Chapter 21. Tripping Down Memory Lane

Kench threw another log onto the fire. He knew it would be another day or so before the heat actually caught up to him. He and Bibs were still under her time-slowing enchantment. They had found a room in the palace with two small cots, and a little fireplace. The two of them had become friends; sharing recipes, cooking together, telling stories. Bibs felt to Kench what he figured a grandmother might feel like. But recently, Bibs had been getting tired.

“How long has it been?” Kench asked Bibs, wiping crumbs from his beard.

“By their reckoning of time?” she said with a sigh. “I figure about an hour. To be honest, I don’t really know. I’ve never actually warped time this much. If you had asked me a month ago, I’d have told you it wasn’t possible.”

“I meant for us,” he said. “We’ve been here for so long.” He had tried to keep track at first, but what felt like years had taken its toll on him. He hadn't shaved, and had grown a beard that reached the top of his chest. That kind of beard would normally take him well over a year to grow, but Kench didn’t think he had been here that long.

“I don’t know that either,” Bibs said. “Weeks, months, years. I don’t know. I’ve never been stretched this thin before.” She looked tired. Magicians could go quite some time without sleep and not be too much the worse for wear, but Bib’s didn’t look exactly healthy anymore. She had always insisted on staying awake to keep the flow of time steady. Sure, she was always fat, but now she looked gaunt, and pale. At first they didn’t eat, but then Bibs spread her gift to food so they could cook.

“Will you explain your gift again?” Kench asked.

“I’m tired,” she said. Her voice sounded more like a gentle breeze than a voice.

“You explain, I’ll let you know if you’re wrong.” She sat, resting her elbows on her knees as she stared at the floor.

“So, gifts,” Kench said. Bibs shook her head, but didn’t look up. “Endowments,” he corrected. She nodded. “Endowments of power are abilities beyond normal use of magic. For example, you are able to time travel.” She looked at Kench, then shook her head.

“Hear me out!” Kench said. “I have an idea. You didn’t think you could slow time this much, if you could push it even harder, not now obviously, but when you’re more rested, maybe you could go backwards through time!” She laughed at this, well, more of a weeze.

“Endowments!” she snapped.

“Yes, Endowments,” Kench said. “Not all magicians can get them.” He blushed as he said this, from what he and Bibs could tell, he didn’t seem to have one. “Some people can make protective areas around themselves, some people can see the future, some can heal without a healing spell, others, like you, can slow time. Some control weather, others can make the earth shake, all kinds of things.”

She nodded again.

They were supposed to be familial, but you’ve learned it’s given by spending time and sharing experiences with other people,” he said.

She nodded again.

“It takes energy to use some, but others grant strength. Yours takes energy,” he said.

“Too much to sustain like this,” she breathed. “How are you? Can you still feel the drain?”

“I’m fine,” Kench said. And it was true. The fact was, he could feel the energy being drained from him via his soulmeld with Finnigan, but it wasn’t much. Admittedly, for that much energy to have drained in an hour would have been unpleasant, but this pace wasn't too bad. He was fatigued, irritable, and usually nauseous. At first he was in a much worse state than Bibs, but now, he was more concerned about her.

“The drain?” she asked again.

“It’s still there,” he said.

“That’s good, that means he’s still resisting,” she said. “I’ve never seen someone resist one of her anointings this long.”

“You’ve never explained, what is an anointing?” Kench asked.

“This, I’ll explain. Then you sleep,” Bibbs said. She breathed in deep, then began. “An anointing is done with oil. Usually olive oil.” Bibs panted for a good minute or so then went on. “The ornament uses a ritual to enfuse the oil with magic, then puts it on the skin of her victim. I don’t know the ritual.” She stopped talking and stood, bracing herself on the mantle of the fireplace. “Oil soaks into the skin, that’s why she uses it. Once there, it’s a slow release of the magic, numbing his mind and blinding him with affection for the Ornament. Usually, people lose the ability to form sentences after this happens. They break. It’s not mind control, it's a heavy influence on the mind of the person.” She stopped, and fell back to her seated position.

“Are you okay?” Kench asked, standing quickly to help. Maybe this had been taking more out of him then he thought, he felt a little light headed himself. He grabbed the mantle and caught his balance, then walked over to Bibs.

“Just a little light headed is all. I need a drink,” she said.

He walked over to a skin of water and handed it to Bibs. “Sip it or it’ll make you sick,” he said. She nodded in gratitude then took a small sip.

“I don’t know how much longer I can go,” she said. “Sleep now, you may have to rely on your own vigor before long.”

“Are you sure?” Kench asked. He always asked, and she always said yes.

“Yes, stopping Fei is more important than a tired old woman. Now don’t make me enchant you,” she said with a faint grin. “I’ll meditate while you’re out. That’ll give me strength.”

