Magic Lies

by C C Sommerly

  “Is there anything else we can do?” Mr. Jamison asked me on my way out the door.

  “Not at this time. But usually runaways don’t really want to be gone and come back relatively unharmed. Your daughter isn’t a high-risk person and based on what you’ve told me, she’s very obedient.”

  Vertical Horizons was my next destination. It was in Downtown, but fairly close to the Mid Line. I knew of it by name, but it wasn’t somewhere that I’d been to.

  Little did I know that fate had other plans for me.

  9

  No sooner did I get into Betty, then my emergency alert com goes off. Was it my father? Dread surged through me on a tide that threatened to overwhelm me. I was still almost an hour from Lochlan’s house.

  I hurried back to Rufus and parked the car behind the auto shop. The trip to the fae realm and to Lochlan’s house seemed to take nail-bitingly long hours, when in fact I made excellent time. His house was within sight and it only took me twenty minutes.

  I sprinted the remaining distance to the house. Muffin easily kept pace with me. As I reached the house, there were no obvious signs of a threat or any kind of danger. I pulled out my sword and burst through the door. No one friendly or foe greeted me. An eerie silence was all that I found.

  “Hey guys? Anyone?” I shouted.

  There was no response. The silence worried me more than any sounds of fighting would. What happened to everyone and how could someone breach the wards? I needed to investigate the house and see if I could find anyone either injured, alive or dead. The thought of any of them being dead soured my stomach.

  I went through the main level and saw no signs of a struggle or battle. It looked just as it did when I left for the Earthly Realm. I checked the second story. And like the main level, it was empty and free of any signs of a fight or the others.

  Ignoring all stealth, I raced down the basement stairs. I abruptly stopped, causing Muffin to run into the back of my legs. A steel partition dividing the area. The first thought that came to my mind was a panic room. I threw myself out at, banging on it. Muffin howled.

  “Zander, Jennica, Callie, are you guys in there?”

  Were the others trapped behind this? Or is someone being held captive? That last thought gave me pause. Was I letting out a dangerous person? But, if someone was being imprisoned, then one of the others would be here guarding them, wouldn’t they?

  I couldn’t hear anything through the metal. I ran along the partition, but couldn’t find any seams, knobs, or any way to get through it. I switched out my sword for my gun. I took aim and shot the partition. The only response I got was a ringing in my ears from the rounds echoing in the small area. Unfortunately, I didn’t even make a dent in the metal. Dang it.

  I tried the gun one more time. The second I pulled back the trigger, someone violently jerked me back. My arms were wrenched painfully behind my back. My gun was knocked out of my hands and I was lifted off my feet.

  My magic abruptly cut out. It was muffled to the point where I couldn’t feel it at all. Although, I didn’t exactly trust myself to use magic inside Lochlan’s house. My horrible magic was too destructive and unstable, but it would have been nice to have it as an option for escape.

  I listened, but couldn’t hear any sound.

  “Show yourself, you coward.”

  Nothing. A sudden movement caught my attention. I looked for the source of the movement and saw vines sprouting from the ceiling. I leaned my head back and sure enough my captor was none other than more dangling vines.

  What started as just my arms being bound slowly became a full body imprisonment. As the course rope-link vines wrapped around me, they scraped and tore at my skin. The more I struggled the tighter the vines squeezed me. Muffin growled, biting viciously at the restraints with no effect on them.

  “Sterling, Lochlan, new fae guy! I could use some help here.”

  I hadn’t expected them to respond. Calling out was more wishful thinking than anything.

  I continued fighting against the vines. Every time I fought them; the pressure increased. I finally stopped when the pressure on my chest made it difficult to breath. If I died, I certainly wouldn’t be able to help the others.

  Even though I’d stopped struggling, the vines continued creeping towards my face. Before long, my mouth and the rest of my face was covered. I hung there suspended like a marionette. Muffin alternated between whining and growling.

