The Veil
Summery: Shortly after the defeat of Morgana non magical civilians begin to see magical creatures. Balthazar suspects something is wrong with the Veil. The thing that keeps the magical world invisible and soon learns it's a lot worse then he thought.
Disclaimer: All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. No Copyright Infringement is intended.
Chapter 10
"How—" Balthazar Blake stopped mid-sentence when he felt water splash across his face. He glared at his apprentice who sat on the couch in the apartment living room, trying to look innocent while suppressing a laughing fit. The youth wasn't having much success. His shoulders were heaving with the effort.
"Might as well let it out, Dave. You won't be laughing when I'm done." Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the seven hundred seventy seventh degree, had been drenched with water that had been floating above the door as soon as he walked in.
His apprentice was laughing uncontrollably. "It was an accident, I swear. I was practicing levitating the water, and you walked in…hahaha—"
Balthazar had gathered the water off his clothes, hair and the floor and thrown it back at Dave.
"I guess I deserve that," the apprentice sputtered, wiping the water away from his eyes.
Balthazar walked over and glanced at the cup he had given Dave earlier. The container was full. Dave had apparently had a very easy time gathering water from the air and hadn't known what to do with the excess.
"Next time try watering the plants, not the man who can order you to do the dusting, make you help Veronica get the store ready, do the vacuuming, and the dishes."
Dave looked up at his master.
"Well?" continued Balthazar. "Start dusting. And no magic this time. I don't need a flood."
Dave rolled his eyes was he ever going to live that down?
A few hours later Balthazar was busy in the kitchen getting food ready to put in the oven for diner when he felt one of his wards go off. A non-magical user was making his way up the stairs to the apartment. He was glad the wards were in place, because he doubted he would have heard the knock over Dave's vacuuming.
He opened the door and smiled in greeting at his guest, "Bennet, good to see you, come in."
"Hey, Double B. Dave in? He wasn't at school today."
"Yeah he's just doing some cleaning," Balthazar stepped aside and gestured Bennet in.
"You do something wrong?" asked Bennet as Dave turned off the vacuum to talk to his roommate.
"I accidentally drenched Balthazar with some water."
Bennet shook his head, "Leave it to you man. Anyway thought you might like these." Bennet reached into his backpack and handed Dave some papers.
"Today's notes and handouts" said Dave as he rifled through the papers. "Thanks, Bennet."
"No problem man. Um, you gonna be here much longer?"
Dave smiled, he knew that tone. "Who's the girl?"
"Name's Sally. Sally Ravenwood. I am telling you the gal is hot. I gotta thank Double B for teaching me those card tricks."
Dave smiled and shook his head, "I'll be here a few more days."
"Good. I mean, well, you know what I mean. What happened to your face?"
"Evil sorcerer."
"Gotta be more careful man. Those guys will fry you if you give them a chance."
"I noticed," said Dave, placing the papers on the coffee table.
"Got a lot of cleaning to do?"
"Just about finished vacuuming and I gotta do the dishes tonight, but that's it."
"How about magic?"
"Gotta work on my duplication spell."
"Hey I was wondering, you guys ever duplicate money?"
"Generally no. If sorcerers used their power to make gold we'd be devaluing gold. Same with money. Besides people do notice if you spend more then your income."
"Where does Balthazar get the money for all this then?"
"He saved. And some of the coins he decided to set aside for his new life with Veronica are over a thousand years old. One of his old coins sold for fifty grand, and he had about fifty of them."
"Two and a half million? The dude has two point five mill?"
"Yeah, he did a job for some rich lord and got fifty gold coins for his trouble. He didn't have much interest in money at the time so he put them aside, fast forward a thousand years and…" Dave shrugged.
"I was wondering how he could afford this place so easy," said Bennet looking around. "Wait you said 'generally'."
"Not all sorcerers follow the rules, but usually even Morganians follow that one. I mean even Drake had an easy time getting by. Sometimes though a sorcerer will find themselves in a tight spot."
"Balthazar ever make money?"
Dave shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"Well I guess I'd better let you get back to work. See ya around Dave," said Bennet with a wave as he started toward the door.
oo0oo
"Still haven't gotten it, huh?" Balthazar leaned against the door frame of the guest room as Dave sat on the bed trying to duplicate a fork. The young man looked up at his master more despondent then usual.
