by Pam Uphoff
But he could smear a drop of blood on a slide and experiment on it. To change that little insertion, until he couldn't feel or see any glow of power from the cells on the slide.
It was easy.
Chapter Eighteen
Late Summer 1381
Ash, Kingdom of the West
The No-witch spell made him deeply uneasy. Sick to his stomach. It was all well and good to threaten dire things. But now that he had the weapon in his hand, he was having nightmares about some witch shoving him up against the wall, and this time taking his power. "Maybe I ought to just give her purple hair."
Pyrite snickered.
Of course everyone else just said he was whickering, sort of a soft neigh. It was quite irritating that no one would listen to the horses.
Pyrite gave a snort, and tossed his head in agreement.
They were headed for the Wizard's Tower, and left the road briefly, to get around the sheep. Just a dozen rams, also heading back toward the Wizards Tower. Master Nil gave them grain every night. That Ram was bringing up the rear of the flock. Not even being a sheep could make him like being locked up at night.
"I used to think that was funny. Now Master Nil is worried that I'm getting mean." He hunched his shoulders. "I am mean. Why not? I'm a very powerful wizard, and I'm going to show that witch that she shouldn't have done that to me."
Pyrite turned his head enough to eye Xen as a he flicked an ear dubiously.
"What if she'd grabbed the wrong thing?" Xen was quiet for a long moment. "That would be a quick and easy way to kill someone. Lady Gisele had me study the structure of blood vessels. It would be easy to just rip a tiny hole." He hunched his shoulders. "I won't kill any one. I'm not that mean." His stomach twinged.
"I'm just going to think about purple bunnies, because that's just the most excellent spell. I could turn a person into one. Just a few changes to the goat spell." He hummed happily, half lost in the alterations to the spell . . . the thunder of racing hooves pulled him out of the exercise. He made a box and settled the spell inside. Now he could just pull it out and throw it, except it was still there in the box, ready to be pulled out and thrown again. Instant copies. He pulled a copy and held the spell carefully as Pyrite edged over behind a droopy tree. Xen slid off and crept out closer to the road.
"Someone having a race. Probably Jek trying to beat Xanthic and Young. Too bad I can't test this spell on . . . " He straightened in alarm as Blackie rounded the bend, running flat out.
Quicksilver was flat against her neck, but the old mare was quickly losing the lead she had on six riders.
The Bandits!
Xen looked at the spell in his hand and grinned.
Aimed carefully.
Large rabbits, no matter their color, are not designed to ride horses. Quite apart from the pain that suddenly hit the man from every bone and muscle in his body as they warped and pulled. The first bandit hit the ground hard. Tumbled. Writhed in pain, trapped in his suddenly ill fitting clothing.
The second rider managed to dodge around him, head up, scanning. No doubt expecting a bowman. Not a scrawny boy throwing a handful of nothing at him. He reined around toward Xen, then rolled off the horse as the spell hit.
Xen sidestepped the horse. The other three were charging straight at him, drawing their swords.
He tried to snatch the ground out from under them. A column of dirt fountained up in front of them. Deep instead of wide . . . Pyrite shot past him, rammed the horse on the left. Xen ducked left. Pulled out another purple bunny spell and tossed it at the nearest bandit. Very near. Too near. The sword swept toward him and he responded automatically, spinning out of reach, right hand drawing his dagger. Left hand reaching for a spell . . . but the rider had dropped his sword and was pawing at the horse's mane, failing to grip and the bandit hit the ground as his horse bucked.
A bandit aimed his horse at Xen. Pyrite leaped foreward, teeth bared, ears pinned flat. The other horse swerved, giving Xen a perfect shot with the spell.
The last two bandits reined around for another pass. They stared at the large purple rabbits struggling out of clothing and swapped glances.
"Let's get out of here!"
The other bandit didn't reply, he just galloped his horse well around Xen and spurred him back the direction they'd come from.