  My thoughts churned. This couldn’t be what happened with the others. I wouldn’t have missed people hanging from vines.

  I couldn’t do anything besides think. I’m not sure how much time had passed. Muffin finally gave up on his growling.

  “Gods above Marty, let me get you down,” said Lochlan. I heard him approach. “Actually, you being tied up is a good look for you.”

  “And you’re hilarious. I’ve been up here for who knows how long and that’s what you have to say. Just get me down.”

  Instead of taking on the wicked weeds, Lochlan whispered a spell and the vines released me. So much for being worried about me getting hurt.

  I rubbed my arms and legs to get feeling back in them. I couldn’t feel my legs, so I certainly wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon.

  “Care to explain why you have man-eating vines in your house. And, more importantly, in the area I sleep in?”

  “You’re in one piece. And, they only come out when the alarm is triggered, so they won’t be nabbing you in the middle of the night,” said Lochlan.

  “Where’s Sterling? He activated the emergency alert, or I’d be back on the Earthly Realm, working my case.”

  “What about the others?”

  “I came down here to get them out of the safe room.”

  “It would have been nice to have some warning about a safe room, so I didn’t go all Rambo and attack it.”

  “Are you going to fill me in on what warranted an emergency alert?” I asked.

  “Let me get the others free and we can talk about what prompted the emergency alert,” he said.

  I rubbed my legs to get the blood flowing back into them. The vines left angry-looking red marks that crisscrossed my skin.

  Lochlan used another spell and the metal partition sank into the floor, revealing Jennica and Callie. I went over to join the two women, who were wide-eyed and shaking.

  “Are you two okay?” I asked.

  “Yes, but it was scary. Lochlan rushed us down here and didn’t say anything. It’s been a couple of hours,” said Callie.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, but where’s Zander?”

  “I don’t know,” said Callie. “Ask Lochlan. He sent us down here and then took off with Sterling and Elon.”

  “Seeing how he’s already left, let’s join the others and get some answers,” I said.

  We joined the rest of the group in the living room. Sterling was covered with scratches and cuts. Elon’s lip was split. And now that I got a good look at Lochlan, he wasn’t using one of his arms. It just laid limply at his side.

  “When is anyone going to say where Zander is and what is going on?” I said.

  “Relax Marty. No one’s dead,” said Sterling.

  “Because that is such great reassurance. Can you tell us what’s going on now, or is there something else we are waiting on?” I asked.

  “After you left, Elon and Lochlan started the morning training. We did some drills and then took a water break. Zander was the last one to come in, or he would have been. He took that as an opportunity to run away,” said Sterling.

  “You’re serious? He thought escaping through the wilds of the fae realm was a good thing?” I asked. “Where is he now?”

  “Why isn’t anyone answering? Where is Zander?”

  “We don’t know. Elon, Lochlan, and I went after him. He managed to cover an incredible amount of distance in a short period of time,” said Sterling.

  “Once we realized that he was missing, we searched around the immediate area. When it became cl
ear that we’d need to search further out for him, Jennica and Callie were sent to the safe room. The rest of us went after Zander,” said Lochlan.

  “Even in my bear form, I couldn’t find him,” said Sterling.

  “How is that possible? He managed to get far enough away that you couldn’t catch up with him even in your bear form?” I asked.

  “Because there was no trail.”

  “Do you think my father got to him?”

  “We’re not sure.”

  “He’s been unhappy for a long time,” said Jennica.

  “What?” I asked.

  Jennica blushed at suddenly being the center of attention.

  “He and I talk. He said that until Lochlan and now me, no one treated him like an adult. Even though he’s stuck as a child, he doesn’t want to stay that way. He wants to break the curse,” she said.

  “And he thought running away accomplished that? We always said we’d help if he chose to undo the curse,” I said.

  “He said that the seer said he’d have to go alone to break the curse,” she said. “He made me swear not to tell.”

