“Thinks about hundreds of years of magic. Now imagine thousands of years. New ideas and techniques falling like raindrops and collecting in a communal vessel. Think of that accumulation as an ever-flowing body of water. Let it flow through your body and your soul. Let thousands of years of magic flow through you. Free your soul to travel to other worlds, gaining secret knowledge. Magic now is the sum of everything that has come before you. Imagine a thousand-year poker game where nobody wins. The pot just keeps growing. Lucky you. But how do you dip into it?”
Mike shrugged his shoulders.
“As I said, magic is a constantly moving body of water. If you jump right in, it can wash you away like that undercurrent in the river. Don’t mess with its power. Magic can be a lot like the Jet Stream in that before people understood the effects, they probably thought it was magic. Magic is about connecting with nature and learning its secrets. Learn about the Jet Stream and you can fly faster than everyone else. The magic body of water is enormous, but you need to know the proper way to draw from it.”
Mike hung on her every word. “How do I do that?”
Alayna smiled and swung a couple of long braids out of her face. “As far as drawing from the flowing undercurrent of magic is concerned, there are several ways to do it. You have incantation, conjuration, wands, amulets, cauldrons, casting spells, englynion.”
“What was that last thing?” Mike asked.
“It is the plural form of englyn, which is a spell song. They rhyme and have a little more flair. I like flair. Anyway, where was I?”
Mike scratched the blond peach fuzz covering his chin. “Oh. You were talking about different ways to draw magic. Should I go out and buy a magic wand now?”
Alayna shook her head. “You never want to do that. Anything you use in magic needs to be special to you. You need to make it or have it handed down to you from someone in your bloodline. Or if you went on a long soul-searching hike in the wilderness and found one, that would work. Magic is all about being in tune with your own body. I’ve seen too many people who don’t understand their own body, yet they want to shapeshift and tap into the ancient spirit of an animal they don’t know anything about.”
Those words worried Mike. He didn’t understand himself. He wanted to be a better person, he just needed a little direction on how to do it.
Alayna continued, “Even when using ancient spells, they need to mean something to you to have any effect at all. Another important factor, actually the number one rule of magic, is that you can’t use magic for any dark motives. It can only be used for benevolent causes, most prevalently the fight against black magic and dark spirits. I’m going to give you some books of spells and englynion to look at along with a few other books of background information that might be useful now that you thirst for knowledge.” She winked, not in a sleazy way, but to reinforce her point.
Mike smirked. “I’m actually pretty thirsty right now. That knowledge plant gives me cotton mouth every time.”
Alayna held her finger up, seemingly asking for one more minute. “We’re almost finished here for today. We need to start you out slowly. You can handle all sorts of magic with your bloodline. Your reservoir is bottomless. The more you learn, the more you can call on in times of need. Fill that reservoir with an expanse of knowledge and everything becomes easier as you move forward. Instead of having to recite full englynion, you will only need to think about that power, and it shall come to your fingertips.”
“That’s pretty awesome.”
“Indeed. Although it will take some work and dedication on your part.” Alayna stood up and brushed off her backside.
Mike got up and followed her out of the structure of stones.
Alayna said, “On your next visit we will go over plant, tree and animal magic. We’ll also go over how to draw directly from the elements and harness that wisdom and power. After that, we will go over internal and mind magic. Those are the most difficult forms for most of my pupils.”
They traveled and across the steady plain toward the entrance point.
“What you have to do now is open your mind, open your soul. Let the wave of magic flow through you. Absorb everything you can and hold it dear. You never know when you are going to need it. More weapons are obviously more power.”
They traveled back home through the magic elevator and came out in the dark tunnel. The pair emerged out of the secret door and into Prince’s Mountain, then headed for Mike’s house.
As they trampled through the fallen leaves and twigs, Alayna said, “You can walk away from this stupid way to make quick cash, Micheal.”
“What?”
“You know. Your deal to make the six thousand dollars.”
“Stay out of my business. I told you about that.”
“You told me to stay away from you several times. I must be stubborn. Look, we can take care of you financially and medically. You don’t need to do this foolish quest to impress someone. Your girl is starting to use mind magic on you. She doesn’t even know it, and neither do you.”
“So you think she knows magic, too?”
“No. Someone has captured her mind, and that person is using her to get to you. Magic is strong with this one. You have an obligation to defeat George, but you shouldn’t anger him by stealing the amulet. You haven’t seen his true power yet.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Plus, I’m not even sure if this isn’t a dream or a hallucination. I think it might be death creeping in on account of the cancer. No one else can see you except me. How believable is that?”
“Was it believable when I punched you and knocked you on your ass?”
“Hey, broken record, is that all you can keep saying? Every time it’s the same thing.” He shook his head in disgust.
“I know that you believe in me. This must be something else.”
Mike took a deep breath. After several moments of thought, he said, “You want to know the real reason I don’t trust you. People have been abandoning me my entire life since my mom died. Now you want me to get all excited about something, and I’m not supposed to believe that you aren’t going to ditch me. Now that I have some intelligence, I’d be a fool not to have learned from my own past.”
