by Vance Huxley
Controlling even the simplest glyphs took a lot of magic and hours of practice, but each human only absorbed a small amount from the air each day. Every living being absorbed magic but leaked most of it out again. Plants were an exception, they kept absorbing until completely saturated so the larger they were, the more magic they held. Grass and even bushes and saplings didn’t hold much, but adult trees were the greatest natural reservoirs of magic in the world. Unfortunately, either dryads, the church or sorcerers claimed all adult trees, so even official sorcerers’ apprentices had to manage on what they were grudgingly given or absorbed from the air.
Unlike sorcerers, the church or dryads, Ferryl, Abel and his three friends didn’t mind sharing. This way their friends and fellow trainees were getting more practice in a month than any traditional sorcerer’s apprentice managed in a year. While the youths transferred magic, Zephyr gambolled above them, creating tiny clouds of dancing leaves as she practiced her wind glyphs. A welcome change, because Zephyr had been subdued ever since Abel set her free to trap the leeches. Zephyr hadn’t liked being cut off from her refuge, and since reconnecting she’d stayed close to Abel and firmly tethered to the tattoo.
As usual the fresh, clean tree magic left Abel and Rob in a wonderful mood, and even cheered up Ferryl/Claris when she and Kelis joined them. After filling up, Ferryl/Claris went to check the magic barrier in case anything had been trying to break through. Jenny had already left on her moped. She had to get home before the light faded or her dad would start phoning.
As they packed away the filled bars, Kelis told Abel and Rob what the three girls had been talking over while dealing with the patient. Creepio might come to the old village church while they were at school and take the host and leech away. The best solution they’d come up with was a sort of tripwire, and a bar across the inside of the door. Kelis preened. “Resting on hooks, then someone with good control of air glyphs will be able to send one through a crack in the door to lift the bar upwards. That will release the door for us, but anybody non-magical will think it’s locked.”
Rob’s glum look didn’t think much of the idea. “Creepio will just smack the door hard enough with a big glyph to break the bar.”
“But Ferryl will set a trap. Not a lethal one like those in Castle House, just the sort that sends up a big, noisy firework, a fire and air glyph. Creepio won’t want Mrs. Turner coming to look.” The woman in question lived near the church and liked to know everything that happened in Brinsford. She’d come running for something like a giant firework, so Creepio would have to keep the leech and any magic concealed.
“We’d better warn Creepio it’s booby-trapped, but not how. Tell him it’s to stop the unwary getting inside and finding the leech. He won’t be happy.” Abel sighed, looking at the last lead bar. “Now I’d better throw some glyphs so I use up some magic. Then I can fill up from a tree afterwards to cheer up again.” The rest joined him. Everyone but Ferryl needed the practice, and the tree magic really did feel fresh, clean, and invigorating.
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The following morning started with a surprise. When Rob joined Kelis, Abel and Ferryl/Claris as they walked down the lane to catch the school bus, he brought his little sister Melanie. Not so little at fourteen, but her dad usually took her to school. “Apparently if I’m old enough to dress up like an idiot and play that stupid game with your friends, I’m old enough to catch the school bus.” Despite the words, Melanie looked cheerful. “Which means I get there earlier and can natter to my friends in the canteen, and on the way to and from school.” She nudged Rob. “And you can’t avoid me when I want to ask questions about the game.” Melanie had become an enthusiastic player of Bonny’s Tavern, the board game devised by Abel, Rob and Kelis and adopted by many of their friends.
Unfortunately, when the trio discovered magic, they’d thought it funny to add a meditation exercise that really could levitate a leaf. The glyph should have been impossible to activate without more instructions but some of the beta players testing the game hadn’t stuck to the rules. They’d drawn the glyph on their palms instead of imagining it, which made activation much easier. To make matters worse, some had drawn the Bonny’s Tavern shield on their skin as pretend protection, having no idea it formed a real magical ward. The combination had led to over thirty test players, mostly schoolchildren, activating their magic and fluttering the leaf.
