Law of Shadows, page 37
Fiacre shakes her head. “Someone with access to our reality marble created a rudimentary doorway between us and somewhere else. The only one who is outside is Magnus. It has to be him.”
A figure tumbles out of the rift and starts falling. Normally, I would expect him to cast a spell to mitigate the impact of the fall, but the rift's interferences make that impossible. He hits the mansion's roof and bounces off. Sliding down the roof, he falls another ten metres onto the veranda's roof. Sliding off like a dead piece of meat. He falls the last three metres to the ground and lands in front of us. The rift closes and the magical interference stops.
I hear the others call out in surprise and a window in the mansion's upper floor opens. Tom looks outside. “What was that? Another attack?”
I wave Tom off and rush to Magnus's side. He is alive. Magnus groans and rolls onto his back. In his hands is the orb which Winter stole. My first impulse is to kick him for frightening me, but I decide to give in to the second impulse. I bend down and strangle Magnus. “Just how could you walk off into danger and leave me behind!?”
“I think you should let go. You are choking him,” Tina says. Her voice sounds more concerned than Magnus deserves. “He is turning red.”
I let go and allow Magnus to breathe.
He takes a few deep breaths and cups my hands in his. Then he places a kiss on each of them. “I am so sorry, but I didn't see any other way. There was no time to enchant two suits with invisibility and I had a hard time sneaking around as it was,” He babbles on, giving me various reasons why he had to go alone.
I squint my eyes at him. “Seems like you used the time to think about excuses. And look at yourself! You are hurt!”
He grins. “Just the fall. I didn't manage to aim the improvised doorway very well. And hey, I didn't break a rib this time! I think that I am getting better at avoiding injuries!”
“Oh, jeah?” I grumble and punch him. Not hard. Just hard enough to put a little strain on the rib which he always breaks. “That's for chaining me up!”
He wheezes and nods. “I think I deserved that. Though I liked you in chains.”
I don't comment on that last one and help him back to his feet. Then he tells us about his adventure and the situation in Fairy. As soon as he mentions the video, Annia runs off and returns with a big laptop. I call for the rest of the clan, so that everyone in our community can see what's happening in Fairy.
We hook the laptop to the camera and Annia starts skipping through the recorded information. Magnus already prepared us for the scene with what he calls a 'farm', but it's so much worse. And according to him, there must be countless more who are still being used as breeding chambers. Those poor people. Bile rises up in my throat when I imagine myself in their place.
Magnus didn't find any Old Ones, but that doesn't mean that they aren't there. I remember my own determination when Annia and I fled from the fae. I am sure that an Old One would rather fight to the death than be caught by the fae. So it's unlikely that there are that many Old Ones among those women. Maybe the fae are even keeping them in a separate area, given how rarely they catch us alive.
Leila raises her voice when the scene shows how Magnus tries to pull an elemental out of a tree. It's clear that he is outraged when he defiles her body to get to the foetus.
“We have to show this to the elders! The fae have to be wiped out! I know that the elders are saying that anyone who gets caught by the fae doesn't deserve to live. That it's natural selection. But that's not natural selection any more. Do we really want to be selected by those who can escape the fae? That's turning us into prey! They should be the ones who have to hide!”
The others grumble their consent and I have to admit that she has a point. It's clear that the fae are evil little bastards. We knew that from the beginning. Our whole race decided to lock the fae into a jar and then we forgot about its contents. Magnus was the first one who decided to take the lid off the jar and take a look inside.
I nod. “I think so too. They won't be able to close their eyes when we show this at the gathering tomorrow.”
Most of the older people in our community look sickened. Especially Hatlix who is being comforted by Cecilia. I bend over to Magnus. “Does Hatlix know someone who was taken by the fae?”
Magnus shakes his head. “I don't know, but I never learned how my grandmother died. Hatlix never talked about it. Maybe she was taken?”
