The Iron Bound

by J. M. Briggs

  Leaping forward, he brought his hammer down as hard as he could on the golden armor that protected the creature’s chest. Under the force of his strike and in a flash of the bright blue power the armor began to dissolve as well. He didn’t wait and struck again, now on the unarmored flesh. Thor heard a crack and a scream from the creature just before it began to turn into dark black ash and fall to the ground.

  The second creature lashed at him with its golden gauntlets. Thor felt one of the long sharp edges catch his face and slice into his skin. Adrenaline flared inside him and he brought his hammer down on the creature’s face. There was no armor to dissolve as he heard the cracking of bone beneath his hands. It too turned to ash. His knees buckled and Thor half collapsed against the workbench. On instinct, his fingers closed around the hammer and he chuckled weakly to himself. A hammer wasn’t an ideal weapon; he favored a sword himself, but it seems that in a pinch it could do more than shape metal and build things.

  Forcing himself to move forward, Thor stepped out and scanned the village. He could see none of the creatures and villagers were rushing around in a haze of panic and worry. Arvid spotted him with a look of relief crossing his face. His brother jogged over to him, grabbing his arm just as Thor’s legs decided to give out and the small flame in his gut dimmed.

  4

  Mage Meeting

  The house of Professor Morgana Cornwall was a little outside of Ravenslake proper, with a shield of trees keeping it out of sight. It was a Victorian-style home, though of modern construction with light gray paint and white trim. Alex found it a bit nondescript as it lacked the iron decorations around Professor Yate’s house, but she couldn’t deny the sense of safety that she felt here as she climbed out of her little blue car. Nicki was right behind her in climbing out; Aiden and Bran were still unfolding themselves from the back.

  “And here we go,” Aiden muttered. “What a way to spend our last day of freedom before classes resume.”

  “Oh stop whining,” Nicki chided without any real bite.

  It was silly to be nervous. It was just Merlin and Morgana… The last time she’d seen them had been weird. The strange connection she’d always had with Morgana had finally solidified into a warm sort of affection, and Merlin... well that one was still a little odd. She’d given him the Iron Chalice to look after, but the jury was still out on how that relationship was going to go now that he knew she was the real reincarnation of his dear student Arto.

  “Easy Alex.” Bran came up next to her and smiled reassuringly.

  The heavy wooden door with etched glass was opened before they even reached the porch and Alex looked up to find Morgana waiting in the doorway. A look of intense relief flashed over the woman’s face, but she quickly stepped back from the door to let them in. The small entryway was a bit crowded as the four of them stepped inside and began to shrug out of their coats. Morgana was standing near the doorway to the living room with Merlin beside her.

  To say that the two professors didn’t look their age was a tremendous understatement: both of them were roughly three thousand years old and yet neither looked beyond their fifties. Morgana’s long hair remained a rich dark brown, and her rather regal face had only a few small worry lines around her green eyes. She was dressed in jeans and a dark green sweater; nothing like what one would think an ancient sorceress straight out of legend to look like.

  Merlin looked older than Morgana, with soft white hair that contained a hint of auburn and a neatly trimmed gray beard. Dressed as he was in black slacks with a blue button down shirt, he didn’t look like a wizard, but it was at least a little closer. His brown eyes were looking at her intensely, searching for any sign of injury or distress. Holding back a sigh, Alex managed a small reassuring smile and nodded in greeting. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Merlin had followed her back to Spokane over Christmas Break. She hadn’t seen him, but for a mage of his age and experience that wouldn’t have been much of a challenge.

  Alex moved around Merlin, catching sight of his silver triskele pin just to the right of his heart. It matched the necklace that Morgana wore and Alex found herself wondering if she should see about getting something similar. After all, the triskele was the closest thing to a symbol that the magic of the Iron Realm had. Pushing the thought away, Alex walked into Morgana’s living room as soon as her coat was hung up and was hit by the smell of cookies.

  Morgana was right on her heels and Alex turned to look at the professor. Alex was a little taller than Morgana: a point of amusement to the other woman. For a moment Alex was a little unsure until Morgana smiled and brought her arms up a little awkwardly. Returning the slightly uncomfortable smile, Alex stepped forward and hugged Morgana. As the older mage’s arm came up to grip her shoulders Alex relaxed.

  “This is still a bit weird,” Alex confessed.

  Morgana chuckled warmly at the statement. “Well, this may surprise you, but I’m not a hugger,” Morgana said. She released Alex’s shoulders and stepped back. “It has not been my habit to hug the Iron Soul in the various lifetimes.”

  “Oh really?” Alex asked teasingly.

  “Indeed.” Morgana began to move towards the kitchen, allowing the others to follow them into the living room. “Sometimes you’ve been utterly obnoxious.”

  Holding back a laugh, Alex let herself smile and sank into one of the vintage red chairs. It was odd, but Morgana’s dismissive references to her other lives actually made her feel a bit better. Bran gave her a soft smile as he glanced pointedly towards Morgana. Smiling in return, Alex lowered her face so her smile wasn’t too obvious as everyone took their seats. Aiden and Nicki sat on the long sofa together and Bran was in an armchair as Merlin followed Morgana into the kitchen.

