The Conservation of Magic

by Michael W. Layne

  Maybe Merrick did deserve to be trapped in a prison cell, slowly dying, but if what Gerald said was true, he was the only person who could stop Eudroch from bringing the sun to the earth and destroying the world. He could never do enough to help Balach and Adriana, but for everyone else in the world he owed them his best try at escaping and stopping his brother.

  He stood in the center of his cage with his arms at his side, closing his eyes, trying to concentrate on his internal magic. His hand groped for the piece of divinium hanging from around his neck, but found nothing. They had taken it from him, knowing that he would try to use his own magical stores to break out.

  With grim confidence, he let his hand return to his side. He was Merrick, son of King Ohman the Ard Righ, brother to Eudroch, one of the Sons of Earth and Fire foretold in their prophecy. He did not need divinium to muster his magic.

  As he convinced himself, Merrick searched his memory for any hint to his creation name. He tried to remember crying as a baby, lying in a small bed, one of many in a large hospital room. He could almost see Ohman’s face as that of a young man’s watching over him—could feel the pain of impending loss on Ohman’s face.

  Loss—Merrick’s entire life was filled with loss. His parents were not his own; his real father had abandoned him; and he had lost Mona, Cara, Fenton, and most certainly Balach. He was separated from everyone that he loved or cared about, and he had never found his own true self. As Merrick festered on these thoughts, his rage built from deep within. He didn’t feel pity for his situation. He felt anger. He could feel his lips pursing, and his eyebrows setting. He envisioned his own face reflected back at him in his bathroom mirror, snarled with hatred and madness. He had made a mistake earlier by trying to disconnect himself from that face. But that face was not something outside of his own self or something to be ignored—instead, that face was him. For the first time in his life, he embraced his internal monster.

  As his blood continued to boil, like poison in his veins, Merrick heard a soft voice grow louder in his head. It was like no voice he had ever heard before, but it spoke in the tongue of Terrada, the Earth Dragon. The sound popped like breaking timbers, and grated like dragging stone until he thought he would go deaf. He did not recognize the words, but he knew that they were meant for him—that the words were him.

  And with those strings of overlapping sounds etched into his brain like a searing iron brand, Merrick opened his mouth and screamed them out loud louder than he had ever cried before. The rock walls of the cavern and his cage shook violently as lightning crackled and bounced all around him, filling the cavern with humming white electricity and light. Thunderclaps echoed so loudly that Merrick’s internal organs felt like they were being pulverized.

  His fury was the storm, as the echo of his name filled the spaces around him. Merrick unleashed power he never dreamed that he possessed, but it was to no avail. Rocks exploded up and down the cavern walls, but his cage remained intact even as it swung violently back and forth above the great chasm below.

  Exhausted, Merrick fell to his knees as the cage slowly rocked itself back to center. The air around him stunk of brimstone, but he was no closer to escape than he had been before he had unleashed his power. He had given it everything he had, and it had not been enough. If he couldn’t even break out of his cell, how was he going to defeat his brother?

  As Merrick sat, stewing over what to do next, he saw a shaft of white light appear as it had earlier when Gerald had visited him. Looking up, hopeful that it was once again Gerald, Merrick heard footsteps and the same low grating noise ending with a jarring impact to his cell.

  This time, a soft light filled the space around him, and Merrick was face-to-face with the Queen herself. She had come to visit him alone, with no Keepers and no Fianna.

  Merrick wiped his wet eyes and stood in the center of his cell, looking at the Queen, waiting for her to announce his fate.

  The Queen looked at him, her hands clasped together in front of her. She wore her finest robe and looked the part of the Queen of the Earth Clan.

  “I see Ohman’s sadness in your eyes—his sorrow and his passion. You know, that is what first attracted me to your father. He was never like the other boys in our family. I believed that he would help lead the clan, our clan, to great things, to rule the world one day.

