by M. H. Bonham
“Oh great.” Elryn rolled her eyes.
I turned and looked up at the Tiny House. Despite its size, it looked impossible to lift. But some wanker had levitated the house up to the roof for shits and grins, certainly I could bring it down safely.
“Remember, do or do not. There is no try.” Tuzren sat on my shoulder.
“Shut up and let me concentrate.” I slapped the little demon off of me and focused my attention on the house.
Most magic relies on will and concentration. Wizard magic almost always required a foci; hence the need for words, gestures, staffs, and wands. But Nana had taught me to access my Fae magic—a wild form of magic that demanded only will and direction. Until I had met my Dark Elven family, I had no idea that I had Fae magic in me. I had used it to escape a Drow prison. Now, with everyone watching, I had to use that magic again. Without a safety net.
I concentrated on the Tiny House. In my mind’s eye, I could see every side, every paint chip, and every scratch on the exterior of the mobile home. I focused my will to lift it upward and felt the heavy frame that held the Tiny House together. It seemed to groan under the power it took just to life it a few inches off the ground, but eventually I was able to push it higher without too much more energy. I relaxed and focused on moving it above a cushion of air that I had created to continue to push it upward.
Hushed whispered from my friends threatened to steal my concentration, and I felt the house bobble a bit before settling back on the air cushion that supported the Tiny House. I moved it slowly off the Richie Center and that’s when my air support failed. I lost my grip on the Tiny House and it plummeted to the ground.
My friends gasped as I scrambled to grab hold of it. That’s when I felt Nana’s power grasp the Tiny House, stop the sudden acceleration, and slowly lower it to the ground.
“Wow,” I said.
~ * ~
“That really wasn’t too bad for a first try,” Nana said after I helped her move the Tiny House to one of the parking lots. There, she showed me how to do a more lasting Ignore Me spell and how to combine it with a Go Away spell, for good measure. Lastly, she wove in an illusion spell that made it look like the spot where my Tiny House was look like a median with some uninteresting grass and a couple of small pines. Normally, that would take a shitload of energy to hold up, but Nana showed me how to make the spells semi-permanent, only needing refreshing every month or so.
“How does it work, exactly?” Elryn asked, intrigued. I glanced at the Light Elf in surprise. I would’ve thought the Light Elves would have the same kind of magic Dark Elves did. Perhaps not.
Nana smiled. “When we make a semi-permanent spell, we access the life force of living things nearby and use a small amount to continue to power the spell. In healthy creatures, it’s negligible, but where there isn’t much life, the creatures are stressed, or it’s underground, it can take its toll on creatures.”
“That’s why you had to use your own magic to keep the illusion up,” I said in an ah-ha! moment.
“Exactly. When your people are trying desperately to survive, it would be cruel to use magic that would drain them. But that’s exactly what the Svartalfheim warlords do. I was able to protect most of our people from the drain.”
“But there isn’t a lot of nature here,” Elryn said.
“No, but there are a lot of Normals,” Nana said.
“Won’t that hurt them?” Duncan asked.
“If I were doing a big spell and drew heavily on their life forces, then yes, it would hurt them. It could even kill them if I drew too much. But these little spells? The distribution is so wide that it wouldn’t even tire a housefly.” She shook her head. “All magic can be misused. It’s up to the wielder to use the magic morally.”
“The Light Elves don’t use that type of magic.” Elryn gazed at the Tiny House, studying the spells Nana had taught me how to cast.
Nana’s eyebrow arched. “Oh?”
Elryn sighed. “Our magic is always linked to the plants and the forest. If we can’t use their energy, then we are forced to use our own. It’s maddening sometimes. When I went to Svartalfheim, I had to rely on my own powers only.”
“Like Ironspell did.” Li’alla nodded. “Granted he had a lot of magic to draw from, but still…”
“Well, let’s go inside.” I nodded. I unlocked the wards by placing my hand against the door.
“This is your home?” Elryn looked around at the Tiny House. “I thought we were getting a trailer or something to take to your home.”
“Yeah, this is my home.” I grinned. “It’s bigger on the inside.”
Li’alla looked at the Tiny House skeptically. “Will we all fit?”
