Silver Magi 1

by D. Levesque

  Now I am really confused. Realms? War? Not her true son?

  “Mom, you lost me,” I tell her, frustrated at my own confusion. “In the last day, I have been shot at, I killed someone, got shot some more. Oh, did I mention I found out that werewolves and Elves are real? And to top that off, my dead mother shows up out of the blue and just told me that both my parents are alive and have been staying away from me. Now I have no fucking idea what the fuck is fucking happening to me!” by the end, I am screaming so loud that I don’t care at this point if I look like I am having a temper tantrum.

  My mother just looks at me without saying anything for about thirty seconds. Then, she pats my leg again and says, “Was it good to get that out?”

  “Yeah, actually it was, but I still need answers, mom,” I tell her, deflated of energy.

  “And I will try to answer what I can as we go along, but know Brandon, that me and your father did not abandon you lightly. We had John looking over you.”

  “Uncle John?” I ask mystified.

  “The same. John was one of my Old Guard,” and the way she says it, it sounds more like a title than saying he was like a security guard. “He watched over you and made sure nothing happened to you. Now that you have been found out, he has been recalled back to my home. But now to the task at hand. We will be heading to an airfield where we will be flying out of Florida, to a safer location. You will need to be trained for what is coming, and I have a job for you here. There is a war coming Brandon, and it will affect not just my world, but also this world. And even your world Silvana,” she says, looking at her directly.

  “What do you mean? We have fought many wars and have always remained strong for thousands of years,” she says proudly.

  “Yes, but in this, I will need your help none the less. I am here in order to get training for Brandon to fight the Organization and what is coming, and you two will be his teachers,” my mom says.

  “What is coming?” Silvana says curiously.

  “We are at war again with the Void,” my mom growls, and even with the resistance I have from her voice, it makes me want to run. Mom must notice the effect it has on the girls, as they both have looks of terror on their faces, so she wave her hand across both of them, and their bodies relax. There was such anger and venom from my mom that I am shocked.

  The Void? What the fuck is the Void?

  “The Void? I have never heard of them before,” Silvana says.

  “You might know them with another name in your Elvish tongue,” my mom says to her. “Tanal Bashran.”

  At that, the look on Silvana’s face turns white as a ghost. She just stares at my mom and whispers, “It cannot be. It was banished over 8,000 years ago!”

  “Well, it seems someone here on earth is trying to call it forth, and some of its essence is on earth now. We have a feeling that it was someone from the Organization who did it. That is why my son is now needed for this battle. And by extension, you two,” she says, looking at both the Elf and the Werewolf girl in question. “I have already spoken to both your fathers, and they both have released you to me. You will be training Brandon for the next two months on everything you know. From magic, to combat, to whatever else you think he needs to survive. I have another one waiting at the location we are going to. But for now, I cannot let you know where we are going.” With that, she looks at both girls, and in the strongest commanding voice I have heard from her yet, with a growling undertone, she says, “Sleep,” and both of them pass out in their seatbelts.

  “You know that won’t work for me, mom, right?” I tell her with a raised eyebrow.

  Turning to me, she smiles, takes my hand in hers, and cups it to her face. “I know, dear. Trent, if you would,” and without warning, I feel a pain in my chest. Looking down, I see there is a dart sticking out of my shirt. Looking up, I see Trent looking at me indifferently.

  Turning to my mom in shock, I say to her, “What the fu” but then everything goes dark.

  Chapter Nine

  Slowly the dark recedes from my mind, and I feel a headache coming on. I am lying on something soft, like a bed. What woke me up were voices murmuring. Keeping my eyes closed, I try to listen in on the conversation, but it’s too low. I try to strain my hearing to make out what they are saying, but I can’t do it.

  “Might as well get up Brandon, I know you’re awake,” I hear the voice of my mother say with amusement.

