Chapter 15 #3
“It proclaimed that it would return to its natural state and that forthwith, it would select leaders for all peoples, making the selection based on the needs of the people at any given time. In that way, there would be no need for conflict, as all would know the best choice had been made.”
Is it just me, or is the magic arrogant? I mean, it’s not wrong, and the plan clearly worked for I don’t even know how many years, but still… it sounds like the magic was the kind of person who wouldn’t enter a karaoke contest because it already knew it was the best.
“But although it knew the decision was sound, the ties of emotion made leaving its corporeal form difficult. It found it could not bear to leave forever the sensation of touch, the joys of taste and smell, and the complexity of feelings that are not apparent to those without form. And its friend saw this hesitation, but instead of preying upon those vulnerabilities to his own advantage, he performed a single great act of friendship and suggested the life force should leave itself a path back. A way to recreate its corporeal form and once again walk amongst its creations.”
“Feck,” Aidan whispers, his grip on my hand getting unbearably tight. “The seal.”
Eerika nods. “Yes. The life force created in that moment a sigil of metal never before and never after found anywhere within the known worlds. It cast a spell of elven magic and bound it to the sigil, and declared that forever after, it could be drawn to physical form when the spell was cast over the sigil by an elf, in the presence of willing ambassadors of all species across the two known dimensions and sealed by dragon flame. It then dissolved its physical self and, within moments, had invested the leaders of our people and yours. The sigil was taken up by the first elven king and delivered through a portal to the first lucifer on behalf of the life force and witnessed by the first wing leader of the dragons. He was told to keep it close and safe and pass it through the generations—as the king would the spell.”
There’s a long pause as we all wait to see if that’s the whole story. When Eerika sinks back in her chair, Garin lets out an explosive sigh.
“Did you know this?” he asks Caolan, who shakes his head. Garin turns to Eerika. “Does the king know this?”
She spreads her hands. “To some extent, perhaps. The spell has been passed to each new king over the millennia, although I believe its exact purpose may have been forgotten. The living archive is the only place the full story still exists—and now you all know.”
“I’m going to come back to that living archive thing,” Andrew says, “but can we talk about this spell? I’m guessing the magic can’t do anything to save your dimension or it would have, but it might still be able to help us avert a major conflict here.
Our biggest drawback has always been that we’re bumbling along without all the facts, and it’s not possible to get answers out of the magic in its ethereal form.
It would solve so many problems if we could just ask instead of having it occasionally feed Percy—and your king—trickles of incomplete information. What if we cast the spell and—”
“No!” Eerika and David shout in unison.
Andrew stops. “Okay. May I ask why?”
“Isn’t that what Tish and éibhear want? I can’t imagine why else they’d be after the seal,” Gideon says. “They think casting the spell and making the magic corporeal will help them in some way.”
“But how?” Andrew asks. “And why can’t we leverage that for ourselves?”
“How is what I want to know,” Ellie says. “How would drawing the magic into a physical body advance Tish and éibhear’s cause?”
“Maybe because a body limits its power? Maybe Tish and éibhear think they can pull off their coup while the magic is limited by a body,” Noah suggests.
Sam shakes his head. “And then what? Even with the limits of a body, it was able to end that war last time. And the second it leaves the body, its full power would be restored.”
“Maybe it could be trapped in the body,” Caolan says, but he sounds doubtful.
“Uh…” David half-raises his hand like a schoolboy. It’s shaking. “If I could interrupt?” He turns to Eerika. “When you said its power was limited by its physical body… do you mean the magic became mortal?”
She nods, and David sinks into an armchair. “What… what would happen if Tish and éibhear cast the spell, drawing the magic to corporeal form, and then killed that body?”
Black dots appear in front of my eyes, and I blink hard. Passing out in shock won’t help anything. For a long moment, nobody speaks. It’s as if we’re all trying to process the horror of what David is suggesting.
“The magic would just return to its noncorporeal state, right?” Ellie asks uncertainly.
Eerika shakes her head. “Nobody knows. There is no mention of that possibility in the archive. Theoretically…” She trails off, and David gets up and moves to crouch beside her chair.
“Please finish. Any theory you have might give us insight.”
She shrugs a little helplessly. “Over the millennia, several scholars have posited theories. The general consensus is that the spell is based on elf spellcasting and was created by an elf—more or less. The body that the life force would return to would therefore be that of an elf. When elves are slain, our souls continue to the ether and reside there until we are ready to be reborn.”
“Yes.” Percy sinks down into the chair beside her. “That’s very similar to our own experience—our eternal souls transition to the spiritual plane and then are reincarnated. I imagine it’s the same thing but in different dimensions.”
“The question is, does the life force have a soul? Is it a soul? If so, it could return to its ethereal state, which would be the best outcome. Or it could, due to the nature of the spell that made it an elf, continue to the ether and await rebirth, essentially trapped in elf-soul form. Whether it would be able to dissolve its next body is uncertain. It may be able to but need to wait for adulthood. It may instead be destined to remain an elf for eternity.”
Not much of that sounds good, if being corporeal limits the magic’s power.
“And if it doesn’t have a soul?” David asks.
