The Conservation of Magic

by Michael W. Layne

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  The mighty yew tree, Oodrosil, was connected with all of the divinium cubes that its lifelong friend Ohman had created. Through the cubes taken to the Earth City, Oodrosil had been able to sense Merrick several times—enough to be sure that the young man was still alive. Even though Oodrosil knew that Merrick was not Ohman’s son, he still reminded him of his old friend. One thing the yew tree did know was that Merrick was the only hope for defeating Eudroch. For days, Oodrosil had waited for some sign of Eudroch, the one who had killed the tree’s lifelong friend, Ohman. A shiver ran through its roots as Oodrosil suddenly tasted Eudroch’s vile spittle seep into one of Cara’s divinium cubes.

  This could only mean that Eudroch was in the Earth City, closer to Merrick than he had ever been. It was hard to sense their exact locations, but the yew tree reached out with its senses. It could sense that Merrick was one with the mountain and that Eudroch was not.

  Oodrosil was old, and in some ways very powerful, but its magic was one of longevity and wisdom and not one of immediate action that would have allowed it to more easily help Cara and Merrick. The mountain itself and the earth within would surely listen to Oodrosil’s pleas for help against Eudroch, but the mighty yew had a better idea.

  Every year, Oodrosil partly died and was reborn anew. As such, the tree understood more than most other beings of the conservation of magic. It knew that magic and indeed life itself was never created nor destroyed, just changed from one form to another. The yew tree inhaled deeply. Stretching its needled branches upward to gather the strength, ironically enough, from the power of the sun. The mighty yew felt the very impression of Ohman’s life force now seeping out of the wooden cube placed in its belly. Spreading throughout Oodrosil’s very flesh. Even with no physical eyes, the great yew knew the shape of Ohman’s old body. Had felt its touch so many times that it was like the memory of one of the tree’s own limbs. With only a minor force of will and a great draw of emotion, Oodrosil reshaped the ashen molecules of Ohman into a ghostly pale of his former corporeal body. It was ashen white, cold and empty of life, but once again the familiar shape of Ohman’s dead body existed and now waited in the cold earth under the Rune Corp building, intertwined with Oodrosil’s root system, ready to once again hold at least a spark of the former life it had known.

  The body itself was useless—devoid of almost all of its former magic, but Oodrosil was connected to Ohman in different ways. Every year, the yew tree gave up a little of its magic—some to the planet from which it derived nourishment, and some to the land of shadows that Ohman and his magic now walked. After so short a time, Oodrosil was certain that Ohman’s magic was still clinging together as often happened when those of great power passed on, into the dragon’s body.

  The tree took a full breath, its trunk expanding slightly, with its skin creaking and its branches scraping against each other. The mighty yew sent a message to Terrada, the Earth Dragon herself. Within seconds, the tree felt a low pulse emerge from deep within Terrada’s spine in answer. Terrada was now aware of exactly what was happening.

  Oodrosil stretched again, and even though its pine-like leaves were green and alive all year round, the yew willed most of them to wither and die. Thousands of dried needles fell to the stone floor of the Rune Corp building, setting off tiny vibrations through the floor and into the earth below. The humans who remained in the building would not know what to make of this sign from their beloved tree because none of them knew how to talk to Oodrosil. In fact, Oodrosil did not like to break the natural cycle of things and to have its leaves dying so long before it was his time to move on, but the yew had to try reaching Ohman’s magic before it dissipated completely.

  Even though Oodrosil had no human eyes to see with, he could feel Ohman’s energy pooling in the ground where his body was now buried. This was the way magic always came back when called—first to the thing it identified most with in this world, the body. Oodrosil let itself rest, knowing that the pale white form of his friend was stirring beneath its trunk, half in and half out of this world.

  The ghost of Ohman had been summoned.

