by Jake Kerr
Mister Ali put his hand on my head again. He said a few words in Farsi, and I felt a warmth flow from my head down to my toes. I felt more relaxed and, although the pain didn’t go away, it felt more bearable. He repeated the process three times, and each time the pain felt slightly better.
“You have been very brave, Tommy,” Mister Ali whispered. He walked over and pulled a chair over to mine. He sat down, leaned forward, and folded his hands between his knees. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, although I didn’t feel okay at all.
“That’s good. We are finally safe on this train, and there is a lot you should know. We have about two hours before we reach our destination, and I want to answer any questions you have and tell you about things that you need to know. Is now a good time or would you like your healing to progress some more?”
As I focused on my hip I realized that most of the pain was gone. It was replaced by a throbbing ache and even a slight numbness.
Without looking up, I whispered, “Now is good.”
There was a pause, and then Mister Ali sighed. “Very well.” His voice regained its former strength, if not its joyful lilt, and he continued. “Before I begin, Tommy, is there anything you would like to ask me first?”
I looked up at him, and without thinking and without knowing why the words came to my lips, I asked, “Is Grandfather dead?”
Mister Ali’s face looked pained, but he quickly regained his composure. “I don’t know the answer to that question, Tommy. I asked the engineer, who knew nothing, and I didn’t have time to ask the Waymaster to find out.” At the mention of Naomi’s mother, I quickly glanced at her. She was staring at us and clearly eavesdropping, but her face was blank.
“I’m glad you mentioned your grandfather, as that is as good a place to start as any. He may be alive—”
“He is alive.” I stated it with firmness. As a fact. I knew it was true. It had to be true.
Mister Ali paused and then nodded. “Yes, he is a mighty warrior and one of the greatest Archmages in history. He very well may be alive. So let me tell you about him. We do not have time for me to tell you his entire history, but he was marked from his youth for greatness.”
My awareness of my surroundings started to fade as I focused on Mister Ali describing my grandfather in ways I would never have considered mere days before. The man who I defined by his gruff affection and the tapping of his cane as he hobbled along behind it was actually a mighty warrior.
“As you will find out as you progress in your learning, Tommy, each Archmage wields the staff in different ways. As I mentioned, some have been healers. Others have had power over nature. Still others have been great creators, building things like the Great Pyramids with little more than the movement of the staff. This process takes time, but your grandfather immediately knew his calling, which was to make peace within the magical realm by the force of his terrible power with the staff.”
“Terrible power?”
“This is difficult to describe to one so young, and it will sound like evil, but I assure you it is not—your grandfather was a great master of destruction. When he was wielding the staff, whole armies would be torn asunder. It is forever to his credit that he always used his power to defeat evil and to bring peace, but he was never afraid to use his power to its greatest limits. In a very short time, through nothing more than his efforts, age-old rivalries and wars were stopped, the rivals too afraid of your grandfather’s wrath to raise arms against each other. He defended the English from the Germans, and yet helped my people by forcing the English to leave Persia. Your grandfather aligned himself with no one.”
Mister Ali paused, but I didn’t say anything. I had nothing to say—all I wanted was to hear more. As if deciding on whether to go on, Mister Ali stammered over the next few words. “Except… except for the Shadows.”
“The Shadows that attacked us?” I asked breathlessly.
“Yes,” he answered. “The Shadows are creatures of pure magic. They are both incredibly weak and immensely powerful. They are weak because they can easily be stopped by magical or artificial light, as you saw. Despite that, they are strong because they can absorb anything into their darkness—living, dead, mineral, vegetable. Nothing can resist them.
“This led to great fear, as you might imagine. Every culture has stories about monsters waiting in the dark, and all these stories emanate from a fear of the Shadows.” I nodded. It all made sense. “But the Shadows are misunderstood, Tommy. They just want to be left alone.”
“But they attacked Grandfather and me.” I thought of the attack in the alley. Fear of the Shadows didn’t seem unreasonable.
