “That would have been a lot faster.”
“Alex and I weren’t combining our powers then,” Bran replied quickly. He sounded a touch embarrassed. “And I don’t know if that would have worked; after all Alex was focusing on the Chalice and I was focusing on his- my- the skull.”
“Bran?” Alex asked seriously. “What are we following? Are you sure it’s on our side?”
A deep, suffering sigh escaped Bran, and for a moment Nicki thought that Alex might drop it, but the girl suddenly seemed alert again. It was a nice change after having a basket case on their hands for the last twenty-four plus hours.
“Bran?” Alex pressed.
“It looks like a will-o-wisp,” he admitted with a small grimace. “Sort of gold in color and just hovering in front of us.”
“Will-o-wisp,” Nicki repeated doubtfully. “Uh Bran, those are usually-”
“I know,” Bran sighed, though it looked like he was tightening his grip on Alex’s hand. “Lights that lead travelers to their deaths, but this… this feels right. I can’t explain it-”
“Okay,” Alex assured him quickly. She looked over her shoulder towards Nicki and shrugged. “We’ll hope that it’s not some Sídhe creature.”
“I didn’t see it until we used our magic and it’s… sort of shimmering. Like a mirage, not really there, you know?” Bran struggled to explain. “I think it’s just a manifestation of some kind. Maybe people just had will-o-wisps wrong or didn’t follow them right.”
“Alright, alright,” Nicki called to them. “Let’s keep moving. We’re on a schedule remember.”
The ground sloped down in a very small gentle hill with Stonehenge still in sight. Nicki felt a bit bad for stomping across some farmer’s land, and up ahead she could see a road and collection of buildings. In the snow, Nicki could see a round imprint just off the river ahead of them and noted the small poles rising out of the ground.
“Here!” Bran called out as he led Alex down the slope. She shifted her weight in order to keep them both from slipping in the snow. “It’s right here; the light disappeared into the ground!”
Alex nearly slipped in the
snow but caught herself as Bran suddenly released her hand and reached down to brush away the snow. Underneath were only thin wild plants that had managed to grow between the harvest and the frost. Coming down behind the others, Nicki noted that Lance and Jenny stayed at the top of the small hill and were standing close together.
“What do you think?” Alex asked as Nicki stepped up on her left side. “Maybe under the hill?”
“You didn’t see anything else Bran, just the will-o-wisp?” Nicki questioned.
“There was not a vision; just a strong sense that the magic was responding, and when I opened my eyes the guide was there,” Bran explained. Nicki noted that he didn’t sound sure himself.
“Maybe you have to open the hill like Alex opened the cave,” Lance called down. A moment later he and Jenny came down the gentle slope to join them.
Nicki nearly jumped when she felt Alex take her hand and looked down to see a soft gray glow encompassing their hands. Leaning forward she could see that Alex had done the same with Bran. Alex’s eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply, yet it was just on the edge of frantic. Each deliberate breath sounded too loud, but Nicki forced her own eyes closed and let her own magic begin to blossom in her chest. The warm feeling of it running through her eased the tension in her shoulders, but then she paused in surprise as she felt her magic smoothly shifting out of her hand and into Alex’s.