The Iron Sword

by J. M. Briggs

  “It’s just a little manifestation of your magic to help you stay alive through trauma,” Merlin concluded with a shrug. “We did a little bit of testing on it in the 70s, but we haven’t really looked at it in a while. We found it is harder to break our bones and a little harder to draw blood, but certainly still very possible. After all, Alex and Arthur routinely give blood and Alex has certainly had her fair share of injuries.”

  “Testing?” Arthur repeated with a startled expression, looking torn between curiosity and horror.

  “I was a medical doctor,” Morgana reminded him with a shrug. “And there isn’t exactly a manual for us. We’ve spent the centuries gradually learning more and more about what our magic can and can’t do and the limits to our physical abilities.”

  “Of course, each mage is a little different,” Merlin added quickly with a smile as he tied off Arthur’s bandage and patted his shoulder. “So one of you might go beyond what we know one day or achieve something that we cannot.”

  “The point is, don’t panic if you get tossed around a little or someone else does,” Morgana announced. “You’ll probably be fine after some rest and a touch of healing magic, but be careful because there isn’t a clear threshold for mages.”

  “Maybe that’s why I haven’t had a paper cut in ages,” Bran muttered with a smile, trying to ease the tension, but Alex caught him glancing down at his leg.

  “Guys,” Nicki called over in a tired voice. “The sun is starting to rise.”

  Twisting around, Alex looked over towards the east facing windows and sighed softly in relief as the first glow of the sun could be seen just above the mountains.

  “Thank god,” Arthur groaned, reaching back and rubbing his neck carefully. “This is definitely the worst Halloween ever.”

  “Even though last Halloween Jenny and Lance started cheating on you?” Aiden asked, exhaustion clear on his face until he realized what he’d said and it was replaced with horror as he grimaced.

  Alex looked over at her boyfriend, noting his shoulders slump for a moment before he took in a deep breath. “I wasn’t aware of that,” he muttered before shaking his head. He collapsed on the couch next to her a moment later, putting his arm around her shoulders. “But, yeah I’d still say this one wins.”

  “At least we can sleep today,” Nicki announced, stretching her arms up into the air. “It’ll really stink when Halloween isn’t on a weekend.”

  “I suppose so,” Arthur agreed, tugging Alex closer to him. “But maybe we’ll have everything resolved by then and we can have a nice normal Halloween.”

  Whatever the response was, it was lost on Alex as she leaned against Arthur’s warm shoulder and snuggled up against him. She closed her eyes and firmly ignored the ongoing conversation, preferring sleep and the warmth of her boyfriend until it was safe to go home. The last thing she remembered hearing was Aiden chuckling and saying “happy anniversary.”

  23

  Home Again

  Being home was a blend of wonderful and horrible. It was a reality that Alex couldn’t adjust to smoothly anymore. She’d heard from other students that going home was weird, fun and odd. Living under the parents’ roof, sharing a bathroom with both of her brothers and adjusting back to their schedule were all normal oddities that threw her off, but the real problem was in the silences.

  Matthew, for instance, was three years older and in his senior year of college with his graduation with a communications degree coming up fast. He’d had so much to tell their parents as he ruffled their younger brother Edward’s hair. There was his new girlfriend Tina who was a psychology major, the interviews he had lined up for internships in the spring and his plans to go on one last spring break adventure before the real world. Alex knew all about his classes by the end of his first day home but hadn’t said much about her own.

  Eddy, on the other hand, talked about high school and had admitted his worry for upcoming tests. Alex nearly laughed at the idea of being scared of the ACTs but remembered the feeling all too well. It seemed like an eternity ago. Eddy wasn’t dating anyone at the moment; he’d always been more of an introvert compared to her and Matt. It was all so normal.

  It all came crashing down on Alex the day before Thanksgiving during dinner. Her parents were chatting about work, Eddy was complaining to Matt about recent changes to the high school graduation requirements and asking for advice about what volunteering he should do for college applications. She didn’t know what to say or talk about. Sure she had classes and she was doing fine in them, but that wasn’t what consumed her thoughts. It wasn’t classes, homework, tests, friends or even boys that kept her up at night. It was worries about a magical war. She almost burst out laughing.

  “You’ve been quiet Alex,” Matt observed, “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Alex told him with a forced chuckle. “Just can’t get my brain away from school I guess.”

  “That good or that bad?” Matt asked with a glance towards their father who was frowning with worry lines furrowing his brow.

  “Nothing like that,” Alex assured them in a rush. “We just did scheduling and midterms and I guess it’s a bit weird being back.”

  “Well forgive your father and I, but we’ll take advantage of having you come home for Thanksgiving for as long as we can.”

  “True, after all, Matt may not be able to come home next year,” her father observed. “He could have a job in Chicago or Seattle or who knows where and not be able to make it back.”

