by Alicia Fabel
Can you help me? Vera begged her magics. Please. Don’t let him die. Don’t let the world die.
Silence answered her plea. Then there was a click. The doors all swung open as one. Magics, unlike anything Vera had ever seen, spilled out. The demas raced around like a puppy in a field of reunited friends. There were pulsing magics, snarling magics, tangled magics, magic that spit flames and rolled like waves, and magic that sizzled with electricity. They filled her void, each eying the others. The kargadan sent up a cry, and the magics shifted, molding together like the cogs of a clock. Together, they made the Kirin.
Vera’s limbs bent and stretched. Her kargadan horn sprouted, along with others she couldn’t identify. Her hair flowed like lava. The forest shrank as she grew and changed into something the world had long forgotten. She stood on paws and hooves. Dragon smoke billowed from her muzzle. Along her side, scales, feathers, and quills quivered with her breaths. Vera caught the last bit of meadow magic as it slithered toward Noah. She pinned it to the ground beneath silver-tipped claws. You cannot have it.
The siphon howled in protest. It battered at Vera, searching for something to take. Vera’s magics tightened together, leaving no handholds for the siphon to latch onto. It searched but found no chinks to exploit. The meadow thread vibrated, distress calls ringing in from all the magics of the world. Each magic that made up the Kirin recognized the call of their own and keened back. The world was unraveling, as it had once before. This time, there would be no one to stitch it back together. Vera sent the meadow’s magic back to Kale, but it wouldn’t stick.
“It won’t go back,” she said.
“It needs an anchor,” said Kale.
“I’m trying.”
“Anchor it in the ground,” he said.
A leprechaun once told her the same thing, when she wouldn’t get magic to stop pumping through her. Not sure if it would work this time, she shoved the thread into the earth with all her might anyway. At first, it stalled. It just sat there. But then the earth accepted it. Bit by bit, Vera tugged the meadow from Noah and directed it into the soil. With the Earth as the anchor, Vera finally gained ground. Sweat coated her sides. Her Kirin was tired but held together. As the final length sank beneath her feet, the ground trembled.
Noah’s siphon scrabbled at the earth trying to reach the magic, but the Earth wouldn’t give it up. Eventually, the siphon lashed out, grabbing onto the nearest magic available—the world-thread she’d shoved inside Noah. Once it was gone, the siphon went after Addamas and Mimi. They still lay lifeless on the ground after having their magics stripped from them the first time. Before the siphon had a chance to consume any of it, Kale circled behind Noah.
“Thank you,” Noah said to Kale.
The Guardian silenced both Noah and his siphon for good. Suzie had been right after all. Taking the world-thread did end his siphon’s hunger. Her foster mom had sent Noah to his death. Vera was afraid that Noah wouldn’t be the last one, either. Kale checked Addamas and Mimi. He proclaimed they would live before he approached her. Warily.
“How are you?” Kale looked up at her.
Up? Vera looked down and behind her. “Holy crap, I have a tail.” She spun in a circle trying to get a closer look. “I have a tail?” Her voice turned to panic.
“It’s okay,” said Kale.
“It doesn’t seem okay to me. I’m massive. And I have a tail. I’m a freaking monster.” Her magic decidedly did not like that proclamation.
“Vera,” Kale said soothingly. “You are beautiful.”
Oh, my magic liked that a lot. “Am I stuck like this for good? I don’t want to be on four legs forever.”
Kale’s expression blanked. “You should be able to release the magic and change back. Just relax.”
Vera breathed through her slitted nose. Her magics slowly untangled, pulling away from each other, and becoming individual magics. Most slid back into their cubbies. The ones Vera was familiar with stayed behind. The demas scratched at a few doors, begging those friends to come out, but the doors remained closed. Even the kargadan seemed to feel bad for the demas. It encircled the green mist in a touching display. Vera decided she’d get the demas its friends back. Which, of course, the demas heard. It pulsed happily, spinning into a crazed frenzy. The kargadan released it, with what Vera would describe as an eye roll, and floated back to its favorite solitary corner.
“There you are,” said Kale. “Well, the you we all recognize at least.”
“And there you are,” said Vera. “Making me break my neck to look at you.”
Thanks, Ferrox she said. Ferrox jostled Kale as he shifted forward to accept her gratitude in the form of a shoulder rub. Wait, can he feel this? she asked the demon.
Uh, yep, Kale answered for himself. And I can hear you too.
Vera jerked her hand away while Ferrox laughed at their discomfort.
“Did we win?” asked Mimi, shaking Addamas by the shoulder. He curled around her sleepily. “Wake up.” Mimi punched him in the arm.
“Kind of.” Vera tried not to look at Noah’s body.
“Is the baby okay?” Addamas asked.
Vera found the little void easily. Noah’s had been like that once. She would make sure this little one never knew the hunger Noah had. “He’s fine.”
“He?” asked Addamas excitedly.
Vera threw Mimi an apologetic look. Oops.