“I’m sorry that some people wronged you—”
Mike cut her off, “No. Not some people. Every—body. Every single motherfucker turned their backs on me at some point. Not one person who could help me stuck by my side when I needed them most. If I get my hopes up about this and it blows up in my face, it might be time to just kill myself. I’ll save cancer the time.”
“Don’t you dare say that. You are destined for greatness. Lots of heroes have survived terrible upbringings. And the only way they did it was by trusting new people. Forging new relationships.”
Mike shook his head. “You’re going to learn that nothing ever works out for me. Nothing. Maybe if you keep showing up, I might see it differently, but for now, I can’t trust anyone not to abandon me.”
Mike’s phone rang.
Alayna said, “That’s her, isn’t it? Do you trust her not to abandon you?”
Mike checked. Emily’s name showed up on the screen. “Nope. You’re wrong. It’s not her.”
Alayna laughed. “Wow. You are one terrible liar. Now that you’ve gained some intelligence, you realize that, right?”
Mike answered the phone. “Hello.”
“Hey, Mike, are you ready for tonight?”
“Ready or not, here we come.” He let out a halfhearted laugh.
Emily chuckled. “Damn right. And we are going to make a boatload of cash, too. I say we take a vacation as soon as we get paid.”
Mike stared at Alayna. “I say we use the money to get out of this forsaken place. First thing.”
“That’s not a bad idea. The family business is so messed up right now, that might be the best thing for me to do.”
“I’m kind of in the middle of something right now, I’ll talk to you in a little while.�
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“Sounds good.”
When they arrived at Mike’s house, he squeezed inside the door and slammed it shut on Alayna.
Her voice carried through the closed door. “Well, that was quite rude.”
Mike didn’t want a motherly lecture after talking to Emily and he lay down for a while. Dusk crept in and his room got darker. His nerves vibrated like they were being plucked by a terrible banjo player.
What are we going to do if George catches up to us this time? He freaking ripped Kyle to shreds. We’d better not run into him again or it’s curtains.
He got up and paced around the small apartment, periodically checking his phone to see if Emily had called. For some reason, he mistrusted the audible alert. He contemplated smoking some marijuana to calm his nerves, but he quickly lost the thought as someone pounded on the door.
“Open up. Police,” shouted a muffled voice.
What the...? What do they want to know? No. They don’t think I killed Kyle and Gary, do they? We’re going to have to face them sometime.
Mike failed to calm his breathing as he stood with his hand on the door knob. He couldn’t wait any longer, so he turned the scratched golden handle and pulled. No one there. He opened the door wider and looked down.
Mike made a fist and stepped outside as Alayna quickly backed away from him. “Mike. This is part of your training for mental tolerance. You’re failing.”
Mike stopped. “That shit’s not funny after today. I got blamed for the death of my best friend. Now I thought the cops were coming after me. Not cool.”
Mike’s neighbor, Bob, emerged from behind his van. “Who y’all talkin’ to, Mike?”
“Nobody. Heat’s getting to me. I’m just going to go inside now.”
“Yeah, you soundin’ like a chap, too, all proper. Maybe drink some water. You take ‘er easy.” Bob waved with a black handkerchief in his hand and disappeared behind his beat up mini-van, where he noisily blew his nose like an out-of-tune horned instrument.
Alayna followed Mike into his house. He asked, “Now, what were we talking about again?”
“You were telling me that it wasn’t cool to knock on the door like the cops.”
“Exactly. Not cool at all.”
“Ah, Mike, I’m cooler than you can even realize right now. Just wait a few years when we start having deep conversations about The Mabinogion and the legend of Cerridwen.”
“What’s that?”
“More of a who’s she? Quite the enchantress.” Alayna’s smile widened and a gleam ran through her eyes. “We’ll get into the cauldron of poetic inspirations and the first three drops. Hint, hint. It’s poison after the first three drops.” She giggled. “That will be funny in a few years. Maybe not side-splitting, but a chuckle none the less.”
“If you say so.”
“I do, and so it shall be heard.”
Mike looked around. “By who?”
“I don’t know. It sounded fancy, didn’t it? A declaration. Anyway. Moving on. What are you doing tonight? Please don’t say something stupid. Please don’t say something stupid.”
“I’m going out with that girl you like to hate on. Haters gonna hate.”
“Look at you, trying to distract me from the fact that you are going to do something very stupid tonight. That might work on a feeble mind, but you should know my brain is strong, like bull. Don’t do it.” She whispered the final sentence.
“Stop trying to order me around like you’re my mo...” He couldn’t finish the word.
“You don’t need to say or think that. I’m not trying to order you around. You can do whatever it is your little heart desires. I’m just giving you a great option. Now, I have been accused of being a disciplinarian in the past.”
“See?”
“I do. But those people eventually thanked me for saving their lives. They all said that if I didn’t push them as hard as I did to bring every ounce of ability out of them, they would have died. Being a wizard can be a good life, but it is also a tough one. If you choose this path, you need to understand that you could easily die at the hands of George.”
“No, yeah, the gravity of the situation. I think I have a pretty good handle on the fact that George is one tough S.O.B.”
