The Iron Chalice

by J. M. Briggs

  “Well we’re okay, we’re in Cardiff right now heading for the coast tomorrow, but we were attacked by more creatures. These ones had red caps and didn’t seem to be bothered by blood.”

  “Did they hurt you?” Morgana asked with narrowing eyes. “Bloody red caps.”

  “Uh no, they got Lance, not me, but Nicki took care of it,” Alex explained in a rush. “But yeah we thought they might be Red Caps. Are they immune to iron?”

  “Not fully, but they are close to it. From birth in our world, they expose their young to human blood so they build up a resistance to it. Nasty little creatures, usually found in big cities. I don’t think they actually go after humans like the myths suggest, but they do like to collect spilled blood.” Morgana shuddered with a look of distaste. “Most of the refugees don’t bother me much; their ancestors were slaves and couldn’t go back to their home worlds, but Red Caps I hate.”

  “Okay…” Alex was unsure of the look on Morgana’s face. “So no news on how the Queen is getting them to attack?”

  “No: that kind of magic is just… Merlin and I can’t comprehend it.” Morgana shook her head with a deep frown. “We’ve had a few attacks here as well I’m afraid, which is really putting Merlin on edge. With the winter solstice approaching things should be calming down, but they’re not.”

  “You don’t have any ideas, nothing at all?”

  “Alex, the Queen is taking control of creatures that by rights should be trying to kill her, not us; they might not love the Iron Realm as it isn’t their natural home, but we as mages don’t go hunting down the peaceful refugees. We’re actually allies with some of them so this… this whole situation is just wrong.”

  “Anything on Arthur, what he was… how he pulled everything off?”

  “Nothing there either,” Morgana said. The woman shook her head dejectedly. “And trust me Merlin is trying to figure that out. Our current theory is that Arthur is some kind of hybrid like Merlin or myself made by the Queen from a natural mage. He did have magical powers, but his connection was shaky. Merlin and I made excuses for his lack of a Connection, which was a mistake on our parts, but now it seems obvious it was because he wasn’t loyal to the Iron Realm.”

  “Then why did I have a Connection with him?” Alex asked sharply with a frown. “He had enough magic tied to Earth for that.”

  “Or perhaps it was some kind of recognition on your part since you were related in a previous life.”

  Alex shuddered and half whined, “Please don’t mention that. I was sleeping with the bastard.”

  “You were cousins three thousand years ago,” Morgana reminded her with a sympathetic smile. “And you were male then if it helps.”

  “Doesn’t really,” Alex muttered before she shook her head. “Okay, so we’ve still got a lot of mysteries, but we had a thought tonight-”

  The bathroom door opened and a damp Nicki came stumbling out. She glanced towards Alex with glassy eyes and gave her a small wave. Without a word, Nicki climbed into her bunk and pulled the duvet over her head.

  “Alex?” Morgana called.

  “Uh, right, sorry. Nicki was just going to bed,” Alex informed her with a forced smile. “She’s very tired.”

  “Healing is exhausting,” Morgana agreed carefully. “But if she wasn’t unconscious right from the start she’ll be fine. Just let her take it easy tomorrow if possible.”

  “We will,” Alex promised before she licked her lips. “Okay, my question is, what do you know about Bran the Blessed?”

  “Bran the Blessed,” Morgana repeated with a tight frown. “I suppose I should have expected that question.”

  15

  The Dead Aflame

  721 B.C.E. North Pembrokeshire Coast

  It was the smell of smoke as thatched roofs caught fire and the sounds of people screaming that hit Merlin first. The terrible familiarity of it made his body ache before years of habit activated, spurring him into action. Merlin pulled on the small flickering force below his heart and was rewarded with magic flowing through his body. Morgana was already rushing towards the screaming as another explosion rocked the hill. Chunks of flaming wood fell around them.

  Merlin could see part of the outer wall crumbling in the light of several burning roundhouses as he began to move forward. The roundhouses and walls kept him from seeing outside the village and confirming if Badb was attacking. Green sparks of magic flickered across his palm as Merlin scanned the area for any sign of the enemy. The smoke was thickening and reflecting the light of the flames, making it difficult to see as Merlin sought to navigate the unfamiliar network of paths.