  Opening my eyes, I look around, and I see I am lying on a sofa. The room is semi-dark. Looking around, I don’t see the girls at all. Shaking my head groggily, I sit up from the couch and take in the room. It’s your standard barracks room, all fresh wood, and I can even smell the sawdust in the air. The place I am in is fairly large, probably twenty feet long, by ten feet wide. It has a bed, a couch, chairs, and a table, but I don’t see a kitchen. My mom is at the far end of the room, talking to Trent. Or she was talking to Trent, quietly.

  “Where are the girls?” I ask my mother, worriedly.

  “Don’t worry, they are busy running tasks for me, but they are fine,” she says with a raised eyebrow. “Worried about them?”

  “Well, I did kind of save one’s life, and the other, well,” wait a minute. Why am I defending myself to my mother? “I’m just glad they are safe,” I finally mumble.

  “Trent, privacy, please,” my mother says, turning to her guard.

  “Yes, madam,” he says and turns around, opens the door, and is gone.

  “Brandon, we need to talk,” my mother starts, as she walks towards the couch I was passed out on.

  “Wait, first of all, why the hell did you get Trent to tranq me?” I ask, interrupting her.

  She looks at me for about ten seconds before answering. “I had to bring you here, but I had to make sure you did not know where here is. All I will say is that you are still in what they call the USA. The only way to do it was to tranquilize you, as my commands do not work on you. And a normal dose would not work, so that might be why you have a headache. I used what is considered a dose for an elephant,” she says that last part with a smirk.

  “Speaking of, what is that voice that we can use?” I ask her.

  “Where to start? How much do you know or have you learned so far from the two girls?” she says, tapping her chin with one finger. There goes that inner dialogue again.

  “Well, from Johanne, I learned that Werefolk is real, though I only met a Werewolf so far. Thanks to something Silvana did, I found out I am not only a Silver Elf, but a Silver Werewolf, whatever the fuck that means,” I say.

  “Language, Brandon!” my mother says sharply.

  “Sorry,” I mumble.

  “Wait, did you say Silver Elf?” my mother says in shock.

  “Yeah, whatever that means. And why aren’t you shocked at the Silver Werewolf one?” I ask her suspiciously.

  My mother doesn’t answer me, but goes to the only window on the wall to the left of the door entrance. Looking out, she doesn’t say anything for minutes.

  “Mom, what is going on?” I ask her. I might not have seen my mom in over ten years, but she is acting odd. Almost distracted. After no answer from her for another couple of minutes, I start to worry.

  “Mom!” I yell out loud, which causes her to jump.

  “Sorry, Brandon. I was not expecting that,” she says, biting her nails. What the fuck is going on? Is my mom nervous about something about this Silver Elf shit? My mom was the calmest, most cool-headed person I ever knew.

  “Mom, what the fu, frig, is going on?” I ask her nervously.

  “Brandon, I had hoped and expected you would be a Silver Were. But I did not expect you also to be a Silver Elf,” she says slowly.

  “Mom, explain it like I am a 12-year-old, all right? Because honestly, I have no clue what either one is,” I ask.

  Sighing, she comes away from the window and sits on the edge of the bed instead of the couch where I am still sitting, and puts her hands in her lap, and composes herself.

  “I will
start with the Silver Were. There is a legend that we are all from one Race. The Were I mean. This progenitor of our Race created all other Werefolk, from wolf to bear, to others. They had the ability to shapeshift. Not like me, who can shapeshift into a lioness. Or your dad, who can shapeshift into a wolf. They had the ability to shapeshift into anything they wished. But that wasn’t the only thing. They also could use magic, where we cannot, as a Race. All our magic in us is used to shapeshift. Part of the reason I cannot use what we call The Voice on you is because you are of the original of us who created our Race,” she says in a lecturing tone.

  “All right, wow. So how was I born then? You make it sound like the progenitors have been long gone,” I ask her.

  “Yes, for well over a million years.”

  I look at her in stunned astonishment before I blurt out. “A million? Then how the hell was I born if that Race is long gone?”

  Here my mom looks down and blushes. What the hell did she do that would make her blush? “Mom?”