“You’re not ready quite yet, which is why I am saying that facing him now is a stupid plan.”
Mike’s phone rang, and Alayna whispered, “Bet I can tell you who that is.”
He shook his head and turned his back on her. He put the phone to his ear. “What’s going on?”
“Not much. Just hoping my heart doesn’t explode right now. Maybe I’m a teensy bit nervous.”
“Yeah.” He went into his room and closed the door. “My stomach’s been swirling around like crazy. Should we go through with it?”
“Silly. We have to do it. If we stay here or leave town, we both need that money, right?”
“Yeah. But is it worth dying over? I’m not strong enough yet.” Mike stopped, realizing he might have said too much.
“What are you talking about? You’re plenty strong. Don’t let that bitch at the funeral home get you down. She was wrong to come at you like she did, and I’m sure she’s going to apologize for it soon. None of that was your fault. But now that money only gets split one way. It’s all yours.”
Mike hadn’t wanted the situation to come down to that. He would have preferred to split the money and still have his best friend alive. “Never thought about it. It’s already dark. I don’t think we should wait until too late.”
“I’m leaving here in about five minutes. Be ready or I’ll find another gorgeous guy who can fuck like a champ. They’re really easy to come by these days.” She laughed.
Mike smiled. “So I hear. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“Bye.”
Alayna’s high-pitched, yet soothing voice carried through the closed door. “I can hear everything you say, you know? So you can keep closing the door if you want, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t hear you sounding scared.”
Mike cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Is this part of getting the best out of people? Seems like you’re just busting my balls.”
“Yes. This is also the part where I help you stay alive. That part is rather important. You see, if you aren’t alive...”
Mike cut her off. “Enough with the lecturing. I respect what you are doing, but I have to do this. I think you are real. I’ll admit that. But people have been disappearing from my life ever since my mom died. You could be gone tomorrow, and I’m here on my ass, broke and dying of cancer.”
“Mike, I’m not going to abandon you,” she promised, making an X over her heart with her thumb.
“Heard it all before. If I get this money, it will be there tomorrow, next week and maybe next month. It won’t run away from me. If I’ve learned anything around here, it’s that the only person I can count on is myself. And I can barely do that.”
“Mike, you have a gift.”
Mike laughed heartily. “I don’t even get gifts on Christmas.”
“I’m sorry about that. I am trying to help you. May I come in?”
“Nope. I’m getting dressed,” he lied.
“Whatever, then. I won’t detail my past, but I’ve suffered probably more than you. And just to let you know, you are going to have to be the one to chase me away, not the other way around. I’m sorry you’ve had some crappy experiences, but one day you can serve as inspiration to people in the same boat you’ve used to travel the bumpy seas of life. I’m never leaving you if you accept this honor. That’s a promise.”
Emily beeped the horn, and Mike waved to Alayna on his way out. Mike didn’t hear her mumble, “You poor, pretty-faced S.O.B.” She flashed a peace sign as he ran out the door.
He jumped in the Jeep and slammed the door shut.
“Hey.”
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Nothing. Still kind of got the heebie-jeebies.”
She shifted into re
verse and turned to Mike. “Really? I feel great now. I’ve come to peace with whatever is going to happen.”
Emily had a strange look in her eyes. It was like the first night they had met at the bar. There was a calm to her that Mike couldn’t quite understand. They were going into the belly of the beast, and she didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.
“Not that it really matters, but did you bring the gun?”
“Yep. It’s right under your seat. You can carry it this time, if you want,” she offered.
“Why not? Maybe he won’t be able to conjure up that golden shield this time.” Mike checked the magazine. It was full. He locked it back into place and tried to make sure he didn’t shoot himself. His frantic mindset didn’t mix well with handling a firearm.
He pressed the safety even though it was already in position. Mike remained silent as Emily flipped through the radio stations.
She stopped on Dead Man’s Party for much longer than Mike would have preferred before finally changing the station. As they neared Houlihan’s Square, Mike reached into the back seat and grabbed the shovel.
As he got out of the car, Mike’s mouth ran dry and the shovel slipped out of his sweaty hand. He quickly picked it up and waited for Emily to get out, too. Her door flew open, she jumped down and walked right past Mike as if he were invisible.
Mike followed her and kept touching the gun in the side pocket of his cargo shorts for reassurance. His lungs tightened as the air pressure seemed to increase.
Why is she so calm? My heart is about to explode, and she might as well be picking daisies.
Bile crept up his throat, and he swallowed continuously to keep the metallic taste at bay. A squawking of angry birds filled the dark forest.
A murder of crows circled above Mike and Emily. The couple tried to pick up the pace, but the murder seemed to be increasing in size and volume. Mike feared that the birds were signaling to George that there were intruders.
“You know what crows mean, right?” Emily asked.
“Sure do. And it’s not living bodies.” Mike took the gun out of his pocket. He left the safety on, but wanted to be ready.
Mike remembered Morrigan, the Goddess of the crows. He silently asked her to call off her winged air force. He tried to send a peaceful vibe to let Morrigan know that he didn’t intend any malice toward her friends.
Modern Merlin Page 12