I grimace and pull Magnus away from the crowd. They are now watching Winter's final moments. “Are you sure that we can't do anything for those people? What about Old Ones? We can heal from a lot.”
Magnus shrugs and gestures at the screen. “I am no doctor, but I know that I won't heal from having my inner organs replaced by a tree. The spell fused their bodies with the plant. It would be a matter of dissolving the magic and removing them at the same time. Most of them were so deep inside the tree that I am not even sure if their brain is intact. It sucks to say this, but I see no chance unless an elder knows some sort of ultimate regrowth spell. I am sure that such a handy spell would be widely known.”
I nod and we watch the end of the recording. “I think you went a little overboard with punishing Winter. Yes, he deserved worse, but turning him into a lich who creates zombies?”
Magnus shrugs. “I wanted to try out the spell and Winter was available. It is very similar to an enchantment. I copied it and added my own touch. I am not good with living things.” A wicked grin appears on his face. “Unless it's you.”
He embraces me and we kiss. I melt into his arms and hug him. At last, we part and I rest my head under his chin. “Just don't go alone into enemy territory. I almost went insane with fear when you left me alone.”
Magnus hums and ends the embrace. “So I am forgiven?”
I study his dirty and dishevelled outfit. “Not until you've had a bath and pleasured me.” This time it's me who smiles wickedly. “Preferably with your face between my legs.”
He raises an eyebrow, then he sweeps me off my feet and carries me to our private quarters.
Two hours later, we head to the living room in order to watch the human news. There are also some things which I want to talk about with Tina and Cecilia. We walk with linked arms. Magnus looks quite satisfied.
He pulls me closer. “That was the best punishment I've ever had. And now I want to use the time to talk with my grandfather. There are some things I want to ask him about the orb. He made the damn thing after all.”
I look up at Magnus. “He made the orb? Hatlix made the orb?”
Magnus nods. “He taught me enchanting. And now he can finally explain some things which were never quite clear to me. And I want to know if there are any Bathomeus who might be held in Fairy.”
It's understandable that he wants to know, but I don't think that he should have too much hope. “I am sorry to say it, but after seeing the video I wonder if any prisoners of the fae would rather be dead than alive. Especially if freedom means that they are eternally fused to a tree.”
He chews on his inner lip, mulling over the thought. After a few moments he relents. “You are right. It was a stupid thought. Better to assume the worst, then we can't be disappointed.”
We reach the living room and I open the door. At least I try to open it. “That's strange. I think it's stuck.” I try harder, but the door doesn't budge.
“Let me try.” Magnus reaches for the door and tries to open it. “I think there is some kind of spell on the door.” He jounces the doorknob and suddenly there is a click. The door swings open.
“Ah. Ah. Ah. Harder!”
Cecilia is on all fours on the living room's carpet. She is naked and her ample breasts jiggle back and forth with each of Hatlix's thrusts who kneels behind her. I notice that his body recovered quite nicely from his ordeal. They are in a real moment of passion and not aware of us.
I step forward and close the door. “Do we agree that we saw nothing?”
Magnus runs his fingers over his chin as if he has a goatee. “I am conflicted. One part of me wants to jump in there and question Hatlix about what he is doing with someone who doesn't even want to join the clan. The other part wants to congratulate him on the catch. Your mother has some nice-”
I glare at him.
“...jiggling mountains? Not that yours aren't at least as good. You are definitely her daughter. I think yours even grew since... Yeah, I'll shut up. We saw nothing.” He looks away.
That's when Tina turns around the corridor's corner. “Ah! There you are! That's good. I was searching for you. There are some things we have to talk about with everyone. Is my sister in the living room?”
I step in front of the door, barring Tina's path. “Yes, she is. With Hatlix.”
“They are indisposed,” Magnus adds helpfully.
Tina raises her eyebrows, surprised at my strange behaviour. She studies our expressions until the gears inside her head put meaning to our words. “Oh!”
I nod to confirm her suspicions.