  CHAPTER 38

  THE LAST THING he remembered was the Master Keeper’s blade flying through the air, embedding itself in the rock wall next to his head just before all the rocks fell down on him. Merrick had thought in that brief second that the smart thing for him to do would be to merge with the mountain wall, but his craft was not developed enough to instinctively perform such a feat. Instead, he had simply covered his head with his arms, and somehow he had lived. Now Merrick stared into cool darkness, wondering what he was supposed to do next.

  He could feel the cold stone pressing against his nose and knew that he was trapped within a pocket of air created by the falling rocks. Outside, he could hear the sounds of battle—feel the mountain itself participating in the fray. There was no way that dumb luck had saved his life—the only logical answer was that the Master Keeper had not been trying to kill him after all. Instead, the Master Keeper had saved his life, although for what reason, Merrick could not imagine.

  There was barely enough room for Merrick to expand his chest to its fullest. He exhaled all of his air and carefully snaked his hand across his chest and up past his head. Gradually, he was able to stretch enough to touch the hilt of the Master Keeper’s dagger, still stuck in the wall next to his head.

  As soon as he touched it, he felt a surge of magical energy rush through his body. He felt his strength returning and his wounds healing. As the dagger’s magic washed through him again and again, he also felt a sudden influx of knowledge. It was a message from the Master Keeper.

  The Master Keeper’s voice told him that the Queen was his real mother, and that Ohman was not his father. That part, Merrick had already suspected. The message also told him that he would now be able to travel within the mountain around him in the same way that Ohman and Cara so easily traveled through the earth on their journeys. There were no explanations of how to do this, but Merrick knew that he now possessed this ability as sure as he knew how to breathe. Even while the battle raged on outside his mountain womb, the Master Keeper told Merrick of the ancient ritual for calling on the assistance of Terrada, the Earth Dragon and ended with the name of a place echoing in his head like the beat of a drum—Annoon…Annoon. The Master Keeper wanted him to go there to find Terrada. All Merrick had to do was to call on Terrada and journey to Annoon. That much was clear. But why? To ask for the Earth Dragon’s help? To find his destiny?

  Merrick was unsure of the Master Keeper’s motivation and wondered if the message was a trick to get him to learn and then reveal the other half of his name. The last Merrick understood, the Master Keeper wanted him dead after hearing just a piece of his creation name. If the Master Keeper had suddenly turned into Merrick’s ally, then something drastic must have happened to instigate the change.

  Merrick pressed himself forward, closed his eyes, and whispered the name of the stone. His voice resonated with the wall around him, matching vibrations with the frequency of the rock, until he became effortlessly one with the mountain. Merrick was no longer trapped, and instead felt more powerful than he ever had. Not only could he move around the different areas of the mountain, but he could sense all that the mountain could feel. From the edge of the outer wall he saw the city destroyed and filled with black smoke from fires that still raged. From the ceiling of the cavern that housed the royal section of the city, Merrick saw a gathering of people.

  He moved down the wall closest to the group.

  There was his mother, the Queen, and her Fianna. And opposite them, a small group of warriors with skin as dark as Firefly’s. In the middle of the crowd, Cara stood with a few humans dressed all in black and someone who looked almost like…Mona. Merrick knew it was her, with all of his strength, even though his mind refused to believe it at first. It was impossible, but Mona was here.

  Before Merrick could assimilate the fact that Mona was in the Earth City, he saw something even
stranger and more unexpected. The person below arguing with the Queen could only be Eudroch, his brother. Merrick felt like he was watching his own self from a distance. At last, Merrick and his brother were only mere feet away from each other. This was the fabled Eudroch. This was Merrick’s destiny. So close, and yet Merrick knew, as had the Master Keeper, that he was not yet ready to meet his fate. Not without first traveling to Annoon.

  As Merrick thought about his destiny, Eudroch struck Cara once and then again. Then, one of Cara’s people fell down, writhing in pain and quickly died.

  The Queen just watched.

  It was impossible, but the Fianna and the Queen seemed to be in league with the dark-skinned warriors and with Eudroch. The Master Keeper was nowhere to be seen, but Merrick sensed that the strange man was already gone from this world. As he tried to figure out what to do, Merrick remembered the Master Keeper saying something before throwing his dagger. He had said that Merrick was their only hope against Eudroch.

