The Iron Hammer

by J. M. Briggs

  Lance began to carefully crawl over the pile. Muffled noises escaped him and Nicki grimaced, taking a step back from the bone filled corridor. Alex wondered if Eckstein had come over them or if the detour had made it necessary. Jenny went ahead of her across the bones and Alex followed only a few feet behind her. It was difficult to move up the initial slope as the bones shifted beneath them. The pile almost reached the ceiling meaning that Alex quickly had to drop to her knees to keep going.

  “Oh God, I want hand sanitizer,” Jenny all but whimpered.

  Alex understood the sentiment as her fingers slipped into the eyeholes of another skull. Holding back a grimace she kept crawling across the uneven surface. Every so often there was a soft crack of bones deep in the pile breaking, but they all kept moving over the pile. Up ahead it began to drop from the roofline and Alex turned so she could half slide feet first after the others. She nearly fell over upon reaching the other side, but Aiden caught her arm. Nicki was doing a small dance and frantically shaking her limbs. Jenny made the sign of the cross and shuddered.

  It took them a few minutes to recover mentally enough to keep going. Alex felt dirty and sweaty and dehydrated from her earlier tears but wasn’t willing to say anything. The guiding light kept moving, guiding them around turns and through another half flooded corridor. There were fewer signs of modern access now with the only graffiti being old carvings in the wall. Alex lost track of time and Lance called them to stop for another water break before resuming the trek. Her legs were beginning to ache and Alex was beginning to fear that they would never find the hammer.

  Then the guiding light stopped and Alex dropped her eyes to the pile of bones. Around them were half organized bones, neater than the rough piles they’d been around earlier, but not as neat as they were in the tourist area. It was depressing and also very familiar. Alex slowly dropped to her knees and with trembling fingers began to shift the bones. They were brown from age like all the others, but as her fingers brushed them aside there was a strange hum that traveled up her hands. She pulled the bones away to expose a hole in the rock floor.

  Lance’s flashlight shined into the hole and the beam fell on a cracked leather case. Reaching into the hole, Alex carefully navigated the heavy box through the opening. Alex’s hands trembled as she opened the case. She smiled when the beam of the flashlight reflected off of smooth metal and revealed an engraved triskelion symbol. There was no rust or signs of age. The dark iron metal gleamed in the light and shimmered when Alex reached out to touch it. A hum filled her arms, traveling from the hammer through her whole body. It was a marvel and matched her memories.

  “Mjǫllnir.” Alex beamed and a laugh escaped her. “The Iron Hammer.”

  “What is it with you Iron Souls and putting the triskelion on everything?” Aiden asked earning him a look from everyone. “What it’s true!”

  Alex shook her head and the guiding light flickered out. “Uh, I guess we better cast another spell.”

  “Yeah this time focus on the nearest exit,” Lance said. “We can navigate on the street.”

  “And then call Merlin and Morgana,” Alex added. Her eyes were still locked on the hammer. A small smile tugged at her lips as the other mages gathered around her. Yet the sense of relief and satisfaction was quickly drowned out with fear that the Iron Hammer wouldn’t be enough and the mess of lingering emotions left behind from Gottfried.

  29

  Baited Breath

  Merlin had always considered himself a patient man. At almost three thousand years old it should have been easy to await news, but he was quickly finding that was not the case. Today Morgana had met him at his own home. She’d said it was convenient, but Merlin was aware she’d gone to the workshop and checked on the Iron Chalice while he made them tea.

  “The children have been underground a long time,” he said uneasily.

  “Finding Mjǫllnir will no doubt take time,” Morgana reminded him. She was looking at papers in a folder spread across his coffee table with an intense expression. “They will contact us when they return to the surface.”

  “The Paris tunnels are dangerous. Anything could have happened: a cave in, an attack or a flash flood.”

  “Stop it, Ambrose,” Morgana commanded. She looked up at him with stern green eyes. “Honestly stop trying to make me worry. You know I can do it just fine on my own.”

  “It’s a nine-hour difference,” Merlin muttered as he began to pace along his living room. “It’s almost three o’clock here. It’s almost midnight there.”

  “Which really isn’t that late for Paris. The children took food and water down with them. Four of them are mages and I’m confident that they will not allow themselves to be split up. They located the Chalice without help from us and have found Mjǫllnir when you could not.”

  Merlin didn’t grimace at the sharp reminder. He hadn’t liked the hammer being put in the old tunnels. Once the Dvergr died off there hadn’t been much there any longer.

  “I can’t believe Nazis found it,” he grumbled.

  “Well there isn’t much to find on Gottfried Eckstein and what I have is very sterile, but I’d say he wasn’t a bad man.”

  “I’m surprised all records of him weren’t destroyed.”

  “That’s the interesting thing. He went missing after returning to his post in Paris after assisting the Ahnenerbe and was listed as missing in action. There isn’t anything in his old records about him stealing the Hammer.”

  “It is possible he used magic?” Merlin was surprised at the idea. “The levels thankfully weren’t high then, just the usual low level.”

