Gods of Chaos (Red Magic)

by Jen McConnel

  Marcus glanced at me. “Maybe we should take a break. You look like you’re about to fall over.”

  He looked like he hadn’t even broken a sweat, I noticed with chagrin. “I can keep at it if you can.”

  “Still. I want a snack. Do you have any more food in that bag?”

  I nodded and crossed to the lean-to. “But I’m running low. We’re going to have to move on soon.”

  Marcus looked at the shadows around us. “One more night here. Then we’ll move on.”

  “And then what?”

  His eyes met mine. “And then it’s time to make good on your promise to Loki. Let’s see if he keeps his end of the bargain.”

  Dawn came a lot sooner than I wanted, and I groaned when Marcus tapped my shoulder.

  “Darlena, get up. We need to move on.”

  I refused to open my eyes. Instead, I rolled over and pulled my arms over my head. But then I heard Marcus gasp.

  “Darlena! They’re here!”

  The panic in his voice rocketed me to my feet, despite my headache, and I rushed to draw up as much Red magic as I could. The clearing was empty. Confused, I looked around, my arms tingling with magic.

  Marcus stood a few feet to my left, trying not to laugh. “At least I know you’ll be ready in a crisis.”

  “That was so not funny,” I growled at him. I wanted to throw the Red magic at him and teach him a lesson, but I knew I was no match for his powers. Angry, I released the magic.

  Marcus was still fighting his laughter. “I beg to differ. Come on, Sleeping Beauty, help me clear the area.”

  Working silently, we erased all trace of our presence and released the protective wards. Even though it was just a campsite, it felt strange to leave it behind. It had been nice to feel safe for a short amount of time.

  As we trudged through the forest, I thought about the magic Marcus had taught me. I wasn’t sure how any of his spells would help, and I wondered if he was deliberately teaching me useless magic so he would have the upper hand.

  As if he’d heard my thoughts, Marcus stopped and turned to look at me.

  “Where should we go now?”

  Surprised that he had bothered consulting me, I paused. “I don’t know Germany at all. Where do you think we should go?”

  He frowned, looking up at the watery sunlight that slipped between the trees. “I can transport us somewhere, but I’m not sure where we should go.”

  “Back to Scotland?” Even as I said it, I realized that was wrong. There was nothing we could accomplish there.

  Marcus seemed to agree with me. “I don’t know how that will help us.”

  “Well, maybe we need to figure out our plan. Then we’ll know where to go.”

  “I assume you don’t actually want to destroy the earth, so how can we make it seem like the world is ending?”

  I flinched. I should have known Marcus would decipher what our bargain with Loki really meant, but I’d been avoiding it as long as I could. “I’m not sure. So much crazy shit happens everywhere now. What would be extreme enough to convince anyone that the world is ending?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. The things that used to make people panic—comets passing, solar eclipses, earthquakes and other disasters—barely get a reaction from most people anymore.”

  His list of disasters gave me an idea. “What about several small disasters all at once?”

  He looked at me intently, so I went on.

  “What if we could cause simultaneous disasters all over the world? Between the two of us, we control two thirds of it, right?” If we could do that, this might just work.

  He nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true. But how do you suggest we do this without really destroying anything?”

  I sighed loudly and closed my eyes. “What we need,” I mused, “is a harmless disaster.”

  Marcus snorted. “When are disasters ever harmless?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t want to be responsible for a lot of death. People can rebuild after destruction, but there’s no turning back death.”

  There was a long pause while we thought. Marcus finally broke the silence with one word. “Nuclear.”

  When he spoke, I felt as if I’d jumped into a frozen lake. I opened my eyes and stared at him in terror.

  “It’s perfect, really,” he went on, ignoring my expression. “Massive nuclear meltdown. If we’re careful, there won’t be any deaths, and we can take care of cleaning things up after you’ve bound Hecate.”

