I don’t know what I thought would happen next, but Keir coming back to the bedroom with a tablet so I could video chat with the Great Wizard of Air was not it.
“Uh, hello there,” I said. I didn’t bother to wave as I was keeping myself steady with my good hand. “I’m Iris.” I nodded to my miniature companion. “This is Linda.”
“Hello, Iris.” Thomas had wiry gray hair that stuck out all over the place. I could only see his head and shoulders, so I couldn’t tell how tall he was, but his face was thin and his shoulders narrow. “Linda,” he acknowledged my gnome. “I’m Thomas.” I could see in the corner of the tablet that Keir was holding that he was back far enough that I was visible to the hip. Thomas had shrewd but kind eyes as he looked me up and down. “You’re in quite the predicament, young lady.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Linda replied.
I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her, then addressed Thomas. “I’m hoping you can help me undo whatever is happening to me.”
“Your magic is in chaos.” Thomas twisted and pulled at his hair. No wonder he was Einstein-chic. “Very dangerous.”
“Yep.”
“How did it happen?”
“I was fighting a satyr, and I thought about how lovely it would be to be made of air. Air doesn’t feel pain. And then after….” I shrugged. “This was the result.”
“Magic takes a sacrifice,” he said. “Even air magic.”
So far, he hadn’t said a single thing I didn’t already know. “Can you help?”
The old man wiggled his mouth back and forth, scratched the bridge of his nose, then began to pluck at his eyebrows. Finally, he put his hand down and said, “I can help you contain the element and slow down its destructive progression. But I can’t stop it. You have to figure out a way to become a master of aero-craft and undo what you’ve done. Only you can save yourself, Iris.”
“No, I can’t.” I heard the whine in my voice and cringed. “I’ve tried, Thomas. This is worse than when the terra-craft ran amuck through me.”
“It’s because you have too many competing elements in you. Earth, Fire, Air.” He clasped his hands together. “On top of that, your magic has to compensate for both Fade and Bright. It’s like trying to light a fire in a vacuum.”
“More like lighting a fire in a room full of gas,” I said.
“Or that,” he agreed. “You’re either canceling your magic, or it’s out of your control. You have to find the balance.”
Had this guy been consulting my grimoire? Ugh. Was there even such a thing as balance? Not in my experience. “What can you do to help me slow it down until I can find the yin to aero-craft’s yang?”
“I can’t cast a spell from here. I’m good,” he said, his eyes alight with gentle humor. “But I’m not that good.” He held up a fine-boned finger. “However, I can teach you a containment incantation that should at least give you the semblance of a solid form while slowing down the progression of the magical flux.”
I raised a brow at him.
“You’ll stop disappearing.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heavens.”
“Keir, I’ll need you to help Iris. As her soulmate, you’ll be able to anchor the magic.”
Without any hesitation, Keir sat on the bed next to me and held out the tablet in front of us. “What do I need to do?”
“Wait.” I leaned against Keir, grateful for his warmth. “Can this do any damage to him?” I asked Thomas. “I won’t do the incantation if it puts Keir in danger.”
“It doesn’t,” the old man said. “I promise. It’s a spell of minor consequence. It will cost you very little.”
“Cost?”
“As I said earlier, magic takes its price. It has to come from somewhere, and when you take, you must also give. The Fade is destructive magic. You can use it to get rid of obstacles, but then something else has to return in its place. The Bright is creator magic. But when you create something new, the building blocks come from somewhere.”
I’d known about the creation and destroying aspects of Fade and Bright, and I knew all too well that magic required sacrifices. It’s why Linda instructed me on spell work and potions. The ingredients paid the price. And when I worked with fire, it cost me a little of my blood. Still, I didn’t have any idea what price air would take, but my body seemed to be part of that bargain. “I hate that this is all new to me. That I don’t really understand how my powers manifest. I feel like I’ve lucked into control of the past two elements.” Fear, anger, and the threat of death, those had been the catalysts for control. “I don’t want to have to almost die in order to learn a lesson I should’ve known from the beginning.” Had I been raised by my birth mother, I mentally added.
“You would benefit from apprenticing with a tru-craft witch,” he said. “But that is for a later conversation.” He leaned forward, and I could see up his nostrils. “Have you done any big creation magic lately?”
“Uhm, no.” I shook my head. “Not that I can think of.”
“The tornados,” Keir said.
“But that’s not creation….” I frowned, then shook my head. “Yep, I made two tornados,” I told Thomas. “I did that yesterday. I used my fire magic to stop it.”
He steepled his hands and nodded. “Impressive. Of course, that’s probably why your magic is in flux. You’re using your other crafts to control the air instead of your aero-craft.”
