“What are you drinking?” I asked Ivy. She just shrugged and handed me her cup, a little burp escaped her red lips. Her eyes widened as she pressed her hand over her mouth. I just let out a laugh and turned towards the island. I poured a tiny amount of vodka into her cup and then filled the rest of the space with apple juice. In my own cup, I filled it to the brim with tequila and drained the entire thing, and then filled it again.
That’s when I began to relax.
A warlock of my caliber can never relax. I can intake so much energy people have compared me to a walking atom bomb. Therefore, to keep it entirely contained, I have to exert deep concentration. So every once in a while, I went to a party, drank as much as I could, and let go. I argue that it was good for me. It was better for me to release the valve than to allow the pressure to build.
At that moment, an upbeat pop song blared through the speakers, and my body started to dance to the rhythm. Grabbing Ivy’s hand, I pulled her back into the living room, amongst all the bodies in the sea of hormones and solo cups. Ivy giggled; her hands rose above her head and then fell back down as she moved her hips to the rhythm. The lights were dim, with just a couple of those revolving multicolored disco balls. Looking at her now, I realized how attractive she was. She reminded me of that woman on the 1980 Playboy cover. She had that sort of All-American innocence, but those pouty red lips, perfect rounded cheekbones, and large almond green eyes crossed her over into pinup category. It was then that I realized that Ivy was weird because she was so pretty. No one had ever bullied her or challenged her to change her innermost self. Therefore the person who she was as a child is still the person she is today, just with more maturity. That was rare and needed to be protected.
Reaching into my pocket, I took out my piece of Merlin’s staff. Slowly, I allowed the magic to seep through into my hand. A swirl of energy manifested around us, and everyone started to cheer. Those who knew me knew I loved to put on a good show. The crowd stepped back as I began to dance, creating more and more of the energy, allowing it to swirl around me. Following the flow of the music, my magic and I danced to the rhythm. When the beat dropped, I scattered it to the ceiling, making it look like billions of stars were over us. The crowd cheered.
Bringing the energy back, I let it zoom around the room, swirling around the people. Then, with a raise of my relic, the power burst into hundreds of brightly colored butterflies. The girls shrieked and clapped, their eyes growing heavy with lust, their pupils expanding. I winked at a particularly attractive brunette. Scattering the energy, I then forced it to collide, creating a firework effect.
Towards the end of the song, I sensed another energy filling the room. Wisps of green magic floated through the air like the light falling of snow. The little droplets pulsed to the beat as they slowly drifted to the ground and disappeared. After a moment, the green droplets started to swirl, creating a whirlwind. Looking over, Ivy was controlling the gentle tornado. I had to admit, it was impressive. She kept the droplets small enough so that if they passed through bodies, they wouldn’t harm them, but it created enough movement of the air that people’s clothes and hair started to rise. When the song ended, it shattered, turning to millions of specks of golden glitter.
Ivy then locked eyes with me and nodded her head towards me. It was most certainly a dare.
Pure joy, like I had not felt in a long time, filled me as I realized that I had never been magically challenged. Who would dispute the descendent of the most powerful sorcerer in the world? Ivy’s line was just as powerful as mine, and she knew it.
When the song started, Ivy stood on a nearby table and started dancing, prompting the room to clap with her hands. The thing was if an ugly or fat chick had done that the crowd would have either laughed at her or ignored her. Sometimes people really were assholes. But Ivy was different than those other drunken pretty girls that would have wobbled onto a table and swayed haphazardly until they eventually fell to the floor. No, she had poise about her, a humility that drew people to her. Around her, fragments of pink and green energy started to pulse, illuminating the far side of the room.
Her eyes locked with mine and she smiled, nodding to encourage me on.