“Ohohoho!”
Magnus grunts. “Stop that! It's childish.”
54. ~Hatlix~
“The older they get...”
A memory of the Old Ones.
Carinthia
Magnus
Hatlix is sitting on the living room's couch with his arm around Cecilia. Sely's mother seems to be very satisfied. At least she is smiling and hugging Hatlix from the side.
“I am so happy!” Hatlix scratches his crotch, ignoring the fact that women are present. To my surprise, I understand him perfectly well. He is drawing out the consonants, but that's fine. It sounds like he has an odd accent. “By my balls, Grandson! It feels good to be out of that box and alive.”
I am also happy when I get to screw Sely. I clear my throat, surprised at how fluent his speech is. “You can talk normally? You learned fast.”
“Of course I can talk normally! Though I admit that Cecilia and Annia's learning program helped a lot to speed things up. Oh, I have to thank your wonderful wife! Thanks, Sely. That arrowhead was starting to itch.” Then he sighs and a sad expression appears on his face. “I still can't believe that we lost so many of our family to that stupid asshole! I should have put my foot down and stopped Fiacre from marrying him. It gave the idiot too much influence within the clan and he was always power hungry.”
Fiacre looks at the floor. “It was my fault. I didn't see his plans until it was too late. I also wasn't able to stop my children from going down the same path. I failed as a wife and as a mother.”
Hatlix raises his hand to stop Fiacre. “Don't blame yourself. You've a big heart and were blinded by love and your instincts. The blame lies with all of those who realized that bastard's true nature. Let's not mention his name. At least I should have tried to open your eyes, but even I wasn't prepared for the scale of deceit which struck our family.”
I nod. I don't want to be reminded of that day, so I try to change the subject. “Yes, but there is also the problem with the fae. Maybe we can find a solution. There are still some things about the orb which I don't understand. I have questions, Hatlix. I was asking myself if we are able to use the orb to destroy Fairy? It seems to be a normal reality marble. At least that was the impression I got when I was inside it. The fae just use strange doorways.”
Hatlix purses his lips. “I don't think that would be wise. When the fae created their reality marble, they shifted a sizeable part of northern Europe into another dimension. If we destabilize their reality marble, that huge landmass would return all at once. Imagine what would happen if our reality marble collapses. We shifted a huge part of this valley into our marble. The same part which now forms the lake next to the city. When the marble collapses, all that mass has to go somewhere.”
I bite my lower lip, dreading the thought. When we created the reality marble, we removed a part of the land, leaving behind a large hole in the ground. Over the centuries, that hole filled with water and created the lake. If I had to put a location to the reality marble, then I would say that it is beneath the lake, because the anchor point to reality is located there. “It would push aside all the water which is now forming the lake. The entire area would be flooded.”
Hatlix nods. “And now imagine a huge landmass between Norway and Britain, pushing aside the ocean. The resulting tsunami wouldn't be just huge, it would be gigantic!”
He shifts in his seat. “No, I am afraid that we have to find a way to wipe out the fae while keeping Fairy intact. We can slowly shrink it once we've taken control of it. I devised the orb to use it's power in order to change the weather pattern. The plan was to freeze the fae to death without having to fight them. They avoided their fate by using tribal magic to create Fairy. Little buggers. Afterwards, we didn't have the means to attack them without risking massive damage to the planet. Nobody knows what might happen if the taken land returns.”
“Tribal magic?” Sely asks.
“You are aware that the fae aren't using magic the same way we do. Unlike the elementals, their magic is based on belief. They are able to influence reality by using illusions. It's weak and strong at the same time. Convince yourself that the fireball which they throw at you isn't there and poof, it isn't.”
He raises a hand. “No, don't. I know what you are going to ask next. You are going to ask if we can simply cancel all their magic by not believing in it. That's the troublesome part and the reason why they can copy our magic. If there are enough observers to their magic, it becomes real. Every person who believes what he sees turns the spell more real. That's why I call it a tribal magic. The magic is affected by the amount of people who cast or witness the spell.”