I shrugged. “It was that or keep getting tossed around like a rag doll.”
“I’m not criticizing you, Iris. The opposite. You are the most unique tru-craft witch I’ve had the privilege to meet. Your ability to hold three elements is awe-inspiring. I am rooting for your survival.”
“Good to know.” I frowned. “Does this mean there are people not rooting for me to survive?”
Thomas bowed his head, gave it a slight shake and smiled. “We will need a few items, then we can start the incantation. Miss Linda, can you retrieve the items we need? A clear crystal, a white candle, and some yarrow root.”
Linda practically preened. “Of course, Thomas.” Maybe she was looking to trade up witches. “I’ll be right back.”
Thomas continued his instruction. “Keir, I’ll need you to put both hands on Iris, so you need to put the tablet down.”
“Then you won’t be able to see us,” I said.
“It’s not necessary to see you for this part,” he assured me. Keir followed Thomas’s instructions and put the tablet on the bed, giving Thomas a view of the ceiling. After, Keir put his hands on the back of my neck and my solid shoulder.
Linda popped up through the floor. “I have what you require,” she said. She leaped onto the bed and set the yarrow that I grew in my garden on my lap, along with a clear quartz crystal. She took her hat off, exposing her bald dome and a single white birthday candle. She smiled. “It was in the kitchen drawer where you keep the cake decorating supplies.”
“You’ve done very well, Linda,” Thomas said admiringly. “Thank you for your service to Iris.”
“I am her earth guardian,” she said formally. “It is my honor and duty.”
Hah. An hour ago, she’d been threatening to leave me. I wondered how she’d feel if I told Thomas about that. I wouldn’t, but the petty thought made me feel a little better all the same.
Thomas made a few flourishes with his hands as if writing on the air. “Centered,” he said. “Iris, if you are ready to start, we can begin.”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Repeat after me. But, if you decide to adjust the language, try not to get too creative,” he warned.
“I’ll be word for word,” I promised.
Thomas added, “Don’t forget intention.”
“I tell her that all the time,” Linda said. “Your intention must be clear, Kleinkind.”
“Gotcha.” I gave her a two-finger salute. “Clear intention.” In this case, my intention was to not turn to aether dust, to be whole again, and to protect my son, protect Keir, not lose Linda, keep the pixies safe, and stop being a lying disappointment to my family.
“Keep the intention simple,” Thomas said. “It’s easier to convert if you keep it simple.”
“Kiss,” I said with a wistful smile as I thought of easier times.
Keir tilted my head and kissed me in a way that made my toes curl.
“Whew.” My breath released quickly. “That was great, but not what I meant. K. I. S. S. Kiss. It’s what I used to tell my students when they would try to make a short essay too complicated. Keep it simple, stupid.”
He smiled. “Oh.”
“I’m certainly not complaining.”
Linda cleared her throat. “If the two of you could stop playing footsies for two seconds, we can get on with the plan to save Iris from herself.”
I blinked at Keir. He kissed me again. I giggled when it ended, then said, “I’m ready. Intention clear.” I wanted to be made whole. I didn’t want to disappear. But I focused on what Thomas said I could have, containment. It would have to do for now.
Thomas said, “Visualize the candle purifying the air. Visualize the crystal as it bends the light in the empty spaces. Visualize the yarrow, as yellow is the color of air.”
I closed my eyes and did all the visualizing. “Done.”
“Now,” Thomas continued. “Repeat after me. Eastern wind and spring divine, healing breath now entwine.”
“Eastern wind and spring divine, healing breath now entwine,” I said.
“As the storm will blow, time will slow, and the tempest I will bind.”
“As the storm will blow, time will slow, and the tempest I will bind.”
“Bend to my will.”
“Bend to my will.”
“Now blow across your skin to activate the magic. Then repeat the incantation again. Just hold the vision in your head of your hand, your arm, and your body where the air has replaced your flesh. The magic is neither creation nor destruction, so even if it fails, the cost will be minuscule.”
Please don’t fail, I thought. Aloud, I said, “Eastern wind and spring divine, healing breath now entwine. As the storm blows, time slows, and the tempest I will bind. Bend to my will.”
My skin began to tingle as yellow light glowed from the empty spaces. Solid, I thought. Solid and steady. Fingers, hands, wrist, forearm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, ribs, stomach, top of hips, and anywhere else that might turn to air. “Bend to my will,” I said again, this time louder and with more confidence, as I once again felt my fingers move on the hand that hadn’t been there seconds earlier. “Bend to my will.”
