Waking Magic: The Revelations of Oriceran (The Leira Chronicles Book 1)

by Martha Carr

  “I’m going,” said the wizard carrying the witch. He put her down and waved his wand over her. She rose into the air in front of him and they disappeared in a swirl of wind and dust.

  “Don’t you understand yet? Dark magic is trying to return to this world. It’s the very reason we were created. To make sure it can never come back. If it has then we have failed that part of our mission but for the sake of all living things we cannot fail the more important part. To stop it by any means necessary,” said the witch as she swirled her wand around the three remaining figures.

  They disappeared into the wind.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “What the hell was that about?” Leira yelled as they barreled down the streets, gunning the motor.

  “You were seen performing magic. It’s a crime to do so on Earth punishable by prison or even death,” said Correk, forming a ball of red pulsing light.

  “You did see it! Wait, what the fuck are you doing?” she asked, looking over at him.

  “Seen performing magic is the key word,” he said, singing into the energy ball. His eyes glowed in the darkness of the car.

  He rolled down the window and released the ball into the night air where it split into a thousand little sparks of light that looked like so many fireflies taking flight.

  “What is that supposed to accomplish?” asked Leira. “You’re sending up a smoke signal.”

  “That’s a crude way of putting it, but yes. I need to get a message to the king before the Silver Griffins beat me to it. We were able to get out of there before they had a chance to identify you and I’m counting on the loyalty of the Pin Pushers back there to not give away any further information. But they’ll make a report anyway and a hunt will be on unless I can get the king to somehow intercede and tell them to call it off.”

  Leira made it back to Rainey Street in record time. It was the first time she was the one being pursued instead of the detective on a case.

  There was nothing about it that she liked.

  “I haven’t done anything wrong,” she said defiantly. She found a parking space right next door and got out quickly, running for the gate without looking back to see what Correk was doing.

  Correk hesitated at the sidewalk looking around to see if anyone had noticed them screeching to a halt and leaping out of the car. He still had the unsettled feeling that something magical and dark was following him.

  “Is everything alright?” asked a twenty-something girl with a handful of friends. They all looked a little tipsy, dressed up in short skirts and tops with thin straps They stood close together, using the proximity to hold each other up as they wobbled on stiletto heels.

  “Yes, routine call,” said Correk, standing up straighter doing his best imitation of a police officer.

  “You’re kind of cute,” said a girl with teased blonde hair that added several inches to her height. She pointed a painted mauve fingernail at Correk and said, “Are you really a stripper?” She gave him a smile that was more of a leer.

  “Earthlings,” muttered Correk under his breath.

  “Ooh, that’s kind of cute,” said another girl. “Take me to your leader,” she said, and licked her lips suggestively.

  “You’re a tall drink of water. Where’s the party, Robin Hood?”

  “Thank you, ladies,” said Correk, exasperated. “There’s no party. There’s no stripper. Please move along. There’s nothing to see here.”

  He walked away from them sensing that nothing good could be gained from continuing the conversation.

  They would have followed him except one of them suddenly fell off her heels crashing into the grass. They surrounded the fallen friend oohing and aahing, overly concerned with her well-being.

  “Crap! I think I got a grass stain on my skirt.” She frowned and rolled over to take a look. Her mood brightened when she noticed she didn’t spell a drop of her drink.

  “Nice,” she smiled. Her friends pulled her to her feet and she slipped her foot back into her shoe.

  By then, Correk was briskly walking through the crowd at Estelle’s, ignoring the shouts from the bar asking how the team was doing at the bowling alley.

  “Is the tournament already over? Did we win?” people yelled from the outdoor bar.

  “Estelle on her way back?” asked the bartender who was filling in for her. Correk ignored them all.

  Leira was nowhere in sight.

  He walked into the guesthouse and quietly shut the door behind him. There was already enough drama and slamming a door would’ve brought people asking what was wrong. Leira was changed back into a more typical outfit, a pale green shirt and black pants, and had slipped on her leather jacket. She was ready to roll. Her service weapon was strapped under her shoulder.

  She was paying no attention to Correk and he could see that her mind was made up.

  “In the short amount of time that I’ve known you I already realize that trying to change your mind is useless and a waste of time,” said Correk.

  “Good. Then I won’t have to work so hard actively ignoring you,” she said angrily.

  Correk stripped off the blue pin pushers bowling shirt and tossed it on the couch, revealing ripped muscles and a well-defined torso. Leira caught herself taking a second look and her face warmed.

  “Damn,” she whispered, surprising herself.

  Correk raised an eyebrow at her. “You have many different layers, Leira Berens. There may be hope for your magical abilities yet,” he said, putting his own shirt back on.

  “No, no, no,” said Leira, waving her hand at the shirt he was trying to button up.

  “It’s a little indelicate that you’re trying to get me to take my shirt off again,” he said, still buttoning it up.

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” she said, pulling out an old t-shirt that said, ‘Keep Austin Weird 5K’ with an old hippie truckin’ across top of the words, a big foot in a floppy sandal stretched out in front of him.