Engaging the piece of staff in my hand, I controlled the energy around me into similar fragments, only making them glow a bright blue. They pulsed with the beat of the music. Ivy lofted her conjurations higher, letting them hover over the crowd on her side of the room, so I imitated, wondering what she was doing. The stone on her necklace glowed as she brought back her hands towards her face, palms facing out, fingers spread. And then, with a devilish gleam in her bright emerald eyes, her energy shot towards me. The crowd reacted as I used mine to block. Her fragments scattered around the room, forming back into one entity, like a school of fish.
Turns out, creating thousands of tiny fragmented energy clusters, while also formulating a color and light, was rather draining. Usually, I kept my energy in a steady stream, weaving it back and forth like one would stretch taffy. This was like Dip n’ Dots, impressive but expensive. I had no idea how she was maintaining it and still looked so relaxed. This was when I came to an important realization, one that would formulate the course of my entire life. As I looked at the hot blonde dancing on the table, I realized I was not the most powerful wizard in the room.
The front door opened, and a commotion ensued as a bunch of knights entered the house. Ryker was one of them. It was about damn time. Locking eyes with Ivy, I jerked my head towards Ryker’s direction. She nodded but proceeded to dance and wow the crowd with her ridiculous magic. I needed to thank Ryker for saving my ass from total magical embarrassment. Besides, my mind was swirling with my realization.
I caught up with Ryker in the kitchen. Beth was standing next to him, leaning her back against the counter. She held her cup close to her chest and stared off into space. They both seemed to be avoiding looking at each other. I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t make me happy.
“How long have you been here?” Ryker asked as he poured a cup of whiskey.
“About an hour.” I shrugged. The crowd in the living room cheered so loud that I couldn’t hear what Ryker said next. His eyes narrowed as he went to poke his head around the doorway. Ivy was putting on quite the show, making the fragments collide, and creating glimmering shapes in the explosion. Just how powerful was she?
“Is that her?” Bethany was suddenly next us staring into the living room.
“Yes,” Ryker replied quietly.
“Figures.” She snorted and then walked away, draining her drink and pouring another. I grabbed Beth’s arm, giving her a questioning look.
“The girl’s a dream whore.” She snapped. Anger filled me. Beth didn’t even know Ivy, how could she call her a whore like that? That wasn’t right. Besides, that new protectiveness I developed was ready to be flexed.
“Shut the fuck up, Beth. You don’t even know her.” I snapped. Beth glared at me and then pulled her arm away. As she stormed out of the kitchen, she called me an idiot.
“You want to tell me what that was about?” I asked Ryker as I leaned against the doorframe separating the kitchen from the living room. Ryker was standing in the center of the doorway, his mouth gaping open as he stared at Ivy wide-eyed. I knew that look. I had never seen it on Ryker, but I’d seen it on other poor bastards.
“Hey.” I punched his arm. Ryker turned and glared at me.
“What do you know about her?” Ryker asked me, shifting his eyes towards Ivy.
“You want to tell me why you ran away from her earlier?” I countered.
He gave me a long stare, the one he gave his knights when he wanted them to abide by his orders. That shit didn’t work on me. I folded my arms over my chest and settled in, giving him a smile.
“What do you know of her powers?” Ryker then asked me. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“What are you after?” I asked him.
“Why are you protecting her?” Ryker then demanded, taking a step towards
me. I stood straight, glaring down at him. We stared at each other for what seemed like minutes when it was probably just a few seconds. I thought, for the first time in our friendship, that he might actually punch me. Since knights were much stronger than humans, that would probably hurt like hell.
A shrill scream pulled both of our attention towards the living room again. Garret Percival had Ivy thrown over his shoulder as he paraded her around the room. Ivy was laughing and straightened up so she could then twist and sit on his shoulder. He slapped her rear, and the crowd cheered, and she laughed. It all seemed consensual, so I turned to continue my conversation with Ryker.
An empty space was in front of me.
Turning, Ryker was bolting through the crowd, shoving people out of his way, heading directly towards Garret. As the descendant of Sir Percival, rumored to be the strongest of all men, Garret stood about a foot taller than Ryker and had at least a hundred pounds on him. I really, really, did not want to be on the receiving end of that rhinoceros with opposable thumbs, but Ryker was my bro.
