by H. L. Burke
“I’m not. He was a mean drunk, and my brother and I were his favorite targets. If he hadn’t choked on his own vomit, I probably would’ve killed him myself after my first growth spurt and ended up hanged for it.” Jericho’s mouth set in a firm line, his eyes sparking. “Your dad’s not perfect, Auric, but give him some grace. As fathers go, I’d take yours over mine any day.”
“Does Father know? About what your dad was like, I mean.” Perhaps that explained why Hedward had taken an interest in Jericho, pity.
“No. I don’t think so. My uncle, my dad’s older brother, married my mom a few weeks after the funeral. His way of making sure we were all taken care of. Felt guilty that his wastrel brother had left behind a widow and three orphans, I guess. That’s when I started working in the carpentry shop, and that’s where I met your dad.” Jericho rubbed the back of his neck. “Rill knows. I don’t like to talk about it, but she has a way of getting my guard down.”
Auric flushed. The idea of Rill and Jericho’s attachment still made him uneasy.
“I’m not trying to diminish what you are going through with your dad.” Jericho drew a deep breath. “I’m just saying, give him another chance. Whatever his faults, I’ve never seen him lay a hand on Rill, and I really doubt he’s ever beaten you.”
“No, my father and I always fight with words, not fists.” Auric’s throat tightened. “But I’ve dealt as many blows as he has in that way. I accused him of making my mom run away, and honestly, for most of my life, I’ve believed it. It was easier for me to accept than—” He swallowed.
Jericho’s dark gaze pierced him.
“Than that she simply didn’t want me and Rill.” Auric pushed the words out quickly.
Another strange bird call broke the awkward silence, this one a mix between the song of a sparrow and the scream of an eagle. Auric wished he had a pocket watch or some way to be sure ten minutes had passed so they could get moving. He’d already laid bare enough of his soul to Jericho, and there was no telling what the apprentice would do with the information.
“If Master Spellsmith is right, your mother didn’t leave willingly,” Jericho said.
“Even if he was wrong, it was her choice, and I blamed him for it.” Auric slapped at a twisting strand of mist. It burst like a bubble, blending into the blanket of fog. “And the last words I spoke to him were accusing him of being an awful father and husband.” His throat constricted. “Blast, I’m such a failure as a son. No wonder he replaced me with you.”
Jericho drew back. “Is that what you think?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Heat rose under Auric’s collar. He loosened it but still felt as if he were close to choking.
“Not at all. Auric, your father respects me as his apprentice and maybe even a friend, but I’m by no means his son.” Jericho’s eyebrows drew together. “I love working in the shop, and it’s been my dream for years to run it, but the moment I heard you were coming back, I realized it wasn’t going to happen. Yes, Master Spellsmith and I have a working relationship, but I’m not blood. I guess that’s why …” He cleared his throat. “I’ve been kind of an ass to you. I resented that you would walk away with everything just because you happened to be fathered by my employer. Part of me hoped I could sabotage that, but it’s one thing to compete with a rival. It’s another thing altogether to try to come between a man and his son and … I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Auric’s chest constricted. He hadn’t wanted to forgive Jericho quite this easily. Trying to brush it off, he shook his head. “My problems with my father go back further than your interference. He doesn’t trust me enough to let me have the shop.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Jericho leaned forward. “You know that fancy school you went to sent yearly reports on your progress?”
Auric’s face warmed. “I guess I was aware of it, but how do you know about that?”
“Because every time those reports arrived, without fail, your father would read them out loud at the dinner table, beaming and glowing over your good marks.” Jericho smiled. “He’d hold me, Rill, and even Annie captive until he’d told us every single one of them.”
“Really?” Auric’s voice came out in a rasp. He tried to swallow to moisten his throat, but found himself choking. His vision blurred. Quickly angling away from Jericho, he gulped in breaths of air, trying to calm himself.
“Really. He’s always been proud of you, Auric.”
A sob wracked Auric’s body, then another. Unable to stop himself, he hid his face in the crook of his arm.