“Kale,” Mimi cocked her head. “There’s no magic around you. Like, none.” Then she looked down before jumping to her feet like she’d just found herself sitting on a nest of snakes. “It’s under us. The meadow is under us. It’s under all these woods and our dorm building too. What did you do?” she asked Vera.
“Saved the world?”
“By bringing the meadow here?”
Vera hadn’t thought about it like that. “Does that mean the real meadow is gone?”
“The meadow was just where all the magic was stored,” Kale explained. “But yes, the meadow we knew is gone.”
I destroyed Kale’s home. “Noah was going to devour it all if I didn’t,” she said.
“You did the right thing,” Kale assured.
“Earth has magic,” Mimi said sadly.
“What about the world-gates?” Vera asked.
“They’re are all here too. It appears Earth just became the new center of the world.”
A guy screamed in the direction of the dorms. More voices soon joined in. Kale reacted first and took off.
By the time Vera arrived, a short being with floppy ears was saying, “It’s okay, Mr. Mullens. Calm down, students. We were having a staff costume party when the earthquake struck. We just need everyone to stay calm and move to the student union while we arrange new housing for each of you. This building has become unstable.”
Vera recognized that voice. And the polka-dot bow tie. Some of the students shied away, but a few seemed to come to the same conclusion she had.
“That’s a legit costume, Professor Eldrid,” said one guy. “You too, dude,” he said to Kale.
“Thanks,” Kale mumbled.
Strange beings began introducing themselves as various professors and campus staff. Some looked fairly normal, unless Vera looked for the magic running in their veins. That magic seemed to be spreading through each of them as she watched, like they were rechargeable batteries. Other beings were obviously inhuman. One woman had pointed teeth and ears, another had ice coating her skin, and there was a man whose skin looked like bark. Even the college president was there, sporting large bat-like wings and yellow eyes. Pretending everything was normal, they began herding students up the hill.
“I can’t believe they’re buying that story,” said Frosty—Vera hadn’t caught who any of them were.
“It’s more believable than the truth,” Professor Eldrid told her before turning to Vera. “Although I’d like some explanation for why I’m steering my students away from a patch of magic that suddenly appeared on Earth.”
“It’s the new
meadow,” said Kale simply.
“I was afraid of that when I saw you here,” admitted Professor Eldrid.
“Now I know why you seemed familiar,” Mimi said to Eldrid.
“Yes, I’m sure you recognize me in my kobold skin,” he said.
“You know him?” Vera asked.
“Yeah, we had a run in once. Why didn’t you tell us who you were?” Mimi asked. “I was beginning to think you were the siphon.”
“On the contrary, I seemed to be the siphon’s favorite snack, but I could not figure out who it was. I did wonder if it wasn’t Miss Katz, actually.”
“So, you’re not from Earth?” Vera took in his strangeness. “What are you?”
“Kobold, or fire giant, which is a term you may be more familiar with.” At Vera’s frown he added, “When necessary, I’m much bigger. But I can call up fire at any size.”
“How did all of you get here?”
“We had some help.” Eldrid tipped his head toward her friends. “Although, at first I didn’t realize being sent here was a mercy. Then I met others with similar stories to mine. This town is actually a hot spot of off-realmers, and our college president was one of the earliest refugees. She takes us in, trains us, and gets us jobs. About half the staff here are not what we seem, and we owe our lives to these three.”
Mimi, Addamas, and Kale each squirmed awkwardly at the praise and Vera’s stare.
“It’s not a big deal,” Mimi finally said to Vera. “But we should probably address the issue of these gates.”
“Like the fact that I can see them?” Vera asked.
“Everyone can.” Addamas eyed the ones nearest them.
They weren’t moving like they were supposed to anymore. And each looked different, as if they’d been made by different craftsmen. Which she supposed they had been—the original High Circle of witches.
“What happens if an anti-human comes through one and sees where the meadow is now?”
Kale turned to Addamas, and the satyr silently peeled off toward the edge of the property to keep an eye on the gates. “I’ll send for the Mother to set up wards around the area. Hopefully she can set a barrier to contain off-realm visitors to this area. And prevent anyone from wandering down here and ending up fish food. Or worse.”
“Guess it’s a good thing we were already planning to condemn the building,” said Eldrid. “Hopefully, everyone will simply forget all this is down here.”
“Where will everyone stay until the new dorms are finished?” Vera asked.
“We actually had an anonymous donor a few months ago to help speed up the construction. There’s enough space to house these students already.” Professor Eldrid eyed Mimi. “It was from a royal family I once knew of. Perhaps you know them, Your Highness?”
“That’s how you recognized my name,” said Mimi.
“I was fascinated by other cultures even before coming to Earth, so yes, that’s how I recognized it. I didn’t realize one of my saviors was the queen of Heliopolis until then.”
Vera moved closer to Kale. “What about Noah?” she asked softly.
“Someone has already taken care of it,” Kale replied. “Did he say who made him?”
Vera told them all that she knew. Because of Suzie, Noah was gone. No one would miss him or look for him. He would be remembered as the villain. She vowed to find whoever else Suzie was using before it was too late for them too.
“I think this was her plan all along,” Vera concluded. “To bring down the meadow.”
