by J. M. Briggs
As she approached their table, Alex slowed down upon catching sight of the scowls on both Arthur and Bran’s faces. Her internal alarm began going off and she nervously glanced at Nicki who’d slowed down as well. Aiden didn’t falter, stepping around them and striding towards the table. He sat down next to Bran with a calm expression.
“Hey guys,” Alex greeted as warmly as she could manage as she sat down next to Arthur. Hoping to ease the tension hanging over the table like a bad smell, she leaned over and kissed her boyfriend’s cheek. “What are you talking about?”
“Bran doesn’t approve of me seeing Lance yesterday!” Arthur damn near growled, glaring at Bran. “Despite me reminding him that it isn’t his business and Lance is still my football teammate. I have to get along with the guy!”
“You’re the Iron Soul,” Bran said softly in a very calm voice that sent a shiver down Alex’s spine; it was almost unnatural. “And he has a history of betraying you, even if he doesn’t mean to it is dangerous.”
“Look, he and my ex had a thing together,” Arthur replied after taking a fortifying breath. “It may not have been something that was easy, sure I would have preferred them just being honest and dating after Jenny and I broke up, but that is hardly a real betrayal of the sort the Iron Soul should be worried about.”
“It’s Arthur’s decision to spend time with Lance,” Alex added with a small frown towards Bran. “No one has questioned me spending time with Jenny and trying to mend our friendship. It does take two after all Bran.”
“It’s different for Arthur,” Bran protested with a deepening frown. “You might not be there next time Lance and Jenny’s actions trigger a disaster.” Bran stopped and held up his hand to halt her protest. “Look, I’m not trying to be a pain, but that vision I had… well, I’ve been having reoccurring dreams of the same thing: being stabbed in the back.”
“What? You haven’t said anything,” Aiden cut in with a worried look. “How often?”
“Once a week lately, I told Morgana after our lessons,” Bran replied, waving his hand dismissively. “But I can’t get it out of my head and I’m sorry, but being stabbed in the back means being betrayed in my book.”
“So you think the dreams mean this betrayal is getting closer since you’re dreaming of it more often?” Alex couldn’t help but ask, feeling sick to her stomach. She leaned closer to Arthur who looked distinctly unimpressed and huffed.
“No one is going to betray me! You’re mages of the Iron Realm and good people. And I don’t believe that Lance and Jenny would harm us, Jenny still feels guilty as sin over what happened and Lance just wants another chance with her.”
“I agree,” Alex cut in with a firm nod. “I told you guys about how Lance tackled that shadow monster. He put himself in harm’s way to help.”
“Maybe, but we still have to be careful,” Bran insisted. “Something is going to happen, I can feel it!” He shivered slightly, a sad expression replacing his impartial mask for a moment. “So please don’t make assumptions about what is happening.”
“Suppose you’re right and the dream is a warning,” Nicki offered gently. “It doesn’t mean that it’s one of us or Jenny and Lance. After all, there are a lot of things about the Iron Soul that we don’t know. The betrayal could be from another ally like the Lady of the Lake, or someone from another life of Arthur’s.”
“Maybe it’s Mordred,” Alex suggested hesitantly as she looked around the table, her dinner long forgotten. “Merlin and Morgana have never been really clear on if he ever existed.”
“He is a big part of the Arthur mythos,” Nicki considered with a frown and a tilt of her head. “While Merlin and Morgana have been clear that Camelot didn’t exist, a lot of the elements of the oldest Arthurian legends are true. Hell, in some old stories, Mordred features before Lancelot returned to the mythology.”
“That’s a stretch,” Bran replied with a shake of his head. “You’re supposing that Mordred was real, at least in some form, was reborn and is capable of attacking us. Jenny and Lance were reborn, but they had no knowledge of what was going on until we told them.”
“It might be-” Nicki began to say before being cut off.
“And even if that all was true, it still isn’t an actual betrayal. That requires trust,” Bran argued as he toyed with his fork. “I’m sorry, but I think we should be concerned about the worst.”
“Maybe,” Arthur conceded with a sour look. “But maybe not. Your vision could have been sent by Chernobog to confuse us and cause us to turn on each other and your dreams could just be honest normal dreams about your fears,” Arthur told Bran. “There’s a lot we don’t know about magic. After all, Merlin can alter people’s memories, maybe Chernobog can send visions to confuse or is working with someone who can.”
“My visions are not being hacked!”
“I can’t believe you just said that,” Aiden muttered, shaking his head at Bran.
“My point is that we don’t know enough,” Arthur insisted, waving his hand to silence argument. “Let’s not turn on each other.”
“But we’re never going to learn anything more if you won’t even allow the conversation,” Bran snapped at Arthur. “Sure it’s uncomfortable, but so is dreaming about having a sword shoved through your back!”
“Let’s change the subject,” Alex cut in quickly. “We’re not going to agree on this and I’d rather not ruin what’s left of dinner fighting.”
“That won’t-” Bran began to protest.
