The Finisher

TRIGINTA QUATTUOR: Magical Me

JOHN DIDN’T LOOK up as I walked in. I just heard his sobs. I drew closer and looked at the empty cots before returning my gaze to him. He didn’t look remotely like the grand special assistant to Council who was running roughshod over the poor Wugs building the Wall. Even with his scalped hair and fancy clothes, he looked like a little male Wug who was totally lost.

I went to him, wrapped my long arms around him and held him. Harry Two sat on his haunches while I did so, all the while maintaining a respectful silence. I said things to John that I had said to him pretty much every light growing up. That everything would be okay. That he would always have me. That he should not be sad, for the next light would be better.

When I heard the door creak open about fifteen slivers later, I knew who it was before I saw her. Morrigone came into the room and walked directly over to John.

“It’s time to go, John,” she said without looking at me.

He stifled his sobs and nodded, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his pristine black tunic. Morrigone put a hand on his arm, drawing him to her. I did not let go of his other arm.

I said, “Let him cry. They’re gone. Let him cry.”

Morrigone gave me what I can only describe as a withering look and I decided to give it right back. She leaned in close and said, “We have you to thank for this, Vega.”

I walked away from John and stood waiting for her in a far corner. It was about time we had this out, I had decided. I’d had my say with Krone this light and now it was Morrigone’s turn. She strode over to me. I must have grown a bit because I noted that without her heels, I would be taller than her. Yet even in my faded, falling-apart work boots, I was not far off her height. I stood as straight as possible, trying to match her loftiness.

“I appreciated very much what you did for me with Council, as I told you.”

“You have an utterly perplexing way of showing that gratitude. John has come here every night since you told him what you promised me you would not.”

I pointed at John. “It was wrong to keep this truth from him.”

“You are not the one to make that sort of judgment.”

“And you are?” I said, the skepticism as thick in my tone as I could make it.

“It seems that you have forgotten your place here, Vega.”

“I didn’t know that I had a place, so thank you for reserving me one.”

“That sort of talk does you no credit. Not while your brother is huddled in that corner, crying his heart out night after night. It is shameful what you did.”

“He should be crying his heart out. I did.”

“You disappoint me. I thought you were made of stronger stuff.”

“Like my grandfather?”

“Virgil had a tremendous will.”

“I suppose he would have needed that to survive the fire that swallowed him on his last night here.” It was as though my words had turned Morrigone to marble. I could not even swear that she was still breathing.

When she spoke, her words were like morta rounds. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

Warning signals in my head were blaring, telling me to stop talking. But I couldn’t and wouldn’t. I didn’t care if she had saved me from beheading or Valhall. I did care that she had made me keep from my brother a truth that she never should have asked me to withhold. And she had turned a warm, loving, trusting Wug into something I could no longer recognize.

“Tell me something, Morrigone, how did it feel to watch my grandfather disappear into the flames? Despite you not wanting him to go?”

I stared at her. The look on her face was deadly.

She said in an icy tone, “You must be careful, Vega Jane. You must be very careful at this very sliver.”

I had to admit that her words sent a chill up my spine. I happened to glance away and for the first time noticed that John had stopped weeping and was watching us intently.

“Morrigone?” he began.

She instantly held up her hand, and my brother fell back, his next words seemingly struck from his lips before they had a chance to fully form. This simple gesture enraged me even more.

I had no intention of backing down now.

I said, “You once taunted me with the word time. But I wonder if you fully understand all that I know? All that I have seen over the course of time?”

Again, I knew I should have stopped right there, but I wanted to stun her. I wanted to make her feel the pain I was feeling. And there was something else. Just an instant before, it had all come together in my head — the ancient battlefield and the dying female warrior. Now I knew where I had seen her before. I knew beyond all doubt.

“I met a female who looked remarkably like you, Morrigone, lying mortally wounded on a great battlefield. Do you know what she told me? What she gave me?”

“You lie!” she hissed.

“She was your Wug ancestor and she died right in front of me. She spoke to me. She knew me!”

“This cannot be true,” gasped Morrigone, her calm exterior having totally collapsed.