  “I can’t poison the earth!” I was aghast. “Marcus, I was raised by Green Witches. If anyone is a true tree-hugging hippie anymore, it’s my family.” He opened his mouth, but I pushed on. “My parents used to go to all kinds of protests, and as far as they’re concerned, the biggest evil in the world is nuclear force. Not just warfare, but the energy, too. Mom’s always said that so much power comes with an un-payable price.” My hands were shaking, and I stuck them in my pockets, hoping he wouldn’t see.

  “But think, Darlena. It’s the only way we can guarantee that no one is harmed. We could clean everything up before any radiation leaked out into the atmosphere. Unless you just want to say the hell with it and set off volcanoes and earthquakes right and left.”

  “You know I’d never do that. The whole reason we’re even having this conversation is because I want to stop Hecate from destroying the world.”

  He stared at me levelly. “Do you have any other suggestions?”

  My silence answered for me.

  “It wouldn’t be too bad,” Marcus wheedled. “Just a few plants would have to go on the blink. Not that many, really. One on each continent would do.”

  “We don’t control all the continents.” My words were dismissive, but my voice asked a question.

  “I control Europe, from the mid-Atlantic all the way to the Russian coast. And you control the Americas, right?”

  “And Japan and Polynesia.” I answered without thinking, but when he smiled I felt a sinking sensation as if I’d already agreed to the plan.

  “That’s plenty of space to make it seem like the world is ending. And then you’ll have the bonds, and I’ll have Izzy. Piece of cake.”

  “I don’t like this! I don’t want to set off any nuclear reactors.” I tried one last time to argue with him, but he glared at me coldly before turning away.

  “That doesn’t matter. We have to get my sister back.”

  ***

  We slept in the forest that night after setting up temporary wards and pitching another lean-to. When Marcus started the forest fire to get wood for our shelter, I turned away feeling nauseous.

  How was I even considering something like this? On the one hand, Marcus was probably right: in the short term, this was the safest way to meet Loki’s demands. The gods would surely free him if the world seemed on the verge of a nuclear collapse. On the other hand, I knew that even if we did no immediate harm, our actions could have consequences for generations, maybe even centuries.

  I fell asleep still wrestling with the decision, and my dreams echoed my fears.

  I was walking in a dark field. At first I thought it was night, but then I realized that everything around me was charred black from fire. The sky was so thick with ash that it looked like storm clouds hung over the earth. As I walked through the desolate landscape, I stumbled and nearly fell. When I looked down, I realized with horror that I had tripped over a woman.

  Her flesh hung in strips from her body, and her skin was cracked and burned. When she opened her eyes, I felt like I could see the entire world. Her lips moved, and I knelt beside her.

  “What did you say?” I asked frantically, desperate to help her if I could.

  “You have done it.” Her voice was faint, but her words were clear. With that, she closed her eyes and melted into the black earth. I watched her vanish in horror.

  “You have destroyed my grandmother.”

  I spun around and found myself facing a huge man chained to a rock. At first, I thou
ght he was Loki, because of the chains, but there were no other similarities.

  “Who was she?” Frightened, I eyed his bonds. He seemed securely trapped, but if he thought I had killed his grandmother, I didn’t want him to come any closer to me.

  He laughed sadly. “Mother to us all. She existed before time began. But you have done the unthinkable.”

  “Please,” I whispered, holding out my hands, “I don’t know what I’ve done.”

  He nodded at the blackened wasteland around me. “The gods have tried to destroy her. For years they have crushed her creations and her spirit. But no one has succeeded until you.”

  I stared at him, trying to understand. “Who are you?”

  He smiled sadly. “I was once Prometheus, the fire-bringer. But now I am just another lost child. Without her, we are nothing.”

  “But I don’t understand. Who was she?”

  “That which sheltered you. She was Gaia, the earth.”

  At his words, I turned and ran. Blindly, I flew through the charred field. My feet splashed through a stream, but when I looked down, the water looked like melted lead. There was no color anywhere in the landscape; everything was charred and blackened. When I looked at my own hands, all I saw was bone.