Balthazar frowned. It normally didn't take Dave this long to make some headway in a spell. Dave seemed to sense his thoughts and turned back to the fork. His hand hovered over the utensil, is glowed green and then the glow moved to the left, the fork shape glow stayed a few seconds and vanished.
Balthazar shook his head. Dave was just not getting the hang of converting energy to matter. The apprentice sighed morosely at the fork; certain Balthazar was displeased with his efforts.
"You can do this Dave, despite what the texts books have been telling you all your life. Just picture the energy becoming solid in your head. Feel it with your magic and will it to become solid."
"Right. The universe just bends to our will," said Dave rolling his eyes and falling back onto the bed with a groan.
"Exactly," said Balthazar, taking a seat in the chair by the bed. "Or did you think this was Harry Potter? There is no swish and flick. The only power that magic words and symbols have is what we give them. Will, strength of mind, strength of heart are the major determining factors in every spell. Not how we move our hands, not what words we utter not even the symbols we use, or haven't you noticed we don't use them very often? You think abracadabra has power all by itself? That if you say words in Latin or Old English and wiggling your fingers a certain way those actions have power just because? It's the mind and will of the sorcerer Dave, we're conduits for the energy that connects the universe and holds it together. And make one Star Wars reference and you'll be cleaning this place for a week," he added when Dave opened his mouth.
The apprentice, who had in fact been about to compare the 'energy connecting and binding the universe' to the force, decided to ask another question. "Why do we use words and symbols at all then?"
"Because words and symbols are attached to names, and names, Dave, have power. A great deal of it. Speaking the words in the language that was used to first create the spell helps us to focus the power and energy around us. "It's the same with symbols. But neither will do any good if the caster is weak. You are not weak."
Dave glanced up at his master in surprise, in time to see Balthazar turn his head to look at the clock on the night stand.
"It's almost midnight; your burn will have completely healed by morning so you'll have school to get to. Get some sleep. I'll see you at breakfast."
"Wait," said Dave as Balthazar started to stand.
The master sorcerer sat back down and turned to his apprentice. "Yes?"
"Umm, are we ever going to talk about what Bartholomew said? When he was about to set my face on fire?"
"No."
"Oh… 'Cause leaving a little a four year old girl in jail—"
"It was back in 1692." Interrupted Balthazar his tone harsher than he meant. "Salem witch trials. They were under the impression that the girl's mom was a witch and therefore she was too, so she was treated like one. Any sign of magick—the smallest hint— and more people would have died. So I got her out the legal way… the slow way. She was in jail for a total of nine months. She was arrested in March and I arrived in late August. I got her out on December the 10. She went to an insane asylum. I paid for her to be treated like a human being during her stay. She eventually got out.
Thirty—seven people died as a result of the 'trials'. I watched a lot of good people suffer before their end. I didn't want to set off another hunt before the hysteria had even finished dying down."
He rose from his seat and stared down at his apprentice.
"Now do you want me to justify every decision I made over the course of one thousand, two hundred and sixty years of searching?"
"Umm no," stumbled Dave, staring at his fork. "Sorry."
Balthazar nodded and turned to leave, closing the door behind him.
oo0oo
Knocking on a door before entering a home is considered polite by just about every society. Knocking on wards however is considered more of a threat.
Both Balthazar and Veronica awoke when someone set off the wards placed around their home. If anyone with magic, other then the three current inhabitants, came within a few meters of the building the ward was set off. And someone was stepping into range then stepping out, over and over again.
"I think someone wants a word," Balthazar got out of bed and started looking for his clothes.
"It feels like a fae," said Veronica sitting up. "We'll have to take a couple of the iron swords from downstairs."
"I think It be better if you stayed here. Keep an eye on Dave. There might be more then one of them and I don't want to risk them getting to him while we're out."
"We've placed powerful wards over this house Balthazar. Dave will be fine, you may need help."
"I'll manage." He felt a hand on his arm and turned to his fiancée.
"We will do everything together or nothing together. You are my future husband, not my protector."
Balthazar drew her into a kiss and held her close. "I can't lose you again."
"You won't. Now come, before they decide to attempt to break the wards and wake Dave."
The pair exited the building with their swords sheathed, but each rested their hands on the iron handles as it would help keep their minds clear in case the fae decided to try and cloud the sorcerers' judgment. A ball of light Balthazar recognized as a will-o-wisp flew by and into a nearby alley. The couple followed and what Balthazar and Veronica saw approaching them from the other side of the alley made their blood run cold. A man on horseback, a man with glowing green eyes, and antlers coming out of his head.