Jericho coughed. “If you need a minute …”
“No, sorry, I just—” With all his willpower, Auric drew himself up. “I’m fine. It’s been a long day, is all.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Jericho nodded.
They sat in the mist, Jericho picking at the edges of the wound in his chest, Auric trying to forget that he’d wept in front of another grown man.
Suddenly, Jericho laughed.
“What?” Auric scowled.
“Nothing, not really. We’re getting along is all.” Jericho smirked. “Rill would be proud of us. Aurry and Jerry, playing nice.”
Auric winced. “Call me that again and nice will be officially over.” The memory of Rill’s eyes when he’d confronted her about “her precious Jericho” tightened around his heart. She was still a kid, and though Jericho had surprised him with his decency, Auric wasn’t sure he was willing to trust him with Rill’s heart.
Jericho chuckled. “I think it’s been close enough to ten minutes. We should get moving again.” He stood and shouldered his pack.
Auric grabbed him by the arm. “Look, if we’re going to work together—” He bit his bottom lip.
Jericho raised an eyebrow.
“Rill,” Auric said.
Jericho let out a long breath. “That’s complicated.”
“It’s actually pretty simple. I won’t see her hurt.” Auric crossed his arms. “No matter how many times you save my life, if your intentions towards her are in anyway dishonorable, I will do everything in my power to stand between you.”
“And I respect that and would expect no less.” Jericho sighed. “Auric, I had intended to ask your father for permission to court your sister, but then … you came home.”
Auric’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“If you inherit the shop, there’s no place for me. Your father might give his blessing to a future magician, but to a glorified servant?” Jericho shook his head.
Releasing Jericho’s arm, Auric swallowed. He hadn’t considered that.
Jericho pointed towards the path. “Come on, let’s focus on getting your dad home. We can worry about me and Rill when we’re all safe.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jericho focused on one step at a time, keeping his arms close to his body. Auric’s binding spell had stopped the bleeding, but his chest still ached if he moved too quickly. More uncomfortable, however, was the gnawing feeling that he’d said too much. He hadn’t intended to tell Auric about his concerns over Rill and the shop, let alone his family history. Those were Jericho’s problems, and using guilt to weaken Auric’s hold on the shop wasn’t right. Jericho liked to earn things, not be given them out of pity. Well, it couldn’t be unsaid. He focused on the mission, on finding Hedward. Auric deserved a chance to reconcile with his dad.
The golden footsteps followed the stone path now rather than ramble through the trees, and he hoped this meant they were getting close.
“Before the dragon attacked, I saw a tower from the top of the hill,” he said.
Auric glanced at him. “A tower?”
“Yes. Considering it is the first structure we’ve seen since the bridge, it might be where we’re headed.”
“I suppose.” Auric scratched his beard. His cheeks flushed red, perhaps from the magical energies, but Jericho suspected it was simply the long hike wearing on him. Jericho’s own legs ached.
“Do you want
some more rosemary oil?” Jericho asked.
Auric shook his head. “I still reek of the last application. No, I think it’s keeping the magic at bay.”
Their path tilted upward. Silver rocks covered in azure moss jutted from either side, and the trees thinned to a few scraggly pines. They broke through a layer of mist, and Auric gasped.
“What?” Jericho frowned.
Auric pointed towards the sky, his mouth hanging open.
Above them veins of vibrant, glowing pink cracked the pitch black sky. Lightning flashed from the rifts. A cold, tingling sensation swept through Jericho. Waves of energy throbbed, each pulse stealing a little more of Jericho’s self-awareness until all was the night sky and the dynamic pink light.
“What is that?” he whispered.
“It’s similar to the rifts opened over the Capital, but so much … brighter.” Auric whistled. “These seem to be alive, do you notice the pulsation?”
“Like a heartbeat.” Jericho nodded. “Is that normal?”
“For our side, no. For here, I don’t know, maybe.” Auric wiped his brow. “Theoretically our world lies on the other side of those. I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse, though.”