  “This is left over from some 5K I ran a while ago. They had run out of every size but large by the time I got there. It should do fine. You can’t go around in this medieval costume everywhere we go. It gets old after a while and harder to explain. Put it on.”

  Correk slipped out of the white shirt, glancing over at Leira before turning his back to pull the t-shirt over his head. Leira couldn’t resist and took one last look at his back muscles rippling when he pulled the shirt down over his shoulders.

  She shook her head, clearing her mind. “Too much to do,” she muttered.

  She felt a new sensation running up through her chest and out through her arms. “I’ve already been through puberty,” she whispered, embarrassed.

  Suddenly her fingertips began to glow

  “No!” she shouted, shaking her hands violently, trying to will it away.

  Correk whipped around, his eyes widening as he saw the source of her distress.

  “That won’t help!” he shouted. Correk’s eyes glowed briefly and symbols appeared on his arms. He scowled in frustration.

  The glow in Leira’s fingertips spread up her arms and symbols appeared under her skin, giving her the same warm feeling that was now spreading to her bones.

  “It’s clear you have no idea who you really are,” said Correk, trying to get his emotions under control.

  Leira’s training as a homicide detective kicked in and she steeled herself, taking a deep breath and assessing the situation. It never failed her. She was damned determined it wouldn’t fail her now.

  The symbols slowly faded from Leira’s skin, a hum lingering that she felt all the way to her lips.

  “You’re getting better at this,” Correk said. “You’re a fast study. But, common sense says we should wait until morning to leave when we have the Mustang back. Your friend will want his car and I’m not sure it will carry us the entire way to our destination.”

  Leira sat down heavily on the red velvet chair. “You have a point. But first light and I’m checking on the car.”

/>   “Deal.”

  ***

  True to her word, as the sun rose the next morning, Leira reached for her phone.

  “I figured you’d be getting anxious.” It was Ralph. “She’s all ready. You speared the radiator just like I thought, but it’s all taken care of.”

  “What do I owe you?”

  “Don’t insult me with questions like that. Meet me at the station so I can get home to my wife. You know, she misses you too.”

  Leira hung up the phone and felt an unfamiliar pang in her chest. She realized she was letting herself feel something. The troll let out a small whimper. She shook her head, hard. “Enough of that. Shelve it all till later,” she said, hoping it was possible.

  “Ready to go?” Correk stood in the doorway, already dressed. He was holding the CVS bags of snacks he bought for the road. “You can get the troll. He’s not as fond of me as he is of you and I’d hate to have to turn him into stone.”

  “That’s it?” she asked, astonished, swinging her feet out over the side of her bed. “You’re not going to try and get me to wait or talk more?”

  “You’re the one who said we needed to get going,” said Correk reaching for the door handle. “We have a long ride ahead of us and hours of time to explain what’s happening to you. I can explain now because it’s become clear. Why you don’t know is going to take a little detective work that will have to wait for another day.”

  Correk stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “I’m not making light of what’s happening to you. Your life is in danger from more than one source and it’s all because of who you are. But if I start this conversation here it will make it that much tougher to walk calmly through the patio, smile and wave to anyone who might be there as if nothing is happening, and get in the car as quickly as possible.”

  Leira was about to protest but Correk held up his hand without turning around and opened the door. There was no more to say till they picked up the car from Ralph.

  ***

  “Thank you. I really will call.” Leira accepted the car keys from Ralph.

  “I know,” Ralph said. “Be careful out on those roads. Never know when a sign will run out in front of you.” He smiled and squeezed her shoulder.

  Really have to do better at keeping in touch, she thought. She gave him a crooked smile. There was so much more she wanted to say.

  ***

  Correk refused to answer any of Leira’s questions until they got out onto the open highway beyond the city limits and the constant congestion on I35 that had become part of Austin. The sky was different shades of blue and purple behind the tall buildings downtown.

  Leira tried to get Correk to answer at least one or two questions but he sat in stony silence watching the passing scenery, biding his time.

  Leira bit her bottom lip, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, counting blue cars, one of the least popular colors. She managed to get all the way to five before Correk finally spoke.

  “I would think it would be obvious by now,” he said.

  “Obvious has to be based on past experience and that hasn’t worked for me since you and his majesty showed up in a hole in the world and pulled me back through it,” Leira said.

  “That must’ve been the trigger,” he said, clearly trying to make sense of it all. “You are, young lady, at least half Light Elf, and from the look I got of the symbols that appeared on your arms, you have an ancestor of royal blood. You are a very powerful elf.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I’m twenty-five years old. You don’t think I would’ve shown some sign by now? No one has ever mentioned anything like this to me.”

  “Who would have known enough to have explained it to you?” he asked.

  “My mother.” She bit off the words. “Don’t say anything. Not about that. Not yet when I can’t do anything about it.”

  “Fair enough.” Correk’s head was down as he dug through the bag of snacks, pulling out the Cheetos.

