The 13th Mage (27 page)

He reached for her and hugged her.

Jennifer collapsed into his arms and cried like she hadn’t cried since she was a baby.

“My mother’s dead.”

The doctor let her cry, then helped her to a chair.

“Your mother is on life support, we kept her here for you to be able to say goodbye to her, but she has already left us, there is absolutely nothing we can do.
Stay as long as you want, you have as long as you want.
When you are ready let us know, okay?”

Jennifer nodded.

“I’ll leave you two alone then,” he said and stood up.

Jennifer nodded, the doctor stroked her head and left.

She stayed all day and all night, holding her mother’s empty hand, searching through her new knowledge of a way to bring her back.
But there was nothing.

She left the room and signed the forms, then made her way back to
Oak Place
.

The house was empty. Untouched.
It looked as though nothing had happened there at all.

Harry Johnson arrived an hour later, his young assistant right behind him pushing Heather along in her pushchair.

“Oh, Heather,” she said grabbing her baby, kissing her and hugging her until there were no more kisses or hugs left in her to give.

“No, grandma is not there, she’s gone somewhere else,” she said to Heather’s incomprehension of her grandmother’s absence.

“I offer my sincerest condolences Jennifer, it is a terrible shock.
Such a young and energetic woman.”

“Thank you.
I was wondering if you could take care of all the necessary arrangements.”

“Yes, of course.”

Jennifer looked at her small baby, looked into her soul.
There was no evil there, only love and light.
Her skills were infinitely small.

Heather was not the
Thirteenth
Mage.
How could they release it by killing her baby?

She closed her eyes and held her baby tight. Esther had died, Sean had done a terrible thing and Owen had gone missing, all for nothing.
They had the wrong baby.

“Bastards.
They’ll pay for this.”

“Excuse me?”

“I need you to take Heather again Mr. Johnson, only for a couple of days, there are things I have to sort out… In
Ireland
.”

“Yes of course, you take your time.
Mrs. Johnson is delighted with Heather.
We didn’t know whether to get a nanny, it all happened so quickly. Paul here has been a life saver.”

“Jennifer?”

It was Owen.
It took Jennifer a couple of seconds to absorb everything he knew.

“Owen, I have to go now.”

“What’s happened Jennifer? You are upset.”

“I have to go now.”

Jennifer kissed Heather goodbye and strapped her back into the pushchair.

“I want you to know that Heather is Owen’s daughter,” she said turning to Harry.

“I knew it!”

The old man smiled at the young baby, then looked back at Jennifer concerned.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“Owen might be arriving here soon, he’ll want to see his baby, it isn’t right for me to deny him his rights.”

It was good to make the old man happy like that, she didn’t know of any other way to repay him.

“Yes, of course.
Don’t worry, I will take care of everything.”

She waited until the men drove her baby away then went back into the house.

There was only one way to stop the
Thirteen
now, she needed to get hold of the
Staff
.
She would undo all the damage they had done, she would bring her mother back, she would put it all right.

But first she had to go to meet the enemy and take their skills.
She tapped into her new acquired knowledge and located the main Shadow headquarters.
It was in one of the other dimensions, they met in the Astral plane.
Clever really.

She went into Owen’s study, lay down and detached her essence from her body, she heard voices, all around her, people chatting, then silence, she imagined
she had
eyes and could
now
see.
Around her there mages were standing, staring, more
were
arriving as the seconds ticked by.
Some of them looked angry, others frightened, and others simply grinned confidently.

One of them, a man, shouted and
launched an attack against her. S
he absorbed his magic and learned it.
This seemed to be a cue to the rest who also began the attack.
Jennifer defended herself easily, e
very step lighter than the rest. S
he worked through them, touching them, absorbing their knowledge and skills.

Dark swirls covered her hands and started growing into her arms every time she touched one of the dark mages.
She tried to rub it off but the swirls moved and grew.

“STOP.”

The mages parted, an old man stared at Jennifer, he was evil.
She felt frightened.

“I know you,” she said.
She had seen him in her nightmares, it was Joitan, he was coming for her.