  “I’m not sure. Alex might learn eventually from her dreams, but it isn’t a priority,” Morgana said. “There are no records of his family being questioned by the Gestapo at least.”

  They settled into silence, the only sound was Morgana gently turning the pages in the folder she’d secured from Germany. There wasn’t much there, but then again Captain Eckstein of the SS hadn’t been anyone truly important. Not to the Third Reich and not to the Allies. Just another soldier, just another German trying to survive. Merlin wondered how he’d managed to secure the hammer without suspicion falling on him and his family. If the SS had suspected he was part of it then the Eckstein family no doubt would have been questioned.

  The sudden ringing of Morgana’s phone almost made Merlin jump and his fingers grabbed at the air for his staff. It took him a moment, but he located the noise as Morgana pulled out her phone. She eagerly answered it and he saw her shoulders relax.

  “Speakerphone,” Merlin ordered.

  The command earned him a dark look from Morgana, but she adjusted the phone and set it on the coffee table between them. For a moment all Merlin heard was Bran’s voice and a wave of relief washed over him. Morgana gave him an understanding look.

  “Say again Bran,” Morgana told the young man.

  “We just got out of the catacombs and we have the hammer. It’ll take us a little bit to get back to the hostel, but we’re going to clean up and go from there. Anything you need from us?”

  “Merlin and I will discuss what to do next.” Morgana nodded slightly and smiled triumphantly. “We may water tunnel to you to retrieve Mjǫllnir.”

  “Sounds good, just let us know.” Bran sighed through the phone and there were muffled voices on the other end. “Everyone is pretty beat and filthy so if it isn’t an emergency maybe give us a couple of hours.”

  “We can’t promise anything, but look after each other,” Merlin said loudly.

  “Yes, sir. We’ll call in a little while to discuss the plan.”

  Merlin hummed thoughtfully and stared at the phone for a long moment before looking at Morgana. She closed the file in front of her and shifted to the side of the sofa to give him room to sit. His limbs suddenly seemed very heavy and exhaustion he hadn’t known he was carrying weighed him down. Morgana gave him a knowing look once more as he sat down and he wondered just when he’d become so old.

 
“We should retrieve Alex quickly. A water tunnel is the best option,” Merlin suggested quickly, already impatient to travel to the children.

  “I’m not sure about bringing them all back by water tunnel,” Morgana countered thoughtfully.

  “Oh?” Merlin questioned, feeling a hint of irritation with her hesitance. “We managed it last time and it isn’t safe for Alex to remain in Paris too long.”

  “Last time it was necessary with the spike of magic caused by activating and using the Chalice. I’m not sure that either of us is really in the mental condition to maintain a water tunnel that long. You know the more people you’re taking through the harder it is.”

  Merlin could do nothing but nod in agreement. He’d almost lost control of the water tunnel he’d recently used himself. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and then let it out slowly to rein in his emotions. Everything was piling up faster than they could process. They’d gotten used to having decades to adjust and even with as long term adaptable as they were Merlin feared that he and Morgana were proving too slow now. He opened his eyes and looked back at Morgana.

  “The Hammer may prove difficult to get on a plane. None of the children have really mastered that level of control,” he reminded Morgana. “Security would notice it the moment they lost concentration on keeping it hidden.”

  “Plus I wouldn’t trust putting Mjǫllnir on a plane.” Morgana agreed with a frown. “They say that cell phones can interfere with the instruments.”

  “I’m not sure that’s actually true, but I see your point. One wrong spark and Mjǫllnir could bring everything crashing down.” Merlin nodded and hummed to himself. “If we were to just retrieve Alex and hammer then it won’t be too difficult. We could bring them both back here and the others could follow on more normal transportation.”

  “I admit that I am becoming anxious having her away. Paris has no blood protection around it and while them finding the hammer didn’t trigger a spike in magic Arthur still might be aware of it. I just don’t like having her so far away.”

  “You were confident yesterday.” Merlin felt a little better knowing that the unease wasn’t just him. There was something in the air, he realized. Something heavy like a fog hanging over them: not evil or threatening, just present. “Why the change?”

  “I’ve just got a strange feeling,” Morgana replied. Merlin nodded his understanding. She sensed it too then. “Bran’s been hinting that she’s struggling with the memories of her other lives. They’re slipping in as dreams and visions more frequently. I can’t imagine what that’s like.”

  “Separating her from her friends might not help.”

  “Yes but three of those friends are reincarnations of people she used to know,” Morgana pointed out. She was pressing her lips thoughtfully. “Who knows what confusion that might cause?”

  “She’s known us in dozens of lives,” Merlin told her gently. “We may be no better.”

  Morgana nodded a little but stared down into her coffee. Her distress and worry were clear even as she tried to stay focused. “Let’s ask Alex,” Morgana finally said. “See what she thinks. At this point, she may agree that being separated from the hammer is a mistake.” Morgana picked her phone back up and dialed a number quickly. Merlin leaned back into the sofa, settling into his worn spot and listened. “Yes, Alex, sorry to bother you. Merlin and I think it would be best to bring you and the Hammer back to Ravenslake as quickly as possible.”