The Huntsman. Cernunnos. Leader of the Wild Hunt.
Merlin had taught his students well and had given advice on fighting the leader of The Hunt.
Don't.
Ever.
Run in the opposite direction.
The Wild Hunt was a group of fae who actively roamed the countryside throughout the planet looking for things to hunt, often humans. They were about as Unseelie as fae could be and their leader rivaled Lord Oberon in terms of sheer power.
The figure rode towards them and stopped several feet short. "Balthazar Blake, I presume?" said the man on horse back.
"I am."
"Assist us in forcing your apprentice to help us and you will be rewarded. I understand the boy saved your, and your lover's life but you saved his three times prior. You owe him no debt."
Balthazar's jaw tightened and his eyes blazed. "He is my apprentice; I owe him whatever protection I can offer."
"Your decision is final?"
"You're not touching him." The centuries old sorcerer's voice was cold, at odds with the fire in his eyes. The hell he was going to let anyone hurt the boy. Especially them.
Cernunnos raised his arm and a bolt of green light shot out. Balthazar threw up a shield, but it shattered and both he and Veronica were sent flying out of the alley and into the street.
Balthazar landed flat on his back. Veronica on her side and she started forcing herself back up.
"You're the one behind all this," snarled Balthazar, as he rolled onto his stomach and used his arms to get back up again. "Tearing down the Veil is your idea. Even with all your power, you can't always come to earth whenever you want. I read up on the Veil. It was put up in part to deal with you; to limit when you can come and under what circumstances. Should have figured you'd be the one pulling the strings."
It was then he noticed the other fae. There were at least twenty-five of them and they were encircling the pair of sorcerers. Hounds with their sharp teeth, drool glistening in the moonlight, eyes glowing red. The other fae were humanoid, some had horns or smaller antlers. They smiled revealing their sharp teeth. Some were short and hunched over but still muscular, with fingernails like claws. Balthazar thought he saw dried blood on some of them.
Both Balthazar and Veronica were now on their feet glaring at their opponent.
"If you will not sell, you will die for him," the Huntsman held up his hand, palm towards the duo, a ball of green light began to form.
Balthazar threw up a shield. So did Veronica placing hers directly behind his. Balthazar thought that combined they could block at least one of Cernunnos attacks. Well, he hoped. Prayed really.
Cernunnos smiled right before been blown off his horse by a plasma bolt.
"Get away from them!" shouted Dave.
oo0oo
Five minutes ago Dave hadn't been sleeping despite the late hour, as he was determined to master duplication. He used his sorcery to conjure a small light that would shine only for the caster. A trick Balthazar had taught him, useful for sneaking around. Or in this case, late night practice. He didn't want Balthazar noticing the light on under his door on his way to the bathroom or something, and interrupting him by asking what he was up to.
So when he heard them walk by his door, he knew something was wrong. There was nothing unusual about one person being up to get a glass of water or use the washroom, but both?
He grabbed his sweatshirt since his pj's weren't the warmest things to wear, and reached for his shoes which rested a few feet away on the floor. He cast another good sneaking around spell Balthazar had taught him, more to stop the apprentice from complaining that his old man shoes squeaked then any desire for Dave to be good a stealth. The spell cancelled out the sound waves made by the soles of the shoes as well as the immediate area of whatever surface they touched. He didn't have to worry about creaking floorboards.
He waited till the master sorcerers were in the shop before starting down the stairs, and had stood in the stairwell while they gathered two iron swords and walked out. As soon as the door closed he darted towards it. Opening it carefully, he watched them follow the will-o-wisp into an alleyway. Grateful they hadn't turned and saw seen the door open with him watching. He was about to step out when he realized someone else might see him. He cast in invisibly spell on himself and jogged towards the alleyway.
Cautiously he peered around the corner. Despite been invisible he thought it best if he was careful and stayed out of the way. He wasn't intangible.
He smiled when he heard Balthazar stand up for him; despite the situation it was comforting to know he could always count on Balthazar to protect him. The joy dissipated when his master and Veronica were blasted. Struck down as easily as one would swat a fly. He saw the fae step out of the shadows, sneers twisting their faces. He had to move his feet to avoid touching one of the smaller ones. Then he heard the Huntsman threaten his friends and raise his hand. Balthazar threw up a shield and Veronica another, layering the defenses. But Dave could see, even in the dim light that Balthazar was worried, scared even.
