My Soul to Take (28 page)

“You're right,” I pulled away from him. “I'm going back to Faerie.”

“Is it wrong that an LL Cool J song just started playing in my head?” Trevor grimaced.

“I'm going back to Faerie, Faerie, Faerie,” Kirill started to sing
I'm going back to Cali
with his new improved lyrics.

“I'm going back to Faerie,” Trevor picked it up. “Hmmm, I don't think so.”

“If you two yahoos are quite done with your musical rendition,” Odin grumbled at them but I didn't hear the end of it. I was already on my way back to Cali... er, I mean Faerie.

“And there she is,” Arach came forward to kiss me. “I miss-”

“Yeah, yeah,” I pushed him away and rushed into the nursery.

“A Thaisce,” he growled as he chased after me. “How dare you interrupt my romantic endeavors.”

“I need to see something,” I waved the goggles at him.

“You're using those things on our children?” He came to a stop inside the nursery and stared at me in horror. “Why? What's going on?”

The goblin who had been on baby duty, jumped up and ran from the room without a word. Dexter, who was sleeping between the cribs, opened one eye to half-mast, took stock of what I was doing, and then closed it again.

“I'll tell you after I know for sure,” I pulled the thick goggles on and everything went brighter.

Tlaloc was an Aztec god who had once been friends with Blue. He was kind of an evil bastard and we ended up killing him. But he had these goggles which allowed him to see very far... into someone's soul even. When I wore the goggles, I could see what people truly were. The truth was revealed to me. I once saw all of my beasts and I saw a crown upon Kirill's head. That was when I'd learned he had once been Russian royalty. The glasses showed it all.

So when I looked down at Rian, I wasn't surprised to see his brilliant core of fire. I had expected that. As I had expected the shimmering form of his dragon stretching out ethereally past his human shape. What I hadn't expected was that Rian's dragon wasn't like Arach's, it was more like mine. His dragon wasn't in pure dragon form, it was a combination of human shape and the beast. There, lying in the crib before me, was a half-form ghosting over the solid substance of my son's body. A baby boy with shining horns and a glittering tail. Translucent wings wrapped around his sleeping body and spiritual claws tipped his little hands.

“Rian,” I whispered as my eyes filled with tears. Now was the time for rejoicing. “My little dragon boy.”

“What's going on, Vervain?!” Arach hissed.

“Shh,” I chided him as I sniffed back my tears. “One more to go.”

I headed to Brevyn's crib with a pounding heart. I could see the gleam of his soul before I saw his body. Then I was standing beside the cradle, looking down at a glowing, shifting swirl of energy I assumed to be Brevyn's undecided god soul. Trails of light streamed out from it, as if it were questing for magic, looking for something to make its own. But within that swirling vortex there was a steady, blinding light; a cache of energy that was feeding the vortex. As I watched, sparks siphoned off from the cache and went surging down the tendrils like electric signals. Was he communicating magically with the world around him?

Then I noticed that the tips of one of the tendrils was crimson. It faded up to orange, then yellow, and then back to that blinding white. The tendril undulated sharply like a cracking whip and flame burst out along it.

“Fire,” I whispered and reached out to touch the tendril.

It raced to meet my hand like it was magnetically pulled to me and then twisted around my finger lovingly. I gave a little gasp and felt Arach pushing in behind me.

“I feel that, Vervain,” he whispered. “What are you doing?”

“Just wait,” I said absently as I looked closer to the ends of the other tendrils.

Oh gods, there it was; a tendril filled with shimmering liquid, deep indigo fading to cerulean, sapphire, turquoise, and then sky-blue before blending back into that white heart. As if it sensed my notice, it lifted and the water within it bubbled then burst from it in a mist of tiny droplets.

“Water,” I murmured and Arach stiffened behind me.

Then I spotted the verdant glow of earth, sending questing vines out. I frowned at it and searched further. I knew I'd find... yes, there. A tendril of golden light bursting into breezes. A tiny tornado circled it. And then, skulking in the shadows, harder to see because it almost looked like a shadow itself, was a tendril full of darkness. I only spotted it because of the sparkling mist leaking from it. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Darkness, all drawn to the Spirit at the center. But these were only five of the numerous lengths of light streaming out from Brevyn's core and the others were still searching. My son remained undecided but it seemed that Arach was right; Brevyn could hold all of the elements if he wanted to.

I pulled off the goggles and turned to the Dragon King with a sober look.

“I have some news for you about your sons,” I smiled a little when I saw how worried he was.

“Vervain, I swear on the bones of my father that if you don't tell-”

“They both have two souls,” I announced and he stopped to gape at me.

“What did you say?”

“When our sons split, it created a vacuum,” I explained the theory. “They both needed another soul to make themselves complete again.”

“And they only had one option left,” Arach gave a huffing sigh. “Are you saying that Rian...?”

“He has a human soul along with his faerie essence,” I nodded. “If the worst should ever happen, he can be reborn or I can bring him back from the Void.”

“A Thaisce,” Arach hugged me. “That's miraculous.”

“You haven't asked about Brevyn,” I teased.

“What about Brevyn?” He pulled back to look at me somberly.

“Rian's human soul gives him the possibility of rebirth and an extra horde of energy to use, maybe to fuel his magic,” I explained. “Brevyn's human soul has been dominated by his god soul, a soul which hasn't decided on its magic yet but which longs for faerie magic. The human soul is fueling the god soul's desire and these unresolved potentials are most likely why he's been able to move through the world so magically.”

“Vervain,” Arach growled. “Speak plainly.”