“If there is no soul in the body, its death could well result in the extinction of the life force.”
Aidan makes a sound beside me, and I look over. His face is deathly pale, and considering how pale he normally is, that’s really saying something. He’s still clutching my hand, but I’ve long since lost feeling in it.
“We must not allow the spell to be cast,” he whispers, his tone and words oddly formal.
“We must not,” Percy agrees with the same formality, rising, and with a start, I realize the magic must be communicating with them. “Under no circumstances should the spell be cast while Tish and éibhear roam free.”
“Can we consider that to be confirmation that they plan to kill the magic?” Gideon asks, face set.
Aidan shakes his head, and Percy says, “I don’t know. All I know is that the magic unequivocally does not want the spell cast.”
“So we don’t let that happen,” Noah declares. “But I’m still not sure what Tish and éibhear hope to gain exactly. Let’s say they somehow manage to cast the spell and then kill the magic permanently. What happens then? I’m guessing they don’t think it’ll be the destruction of the world.”
“I suppose that would be possible,” Eerika says thoughtfully.
“The life force is part of every living molecule. But the overriding theory is that once something exists, the destruction of its creator doesn’t necessarily result in its destruction.
Many spells can continue to exist after their caster has died. ”
“So we’re talking about an existence without the magic,” Noah concludes. “Tish and éibhear could legitimately declare themselves leaders, and anybody saying otherwise would have to fight for it, because there’d be no magic to invest leaders.”
“That’s why they haven’t been teaching their young about the magic,” I realize. “They’re planning for a time when it doesn’t exist. And if it doesn’t exist, we’d struggle to stop them. Even if we gave up on trying to keep hidden from the humans, how could we protect them all?”
“It’s only theory,” David says grimly, “but it fits too well to ignore it. What are our best options? Can we destroy the sigil and the spell?”
“No!” Eerika presses a hand to her chest. “It is a spell like no other, and we don’t even know what the sigil is truly made of. Destroying them might bring on the disaster we’re trying to avoid.”
“The magic is strongly against destroying the spell and the sigil,” Percy says. “I’m not sure if that’s because it would kill it or if it just wants to keep its gateway to being a person open. Either way, I don’t think it’s a risk we want to take.”
“No,” David agrees, regaining his feet and beginning to pace.
Caolan watches him closely, concern on his face, and I remember that I had plans to matchmake them.
That was so long ago, before the revelations that just turned my world inside out.
“Okay. Okay. So we increase security on the sigil. Maybe the elves can add a layer of protection, mix it in with what we’ve already got and make it trickier for anyone to get through. ”
Caolan agrees immediately.
“We get word to your king and have the spell placed under the strongest protections possible. éibhear clearly believes he can access it when he needs to. We need to change that.”
Caolan agrees again. “I will go to the king now,” he says.
“If I remember right,” David continues, turning to look at Eerika, “for success, the spell needs to be cast in the presence of willing witnesses of all species… and there was something about dragon flame?”
“Yes.” She nods. “The spell must be sealed by the flame of a dragon.”
“Well, between them, Tish and éibhear have gathered followers of all other species, but you said none of the dragons had joined éibhear’s efforts. Are you certain?”
“Absolutely certain,” Garin swears. “There are so few dragons that all are accounted for, in life and death.”
That sounds kind of morbid, but this isn’t the time to ask what he means.
“Then all dragons must be protected. We make sure their leader is fully aware of the situation and that every dragon must be accounted for at all times. éibhear and Tish cannot be permitted to get their hands on one.”
A murmur of agreement runs through the room.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Eerika says. “The archive is clear that all witnesses to the spell must be willing. In order to gain a willing dragon witness, éibhear would need to resort to trickery, and even foolish young dragons have the ability to sense a lie.”
“Are you willing to stake the existence of everything on that?”
She sighs. “I suppose it’s best to take precautions.”
David makes a sound that might be a laugh if the person laughing was having a mental breakdown, but in the next second he’s pulled himself together again.
“We migrate your people safely, we hunt down éibhear and Tish, and we keep everything secret from the humans. Those are the priorities. We can worry about the rest later.”
I suck in a deep breath, gently pry my hand loose from Aidan’s, and draw him within the circle of my arm.
Not gonna lie: I’m scared. Being at the forefront of the battle to save existence was never in my life plan.
But that shit’s gotta get done, and I’m not about to shy away from the job and leave the fate of my lover in someone else’s hands.
The meeting begins to break up. Caolan goes out to the entranceway to open a portal and report back to his king.
Sam invites everyone to stay for dinner, and David’s in a huddle with Eerika and Garin, his phone at his ear.
Andrew sinks down beside Noah and wraps him in a hug, and for once, Noah just snuggles in, even though they’re in public.
I look down at Aidan. He’s pale and looks drawn.
No doubt he’s worrying about all the shifters in the world.
He’s planning the best way to tell them about the elves and dragons and warn them about the danger of Tish.
He’s fretting over those who have been assimilated by the CCA, especially the children.
And he’s thinking about the challenges ahead.
I am too. But that’s for tomorrow. Tonight, I’m taking my lover home and basking in the joy of being with him.