“I want to apologize to Ada and Cara. Could I tell them before I go?” the warlock begs. The nerve of this insufferable male. Even I can tell he is not that sorry. Ada is staying protected and safe behind the ward. Niven scoffs, making it evident he agrees.
He levels a look of indignation toward the idiotic warlock. Gesturing at the guards, he bites out, “Take him away. Put him in solitary until I have time to question him further.” As the guards pull the warlock to his feet, Niven turns to me. “Can you drain his magick so he can’t put up a fight? I want him nice and docile for my friends at the prison.”
“Gladly,” I confirm. It takes little concentration to find his source of magick where it concentrates deep in his chest. I do not see it so much as feel it when I use my abilities, like I become a magnet that attracts magick. I pull it from him slowly at first, and then in one big tug. The warlock’s body spasms as I do so. When the last of it is gone, he gasps for air as he crumples, though he is caught by the guards’ firm grip on his arms before hitting the floor. Unwilling to display any more of my abilities to the group, I let it dissipate into the wild magick that flows naturally in the atmosphere.
As the contingent that just arrived from New York shuffle the warlock through the travel portal, one of Niven’s assistants sniffs derisively in their direction. “They’ve really joined the dark side.”
The other one barks a mirthless laugh. “No Whispered Folk community will let them in. They’ve basically turned into Malefic themselves.”
Once they have gone, Niven lets out a long sigh and scrubs his hands up and down his face. “That was too easy. The male barely put up a mental fight. He was so weak-minded. No wonder he was so easily swayed by them. He can barely think for himself.”
“Those plans sound dangerous. We must treat them like a serious threat,” I warn him, anger toward the warlocks seeping into my words.
“We are. Those warlocks can’t stoop too low. I don’t want to give them any opportunity to deal more damage to the town or to Ada,” he assures me. He pulls out his phone, and after a motion asking me to hold on for a moment, turns away from me. “He’s just through the portal. We need eyes on the nearby rivers and the edges of the ward for the other two. Abandoned fishing shack about three or four miles south. Bring in the flyers.”
I huff a laugh at the description. They must be a special team of winged Whispered Folk.
“Apologies, just wanted to get the ball rolling on this search. They’ll be through the portal within the hour,” Niven explains. “Why don’t I drop you back at Ada’s before I head to the constabulary to fill them in. We need to be ready for any possibility.”
As we get into the automobile, he pauses before starting it. “So it’s really that easy. You just took his magick?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “It’s rumored your people are capable of it, butashes,who could have known it was so effortless. It looked like you knocked the wind out of him without lifting a finger.”
I nod. “I am one of the most skilled in my clan, mayhap among all the yetis as well. His magick was not particularlycomplicated, nor was he trying to defend himself. But, yes, it is easy as you say. And I did not take his magick, just released it.”
“But youcantake it?” he detects astutely.
I grunt in the affirmative. “I do not absorb it myself or gain anything from it. But it is harnessable in other ways.”
“You store it somehow, I’m assuming? It makes more sense now that your clan chose to live in that frozen tundra where the Malefic like to go,” he observes.
I hold out my wrist, where a leather tie with several clear quartz beads wraps around it. He hums in understanding.
“The Malefic amass deep wells of magick even while approaching the North Pole where it is so highly concentrated. Clear quartz absorbs it well when we draw from them. It holds an immense amount of magick and remains stable, more so than other materials. It is also easy to procure,” I reply, carefully choosing my words.
“I wonder if the fae is doing something similar to Ada. Continually draining her magick. But what for? Does it feed its own?” His voice is not accusing, just contemplative. It mirrors my own thoughts when I learned what happened to her. His dark green eyes narrow at me. “What does your clan do with all that magick it acquires from the Malefic?”
I consider how to explain our use of it. We do not share this information with outsiders, but now is the time to start. The elders say Whispered Folk would seek to take it away from us if they knew the extent of it, that we could be perceived as a threat to magick wielders. Truthfully, they do not want to have to share their vast stores of magickal energy. That is why they insist we keep it secret.
“We use their concentrated magick as an energy source. It transformed our entire community when we made this discovery. Our people figured out how to create a sort of electrical grid from it. We transfer small amounts of that magickinto anything electrical or electronic, and it supplies the energy needed to power those. We created artificial suns to grow food. It powers lights, appliances, and computers. Anything that uses electricity. It works especially well with rechargeable batteries. And once we transfer a small amount of that concentrated magick to them, those devices will continue to absorb more from our vast stores of magickal energy on their own. Our current supply is so immense that it will last us centuries, even if we never hunt a Malefic again.”
Niven is speechless for a while. He wipes his hands along the sides of his face like he is in shock. “Ashes, your people have figured out how to move it through conductive materials. You created a new renewable resource. That’s fascinating. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. I would love to see how that works someday.” After studying me for a moment, he asks, “Would you be willing to assist me when we interrogate the fae? My team and I have been working out the safest way to do so. I think you’re our best bet. And I wouldn’t mind seeing how you store its magick. No spell needed, just moving magick around. That’s extraordinary. I wonder if I could even detect it in such a concentrated form.”
My head tilts as I ponder his request. I do not relish putting on a show for him. But getting close to that fae gives me the best chance to help Ada. Plus, I may be granted the undeniable pleasure of ending the vile creature. “Alright. I will help,” I tell him.
“Thank you. It means a lot you’d help the team like this. Even in confinement, we want to take every precaution. We worry about defending ourselves against one of its spells even in its weakened state.”
“It will never cast a spell again. That fae is no match for me,” I reply.
His eyes widen in surprise. “Alright, well, this day just keeps looking up.”
When I return to Ada’s, I call my brother Elgar who is acting as clan leader while I am away. “How goes these last few days with the clan, brother?” I greet him.
“No surprise, the elders are still unhappy. But what else is new?” he responds, chuckling, knowing well how frustrating they can be.
“Have they reached out to the other clans to ask about any knowledge of a fae spell that steals magick? Any old stories they might know from their clan history?” I ask.
Before I left, I requested they do this as soon as possible to help figure out what the fae may have done to Ada. I have not yet received an update from them.
“Not to my knowledge, but I would not be surprised if they simply are not telling me. They have been cagier than usual these last few days,” he admits.
