The candles flickered, casting eerie shadows on the walls of the basement as Barbara opened the envelope containing Jim's baby hair. She carefully removed a single strand and wound it around the dowsing crystal. She released it to hang freely and it bobbed aimlessly casting little motes of light on the map beneath it.
"ivevzo gsv ldmvi." Barbara murmured. The words came out in a plume of white breath and settled on the crystal.
She watched, every fiber of her being was tense, as it started to swing back and forth. She prayed to anyone that was listening that it would work this time. The crystal spun faster and faster, then…
It gradually slowed until it went limp.
She stared at it blankly for a moment before bringing her fist down on the table with a sharp frustrated growl. The crystal clinked pitifully against one of the candleholders.
Why couldn't she find him? What was she doing wrong?
Barbara rested her head in her hands and her shoulders shook but no tears came. It had been eleven months now since Jim had been kidnapped, seven since she had remembered what had actually happened. She needed to figure out something soon. The more time passed, the less likely she was to get him back.
She was beginning to wonder if there was a Jim to get back. She heard stories of what sometimes happened to children who were taken: decades passing before their bones were found in some rarely visited park. Not to mention some of the magic books had warned of the more dangerous… cruel things people did with magic.
Barbara quickly squashed that thought down. She refused to give up on her son.
She got up from her chair and paced around in the basement. The flames of the candles ducked and bobbed with every stirring of air created by her movements.
Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. She'd been trying to locate Jim after all, but what if she tried to find his kidnapper instead…
The problem with that was she knew next to nothing about the man aside from his appearance. All the spells and charms for finding people, or at least the ones she'd acquired, generally required something like hair or a personal belonging or a name. She had none of those.
She completed another circuit of the floor. One of the candles wavered and died. Shadows crawled into the emptiness the light left.
Barbara paused, an idea forming.
She shifted through the stacks of magic books until she found the old leather bound one at the bottom. She had been hesitant to use it because a lot of the spells in it were exactly what the other books had warned against but… well… the other books had gotten her no closer to finding Jim.
She sat back down and relit the candle that had gone out. Jim's hair tickled her fingers as she wrapped her hands the dowsing crystal and concentrated. At first she focused on Jim and on her desperation to get him back, but then she thought of the man that had taken him. She tried to imagine him clearly in her mind. The curl of righteous anger that had been burning in her sparked viciously. This time she didn't fight it. There was power in strong emotions.
She waited until her whole being was tingling with rage and magic and then she pricked her finger on the crystal.
"Tfrwv nv, Evmtvzmxv!" She snarled.
She released the crystal. It swung out from her hand, a drop of red glimmering on the tip of it, and instead of circling as it had before it came to an immediate stop.
Barbara stared, open-mouthed, as the dowsing crystal hung there an angle, a soft yellow light glowing from inside it. The drop of blood slipped off its tip and fell, marking the map.
The bell jingled as Barbara slipped into the antique shop. It was an unusual store created in an ancient barn. She wouldn't have been surprised if the rickety structure had been built by the first settlers in this area. It was the sort of place that old things gathered.
Once inside the crystal, still glowing a faint yellow, lead her to the far back of the upstairs. The dusty rafters that soared above her head held chandeliers and model planes and paper kites. In this corner, a shaft of light from the window lit a small section of items that appeared to be from either the first or second world war. An air of melancholy hung over them.
She took another step; she could almost feel the magic in the crystal pulling her forward. It pulsed once, twice, and then there was a blinding yellow flash and the crystal hung dull and lifeless again.
Absently Barbara tucked it in her pocket as she looked at the collection of stuff before her. This was certainly better than searching the whole building but…
The small radio at the front of the display started crackling. Barbara jerked, caught off guard by the sound. The display on the front of it flickered as it turned on.
"Hello," A woman's voice whispered through the static.
Barbara eyed it warily. If it wasn't for the tingle of magic in the air she might have thought this was a prank.
"It's rude not to answer," The voice said in a chiding tone.
"Who are you?" Barbara asked.