Some beta players didn’t bother with the ‘meditation’ and some didn’t draw the Tavern ward, but all the serious betas did. At least they’d stopped drawing the glyph on their hands, as the game rules now stated that would destroy the whole purpose of the meditation. Even so, Melanie had now begun playing with her friends using Skype so Ferryl/Claris thought there was at least an even chance she’d find her magic. None of them fancied trying to keep Melanie’s magical training to a slow, safe schedule once that happened. Right now, Kelis looked alarmed about a more immediate problem. “You’re not sitting with us on the bus!”
“No chance. You’ll be rabbiting on about all that serious A-level stuff.” Melanie stuck her nose in the air, then broke into a smile. “I can tell my friends the latest gossip instead. Mrs. Turner has seen ghosts in the churchyard, green ones.”
The others laughed at how silly that was, but exchanged wary glances. They’d have to warn the resident goblins to be more careful. They’d also have to be more careful themselves instead of chatting about magic on the way to the bus. As a few raindrops pattered down all four looked at each other in dismay. With Melanie there, none of them dare create a magical rain shield.
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True to her word Melanie sat with friends on the bus both ways, but she definitely stopped the four of them discussing Creepio’s visit as they walked home. Instead Zephyr used her invisible one-way spooky-phone connection from Abel to suggest they meet a half-hour before Creepio arrived. Spooky-phone wouldn’t be as useful if Melanie discovered magic, because then she’d see Zephyr and her connections as well as the myriad ugly little magical creatures that infested the world. So far, like most children and almost all adults, Melanie couldn’t see anything magical.
After tea, Abel told his mum he would be meeting his friends at the abandoned church, to look the place over now the bishop had written about applying for a lease. At least that gave him an excuse to be there, though Mrs. Turner would no doubt notice the vicar. That would lead to some cross-questioning, so the four of them would have to pretend it was a coincidence. Hopefully none of the parents would investigate, because the leech victim couldn’t turn invisible.
At the church Abel, Kelis, Rob, and Ferryl/Claris found Jenny waiting by her moped. Her happy smile and the shiny stone she waved at them probably meant Jenny had topped up her magical diamond. Diamonds, even magical ones created from pebbles with a glyph in the middle, made really good magical batteries. Gold and lead came a close second, with lead being the obvious economic choice because only Ferryl could make magical diamonds.
“Have you already filled it?” Kelis smiled and shook her head in mock despair when Jenny giggled, because that meant yes. “In that case you can test the door lock when it’s fitted.” Kelis, Ferryl and Jenny pulled a bit of boarding from one of the windows while Rob and Abel bashed in big nails and bent them to hold the wood in place. All five of them tried it out and even Jenny had enough control of wind glyphs to get in. At least that kept the five of them occupied rather than worrying about the vicar’s agenda.
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Though the teenagers still had no real idea what Creepio wanted ten minutes into the cross-questioning. The vicar kept pushing for details of leech seeds, which seemed strange because the leech in the rescued priest had grown past that stage. He wanted to know how fast they grew, how soon did they invade the brain, and when was it impossible to remove one? The leech, through the woman host, began to look really apprehensive. “Enough for now.” Creepio whirled to glare at Abel, but he’d had a leech Firstseed and sorcerers do that and Kelis’s glare worried him
a lot more than any of them. “How about you tell us why you are asking, then we can get you some answers.”
“Church business.”
“You’ve come to a leech you tell me has no soul, a host you claim is no longer human, and five magic users who don’t subscribe to your religion so we’re heathens. That means it’s well outside church business.” Abel swept his arm round to include everyone else. “We will help you save anyone regardless of their religion, so why not tell us? Is it Thirteenseed, the priest?”
Creepio held his glare for a moment; he really didn’t like anyone arguing with him. With an obvious effort he relaxed. “My report, or the report you all gave me, has caused considerable upheaval. Finding out how much pain these leeches caused their hosts is bad enough. An extensive investigation is trying to find out how many leech nests have abandoned the old ways of healing and releasing ex-hosts after their forty years. Any such nests will be eradicated, and the rest will be culled to teach them a lesson. In addition, many in the church are alarmed by a group of schoolchildren destroying such a large, unsuspected nest. Finding evidence of sorcerer-leech collusion and a priest being taken as a host has angered and worried them. The reaction to you rescuing an infected person, actually cleansing them of the leech, makes the rest pale to insignificance.”