Salazar shook his head. “I don’t think there’s enough room for one person, let alone nine people.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” I said, unable to hide my grin. Luna had seen my home and snickered as the rest stared at me with total disbelief. Tuzren flew by me and gave me a high five as he flitted inside the door. “You want to sleep or not?”
“I don’t think I’ll even fit inside the door with all my armor and weapons.” Sigrún looked at the Tiny House doubtfully.
“Come on,” Duncan said. “It’s either a joke or it’s something we haven’t seen before. Either way, it’s most likely harmless.”
They all filed in one at a time, fully expecting to be squished. I grinned at Luna, who simply beamed at me. “You know, this doesn’t get old,” I said. “After you, my dear.”
~ * ~
My guests stood all agog at the transformation, because the Tiny House changed once you entered it. They all stood in the spacious foyer next to the fully equipped and stocked kitchen. A birch wood and chrome staircase spiraled upward in front of them. It led to the upstairs where my study and an indeterminate number of bedrooms sat. Indeterminate because the house created rooms as you needed them. So, housing nine people was pretty much pixie play to the Tiny House. Once I tried counting the rooms, only to discover the house created new rooms.
Nana grinned at me. “Temporal magic?”
“Yeah,” I said. “A temporal mage gave Evrardin this house as a birthday present to give to me when I was old enough to appreciate it. Sabine was into Tiny Houses for a while and got it to transform to look like a Tiny House and it stuck. Seems there’s a glitch in the outside morphing programming, but that’s okay. I’d have a tougher time moving something that looked like a mansion on the outside.
“Don’t forget it can also move by itself.” Tuzren landed on my shoulder.
“Yeah, but I lost the manual on it and tried looking it up on the Internet, but no dice.” I shrugged. “I’m a little concerned that Gunny won’t be able to tow it.”
“Gunny?” Duncan asked and glanced at the others. Salazar shrugged and Sigrún was simply looking up at everything with amazement on her face.
“The Jeep—or rather, the ghost in the Jeep,” Luna explained.
Li’alla raised her hands and looked up in wonder at the place. “This magic is amazing! How is it done?”
“If it’s temporal magic, where are we exactly?” Elryn asked.
Nana nodded. “It must be its own pocket dimension.”
“A pocket dimension?” Sigrún spoke up. “You mean we’re not in Midgard?”
I hadn’t really thought about it, but it made sense. “Yeah, I think this house is its own universe. It’s a sentient being, so be mindful it can be a bit testy if you’re messy or if you prod too deeply into its inner workings.”
At that moment, a bantam Ameraucana chicken with blue-gray plumage strutted out of the kitchen. She squawked once at me and Tuzren in greeting and strode over to the guests, looking them over carefully.
“A chicken? You have a pet chicken?” Salazar chuckled as he knelt down to pet her.
“Her name is Fluffy, and she’s our guard chicken,” I explained as I watched her coo at the new arrivals. “She’s our line of defense inside.”
“Does she lay e
ggs?” Duncan asked, also crouching next to the bird. Fluffy thrust her head into his hands and he gently rubbed her comb. “You know, I’ve never petted a chicken before.”
“She lays eggs occasionally. Usually only in the spring.” I smiled at the chicken soaking up the attention. “Apparently she likes you. That’s good, because she and Tuz didn’t start out the best.”
“I thought chickens laid nearly every day.” Salazar gave her a quick pet and stood up.
“She’s a bit older, so no fresh eggs from her.”
Elryn looked skeptically at Fluffy, who stopped crooning and met her gaze with an unstaring blink. “Nobody has watch chickens. Most chickens are too docile.”
Li’alla and Nana looked down at Fluffy, and sure enough, Nana chuckled. “That’s quite a bit of magic she’s got there,” Nana said. “Did you cast the transmogrify spell on her?”
“I thought you might see through it,” I admitted. “After I hatched her, I found a transmogrify spell in a book that I thought would work and tied the magic to her energy. Her real appearance only leaks through when she stressed.”
“Wow, you never told me you’ve done that level of magic.” Elryn looked impressed. “Even just following the ritual out of a book doesn’t guarantee it’ll work. Where did you learn it?”