Moving through the crowd, I caught up with Ryker just as he punched Garret square in the sternum. The massive knight heaved in a breath, dropping Ivy. Ryker caught her from falling on the ground, and then pushed her behind him, right into me. I gave her a questioning look, and she bit her lip, smiling. In fact, she looked exceedingly proud of herself.
Garret let out a guttural sound and shouted at Ryker, “What the fuck?” Ryker stared at him for a long moment. His head turned back and forth as he looked around the room. Without a word, he then turned and left. Ivy watched him weave through the crowd avidly, a smile on her face.
Grabbing her arm, I led her through the crowd and out the front door. Ryker had just started his car and was speeding away. That was fine, I wasn’t after him. Walking to my SUV, I opened the door and helped Ivy into the passenger seat.
“Wait, I don’t want to go home.” She said with a wide-eyed stare.
“I just want to talk to you in a private, quiet place, you can go back in when we’re done,” I assured her. She shrugged and moved her legs so I could shut the door. Climbing into the truck, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. Ivy flipped down the visor and started inspecting her face in the mirror.
“What is this thing between you and Ryker?” I asked. Ivy gave me a long look.
“How much do you like Beth?” She asked. Can no one just answer a simple question tonight? I contemplated countering her, but I also knew that she wasn’t the type to budge either. I had to give a little to get a little, I supposed.
“She’s a bitch, and I wish she would just go away,” I answered honestly. Ivy’s smile widened, and she clapped her hands together.
“Oh, good.” She shrieked.
“Well, now that that’s settled,” I muttered in confusion.
“It’s a little . . . weird.” She said, her eyes gauging whether or not I was receptive.
“Alright.” I nodded. I was used to weird.
“Well, oh, about a week ago, when I first got to the school, well, I met Ryker in a dream, but I didn’t know it was him.” She might as well have said that she denies climate change because that’s about how much sense that made to me.
“What?” I asked. Ivy shrugged a little.
“Well, you know, I can go to my dimension in my dreams, in fact, that’s where I’ve gone when I’m asleep for as long as I remember. I just can’t access it while I’m awake, through the mirror, like the other dimensions. Grams said that’s normal. But, you know, no one else has ever come to my dimension and then that night, a week ago, Ryker just struts in.” My brain still could not fathom the implications of this, so I went on.
“What happened then?” I asked.
“Well . . . what would you do if a hot girl showed up in your dreams?” She asked.
“OH.” I gasped, realizing what that meant.
It was that moment, sitting in the dark car with Ivy, that I realized she was a catalyst, and everything was about to change.
Chapter Three:
Ryker:
Being a Knight wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Sure, we were the leaders and protectors of Mythos, but that was a lot of pressure; pressure that none of us had asked for. Being a Pendragon on top of that was worse. King of Knights, that’s what they have called us since Arthur emerged in Brittania. As the Myth goes, Arthur was not the biological son of Uther, but rather a deity had impregnated his mother giving Arthur fantastical strength and abilities. In all honesty, Arthur just worked the hardest to foster his magic. Knights had magic too, but not like the wizards or the fairies. Their magic was physical; it resided in our muscles, our bones, and our blood. It made our bodies capable of incredible strengths and speeds. It accumulated in our eyes and ears, enhancing our senses. The Pendragon line had always had magic, but Arthur was an overachiever.
Now, nearly two thousand years later, I’m left holding the bag.
Since birth, I was told who I was and what I was going to be. When all the other kids got to dream about what they wanted to be when they grew up, I knew. I’ll never forget the time I told my father I wanted to be a doctor like my human uncle. Whitney Pendragon was a severe man. He glared at me over his square-framed reading glasses and told me that I was a knight. I would go to the MBI academies like he did, I would become a leader of knights like he did, and I would serve my nation and my fellow Mythos population like he did.