  “Or he could have plans with a girlfriend or fiancé,” her mother added with a little smile. “It’s hard to say so try not to worry about school, Alex. Focus on being home with your family.”

  Smiling at her mother, Alex nodded and dished up more of the salad. The conversation turned to her own classes and Alex did her best to think up little stories to tell. It was hard since the most important class she was in was about Arthurian mythology which she and others used to build their knowledge about what they were dealing with.

  “We spend a lot of time debating what elements influenced the stories,” Alex told her family with a slight smile. “Nicki loves mythology and Aiden actually knows some of the old Irish stories thanks to his grandfather. Apparently, the story of King Arthur is probably the combination of a lot of ancient hero stories from all across the British Isles. In some versions, they have a slightly different name and Arthur has a dagger in some of the stories that has magical powers. Mer- Professor Yates liked the class discussion so much that he actually allowed us to work together on a project about some of the other myths that could have influenced the King Arthur story.”

  “That sounds really boring,” Ed observed with a curled lip.

  Chuckling, Alex, pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I suppose a bit, but like I said thankfully Aiden and Nicki had some good ideas of where to start. Aiden’s mother was able to point us to a bunch of good stories too; she knows even more than Aiden.”

  “That’s nice,” her mother observed. “Sometimes I wish I knew more about my heritage.”

  “You’ve got Vikings and the Norse gods, Mom,” Matt pointed out, waving his fork with a piece of steak on the end about. “What more could you ask for?”

  “There’s a lot more to Swedish stories than just the old Norse culture,” their mother reminded him firmly. “My grandmother used to talk about them, but I just don’t remember many of her stories.”

  “Is there anything you do remember Liz?” her father asked kindly with a soft smile.

  “I do remember her talking about trolls,” she answered slowly with a growing smile. “There was one story with a young man outwitting a troll who had a pet bear…” She shook her head, “I just don’t remember, but I enjoyed the stories as a girl.”

  Alex frowned slightly, making a mental note to ask if trolls were real. Maybe they were from one of the Sídhe branch worlds or from somewhere else completely. Or maybe they were completely fictional and she was jumping ahead of herself. It was hard
to tell nowadays.

  “Sounds neat,” Alex told her mother with a smile. “My classes certainly have me more interested in mythology and how it has influenced modern literature.”

  “Well it certainly has, after all, you only have to look at Tolkien and J.K. Rowling to recognize that they use mythology as a cornerstone for their worlds,” her mother agreed. “It could make an interesting focus area for you as a literature student.”

  “Sure Mom, ‘course I still haven’t got a clue about what I’m going to do with my literature degree.”

  “Maybe you’ll become a college professor who teaches these classes,” her father offered with a grin. “Just focus on grades and maybe a part-time job or internship for now. The key is to have a college degree.”

  Alex nodded and sipped on her water, trying not to think about how that job would fit in Nicki’s plan for all of them to achieve ‘total genre Savviness’. Her roommate was a little frightening sometimes and had recently gone over the evil overlord rule list with her. Alex had personally gotten a lecture about going off alone as if the time she was captured by the Sídhe that had been her intention. If Nicki ever got the idea that they needed to make a master list of mythology and confirm what was real and what wasn’t it would be a dark day. Alex nearly shivered at the very idea of having to create a database with appearances and weaknesses. Course, she’d probably regret her dislike of the idea one day; she was… genre savvy enough to know that.

  “Alex?” her mother called. “Are you finished?”

  “Yeah,” Alex said, nodding and setting her fork down. “It was really good Mom and Dad.”

  “Well thank your dad on this one. I just made the salad.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Alex told her father with a grin.

  “You’re welcome sweetie,” he looked up at her mother. “Liz, I’m going to steal the boys to move that plywood into the garage before it gets too dark.”

  “Alex and I will handle dishes.” Her mother gave a quick nod, ignoring the groans from her brothers. “Boys, help your father.”

  “What are you building this time dad?” Ed moaned as Alex stood up and started to collect the dishes.

  “I’m replacing some of the shelves in the study; after that water leak some of them have started to warp more than I like.”

  Walking into the kitchen, Alex ignored the rest of the conversation and started handing the plates over to her mother who was filling up the sink with water. She cleared off the table, fed some of the scraps to the golden retriever puppy Anne that her parents had gotten two months ago and packed away the leftovers quickly. Anne barked cheerfully at her feet and nearly tripped her as she brought the last of the plates in.

  “Careful!” her mother called, catching her arm. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine; she’s just a tripping hazard.”

  “Give her a few months and she’ll be big enough to knock you over,” her mother replied with a chuckle, taking the plates from her. “But she’s a good girl.”

  “I kind wish Nicki and I could have a dog, I miss it.”

  “Well… I wouldn’t recommend getting a large pet until you’re more settled in a place. I know that it’s tempting and having a dog is wonderful, but moving is hard on them.”