  Merrick guessed that the Master Keeper wanted him to go to Annoon because it would somehow help him defeat Eudroch. Looking down on the group, Merrick studied Mona. She seemed well and unhurt, but he could only imagine the reason for her presence. Eudroch would try to use her as leverage against him somehow. Every piece of him wanted to leave the safety of the mountain and attack. Surprise would be on his side, but an attack now would not only probably fail, it would put both Cara and Mona in immediate danger. Merrick would have to wait, as hard as it was, until the time was right.

  As Merrick watched, Eudroch left with the group of dark-skinned warriors, walking toward the mountain’s exit. The others gathered up several of the divinium cubes that Cara and Ohman had shown him back at Rune Corp. The Queen and a few of the Fianna with the gathered cubes walked back toward the royal chambers, while the rest of the Fianna separated and walked off in opposite directions, one group taking Mona and the other taking Cara. Cara’s two remaining friends fell to the ground as Merrick detected just the slightest amount of energy emanate from Eudroch. The two groups of Fianna began calling out Merrick’s name, entreating him to show himself while making threats against Mona and Cara.

  As much as he wanted to protect Cara, Merrick knew that Mona was the most vulnerable in this world. Cara could take care of herself. Merrick followed Mona and her group of Fianna as they made their way down the city streets, calling out Merrick’s name. Merrick hoped that when they were far enough away from the other group, an opportunity would present itself so that he could at least save Mona and maybe put her somewhere safe while he traveled to Annoon.

  As Merrick was following the group that held Mona captive, he felt as if he was passing something familiar. He burrowed farther into the mountain to investigate and realized that he was back at the Keepers’ Chambers. He recalled saying his name during his naming ceremony. He also thought back to Balach’s ceremony and the noble name that the boy had been blessed with.

  The last he had seen of Balach, the boy had gone deeper into the Keepers’ Chambers for additional testing and validation of his own creation name. Now that Merrick could travel through the mountain, it was simple for him to find the room where Balach was sitting on his stone bench. From the wall, Merrick watched as Balach cried, his face covered by his hands.

  As gently as possible, Merrick emerged from the rock wall, to stand before Balach.

  Balach nearly jumped off the stone bench when he saw Merrick.

  “Is it true, Merrick? One of the guards told me that you killed my father.”

  Merrick simply stared at Balach, unable to answer.

  “All he ever did was try to help you, and you killed him!”

  Balach raised his hands and his throat tensed as if preparing to speak in the dragon’s tongue. Merrick raised his own hand, begging for Balach to listen.

  “Please, Balach, just hear me first. You know I would never have hurt your father on purpose.”

  “I don’t care if you didn’t mean to kill him. What matters is that you did.”

  “Then do what you have to, but listen to me for just a minute, please.”

  Balach sat down on the stone bench and crossed his arms in angry silence.

  Merrick quickly told Balach what had happened when he had escaped and how Fenton had given his life to save him. Merrick told Balach about the Master Keeper and the war going on in the Earth City and the attack of Eudroch and his warriors and their alliance with the Queen and her Fianna.

  “Your city is burning right now, Balach. This is much bigger than you or me or even your father,” Merrick said.

  “The guards told me the noises were nothing.”

  “Balach, you must believe me, I’d rather be dead than your father, but Fenton didn’t give me that choice. He gave his life to save mine. All I can do now is try to live up to what he thought I could do and stop my brother. The Queen and the Fianna are all working with Eudroch and they have Cara and Mona out there and are trying to force me to surrender.”

  “Who’s Mona?” Balach asked.

  “She’s…a friend from where I come from. Eudroch must have brought her here to use as leverage. He knows I can’t let her get hurt.”

  “I hate you for killing my father,” Balach said with teary eyes, “but I still love you like a brother. I cannot help my nature.”