  I woke up with a start to find Marcus’s face looming over mine in the darkness.

  “Are you all right? You were crying out in your sleep.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear the images from my mind. The horror of my nightmare was still fresh, and I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself not to think about the destruction I’d seen.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t form words, so I shook my head again. I let out a stifled sob, but I was too worked up to care. Marcus sat down cautiously beside me and reached his arm across my shoulders, turning me to face him. I barely noticed the electric current that rushed through me as I fell against his chest. The tears I’d been holding back came, like a dam bursting, and I sobbed against him.

  Awkwardly, he patted my back. I kept crying, and his hand stopped patting. Instead, he rubbed soothing circles up and down my spine, and warmth spread through my body. Gradually, my tears slowed, and finally, I was still. For a moment, Marcus still held me, and I gripped his back, pressing closer against his comforting warmth. Despite my horrible nightmare, I felt strangely, suddenly safe. Marcus stiffened, but then he tipped my face up so I was looking at him.

  “It was just a dream.”

  I started to shake my head, but he held my chin firmly. “Dreams are only that. Don’t mistake them for reality.” I froze, staring at his eyes. They glistened strangely in the darkness, like dark emeralds. Marcus was still holding my chin, and I was vaguely aware of his index finger trailing gently over my jaw. Without thinking, I leaned closer to him.

  Sparks filled the air between us, but this time, I didn’t flinch from the shock. Marcus exhaled sharply, looking at me. I didn’t understand his expression, but then he brought his lips to mine, and the world exploded.

  I pulled my face away after a minute, startled. “What did you do that for?”

  Marcus flexed his hands, as if he wanted to reach for me again. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, don’t.” I glared at him, trying to ignore the churning sensation in my stomach and the way the soles of my feet were tingling from his kiss.

  He looked at me for a long moment. “If that’s what you want.”

  I realized my arms were still around his back, so I let go. My body swayed for a minute, like a magnet on a string, but I resisted the pull toward Marcus. I leaned back, trying to sound firm. “Yes.”

  His eyes hardened, and he stood brusquely. “Are you awake enough to move on?”

  Startled by how quickly he dropped it, I looked around at the dark forest. “It’s still night!”

  “There’s no time to waste. Besides, I’m afraid your blubbering may have been heard.” His tone was cruel, and I winced.

  Seconds ago, he had been trying to comfort my tears. Now he was accusing me of giving away our position to anyone in the woods. My anger rose, canceling the last of the lingering sensations from his kiss. “How dare you? Who died and made you king of the forest?”

  His lips parted as if he were about to retort, but I didn’t give him the chance.

  “We’re in this thing together, so stop treating me like I’m something lower than you. Just because I haven’t used Red magic as long as you doesn’t mean I’m weak.”

  “Are you finished?”

  I screamed in frustration and flopped over, wishing I wasn’t acutely aware of his eyes on me. “Yes. And I’m going back to sleep. We’ll move in the morning.”

  He didn’t answer and he didn’t lie back down. I heard his footsteps shuffle away, and I tried not to care. I shut my eyes, determined to force myself to fall back asleep, but I kept thinking about the kiss. I tried to think of Justin, but just when I had his face in my mind, the image shifted until I was seeing Marcus. What the hell had happened between us? Why had he kissed me? And worse, why had I liked it?

  After tossing fitfully for two hours, I stopped pretending to be asleep. I stood up when the first pink wisps tinged the eastern sky and stretched, looking around the campsite warily. For a minute, I panicked, thinking I was alone, but then I saw him.

  He was sitting as far away from the lean-to as he could get, and his head rested heavily on his knees. He looked up as I emerged, and his expression was impossible to read.