"Let them go, Pyrite." Xen lowered his knife. Looked around.
Blackie had wheezed to a stop and Q was thumping her ribs, and pulling her head around to come back.
Water was fountaining from a hole beside the road.
Pyrite snickered. :: You made a spring. The water smells fresh. ::
"Yeah. I hope it doesn't flood the road." Xen narrowed his eyes. "how did that spell go so wrong?" He frowned at the spurting water and tried to use that solids manipulating spells to scoop out a small basin. Dirt heaved, settled. "I must be doing something wrong."
The water wasn't fountaining any more, but it hadn't stopped, either. The loosened dirt was slumping and fast turning into mud. The edges of the mud hole crumpled. The water coming from below stirred and churned the mud. The small herd of rams had caught up with them, and now balked at passing the bubbling stretch of mud.
Xen turned away with a scowl. "If it doesn't stop growing, I may have to ask for help, this time."
The first purple bunny got free of its clothes and made it to his feet. He was a pretty lean mean looking bunny. And a couple hundred pounds of irate teeth and claws, getting coordinated fast. He glared at Xen and walked four-legged, then started hopping like a proper rabbit. Showing his teeth and heading straight for Xen.
That Ram hit him broadside.
Rolled him right into the mud hole.
The other bunnies were on their feet, bunching together and focusing on Xen. He backed away. The biggest bunny was probably triple his weight, and the other two weren't much smaller. Xen backed around the mud, skipped sideways as the ground gave under foot.
The first bunny was stuck, sort of clawing at the bank, as the dirt dissolved into mud.
"Be careful, Pyrite. I don't know if you could get out of that mess."
The bunnies were slowing, trying to keep an eye on That Ram, while still advancing on Xen. Pyrite stood still, looking innocent. :: Just a loose horse, no problem. ::
The bunnies hopped past and Pyrite spun, kicked. Lifted a bunny off the ground and clear over the other two. The nearest leaped forward, baring his teeth . . . That Ram hit him on the hip. The bunny spun, hind end clawing for traction as it slipped into the mud.
That Ram backed off, with what looked an awful lot like an ovine smirk, and circled in on the last bunny standing.
Xen relaxed a bit . . . the situation was under control.
Q giggled. "They look funny! I called Mom. I probably ought to have called Dad. He would have cut their heads off."
"You sure are a bloodthirsty little girl." Xen choked suddenly.
Mom.
Dad.
Nil.
Answer.
"I am in so much trouble!" Xen gulped. "I need to work out a reversal spell, right now." He glared at the bunny laying on its side, whimpering. And the other ones, in or about to get knocked into the mud hole. "So don't bother me, and I'll figure out how to change you back."
He knew his Grandfather's goat spell—he'd used a lot of it in the bunny spell—and he knew the spell that reversed the changes. A much simpler spell, since it was just regulating the way the body returned to what it was supposed to be.
:: I hear Phantom. I told him you and Quicksilver were all right. ::
"Good. Maybe he'll slow down a bit." Xen tossed the reversion spell on the bunny Pyrite had kicked. And winced back from the screams. Apparently broken ribs and metamorphosing didn't go well together.
But it looked like it was working.
He walked back to the, now three, bunnies in the mud hole. Two had a fair grip on the bank, and the bank wasn't dissolving any further. The first bunny in was starting to look a bit desperate. Xe
n snorted and walked closer.
"Flip your ears this way."
The ears flopped around—not something the bandit was accustomed to wiggling—and finally got both ears sticking as far toward Xen as possible. Xen stepped to the edge, stood steady as the bank sagged, and sank into the mud himself as he reached one way and got a handful of Pyrite's tail, then leaned and grabbed the ears.
He pulled, Pyrite leaned forward. The bunny came loose and clawed frantically out of the mudhole.
Xen released him and retreated as he cast the reversion spell three times.