I said, “Have you ever been chased by a flying jabbit or a creature so gigantic it can block out the sun, Morrigone? They’re called colossals. It’s quite exhilarating. So long as you survive it. And I did. Does that make me as special as John? Does that place me in the same league as my grandfather in your eyes?”

“You are deluded.”

“She wore a ring. The same ring that my grandfather had.”

Morrigone gasped and snapped, “What did she say to you?”

“What was her name?” I countered.

“What did she say to you?” she shouted.

I hesitated and then just said it. “That I had to survive. Me, Vega Jane. That I had to survive.”

With a monumental effort Morrigone regained her composure and said icily, “John deserves better in a sibling, Vega. He does indeed. Consider yourself very fortunate this night.”

She turned on her heel and marched off.

John said to me, “I will miss them. I will miss them greatly.”

Then, before I could respond, he turned and followed Morrigone.

I stood there for a while staring at the floor. Then I finally left, Harry Two at my side. The carriage had long since gone, taking John back to his new life. I was glad he had come here each night to grieve. I was happy I had told him. It was the right thing to do, Wall or no Wall.

When I got back to my digs, I just wanted to collapse. But when I entered my room, I nearly screamed. Morrigone was standing by the fireplace, her hand on the slender wooden chimneypiece, so far less impressive than the one at her grand home. I looked around for John, but he wasn’t there.

It was just Morrigone. And me. She came forward.

“Where is Bogle and the carriage?” I said.

She ignored this. “The things you said back at the Care.”

“What of them?” I said.

Harry Two was growling more deeply with every step Morrigone took toward me. I put my hand on his head to calm him but I kept my gaze on Morrigone.

“You cannot know such things.”

“But I do know such things,” I said.

“Those are two very different points,” she replied.

In an instant I knew exactly what she meant. I couldn’t be allowed to remember these things. And thus I also knew what she was about to do. It was the same thing she had done to Delph and me all those sessions ago. Her hand went up. My hand darted to my pocket. Her hand came down. My hand went up. On my hand was the glove, and in it was the Elemental, at full size. The red light ricocheted off the golden spear, struck my window and shattered all of the glass.

Both of us stood there, breathless. The look in Morrigone’s eyes was truly hideous. She was no longer beautiful. She was the most ugly Wug I had ever witnessed.

Her gaze darted to the fully formed Elemental.

“Where did you get that?” she demanded in a hiss.

“From your ancestor Wug,” I shot back. “She gave it to me. Before she died.”

Now I took a step forward and Morrigone drew back.

“What was her name?” I asked, holding the Elemental at the ready.

“You do not realize what you have done, Vega,” she said fiercely. “You do not!”

“Why not the blue light this time too, Morrigone? Why the red light? The same one you used on poor Delph.”

“You have no idea what you are doing, Vega.”

“I have every idea,” I shouted back.

“I will not let you destroy us!”

“Where do Wugs go when they have their Events, Morrigone? They have to go somewhere. And I think you know. And it sure as Hel isn’t Wormwood.”

She was shaking her head and backing up. “No, Vega. No.”

I raised the Elemental and positioned it to throw. “You know what this can do,” I said. “I have no wish to harm you.” Well, actually I wanted to turn her to dust, but I saw no good coming from telling her that.

“No, Vega, never,” she said again.

And before I could take another step, she was gone. I blinked and looked around in bewilderment. She had simply vanished. I looked down at Harry Two. He was whimpering with his tail between his legs. When I looked up, I saw it, slight, barely visible in the darkness. It was a trail of blue light that carried out the window. As I watched, it lifted to the sky and then vanished, just as Morrigone had.

I angrily waved my hand after this trail of mist. And the most extraordinary thing happened. My shattered window flew back together and became whole once more.

Having done this, I was thrown back against the wall by some violent force and I slumped down, my energy fully spent. I looked at my hands, then at the repaired glass and wood. How had that happened? How could I possibly have done what I just did? I reached in my pocket and pulled out the Adder Stone. I rubbed it over my body and thought happy thoughts. My aches from hitting the wall ceased and my energy returned.

Eon had said that the spirit of a sorceress had been embedded in the Stone, giving it its power. Had it somehow given me some of her power by its being in my pocket?

Well, if it had, I also had no real ability to control it.

I sat there thinking thoughts that were both terrifying and exhilarating.