  “Yeah, I know. Maybe Aisling will wear her parents down. If Aiden had a dog then we could all go over and play with it.”

  Her mother chuckled at her statement and submerged another stack of dishes in the water.

  “Things seem to be going better this year,” her mother remarked casually, but Alex heard the hint of a question in her mother’s voice.

  “They are: I’m used to living away from home now and I’ve got good friends,” Alex replied with a smile, looking down at the dishes as she dried them. “Plus Arthur of course.”

  “And Jenny?”

  “Things are still a little weird with her,” she admitted with a grimace. “But we’re working on it. We’ve met to talk a few times and I think she and Lance may actually go somewhere now.”

  “Well… I suppose that’s a good thing,” her mother said doubtfully.

  “I know that a cheater is always a cheater and all that,” Alex said quickly jumping to Jenny’s defense. “But there really seems to be something between Lance and Jenny. I’m not around them both very often, but when I am… it just seems like something that could be real. The sort that stories are written about.” She almost laughed at her own words, they were a little too true, but she really did live in hope that maybe, just maybe the story could have a happy ending this time.

  “I’m just glad that it hasn’t caused any serious problems for you,” her mother replied a bit doubtfully. “Anyway, you and your friends seem to be taking a lot of classes together.”

  “That won’t last much longer. We’ve all done most of our general education classes now so gradually we have to take more of our field classes. But we’re going to try and have a fun class or something together each semester.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” her mother agreed. “It’s great that you are in fencing club together, though Bran can’t really take part and you and Nicki have soccer, but there is a lot to be said for taking a class just because it is different and interesting.”

  “Yeah, but the real challenge will be deciding which class and figuring out the scheduling.”

  “Well you’ve done scheduling for next semester already, what did you decide on?”

  “We were all able to get into Professor Yates’ the Bible as literature class. He’s pretty much our favorite professor.”

  “That certainly sounds interesting; just don’t tell your grandmother that you’re taking a class like that,” her mother cautioned. “You’ve mentioned Professor Yates often, what’s the name of the other one you really like? Cornwelsh?”

  “Close Mom, it’s Cornwall, like the region in England.”

  “I’m surprised you know that,” her mother told her with a bemused smile.

  “Nicki’s mind is a frightening warehouse of weird information, especially history or mythological information,” Alex told her mom as she carried a stack of dry plates to the cabinets.

  “She’s been a good friend for you, but is it ever strange?”

  “‘Cause she’s homosexual? No, not really. Actually, it’s nice to have a friend who doesn’t assume that I want to talk about boys, ‘course, she has a lot of fun with Arthur and I dating. She teases me a bit, but she’s been really supportive of the relationship.”

  “I’m glad, when you told us you and Arthur were dating I was a little worried.”

  “I thought you liked him?”

  “We do, but I was afraid that you were just going to be a rebound,” her mother confessed with a soft smile. “I’m glad I was wrong.”

  “Me too, I don’t think I could have handled that,” Alex admitted with a shaky smile. “But things are better. I guess I’m getting used to this grown-up thing.”

  Her mother snorted in amusement as she handed her the last of the dishes. “You say that now, just wait until you’re paying rent, student loans, and a car payment each month. We’ll see how you like the grown up thing then.”

  “I’m in college, I get to delay that.”

  “That’s not what it’s for missy.”

  “Whatever you say,” Alex couldn’t resist adding, dodging a handful of soap suds and rushing out of the kitchen. Downstairs she could hear the boys moving the wood for her father, complete with Matt groaning about having to work while home. Smiling, Alex shook her head and headed down the hallway to her room.

  Stepping inside, Alex looked around her room carefully as she closed the door. There were still some posters from her youth here and there on the walls. A small collection of prized stuffed animals sat on a high shelf above the small desk in the corner where her laptop was set up. Galahad was of course on the pillows of the twin bed that she’d slept in since she was three. The room felt familiar and foreign all at once. There were so many reminders of her chi
ldhood interests, dreams, and hobbies. But there were also classics on the bookshelf, her graduation tassel hanging off the mirror and a few other subtle reminders that the room belonged to an older teenager.

  She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed, her eyes tracing a pair of photos on the nightstand. One was of her family; it was a formal photo in a photography studio that had been taken just before Matt went to college. Her elder brother now had stubble and longer hair, her younger brother was almost a foot taller than he had been when the photo had been taken and both her parents had more gray in their hair. And the younger Alex in the photo had a wide smile and no cares in the world. She snorted at the idea of her younger self finding out that in a few years’ time she’d be a mage and fighting against Shadows and evil fairies. That would go over like a ton of bricks. This wasn’t exactly the fun and wonder filled magical life that she’d envisioned as a young girl. For one there were too few unicorns and dragons and so far pretty much everything was hostile.