"Grab your clothes. Your horses ran off with your friends that direction. Get. Don't stay around here, or a grownup will come deal with you."
Far from the attack he'd expected, they edged nervously away, shoving their feet into boots, grabbing clothing and fleeing without stopping to dress.
That Ram stalked a few feet after them, then snorted in contempt.
More galloping hooves, and his mother came around the curve on Phantom.
Xen stepped out and waved.
The big black horse slowed, turned and cantered across the grass.
"Everything's all right. I . . . They . . . Umm, That Ram shoved them all into the mud hole. Then they ran away."
Q giggled, but didn't say a thing.
Phantom slid to a halt, ears swiveling between Pyrite and That Ram.
"And Pyrite kicked one of them. I think he broke his ribs."
His mother slid off and gave him a quick glance, stopping at his knife.
"I didn't get near enough to stab them." Xen felt a bit woozy, and shoved the blade back into its sheath.
"Xen?" She sat down on the grass, looped one arm around Q, who had her knuckles shoved in her mouth.
"I'm fine. That Ram actually did all the work. He pushed the bandits right into the mudhole." Oops, already said that . . .
His mother eyed him, a hint of curl to her lips. "Riiiight. And you don't look a bit like how I used to feel when I'd overdone doing something I wasn't supposed to and wasn't about to admit I'd done. Umm, if there's anything that needs undoing, or just checking, you might mention it."
A giggle leaked out around Q's knuckles.
Xen thumped down on the grass and leaned happily on his mother's shoulder. She was an excellent mother. "Did you do that to the wolf?" He nodded at That Ram, nibbling grass on the far side of the mud hole.
His mother looked over at the ram. "Umm. Yes. One afternoon, when I was minding sheep, and working on these spells a wolf attacked. It's just that I had the change spell in my hand, I didn't actually intend to turn a wolf into a sheep. Well, perhaps as a reward for extreme bravery. . . I think I know the essence of wolf now. Would you like me to change That Ram back."
Xen looked over at the wolf. "Yes, please. I don't think he's ever quite adapted to being sheared and fenced in."
His mother sat down and thought for a good long while, building up a beautiful long chain. She tossed it on the wolf.
He whined and pawed at his mouth, turned in circles, trying to see himself, then bolted off toward the mountains.
"He was very brave. I hope he's happy being a wolf again."
She nodded, looking a bit perplexed. "Xen . . . why is there a mud hole here?"
"Well . . . I was trying to make a ditch, to trip the horses or at least make them stop and go around. But I got it all wrong and deep instead of wide, and I don't know why. And . . . it keeps getting bigger. I think I may have made a hole all the way down to an aquifer." He eyed the nearest edge. It wasn't crumbling any further, was it? "It may have finally stopped growing."
"Might be handy to have a spring here. Why don't we leave it alone and see if it clears up."
"Okay. Oh. Dad's going to be mad because I let the bandits get away."
"Q said there were six of them. I suspect your father will be pleased you, umm, finessed your way out of danger, with a bit of help from your buddies."
Xen nodded around a growing headache. "I hope so."
Pyrite was thoughtful, all the way back home. :: I wonder if he'll go back to eating sheep? ::
"I guess we'll find out." Xen looked up as he heard a howl. Pyrite stopped and in the silence they heard the faint distant howl from another wolf. "At least he can go find out what he wants to do with the rest of his life."
His mother nodded. "And I'm not going to tell Nil what happened to his ram."
Chapter Nineteen
Late Summer 1381
Ash, Kingdom of the West
It was noon when he woke. His head felt hollow. Not really empty, so much as ready for new stuff to come in. It was a bit odd feeling. He pulled out a box and checked that he could still swat flies with a push-pull spell. He could see exactly how it worked, the opposing spells closing in like clapping hands. Eww! Flies had surprisingly complicated insides. He caught the next one and studied it. Flicked it out the window.