  “I know, Balach. Your nature is to love, mine is to lose—to lose everyone and everything I love. I would do anything in my power to bring your father back. He was a great man, and he was my teacher and friend. But I can’t. He knew what he was doing, and he gave up his life because he thought it was the right thing to do. He did it to help save the world. I don’t know what else to say…”

  Balach was silent, looking at the floor. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

  “At your naming ceremony,” Balach finally said. “Did you remember your name?”

  “I remembered only part of it…I think. The Master Keeper seemed to think that the part I remembered was right, but incomplete. But even that part of my name scared the Keepers. You should have seen their faces. They all looked so hopeless.”

  Merrick exhaled and leaned against the wall.

  “I have to learn the rest of my name before I can face Eudroch, but right now I need some way of rescuing Mona and Cara. Can you teach me more of Terrada’s words?”

  Balach laughed with a smirk.

  “I am still too young. Most of the words my father taught me, you know already. I won’t learn any of the deadly words useful in battle for a few years still. And maybe not ever with my father gone,” Balach said, looking up at Merrick. “You already know my name which is the most powerful word that I know, but I don’t think it will help much with your plan.”

  Merrick reached out and touched Balach on his shoulder. The boy suddenly hugged Merrick around his midsection. Merrick held him as Balach cried.

  Balach backed away, wiping his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Merrick. My father would not be proud of that. It’s just that with him gone a piece of me has been taken away that I’ll never have again. I feel so alone, but I also know that true loss is the other side of true love.”

  Merrick smiled. He had not looked at it in that way before, but Balach was right. True love always led to true loss. The two were inseparable.

  “I need to learn more words, Balach. Are there any books that the Keepers have that I can learn from?”

  “Writing down Terrada’s words is forbidden. The Keepers keep everything they know in their heads. They’ve memorized every piece of the Earth Dragon’s tongue that our clan has reconstructed over the millennia.”

  “Not all Keepers hold the words only in their minds,” Merrick said.

  Balach looked down at his feet, his brow scrunched in confusion. He looked back up to Merrick, waiting for him to explain. Merrick instead grabbed hold of Balach’s arm.

  “You have to come with me, Balach. You won’t be safe here for much longer. With the Master Keeper dead, the Keepers may be under the Queen
’s control. I don’t want them using your safety against me like the Fianna is doing with Cara and Mona.”

  Merrick started to pull Balach into the stone wall with him, but Balach resisted.

  “Merrick, what Keeper do you know of who’s written down Terrada’s tongue? That’s a crime punishable by death in our clan.”

  Merrick smiled.

  “Let’s just say I know of someone who used to be a Keeper and who found an even better way to store the language than writing it down. First, I want to check on Mona, then I’m going to get my hands on all of Terrada’s words that I need.”

  With that, Merrick and Balach disappeared into the stone wall and began traveling through the mountain into the direction that Mona and her captors had taken.

  As they searched for Mona and her captors, Merrick found himself repeating Balach’s creation name in his head. He hadn’t told Balach that he already knew his name, but the fact that Balach had offered, filled Merrick with a sudden happiness. Just hearing Balach’s name in his thoughts brought Merrick a certain degree of internal peace. But he was surprised that, as he chanted Balach’s creation name to himself, Mona’s face was all that he could see.

  #

  Terrada’s body was immense, and for her and the other dragons, time was quite a different thing than for most other beings in the world. The Earth Dragon’s memory was exquisite, but the way she sensed the passing of time precluded her from distinguishing days from years from centuries. Even among the dragons, her magic was based on particularly long periods of time. A single one of her breaths might take an entire year, and the movement of her valleys and her mountains could not be witnessed during the lifetime of a single living being.

  Constantly, she felt countless tingles and movement across and within her—people and animals and plants all interacting within her being. To have any focused thought at all, she had to ignore much of the intrusive stimuli that continuously inundated her. But when Oodrosil, the ancient yew tree, had called out to her, she had paid attention to its message and had strained to listen closely to what her old friend had to say.