  “No, you can’t start digging in to the food just yet. It’s a well-known rule of road trips that you have to wait at least two hours after you get outside of the city limits before you start. On longer road trips like this one, you wait till you’re out of the state.”

  “I’m not from this world,” said Correk. “Your rules don’t apply and besides Texas is far too big a state for me to wait that long. I’m hungry.” He pulled the bag open and sniffed. “Reminds me of an aged cheddar but there’s something else I can’t identify.”

  “We call those preservatives and other five syllable words we can’t pronounce but are glad to ignore,” said Leira.

  Correk took a cheese doodle out of the bag and gave it a lick. “Not bad.”

  “This is how we indoctrinate you. We slow you down with our fast food till you can’t think for yourself anymore. Correk, if you can pull your attention away from the faux food, my mind is getting blown over here.”

  “I’ve watched your culture for years and learned a lot of your idioms. You’re very fond of adding new ones all the time,” he said, crunching down on a large doodle. He gave his orange fingers a quizzical look and started to brush his hands together.

  “Rookie move,” said Leira. “You’ll spread the orange fairy dust everywhere and once it gets on your clothes it’s kind of tough to get out. You either lick it off, wipe it off, or just keep eating.”

  He stared at his fingers for a moment, incredulous. He seemed to make a decision and dove back into the bag.

  “Yeah, that’s the choice I would have made too,” said Leira. “You have to make a mental decision ahead of time when you choose Cheetos that you’re just going to eat most of the bag in one sitting. It’s a commitment snack.”

  “Should we honor your little road trip rules and not talk about your newly evident magical skills until we’re out of Texas?” he asked, his mouth full of mashed Cheetos. “Or shall we just go rogue with all of it and start talking.”

  “That is not a good look on you,” said Leira, looking at the orange that was getting all over Correk’s face. “But you do look more like you belong right here in the good ol’ USA.”

  Leira looked back at the road and cut around an eighteen-wheeler ambling down the middle lane. “Before all of this started it wouldn’t have taken much to convince me I was losing my mind. I would’ve thought I was the only one seeing the symbols or that crazy warmth you get under your skin,” she said, a warm shiver running through her. “My mother…”

  “I see you’re wearing the ring we helped you find when we first met. That’s your mother’s ring with the two blue sapphires. You’ve mentioned her more than once but from everything we’ve observed you have no contact with her.”

  “Okay. I can’t avoid talking about her, it seems. I have no contact because my mother, Eireka Berens, has been locked up in a psychiatric facility for fifteen years, since I was ten years old. She started talking about strange men with pointed ears and an entirely different world where people could make things appear out of nowhere and castles that couldn’t be seen and was diagnosed with an official stamp of crazy.”

  “Do we have something in the car to wipe this off with?” Correk was trying to lick the orange off his fingertips but it was proving resilient.

  “Check the middle compartment. There’s hand wipes in there that I saved just for this kind of occasion.”

  Correk pulled out one of the wet wipes, rubbing his hands against it and admiring how the orange kept its color and was never diluted. “That was amazing.”

  He turned his attention back to Leira. “I ate so many of them and I don’t feel at all full. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. Okay, okay, how long ago did your mother start talking about elves and Oriceran?”

  “About six months before they carted her off and I ended up with my grandmother.”

  “Where’s your grandmother now?”

  Leira grew quiet and didn’t say anything for the next few miles. The troll whimpered from the underwear nest on the backseat, picking
up on Leira’s sadness.

  Correk waited patiently for Leira to speak.

  The brown and green cliffs of the Texas Hill country rolled past them. Correk looked out at the large mansions built into the sides of the cliffs.

  “Human beings have no access to magic and yet you manage to do these amazing things,” he said. “Technology for you has become a kind of magic. You can manipulate your environment in so many ways. I suppose the difference is our magic leaves nature alone, for the most part.”

  “My grandmother disappeared over four years ago. It’s why I became a cop. I want to solve that mystery.”

  “You believe she was murdered,” Correk said softly.

  “I did… I’m not so sure now.”

  “That’s something to think about,” he said. “She may be on Oriceran and unable to relay a message to you. It explains some of why you knew nothing about your heritage. That was probably for the best. You haven’t had to deal with getting your magic under control all these years. Emotions drive magic, and there has to be somebody around to teach you the right way. Magic out of control can quickly turn into dark magic.”

  “I need to get this case solved so that I can get my mother out of that damn hospital,” she said, hitting the steering wheel. “She never belonged there in the first place. There’s no telling what fifteen years in a psychiatric facility will do to someone.”

  “If your mother is the one who’s in the Elven line then the magic will have helped her survive. I suspect, though, she does not know enough about how to use it or the walls wouldn’t have held her all this time.”

  Leira moved into the fast lane again and accelerated to eighty-five miles an hour. The Mustang was cruising down the road, the engine humming.

  “I thought we were trying not to attract attention,” said Correk.

  “We need to get to Chicago. Time is running out and Bill Somers has been alone with that necklace for days. There’s no telling what’s happened. I’m catching on that magic is not as stable as I thought,” she admitted.