I must be growing up, I didn’t used to be able to see them like that. He checked, a bit worriedly, that his hormone suppression was still working. No problems there. He supposed that having missed the start of school, he might as well skip the whole day. His mother was doing something in the back, by the hotsprings, and his dad was fussing with his vines. Xen ordered up donuts in his dad's autokitchen and ducked through the horse pasture. Mom's cook was much better than the old machine, but there was no reason to give either of his parents a chance to decide he ought to be in school.
Pyrite made his usual goofy faces as he chewed a donut, and Xen polished off his second while they walked down to the village. He spotted Answer and Happy striding down the street and eased into an unnoticeable spell.
"Well, that’s the last baby for the year, and none at all expected next year." His great-great-grandmother didn’t look much older than his great grandmother.
Happy snorted. "So far. Girls these days!"
Last . . . they’d been coming from Elegant’s house. Had it been nine months already? Swish had had that baby? Xen hunched his shoulders and sent a glare down the street. He marched over to the bench beside the garden and sat to check out that horrible spell. He opened the box carefully to avoid triggering the spell. Looked it over carefully. There was the search part to find the two X chromosomes. Then locate the power gene. Then just a few changes, and the power gene wouldn’t work at all.
He rolled up a single copy and held it carefully as he ducked around the back of the inn and around the mayor’s house and then he circled in on Elegant’s house. There were a lot of witches there, the windows and doors were all wide open to catch the breezes. Xen edged up to the front door and took a peek. Elegant was sitting inside and spotted him, smiled. "Come on in Xen. I didn’t think the kids would start showing up until at least lunch time."
She shifted a bit and he stiffened as he realized she was cradling something in her arms.
"This is my new niece, Nighthawk."
Xen swallowed and edged forward. The baby was reddish and wrinkled and her head was a funny shape, lopsided. With darkish hair sticking up and out in all directions. She had one hand in her mouth and was gazing around, perplexed, as if she was trying to understand the huge way her world had just changed. Her smudgy bluish eyes turn toward Xen and studied him.
He reached out carefully and touched that tiny hand. And jumped at the magical zing of recognition. Of certainty. This is my baby.
Elegant had felt it too and frowned. "You’re a bit young for that . . ."
Mesmerized by the baby’s stare, Xen answered absently. "Swish birded me."
Indrawn breaths. There were several witches within hearing range.
The baby grabbed his finger, and he studied the hand, so small, so perfect. Even the tiny little fingernails were incredible.
"We will take it up with her."
Xen looked up in sudden concern. Swallowed. "You won’t hurt her, will you? Nighthawk needs her mommy." He felt himself flush suddenly, and crushed the spell he held in his mental hand.
Somehow it j
ust didn’t seem important anymore.
"May I hold her?"
Mortimer
Chapter One
Late Summer 1380
Grantown, Three Rivers Province
"Mortimer, stop picking on your cousins."
"Sorry Uncle Frank. Not until they put their mom's egg money back in the pot."
"What are you talking about, boy? They aren't thieves."
"No, they just wanted to go bet on the cock fights." Mort forked hay from wagon to growing stack without pause.
"Ah, they're just boys."
"Noticed that." Mort jumped down and led the placid cow hitched to the cart back toward the hay field.
"You ought to get a proper ox for that job. Or maybe a mule."
"Haven't got the money for anything fancy, and then we'd just need more hay." He tossed over his shoulder.
"I'll send Lew and Eddy out to help."
"Appreciate that." Mort sighed and started raking the dried grass and lifting forkfuls in precise order. For a hay stack to properly shed rain, the hay had to be orderly, not random. Back at the stack he tossed the sheaves out radially, with experience garnered through fifteen years of life.
Lew and Eddy dragged into the barnyard as he finished.
Lew lit up as he saw the pile "Hey, watch this!" He got a running start toward the stack and collapsed as his stomach encountered Mort's shoulder. Eddy veered, but still got tripped.