“Ah, yes. That.” Mister Ali sighed. “To understand that, let me point out one thing that has changed in the last forty years or so: electric light.”
“The Shadows are being hurt by the invention and spread of electric light?”
“Very good, Tommy,” Ali replied. “Yes. The Shadows have been driven from the cities due to Edison’s creation of an efficient light bulb.” He turned back to me. “But that did not bother them. It was a concerted effort in Europe to destroy them. After millennia of powerlessness and irrational fear, the world now had a weapon to destroy the Shadows, and they used that power relentlessly. Your grandfather saw the truth and used his own powers to stop the massacres.”
I looked at the staff and immediately saw the hole in Mister Ali’s story. “But the world did have a weapon: magical light!”
Chuckling, Mister Ali replied, “This may be hard to believe, Tommy, as it was the first skill you have learned, but magical light is immensely difficult to create. Your grandfather, who could conjure explosions that would level a city, could not create even a spark of light. Such is true for nearly everyone, and even those that can create a minor glow must work tremendously hard and spend years of study to do so.”
I turned in my chair and winced. “How is your leg?” Mister Ali asked.
I stretched my leg. “It’s sore.” I made myself comfortable on the chair and then asked, “So Grandfather defended the Shadows?”
“Indeed. The story is more complicated than that, of course. Thirty years ago a great leader in Europe approached the Shadows about joining his army to conquer the world, and when they refused, he swore to destroy them. As everyone hated the Shadows, they had no one to help them.
“Declan—your grandfather—did what he always does. He defended the powerless, despite the fear that everyone had of them. In the end, he helped defeat the armies amassed against the world and the forces amassed against the Shadows. Vingrosh, their leader, owes the existence of his people to your grandfather.”
“But he is the one who attacked us!”
“Yes, he is.” Mister Ali fell silent.
“But why?”
There was a long pause. I looked at Mister Ali, his face lost in thought. There was no dawning comprehension, no sudden insight. He just looked at me and replied, “I have an idea, but I am not sure.”
I didn’t know what to say. It all sounded rather ominous. Friends of my grandfather attacking him and me. I was not stupid. I knew that Mister Ali was talking about the Great War, but I was taught the war was about German aggression, not magical creatures. How much didn’t I know? I had read the news about what was currently happening in Germany and Europe. Was it related to the Shadows again? Was it more of the same or was it different?
One thing I did know was that it was much more personal than I had ever known. My family was part of these horrific world events. I found it overwhelming, but I have to admit that I felt it thrilling, as well. My grandfather had defeated armies, and he did it with the staff that I now had in my hands. Perhaps someday I could defeat armies, too.
With another gap in the conversation, Naomi suddenly spoke up. “So the Archmage is dead?” Her voice was choked with emotion. I don’t know what her connection was to my grandfather, but she was clearly distraught. Her blank face had turned into one twisted with incredulity and sad
ness.
“Certainly not, miss Naomi. He stands here in front of you.” Mister Ali bowed his head in my direction.
“Him!?” She practically spat the words. “He is hardly an Archmage. He couldn’t even defeat a room full of Djinn! He’s not a warrior. He’s... He’s… a streetlight!” Mister Ali looked shocked. I’m not sure he knew how to deal with the combination of a young lady of some magical skill and a voice of impudence and disrespect.
She stood up and walked over to us. I straightened in my chair, not knowing what was going to happen. Naomi looked glorious and terrible as she stood, her hands shaking, facing me and Mister Ali. “The Archmage would have wiped the skies of Djinn in moments. He—” She stabbed her finger in the direction of my face. “—allowed my mother to die.”
With the quickness of a cat she swung her palm at my face, but Mister Ali was quicker. His hand shot out and grabbed Naomi’s arm, stopping it inches from my cheek. He gently but forcefully moved her hand down to her side. He stood up, put his arm around her shoulders, and gently turned her away from me.
