by Davis Ashura
“You have his testimony as well,” Serena said. “He also supports my petition.”
Councilor Duba yawned in apparent boredom. “We all know how we’ll vote,” he said. “Let’s be done with it. I’m late for supper, and my wife is making my favorite meal.”
“Every meal is your favorite meal,” Councilor Choudary said with a smile.
“True.” Councilor Duba laughed and patted his ample stomach. “But if you don’t want me sautéing your toes, I say we vote.”
“I agree,” Mayor Care said. “Motion to vote?”
“Motion,” Councilor Duba said.
“Second,” said Councilor Choudary.
“All in favor of voting now?” Mayor Care asked.
It was unanimous.
“Then all in favor of lifting Serena’s restrictions?” Mayor Care asked.
Five voted in favor.
“Against.”
Only Councilor Blood voted against.
“The motion carries,” Mayor Care said.
William beamed. “Congratulations.” He pulled Serena into an embrace.
“I’ll have Mr. Zeus or someone of similar skill lift your braid,” Mayor Care said.
“Thank you,” Serena said. Her eyes welled as a rush of gratitude filled her. She loved Arylyn, but until this moment, she’d never truly felt accepted. Now, she did.
“You better not betray us,” Councilor Blood growled.
ACHIEVE A DREAM
April 1989
* * *
For the past two years, like clockwork on a bi-monthly basis, Jake tested with Mr. Zeus, attempting to create a braid that would limit a normal person’s ability to discuss what a magus didn’t want them to talk about. So far, every effort had ended in failure. Jake could create the braid as specified, but only one time out of every three. The other two times his weaves came apart in a flash of light.
“I’ll get it this time,” Jake said to Mr. Zeus.
“I’m sure you’ll do your best,” the old man replied, with what Jake took to be a pitying smile.
“My best is going to get me home,” Jake declared, forcing certainty into his voice. This time it had to work.
Mr. Zeus gestured for Jake to begin. “Show me.”
As usual, the testing took place in Mr. Zeus’ study. Jake sat in the soft embrace of one of the leather chairs while Mr. Zeus took the adjoining one. The books and scrolls served as the only witnesses.
Jake took a measured breath and blew out all his doubts.
Ready.
He sourced his lorethasra, drew forth a strand of Spirit, and deftly twisted it into shape. He let it drift across his forehead, over his chest, and down his forearms before it settled in one of his hands. Next, he unspooled a line of Earth and laced the rustling, ivy Element around and through his braid of Spirit. He knew both strands were too thick, and in times past, the next step—leeching the Spirit out of the weave and thinning Earth—had always led to failure.
“A quick weaving,” Mr. Zeus said in approval, “but you know as well as I that it’s too strong. It’ll maim whoever you use it on.”
“I know,” Jake said. His eyes narrowed in concentration. Now the lessons he’d practiced during the past few weeks would be put to the test. He took a moment to collect himself. No need to rush things.
His braid required a reduction of its strength, but this time, rather than directly thinning the lace of Earth, Jake added a touch of Water. It quickly eroded the other strand and left it a barely visible webbing.
Jake smiled.
Perfect.
“An unusual use of Water, but effective,” Mr. Zeus noted. “What about your Spirit? It’s still too thick.”
Jake brought up a line of Air. He set it spinning along the braid and poured the excess Spirit into it, careful to leave no areas of weakness. Seconds later, his braid was complete, but this time it possessed both the correct form and the correct depth of strength.
Mr. Zeus stroked his long, white beard in thought. “Who taught that to you?”
“Afa. He showed me how to whittle away the rough edges of a weave by using a different Element as a kind of sandpaper. He said it’s used by those with too much power and not enough control. It’s what William does most of the time.”
“You haven’t used this until now because . . .” Mr. Zeus left the question open-ended.
“Because I didn’t realize I had to,” Jake answered. “No one else did, either. We all thought I was average, but I guess not.”
Mr. Zeus’ brow furrowed. “Do it again. Beginning to end. No pauses, and as quickly as you can.”
Jake dispersed his braid and did as Mr. Zeus directed. He formed the weave as swiftly as he could. His control wobbled now and then, but in seconds, he had another braid woven and ready.
Mr. Zeus dispersed his creation. “Again.”
Jake did so.
“Again.”
Mr. Zeus had him form the braid ten times, and each time Jake formed it without any flaw.
After the last one, the swiftest yet, Mr. Zeus clapped his hands once and called an end to the testing. He wore a broad grin. “Enough. You have it,” he said as he rose to his feet.
Jake stood as well, and a burgeoning elation filled him. “I have it?”
“You have it,” Mr. Zeus confirmed. He placed his hands on Jake’s shoulders. “I’m so proud of you. You never faltered in your studies, no matter how many times you came up short.”
“I get to go?” Jake asked. He needed to hear the words.
“You get to go. No reservations. I can’t tell you how happy I am for you.” Mr. Zeus held up an admonishing finger. “The braid is perfect, but you still need speed.”
“Yes, sir,” Jake agreed, but his mind had already raced ahead to what he would say when he saw his family again, and his heart came close to bursting.