The vicar straightened and did his best to produce one of his enigmatic smiles, but didn’t quite make it. “As usual, I am expected to deal with the mess. Dogma insists that the leech-ridden are lost, soulless, as they are no longer human. A leech cannot be removed.” He pointed at Claris, unaware of Ferryl inside her. “There stands proof that a leech can be taken out alive and the human revived. A debate still rages over the person retaining their soul.” His face relaxed a little more. “I believe that no soul is lost beyond redemption.”
“You believe your churchman still has a soul, and you want him saved.” Abel could go with that, regardless of the soul part. He didn’t agree with the rest because if souls existed then Ferryl Shayde, Zephyr and probably dryads and goblins should have one.
“Yes, but that might not be possible. The answers so far tell me the leech has been in there too long.” He hesitated for a long time. “When we arrived at the leech lair, after you escaped, we searched the lower floors before the fire spread to them. We found the female host with broken legs and kept the leech inside her, the Fourthseed, alive to answer some questions. The Church Militant also rescued three young women from a cellar beneath the building. All three have leech seeds inside them.” His shoulders drooped and a painful memory showed briefly in his face. “We killed one leech seed but the girl died in agony. Our magical attack was as swift and clean as is humanly possible. Normally the best we could do for the other women would be to give them a quick, painless death, but you took a seed out of this woman. Now I would like to do the same for the two remaining women. I accept that the Thirteenseed leech in Father Curtis is too well developed, so we can’t get his out without killing him. That’s one reason the Fourthseed is still alive, we want it to order the younger leech out of Father Curtis but it mocks us.” He stood up straight again and pointed at the woman on the bed. “I need details. How did you get a seed out of her without her dying?”
Abel ignored being ordered about again because Creepio didn’t seem to know any other way. “We only know two ways to remove a leech. A developed leech might be persuaded or tricked into leaving the host and then the host might be healed. That doesn’t work for a seed because it can’t leave the host and can’t be reasoned with. A seed is all hunger at that stage so you’ve got to kill it inside without it releasing toxins.” He hesitated over the next bit but Creepio didn’t wait.
“Which seems impossible. We killed it in a heartbeat then had to watch a young woman die screaming!” He pointed at the comatose woman again. “But she allegedly had a seed in her when she was rescued. Explain that, and the part about toxins.”
“I didn’t finish. The only way to remove a seed without killing the host is for an older leech from the same nest to kill it. We only know that, and about the toxins, because our leech told us. You know leeches recognise the presence of nest members?” Creepio nodded, intent. “The seed will let a nest member inside to share the host, then the leech can kill the seed and absorb any toxins before they spread.” Abel pointed to the woman on the bed, in unconscious imitation of Creepio. “Better yet, the leech then stabilises the victim.”
Creepio stared from the woman to Abel and back again, horrified. “The report can’t have been totally clear on who actually killed the seed, or someone misunderstood the wording. Unfortunately, putting in a larger leech makes the situation even worse.” His expression turned curious. “Though you claim to have bound this one, despite telling me you didn’t believe in slavery.” He curled his lip in the beginning of a sneer. “I wondered how long it would be before magic without faith corrupted you all.”
“I asked, and the leech had a clear choice between death or life as a bound servant. As I understand it, the church allows that with either humans or creatures. Claris bound it, and as this leech’s last victim she had fewer qualms.” Abel wasn’t going to tell Creepio that Ferryl actually bound the leech, and had no qualms at all. “Once the woman has recovered enough, the leech will leave and go into a rabbit. It will have a long, peaceful life if it causes no pain.”
“Why not kill it?” Creepio jumped, startled by the laughter from four teenagers.