I was five.
Every Pendragon since Arthur had served as a warrior or a soldier or whatever the equivalent was at the time. Our line fought the countless wars that raged in Europe. Then one of my ancestral grandfathers moved to the Americas, in the hopes of protecting the communities that were quickly flourishing in the New World. My forefathers served in the French and Indian War, the Revolution, and every war after that. They were officers in the military, led private rebellions, and served as clandestine liaisons. My great-great grandfather served on the front lines of World War I in the U.S. Marine Corps, his son served in the Navy during the War in the Pacific. My father has gone to the Middle East more times than I could count. The family business was war, and the United States had given us many opportunities.
To add more pressure, I was the only one who could pass on the Pendragon gene. I had heard about this my entire life as well. I needed a woman from the right family with the proper breeding to incubate my precious heir. Most knights married the sisters of knights, and that was how I found myself in the car with Beth.
It was the day after the party, and I had gone to her house to apologize. She sat in the front seat, her hips turned, so she did not have to turn her neck to glare at me. Unlike the human world, we were expected to pair up fast, that way the powers-that-be can start making plans for the next generation. My father and Beth’s father asked that we at least go on a few dates about a year ago. I didn’t mind her company, and she didn’t mind mine. It was a relationship of respect, affection, and understanding. That is until I cheated on her in my own dream.
As soon as I had seen Ivy in the real world, the world of the awake, I had gone to Beth. She deserved to know. Though her personality could rub me the wrong way sometimes, she was a kind and honorable girlfriend for the most part, and she earned my honesty. So I had explained what happened. She took it better than expected, but I could tell she was feeling aggravated and a bit insecure. We went to the party, and I figured I’d give her some time and space to get over it.
Then I saw Ivy . . .
I have never been hypnotized before, but I assume that is what it feels like. I could do nothing else but stare at her. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn that she enchanted me somehow. But I also knew that she did no such sorcery. It was just me and the confusion of my own head. I had set out that night to get more answers from Owen, about her. Then I heard her scream.
“So it’s over then?” Beth asked in a quiet voice. We both sat there calmly, as the rain pattered lightly against the car.
“Until I
can get this all straight, it just wouldn’t be fair to you,” I said honestly.
It wasn’t that I wanted to break up with her, but she also didn’t deserve the confusion. I never had, in my entire life, punched another knight out of anger. Just seeing his hands on Ivy’s hips and thighs, the way he was laughing as he paraded her around over his shoulder, I didn’t even think about my actions before they played out. It was like I had been possessed.
“This is such bullshit.” She said. I could see the water gathering in her eyes, and I felt like the lowest piece of shit. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, turn it off? Not see her in your dreams?” She demanded. A feeling of loss hit me just thinking about it. The truth was, the past week had been sort of the highlight of my life. It wasn’t just engaging physically with Ivy in our dreams, but it was having someone to talk to. A couple of nights, we lay in the bungalow, looking up at the stars, and I told her things that I had never said to another person before, not even Owen. To find out that she was real was . . . I needed more information.
“It doesn’t work that way.” I shook my head.
“Fuck Mythos and magic and the universe.” Beth spat and then reached for the door handle. I let her go, even though she paused, giving me a small moment to catch her. When I didn’t, she got out of the car, slammed the door, and then hurried into her parent's house. I sat there for a moment, collecting my thoughts, before starting the car and driving back to campus.
After parking in the lot, I walked across the manicured lawns towards the west entrance of the school. The rain let up, and it turned into a beautiful fall day, many students were out playing lawn games or merely sitting on blankets. Several called out to me, and I gave them a wave. Then the sun gleamed off of a white blonde head. There she was, sitting on a large blanket. And knights surrounded her. Garret, Natalie, and Toby Achilles sat around her, along with Owen. Other knights waved at her, giving her leering looks and goofy grins as they walked by.
Legacies Page 4