“I got access to some high level tomes in CU Boulder when I was in college. I was tired of her scaring off guests.”
“What is she?” Elryn asked.
I grinned. “A chicken.”
“Bullshit,” Duncan said.
“What? Doesn’t everyone have a guard chicken?” I snickered.
“Don’t bother,” Luna said. “He won’t tell me, either. I think he thinks it makes him more mysterious.”
“Hey! Whose side are you on?” I looked down at my date.
“Yours, sweetie.” Luna tiptoed and gave me something in between a kiss and a lick.
“Eww, dog germs.” Tuzren made a face.
I swatted at the demon but he flitted away just out of reach. “Okay folks, bedrooms are upstairs. You can have any of them except the first two on the right which is mine and Tuzren’s. They all have bathrooms, too. Find one that you like and I’ll have the house make breakfast in the morning. From there, we can come up with a plan on how to find Fenrir. In the meantime, I’m going to follow up on a lead.”
Luna looked at me curiously. “What lead, Magic Man?”
“I’m going into the Enchanted Forest to find Spaz and Kira.”
Chapter Thirteen
Elryn took me aside for a moment as the rest went up to find their rooms. “Do you think those missing weres have something to do with Fenrir?”
Luna, who was still pressed against me, cocked her head. “I doubt the pack has anything to do with hiding Fenrir.”
“Why do you say that?” Elryn asked.
“First, Alaric swore on his power that we didn’t have Fenrir. Second, if Fenrir was with the pack, I’d know about it.” Luna scratched her triangular shaped ear carefully with one of her claws.
“There are no secrets in a pack.” I nodded. “I’m aware of that, but something doesn’t add up, but I’m not quite sure what is bothering me. The angel was convinced Alaric had Fenrir. If I were a wolf on the run, I’d probably enlist the help of the packs. So, maybe Alaric doesn’t have Fenrir, but maybe the Montana pack does. Alaric didn’t say, after all, he didn’t know where Fenrir was.”
Elryn gave me a calculated look and then nodded. “Do you need backup in the Enchanted Forest?”
I shook my head. “You can come along, if you want to, but I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll be with him,” Luna grinned. “He’ll be fine with a were. Plus, he’s a technomage.”
I blinked at her. “I wouldn’t go so far to call myself that.”
“You’re powerful in the Enchanted Forest. The only people I know who are more powerful are Kira and Spaz.”
“Yeah, but I can’t simply enter the Forest without preparation.” I shrugged. “I think that reduces my ability substantially.”
“Okay, well if you need me, call me through the Enchanted Forest. I’ll listen tonight.” The Light Elf looked at me skeptically. “While I’ve only been there a few times, it can get pretty dicey.”
I nodded. “I’ll call you if I need help. But I’ve got an awesome bodyguard here.”
With that, she went up the stairs to scout out her own room. I looked down at Luna and smiled. “Well, little one, meet me in the Forest?”
Luna nodded. “I’ll hang out in your room in the meantime.”
~ * ~
Once everything quieted down, I went to my laboratory and spell casting room. My lab was a mix of alchemy, chemistry, library, sorcerer’s lair, security station, and a steampunk convention gone terribly wrong. A bank of monitors hung from the wall, showing me both outside and inside the home. I had a permanent summoner circle etched in the floor farthest from the door and a thick, oaken table that served as my workbench. The workbench sat in the room’s with various chairs so I could work on experiments. Lately, they had been alchemical in nature, but now that the DWTF accepted me, I could focus on more esoteric magic.
Along the other side of the wall was my library with texts my father had inherited. I could only read maybe a third of them, but what they had in them made me wish I could read the rest. I had been meaning to ask Spaz if he could search for possible translations.
Getting to my lab was as simple as going upstairs and walking past the bedrooms. With my new guests, the hallway went farther than I was used to, but I appreciated the ability of the Tiny House to accommodate people. The hall took a sharp left, and there was a blank wall ahead. It was the secret door to my lab, which I could only open. I had given Tuzren the combination when I needed the blue goo, but with that danger gone, I decided to reset the combo.