  “Unfortunately, that same passion was his undoing. I found him lying with another woman. Did you know that? Rutting with your mother. He never saw fit to give me a child, but he gave two of them to his mistress. I want you to know that I do not hate your father. I loathe him.”

  The Queen’s face did not soften with her words. She held herself perfectly still as she delivered her emotionally charged speech to Merrick, her true feelings only hinted at by an occasional rise in pitch of her voice.

  “I do not hold you responsible for your father’s deeds. But I do hold you responsible for your fate. I had hoped that you could thrive here—learn to know your craft and fight by our side against your brother. I see now that that cannot happen. It is not your fault, but there is simply no time left for you to come into your own. The battle will have to be fought without you—but not without the power of your name. You are not ready to wield the might of your own name…but we are.”

  It was just as Gerald had said. She wanted his name, the one piece of knowledge that only he had access to. Without it, the Queen probably knew that her battle with Eudroch would be doomed. Before, he had wondered how he would deal with not knowing his name. Now, he worried if he would be strong enough to keep the meaning of his name a secret. If he gave away his name, he gave away his life.

  “I don’t know my name, your majesty. I can’t give you what I don’t have.”

  The Queen laughed and shook her head.

  “I felt what you unleashed in here a moment ago. I would say that half the city felt it. With no divinium to help you steal the power of those around you, you could not have brought forth such power without knowing your name, Merrick. You have something in your head that will help me save my clan, and I will have it whether you want to give it or not.”

  The Queen snapped her fingers once, and the entire cavern filled with light. From across the chasm, Merrick could see half a dozen Fianna lining the walls along the stone walkway. The Queen herself stood on a wide land bridge that now connected Merrick’s cage to the doorway at the cavern’s exit. Just entering the cavern, an old man gradually made his way across the bridge, coming toward Merrick’s cage.

  “You have caused much pain in your short stay with us, Merrick,” the Queen said. “Think of Fenton’s family. Balach will grow up without his father. The clan itself has lost one of its greatest leaders and three of its Keepers. Keepers are a rare breed, you know. Their memories are unique and can store entire lexicons of language—and their dispositions are exceptional to say the least.

  “We know that you observed Balach’s naming ceremony. You should realize that his was not typical. The Master Keeper could tell that the boy had indeed remembered the name given him by Terrada and that he was giving his name willingly to the clan. Your ceremony will be much different. Considering that you are responsible for the death of three of their associates, I am sure that the Keepers will take pleasure in prying your name from you, even after you have told them everything that you think you know.”

  The Queen reached out to touch Merrick on his arm, just as the old man arrived next to her.

  “Just remember this,” the Queen whispered. “You have to die, one way or the other. Our great Seer has seen as much.”

  The Queen motioned to the old man standing next to her.

  “The very least you could do is to freely give your name in payment for all your wrongs—to have some good come of your pathetic bastard life before you pass from this world and face whatever justice Terrada herself has for you. Do this, and I will ensure your death goes more quickly than my Keepers desire.”

  “I don’t know my name,” Merrick said, his eyes wide i
n fear. “That’s what I came here to learn, but I still don’t know who I am, and I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

  Even as Merrick heard his own voice, he could tell that the Queen knew he was lying.

  “If that is indeed true,” the Queen said, “the Keepers will help you remember. Nothing assists a person’s memory quicker than pain. You should feel grateful for the help.”

  The Queen removed her hand from Merrick’s shoulder, and spoke a single word in Terrada’s tongue. Merrick felt himself stiffen, and he was unable to move, like he had been turned into living stone. Still alive, he was trapped and barely able to breath. As he watched, paralyzed, his eyes fixed straight ahead, the bars to his cage disappeared, and the old man leaned in to him.

  “I have seen your future,” he said with a wry smile. “You must die in order that Sigela be stopped. Give us your name and die with pride knowing you have given the clan something useful—that your life has served some purpose.”

