Death's Ethereal Enemy

by Ruby Loren

  “So, you’re just going to disappear again now, are you?” January said, starting to get frustrated with this mysterious other enchanter.

  “I’ve done my best to abstain from the affairs of others. Surely, you’ve heard the warnings about what we can do?”

  January thought about what Tor had once said about it being fortunate that enchanters didn't exist, because if there ever was one, they would have the power to dominate the earth and make it theirs forever.

  “I think we make our own choices, and mine would be better if I were better informed. I just want to know…”

  “…everything,” the amber-eyed girl completed and actually looked a little sorry when she said it. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then sat down on the sofa. “I suppose you’ll keep looking for me otherwise?”

  January nodded.

  “I could get rid of you, you know. I know how to. But I’ve told you I don’t want to get involved, and that would break that rule. However, perhaps a little information might convince you to leave me be.”

  “Perhaps,” January said, refusing to commit.

  The enchanter smiled. “You’re already learning. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.” She shook her head. “Ever since you found out you were different, you’ll have wondered where you came from. I know I did. I was born in a small village back when medicine women were widely accepted. However, it wasn’t long before it became apparent that I was not as normal as my brothers, sisters, and even my parents. You’ll have been the same.”

  “My whole family are white horses. In human form, they all have dark eyes and hair. And then there’s me…”

  “…a black unicorn,” the enchanter finished again. “It took me a long time to put the pieces of my puzzle together. I assume that my answer will be the same as yours.” She ran her fingers through her dark blonde hair. “It’s not an easy thing to explain. You could argue that there’s still no real answer. What we are is a combination of the stars aligning, just so, a universe-given dose of magic, and - most importantly - the converging of worlds.” She looked up at January. “You’re aware that there’s another world existing in the same space as this one and some things can pass between these worlds?”

  January nodded, she knew that much.

  “Even after all these years, this is still little more than a theory and a lot of gut feeling, but I think we are somehow from both, and yet neither.”

  January blinked. “Could you say that again?”

  “The two worlds must have synced up at exactly the right point in time. Everything must have been right when it happened.” The girl raised her gaze. “I’m not sure whether it was at conception, or birth. I don’t even know the precise circumstances that led to our creation, but something happened, and I think that’s the answer. We are simply the odds of billions of dice rolling and all landing on six.”

  “Or one,” January groused.

  For some reason, she was disappointed by this explanation. All of these years, she’d hoped for an answer, but had never imagined what it might be. The answer she’d been given felt like it could be true, but an answer like that sparked a hundred different questions, which were equally unsatisfying.

  “What do I do?” January mused, and then realised she’d accidentally spoken out loud.

  “Whatever you want to. I’d advise trying something that doesn’t harm others. I’ve learnt that the hard way,” the other enchanter said.

  “There’s so much I still don’t know! I don’t know how to use my magic. I don’t know how to put an end to the greatest evil there is in the world,” January said, deeply frustrated.

  The enchanter’s expression darkened. “Heed my words about not harming others. What you believe now may change. Remember, our time is not the same as the time of others in the world. Only the living dead can come close to understanding, and even they fade, albeit slowly. It is a kindness, and a necessity, to stop their decline.”

  January’s senses sharpened. “You know about the extermination of old vampires. There’s a reason for it? What makes The Clan exempt, if what you’re saying is true?” she pressed, suddenly sure that this enchanter knew far more than she was sharing. She may claim to not be involved but January was certain she had been in the thick of it at some point in the past.

  The enchanter tilted her head but said nothing for several moments. “You have to find out most things for yourself. Do not be hasty in your decisions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

  “What about The Clan? How do I stop them?” she asked.

  The enchanter opened her mouth, as if to say something more, but then - to January’s horror - a concerned expression came over her face, and she started to fade. She should have known better than to believe that she was really there, but she’d seemed so real. So solid. Even Emerson when he wanted to be seen had never looked so corporeal.

  “At least tell me your name. Please!” she said, rushing forwards to try to persuade her to stay, even for a few more moments. She knew just how lost she was, and all this other enchanter would do was speak in riddles.

  For a moment, her image seemed to thicken again. She looked for all the world like she was going to answer, when alarm suddenly flashed across her face. A moment later, she was nothing more than scattered light particles.

  “What was that?” Emerson said from behind her.

  “What was what?” January said, not bothering to hide her annoyance. Couldn’t Emerson have stayed away just a little longer?

  “Someone else was here. There was a signature next to yours, and now there isn’t.”

  January looked at him. “I don't have to tell you everything.”

  “I thought we were friends,” Emerson said, looking genuinely sad.

  January turned away from him to get the cakes out of the oven. “I still think you were hoping to get rid of me for good when you put that spell, or whatever it was, on Gregory.”

  Emerson came up behind her and she was surprised to feel his hand on her shoulder. She spun round.

  “You’re actually here?”