Jericho gazed at the rifts. His heart skipped at the thought that they stood between him and Rill. If he had to, however, he’d find a way through them.
“How far do you think we are from this tower?” Auric asked as they started walking again.
“Should be at the top of this slope, assuming I’m right and we’ve been heading towards it this whole time.” Jericho slipped off his pack and pulled out a handful of paper quires. They wouldn’t be able to hold the power of wooden ones, but he’d be able to move from one to another with greater speed. Also, he only had a few wooden quires left. For once he rather envied Auric’s reusable wax tablet.
Auric eyed him. “You think we’re walking into trouble?”
“I think there’s a reason your father hasn’t returned yet.” Jericho took out his stylus. “I just want to be ready to face whatever that reason is.”
“Makes sense.” Auric nodded then pulled his tablet from his breast pocket.
The path curved around a rocky outcropping, and less than a stone’s throw before them loomed a marble castle, white enough that at first glance Jericho thought it carved of snow. It had a single towering spire and an iron gate. Resting against the gate, cross-legged, sat a gray giant. Fear jolted through Jericho, and he threw out his arm to stop Auric from walking into it.
“I think it’s sleeping,” Auric whispered.
Jericho quieted his pulse. Though the giant’s craggy face was hard to read, its eyes did appear to be closed. Unfortunately, the master’s footprints wandered right beneath the gigantic creature, through the closed gate. Jericho swallowed. No sign of a struggle. No sign of a magical battle between Master Spellsmith and the giant. No sign of Master Spellsmith except for the footprints. Jericho tugged Auric behind a boulder.
“Look, are we absolutely certain these tracks are your father’s and not some trick of this world?” Jericho asked, keeping his voice low.
Auric scratched his beard. “My tracking spell was flawless.”
“Maybe, but so far I’ve seen no sign of your father, only a series of monsters attempting to kill us.” Jericho jerked his head towards the still silent giant. “It looks like your father walked past that. How? Was he invisible?”
Auric’s face brightened. “Maybe.”
Jericho blinked. “Is there a spell for that?” He had a good handle on magical applications. None of Master Spellsmith’s books had mentioned invisibility.
“It’s theoretical. Not possible in mortal realms.” Auric twirled his stylus between his fingers, his eyes glinting. “Takes too much ambient Fey energy as opposed to channeled Fey energy. Here we have ambient energy in abundance.” He laughed and snapped his fingers.
Jericho punched him in the shoulder. “Shush!”
Both men leaned out to check on the giant. The massive creature shifted in its sleep but didn’t rise.
Auric exhaled then held up his tablet. “You see, if not channeled through a stable medium like a quire, ambient energy quickly disperses in our world. Here, though, there’s enough to wrap around us like a blanket, potentially—”
“You can explain it later. Just do it.” Jericho frowned.
Auric flushed, but set about scratching in his wax without his usual sarcastic quip. Jericho cleared his throat. He needed to tone down his take-charge tendencies if he wanted to maintain a working relationship with Auric. Jericho couldn’t let himself slip back into the habit of bullying his employer’s son, even if Auric had become a good sport about it.
Golden light flashed across the symbols on Auric’s tablet accompanied by a sweet, floral scent. The air about them shimmered like a summer’s day.
“Did it work?” Jericho asked.
“I’m not sure. Hopefully.” Auric shrugged. “Stay close to me. The field I created only extends a few feet out, and it doesn’t muffle sound, so be quiet.”
“And if it doesn’t work at all?” Jericho raised an eyebrow.
“If we can get close enough we might be able to do a teleportation spell to the other side of the gate,” Auric said.
“That I know how to do.” Jericho held a paper quire at ready. Both men fell silent when they crept from the boulder’s shadow.
The giant’s features became clearer as they grew closer. Its skin appeared to be made of dark gray stone, covered in moss and lichens. Cracks lined a solemn but broad featured face that reminded Jericho a bit of a bulldog … if a bulldog were carved of stone and three times as tall as a grown man.