On that final call to my magic, a physical replacement of my missing parts solidified in place. I held up my hand, examining the slightly diaphanous appearance. It had a yellow tinge of yarrow, the waxy appearance of the candle, and it was as hard quartz when I tapped it on Linda’s head. “It worked,” I finally said. I flexed my fingers. “And I appear to have functionality.”
“That’s wonderful,” Thomas said. “May I see?”
I reached behind me and picked up the tablet and held it at arm’s length with my flesh hand while waving with my air one.
“Extremely impressive, Iris. Better than I hoped for. You’re an excellent student.”
I nudged the gnome. “Can you say that again? I don’t think Linda heard you.”
Thomas chuckled. “One more thing, you should avoid using magic beyond a simple incantation, like what we just did, for a few days. If you can avoid doing magic altogether, even better. The more power you pull from tru-craft, especially if you mix elements, the more unstable you can become. This instability might resolve itself if you allow the chaos to go dormant.”
“And if I don’t?”
He made a “who knows” gesture with his hand. “Probably better not to find out,” he said. “I look forward to meeting you in person next week, Iris.”
“What?”
Keir put his hand on my leg and gave it a squeeze I interpreted as, “Let it go.” So I did, but he definitely had some explaining to do.
“Thank you, Thomas, for your help and expertise,” Keir said. “Please give the Archdruid my best.”
“I will, and please keep me informed of Iris’s progress.”
“Of course,” Keir agreed. Then he slid his finger across the screen and disconnected us.
“Why am I going to the Iron Grove?” I asked. Lu had said that the Iron Grove would want to study me if they knew about the third element. Was that why? “I will not be probed by a bunch of robed scientists who want to treat me like a test subject.”
“I swear,” Keir said. “No probing will occur. The Archdruid wants to meet you, is all. It’s what I promised for Thomas’ help.”
“I get the impression he would’ve helped even without a quid pro quo. Better to know what you must exchange than wait for a far worse favor to be asked.”
I moved my hand around and touched my stomach. Solid and mobile. It was strange but also wonderful. It didn’t feel like my body, but it didn’t feel empty anymore. The nothingness was gone. “How come we did a video call?”
“He wanted to see you, and it’s an eight-hour drive.”
“No, I mean, couldn’t he have hitched a ride? Like Lu hitched a ride with Zev, he could’ve done that, right? I mean, Zev works for the Iron Grove, after all.”
“Zev doesn’t work for the Grove, he freelances, and genie wishes are not cheap.”
I gave him a sharp look. “What did Lu have to agree to in exchange for a ride here?”
Keir grimaced. “To be determined.”
“Yikes.”
“She loves me.” He put his arm around me. “And she loves you.”
“I’ll ask Zev to exact the price from me.”
“The hell you will,” Lu said from the hall. “I’m a big girl, and I take care of my own debts.”
“Come in, Lu,” Keir said. “Thomas is no longer on the call.”
“I know.” She stood in the doorway. “I listened to the whole thing.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “I still have to get my aero-craft under control, but I also promised the pixie king I would protect his troupe while they mate and have babies. I can’t go back on my word.”
Linda made a noise of disgust.
“Zev has got them on lockdown right now. He’ll keep them safe until we get back up the mountain to Keir’s place,” Luanne said.
“Good.” It made me feel better knowing they had Zev to protect them, but I also wondered what this extra favor would cost Luanne.
“It wasn’t a wish,” she supplied as if reading my mind. “I made a friendly request, and he accepted.”
“Even better.” I turned to my grumpy gnome. “Linda, I need you.”
She dropped her arms to her sides, and her shoulders slumped. “Fine. I will not desert you, Kleinkind, but know, if it comes down to you or the pixies, I will let them die.”
“Noted.” I heaved a sigh. It was easier to breathe now that I had the façade of a diaphragm. “But what I really want is some kind of early warning detection. We need to figure out what’s coming at us above and below ground.”
Luanne smiled as she placed her hand on her hip. “We’re going to make a general out of you yet.”
“If the satyr is any indication of the crazy, it’s about to go full-on mental ward around here.” I nodded to Lu. She was ex-special forces, mercenary, and all-around badass. She’d seen a lot of combat situations in her forty years. “But maybe you should handle the battle plans.”
“I’ll get on it,” she said. “I know Keir’s land about as well as he does. I can identify weak spots and try to fortify them. It’s a big area, though.”
“Just do your best.” Keir helped me to my feet. “We should get going. Zev’s not known for his patience, and the pixies could break Buddha’s Zen.”
The scent of sulfur and smoke seared the air as Zev flashed into the room. Damn, my bedroom was getting a ton of action lately, and none of it was the fun kind.
His wild stare made my pulse bound. “Leprechauns,” he whispered with a shiver. “I can’t stop them by myself. So many of them. They’re everywhere.”