The Iron Gate Read online

  “Brownies are small fairies that inhabit houses and do chores in the house. They don’t like to be seen and work at night, traditionally in exchange for small gifts of food. These don’t seem really dangerous, so I’ll put them under other. Honestly, I’d sort of like to have one around.”

  “I’m imagining a dormitory with a Brownie,” Aiden’s voice was soft through the door. “I doubt it would consider only one room the territory to clean.”

  “And Gran’s studio wouldn’t work well either,” Nicki joked in return. “She’d declare war on it for moving her tools and cleaning up her clay projects.”

  They lapsed into silence, and Alex reached for the door latch but didn’t turn it. She was just out of view of the window now and kept staring at the latch, trying to figure out what to say when she still wasn’t used to the truth that Merlin and Morgana had told her.

  “I’m having a hard time figuring out what is ancient and what is medieval creation,” Bran said. “That’s when all the records are from.”

  “We’ll have to confirm with the professors,” Aiden replied. “I’m having the same issue. It’s supposed to be Celtic, but that’s a hundred years after the war, and then there are the changes from the oral tradition and Christian monks recorded all this.”

  Bran hummed in agreement. “Here’s an entry on Redcaps. These are nasty, they murder people and dye their hats in the blood of their victims,” Bran said before adding, “I don’t think this is right. According to this, the Redcaps wield iron pikes; it also says that they will die if the red ever fades. The professors said that all the species of the Sídhe’s empire were weak to iron.”

  “That might be a later mistake,” Nicki said. “Maybe it was some kind of tradition non-Sídhe shock troops followed, or it could be a made-up creature or the red may have come from something else, but this is the story that developed.”

  Even a week ago, the conversation would have bothered Alex greatly, but after her experience in the tunnels, she understood the others’ desire to know what they were up against. She was stalling, Alex chastised herself. They needed to know what was going on and standing outside out of view wasn’t going to get that done. Taking a deep breath, Alex adjusted her bag and tried to force a smile before opening the door. Bran looked up at her first and nodded in greeting with Aiden giving her a small wave and a smile. Alex closed the door firmly behind her with a soft click and wished that there was a way to lock it.

  Nicki kept frantically typing something. “Hi, Alex, just give me one second…and done.” Nicki pulled her hands away from the tablet and looked up at Alex with a wide smile before she blinked and the smile turned to a frown. “What’s wrong?”

  Aiden moved to stand up from his position next to Nicki, but Alex moved towards the free chair next to Bran. Slipping off her bag and coat, Alex sank into the chair, uncomfortably aware of the others watching her. “I’ve got something I have to tell you,” she said them as she did her best to sound calm and in control. “Morgana and Merlin answered some questions for me on Wednesday and agreed that I should bring you up to speed.”

  No one spoke, all three just watching and waiting. Alex’s mouth felt dry, and she had to fight the urge to pull out her water bottle and drink it all down. Alex folded her hands in front of her, knowing that they wouldn’t stay still for long, but wanting to seem calm. “The First War was tied to the creation of a special human soul; Morgana and Merlin called it the Iron Soul. It had the ability to draw power straight from the Earth and had power over iron. The first life was a man called Arto,” Alex held up her hands as she talked, unsure of what to do with herself.

  Nicki motioned for Bran and Aiden to be silent, a gesture that Alex caught in the corner of her eye and that bolstered her resolve. She took in a deep breath, licked her lips and forced herself to keep talking. “Merlin and Morgana didn’t lie when they said there was no King Arthur, but what they didn’t tell us at the start was that there was an ancient leader named Arto who led the first war against the Sídhe back in the Bronze Age. He had a special iron sword and everything.”

  Exhaling, Alex lowered her hands and waited for the others to take in her words. Next to her, Bran started to chuckle softly and shook his head. Across from him, Aiden snorted and began to laugh just before Nicki’s nervous giggles started. Alex was irritated at first, but then a soft laugh escaped her chest, easing the twist of tension that taken over her lungs.

  “So, there is a King Arthur of sorts?” Aiden asked, wiping his eyes. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” Alex answered with a firm nod before she giggled and shrugged. “He even had the special sword and united Britain against the Sídhe.”

  “Oh, so many Monty Python jokes so little time.” Aiden sighed before shaking his head and turning serious. “It’s Arthur Pendred isn’t it?”

  “Right in one.” Alex leaned onto her hand. “But, yes he’s the latest incarnation of this magical soul that was created to save the world.”

  “And of course he’s a quarterback,” Aiden huffed with a mock frown. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

  “I knew it,” Nicki hissed, sounding triumphant and barely containing her excitement. “Having so many other mythological roots in their story, it just seemed too weird that they avoided the subject of Arthur.” Now it was Aiden who calmed things down by reaching over and placing a firm hand on Nicki’s shoulder to keep her from vibrating out of her seat.

  “So he can help us?” Bran toyed with his pen, his expression serious. “Are they going to train him in his powers to fight as well, it sounds like he should be more powerful than us.”

