“So, they’ll help us?”
“No.” Katie said. “Not unless they have to.”
“Okay, that’s a big help. Not.”
“But… I was thinking, how about I pay a call on the Fae Folk, and pull a few strings? You’d be surprised what a little Court support can do.”
Poe piped in at that point. “Indeed, there is a fairy fort not too far from the house.”
“So? What, we just waltz in there and—”
Katie cut me off, saying “Shit, no. Just getting invited is going to be almost impossible.”
“Define ‘almost’.”
“As in, I’m almost dead from this hangover.”
“Well, last night I was almost dead, period.”
“Don’t sweat. I’ll think of something.”
Katie. I always love her.
Shaking my head, I was about to enter the house, when the door suddenly swung open, startling me into a battle stance, but it was Brann. “Keira, why do you look like you’re about to slap me?”
“Uh, sorry. Still a little spooked after last night.” I quickly brought my hands down and smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles on my shirt. “And I was going to karate chop you, not just slap you.”
“You were going to karate chop me?” Brann sounded humored, but not all that impressed.
“Yes,” I snapped. “It turns out I am capable of a lot of things all of a sudden. Why can’t I secretly be a ninja too?” I put my hands on my hips, and tried to look resolute.
Brann shrugged. “After last night, anything is possible.” He started to walk past me. “Come now, ninja. We still need you to strengthen the ward.”
“Always right to business with you.” I mumbled to myself, as we walked toward the edge of the property. “Another fine opportunity, ruined by responsibility.”
“What?”
“I’m a liability,” I said quickly.
Brann gave an affirming noise. However, I had some questions of my own. “Brann? Can I ask why you’ve got all those tattoos?”
He gave me a look, but did not answer. I just went on prying.
“...I was just wondering, because you normally hide them. But last night... Anyway, you’ve got a lot of them, so...”
“Hmm...” Brann mulled over my inquiry. “Some of them are runes. Those symbols allow me to focus my power into certain aspects.”
“Such as?”
“Well, shielding. Or healing, or defense.”
“How about offense?”
He gave a shrugging sort of nod. “The others… Let’s just say I got them in respect of life.”
“‘In respect of life?’ You’ll have to explain,” I told him.
“Remember that dark magic like mine, or yours, requires life energy from the world around us to function. You’ve heard the saying ‘magic always has a price’?”
“I... guess. Okay.”
“It means, even if most things will recover, and regain that energy, it’s not just a question of getting the roses to bloom again. Over time, one can never lose sight of how serious the action is. The balance of life is eternally delicate, and that’s why I have marked myself - to remind me of that.” Brann scratched the back of his neck, and I saw a tiny strip of tattoo. “My body is a world map of sorts, marked with places that give me and others life.”
“That’s...” I searched for the proper word. “That’s really ontological.”
Brann stopped. Looked at me. “Cha-ching. The Morrigan uses another three dollar word.”
“And here I thought you got inked just to join a biker gang.”
“Mm-hm. Growing up a child of magic is never easy. When I was young, I took too much, and thoughtlessly. I went through a very dark period, and had to… well, wean myself, let’s say. Which was not easy. But I got my head clean, with a new commitment to respect the world around me. That’s the only way anyone can control their dark magic.” Brann looked over his shoulder briefly, then continued walking. “Last night, you felt the euphoria of dark magic’s power. You will need to remember what a terrible price comes with that power. Life is part of a fragile balance.”
Stunned and still trying to absorb the full meaning of Brann’s words, I just nodded. What does he mean about his ‘dark period’?
I noticed how the light streaked through the branches of the large trees, many of the boughs were bare. Twigs and leaves were scattered along the ground, but not, I realized, from the ‘storm’ last night. Something darker had stripped them of life. Was it me? Or was it Brann?
There was barely any movement around us, just the occasional bird or squirrel running up a tree. We finally reached the end of the gravel driveway and Brann turned to me. “We are here.”
I saw the large oak trees pushing through the ground, and fields of grass standing still in the wind. “Is this where the ward is?” I turned my head from side to side. “I don’t see anything.”
“Patience, ninja.” Brann raised his hand, as though he was feeling around for something. He opened his mouth and muttered something under his breath. The breeze picked up. Suddenly, I felt my body begin to pulse with power, and the ward shimmered into view. It looked like a wall of ethereally thin glass, connected by periodic strings and points.
“Do you see it?” Brann asked quietly.
It took a minute for the sight to sink in. Amazement doesn’t cover it. Our transparent magical barrier had been cracked into hundreds of glittering fragments, like a shatterproof windshield. Obviously busted, but still hanging in there. I slowly traced my fingers along the lines of one fragment. As soon as I did, the fragment started to glow a faint white, and began to ripple outwards, making the rest of the pieces glow as well.
“Wow, this is... something,” I mumbled, clearly having trouble with words today. “Does it always look like a drunk spider’s web, or...?”
“No. It should look clear and solid, like a very large window you can see through, but not pass through. Dothur and Dian quite literally broke through it, leaving us with these sort of shards.”
“It looks like they took a fucking crowbar to it,” I said. I sucked in a sharp breath, seeing