“To bring me down,” added Kale.
“You’re mortal now, aren’t you?” asked Mimi. “Now that the meadow is anchored to Earth instead of you.”
Vera scanned him. The pink cord that had tied him to the meadow was gone. All that remained was the unnatural magic filling his void.
“As mortal as any unnatural,” Kale said.
“Hard to kill, but not nearly as impossible as before.” Mimi rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hand.
“What about when you split from Ferrox?” Vera asked. “Will you be even more vulnerable then?”
“I would be, yes. But you don’t have to worry about that,” Kale said lightly.
“You can’t be separated now, can you?” Vera guessed.
“Not until I die. But after a thousand years, fifty-or-so more will seem like nothing.”
“There’s an old carriage house behind the dorm,” volunteered Eldrid. “It’s used for maintenance and storage. You can stay there, if you’d like. Even though you aren’t bound to the meadow anymore, I know we’d appreciate it if you’d stay on. Help us with security until we figure out how to keep this realm from being overrun? And keep oblivious students from wandering into trouble.”
“You’d be an employee of the college,” added President Bat “We would pay you.”
Vera should probably know her name. She’d have to look it up when she got a chance.
“I’ll stay until security is established,” said Kale. “After that, I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean?” Vera glanced at Ferrox’s body beneath him. “Where would you go?”
“There are uninhabited places on earth where even an unnatural can hide,” he assured her.
“So, you’ll leave us all?” Vera’s chest grew heavy.
“I’m a little conspicuous like this, Vera.”
She didn’t have an argument for that, but she’d come up with one. There had to be a way he could still have a life with them. Even though he looked like a centaur. Right? She just needed a little time to figure it out.
“The last of the students have been moved,” announced Frosty.
Batty nodded. “I’m going to cancel classes tomorrow and call a meeting to announce what’s happened—the version I decide to tell anyway. It will give the students a chance transition to their new living arrangements and for us to make plans. It’s not ideal with finals so soon, but we’ll make it work.”
“I’m going to patrol with Addamas tonight,” Eldrid told a lady with pointed ears.
“We’ll take shifts,” Kale said. “Addamas and Mimi need rest.”
“So do you,” Vera insisted.
“I’m okay.” Kale turned to leave. “Noah didn’t take anything that belonged to me.”
“Guardian,” called Eldrid. “I thought you should know we had a little girl. We named her Kalea. After the man who saved her and her mother.”
Kale’s steps faltered. The muscles in his jaw jumped as he said, “I’m honored. However, I’m no longer the Guardian, just an unnatural.”
And then Kale walked away, without looking back. Without looking at her. Vera reached out to Ferrox but found a wall. They didn’t want to talk to her.
21
Kale wandered into the dusty carriage house at dawn after patrolling all night. The place was a mess. He didn’t really care, though. It was good enough.
I care, grumbled Ferrox. I will not live in a sty.
Fine. You clean up. I’m going to sleep. Just don’t go out and get spotted by a human in the daylight. Kale let himself fade away, so Ferrox could take the reins. Before he was too far gone, movement caught his attention, and he slid back into place.
“Vera?” Kale blinked to bring her into focus.
“I’ll help Ferrox clean up,” she said. Obviously, she’d overheard their conversation. That development was going to make things difficult.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you,” she said.
“What do you need?”
“To talk.” She stepped right in front of him and craned her neck to look up at him.
“That’s right. I forgot about the messenger you sent.”
“I didn’t send you a messenger,” she said with a headshake.
“Last night,” he clarified. “Saying you wanted to talk…” But Vera had no idea what he was talking about. If he hadn’t received that message, he wouldn’t have gotten to her in time. Kale suspected he owed Marianna and her band o
f spies a thank you. “Never mind. What do you want to talk about?”
“About how you’re an idiot.”
“I am a huge idiot,” he agreed. “Is that all?”
“Do you like me?” she asked unexpectedly.
“Some days more than others,” he answered.
Vera stomped a foot. “I’m serious, Kale. I heard what you said the other night, but it took a while to realize all the things you didn’t say. So idiot, do you like me? Not as a friend, but really like me?”
“I’m tired, Vera.”
“So am I. But I’m not leaving until I say what I’ve waited here all night to say.”
“You’ve been here all night?”
“I tried looking for you but gave up after a while. I figured you were avoiding me.”
He had been avoiding her. And he’d thought she’d given up and gone to bed. He hadn’t thought she’d wait to ambush him. “Did you at least get your new room assignment?”
“I told them I’m staying here in my old room.”
“No.”
“Um, you aren’t the boss of me.” She folded her arms. “Addamas and Mimi are staying too.”
“For star’s sake, Mimi paid for the blasted dormitory. Why is the fool girl staying here?”
“I’ll give you one guess…. Nah, I’ll just tell you.” Vera wrapped a hand around his. “Because we aren’t leaving you. Even if you are being exceptionally difficult right now.”
Kale scowled. “You’re a pain in the neck.”
“Back at ya, Scotchie.” She released him and wandered over to a pile of broken equipment.
“What are you doing?”