  “I was in the neighbourhood,” he said, his eyes giving nothing away.

  January remembered the only other time he’d had to come in person to find her and thought that the mysterious enchanter must have done something to make it hard for him to drop in. Emerson’s presence whenever anything interesting was happening made it uncomfortably apparent just how often he was keeping tabs on her. Emerson must have had to do another crude spell in order to find out what she was up to this time.

  “I wasn’t trying to get rid of you. I never thought you’d risk everything by trying to help. He’s a vampire and you’re a shifter!” Emerson said, losing his cool for a split second.

  “It doesn’t matter. We’re friends,” January said.

  “How does a vampire become friends with a shifter?”

  January focused on flipping her cakes out onto the waiting cooling racks. “Are you trying to tell me that you’ve been alive for this long and still don’t understand how friendship works?”

  “Of course I understand. That’s why your attachment to him is so incomprehensible.” He moved in front of her, nearly squashing the cakes. January found herself up close and personal with one of the oldest things on the planet. Surprisingly, it didn’t freak her out as much as it should have done.

  “We’ve been through a lot, okay? At first, I wasn’t his friend, but then things changed.”

  “You let him stay in your bed,” Emerson said.

  January glared at him. “I’m aware you know that, but do you have to bring it up? It’s not something you should have been around for, and I really hope you didn’t stay for the whole thing.”

  Emerson smirked. January fought a sudden urge to try to kill him right there and then - and to hell with the consequences!

  “Friendship is earned,” she told him, determined to get this conversation back to morals, rather than dirty digs at each other.

 
“Then there’s still hope for us to become friends,” Emerson looked at her, thoughtfully.

  January shook her head. “I doubt that.”

  “I’ve done things for you, too. Things you don’t even know about. I’ve saved your life more than once,” he said, moving even closer.

  January took a decided step backwards. “What do you want, Emerson?”

  “Who was here before I arrived?” he asked.

  January turned away and bit her tongue before she reconsidered. What did she really owe the girl with the amber eyes, anyway? She’d saved her life once. January still didn’t know the reasoning behind it. But, since that day, she’d refused to answer January’s questions and had potentially even put January’s life in danger when she’d opened the thin place in the arena.

  As far as she could tell, that made them even. Anyway, the amber-eyed enchanter could handle herself, and perhaps it may even be beneficial if she was forced to enter the fray…

  “I don’t know her name,” she confessed, turning to face Emerson again.

  “How was she here in ethereal form? Could you describe her?”

  January could tell that Emerson was trying to appear cool, but his eyes showed the full extent of his agitation.

  She hesitated a second longer before making a final decision. “She’s a girl with dark blonde hair and amber eyes. She’s another enchanter.”

  Emerson turned white. “Are you sure?”

  “I know she’s an enchanter. She has the same magic as I do.” January could see he was shaken, but she didn’t think the knowledge that another enchanter existed was entirely new to him.

  “Do you know her?” she asked.

  Emerson looked up, as though he’d forgotten she was still standing there.

  “I have to go,” he said, taking something from his pocket and sprinkling it onto the kitchen floor in a circle around him. He muttered a few words in Latin and the dust ignited. Emerson seemed to burn away with it.

  January was left with scorch marks on her kitchen floor and a strong feeling that she might have just made a huge mistake.

  17

  So much for taking your time and learning how to do all of this stuff safely, January thought, as she lay down on her bed and tried to clear her mind. Emerson had left ten minutes ago, and January had realised that somehow, time had run out.

  If she wanted to find the answers she sought, she needed to go and get them herself.

  She shut her eyes and focused on finding Simon, knowing he’d be at the place where she needed to go. It wasn’t long before she found his signature and tentatively reached out, hoping she wasn’t going to be flung halfway across the universe again.

  To her surprise, nothing bad happened.

  She drifted downward through space, following Simon’s ethereal signature, until she felt a strange sucking sensation and found she was somewhere she’d never been before.

  Simon was sat behind a desk. Around him, were approximately fifty others, all with their eyes fixed on the pages of ancient looking tomes. Simon frowned and raised his gaze. His eyes widened when he saw her.

  “You can see me?” January whispered and realised that she’d just stated the obvious. This was what she got for trying to cut corners! She did her best not to panic and thought about fading away.

  “You’re invisible,” Simon hissed out of the corner of his mouth. “At least, I hope you’re invisible instead of gone… in which case, I’m talking to no one.” He sighed, a very Simon-like sound. “Let’s assume you are still there. I see the magic lessons aren’t going so great but I don't think anyone noticed ‘Casper the crap ghost’ hovering around in front of me a moment ago. They keep all of the books with the special information in at the front and around the corner to the left. It’s through a door that only the overseer and the Old Ones have the keys for, but I assume doors won’t be a problem for you?”