  They returned a few moments later with a pot filled with hot cocoa and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Several mugs were floating in the air with a faint green shimmer around them next to Merlin, and he beamed at the look of surprise on Alex’s face. She wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen Merlin use magic for something so trivial. Morgana shook her head and set the plate of cookies down on the large coffee table. Judging from the smell still lingering in the house Alex guessed that they were fresh.

  With graceful moves, Morgana plucked the mugs out of the air and took the pot from Merlin. She poured everyone a mug and passed around some cookies. It was almost like a pleasant winter afternoon. Merlin and Morgana sat down next to each other on the loveseat. For a moment no one said anything as Alex waited for Merlin or Morgana to start the conversation.

  “This is weird,” Aiden said, voicing what everyone was thinking. “First time we’ve been back together since…” He trailed off, stilling for a moment before swallowing thickly. Nicki shifted a little closer to him but didn’t reach out to touch him. Still, her presence seemed to calm Aiden and he sighed dramatically. “I still can’t believe I missed the Quest for the Holy Grail.”

  “Your presence was missed,” Bran assured him. “There are many times where I’m sure we missed the perfect chance to make Monty Python references.”

  A real laugh escaped Aiden and he shook his head at his friend. Smiling softly, Alex breathed a little easier as the lingering tension began to fade from the room. It wasn’t completely gone, but a lot had changed recently.

  “So?” Alex asked drawing everyone’s attention to her. “Where should we start?”

  “Ah yes, that is the question,” Merlin said. “Well, firstly the Iron Chalice has been secured in an iron box that I made over the break. It’s in my workshop surrounded by even more iron.”

  “That won’t stop Arthur.” Aiden’s hands clenched into fists. “He worked with iron before, so he doesn’t have the Sídhe weakness to it.”

  “And the creatures they have control of don’t seem to be as vulnerable to iron,” Nicki added.

  “Indeed, the box is a temporary solution. We need the Iron Chalice protected, but accessible in case of an emergency,” Merlin agreed with a weary nod. “I’m considering
putting a vault into the floor of the shop. Coated in iron or something of the sort.”

  “Of course, we don’t know if Arthur would be able to use the chalice,” Nicki said. “He may not care about it.”

  “Never leave an enemy with an advantage,” Aiden said. “Us being able to heal each other without exhausting our own magic is a critical thing. I wouldn’t want my enemies to have something like that.”

  “I also have a few spells in place to alert me if someone enters the workshop.” Merlin gave Aiden an approving nod. “But I do indeed plan to improve the security around the Chalice.”

  “Pity we can’t just bring Emrys to Ravenslake.” Nicki sighed even as a smile tugged at her lips. “He’d be one hell of a guard dog.

  “I’m still having difficulty believing that a dragon entered our world in Wales and Morgana and I didn’t know about it.” Merlin chuckled softly even as he slouched slightly, suddenly looking very old.

  “We were rather distracted at the time trying to protect Cathanáil.” Morgana too had an uneasy and guilty look on her face.

  “Have you had any progress in locating Cathanáil?” Bran asked. “Alex and I were able to combine our magic enough to find the Chalice, maybe we can do the same for the sword.”

  Merlin and Morgana exchanged a quick glance, and for a moment Alex marveled at the silent communication the two were capable of. It amused her more than she would have imagined and a small part of her felt a flush of satisfaction at them getting along. She finally took a bite of the cookie and let the fresh warm flavor flood through her mouth.

  “Wow!” Alex’s eyes widened. “These are fantastic!”

  A chuckle escaped Morgana and a little more of the tension faded. Alex couldn’t help but blush a little as everyone looked at her. Smiling at Morgana, Alex made a sheepish shrug before taking another bite of the cookie. She watched Aiden take a bite of his own and his eyes widened.

  “At three thousand years old I should hope that I can manage chocolate chip cookies.” Morgana gave her an affectionate look. “But back to Bran’s point: I suppose that it is possible you two could scry for Cathanáil.”

  “It would certainly be marvelous if we could retrieve the sword,” Merlin said.

  “I’m sensing a but there.” Nicki frowned and looked between the two teachers. “What is it?”

  “But Bran was already having visions of the Iron Chalice when they scryed for it.” Morgana folded her hands in her lap. “He was already connected to it thanks to, uh…” she paused and Bran snorted softly.

  “My former head being next to it,” he supplied bluntly.

  “Yes, that,” Morgana agreed, earning a laugh from Aiden. “I suppose you could try, though I don’t think it would work. However, we need to be careful when you try.”

  “You’re concerned about it?” Nicki tilted her head curiously. “Why?”

  “Scrying is searching through everything, Nicki,” Morgana reminded her gently. “It’s sending your magic spinning out into the world in an attempt to connect with something. If you have only limited experience with the thing you’re looking for, it is difficult. Bran has talent, but it would be too easy to use too much magic and hurt himself.”

