Dark Magic (70 page)

Trev’s eyes wandered back to Mari, and he stopped churning. She was crying.

“Stop that, mother. You know I hate it so. Do you still grieve?”

“I’ll grieve until the day I die, child. Then you can grieve us both, and you can keep your secrets forever after.”

Trev watched his mother cry in consternation.

“All right,” he said at last. “I’ll tell you where I’ve been. But you won’t like it. You’ll wish you’d never asked.”

Mari looked at him with fresh concern. Her eyes narrowed and she stopped crying. Her hands slipped down from her face, folded into fists, and came to rest on her hips.

“Just tell me.”

And so, reluctantly, Trev told his tale.

* * *

Several days earlier Trev had been wandering in the Haven Wood, as he often did in springtime. Caught up in the excitement of chasing a hare under the canopy of leaves until it finally escaped down a burrow, he looked up and saw something rare and astoundingly close: a rainbow.

Rainbows were a fearful sight for any thinking person from the Haven. Rainbows were lovely to behold, of course, but they were dangerous. The Blue Jewel Lavatis was capable of causing the rainbow to march against the winds and rains. Natural rainbows stayed still, but they were not safe anyway. They had two ends to them; at one end was always a great boon—but at the other was a hidden danger.

Everyone knew that, and everyone knew enough to hide from the glow of a rainbow in the sky.

But Trev was not like the Riverfolk he’d grown up with. Although Trev was only half elf, he took after his father’s side more than he did his mother’s. That was the nature of all half-elves: by definition, they took after their elven side more than they did their human side. Half-breeds that didn’t follow the pattern of elves became foul things almost without exception. They became trolls, ogres, beastmen—or worse.

So when he saw the rainbow, his heart did not pound with fear, but rather swelled with excitement. Here was something his kind understood better than anyone he’d grown up with.

Trev knew that in olden times, men had been braver in these lands. They’d traveled leagues as quickly as they could to find the foot of any rainbow they chanced to see. Often, the rainbow would vanish before the treasure seeker could reach the foot of it. Most accounted that a good thing. But sometimes, a man would manage to reach the spot, usually atop a mountain of bald stone or glimmering in the burnt bowels of a lightning-blasted tree. There were stories of pots of gold that were found on these rare occasions, or magical gifts, or smiling, accommodating maidens.

But there were other stories as well. Stories of strife and terror. The trouble was that there were two ends to every rainbow. One of them glimmered and shifted over a beautiful bounty—but the other invariably bathed a horror of some kind with its eldritch light.

When following a rainbow to its foot, there was no way to know in advance what you might find when you reached it: beauty or horror, pleasure or pain.

Trev stood staring up into the sky, transfixed. The sun was shining, but rainclouds rumbled to the North. He could tell the rainbow was quite close—perhaps within the reach of someone who was swift of foot.

Something took hold of his mind then. He hadn’t planned to make the attempt, but when he saw the curve of it and guessed the western end was closer than the eastern…he could not stop himself. He sprang into a loping run and vanished under the treetops.

Every hundred paces, he glanced up into the sky to see if it was still there. Sometimes, his view was blocked and he despaired, but after another hundred paces, he found it again, corrected his bounding course, and set off with renewed vigor.

As he ran, he accounted his chances as very good of reaching the foot of it. The apparition seemed fresh, and the light rain and sun continued unabated. Conditions were perfect, and among all the boys of the Haven, he was quite possibly the fleetest of foot.

And so he ran and ran carelessly, grinning and full of life. It was a challenge to him, that was all. An adventure. A story to be told later and a good time to be had now. He never concerned himself with what he would find; the fun was in the seeking. He’d never much wanted gold or to see something frightening. What he wanted was to do something today which no man of the River Haven had had the courage to do for long centuries.

He came to a stream and skipped over it, stone-by-stone, never letting his toes get wet. This stream was the border between the Haven Wood and the Deepwood. As such, it marked a passing point from an area of relative safety to a darker, denser forest that was known to harbor dangerous creatures.

After a few more minutes of running, he found himself in a thicket of fir trees. They scratched at him with claw-like branches.  Breaking free of the firs, he rounded a great pine trunk to find it had a fallen twin. He bounded over the log in a single tremendous leap. He was grinning broadly, but his expression faded when he next gazed up and saw the sky was darkening overhead, turning to an iron gray.

“No!” he shouted, knowing this could be the end of his adventure. Rainbows required light and rain together. If either the sunshine or the storm clouds won the contest completely, the rainbow would be snuffed out and vanish forever.

Trev had only one recourse: he ran faster. The wind roared in his ears and his silver locks flashed and bounced on his shoulders. He all but flew now, taking huge strides that would require any normal man three steps to make. He didn’t bother pausing periodically to look up for the rainbow.  It was either there, or it wasn’t. To shift his concentration away from his running while moving at top speed might mean disaster. He had to twist, turn and duck around each tree trunk like an eagle soaring between branches. He knew he had to be close to the foot of it, and figured that he’d soon know the truth of the matter.

His first inkling came when the land around him turned a deep lavender. A moment later it became blue, then a blinding green. He staggered and stopped, looking around. He’d found it. This was the terminus, the end of the rainbow. All around him, the earth and trees were painted with the deepest, purest colors he’d ever seen.

His sides heaved and he rested his palms upon his kneecaps. He was winded, he realized in surprise. But although his breath came in whistling gasps, he grinned broadly. He’d done something no man had managed in a century or more.

“Who are you?” asked a voice.

Trev straightened and spun around on his left heel, seeking the source of the voice. It sounded female, and came from close by.

