The Iron Realm (The Iron Soul Book 1)

by J. M. Briggs

  “Earth is known as the Iron Realm,” Morgana continued and Merlin made another gesture that caused the highest blue light in the truck to glow brightly for the students, “This name comes from the physical nature of the planet and the iron found in the blood of many of its species, particularly the sentient dominant species and the iron core of the planet.”

  Morgana gave the four gaping students a pointed look, but they didn't notice. Alex carefully reached up and brushed her fingers through one of the branches. It wasn't solid, but the light made her skin glow and danced across her fingers beautifully, causing a small smile to appear on her face and the knot in her stomach to loosen slightly.

  “Other worlds have different kinds of life, different manifestations of energy or different physical laws so when they collide there can be ugly side effects,” Morgana finished with a slight huff that made them all look back at her sheepishly.

  Next to her she heard Bran gasp softly and mutter something about proof of the multiverse. Merlin nodded and took over the explanation smoothly, giving Alex a sense that they'd given this lecture more than a few times before, which was an idea that managed to both calm her down and give her a greater sense of dread.

  “When something enters the world that should not be here, more magic is produced and imbued in humanity to fight off the alien aspects that have entered the world,” Merlin explained and the blue light of earth pulsed again before dimming and the nearest light on one of the large branches by the Earth light started to glow. “The Sídhe are not of Earth; their home world is Sídhean, one of the worlds closest to Earth in the Tree of Reality.”

  Nicki held up her hand, passing it through the light of the branches by accident before blushing and lowering it. “Is this Yggdrasil?” she asked with a touch of disbelief.

  “No,” Merlin told her, “Yggdrasil is a mythological creation strongly based on the Tree of Reality, but the reality is a bit more complicated.”

  “You see children,” Morgana told them, ignoring a glare she received from Aiden at the word children, “These worlds are links to the greater whole of reality, but each one exists in a different dimension of reality. When creatures of one world move to another, such as the Sídhe coming to Earth, it can cause problems. Magic is produced as a defensive reaction of the Earth to the presence of something alien coming here. Mages are born to combat these outsiders in order to ensure that the natural processes of Earth continue as they should without the physical laws, different forms of life or energy having too much of an impact.”

  The last sentence made Alex tense even as she felt a rush of excitement. Magic was real, that was dream coming true, but Morgana's statement rang too much of violence and destiny, making her feel ill. Next to her she saw Bran shift uncomfortable and risked a glance to see Aiden taking everything in with the most serious expression she'd ever seen on his face. Her eyes returned to the golden branches and the soft blue lights that hung like ornaments. There were dozens of them and her eyes traced back one of the branches to the light on the trunk that was apparently her home.

  “Like white blood cells,” Nicki suggested with a thoughtful expression, ending the silence that had descended in the room. “Mages are the white cells to fight an infection on Earth.”

  “Not an inaccurate comparison,” Morgana agreed with a small pleased smile. “And just as the body always has white blood cells there is always some magic in the world. Mages are born into every generation, some more powerful than others and some never discover they have magic. Other times, like now when beings from other worlds enter ours, the Earth releases more magic for the use of mages to fight back the invaders.”

  “So magic fluctuates,” Aiden verified with a small frown. “There is a limited amount available?”

  “Not in the sense of a measuring cup,” Merlin assured Aiden with chuckle. “It is always there, but when there are lower levels of magic it is harder to access and you cannot do as much with it. However, I do not believe it possible to ever run out of magic in the world.”

  Aiden looked more than a little relieved at that statement and his excitement started to return, renewing Alex's urge to smack him. As it was her limbs felt too heavy to move and she kept telling herself to wake up. This wasn't the sort of revelation about magic she'd dreamed about while a little girl or imagined as a part of a game with friends. This talk of defending Earth and being born to be a mage was quickly dampening the thrill of magic and the beauty of the magical sculpture that filled the room.

  “So, all of us are mages,” Bran questioned slowly, “Four of us? Is that a lot in one place? I'm afraid I'm not sure of how to take this.” Alex thought he sounded far too reasonable.

  “Four mages is a large number,” Merlin agreed with a nod to Bran. “There are usually very few of us at any one time. I believe the most I ever saw at one time was in India near the end of the Verdic period,” he told them with a quick glance over at Morgana.

  “Roughly 300 B.C.E.,” Morgana supplied before taking another sip of her tea. “And there were seven mages then including us.”

  “But why Ravenslake?” Alex asked suddenly, crossing her arms. “Why Oregon?”

  “Why not?” Morgana countered with a small shrug. “Magic is focusing here because this is where the greatest threat currently is. The Sídhe have managed after nearly three thousand years to build a new route into our world and it is near here.” She looked at each of the four students carefully, “All of you were drawn here by the magic you were born with. Magic seeks magic and tries to connect in order to become stronger.”

  “So we're all there is?” Nicki questioned in a soft and astounded voice. “All the mages on Earth are in this room.”

  “Most likely,” Merlin replied with a nod, “But there may still be a few more scattered out across the Earth. Usually in our experience when the Earth is reacting to a threat, it releases magic to create mages close to the problem.” He chuckled and smiled more widely at their expressions, “After all why grant magic to those who are in the wrong place to use it.”