“Your anger is justified but misplaced.” He squeezed her shoulder and led her back to her seat. “We all owe you great apologies. You have been through a trauma even greater than Tommy’s leg, and yet we left you all alone, ignoring your pain.” Mister Ali was going to say something else when Naomi violently pulled herself away from him
“I don’t need your pity or your calming spells! I’m used to being alone. I have my own spells.” She sat down and glared at me. She started making movements with her hands that looked oddly familiar.
Mister Ali immediately raised his voice and moved between Naomi and me. “Don’t be foolish. I can only excuse so much.”
I couldn’t see her but her voice was cold, “I was just practicing. At least one of us should be useful if we are attacked.”
His head shaking, Mister Ali turned and walked back to me. He pulled his chair closer, sat down, and put his head near mine. In clipped tones he whispered, “She is in shock. We must excuse her behavior. She doesn’t mean it.” I looked over at her. Her chest was heaving, her body barely containing her anger. She certainly looked like she hated me, and that she meant it with every bit of her being.
The thing is, I knew how she felt finding herself alone. I had lost my parents. My grandfather, for how much I loved him, kept me alone in his townhouse. Even boarding school was a lonely experience. Mister Ali must have noticed me looking at Naomi, as he raised his voice from his whisper. “This is not the time for anger but for learning.” He left a meaningful pause and then continued, “Tommy, we don’t have much time, and we still need to discuss the staff, but I would like to answer any other questions you may have.”
My mind was a blank, but I knew that I had countless questions. My eyesight drifted out the window to the terrain zooming by, and the obvious question came to me. “Where are we going?”
“Ah, I forgot that you were asleep when we discussed our travels. We are going to London.” Mister Ali’s voice was flat, as if he wasn’t happy about our destination. “It is a great center of magic, and we will be safe there. We can use the time to talk, train, and plan what to do next with the master magicians who are there.”
“Can they help me find Grandfather?”
Mister Ali paused and then replied, “Perhaps. Regardless, they will need to hear about the attack on the fortress in New York and can perhaps give us information about what machinations are behind these strange events.”
I couldn’t help but wonder why Mister Ali wasn’t excited about going to a center of magic. Wouldn’t that be the best place for me to learn? Wouldn’t those be the people who would best help me save my grandfather? I looked out the window, thinking about the uncertain future that was ahead me, when it hit me—we were on a train.
“How can we be going to London? We are on a train, Mister Ali!”
Mister Ali smiled. “Ah, I’m glad you asked, Tommy. This brings our lesson full circle. You understand about technology and science?” I nodded yes. “And you understand about magic?” I didn’t know much about magic, but I didn’t want to interrupt Mister Ali so I nodded yes again. “Well, the two disciplines are nearly always in conflict. Yet, sometimes—rarely—the two can be combined to create something amazing that independently can’t be done by one or the other.
“The modern locomotive is a great example of that. Delivering such a great vehicle with magic alone would be near impossible. Similarly, reaching the speeds this train does and its ability to skim over water is an impossibility for technology. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“It’s amazing!”
Mister Ali shook his head. “But here’s the thing, Tommy. This train is a rarity. Magic is dying in the world because technology has proven more powerful. This magical locomotive is even now barely better than an airplane. Someday it will not be. Remember our discussion of the Shadows? They see this. All magical creatures see this. I neglected to say it earlier, but this is why I believe the Shadows attacked you and your grandfather—they want magic to leave the world, for the world to forget them, to forget magic, to allow them their own valleys, their own lands. It will provide them peace.”
I thought back to the conversation Grandfather had with Mister Ali in the restaurant. “So getting rid of the staff will accelerate the disappearance of magic?” I thought back to the news reels and the motion pictures at the Ziegfeld Theater. Magic was nowhere to be seen. I knew of magic being used in the war, but it was considered a small part, an important part but a small part, like cryptography and spying.
“Yes, and if we are honest with ourselves this is a good thing. Magic has rarely been used for good in our history.”