“Brevyn has called all of the elements to himself,” I chewed at my lip, trying to work out the wording. “He seems to be communicating with his environment and searching for more.”

“He has all of the elements and he still wants more?” Arach gaped at me for two seconds before he burst into laughter. “That's my son!”

“Arach,” I shook my head, unable to hold back the huff of laughter which escaped my lips. “It's unsettling to see. He could choose all of the elements or he could change his mind and choose something else entirely.”

“He's fireproof,” Arach mused. “We know this already and we know that he remains so in the future. He showed you that vision. So he must have at least decided to keep Fire.”

“Alright, I'll concede that,” I frowned.

“Did the Fire look more rooted than the other elements?” Arach asked.

“No,” I blinked. “But it' hard to say.”

“A Thaisce,” he took me by the upper arms. “These are the facts; you saw all of the elements within him, you saw him looking for even more magic, you saw a human and a god soul which gives him twice the power of a normal being, and the god soul has had a previous life which has taught it to be perceptive and careful. I think if we consider all of these details, there is little to worry about. Brevyn will make his choices and we will help him.”

You're wrong,
Faerie's grim voice came in my head. Arach stiffened so he must have heard her too.

“What do you mean?” I demanded

I should have seen it before,
she sounded tired.
I don't know why I didn't think to look.

“Look at what?” Arach growled and Brevyn gave a cry. “Sorry, Son,” he began to rock Brevyn's cradle.
“Shhh, it's just Faerie.”

Brevyn's soul... souls,
she corrected.
You're correct about the dual souls, Vervain. But the god soul is not trying to decide on a magic.

“But the bean-nighe said-”

The bean-nighe was only partially right,
she interrupted me.
Brevyn is searching but it's not in the way you've assumed.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

Think, Vervain! Gods can't choose their magic.

“But I thought maybe since I was able to choose god magic...”

That what; your son could choose a magic for his god soul?
She scoffed.

“But I saw the elements within the tendrils of his god soul.”

Yes, you did,
Faerie agreed.
As did I. Brevyn does have the ability to cast spells and yes, he could make himself immune to fire if he wanted too, but this fire you see isn't an elemental god magic. It's a fey magic which is the result of his god magic.

“I'm totally confused,” I huffed and went to sit in the rocking chair.

Well that's nothing new,
she chuckled.

“Faerie,” I growled.

Alright,
she sighed.
I'll explain it so that even you can understand. I didn't know to look for it until you did. That questing glow you see is his god soul, yes, but it has already been given its magic. The magic the bean-nighe told you of, though she didn't understand entirely what she saw. It's the magic of Borrowing.

“Borrowing?” Arach laid a hand on Brevyn's back.

“Brevyn's magic has the ability to take another person's magic,” I explained to Arach.

Finally!
Faerie declared.
Yes, your son can have any magic he desires, even faerie magic, thanks to his accommodating human soul.

“The universal soul type,” I muttered.

What? Oh... yes, that's a good way to put it. The human soul can accept both fey and god magic, it's flexible. Anyway, that's what you saw, his god magic reaching out to what's around him, connecting with potential sources of magic to borrow and completely unlimited in his options due to his universally compatible human soul. However, the only magic in Faerie he can draw on are the elements and...

“And me,” I whispered and yanked the goggles back on.

Sure enough, I found the blush of Love on the tip of one of his tendrils. Another cord glowed an earthy mustard and I knew it was my Intare magic. Finally, the pale light of my moon caught my eye. They were all camouflaged among the rest of his glowing threads, subtly filled as opposed to the brilliant colors of the elements.

And you,
she confirmed.
The elements are brighter because he has more of their energy available to him here. If he were in the God Realm, among a host of gods, you'd most likely see those tendrils full of their magic. It doesn't mean he's chosen them and he will never hold any of them like you hold your three. He simply connects with everything nearby and when he wishes to, he makes a temporary choice. That is the undecided nature Nainsidh saw. In a way, he will always remain undecided because even when he chooses, he has the option of letting go and making another choice.

“So wait,” I held up a finger. “It sounds like he can have any magic but only one at a time.”

I believe so but I'll have to watch him and see what happens when he uses a magic,
Faerie mused.
If that's true, then when he decides on one magic, the magic should dominate his aura and those questing tendrils should disappear. However, I could be mistaken. Perhaps his human soul will make it possible to hold several magics at once. We will just have to wait and see. But for now, it's pretty clear that until Brevyn decides to keep a magic, he will be in this questing stage, where his psychic abilities are heightened to help him discern what magic would be best for him at any given moment.

“So he'll always have the psychic abilities,” I sighed.

This is a good thing, Vervain. It will be immensely helpful to him.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Our son can have any magic he wants, whenever he wants,” Arach surmised.

Keep it in your pants, Fire King,
Faerie chuckled.
But go ahead and think about the possibilities. If Brevyn could change elements at will.
..

“Oh hell no!” I pointed at Arach. “Wipe that look from your face. We already talked about this. It went bad when you tried to use Rian to rule Faerie and it will go bad if you try to use Brevyn.”

My realm is ruled exactly as it should be,
Faerie chided Arach.
Do not upset the balance again.

He gave a grudging nod.

What I meant was; you could have one son to rule Fire and one to be an ambassador between the kingdoms.

“An ambassador?” Arach made a disgusted face.

“An ambassador,” I repeated and started to smile. “He could speak to the other fey with complete understanding of their elements.”

Brevyn would be the ultimate faerie,
Faerie agreed.
Able to unify all of my children with his understanding and wisdom.