  People were yelling and screaming as bolts of dark-red energy zinged through the air. Eyes widening, Merlin swept his magic forward around a small girl running up the hill. Green sparks surrounded her in a cloud blocking one of the dark-red bolts, but another struck a man in the back throwing him to the ground. His skin darkened and he struggled for air, collapsing as the little girl screamed. Pulling back the magic, Merlin gathered it in an orb grasped in his right hand. The little girl ran as Merlin scanned the smoky sky.

  Laughter echoed out of the smoke and the fires parted as a female figured stalked out of the haze. She stopped just beyond the burned-down ruins of the outer wall and smirked as she fixed her eyes on Merlin with Cathanáil still strapped to his back. The thin circle of red in Badb’s eyes was glowing in the light of the fires, and the tips of her long black hair were on fire as she laughed. Her feathered cloak slipped off of her shoulder as she sent a wave of dark-red magic hurtling through the air, revealing a bony shoulder with tightly stretched gray skin over it.

  “Give me the sword, mage, and I will depart.” Badb’s expression was smug. “Or this little blight of a town will burn to ash.”

  “Never!” Morgana shouted coming up behind him.

  Silver magic lashed through the air like a whip as Morgana stopped beside him. She moved her hand sharply to direct the magic as it struck Badb in the chest, forcing an animalistic cry from her. A wave of dark-red magic rippled out and vanished as it connected with Morgana’s whip, making both dissipate. Large gray wings unfolded from behind Badb’s back as she turned towards Morgana and hissed. Her teeth lengthened and the red of her pupils bled over her entire eye. Merlin felt a shiver run up his spine at the gleeful expression on her face. Badb raised her right hand and wisps of dark-red magic shifted and spun around her fingers as her eyes glowed.

  “She can’t keep this up too long,” Morgana hissed next to him. “This isn’t her world; she doesn’t have Cyrridven’s link to the Iron Realm.”

  Merlin wasn’t sure about Morgana’s assumptions, though he had to admit that she had a point. The Sídhe’s magic was limited in this world, and while the Old Ones were powerful and could generate large amounts of magic themselves as being of pure power; they surely had limits. He was just less certain of those limits than Morgana. In the corner of his eyes, he could see her gathering an orb of silvery magic that flashed between her fingers. She was about to throw it when a man dressed in a long brown robe rushed past them crying out to Badb with a worship chant spilling forth from his lips.

  “Please Great One!” One of the men dressed in the robe of a druid fell to his knees, the iron decorations on his belted sash jangling softly. “Please, what have your servants done to anger you?”

  Morgana shouted something that was lost in the sound of Badb’s laugh before she opened her hand. Dark fire spilled forth from her fingers and enveloped the man, who screamed in agony. His form withered as he fell to the ground and attempted to put out the flames, but the magical fire could not be extinguished. Merlin summoned his own magic in a quick bolt of power that he threw at Badb. It struck her and a snarl escaped her as she spun towards Merlin.

  “Give me the sword or I shall burn them all!”

  “You will never hold Cathanáil!” Merlin shouted.

  He pulled forth his magic frantically. Beneath his feet, he could feel the ground pulsing with power
and pushing raw magic up his body. His legs trembled from the force, but he smiled softly as his hands glowed brilliant leaf green. Moving his hands, Merlin released the magic into the trod down earthen paths of the village. The ground shook and Merlin pulled on it harshly. In the corner of his eyes, he could see a few people falling to the ground and struggling to crawl away from the fight, but he didn’t ease the spell.

  Green magic burst up as cracks formed in the ground and around the humans running for cover. Across the village, the glow of the fires dimmed as mounds of earth washed over the flames and smothered them. Morgana moved away from him, sending bolts of silver magic against Badb who swept her arms to create a shield of her dark-red magic. The two colors clashed against each other until both faded away in the dark air.

  “Do you think it is that easy you pathetic little iron children?” Badb sneered.