  “But you want to train me more before we try,” Bran said. “I suppose that’s fair.”

  “Cathanáil is a very powerful object that I’ve been unable to find. Its magic shrouds it, but Alex’s connection might be able to get through that as the sword does belong to her,” Morgana explained. “You and I will work on focusing your magic better into scrying since in this attempt you won’t have the benefit of Bran the Blessed’s head to help you. Once you’re ready we will try.”

  “And I’ll work with Alex in the forge and in meditations so she can hopefully help you find the sword,” Merlin added with a smile. “It will be our project for the semester.”

  “Alright, well, there’s that issue.” Aiden reached for another cookie. “But what about those Sídhe creatures, the descendants? Do we know anything about how Arthur and the Queen are controlling them?”

  It was like air being let out of a balloon as they watched Morgana and Merlin wilt. Morgana leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees while toying with her hands and Merlin slumped back against the sofa. Holding back a sigh, Alex tried to keep her fingers still as she looked at the others. Judging from their body language they had heard the silent answer.

  “I suppose that I can’t think of any stories like this,” Alex offered softly. “That’s a bit funny,” she added with a muted giggle. “Everything else has had a story.”

  “But not originally.” Merlin sat up a little straighter and looked more animated. “Those stories came from our original struggles; this is no different. We know that Queen Scáthbás survived somehow, trapped within the magic of the Iron Gates, and she somehow created another half- Sídhe in Arthur. We don’t know where they are: the Pendred home has been abandoned, and we don’t know how they are compelling the descendants of those that fled into our world.”

  “She must have at least some sort of magic to have created Arthur in the first place,” Bran said. He toyed with a loose thread of the armchair until Morgana fixed him with a look.

  “Certainly she has magic, but the scale is the problem,” Merlin explained. Pressing his fingertips together in front of his face, Merlin hummed thoughtfully. “I believe she has something helping her achieve it: a magical item of some kind. Perhaps she brought something through three thousand years ago.”

  “No; we would have found it,” Morgana said.

  “Perhaps it was caught in stasis with her when you killed her on the Iron Gate,” Merlin replied. There was a sharpness in his tone that made Morgana glare at him.

  “Okay, so we don’t know yet.” Alex was very uncomfortable with the looks of irritation on the older mages’ faces. “But we’ll figure it out.”

  “Alex is right, you guys and past Iron Souls have worked your way through a lot,” Aiden said. “We’ll be on guard for more attacks, keep training and see what more we can do.”

  “Yeah, I mean we were talking about making more Iron Gates.” Nicki forced a small smile. “Wouldn’t that help keep the Sídhe out of the area?”

  “Indeed Nicole, there are things we can do to increase the safety of Ravenslake,” Merlin replied. “Including a blood protection spell like the one you encountered at the Tor.”

  “But if we protect the city too much, doesn’t that increase the likelihood of the Sídhe focusing on other places without mages?” Bran pointed out uneasily.

  “It does,” Morgana admitted. “Making more Iron Gates in the area is our best chance, as that will help protect the world as a whole from invaders, but it won’t fix our problem with the Sídhe creatures.”

  “Is there anything we can do in the meantime?” Alex gripped the mug of cocoa tighter, but it had gotten cold during the conversation.

  “Train: we need to focus our efforts on helping Alex control her powers and expand what the three of you are able to do,” Merlin said firmly. “If we can retrieve Cathanáil that will give us a powerful weapon in our arsenal.”

  “And once Bran has more control over scrying, the two of us together might be able to locate the source of the Queen’s magical control,” Morgana added though she sounded less confident than Merlin.

  “Great.” Nicki’s shoulders dropped and she frowned. “Stalemate.”

  “For the time being.” Morgana set down her mug and raised her chin. “But we have the Iron Chalice, Bran has been healed, and we know the truth about Alex. Arthur and the Queen may have tricked us, but we aren’t defeated or stuck by any stretch of the imagination.”

  “I do have one more question for Alex,” Merlin added quickly, earning a sharp glance from Morgana. It had a hint of warning in it that surprised Alex, but Merlin ignored it. “What are you planning to do about Lance and Jenny?”

  “What?” Alex blinked at him in surprise. “Uh, nothing. They helped us and I don’t think that the
y’re any sort of threat to us.” She paused and licked her lips before swallowing. “I don’t even know if Jenny will be back next year. With everything that happened she was planning on transferring after she finished her sophomore year and Lance… honestly, he seems pretty focused on trying to get Jenny to give him a second chance.”

  “You aren’t planning to distance yourself from them?” Merlin frowned and irritation flared up in Alex’s chest.

  “No, I’m not. They went with us to Wales. Jenny and Lance being a bit more removed from this magic stuff meant they noticed things we didn’t. They never ran during the trouble and they apologized to Arto’s remains during his funeral. Whatever shadow was hanging over them I think is gone.”