  “Alright,” Alex interrupted with a frantic wave of her hand. “Let's say that magic is real and we're mages,” she said the last word with some difficultly as her eyes darted up to the glowing tree. “What does it mean for us? What does it mean right now?”

  Morgana actually nodded in slight approval to Alex's question. “I'm afraid that you don't have many options,” Morgana told them. “You were born as mages in order to fight invasions into this world and nothing will change that. We will teach you have to access and control magic and fight the Sídhe.”

  “What if we don't want to?” Alex asked, crossing her arms across her chest. “We can't even legally drink!”

  “The Sídhe have many more hounds,” Morgana informed her with a raised eyebrow.

  Morgana raised her hand again and the tree's magical form suddenly vaporized and all the light rushed back into Morgana's palm. The female mage gripped the glowing orb and smashed it in her fist, keeping her eyes on Alex before opening her palm to show her what looked like golden glitter. The particles swirled up from her hand and began to take on tiny shapes of humans, hounds and mounted figures. Alex watched as many of the humanoid figures were attacked both by the hounds and the mounted figures. Their light flickered and vanished and Alex flinched as the sounds of metal crashing on metal, screams and cruel laughter echoed in her head.

  “They won't care that you don't wish to fight them. It will be enough that you have the power to,” Morgana informed them all seriously. “They will not leave you alone.”

  “Iron is one of the only things that the Sídhe fear and that can truly kill them when they are in our world,” Merlin intervened with a quick glance at Morgana. “At the dawn of the Iron Age we had a war with them that sealed them out of Earth for 2,800 years, but our original protections are falling and the change of technology away from iron means that it is now easier for them to return. These hounds were a test,” Merlin told them seriously, “They w
ill send more and they will find a world poorly prepared to face them.”

  “Come on,” Bran argued suddenly, “Bullets and tanks! They could be stopped.”

  “They have their own form of magic,” Morgana informed them, “Like us they can manipulate the world around them and they have the power to impact our world. I'm afraid that the metal of tanks would soon be crushed, missiles would be turned back and bullets would simply be vaporized.” As she spoke the glowing particles in the air formed the various shapes she described and the fates of them. A glowing tank was twisted in on itself, a missile made a sharp turn in the air and the bullets just faded away.

  “Strangely the more advanced that humanity becomes the harder these fights become if for no reason other than there is more that they can use against us,” Morgana observed with a small sigh, leaning forward on her left hand.

  “So what do you suggest?” Aiden asked her as his eyes darted between Morgana and the fading light of her magical demonstration, “Swords and shields?”

  “They won the first war,” Merlin told Aiden with a small shake of his head, “But no, our suggestion is to learn how to control your magic. That is the starting point and we should have some time before the full force of Sídhe can enter the Earth. Their weakness to iron means that they have to use a complex magical process to survive in our world.”

  “Then why do they want Earth?” Nicki asked quickly.

  “Power,” Merlin answered with a sigh, “Sídhe politics are much more vicious than anything that exists on Earth. Our world would give them slaves, resources and access to more worlds. Sadly, Earth also links to more worlds than any other world in the whole Tree of Reality; from here they could launch a large scale invasion of many other worlds.”

  “They're evil then,” Nicki confirmed with a slight shudder.

  “Not evil,” Morgana replied with a dark look passing over her features, “Evil suggests a decision to be cruel and hurt others: the Sídhe simply don't care and don't think that anything else has value. A human can be evil, but people in general are not. With the Sídhe… they just honestly believe that their desires matter most in all of creation, no matter who it harms.”

  “And that's worse?” Alex asked with a frown.

  “I've lived through some of the greatest acts of evil in history,” Morgana said in an emotionless tone, “Genocides, wars and torture. I've seen slavery, rape and murders, but I still know that what the Sídhe could do to humanity and Earth would be far worse than anything we have ever done to each other.”

  “So not fairy tale creatures,” Nicki joked only to swallow, looking a little ill.

  “No,” Morgana agreed with a shake of her head, “This is no fairy tale. I'm afraid that your best chance to survive to accept our training. Once you are trained, you will have enough power to be able to make a choice, but until then you are victims of destiny.”

  “That's it?” Bran questioned with a panicked expression. “Train or die?! We're just kids!”

  “Not to us,” Merlin told them as he stood up. “In the land of our birth, you are adults.” A sad look passed over his face, “We had hoped that the Sídhe would not break through so soon, but that was not to be.”

  Exchanging one more look with Morgana, Merlin strode towards the door, collecting a brown trench coat from the hook beside it. Slipping it on, he gestured for them to follow him. “I will see you back to the dormitories tonight. It's late and you are undoubtedly feeling overwhelmed.”

  “Each of you take a jack-o-lantern,” Morgana instructed from her desk. “I will provide you with the details as soon as we arrange a space for lessons.”

  No one moved from their spots until Morgana gave a small cough that clearly carried a note of her impatience. Stepping forward, Aiden collected a small jack-o-lantern from her desk. Alex and Nicki each grabbed ones from the shelf and Bran picked up the smallest one on a table by the doorway.