Jake held a small lantern to illuminate the way as he climbed the final feet to the top of Linchpin Knoll. Accompanying him were William, Jason, and Mr. Zeus, each of them holding their own lights.
Night had long since settled over Arylyn, and this late no one else was awake in the village. The wind breathed through the trees and pulsing water surged down the cataracts, the sound somehow softer at night. Shadows of statues and trees bent into strange, fantastical shapes. A stillness held Lilith in a peaceful touch, a quiet made magical by moonbeams and stars lighting the waterfalls and mist. The ethereal elements of light and water clothed Lilith in a mystical, ivory calm as time seemed to slow and stretch out.
Jake stared heavenward and prayed, thanking the Lord for the life with which he’d been graced. So many had it so much worse. He also reflected on the evening sky, wondering whether tonight was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. As always, he couldn’t tell.
“Are you ready?” Mr. Zeus asked, returning Jake’s attention to the here and now.
Jake’s heart felt like it might beat out of his chest. He shivered with excitement, wanting to howl at the moon and cast lightning from his hands. He realized he was grinning, and he also knew he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. He was going home. He wanted to pinch himself to make sure it was real.
“Settle down,” Jason said, slapping him on the shoulder. “You’re smiling like an idiot.”
“That’s because he is an idiot,” William said.
“Peace,” Mr. Zeus said. “He’s earned the right to be happy.”
“Yeah, but we’re still going to make fun of him,” William said.
Their words washed through Jake but didn't touch him. None of their teasing mattered. Tonight was the culmination of a long journey, an odyssey that had seen him kidnapped, endure enough pain and heartbreak to last several lifetimes, and master magic.
But tonight those troubles would reach their end.
“You sure you don’t want anyone else tagging along?” Jason asked.
“We’ll be fine,” Jake answered. He indicated William, whom he’d asked to come with him.
“As lo
ng as there aren’t any necrosed waiting at the saha’asra in West Virginia,” William said.
“There aren’t,” Mr. Zeus said. “We’ve discretely checked every once in a while. They all left more than a year ago. None of them have come back. We were even able to procure a car for you.”
“Really? What kind?” William asked.
Mr. Zeus smiled. “It’s a surprise.” He passed over a set of keys.
“A Ford?” William asked.
Jake didn’t care what kind of car they drove. “Let’s go,” he said, unable to wait any longer. His heart thudded with uncontainable excitement.
William hitched a backpack full of clothes, and Jake slung his bag as well.
“It’ll be morning in West Virginia,” Mr. Zeus told them. “You’ll need to place a braid of forgetfulness on anyone who sees you.”
“We know,” William said in an exasperated tone, and while Jake couldn’t see William’s eyeroll, he sensed it.
Apparently, so did Mr. Zeus. “Yes, I’m sure you know everything already,” he said sarcastically, “but it doesn’t hurt to go over the simple details. They’re usually the keys to success.”
“Yes, sir,” William said, sounding abashed.
“You remember the key to open Arylyn’s anchor line?” Mr. Zeus asked.
Jake pulsed the answer in a series of flashing threads of Fire.
“Good. Then we’ll see you in a few days.”
“Weeks,” Jake corrected. “I’m staying for a while.”
“But I’ll be back in a few days,” William said. “I don’t need to be in Jake’s way the whole time he’s there.”
“You’re coming back later on though, right?” Jake asked.
William nodded. “After you’re settled in with your family.”
“And you have your nomasras?” Mr. Zeus asked.
“Yes, sir,” Jake said. He showed Mr. Zeus the large, emerald ring on his right hand, while William displayed the locket Serena had given him. He'd woven it into a nomasra and hung it from a chain around his neck.
“Then safe travels,” Mr. Zeus said.
Jake sourced his lorethasra and reached for the anchor line. In his excitement, it kept slipping from his grasp, and he flushed in embarrassment.
“Need some help?” William asked.
“I got it,” Jake grumbled. He finally managed to trigger the anchor line.
A line blacker than the night split the world. It rotated on its axis and opened into a doorway filled with swirling colors like in a kaleidoscope and a pulsing yellow beacon. The colors bled away at the same time that a deep-throated bell rang and a rainbow bridge filled the doorway.
“Here goes,” Jake said to no one in particular. He realized he was grinning again, and again he didn’t care. He reached with his Spirit and stepped onto the rainbow bridge. His body stretched, threatened to unravel, and a wash of sound like an endless surge of water against a beach rushed past his ears.
Everything snapped short, and Jake stumbled forward. He regained his footing in time to see William arrive an instant later. They both took a moment to gather their bearings.
They stood in a meadow, gathered into the embrace of a northern forest. The newly risen sun glinted above the tree line, and frost shimmered like tiny crystals upon spring-green grass and dogwoods dressed in corsages of pink and white flowers. In comparison, the other trees of the forest stood unclothed and naked.
A handful of darkened cabins rimmed the perimeter of the meadow. Thankfully, no one was out and about.
“Is this the right place?” Jake asked.
“This is it,” William said.
“I don’t think anyone saw us arrive,” Jake said, glancing around.