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Certainly not a strange woman speaking to her through a radio. Despite the poor quality of the speaker and the persistent static the voice was… beautiful. Enchanting even. It seeped through Barbara like a cold fog.
"I have many names but you may call me Morgana."
"Morgana," Barbara repeated. Where had she heard that name? "What are you? Are you an oracle or a spirit?"
Morgana laughed.
"Of course not. I am a sorceress: a user of ancient magic and spells. It is by those powers I can channel my voice to you… But enough about me. Tell me, child, what do you seek? I can feel your rage and despair. They are what drew my attention to you."
There was an intense interest in her voice. The fine hair on the back of Barbara's neck prickled. Something deep and primal in the back of her mind whispered "run". She ignored it. Her magic had led her here. This was the first lead she had found and she would be damned if she threw it away that easily.
She drew in a breath and began talking before she could second guess herself.
"I… eleven months ago my son was taken from me," She started carefully, uncomfortable sharing this with a stranger. "It was the night of his birthday… I came upstairs to check on him while he was sleeping and there was this old man getting ready to carry him away through a glowing green circle of light. I tried to stop him…" She paused and swallowed. "But he did something. When I woke up I couldn't remember what had happened. I only knew that Jim was gone."
She drew in a shaky breath.
"I kept getting flashes of memory until seven months ago when it all came back. I've been trying to find him since."
"I see," Morgana said with a thoughtful hum. "The fact you were able to push through the memory charm testifies to the strength of your magic."
There was a pause, broken only by the flickering static of the radio. Barbara vaguely registered that the light from the window had dimmed slightly. It was getting late.
"Green magic you said… Can you describe what the man looked like?"
"He was old," Barbara started. "He had grey hair and a beard… and a rather beaky nose. He was wearing black armor with a strange little piece of metal up on top of his head… oh and he had a staff with a glowing green crystal… An emerald maybe?"
"Merlin," Morgana hissed.
A glass on a nearby shelf rattled.
"You recognize him?" Barbara asked, before registering the name. "Wait… Merlin? Like from the old stories about King Arthur?"
Morgana scoffed.
"Of course he would be the one everyone thinks of… but, yes... He and Arthur were very real. Keep in mind that the stories have been changed quite a bit over time."
There was a pause.
"Perhaps we can help each other."
"With what?" Barbara had been half expecting this, it would be odd if this strange, seemingly powerful, woman was willing to help her for nothing.
"We share a common enemy," Morgana said in a slow thoughtful tone. "The man who stole your son is the same one who trapped me in this prison…"
"Trapped you?"
"Yes. We were once something like friends, but then he cut off my hand to make a magic amulet. I attacked him seeking to avenge myself and to reclaim my flesh. He tried to kill me but could not, so he froze me in crystal."
"He cut off your hand?!"
Barbara felt sick to her stomach. If he had done that to someone who thought of him as a friend what would he do to Jim? She felt her heartrate pick up, blood thumping in her ears. She wouldn't let that happen. This whole thing was fishy, and Barbara didn't doubt Morgana was hiding things, but this was her best chance. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.
"What do I do?"
"So you will help me?" Morgana purred.
"Yes. I will do whatever it takes to get Jim back and stop Merlin."
"Splendid! Then I shall be your guide so long as our goals aline."
She paused and in that moment of quiet Barbara heard the shopkeeper call that it was closing time. The sun had vanished from the window.
"Oh!"
Barbara shifted her gaze back to the radio.
"I don't believe I've gotten your name yet."
The shopkeeper called out again and Barbara ignored him, she would head downstairs in a moment.
"It's Barbara… Barbara Lake."
"Barbara… Lake…" Morgana drew the name out slowly, seeming to taste it. "I look forward to getting to know you."
Barbara shivered. In the many long years that followed she would desperately wish she had left that radio and ran.
Author Note:
The chapter title "The Tower" references a tarot card.
This chapter took forever to write, but I'm glad I took the time.
As always be sure to let me know what you think!