“You can’t possess me Joitan, no one can.”

The old man laughed, slowly his features changed, Jennifer found herself looking at her exact copy, a clone.
She stared at her mirror image remembering who she really was, how her identity as Jennifer was small and weak, not a real identity at all.

“You are not me!” she shouted looking away from the eyes, which absorbed her, “I won’t let you,” she added and tried to return to her body.

She felt herself falling, fast, uncontrolled, right behind her came Joitan, if he overtook her all would be lost.

She fell into her body and every cell hurt, breathless and dizzy she struggled to pull her bodies back together.

Joitan was there, ready, stronger, pushing her out.
She had to do something quickly, something drastic, she had to destroy him.
She had to destroy herself.
But not now, not while he was powerful, not after he had absorbed the power of all the mages she had touched.
No she had to do it before she came into her powers.
She had to destroy herself in the past.

The
Staff
. Would it work?

Looking into the future, the power of prophecy was now hers.
She wondered whom she had taken it from.

There was more than one future, there were alternatives, all muddled, confused, there was a world filled with strife, war, destruction, hunger, death, pollution.
It was her world.
Was it worth saving?
She didn’t know.
Another was an ordered world, mindless, unified under one leader, the end of free will, the end of hunger, the end of war, the end of evolution.
Which was best?
Where the Shadow truly evil?
All the wanted was a world that worked like a finely tuned clock.
But it couldn’t be true, the Shadow fed from suffering, it was its only source of nourishment, all the rest was additional. It would not eliminate suffering it would propagate it, find new ways to make it grow.

No.

She wouldn’t allow them to continue, they had killed her mother, and they would carry on killing.

“She was just a pawn, not our true mother,” it was Joitan.
His voice was her voice.
She remembered being him, she remembered the world so many thousands of years in the past, she remembered other lives, in other places, as other beings.
His essence was her essence, they were one and the same... yet, he was not her, not quite, not in this life.
He was getting stronger, gaining territory.
It was time to act.

She ran to her room, grabbed a few personal things, Jennifer things, her personal
music player
, her favorite music,
she thought of Skerries and
imagined herself there.

The beach was deserted, the
Staff
was near, she put on her
earbuds,
and
switched on the music
drown
ing
Joitan’s voice inside her mind.
It wouldn’t be long now.

There was rubble all around.
Owen checked his brother for broken bones, and then
carried
him out of the crater.
The house was in ruins, the magic protection was gone. He
got
Sean on
to
the lawn and brought him back round.

Sean sat up confused.

“They are all gone, something big happened here, someone has taken all the magic out of the place, it’s quite amazing,” Owen informed his elder brother.

He felt Jennifer in his mind, in his very being,
“Jennifer?”

“Owen,”
she replied, hesitated, he felt her hesitation and felt desperate to be with her,
“I have to go now,”
she added.

“What’s happened Jennifer? You are upset.”

“I have to go now.”

“Jennifer!”

But there was no answer.

He searched for her, it was useless, she was gone.

He sat next to Sean who wasn’t fully conscious yet.
The air was thick with dust and smoke.
He had to take stock and see what he should do next, what he had to do about Sean, work out a way to find Jennifer.

One thing he was sure about was that he was now out of the battle, Jennifer had felt stronger than he had ever been, her power still resonated in his body.

His brother was mage, but his skills were not active, he had been kept in stasis, not allowed to develop either his skills or his mind.
His thoughts were basic, immature, and innocent.

Sean looked around at the devastation in disbelief.

“It’s all my fault Owen, if I hadn’t been tempted to come to earth, if I hadn’t made a deal with them Jennifer would be okay now, none of this would have happened.”

“Don’t worry, you are not to blame.
Ignorance is the real culprit and it is something which you can remedy,” Owen said, helping his brother to his feet.

First things first, thought Owen, he had to get them out of there.
Traveling via conve
ntional means was not necessary. T
here was so much energy displacement that a little more wouldn’t make any difference at all.