  “I didn’t say we didn’t know where he was at. I just said that my bear couldn’t follow his scent.”

  “Sterling, Elon, and I found his trail led us to the Waterless Sea, but we weren’t able to go any further.

  “What is the Waterless Sea?” I asked.

  “You probably know it as the Djinn’s Domain.”

  “Of all the places to go, he picked one of the most dangerous ones. Why? Jennica did he say anything about going there?” I asked.

  “No, he never said when or where he was going.”

  “How do we get him back?” I asked.

  “We need to request permission from King Kazar to enter the Djinn’s Domain,” said Lochlan.

  “How is it he could go into that domain, but you three couldn’t?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, Marty. It makes no sense. He shouldn’t have been allowed through,” said Lochlan.

  “Now what? We can’t leave him there. He’s defenseless.” I said.

  “No one is saying to leave him,” said Sterling.

  “We have to go after him,” I said.

  “Marty, it’s not that easy. I have to appeal to their ruling body for any of us to enter their domain. Without it we’ll be seen as trespassing, which is punishable by imprisonment or death. How severe we are penalized depends on whether or not they are feeling benevolent,” said Lochlan.

  “I know you’re upset. If they let him in, then it’s for a reason. Once a person is granted access to Djinn’s Domain, they aren’t bothered,” said Elon.

  “This is my fault,” said Jennica.

  I started to correct her, but she wouldn’t hear it.

  “No, don’t try to tell me it’s not. He told me how unhappy he was and that he wanted to leave. I should have told one of you. I just didn’t think he’d really leave.”

  Jennica naturally took the blame. She didn’t know Zander like the rest of us. If anything, we should have noticed that his unhappiness ran so deep. But we never really gave it much thought.

  Shame hit me with the subtlety of a punch to the gut. Zander had become a burden over the past few years. It took someone outside of our group to pick up on his feelings.

  “Jennica, the fault is ours,” I said.

  “No, don’t even start, Marty. I can go into the Djinn’s Domain,” she said.

  “It’s not safe,” said Lochlan.

  “It’s because you don’t think I can do it, isn’t it? Is it because I don’t have magic? You all think I can’t do anything and am helpless, don’t you?”

  “No one said that,” I said.

  “You didn’t have to. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the pitying looks and how you’ve avoided me, Marty. I’m not some broken toy that can be left in a corner. I have nothing else. My life has no purpose any more. Why shouldn’t I go?”

  “I think we all need to settle down. It’s been a long day. I’ll send a message to the rulers at Djinn’s Domain and ask for permission to enter,” said Lochlan. “Try to be patient and don’t do anything rash.”

  “I’m not sure why I expected to hear anything different,” said Jennica. “I’m just here on your charity. I don’t even have a job and you won’t let me help.”

  She fled from the table and stormed up the stairs. The door to her room slammed shut, shaking the house. That is quite an arm she has on her.

  “That went well,” said Elon.

  “That was a colossal failure,” said Sterling.

  “There’s been a lot of change in a short period of time. I’ll work on getting access to go after Zander. As long as he’s granted access to the Djinn’s Domain, he’s safe,” said Lochlan. “In the meantime, Marty, it’s your turn to make dinner.”

  I groaned. It was going to be a salad night then. I could barely cook things in a microwave and even managed to burn boiling eggs. I was completely useless in the kitchen and I’m not sure why they trusted me to cook for them. And here in fae, the stoves were all lit by spells and used open flames.

  “Am I allowed to hunt?” asked Sterling.

  “You don’t trust my cooking?” I asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

  “I’m not sure anyone should. And if I know you, whatever you make will be something that could double as cardboard,” he said.

  “I’d prefer you didn’t hunt until I can show you some neutral locations. Elon and I can take you out tomorrow to scout some areas,” said Lochlan.

  “And I need to review some case files,” I said.

  “I have them in my room. Which do you need?” asked Sterling.

  “The runaway and cheating spouse,” I said.