There! He spotted her, a figure dressed in shimmering clothes. She stepped closer as he watched. Had she been hidden behind the trunk of that fallen pine? Possibly.

“I’m Trev, a boy of the Haven,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. I’m sorry if I startled you. Did you come here to seek the foot of the rainbow as well?”

She laughed softly and stepped closer. Trev frowned as she continued her approach. She did not seem afraid. Quite the opposite. If anything, she had the attitude of a stalking forest lion.

He saw now that she wore a robe of what must be white cloth. The robe seemed to scintillate in the light of the rainbow. A round oval stone that shone like fire clasped the robe to her neck. The stone was beautiful, but then he suspected that a bed sheet would be lovely to behold here in this enchanted place.

“I didn’t think anyone could run so fast,” she said. “Are all boys of the Haven like you?”

“No,” he said. “Not exactly. I’m faster than any of them.”

“I believe it. But even still, you almost didn’t make it, child.”

Trev looked around, losing interest in the woman. He wanted to see something unusual. After all, that’s why he’d come.

“I think the rainbow is about to die,” he said. “Is there anything else here?”

“Like gold or jewels?”

“I suppose. Anything unusual? I was hoping to see something new.”

“You don’t want to find a treasure and take it home with you?”

“No,” said Trev. “I would like to see it, though.”

The woman stood nearby now and she cocked her head as she gazed at him. She frowned.

“You aren’t what I expected to meet. There’s Fae blood in your veins.”

Trev didn’t answer her. He walked around her in widening circles, looking at the landscape. Already, he could see the red portion of the rainbow was coming apart, forming bright and dark spots like puddles of blood on the floor of the forest.

“Damn,” he said. “It’s ending, and there’s nothing here to see. I’m very disappointed. The legends must have been the ravings of drunks and braggarts.”

The woman snorted as if in disbelief. Trev turned his attention back to her.

“What am I, then?” she demanded. “A turnip in the road, crushed by a wagon wheel?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re a very interesting person.”

She came closer then, peering into his face. Then she took a step back.

“I see the blood of Oberon in you. I can’t fathom why you aren’t affected by my charms.”

“Were you trying to charm me? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

She shook her head bemusedly. “I think you’re the one who’s charming me. I find you as fascinating as you find me dull. What a strange turn of events. One would think you’d created this show of colored light to attract me rather than the other way around.”

Finally, the lady had Trev’s full attention. “You summoned the rainbow?” he said. “You? To lure me here?”

“Yes, Trev,” she said. “I did.”

“What’s your name?”

“I am Lady Morgana.”

“Tell me, fair Lady, how did you do it?”

She sat on a tree stump and smiled at him. It seemed to him that her confidence had returned somewhat.

“You don’t care who I am,” she said thoughtfully. “You don’t care that I lured you here—you don’t even want to know why. What you want to know is how I did it...”

“Exactly.”

“I think you have a weakness as great as your strength, boy. Do know what it is?”

“My mother says I can’t keep my nose out of things.”

“Exactly,” Morgana said. “You’re curious. You seek the dangerous and the unknown, which are one and the same.”

Trev shrugged. He’d been lectured by adults on precisely these points all his life. “Are you going to tell me how you did it or not?”

“I will, if you strike a bargain with me.”

Trev hesitated. He watched the woman as she sat and stared like a cat about to pounce. He did not fear her physically, as she appeared unarmed and relatively harmless. He gathered from her behavior that she thought he should have been overwhelmed by her charms, but he’d felt nothing special in the way of attraction toward her. He’d already kissed half the young maidens in the Haven, and this older woman seemed no more enticing than any of them had. If anything, he found her overbearing attitude off-putting.

“What sort of bargain?” he asked at last.

“First,” Morgana said, “you must lay with me. Right here, under the dying light of this rainbow on these sodden leaves.”

Trev considered. His mother had made him promise not to seduce young girls of the Haven. She’d insisted he was too young and they were the same. But this woman wasn’t from home. She didn’t fall under any such promises. He smiled with mild interest. He was a young half-elf, after all, and they weren’t known for their shyness.

“I agree. And what would the second thing be?”

She clasped his hands with her smaller fingers.

“Second, you will find something for me. You will seek it with all your heart and bring it back to me. And you must avoid telling people what it is you seek.”

Trev frowned. “Find what?”

“The Quicksilver Jewel. The stone that is the same color as your shining hair.”

Trev’s frown deepened. He snorted. “Is that all? I can’t promise to do that. I have no idea where it is. No one else does, either. You’re trying to give me a fool’s errand. I won’t spend the rest of my days in your service seeking a none-such.”

“You don’t have to seek forever. Just for a year and a day. That’s all, and if you tried your best and failed, you will be released from your bargain.”

Trev considered. He had never bedded a woman before and was as curious about the process as any young man his age might be. He’d always thought he would end up going to the Twilight lands to find a nice elf girl, or falling in love with a Haven girl the way his father Puck had done. Marriage had been drummed into him as a clear first step. But this way—this way seemed quicker and infinitely simpler. Better still, if he gave into this woman’s advances, he would not be breaking any vow to his mother.

On the second point, he was less interested. To him, a year was still a long time. His lifespan would measure many centuries, possibly even millennia. But he didn’t want to waste an entire year on a fool’s errand.

“A year is too long,” he said. “I’ll seek the Jewel until Midsummer’s Eve—no longer.”

Morgana’s mood shifted with startling rapidity. She made a hissing sound, ripped her hands from his and slapped him with the same fingers that had been caressing his a moment before.