  “Uh…” Alex hesitated. “Well I think that long term they’ll train him, but there’s sort of a complication right now that has the professors worried.”

  “What is it?” Nicki asked, leaning forward eagerly.

  “Jenny is Guinevere and Lance is Lancelot,” Alex explained in a rush. “Those weren’t their actual names. Hers was similar, but I don’t remember his exactly,” she rambled nervously at the stunned expressions she was getting. “According to the professors, they keep being reincarnated along with the Iron Soul but keep repeating the cycle of betrayal leading to the downfall of the Iron Soul whenever they are around. The professors are worried about it happening again now.”

  Taking a deep breath, Alex fell silent and clutched her hands together. The others were gaping at her, trying to determine if she was serious. Then Aiden gave a low whistle and sank back in his chair, shaking his head.

  “That… is insane,” he muttered, bringing a hand up to rub his face. “Every time?”

  “That’s what they said,” Alex confirmed with a nod. “They aren’t around in every life, but a lot them, maybe a third of them.”

  “Reincarnation,” Bran murmured, “I almost feel like I shouldn’t be surprised by that entering this messy equation and yet I am.” Bran paused and leaned on his hand with a thoughtful expression. “I suppose it confirms the notion of the soul, but it could also be proof of the Buddhist view of constant reincarnation and the inability to escape the sorrows of past lives.” Bran’s frown deepened, and he quietly added, “I wonder how that equates into the laws of physics… maybe some kind of energy that has events imprinted on it and is transferred. Or an undiscovered kind of particle.”

  “Something like that,” Alex agreed to stop Bran’s thought process and bring him back to the issue at hand. “At least the being unable to escape past sorrows bit at least.” She swallowed thickly as the sinking feeling in her stomach returned.

  Aiden’s expression softened, and pity flashed over his face for a moment before he asked, “How are you coping with Jenny?”

  “I’m not,” Alex muttered, slumping back in her chair. “I’ve been avoiding her since Wednesday. I just…” Alex shrugged and huffed. “I don’t know how to take the news. It’s weird, she’s just Jenny to me, but apparently, she’d been all these other people, and for some reason, she keeps making the same mistake ov
er and over again.”

  “Plus your crush on Arthur,” Bran observed with a deep frown earning him a harsh glare from Nicki that made him flinch back.

  “God,” Alex groaned, leaning over the table with her face in her hands. “Does everyone have to point that out?”

  “Easy, Alex.” Nicki reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “It’s okay to be upset by this news; it’s crazier than what we originally signed up for.”

  “And you haven’t had an easy week,” Aiden added gently. “Your friendship with Arthur, Lance, and Jenny can’t make this easy.”

  “I’m sorry.” Bran placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean it as… coldly as it came out.”

  Alex brought her head up, swallowed quickly and pushed a loose strand of blonde hair from her face with a nod. “I’m fine,” she lied quickly. “You’re right, they are my friends, and now I know something huge about them that they have no clue about. I’m not sure how to deal with it yet.”

  “Did Merlin and Morgana say anything about that?” Aiden asked.

  “No,” Alex replied with a shake of her head. “When they told me they were… fighting I guess. There was some kind of disagreement between them, so I called our meeting short before it got too bad. Morgana did say that the cycle has happened twelve times, I guess this is the thirteenth time they’ve been reborn near the Iron Soul.” Alex shifted uncomfortably, remembering the tense words between the professors, referencing things that she hadn’t understood.

  “Did the professors give you any indication of their personalities?” Bran asked her thoughtfully. “The original personalities I mean?”

  Shrugging, Alex turned her attention towards Bran. “Not really. I got the feeling that Morgana didn’t like her, but Merlin said that was just her being Arto’s big sister.” Alex stumbled over the name Arto awkwardly, the instinct to say Arthur refusing to be shaken off.

  “So they might be different now or might be the same,” Bran concluded, his frown deepening. Leaning on his elbows, he hummed thoughtfully. “Well, at least this explains the vision I had of the tunnels.”

  “You mean the hammering and heat?” Alex thought back on her conversation with Bran about the strange dreams they were having of dark stone tunnels. Her adventure in the tunnels had proven that Alex’s dream had been a vision of her future, a warning of what was to come, but Bran’s had been a little different.

  “Which vision?” Aiden questioned with a glance at Bran.

  “I was in the tunnels, but they started to change and smelled more… natural I guess would be the word. Up ahead I heard this metallic hammering and saw the light and felt the heat of a fire.” Bran shrugged slightly. “I looked it up and thought it might connect to blacksmithing, the forging of iron.”

  “Maybe,” Alex agreed with a nod. “That could have been a magical vision of the Iron Soul, something being forged deep in the earth.”

  “And it is similar to the Connection you had with Arthur,” Nicki added with an excited smile, her fingers playing with a wisp of her red hair.

  Nodding in agreement, Alex thought about the strange vision she’d had the first time she met Arthur. There had been the smell of smoke; she’d seen fire and heard a strange metal hammering that Bran had agreed was similar to his vision. Everything seemed to be in agreement that Arthur Pendred was, in fact, the new incarnation of the Iron Soul. Except none of the others had formed a Connection with him, ever.