It took about two seconds for Dave to get over the shock that Balthazar was scared. He wasn't going to let either him or Veronica get hurt for his sake. He knew if he fired from his current position, Cernunnos would be knocked onto the pair so Dave ran. Weaving past the fae, brushing against a few. They frowned in surprise at the unexpected touch, but he didn't care. Once he was a few feet from the huntsman's left side, he readied a plasma bolt. The most powerful one he'd ever conjured. He felt his invisibility spell fall once he wasn't focused on maintaining it anymore. Everything he had was going into this plasma bolt.
He fired. Cernunnos flew off his horse.
"Leave them alone!" shouted the apprentice.
"Dave! Get back to the apartment now!" yelled Balthazar.
"I'm not leaving you here!"
"Nice of you to spare me the trouble of tearing down those wards, David."
The trio looked at the source of the voice. Cernunnos was on his feet, eyes glowing red, face twisted into a snarl.
Dave levitated Balthazar's sword and launched it towards the huntsman. Cernunnos gasped in pain as the sword pierced him. His face became old and withered, his hands gnarled and he looked back at Dave with venom.
"Iron can hurt me boy, but not half as much as I can hurt you."
"I just need a little more," said Dave. The other fae hissed and snarled, 'There are a lot of them.' "Okay I need way more." He held his hands together over his head, focusing his energy, a red light shone from his hands. Dave tore them apart and a wave of magical energy was released.
Balthazar couldn't believe it. Everything was iron. The street, the sidewalk, even the buildings. It was all iron.
"He's been having trouble with duplication?" breathed Veronica.
Transformation sometimes involved creating matter, if the object was larger or denser or some combination of the two. Iron was denser then concrete. To do what he had just done, Dave had created new protons and neutrons as well as electrons and added them into each and every single atom in the immediate area. Earlier, when Dave had been practicing transformation he had only had to shift the protons, neutrons and electrons. Balthazar hadn't given him a task where he actually had to create matter.
Dave had done the equivalent of transforming a piece of paper into a garbage truck.
The other fae wailed and crumpled. Some withered on the ground then lay still. The will-o-wisp dropped and didn't move. Balthazar was pretty sure they were dead.
Cernunnos himself fell to the ground his hands grasped the sword in his gut. He grimaced but managed to pull it out. His face and hands became smoother but he was still surrounded by iron.
"You will pay for this affront—"
Dave hadn't let up. As soon as the spell had been cast he started walking towards his attacker and levitated Veronica's sword into his hand. He now held it at The Wild Hunt's leader's throat.
"I've read up on you. Fae don't lie."
"It is a human concept," spat Cernunnos.
"This ends. I want your word. You will stop coming after me, if you hear of anyone trying to tear down the Veil, you stop them. Understand? And you and everyone under your command, under your influence leave me, my friends and family alone, they're off limits."
"You cannot kill The Huntsman boy."
"I know, but I can turn your skull to iron."
"You've gotten rather sadistic."
"You just tried to kill my friends."
Cernunnos moved too fast for Dave to see. One second his sword was at the fae's throat the next the bladed end it was in Cernunnos' hand, and his face was millimeters from the apprentice's.
Dave glanced at the huntsman's hand. It was older and more gnarled, again. Blue blood dripped from it where the blade had sliced open the palm. The apprentice gulped but with his left hand grabbed hold of Cernunnos' head.
"You no longer have the strength to cast that kind of spell, not on a fae."
"Willing to bet your life on that?" Dave moved his hand from Cernunnos' head to his antlers and focused. Cernunnos hissed and grimaced in pain. A small portion of his antlers, a disk no larger in width then half a centimeter was now iron, he looked at Dave.
The apprentice was pale, sweating and breathing heavily, but smiling as if to say 'I can either turn a section of your skull to iron or I can change your horn back. Your call.'
"You have my word boy. The Hunt and all those under my command, under my influence will never threaten you, your kith, or kin and we will stop others who attempt to tear down the Veil."
"You will also stop anyone from stealing the books, or altering the Veil so a fae army can invade."
Cernunnos' glare intensified but he nodded.
Dave's smile broadened as he moved his hand back to the antler, and changed it back to normal. He dropped the sword, it slipped from the huntsman's hand to clatter onto the iron street.
He turned to his master, a tired smile on his lips and crumpled.