  “Let’s just say that about 100 years ago, we found a capsule. From what we could see, it was a cryogenic capsule of some kind. It used magic even we couldn’t figure out and still haven’t to this day. We were able to extract a very small sample, barely enough, we thought. We wanted to check it’s DNA makeup. We don’t call it that where we are from, but I wanted to use a term you would understand. It had been stored for safekeeping. But then one night, the Were who was guarding it, a doctor of sorts, went mad and ended up injecting the only vial we had into me. We thought it was in a fit of madness. He honestly does not remember anything about it.”

  “What the hell, were you fine after that?” I ask her incredulously.

  “Mostly, yes. We tried to extract it from me, but we could not find it in me anywhere when we tested. Like it disappeared. Like it never existed. But I had my suspicions. I never told anyone about it. But this other thing you said. Silver Elf. How do you know?” she asks me.

  “Silvana did this test, and something called the Mal Da Ja,” I tell her, trying to remember the way she had said it.

  “Shit!” my mom says explosively, causing me actually to jump in my seat.

  “Sorry,” she says, seeing my reaction, “things just got more interesting. I thought you were able to use magic because of the blood of the Silver Were. But now? I am not so sure. I don’t even know where you would have gotten that bloodline from,” she says, again biting her nails nervously.

  “How do you know I can use magic?” I ask, surprised since I had used none with her around.

  “Did you think that I would not have my precious son watched over? Including your home?” she says, stopping to bite her nails and quirking an eyebrow at me.

  “Mom! That is not cool. I had sex in my room,” I tell her, horrified.

  “Oh, don’t worry, we had nothing in your bedroom. Thank god you kept it upstairs. But that is how I know you can use magic. I have been monitoring you for a long time. But then the question begs, where did you get that Elvish bloodline, since it wasn’t from your dad or me? Interesting. Does that mean that the bloodlines for the Elves, and the Were, came from the same source?” she says, musing out loud.

  Just then, there is a knock on the door. My mom turns to it and says, “Enter.”

  In comes Trent. But behind him is a tall man, though not as tall as my mom, and he is willow thin. I can tell right away he is an Elf. His ears are pointy, and his hair is white. Damn, how old is this guy if he has white hair, I think to myself while getting up; since my mom has instilled in me respect. The man has a regal manner, almost like what my mother had, but even more intense. His eyes are a piercing blue. Right behind him are Silvana and Johanne. The Elf walks in, looks around, and sees my mother. He walks to her and is about to, what I assume is a bow, but my mother interrupts him, and he jerks slightly at her words.

  “Please do not worry about formalities, Grahad,” she says with a smile on her face. Did she just emphasize his name? Why?

  “Good morning, Lianne. I understand you wish to request my daughter to train your son?” he asks her in a deep voice, which I didn’t expect from someone so slim.

  “That is correct. Though, now I find myself in a much deeper mystery and request,” my mom tells him with a raised eyebrow. “I had expected you, seeing as you are her father. But now, I find out that she did the Mal Da Ja on him and, as such, found that he is, in reality, a Silver Elf. I assume that is partly the reason you came here and not just to verify the permission and request of your daughter to teach my son?”

  Looking over at me, as I was the only one in the room with her when they came in, he looks me up and down. “That is correct. So what my daughter said is true then? I came to do my own verification for my Court,” he says in a smooth voice, devoid of emotions.

  “Oh Grahad, you have not changed,” my mother says with a grin. “You might want to brace yourself when you do the test. As I am sure your daughter can attest, the outcome tends to be painful; for both my son, until he gets used to the change, and for the person touching him while conducting the test.”

  He looks at me sharply, and I get the impression he is trying to see inside me. I feel pressure behind my eyes, so I push back on it. Grahad gets a surprised look on his face. What the fuck, was he trying to do something to me? Looking at my mom, I ask her in a sweet voice, “Should I tell him to sit, mother?”

  “Don’t be an idiot, Brandon. But what you did was correct. He tried to read you, and you were right in pushing it back. That is enough show of force for now,” she tells me scoldingly.