  She twirled her hands, gathering dark-red magic that sparked around her, casting twisted shadows. Before Merlin could move to stop whatever she was planning Badb laughed gleefully and tore her hands apart, sending her magic crashing all around them. Shapes of dark-red swarmed through the air surrounding them too fast for Merlin to see anything clearly. They surged over the bodies of the fallen on the ground and seeped into the corpses through mouths and eyes. Merlin stopped in his tracks, completely stunned as the corpses began to glow dark-red. Then one of them moved its arm sending Merlin stumbling back in shock. The arm shifted and its hand clawed at the ground as it began to sit up.

  The horrific burn marks on its face, the still burning clothes on its body and the smell of cooking flesh made Merlin gag as the corpse rose up from the ground. Others around it followed, all with the same magic pulsing beneath their skin. Screaming erupted anew throughout the village as more of the bodies began to rise up. Some were burned up and still on fire, some had been crushed by the explosion of Badb’s magic and some had been trampled by frightened animals, or worse their own neighbors. Yet they all stood.

  The corpses began to move with slow steps and outstretched hands. Dead eyes gazed at Merlin while sparks of Badb’s magic flickered from within. Gathering more magic in his hands, Merlin’s mind raced as he tried to understand what he was seeing. Dark-red magic flared off of one of the corpses as it stumbled past a roundhouse and flashed into flames, setting the house ablaze. As they shambled towards the living, the grasses and fences were catching fire and the screaming was getting louder and louder. A sharp cry of alarm from behind him cut through the din as Merlin recognized the voice of Gofiben. Releasing a burst of magic, Merlin forced the ground beneath the dead to rise up sharply, sending them tumbling to the ground.

  Badb laughed as he turned his back and he knew she’d be upon him in moments, but he rushed up the slope of the hill and looked around for any sign of Gofiben. In the smoke and waves of heat, Merlin feared that he would lose his way back to the young man’s roundhouse, but he kept moving. The screams were growing softer as people fled the village and Merlin found himself hoping that Gofiben had done the same. Yet he had an instinct that the smith hadn’t gone anywhere. He caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye and turned sharply to the right, barely missing a blast of dark-red magic, but he spotted Gofiben still near his home.

  Anger and fear flared in Merlin’s chest as the walking dead closed in around the smith, his brother, and his friend. Only Galath was armed and swung his axe into the skull of one of the corpses. It collapsed to the ground as Galath roughly tugged his axe from its head, but then began moving again. Gofiben reached out and pulled his brother back from the creature just in time to keep the thing from tripping him as he swung at another corpse.

  “Gofiben!” Merlin shouted as he tugged the sword off of his back.

  As the boy turned to look at him with wide eyes full of terror Merlin almost changed his mind. This was just a young man: he wasn’t a warrior. That was his elder brother apparently, he was just a smith. Then again, he conceded as he ripped away the bindings on the sheath and threw it through the air towards Gofiben, that was what he’d once been training to be.

  Gofiben jumped out to catch the sword in both arms, hugging the sheathed blade to his chest with a stunned and confused look. Around him, the corpses glowing with magic began to move towards him. Gathering more magic in his hand, Merlin shoved it harshly through the air. It sparked and swirled violently before striking one of the corpses and bouncing against another. They both fell to the ground with a fleshy thud that made his stomach turn and did not move again.

  Gofiben tugged the sword out of the sheath clumsily, but within moments the blade was exposed to the night air and the light of the fires. The blade was just over two feet long with an elegant golden hilt that had been crafted with the help of Cyrridven. Cathanáil gleamed brightly and began to glow a faint orange color as Gofiben’s magic connected with the sword. For a moment Merlin couldn’t breathe as he saw sparks of magic begin jumping off the sword as Gofiben stared at it in shock.

  One of the corpses stumbled towards Gofiben, its leg mangled from being trampled. Sending a blast of magic down into the ground, Merlin pulled the earth beneath the reanimated creature up around its legs. As the mud hardened and sealed it in place, Gofiben swung the sword at the body with his eyes closed tightly. Magic flashed off the sword and as Cathanáil sliced into the flesh Merlin could see the orange of Gofiben’s magic flashing against the dark-red of Badb’s.