“We’ll keep our eyes open and Morgana and Merlin are certainly doing the same. Arthur is only with Jenny and Lance in public,” Alex added, giving Arthur an apologetic look and feeling a twitch of guilt over the statement. “For now, we’re all okay so let’s drop it.”
There were a few grumbles and pointed looks exchanged, but the subject vanished. Nicki glanced at her and Alex tried to think of something to talk about, it occurred to her that it would have been easier to change the topic if she’d had that figured out.
“So Halloween is Saturday,” Nicki reminded them with a smile. “Any plans?”
“Well Alex and I are going to a party on Friday,” Arthur volunteered with a hesitant smile. “We decided against going to any on Halloween itself.”
“And we’re signed up to take kids around on Saturday afternoon,” Alex added with a much more comfortable smile than her boyfriend’s. “They need more volunteers if you guys want to join us. Costumes are required, though.”
“Sounds like fun,” Nicki agreed with a grin. “I was thinking that we could grab lunch on Saturday and then carve up some pumpkins. Just in case, so we’re ready for sunset.”
“It’s a bummer that the seasonal days starts at sunset instead of midnight,” Aiden remarked, leaning back in his chair. “I’ve always loved Halloween.”
“Yeah, but don’t forget that the period of weakness starts at sundown,” Alex reminded them firmly. “I made that mistake and got taken into the tunnels.” She shivered at the memory and Arthur reached over and rubbed circles on her back.
“Anyway, I haven’t got any set plans yet, but maybe one of the Friday night parties would be fun,” Aiden continued with a glance towards Alex.
“You should come with us,” Arthur offered quickly. “The guys throwing the party are cool; a couple of the team live there and said I could bring friends.”
“Will Lance and Jenny be there?” Aiden asked, flinching slightly as soon as the words were out of his mouth making the glare Alex shot at him a bit redundant.
“Maybe, Lance is a part of the team and was probably invited and Jenny is part of the spirit squad,” Arthur answered calmly, meeting Aiden’s gaze evenly.
“I’m going as a druid this year,” Nicki informed them with a smile despite the tension. “Well not actually a druid, but I have this great long dark green cloak that I’m going to wear with some Celtic jewelry. It won’t be as good as my costume last year, but I figured I’d want something I could move in. I’ve got some l
eather riding boots that I think will work with it.”
“On that same train of thought I’m doing a basic adventurer look,” Aiden remarked with a smile. “You know loose shirt, jeans, cargo jacket, fedora hat and some fake weapons, plus my real iron dagger.”
“I’m going a simpler route: zombie,” Bran told them with a shrug, still eying Arthur a little. “Pull out some old clothes, put a little fake blood them, do some fake wounds and you’re good to go. Plus it works with the leg.”
Alex offered a slightly uncomfortable chuckle at Bran’s joke while Aiden actually laughed. She was never going to be comfortable joking about his disability like Bran and apparently, Aiden was.
“We’re doing pirates this year,” she heard Arthur say next to her as he squeezed her hand, pulling her back into the conversation. “We were thinking the same thing. I know that there’s no reason to expect trouble on Friday, but I wanted a good way to keep my dagger on me. Especially after hearing about Halloween last year.”
“Yeah, running from vicious hounds from another world in heels, not fun,” Nicki sighed dramatically. “But we’re ready this year or at least we know it’s coming this year.”
“True, but at the same time Halloween was sort of a beginning for us all last year,” Alex offered with a small smile. “After all, I was avoiding several of you.”
“No, by Halloween you’d mellowed out some,” Nicki reminded her with a laugh. “And Aiden had stopped stalking you.”
“I did not stalk her!”
“You totally did, I’m lucky she stayed on the soccer team!”
“I was just trying to get her to think about magic being real! I know I sound crazy when I say that, but come on! She was totally ignoring us,” Aiden argued, gesturing towards Alex and Arthur.
“Can you really blame her?” Arthur asked a slight smile on his face now. “I mean we live in an age of science and reason… magic is mythology and superstition.”
“It is interesting that something like magic has a real explanation,” Bran remarked, leaning on his hand with a thoughtful look. “I mean sure the multiverse theory is still widely debated and probably will be for decades more, but it actually provides an explanation for mythology and folklore.”
“True, at least for some of it,” Nicki said with a nod, pushing her empty plate back. “But I’m not going to suddenly say that all of human mythology has factual roots. I’m sure that most of it is still made up. Like, humans encountered a being from another world and then told stories about it that grew in the telling. After all, modern fairy tales distantly trace back to the Sídhe…. Very very very distantly.”
“Yeah, the fairy godmother will help you go to the ball and get a prince, but the Sídhe will drag you underground, make you a slave, rape you and force you to bear more slaves,” Alex muttered with a shudder. “That’s a pretty big change.”
“But that’s what human stories are, especially oral ones: a living explanation of the world around us,” Nicki reminded her. “They change and adjust based on what we know and understand. Thousands of years ago we didn’t understand lightning and thunder so the tale of Zeus was created, maybe there was a real being, but since people don’t actually interact with him, he’s given a history to explain his existence.”