  Merrick could see the Fianna warriors coming across the bridge. They slipped past the old man and lifted Merrick, still as stiff as stone, onto their shoulders. The Fianna carried him across the bridge, out of the cavern, and down a winding tunnel lit by flaming torches set into the wall at equal intervals.

  As he watched the stone ceiling pass by, Merrick was certain of his destination. He was on his way to the Keepers’ Chambers. It was time for his naming ceremony.

  #

  Gerald had barely made it out of the cavern earlier before the Queen had summoned the Fianna to meet her at the cave’s entrance. He had tried to give Merrick some amount of hope, but now Gerald and three of his fellow warriors carried Merrick’s stiffened body to the Keepers’ Chambers.

  Gerald believed that Merrick did not know his creation name. But, he had also felt the sheer energy that Merrick had released back in his prison. There was no other way that Gerald knew for Merrick to have called forth so much magical force, especially with no divinium to assist him, without knowing his creation name.

  If Fenton were alive, he would know how to save Merrick. Without Fenton, there was no filter between the Queen and her Fianna—no one to temper her royal demands. Merrick needed Gerald’s help to survive the Queen, and Gerald was powerless to do anything. All Gerald could do was hope that he would find the courage to do the right thing if the chance availed itself and if Merrick survived his naming ceremony.

  CHAPTER 33

  MERRICK WAS STANDING, but still unable to move, his body as hard as the stone that made up the surrounding mountain. Forcing his eyes to look downward, he could tell that he was floating several centimeters off the ground in the Keepers’ Chambers. Even though Merrick could not turn to see, he knew that the secret passage was directly behind him, hidden in the far wall. Whatever spell held him aloft and in place was being generated by the Keepers who stood about him in a circle. In low monotones, they all mumbled words from the Earth Dragon’s tongue that Merrick had never heard before.

  The Master Keeper stood in front of Merrick, silent. He pulled back his hood, revealing his scarred face and head. His eyes were coal black and stared at Merrick, almost lifeless. It was as if the Master Keeper could read Merrick’s thoughts—all his wishes and dreams and fears and everything he had ever tried to hide from others. Those cold eyes were looking for the one thing that Merrick had that they needed—his creation name.

  “Merrick, Son of Ohman, the former Ard Righ of the Earth Clan, you have been brought here to bestow upon the clan your greatest gift—the creation name that mighty Terrada gave you when you were still inside your mother’s womb. Do you have a name to offer the clan? You may speak now.”

  Merrick cleared his throat. He considered just telling them his name. He wasn’t sure of its exact meaning, but was sure that it pertained to loss or misery. Although personally tragic, his name didn’t seem like one that held much power or that would be of much use against Eudroch. Maybe he wasn’t the one that they all thought he was after all. But if he wasn’t the one foretold of in the prophecy, then that meant that Eudroch couldn’t be one of the Sons of Earth and Fire either—and Eudroch, unlike Merrick, was trying very hard to fulfill the prophecy.

  “I told you before,” Merrick said. “I don’t know my creation name. That’s why I came here in the first place—to remember my name and to learn my craft so that I can be strong enough to fight Eudroch. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

  The Master Keeper silently produced the same short rod that Merrick had seen him use on Balach. The Master Keeper softly flicked Merrick’s chest with it. The sudden pain was amazing in its intensity. Merrick felt the urge to release his bowels, but instead screamed loudly, tears welling up in his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he should be thankful that he couldn’t move his body or not. He would have fallen to his knees if he could have.

  “I don’t know my name,” Merrick said again, this time with less strength.

  The Master Keeper raised his rod again and touched Merrick on his right knee. The pain was different this time, but just as powerful. Because he couldn’t move, there was nowhere to run from the intensity of the hurt. He couldn’t shake his leg or rub it with his hand—he could only stand perfectly still and wait for the waves to subside.

  It became clear to Merrick that the Master Keeper would not take no for an answer. If Merrick was going to survive his ceremony, he had to either make something up quickly or tell them the truth. He was sure that the Master Keeper would be able to see through any of his lies and wouldn’t care at all whether Merrick would die.