  Nodding in satisfaction, Merlin opened the door and said a few more words to Morgana in the strange language they had used earlier. As they went out the doorway to head for the dorms, Alex looked back over her shoulder at Professor Cornwall, only to find her already grading homework with her red pen.

  14

  Sahmain Ends

  No one spoke as Merlin escorted them across the campus from the Hamilton Building towards the dormitories. Everything was still and quiet with no sounds of traffic or students. The moon had set, making the campus even darker than before and much more menacing. Ahead of them, Merlin was humming softly with his hands in his pockets. Alex tried to draw comfort from how calm he was, but found she couldn't manage that feat.

  A soft sigh of relief escaped Alex as they approached Michaels Hall with its bright exterior lights shining down on the lawn and parking lot. Nicki kept moving her light onto every car and truck that they passed in the parking lot and Alex realized with a twist of fear that something could be waiting. Whistling now, Merlin seemed oblivious to the fear in the students behind him. He stopped just in front of the largest entrance to Michaels Hall and turned back to them.

  “I am sorry,” he told them kindly, “Morgana and I assumed that the Sídhe would focus on us and not go after other mages.” Merlin nodded to the jack-o-lanterns that each of them were carrying, “Samhain ends at sunrise and the Sídhe won't have as much power to cross into our world. Even so, I will make you some iron weapons before we start your magic lessons.”

  Alex opened her mouth to point out that she didn't live in Michaels Hall, but Merlin turned and walked into the darkness. The words died on her tongue and she swayed slightly on her feet from exhaustion. Aiden caught her arm gently and looked over at Nicki who was digging out her key to the building.

  Bran stepped up next to Alex and looked towards the Hatfield building. The lights stretched a far distance over the lawn, but Alex's stomach turned at the dark void between the lights from Hatfield and Michaels. Glancing over at Bran, she swallowed as her felt herself becoming physically ill. It definitely wasn't sunrise yet and the jack-o-lantern in her hand didn't feel like much of a protection.

  “Come on!” Nicki hissed from the doorway where she was holding open the door of the building and glancing about with a frantic expression, her nails digging into the skin of the pumpkin. “I'm not staying outside.”

  Realizing that she didn't have to walk through the dark, Alex gratefully pulled away from Aiden and darted up the stairs. Aiden and Bran were right behind her, closing the front door with a solid clunk behind them. Everyone jumped at the sound and Nicki let out a nervous giggle before motioning everyone towards the elevator. The doors opened with a ding, but Nicki stayed still just looking into the small space. Alex swallowed as she realized the thought that Nicki must have had. Without a word, they all headed for the stairs, letting Nicki lead them up to the fourth floor.

  The floor was quiet, with only a few stray sounds from the occasional doorway like music or snoring. Reaching a doorway in the middle of the hall, Nicki pulled out her key and unlocked it after handing her jack-o-lantern to Aiden. Easing open the door, Nicki snatched the small pumpkin back and shoved it into the room, waiting for a moment for any reaction. She poked her head into the room and hit the light switch with a sigh of relief. They piled into the room and Nicki turned on a lamp on one of the desk and placed her jack-o-lantern on the window sill. Alex took in the room, only half of it was occupied with the right half being devoid of any personal belongings.

  “No roommate?” Alex asked before she really thought about the question.

  “Not anymore,” Nicki replied as she sank into the desk chair and kicked off her heels with a grateful sound. “My original roommate wasn't comfortable living with me and requested a different room.”

  “Oh,” Alex responded before she sat down on the empty bed on the right side of the room. She carefully placed her jack-o-lantern on the desk next to her. The basket still slung over her elbow knocked into her side and Alex finally remembered that she had it. Shaking her head s
lightly, she put it down at her feet by her dirty silver heels.

  Bran sat down next to her, releasing a soft groan before he rubbed his leg with gritted teeth. Aiden locked the door behind them and leaned against it, taking in a long breath. Frowning, Nicki reached for a bottle on her desk, grabbed a bottle of water sitting on top of the small fridge and handed them to Bran. He took the painkillers with a grateful smile and took two without a word.

  “So,” Aiden said slowly from the doorway. “Is the plan just to camp out until sunrise?”

  “I don't think there was really a plan,” Nicki admitted with a glance at Alex. “I'll admit I'm glad to not be alone.”

  “Yeah,” Alex agreed with a quick nod. She reached out and loosened her shoes, but hesitated to take them off in case something else happened.

  Nicki huffed and tried to adjust her Halloween gown before she gave up and climbed from her chair again. Stalking over to her dresser, Nicki pulled out some spare clothing and ordered Aiden and Bran not to look while she changed. To Alex's surprise, Nicki tossed her a t-shirt and pair of drawstring sweats to change into. Deciding not to argue, Alex tried not to show any embarrassment as she changed out of her checkered dress and into Nicki's clothes while the boys kept their backs turned. The pants were short on Alex as she was a few inches taller than Nicki, but they were serviceable and the t-shirt was large, probably used for sleeping and hung comfortably on her frame. A simple as it was, changing clothing helped Alex relax and start thinking about just what had happened.