Ferryl/Claris didn’t laugh, she scowled. “We gained entry to the lair because I carried this leech in a jar. The nest members detected it and assumed it still controlled me. When she realised the truth, the Firstseed attacked this leech as a traitor but I stopped her killing it. According to these lunatics I’m now responsible for making sure the leech lives a better life.”
Creepio inspected all five faces, not sure if he should laugh. “Seriously? I thought the person saved from death owed a life?” He looked down at the woman. “Or the entity saved in this case.”
“Nope. If you save a life, any life, it’s your choice so your responsibility. You have to make sure the life was worth saving.” Kelis didn’t laugh or even smirk. Even Rob, Jenny and Abel weren’t sure if she’d originally meant it or had just been winding Ferryl up, but now Kelis was adamant.
Creepio looked around them all again. “That’s an intriguing thought.” A smile flickered and was gone. “I really must drop that into the debate. The worst part is that is a truly Christian attitude, and you are definitely heathens.” He turned back to the woman on the camp bed, his voice sombre. “But none of that helps me. How many bound leeches do you know of?”
“One?”
“Exactly, and it is keeping this woman alive. We can’t bind the captured adult leeches, Fourthseed and Thirteenseed, because they’d rather die than agree.” Creepio looked down at the woman for a long time, then heaved a big sigh. “In theory I should demand you save the two seeded girls, who have suffered nothing like the damage done to this host, but that would kill your patient.” He stood debating for a while longer. “Thank you. I will explain to those trying to extract the leeches and seeds. The information about toxins might help.”
“We might be able to save them in a couple of weeks?” Abel knew that in a fortnight or so Ferryl could leave Claris to possess this woman and save her. “By then this woman might be able to manage, then this leech could leave her and kill the seeds.”
The nameless woman roused. “That will be too late. The seeds were set before the nest shattered. You must have been feeding the seeds blood to keep the hosts alive, so in another week or two the leeches will have grown enough to invade their brains.” Her eyes closed again.
Despite trying to come up with a solution, there wasn’t one, or not one that could be discussed before a very thoughtful Creepio left. If the church found out Claris was possessed by the entity he knew as Braeth Huntian, Creepio would call in God’s SAS and probably armoured divisions to kill her. Instead Kelis told him about barring the d
oor and setting an alarm to stop locals blundering in.
From his sour look the teenagers were sure Creepio knew exactly why they’d taken the trouble, though before leaving he helped them keep the church isolated. He renewed and activated the old church hexes on the lychgate, using his cross to fill them with magic. The activation produced a milder church version of the Castle House barrier, so anyone who hadn’t been confirmed would feel uneasy and probably decide against going through the gate. The hex wouldn’t stop anyone really persistent, nor would it affect anyone inside the graveyard, but the help was appreciated.
Even when Creepio had gone and the five teenagers discussed how soon Ferryl could move hosts, they couldn’t find a solution. If Ferryl left her now, Claris’s memories of drinking fresh blood from helpless victims and the pain as the leech grew through her organs could drive her crazy, and possibly to suicide. In theory Zephyr could learn to take a host just as Ferryl did, though Ferryl couldn’t be sure how long the Sprite would need to learn how. Since Zephyr absolutely hated the mere idea of it, Abel wasn’t going to insist. Over the next couple of days all of them returned to the problem again and again but there wasn’t a solution. Ferryl pushed on with wiping out the worst of Claris’s experiences as a blood leech host.
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Just after lunch on Saturday the five teenagers were once again draining magic from trees to fill lead bars, a regular job with thirty-eight other trainees now depending on the extra supply. As usual Jenny had ridden over on her moped to help, and to top up her diamond. Zephyr seemed a little more relaxed today. She’d flown free briefly, but stayed close and soon came back to her tattoo and reconnected. Now she’d flown off out of sight because watching the others fill lead bars bored her, though she kept her tether firmly attached. Rob suddenly stopped in the middle of cutting a glyph on a tree. “Will a full intensive care unit keep Jane Doe alive?” They’d taken to calling the woman Jane Doe because the leech still couldn’t find out her name.