“Okay, we need to get you started on your abilities, if we don’t then you won’t survive very long in this world.
Give me your hand, this is called teletra
n
sportation nowadays.”

Sean felt the world being sucked from under his feet, his being disappearing, and then coming back to him again.

The room was dark, the air thick a
nd hot, the curtains were drawn.
Sean could see his brother beside him, looking at him, smiling.
Sean d
idn’t like the darkness, he tried to
make light come, and then he remembered that in this world his thoughts did not command the environment.
He went up to the window and o
pened the curtains and
the window to let some fresh air in.
A wave of humid heat hit him, taking his breath away.
He tried to adjust the temperature but then remembered how cold he had been those months in
Ireland
, the fact that he couldn’t make the necessary heat adjustments had taken him by surprise then as well.
The heat in this planet was definitely not adjustable.
He closed the window.

“Excellent! Just in time for dinner,” said Owen looking at the alarm clock on his bedside table, “I had better tell Raul there are two more for dinner. Make yourself at home, you’ll find some clothes in that wardrobe, cho
o
se some, I’ll be right back, we might have to make them a bit bigger in order for them to fit you, no worries, I’ll look into that when the time comes,” saying this Owen left Sean on his own.

The amount of changes made Sean feel small and vulnerable, he felt bad about all the trouble he had caused even if Owen said it wasn’t his fault.
He knew it was his fault.
He knew he should not have taken the mages offer, it felt wrong every step of the way.
If only he had listened to himself everyone would be happier now.
If only he could make time go back, if only he could undo all he had done.

“Sean, this is Raul, I will introduce you to the rest of the staff later on.
We’ll have a quick wash and eat, we can worry about cleaning up properly after dinner,” he said and sped past toward the bathroom.

“Master Sean, it is an
hono
r, your brother told me you were identical twins but I didn’t realize how very much alike you could be.
Welcome home, you will be very happy here.”

“Very nice to meet you Raul.”

Sean offered his hand as he’d been taught in
Ireland
but the aging man went up to him and gave him a hug.

Dinner was roast me
a
t in ground pepper, ri
c
e and spinach, for dessert a bowl of fresh fruit.
“All fresh from this morning’s market,” Raul informed them.

Owen ate enthusiastically, he seemed very happy indeed.
Every now and then he would stop talking and would stay still, listening, watching something invisible to Sean
’s eyes
.
Then
he would carry on
as before.

Owen
smiled and nodded, yes, he had taken a decision.
Why had they come here?
It was the closest thing Owen had to call a home.
Owen had brought his brother home.

Sean moved in the chair uncomfortably, he had to get used to people, to the noise, to the food.
He wouldn’t be go
ing back to his lonely paradise. H
e would never be alone again.
Somehow the thought released the tension he had felt since arriving on Earth.

His brother smiled again, he could hear his thoughts.

“Don’t be afraid.
This world is but a big adventure.
Life is but a big adventure, your journey has just began and luckily for you I am your guide,” Owen said.

Sean thought of Jennifer.
He had always known he would lose her one way or another, but when he finally felt her disconnecting it had taken all wish to live away from him.
Now he knew that without that wish to live he would not survive
in
this world.

Owen put down his fork and took Sean’s hand in his.

“I didn’t find you so you could go off and die on me brother,” he said.

Sean felt a surge of energy reach him from Owen’s hands, it was golden
colo
red, it was blinding, overwhelming.

He pulled away, “what is it!”

Owen looked at him puzzled, “what’s what?”

Sean looked at his hand, the light was still there,
travel
ing up his arm, covering him from head to toe.

He wanted to live, he wanted to shout to the world!
He felt alive.

“I feel alive!”

For the first time in his long and lonely existence Sean felt truly alive.

His complexion changed, Owen felt satisfied his brother wouldn’t leave him.
He still didn’t know why Sean was looking at his hands, then Owen’s hands, moving his own up and down, but it didn’t matter, his brother would stay.
He thought of borrowing to find out what Sean was seeing, but then changed his mind.
He’d had enough of the prohibited arts for some time to come.