  “So what do we do about Jenny and Lance?” Aiden asked, and Alex’s shoulder slumped.

  “I don’t know.” Alex folded her arms on the table and lowering her head dejectedly.

  “Well, Alex is already their friend so she can watch them,” Bran said with an apologetic glance towards Alex.

  “But that doesn’t answer the question of what to do if they do… you know,” Nicki pointed out uncomfortably. “I wonder how much control they have; I mean, they don’t remember so why does it always happen? It isn’t motivated by any sense of malice towards the Iron Soul.”

  “Their souls may be trying to help the Iron Soul,” Bran suggested with a frown of his own, causing lines to appear between his green eyes. “Only they keep making the same mistakes. Religions that believe in reincarnation do acknowledge that souls may seek to redeem a mistake or grow beyond it in the next life.”

  “Maybe Jenny and Lance are soul mates,” Nicki replied with a thoughtful tilt of her head. “But Jenny’s soul keeps meeting Arthur’s soul first. They become lovers, but once Lance enters the scenes, she’s always drawn towards him.”

  “Soul mates?” Bran repeated doubtfully.

  Nicki stuck out her tongue at him. “With everything else can we rule it out?”

  “But why would it always destroy him?” Aiden countered with a shake of his head. “Cheating is bad yeah, but why is it always a catalyst.”

  “Maybe they’re just stuck.” Nicki shrugged and played with a wisp of her hair. “Their instincts are playing out the same actions, and the timing is always bad. Cheating isn’t the end of the world, but it can leave someone feeling depressed and vulnerable. And if the cheating cost you not only your significant other but your best friend that it could be really bad depending on what else is going on.”

  “Perhaps,” Aiden agreed. “But yeah, you do have to wonder how much control they have. Is Jenny going to choose to betray Arthur with Lance or is it just going to be a compulsion that she has no control over?”

  “That’s a creepy idea,” Nicki muttered as she shuddered. “That sounds like being hijacked by a former life. How do we deal with that?”

  “Maybe there is some kind of spell…” Aiden muttered before shaking his head. “No, the professors would have used it already if there was.”

  “Not to mention the moral issues there,” Nicki added with a shake of her head. “Maybe they can just be convinced to leave after this year is over. Just drift apart.”

  “Arthur and Jenny have been dating since sophomore year of high school,” Alex informed them. “He was the one who picked this school; Jenny followed him here. Worse, it was through Arthur and Lance and Jenny met.” Alex swallowed and played uneasily with her hands. “They may already be attracted to each other; I’m not sure. Lance isn’t the easiest guy to read, and Jenny has seemed sort of depressed lately. She was sad when they got back from Christmas.” Her frown deepened. “And she and Arthur were originally planning to live together this semester, but Jenny renewed in the dorm with me out of the blue. Arthur even asked me about it.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Bran observed. “But I don’t know what we can do.”

  “Look, cheating is bad; yes,” Nicki announced. “But if we’re around to support Arthur when it happens then maybe we can lessen the negative impact when it does happen.”

  “It’s his best friend and girlfriend,” Aiden argued, earning him a sharp look from Nicki. “I’m just saying that he’s not friends with anyone here but Alex, hell I’m sure he still hates my guts for making Alex cry.” Aiden shifted nervously at the last part of his statement, and Alex gave him a small forced smile to assure him of her forgiveness for the incident back when she was still refusing to accept magic as real.

  Everyone was silent for several minutes, playing with their hands and avoiding eye contact with each other. Across from Alex, Nicki made a small sigh before she thumped the book on faery mythology down and stood up. She walked to the door and was opening it as Aiden asked, “Where are you going?”

  “I’m off to find some book on Arthurian mythology,” Nicki announced, looking over her shoulder at them. “After all, if the French school of courtly love literature accidentally remade the correct story by adding in Lancelot then who knows what else we might learn from the full scope of the older stories. I propose making a list of major characters and potential myths they come from to start separating what might be the fact of the Iron Soul versus what is certain.”

  A soft laugh escaped Alex, releasing some of the tension in
her chest. “Only you would think like that, Nicki.” Alex collapsed into giggles.

  Nicki gave Alex a wide smile as the blonde wiped tears out of her eyes and took several deep breaths. “That’s why you love me.” Nicki winked, flipping her red hair over her shoulder.

  “Maybe a little,” Alex returned with a calmer smile.

  “Oh don’t encourage her to flirt with you,” Aiden warned. “That was how she got fixated on Sarah.”

  Chuckling, Alex ignored the wink between Nicki and Aiden before Nicki dramatically said, “You stole my one true love, Aiden, you’re lucky I forgave you for that.”

  “I thought you had a thing for Maria Valdez in our mythology class now,” Bran said.

  “Well, she’s hot.” Nicki looked to Alex. “They’re abusing me, you’ve noticed right?”