  Then the corpse fell to the ground with a long groan of a dying man. Gofiben opened his eyes and felt his knees tremble, but he kept a tight hold of Cathanáil as another corpse lumbered towards him. Merlin barely moved before Gofiben tensed up and swung the sword again. His brother was rushing up next to him, hacking at the corpses with his axe and a terrified expression as he kept glancing towards his brother.

  Assured that Gofiben was safe, Merlin spun around and released a wave of green magic down the hillside. It rolled down the gentle slope towards the fires and walking dead like the tide and washed over the flames. The dead stumbled as the magic struck their feet, causing small flashes as Badb’s magic pushed away his own. But it slowed them down. Silver magic flashed as Morgana swung her magic around her like two thin, deadly whips, striking at any corpse that came too close. Pausing in her defense, she gathered a sparkling cloud of silver magic above her head and sent it spinning through the air towards Badb.

  A scream of frustration drew Merlin’s attention back to the Old One who summoned her own magic to block Morgana’s attack. Several of the corpses fell to the ground as she changed her focus, and Merlin could see Morgana’s smirk of triumph illuminated dangerously by the flames. Merlin felt his breath catch in his throat, feeling a rush of excitement and vindication. He twisted his own magic tightly in his hands, willing it to condense. The shimmering green sparks solidified in his grasp, forming a solid spear of glowing rock.

  Morgana risked a glance towards him before unleashing another wave of silver magic. Her moves and attacks were wild and uncontrolled, but they were keeping Badb busy. Merlin inhaled quickly as his magic settled into the spear before he raised it. Summoning even more magic, Merlin pictured the spear striking Badb, and called on the magic to keep his aim true. He threw it forward.

  The spear shattered on contact with her form into hundreds of small earthen fragments that latched onto her. They began to expand even as Badb screamed and began tearing the largest pieces. Merlin smiled as several of the fragments began to connect over Badb’s chest and right arm. The Old One’s shriek of anger turned into one of terror as her long taloned fingers clawed at the stone skin encasing her. Her magic flared wildly over her limbs to fight back Merlin’s. Silver magic swirled around her head and Merlin gasped softly as he saw the right side of Badb’s gray face begin to collapse under the pressure of Morgana’s magic.

  A scream filled the night as dark-red magic exploded around Badb in one giant burst of power. Merlin felt himself being pushed back by the force and watched his magic crumble away from her. Then everything w
ent still and he could hear pained sounds escaping Badb. Around them, he heard the sounds of bodies hitting the ground and saw the flicker of dark-red magic in the air vanishing. The smell of wood smoke, charred fabric, and cooked meat filled the air, making Merlin feel ill even as he kept his eyes locked on Badb. Screaming, she swept her feathered cloak around her body. It shifted violently in a swirl of her dark-red magic, and a gray and black bird swept up into the sky. Raising his eyes, Merlin summoned more magic on a swell of anger and released it as a leaf green bolt. Badb in her bird form released a sharp cry and dove to avoid the blast before vanishing in the pillars of fiery red smoke.

  Merlin frowned and examined the fallen corpses, one of them had fallen into the burning remains of a roundhouse and its clothes caught fire. It was such a waste, and he looked towards Morgana with a heavy heart. His counterpart had a look of barely contained rage and disgust on her face as she looked down at the corpse of a young girl. Then she closed her green eyes and shook herself quickly before she stepped away from the corpse and opened her eyes.

  Morgana hummed softly as her silvery magic spun around her hands, her eyes closed in concentration. Her magic swirled together to form an orb which slowly transformed from light into water as a drop of sweat ran down Morgana’s cheek. With a soft grunt, she tossed the water orb into the nearest fire and waved her hand. Steam rose out of the flames with a hiss and Morgana released another burst of magic as water to extinguish another flame. Merlin nodded in silent agreement and glanced towards Gofiben only a few feet away. To his relief, the boy appeared uninjured.