Shifts and changes shook the world.
It felt like a giant had stretched after a long sleep.
Both brothers stopped in mid thought and felt the vibrations around them.

Never underestimate the enemy
.

The thought arrived from the front door, the doorbell rang.

The brothers waited in silence.

Raul came in, followed closely by an old lady dressed in white trousers, a flowery blouse and a baseball cap with a small battery powered fan attached to the front.

Owen bolted upright.

“Your Aunty Señor, she has just flown in from
Paris
,” said Raul smiling from ear to ear.

“Keeper,” said Owen.

“Owen, young Sean, how nice to see you both together.”

“Shall I set another place Señora O’Neil or have you eaten already, some tea perhaps?”

“Lunch I think Raul, I love your cooking,” the old lady answered.

“Oh, yes,” Raul answered proud of the compliment.
He
was very fond of the boys Aunt. S
he often visited, bringing gifts for all the staff and their families.

“And have the chests put in the guest room, I shall be staying a short while.”

“Straight away,” he said leaving them.

“Owen, please sit down, I am not going to eat you, you know.”

“Sorry Keeper,” he answered, sitting down. Then frowned and got up again, this wasn’t going to happen to him twice, not if he had any say in the matter.
He wasn’t about to be meddled with anymore, and he was not going to allow any being, no matter how powerful it might be, to meddle with his brother’s life.
Not without a fight anyhow.
His legs folded and his chair moved to meet him.

“Earth is all very well for a little while, but it can become rather hot at times,” she said, “Owen, you can be very stubborn, I know, I have seen it in you, but at this present moment you have to sit and listen because time is short.”

Owen stopped struggling to get back on his feet
and looked at the light-
being turned tourist, he had a short temper, that, he knew.
It had got him into more than a bit of trouble in his lifetime.
He calmed down considerably at the thought and watched as his brother and the Keeper became acquainted.
If only Sean knew how much trouble this creature had caused him.
He
realiz
ed that Sean and Jennifer meeting and having Heather was also part of the Keeper’s plans, probably anyway.
She had probably planned the entire thing, why shouldn’t she, she had the power.
She had the p
ower to do anything she pleased. S
he had the power to stop the Shadow in their tracks with less than a wish, so why take the trouble to ruin their lives in order to defeat the Shadow Ones?
Maybe
she didn’t want to defeat them. M
aybe she was one of them.
But then this didn’t make any sense at all
because she could just delete him and Jennifer and everyone else he knew from the face of the earth any moment she wished to do so.

Raul came in bringing a new set
of cutlery and a plate of food. H
e
walked
carefully around them and set it in front of the Keeper.
He
seemed to be under the impression that this being was a harmless aunty, come for the holidays.
If only he knew, thought Owen.

“Yes I could,” said the Keeper before Owen had a chance to think that she could save the forest, could eliminate pollution, could make hunger a thing of the past, “but that would be like doing your
favo
rite child’s homework.”

“Sorry?” Asked Sean who
had been asking about his twin soul’s
whereabouts, apparently the old lady was his father sister
and knew rather a lot about him
.

“How can sufferi
ng, decease, death, be homework?
How can you stand aside and let these things happen?”

Before she answered Owen
realiz
ed he himself had taken no notice of those things until this very moment, that he could have done plenty to stop them happening but he had not.
He had simply let mortals do as they pleased for as long as he could remember.
He could have stopped pollution at the start, he was there when the first mills were made, the industrial revolution happened around him, but he was too fascinated to think it was a bad thing.
Yet he could do plenty now, he could travel the world fixing things, he could find out how things got this bad and reverse them.
He could, if he had a world to work with.

“The biggest enemy the human race has, a race you are part of, and the biggest strength the Shadow has, is apathy.
No one does anything to stop destruction and suffering.
Not unless it touches them directly.
No one but a handful of individuals, none of which are mages I am afraid,” The Keeper said while cutting into her roast.

“I’m sorry, I’m a bit lost. We were talking about one of my twin souls? You said one of my twin souls is here?”

“Ah! Yes, one of your twin souls.”

“His twin? He has a twin soul?”