  “I’ll bring them down. I don’t want to keep you from your cardboard making,” said Sterling.

  I reached across the table and smacked his arm. It helped some to ease the tension and was the motivation to get everyone to go away.

  I dug around the ice box and saw that there was lettuce. There was no electricity in the fae lands. This pseudo fridge was cooled by an ice stone that looked like an oversized ice pack.

  When the others came down and saw dinner they relaxed, the tension leaving their faces and bodies. My cooking isn’t that bad. It was bad, but not to the extent that their relief implied.

  “The house isn’t on fire and I don’t smell anything burning,” said Lochlan.

  “The gods have listened,” said Sterling.

  They sat down at the table warily eyeing the salad I put together.

  “Just eat it without the commentary,” I said.

  “We could if your cooking didn’t double as torture,” said Callie.

  “Just wait till it’s your turn. You aren’t any better than I am,” I said.

  10

  The next morning, my coffee was interrupted by someone knocking on the front door. The heavy-handed visitor was doing his best to put a hole in the door. Someone else could answer it, I hadn’t slept well and needed the caffeine and some food.

  I was hoping Jennica would come downstairs, but so far, she was still hiding in her room. Tempers were short and we were all stressed from recent events. A lot had happened to us and many of those things remained unresolved.

  “Miles, this is a surprise. What brings you out here?” asked Lochlan.

  Why is my least favorite enforcer here?

  “I’m not here for you,” Miles said.

  As I feared, my magic use at the Swamp of Souls hadn’t gone unnoticed. I knew going with the enforcers to swamp was risky because I had zero control over my magic. Now, my day of reckoning was here, but they won’t get me without a fight. Unlike Zander, I didn’t believe in running away or hiding behind someone for protection.

  I went to the door and stood with my arms crossed next to Lochlan. Muffin was behind me, trying to nose his way to the door. Bratty dog.

  Shouldn’t my faithful canine companion be growling or something? Unless the dog couldn’t detect
how upset Miles made me. If that was the case, then my dog was broken, and I wanted a new one. What am I saying? Why would I want another one? The best thing that could happen to me was getting rid of him.

  Miles locked eyes on me.

  “Just who I need.”

  “You aren’t going to take her,” said Lochlan.

  “I don’t want to take her, but I have to.”

  Still looking at me, he said “I believe the Guild Master informed you of my pending arrival.”

  “You’re my trainer?”

  This had to be a joke. Why would the Guild Master send Miles to train me?

  “Are you going to leave me outside, or let me in?”

  “Very well,” said Lochlan, who welcomed Miles inside.

  Callie, Sterling, and Jennica gathered in the living room. Sterling was glaring and radiated hostility. Even Callie was eyeing Miles suspiciously.

  “We don’t need chaperones for our training,” said Miles.

  “As her employer, I wasn’t aware that she needed enforcer training. She’s not a recruit or one of your staff,” said Sterling.

  “I’m not here as an enforcer. I’m here under the order of the Guild Master Laurence Danes.”

  “Do you have proof?” Sterling asked.

  “I don’t answer to you, but I certainly have proof.”

  Miles pulled out a sealed letter and held it out to me, not Sterling.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Proof.”

  I tore it open and my mood crashed and burned as I read through it.

  “Rayne Martin. I anticipated you’d be difficult, so I took the opportunity to draft this letter to impress upon you the urgency of training. This is not an option. Miles Harrison will train you. If he decides that you or your magic is a threat, you will be detained and brought back here for safe keeping. Respectfully, Laurence Danes, Guild Master.”

  I swore and Miles smiled.

  “He’s legit,” I said through gritted teeth.

  I wanted Miles to be wrong, but luck wasn’t with me. Out of all the resources the Mage Guild had, why Miles? I saw nothing particularly outstanding about him or his magic during our mission at the Swamp of Souls. Sure he could shapeshift and use magic, but so could many other people.