Mister Ali was about to continue his thought but Naomi interrupted. “That is a lie.” She leaned forward in her chair. “Magic has been an undeniable force for good. It has saved millions of lives. It has defeated tyrants. It has united countries.” It sounded like she was reciting some pledge from school, but I found the passion and the words powerful. I couldn’t help but agree with her.
I didn’t want to disagree openly with Mister Ali, but I thought that maybe Naomi would think better of me for doing so, and, after all, I did actually agree with her. “Naomi is right. How can a force be evil or good? You could say the same of technology. Is electricity evil or good?”
“You are too young to understand,” Mister Ali replied, calmly.
“And you are old and cynical.” Naomi squinted her eyes at Mister Ali. Part of me admired her ability to just confront anyone. I doubted I could ever be like that. I glanced at Mister Ali. His face was turning red, and he was clenching his teeth.
I wanted to stop her from fighting with Mister Ali, so I interjected, “Mister Ali. You said you would teach me about the staff.” The words came out awkward, and I felt stupid, but Mister Ali turned to me and smiled.
“Ah yes, Tommy. I am not so cynical that I would avoid teaching you of the staff.” He shot a glance at Naomi and then pulled his chair closer to mine. “We run low on time, so I can’t tell you much of its history, but we have time for me to let you know how to unlock its secrets. Perhaps some of those secrets will even be revealed to you. That is my hope, at least.”
And for the next ninety minutes Mister Ali went into great detail explaining things that made no sense to me. Worse, he was telling me things that I knew to be patently false. He talked about understanding the runes that lined the staff, but I knew that they had nothing to do with speaking to it or understanding it. I didn’t want to hurt Mister Ali’s feelings so I listened closely and worked through his exercises.
He set me numerous tasks. I failed at everything, but I kept trying. It would have been easy to get discouraged by my lack of progress, but I knew that this wasn’t even the correct process. So I soldiered on to make Mister Ali happy. The worst part was knowing Naomi was watching.
At one point I tried to lift a coffee mug with the staff, and—to my shock—it began to rise. Mister Ali was t
hrilled and gave me a hearty “good job!” but I knew that it wasn’t me. I quickly dropped the end of the staff and the mug dropped to the table. I glanced over at Naomi in time to see her stretching her fingers and smiling. I wanted to think that she was trying to help me, but I knew that it was just her subtle way of mocking my incompetence. I slammed the base of the staff to the floor.
“Tommy, I know you are frustrated at the difficulty of learning these rune movements, but trust me, you are doing fantastic! You may even be able to do lower level magic consistently in a year or two, and precious few Archmages are able to learn the inner workings of the staff that quickly.” I glanced at Naomi, who rolled her eyes.
Our conversation was interrupted by the train’s whistle. Mister Ali stood and clapped his hands. “We have arrived in London! Wait here. We will disembark shortly.” He walked through to the front of the train, closing the door behind him.
Naomi looked at me, her face unreadable. I tapped the staff on the floor nervously. Finally, I spoke up. “I know what it’s like being alone.” She didn’t say anything in response. The train brakes squealed as we slowed down, and I braced my feet and glanced at her again. It may have been the momentum of the train, but I swore I saw her nod her head in response.
CHAPTER NINE
I LIGHT UP A ROOM
The front door opened and Mister Ali came through with a tall thin man. He looked on edge. His eyes darted around the room, and his steps were short and jerky. I recognized him as one of the engineers due to his uniform, but I remembered him most as one of the men who was firing machine guns at the Djinn as we made our escape to the train. His skin was taut on his face, and as he smiled a toothy smile, he looked almost skeletal. “Hello passengers. I’m Frank Wilcox, your engineer. Welcome to King’s Cross station.” He spoke in clipped sentences, which only underscored the impression of nervousness he exuded. He spread his arms out and nodded toward each window.
“This was an unscheduled stop. So you must depart immediately. Jeremiah and I were glad to be of help, but we cannot dawdle. You will be safe here. There are friends waiting for you.” He smiled his parchment smile and then motioned to the front with his arm. “Off you go!”