  My stomach flip-flopped, and I looked away. “Let’s get moving.” I didn’t look in his direction again, but I felt him stand and begin taking down camp. We had a system now, and even though we worked in tense silence, it didn’t take long to clear away any sign we’d been in the woods.

  Soon, we were on the road again. Marcus walked ahead of me, snapping off branches that got in his way. He obviously didn’t want to talk, which was fine with me.

  As I trudged along in silence, my mind raced down different paths. The idea of nuclear meltdown, my bargain with Loki, Hecate’s hatred, and the velvety feel of Marcus’s lips on mine cycled through my thoughts, leaving me alternately panicked, angry, and ashamed. I couldn’t deal with the kiss right now, so I focused on Marcus’s earlier suggestion. A nuclear meltdown was nothing compared to what had happened last night.

  He was right: it was probably the safest way to keep my deal with Loki, but the images from my nightmare haunted me. I did not want to be the person responsible for the ultimate destruction of the earth. I only wanted the ability to bind Hecate because I was trying to prevent her from destroying the planet. I’d be a pretty crappy Witch if I ended up doing exactly what I was trying to stop.

  My thoughts raced in circles, and I sighed. The idea was risky, but I couldn’t come up with any alternatives. If we wanted Loki’s help, I needed to make it seem like the world was ending. I wanted to harm as few people as possible, and no other large-scale disasters could be so relatively free from casualty. Despite the logic, something in my gut refused to accept the idea of a massive nuclear meltdown as a solution.

  Snow had begun falling while we walked. Thick, misshapen flakes landed in lumps on my arms and hair, and when I looked up at the sky I was almost blinded by snow. It had an eerie kind of prettiness. When we stopped to eat the last of my granola bars, Marcus looked around nervously.

  “We have to move faster.”

  After so many hours of silence, his curt statement surprised me into speech. “Why?”

  “Someone could track us in the snow.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t help it; the statement was so ludicrous. “Marcus, don’t you think the people who would want to find us would trace something other than our footprints?”

  He looked at me, stunned. “I’m such an idiot. All this time we’ve been using magic like we’re safe. It must have been like sending up a thousand signal flares!” Quickly, he stood up, circling around me in a defensive posture. He looked like a wolf, and I was grateful he wasn’t hunting me.


  Hesitantly, I placed a hand on his shoulder. We both jerked at the electrical current that snapped between us, but I didn’t pull my hand away. “They haven’t found us yet. We don’t even know if anyone is looking.”

  He shook his head. “We have to start assuming they are. We need to move on with the plan now, before it’s too late.”

  I paused, trying to find the right words to express my doubts, but he read my expression, and his eyes turned cold.

  “You aren’t backing out now?”

  I put my hands up defensively. “We haven’t agreed on anything yet.”

  He snorted. “Surely you can see that my way would be the best.”

  I nodded slowly. “Yes, but I’ve been thinking.” I wavered for a moment, but then inspiration struck. “I think we should try to find Izzy on our own first. The bargain can wait.” That was the one thing I could think of that might make him change his mind. Never mind that if we found Izzy on our own, I doubted Marcus would help me keep my bargain with Loki. I’d worry about that later; right now, I just wanted to make him forget the nuclear disaster idea.

  His eyes lit up before he frowned at me. “Before, you made it clear that she wasn’t our top priority.”

  “But maybe she can help us!”

  Now he glared at me. “Why? Do you want to use her?”

  “No! But Marcus, she’s smart, and she’s Blue. She might see a different solution to the problem. She was trying to help me find a way to bind Hecate when she—”

  Before I could finish, he was in front of me, his hand against my throat, sending a painful pulse of energy into my neck. “You dragged her into this? It’s because of you that she’s gone?” His mood had changed from cranky to lethal, and I squirmed in fear.

  “No! She wanted to help me. We were just researching in the library at her school.”

  “What were you researching?” He didn’t let go of my throat, even when I poked him sharply under the ribcage.

  “Stories about other gods who’ve been bound. She didn’t know about Loki.”