A breeze whistled about them. Jericho shivered, wishing he’d brought a thicker coat. The continuous, underlying buzz of Fey energy didn’t do much to ease his frayed, tired nerves. Every step he took, every breath Auric drew, even the beat of Jericho’s own heart seemed unbearably loud. Jericho called on all his mettle to continue walking towards the giant, following Master Spellsmith’s footsteps.
The gate was now a few yards ahead. Jericho’s fingers twitched over the paper. A teleportation spell worked best if the magician could see the destination, to be certain he wasn’t magically transporting himself right into a wall. During the dragon’s attack, he’d taken a leap of faith, putting in the largest possible quantity for the distance into his formula in his desperation to escape the dragon’s jaws. Now, he’d prefer to know where his spell would take him.
The giant bolted up. The ground shook under its massive feet, rocking Auric into Jericho. Jericho clenched one hand around his stylus and grasped Auric’s shoulder with the other, crinkling the paper he held in the same hand. Auric stiffened, his wide eyes glued to the giant.
Leaning forward, the giant sniffed the air. It squinted, turning its head this way and that. “I smelsh shomfing, but I sheeze nofing, but my noshe doeshen liesh.”
Auric and Jericho exchanged a glance. In spite of the danger, Jericho swallowed a chuckle. He jerked his thumb towards the edge of the path. Auric blanched. The mountainside dropped in a rocky slope before disappearing into the cloud-cover far below. Remembering Auric’s discomfort on the bridge, Jericho tightened his hold on his companion’s shoulder and eased him towards the drop-off, keeping his body between Auric and the potential fall. Auric’s muscles relaxed beneath his fingers.
The giant lurched past them, feeling about like a nearsighted man seeking lost spectacles. “I smelsh you!” Tremors vibrated through the ground under its footfalls. Auric wobbled. Jericho pulled him back towards the center of the path once the giant was a few long steps beyond them, aiming for the gate. What had at first appeared to be a solid sheet of iron now looked to be a complex grate of intersecting iron rods, with a gentle green light seeping through the cracks. As tall as the giant, there would be no way to open it without the brute’s attention. Nope, time for a teleportation spell, just to the other side of the gate.
Releasing A
uric, Jericho scratched the opening symbol for a spell. How far in should he go? The gate couldn’t be more than a foot thick, right? Yes, a few feet would probably do fine.
“Wait! I smelsh you behind me!” The giant roared.
“Look out!” Auric yelped, blowing their cover. Before Jericho could snap at him for this, Auric shoved him to the ground. A boulder crashed against the iron gate, exploding in a shower of stone fragments. Jericho threw his arms over his head as the rocks pelted him like hailstones.
Jericho’s fingers clenched around the cold metal of his stylus. He needed to get them out of here. Auric fumbled beside him, perhaps having lost his own stylus in the confusion. Jericho rolled onto his back. The giant huffed and stomped its feet. It grasped at another boulder, this one as large as a horse cart but partially lodged into the side of the mountain.
Getting through the gate wouldn’t do any good if the brute could sniff them out and pursue. An iron gate would be a paper screen to the giant. Changing course, Jericho scratched out a spell. The light jumped from the paper and wheeled through the air like a fluttering flag. It wrapped around the giant’s face. The huge creature collapsed onto its rump, the ground trembling beneath it. It rubbed its eyes. The spell continued to circle the giant’s head. The giant yawned and crumpled to the path.
With a sigh of relief, Jericho stood.
A moment later, Auric leaped up, triumphantly grasping his stylus. He pointed at the still giant. “Did you kill it?”
Jericho shook his head. “Simple sleeping spell. He’ll be out for a few hours, long enough for us to get well away.”
“I think I would’ve killed it.” Auric shuddered and brushed loose bits of stone from his shoulders.
“I didn’t learn that sort of magic. Your father believes strongly that it should never be used to cause harm to others. I learned a lot of restraining spells but not really anything that could kill.”
Auric flushed. “Yeah, I guess I remember my father holding that conviction. The magicians I trained under had fewer scruples about such things.”