William shivered. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t have good memories of this place.” He headed toward a gravel-lined parking lot containing a couple of cars and several pickup trucks.
“Which one is ours?” Jake asked.
William grinned. “That one.” He pointed to a hot-rod-red T-bird.
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s my car.”
“I thought your car was yellow.”
“It was, but my dad always wanted to repaint it red. He would have loved this.” William went up to the T-bird and ran his hands over the paint. His expression became both wistful and melancholy.
Jake could only guess at his thoughts.
William seemed to shake off his sadness. He slipped the car key into the slot for the trunk and twisted. It popped open.
“Guess that answers that,” Jake said, and they tossed their backpacks into the trunk.
“Looks like they also redid the headliner and carpeting,” William noted after they settled inside the vehicle. He keyed the T-bird’s engine to life, and it roared and sputtered before settling into a healthy growl.
“How fast can you get us to Cincy?” Jake asked.
William goosed the gas, and the T-bird rumbled, a lusty, full-throated roar of V-8 power. “Real fast.”
William hunched his jacket closer about himself while he pumped the gas. While he and Jake had packed plenty of clothes, they’d forgotten to bring any food. As a result, they’d had to make an early pit stop. Ironically, it was the same gas station in Rio Grande, Ohio where he, Jason, and Serena had paused two years ago during their mad flight following Kohl Obsidian’s attack in West Virginia.
Jake went inside to buy some snacks while William pumped the gas. He glanced around, searching for any differences from when he’d last been here. The gas station’s broken pavement still needed repairing, and like last time a skinny girl ran the register. She might have been the same cashier as before. Even a rusty pickup—he remembered seeing one before—belched black exhaust as it rumbled out of the gas station’s parking lot and onto the highway. It hauled a thudding tractor behind it. The only difference William detected was in the rolling hills and fields. Last time they’d been winter bare, but now they gleamed green and alive under the spring sunlight.
Otherwise, as far as William could tell, nothing seemed different, which wasn’t surprising. Other than the weather and the seasonal scenery, small towns probably didn’t change much. Maybe that constancy was why some people enjoyed living in them.
Jake stepped out of the convenience store with a grocery bag tucked under an arm and a newspaper in his hands. He flipped through it as he approached. “George Bush is president,” he said when he reached the T-bird.
“Reagan’s vice president?” Until that moment, William hadn’t given any thought to politics or the presidential election. It would have been the first one in which he would have been eligible to vote, a milestone he’d once looked forward to.
Then again, was he even still an American? He supposed not.
“Anything else happen while we were gone?” William asked.
“The Bengals lost the Super Bowl.”
“Who’d they lose to?”
“Forty-Niners.”
“Again!” William cursed under his breath. “Any good news?”
“Nope. It says Pete Rose might have bet on baseball. It says he’s probably going to be banned for life, and even from the Hall of Fame.”
William sighed. “All right. Enough bad news. I don’t want to know any more.”
The pump snapped off, and William went inside to pay. As soon as he finished, they hit the road.
William glanced at Jake. “We’ve got to ease you in with your family,” he said. The bare, rolling hills passed by as they drove, while some group William had never heard of—Milli Vanilli—sang-rapped some song he wished he’d never heard. He snapped off the radio.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“You can’t just go up to your front door and ring the doorbell.”
“I was thinking of using the key we leave under a rock next to the porch and walking on in.” Jake chuckled. “Can you imagine what their faces will look like when they see me?”
William rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and I�
��m sure your dad won’t have a heart attack when you do that.”
Jake’s smile left him.
William glanced at Jake and his eyes widened. He’d actually planned on doing exactly that. He shook his head in disgust. “You jackass. You can’t do that to them.”
“I want to do something dramatic,” Jake said.
“It’ll definitely be dramatic,” William scoffed. “Your dad with a heart attack and your mom fainting.”
“Nothing like that would happen,” Jake said.
“What if they have company?” William said. “You’d have to lay a braid of forgetfulness on all those extra people. You might not manage it.”
“Yes, I could,” Jake said.
“No, you couldn’t.”
“Then what do you think we should do?”
“Let me handle it,” William said. “Since we can only weave braids of forgetfulness on people we can actually see, you’ll have to let me go first and scout out who’s there.”
“How’s that any better than if I show up unannounced? They think you’re dead too, remember?”
“Your family doesn’t know me from Adam,” William said. “I’ve never even met your parents. We weren’t friends back then.”
“They’re bound to know who you are by now,” Jake said. “We both disappeared right after I had dinner at your house. They’ll have learned everything they could about you.”
“But they won’t react with heart-attacks and fainting spells when I show up,” William said. “Sure, they’ll have questions, but they won’t freak out. I’ll tell them you’re alive and on your way home.”
“What if they have company?”
“Then I’ll braid who I can, and let you handle the rest.”
Jake shook his head. “If you have to braid anyone, you’ll kill them. Your control sucks.”
“I’m better than you think,” William said, wiggling his fingers suggestively.
Jake laughed. “You look like an idiot doing that. And I’m not lying. Your control sucks.”
“You want my help or not?” William asked, mildly offended.
“Fine. We’ll do it your way, but it better work.”