  “I…I think I know it, but I don’t know for sure. Don’t you want to make sure you get the right name from me? What if the name I give you is wrong? That could mess everything up. It wouldn’t be of any use against my brother. How can I be sure?”

  The Master Keeper grinned, almost looking impressed that Merrick had suggested a path that neither revealed his name nor continued his pain.

  “Very well,” the Master Keeper said, as he stepped closer to Merrick. He slipped his rod back into the sleeve of his robe and placed his hands on either side of Merrick’s head. “We’ll make sure then, shall we?”

  As the Master Keeper came closer, Merrick closed his eyes, trying to make sense of things. He saw himself on a path, and a bug was in his way. He stepped on the bug and walked on. And then a young girl was fawning over his power, offering herself to him, and he took what she offered, and then she disappeared—gone from his life for good. It was as if he was walking rapidly through the maze that was his own life. Each decision, small or major, revealed another tiny piece of who he was—took him deeper into his self and closer to his center. In each part of his life that he relived in his mind, he saw over and over again the loss and the pain of being alone that was the thread tying his existence together.

  He saw Mona and himself leaving the hospital, and then his half sister, Cara, sleeping next to him in bed. And finally, he saw Fenton, bravely defending him, and then falling in a wasted heap, drained of his magic—death, his only payment from the cursed Merrick.

  Unwilling to watch any longer, Merrick opened his mouth and screamed his creation name. He heard the layers of syllables come out—sounds of stone grating and fire popping, and he wept. Merrick had cried for nothing else in his pathetic life, yet at the sound of his own name he sobbed like a lover who had just lost his true love forever.

  As the echoes of his name began to fade, Merrick opened his eyes to see the last thing in the world he expected—the Master Keeper with eyes wide and mouth agape in fear. The other Keepers stopped their chanting, and Merrick fell like a limp doll to the floor.

  He looked up to see the Keepers staring at him, equally afraid. Merrick hadn’t even told them what he thought his name meant, but something in their hearts must have told them.

  The Master Keeper backed away from Merrick and fell to his knees, his head bent down toward the floor. He reached up with a fragile hand and grabbed the robe of the Keeper standing closest to him
.

  “His name,” the Master Keeper whispered, “even here, with our wards, his name has such power…everything is hopeless. There…What kind of magic is this? He must not be allowed to live. His name cannot be allowed to leave this chamber. Kill him now, quickly. Find the strength, my brother before he utters his name again.”

  Before anyone could move, the Queen’s Seer ambled out of the shadows. He held his hand in the air.

  “His name is one of great power, as you say, Master Keeper,” the Seer said. “He must die, and his name must be held secret by the Keepers.”

  “You tell me nothing I do not know, old Seer,” the Master Keeper said, being helped to his feet by his fellow Keepers.

  “I foresee that his death is not far off, but he cannot pass from this form yet,” the Seer continued. “His name, as strong as it is, is still…incomplete. Even he does not know the fullness of it at this time.”

  The Master Keeper turned to look at the Queen’s Seer.

  “His creation name is complete. If you were anywhere close by, you felt its power. His name is a word in the dragon tongue. This place was constructed to nullify all magic save our own, and yet, look around you! We have been cowed by the mere utterance of his name. To hear it is to be consumed by a dark cloud, unable to see any joy at all. This is how this boy lives! It is who he is. Terrada save us if there is more to his name than what he has already told.”

  “Your wards are working, you know, Master Keeper. They dampen his magic. Imagine its power without the protection of this place, if he were to invoke his magic outside of these caved walls. Truly, he would be a match for his brother, but the casualties from their battle would make it not worth fighting. No one would be alive to enjoy the victory. You have forced Merrick to give you all that he has at this moment, but I tell you that there is more. His true name, I see, is more than a simple word—it is a phrase or a curse I cannot tell. But, there is more. He must remain alive until all of him is revealed. It is Terrada’s will.”