I touched the runes which unlocked the door and pressed my hand against the wall. Science imitating magic. Combo touch and biometrics combined with a top notch wall illusion spell. The house had safe guards that thwarted magic users and Normals alike. The door appeared and swung open. I then recast the new combination and runes, locking everyone out, unless I needed someone to enter.
I closed and locked the door behind me. The door would vanish on the outside, leaving the appearance of a smooth wall. I didn’t want to be disturbed unless something really serious happened, and I told the Tiny House so. I then walked over to the summoning circle to connect to the Enchanted Forest.
The Enchanted Forest was the name the creators gave the Net within the Net, and the name stuck. It was a network set to a frequency not quite, but close to the brain’s normal firing. That one-off proved to simulate the same frequencies those with magical brains had. Normals had to use specially designed headsets to access the Enchanted Forest, but certain types of Supernaturals—werewolves, Orcs, Goblins, wizards, Gremlins, and Elves—could access it without technology. It was the way our brains were constructed—along with a healthy dose of magic—that made it possible.
The werewolves were the first to discover it outside of the humans who invented it, soon followed by other magic users. Since humans were the ones who first created it, they also created the augmenting headsets that allowed them in.
Connecting to the Enchanted Forest without a headset required technomage skills which fortunately I had. I tended to downplay my technomage abilities since I had tried to get into the Wizard and Alchemy program at DU. But all that didn’t matter because a Drow plant, who became dean, had rejected my graduate application. Carnaz was a Changeling—the term we use for both the impostor and the person the Elves kidnapped—and was determined to help the Drow cause, given that they had brainwashed him to hate his own kind. In some ways, the dickhead had done me a favor by rejecting my application. I discovered who murdered the former dean, saved the world from two possible disasters, and got into the DWTF force, thanks to my werewolf buddies.
When the Supes became aware of the Enchanted Forest, some
wizards and mages found that they could connect easily, but others who were tech-aversive had a really tough time. I discovered when I was in the Enchanted Forest I actually had other powers that I didn’t in Real Life or RL, as the hackers called it.
I closed my eyes and knelt in the circle. Although I could connect to the Net within a Net, I couldn’t access it the way other Supes could. Some Supes, like the werewolves, were able to pop in without much more than a thought. I had to meditate, which made it tough for just hopping online. I cleared my mind and focused on the entrance into the Enchanted Forest. The portal wasn’t far from here—some weres had fixed a site outside of the University
Although my eyes were closed, my vision shifted. I stood on the corner of University and Evans, looking at DU. In my mind’s eye I could see the University Park Café where the entrance to the Enchanted Forest stood. The portal wasn’t inside; it was just outside on the patio where in the summertime they had chairs and tables for college students to dine and hang out. It looked weird, if innocuous: a blue door fashioned from wood standing just off to the side on the patio. I looked around, and seeing no one near the portal, I touched the door. It opened. Inside, it looked just as if it was just opening to the other side of the patio. I stepped inside, closing the door as I did.
I stepped into a forest—literally. The last time I hopped into the Enchanted Forest, it was wintertime. Now, the aspen trees and tamaracks were in full golden foliage and some maples and other deciduous trees had turned their autumn colors. The landscape looked more like a northern Rockies forest that you’d see in Montana or Idaho, rather than Colorado. It’s funny, because the Enchanted Forest could be anything you wanted, but for some reason, the gatekeepers thought that opening into the werewolf forest would be ideal. Myself? I’d prefer something with more beach and warmer temperatures. Ah well—I could always transfer to a beachfront somebody created, or if I had the time and energy, I could create my own personal version of paradise. Someday, perhaps when I had time outside of RL.
The werewolves preferred the forest over something more tech, and the cool fall air that came off the mountains around me made me think I needed a warmer coat. With that thought, I suddenly had the latest cold weather gear on my body. Since none of this was real, per se, you could change out your avatar, your clothing, and just about anything to do with you. Normals who visited the Enchanted Forest needed headsets, presumably programmed with the latest apps that gave them a plethora of appearances and gadgets. Some of the cheaper headsets you could buy at big box stores like Wal-Mart for $29.99 which held a metered connection. I could always pick out the Normals using those because they had limited, pre-canned avatars.