I nod slowly. “One last question. In Winter's throne room was a large picture of the battle between fae and other supernaturals. I noticed that those who I assumed to be Old Ones weren't depicted as combatants. They stood back and watched the battle.”
Hatlix tilts his head and presses his lips together. “The picture probably showed the early days of the war.”
“The early days?” Sely asks.
Hatlix shrugs. “I assume that you know the generally known story? But how do you think the fae got so numerous when they were just a small breeding experiment in the beginning? The ones who conducted the experiments allowed their creations to roam the earth freely after the experiments were deemed a failure.
“The fae had several centuries to grow in numbers. The other supernatural races started fighting them when they connected the abductions to the fae. The fae thought that our neutrality meant that we don't care what they do to the other supernaturals. We only joined the battle when it became clear that the fae are a menace which can't be left unchecked. The fae had largely wiped out the Neanderthals by that point, so we decided that they are threatening the world’s ecosystem.”
“Now that's a disturbing piece of information,” Sely mumbles.
Hatlix claps his hands together. “But that's not important! We have to find a way to end the fae. I heard that the humans advanced quite a lot while I was boxed. Maybe we can use some of their ideas to solve the fae problem. We need something like this marvellous bug-spray.”
“Bug-spray?” I ask.
He nods. “Yes! Best invention ever! No more mosquitoes. No more fleas. And soon… no more fae!”
Okay… maybe his brain did suffer just a tiny bit.
Tina raises her hand. “Before you disappear inside the laboratory, we need you at the gathering. I heard that you know many of the elders personally. Your voice would be a great help in influencing the decision.”
My grandfather squints his eyes at Tina. “Isn't the video enough? Did those old farts get so complacent that they still prefer neutrality?”
Tina shakes her head. “I think the video is enough to sway their opinion. They already demanded of everyone to search for a way to attack Fairy. What I am concerned about, is that they won't act unless there is an elegant solution. We have to attack the fae in every way we can. Now. We have to use the humans, the supernaturals, everything. You just told us how huge Fairy is. Now imagine how many fae there must be when you think about the farm.”
Cecilia runs a hand over her hair, making sure that it's straight. “There must be countless fae. Maybe as many as there are humans.” She turns to Hatlix. “I am sure that a little visit to stir the flames of war won't cost much time.”
“One last question,” I interrupt. “Hatlix, do you know of any Bathomeus who were taken by the fae? We might-”
Hatlix shakes his head. “I am sorry. There aren't any Bathomeus who were taken. But I know others who got caught over the centuries. That's why seeing your record affected me. I seriously hope that they are dead. Being caught inside a tree can't be a pleasant experience.”
55. ~One voice~
“A long time ago, I made a certain thing. It was round and everyone wanted to have it, so I made more.”
A memory of the Old Ones.
Atlantis
Sely
We enter the coliseum. For once, the whole leading gang of our little community is visiting the gathering together. Even Annia joined us, though we left Kath with Leila and Tom. Magnus didn't want to leave the others alone in the reality marble. But there are the spirit guardians and Lindwurm. On top, they swore a blood oath to us, so even if they are up to no good I doubt that they can pull off something dangerous.
Hatlix surveys the area as we walk to our pulpit. He doesn't look pleased. “Look at it. Over a hundred years and everything is the same. This is ridiculous. They could've at least changed the chair cushions.”
Magnus tries to calm Hatlix down. “Grandpa, I think they did. Otherwise the cushions would've already rotted away.”
“I know that! What I meant is the colour. It's simply not acceptable. They are always using purple! Why purple!? I hate the colour.”
Cecilia clears her throat. “Since ancient times, purple is the most vibrant natural colour. The purple dye, which was harvested from rock snails, was expensive to create. Being able to afford large amounts of purple was a symbol of status, power and wealth.”