“Not the best example I’ve heard you use,” Aiden said with a smirk.
“Yes well… I don’t know how religious Arthur is so I decided against picking on the Bible,” Nicki shrugged.
“Probably a good move,” Aiden agreed with a nod and a smile. “How did we get on this subject again?”
“Somehow we went from Halloween to this,” Alex said with a small laugh and a shake of her head. “I’m not sure how that happened, to be honest.”
“Segways are amazing things,” Nicki informed her solemnly, sounding way too serious for the situation.
“You are terrible Nicki,” Alex chuckled. “Absolutely terrible.”
“I know, but I’m just so good at it.”
“On that note,” Bran said, pushing back his chair and reaching for his cane propped up against the wall. “I have some homework to wrap up.”
“Wait, pumpkin carving? Yes or no?” Nicki asked, waving her hands about to get everyone’s attention.
“Sure, I’ll join you girls,” Arthur answered with a smile towards Alex. “Sounds nice; I haven’t carved a jack-o-lantern in years.”
“Sounds good,” Aiden added with a nod. “Do we have any guidelines from Morgana about what works because, I hate to say it, Nicki, I don’t know if your masterpiece two years ago of the dragon encircling the castle would hold back the Sídhe.”
“Actually if all of you want to carve pumpkins then we should call Morgana and see if we can do it at her place.”
“Fair point, we’ll be awfully crowded in our living room,” Alex agreed with a nod. “And that way we can make sure that our pumpkins will keep the Sídhe back.”
“Agreed, but you call her,” Nicki told her with a grin. “She likes you best.”
“Oh, not this again.”
“She likes you more than me,” Arthur told her seriously. “But don’t worry about it.”
“And for the record, I’m going to carve a fun pumpkin too,” Nicki informed them all solemnly, straightening up in her chair. “I am not going to let the Sídhe take that from me.”
“I don’t remember a jack-o-lantern at your dorm room last year, other than the ones Morgana and Merlin gave us,” Bran remarked with a thoughtful frown.
“It was at Gran’s shop,” Nicki explained as she curled her nose. “I didn’t think it was important and as much as I love planning and carving them, I don’t really like the smell.”
“Okay so dress up and party on Friday night, take kids out on Saturday and hopefully meet up at Morgana’s place for jack-o-lanterns,” Bran summed up. “Are we going to stay there for the night?”
“Well if we’re all in one place, then if the Sídhe or the Shadows do attack we’ll all be together and away from prying eyes,” Alex pointed out carefully.
“Although,” Nicki sighed as she pushed back her chair and stood up. “It is Halloween, the one night when anything is supposed to be possible.”
“Why is it that when you say that it sounds ominous instead of exciting?” Aiden asked as he stood up and collected his tray.
“That is just the life we lead Aiden: dark mythology, twisted evil fairy tales, and horrifying Halloweens. Ah, the glamorous and magical life of a mage.”
“I hate you sometimes,” Aiden grumbled as they walked away, Bran shaking his head and trailing after them. “I really do.”
Alex laughed at them as she and Arthur collected their own plates and headed for the dish drop off.
“No,” Nicki half sang, “You really don’t.”
20
Jack-o-Lanterns
Aiden grimaced; the slimy guts of the pumpkin were sliding over his bare palms as he lifted a handful of the innards out of the orange shell and dumped them into a large bowl. Pale seeds stuck to his skin and the slimy fibers seemed almost tangled with the hair on his hands and wrists.
“I am now remembering why I stopped doing this,” Aiden groaned, shaking his hand to get rid of the last of the seeds. “It’s gross and hard to scrap all this stuff out.”
“Stop whining!” Nicki's arm half inside the pumpkin she was cleaning out. “It’s not so bad and the better a job you do now then the easier it is to carve the pumpkin later.”
“I haven’t done this in years,” Alex laughed, even though she had a slight look of distaste on her own face as she dumped a load of pumpkin guts into a bowl.
“My mother hated the smell of pumpkins,” Arthur added as he turned his own pumpkin around and examined its sides. “I never did this as a kid.”
“Really?” Bran asked, “Never? At all? Not even at school?”
“At my school, we drew on little pumpkins with markers; they weren’t going to let us use knives,” Arthur replied with a laugh. “Which I
don’t blame them for.” He tapped at the surface of the pumpkin. “What I don’t get is how something like this holds the Sídhe off. I mean, it’s a pumpkin and a candle. How is that anything special? The Sídhe aren’t stupid.”
“No idea,” Nicki remarked with a shrug. “But Morgana says that a carved face in a pumpkin or something similar does the trick.”
“Does it work on other seasonal nights?” Arthur asked making them all look at him with odd expressions. “What?”
“I… haven’t asked that,” Nicki told him with wide shocked eyes. “Why haven’t I asked that?” She asked, throwing her slimy hands around and sending orange fibers flying. “It could be that it’s freshly harvested or the chill in the air or-”