  Grahad walks up to me and lifts his hand, but stops. “May I?” he asks me politely. Instead of answering, I just nod my head. If it’s what Silvana had me do, I know it will hurt like fuck. With that nod, he places his hand on my chest with his fingers splayed out.

  “I want you to close your eyes and focus on my voice only. I want you to imagine a place inside you that is filled with light. Envision it in the center of your chest, where my hand is placed. Slowly, I want you to focus your mind there. Don’t fight it,” he says in a steady voice.

  Remembering what I did last time, I do the same thing. Suddenly the hunger, the need to hunt and kill is there, but I expected it, and I beat the shit out of it before it even has time to do anything. Then the pain! It’s not as bad as last time, but it’s still there. After how long, I don’t know, the pain is gone, and I am back in my body. But I am in my wolf's form again. I can tell since I am looking at my large silver paw.

  “Fuck, I hope that pain gets easier with time,” I growl out loud. I look at my mom quickly in my wolf form, and I growl at her, “Sorry.”

  Looking back at Grahad, I see he has a shocked look on his face. “Hiya again,” I tell him.

  “Impossible! How can he be both?” he says, turning to my mother.

  “You tell me. I do not have any Elvish bloodline in me, and neither does his father, but I might have a theory,” my mother answers him.

  “I am all ears,” he says eagerly.

  “What is the one thing that your progenitors did for your Race?” my mom asks him.

  Before answering, I can see Grahad thinking over that question. He doesn’t answer for a good minute. Finally, he looks up at her again.

  “They were the ones that created both the White and Red Elves. We are not Silver Elves. They used their essence to create us, so we each have a tiny spark of them in us. We have known this for eons. We have known that as Elves, we are not the first Race,” he says slowly.

  “And we have known that for us Were. We are not the first of our Race either. But my son somehow got both, and I think I might understand how. It seems we both have the same progenitors,” my mom tells him.

  “But how?” he says, seemingly more shocked by that than by finding out I am a Silver Elf.

  Then mom goes on to tell him about how they had found a capsule, what they found inside and what the Were doctor had done. In listening to the story, even I have to admit it sounds l
ike fucking bullshit. So his next words catch me off guard.

  “That makes sense! We have always felt that the magic you Were had was close to ours. But while we could not shapeshift, you were not able to use magic. Other than some of you using The Voice,” he says out loud. I can see his mind is racing with thoughts. He looks at me suddenly.

  “Do you also have The Voice to control other Were?” he asks curiously

  Looking at my mom, she nods and says instead, “Make it a simple command, but go ahead.”

  Nodding to her, I turn to Grahad, and using what I have learned is The Voice, I say to him in a growl, still in my wolf form, “Lift your left leg.”

  He does exacwtly what I asked him to do. He lifts his left leg.

  “You can put it down again,” I say in a commanding way again.

  Again, Grahad puts his leg down. But then he turns white as a ghost. Looking at my mother, he tries to say something but can’t seem to find words. Finally, he swallows and clears his throat.

  “This must not get out!” he finally says. “If Winter Court finds out, they will try to kill him,” he continues hurriedly.

  “It’s too late. It seems someone in the Organization knows and has already been sending people to kill him. That is part of the reason I want your daughter to train him. She is the best of your magic-users in the Summer Court. And can even give anyone in the Winter Court a run for their money. Then I want Johanne to teach him, as she is the best combat person we know of. Then I will have a third to join him, to teach him stealth and death, as that is what will be required soon. Has your daughter told you what has been released?” she asks him pointedly.

  “Yes, but I thought she was probably mistaken,” he says, sounding unsure.

  “No, she was not. What we call The Void has been freed, or a small essence of it, for now. And we have a feeling that it involves the Organization. As we Were, you Elves have kept the history alive, even as a legend. We were the Race that almost died pushing it back,” she says angrily. But I have a feeling that while some of her anger is directed towards this Void, is some towards the Elves? What Grahad says next confirms it.