  There was a moment of silence on Morgana’s end. Merlin almost used his magic to heighten his hearing, but he’d never been very good at that. Morgana nodded at something that Alex said.

  “Yes, Alex, one of us will come and get you through a water tunnel,” Morgana told Alex. There was a pause. “No just you. Water tunnel travel is difficult and it would be safer if I was just focusing on you.” Another long pause almost made Merlin stand up and pace. “Oh, excellent. Yes, that’s one of our concerns.”

  Merlin wondered which concern Alex was talking about: lack of blood protection, Arthur or getting the hammer onto a plane. Probably the last one. Relief was obvious on Morgana’s face and he almost smiled. It had taken three thousand years, but Morgana finally had an Iron Soul that she cared as much about as Arto. The thought both filled him with warmth and dread for the future. The evitable loss of Alex would be difficult for them both. Something about her had wormed its way in. Then Morgana pulled the phone away from her ear and looked over at him, drawing him from his thoughts.

  “Where should we meet them? It needs to be specific.”

  “The Seine by Norte Dame,” Merlin suggested after a moment of consideration. “That area is accessible even at night.”

  “Good thought,” Morgana agreed before relaying the information to Alex. “Alright then, two hours. Be careful until then.”

  “I should go,” Merlin said as soon as Morgana set down the phone. “I’ve always been better at water travel than you.”

  “You almost lost control just the other day.”

  “That was different.” Merlin huffed slightly and gave Morgana a stern look. “I explained that to you. Arthur had found me and the tunnel was breaking apart. I managed to get myself here safely despite that,” he argued.

  Morgana tilted her head in agreement. He could tell she wasn’t happy about it, but he was grateful that she wasn’t fighting him on it. The unspoken argument that she was too close to Alex hung in the air, but he hesitated to use it. They were both fond of Alex, more so than they had been of an Iron Soul incarnation in a long time. Merlin groaned and sank into the back of the sofa, toying with his fingers. He didn’t like this unease. It made him feel like an old man.

  Merlin hoisted himself off the sofa after a few minutes of silence and busied himself in the kitchen making sandwiches. He wrapped a few up and put them in the fridge for Alex to eat later and took the rest out to Morgana. There was nothing to do but wait for the two hours. That wouldn’t give the children long, just enough time to get back to their hostel and clean up. Hopefully, no one would stop them in their present state. If he remembered correctly the Paris mines were off limits. Shaking his head, Merlin picked up one of the sandwiches and forced himself to eat while he planned.

  His home wasn’t as conveniently located to the lake to make a water tunnel as Morgana’s house was being at the western end of town. However not all water tunnels had to be made in large natural bodies of water. When almost two hours had passed Merlin led Morgana out to his workshop with a spring in his step and unlocked the workshop, gesturing her inside.

  The workshop hadn’t changed much since he started teaching the younger mages the basics of blacksmithing. He hadn’t had the time for many projects lately so it was cleaner than normal with the tools all put away. A few feet away a large floor safe in the foundation contained the Iron Chalice and was covered by a heavy woven mat. Morgana’s eyes dropped to it, but she said nothing and made no move to check on it.

  “We’ll need to consider where and how to store Mjǫllnir,” he said.

  “That’s a conversation to have with Alex,” Morgana answered. There was a bite to her tone as if she was concerned he’d argue. “Given the threat of Arthur, it may be something she should keep on her.”

  “Then you and Nicki may need to explore that magical bag idea further. If memory serves Mjǫllnir wasn’t a small thing.”

  “I would be deeply impressed if Nicki could figure out how to make that bag of holding she keeps dreaming about.”

  They came to a stop in front of the side door of the workshop and Morgana glanced at him with a slight frown. She was confused as to where he was going Merlin realized and he barely held in a smile. He unlocked and pushed open the back door revealing a small side area that almost completely filled by a small stone square. A set of pipes connected the gutters of the workshop to a small opening in the wooden cover. Merlin stepped forward and pulled the cover off revealing a two feet deep cistern roughly half filled with water.

  “You want to use this?�
�� Morgana asked doubtfully. “It’s rather small, Merlin.”

  “It’s the middle of the day, if we keep using magic down at the lake then sooner or later someone is doing to notice. We were lucky there weren’t any stories about a demon on the water from when Chernobog came here.”

  “Why didn’t you use it the other day?” Morgana countered with a raised eyebrow though she couldn’t hide the fact she was considering it from him.

  “The cover was on.” Merlin opened his palms and green magic sparked to life. “Any other objections?” he asked her pointedly.

  “No, you have a point,” Morgana conceded with a slight nod. “I expect you’ll be able to return without difficulty.”

  “I know my own backyard well enough I think,” Merlin agreed with a smile. Morgana’s shoulders relaxed and she offered him another nod and a smile. They were both feeling the strain, he reminded himself. “Stay safe until I return,” he told her. The words weren’t really necessary, but they served as an apology.