  Simon shook his head. “Pointless to ask, really, I suppose. Anyway, that’s all I know. If you gave me a year, I’d probably be selling those secrets online, but a con like that takes time.” He brushed a strand of hair back from his forehead. “I’m guessing time isn’t something you have, judging by the way you’ve just popped up. Good luck, if you’re still there. I’ve just found a magical biological weapon that I know is going to make me a multi-millionaire.”

  January forgot herself for a moment and growled.

  Simon must have heard because he smiled. “Don’t worry… I’m offering it to the magical organisations who govern every country before I tote it anywhere else. The good guys will have just as much opportunity to secure the spell as the bad guys. I’m nothing but fair.”

  January made a mental note to make sure whatever this spell was didn’t make it into the online marketplace - for the good guys to buy, or not. She knew from experience that the ‘good guys’ could swap sides at the drop of a hat.

  She left Simon to his reading and walked silently through the room, feeling as though she were both present and not there. In the back of her mind, she could still sense the bedsheets beneath her fingers and knew that she could even open her eyes and see the room she lay in back at home. This must be how Emerson felt when he travelled this way.

  She rounded the corner unnoticed and was presented with the steel reinforced door Simon had mentioned. To her surprise, that was the extent of its reinforcement. There were no visible spells or anything that might keep her out - or trap her in - when she went snooping. January couldn't say she was thrilled to not see anything visible. It probably meant that there was something she didn't yet know about. Surely The Clan wouldn’t have left a room full of their most prized knowledge unprotected? A voice in her head whispered that perhaps they hadn’t expected anyone else to try this. The fact that Emerson was the only one of The Clan who spied on people - with the exception of his sister, who could physically disappear but not (to January’s knowledge) travel in an ethereal form - meant that it was hardly a common skill to possess. There was every chance that she, Emerson, and the other enchanter, were the only people on the planet who could pull off this little trick.

  That was the optimistic approach, anyway.

  She walked through the steel and looked around at what awaited her on the other side.

  It wasn’t much. Twenty or so books of a uniform size were on the bookshelf. January thought back to what Simon had said about approved topics that they were rewarded for finding information on and remembered that ‘enchanters’ was topic number two. She moved her hand to the second book in the line and…

  Her hand went straight through it.

  January swore.

  Perhaps that was the reason why no one had bothered to protect the room from wandering phantoms. She’d forgotten that you couldn’t do anything when you were in this form. Emerson could make it look as though he was sitting on chairs, or touching things, but now she was in this form herself, she could tell he did it by merely hovering the right distance away.

  But wait… hadn’t the girl with the amber eyes managed to do something whilst in this form?

  January thought back to the events in the arena. When Warwick had summoned up her memory, she now suspected that the girl with amber eyes might have been pulled back with it. Or perhaps, she’d known she would appear in memory form and hadn’t wanted to be revealed, January suddenly thought. The enchanter had winked and then opened up a thin place - where one had only existed before in the actual memory.

  She’d done magic whilst not being present.

  That means I can, too! January thought, trying not to focus on the truth, which was probably that the other enchanter had the ability because she’d spent centuries acquiring it.

  “I don’t need to be able to open a portal, I just need to levitate a book,” she muttered, gritting her teeth and focusing.

  At first, nothing happened, but then January had the strange sensation of being in two places at once again. She kept focusing on the book, trying to pull it towards her. In her physical form, she
was able to do something like that without even thinking. Her magic was putty to be moulded, and she could build castles if she wanted to. But lifting this book up felt like trying to support the weight of the Eiffel Tower. She could hardly imagine how the other enchanter had managed to summon the power needed to open a bridge to the overlapping world.

  Something gave.

  January felt the book come towards her and simultaneously winced, as her bedroom wall caved in and several pieces of rubble hit her where she lay on the bed. She wasted a moment wondering if the house was still structurally sound, or if she would return to find herself dead.

  What if she wasn’t in her body when she died? Would she still revive?

  January had no idea, but she had to carry on. She needed to know everything The Clan did about enchanters, and she needed to know now. Emerson hadn’t just disappeared because he’d grown bored of her company. The wheels of progress were turning, and January needed to get up to speed.

  The book had landed on the table. January now focused on opening it, managing to smash up the furniture in her bedroom in the process, but not destroying any other walls. She was getting the hang of this!

  With the first page open, January hovered above the table and began to read.

  At first, she wasn’t sure if she’d picked up the right book. What she was reading sounded like it was about the Old Ones, not enchanters. It concerned their origins.

  Useful stuff, though… she thought and kept reading.

  It was the tale of how the first vampires had been made.

  There had once been a well-respected witch, who many sought out for advice. The witch became so renowned that they developed a circle of trusted friends in order to better manage their growing business. These friends were also talented in the magic arts, the book proclaimed. After serving the witch for many years, they got to discussing overcoming that final hurdle - death. It was a topic that January knew was still at the forefront of many witches’ minds. Even Tor and Simon had messed around with life extension. In this story, the witch had claimed they might be able to make their friends immortal.