“Okay, goodnight,” Kench said through a yawn. He layed on his cott and closed his eyes. He didn’t think he would be able to fall asleep, but as his head sunk into the feather pillow he went out before he knew it.

Kench was cooking. He had to make worms turn into scrambled eggs. He couldn’t get it to turn, and was forced to serve The Regalia worms for breakfast.

“Kench, wake,” a familiar voice said. Was it Valera?

“Well hello,” Kench said, rotating his hips suggestively. A loud crack and a shot of pain in his forehead woke him. Bibs stood over him, brandishing a wooden spoon and a bowl of food, emitting steam from the top.

“Wake up! I’ll have none of that,” Bibs said sharply. “You’ve been asleep for hours. I took the time to meditate, but you look famished. You need food.”

Kench rubbed his forehead where she had smacked it as he sat up on the edge of his cot. Bibbs handed him the bowl. In it was eggs with a spicy red sauce that Bibbs often used in her cooking. It was good, as always when she cooked. He looked at his hands, they had lost the layer of chub that had always been there. They looked lean, a little dry, and strong. He liked his hands. They looked like the hands of a hard working man. All his time spent with Finnigan had seemed like ages ago, he was excited to see him. But more than that, he was nervous to see Valera. He took another bite of his eggs, careful to avoid his facial hair. Despite his most valiant efforts, his mustache swept a small bit of egg into his beard. He glared at the piece of fallen egg while he chewed.

“You’re getting better,” Bibbs said, sitting on her cott across from him. She had a bowl of her own eggs that she was eating. “You used to lose the entire mouthful. Now, you just lose a little.” She winked at him sportively. Kench was relieved to see she recuperated while he slept.

“You seem to feel better,” Kench said.

“Meditation does the body and mind good,” she said with a warm smile. He could still see it. The exhaustion, the fatigue. But she seemed better than before.

“I’m glad. So I was thinking, I want to work on shimmering again today. I like that I can make a portal now, but I don’t know about shimmering still.”

“Alright, if that’s true, make us a portal to your home,” Bibs said.

“My home?” Kench asked. He’d never thought of it. His father had thrown him to the street when his brothers went missing. He had worked for humans in a cafe doing dishes while living on the streets. They did some baking there, and that’s where he had found his love for it. He bought a van, and drove around the countryside, parking in a different place each night. He didn’t have the van anymore, he sold it to buy a license to sell baked goods at La Semana De Los Gladiadores. He had more than recuperated the costs there, and now Valera told him he was rich. But he didn’t need money here. It didn’t matter.

“Your home,” Bibs said. She interrupted his train of thought, snapping him back to the moment.

“I don’t think I have one,” Kench said. “I guess here now.”

“Not here, this is home only to the women of the Regalia,” Bibs said.

Kench thought long, and hard. He drew his club, thought of where he wanted to go, then sliced at the fabric of reality. It was a simple spell creating portals. The most dangerous part is you could never be quite sure what was on the other side. His mind probed into the slice he created, he didn’t have to go far. He knew where his home was. He could see into the room, and carefully, he sliced open the membrane of reality there too. The room was small, about half the size of his own. A woman stood, bent over a desk. She was in the act of writing a letter. Kench made sure his side of the rip was secured to hers, then stepped through the portal. He walked around to see the woman’s face.

“This is home,” he said. Valera had her look of focus she always wore. She appeared frozen in time to Kench. Her pen stroke was frozen on the page. Still, he felt stronger when he was closer to her. It was as though her mere presence strengthened him.

“Ah, that explains quite a lot,” Bibs said. “Kench, there’s a very real possibility that you two have grown apart. I spent months with her like this. The sad reality is, you two haven’t seen each other, for her, in months. For you? I fear much longer.”

Kench smiled, he was soulmelded to this woman. He could feel the love for him inside of her. “I’ll take my chances,” he said.

“Let’s leave. She’s outside of our time bubble, and you could pull too much energy from her without realizing it,” Bibs said. The two of them stepped back through the portal, which he let snap shut with a thought. “Take me to where you grew up,” Bibs said. “A long distance portal can be much trickier to make without someone to anchor the other side.”

“I don’t want to,” Kench said. He hadn’t been there since he was thrown out.

“I’m with you, it’ll be more like seeing a memory with time frozen. This is important Kench, you’re becoming a full blown magician. You are deadly in combat magic, you can control living things, and you can go anywhere in the world. You can’t be haunted by the past with that much power.” He could tell she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I can’t, they told me never to come back!” he exclaimed.

“Why?” Bibs asked.

“My brothers, they disappeared and everyone blamed me.”

“Why?” she asked again.

“They wanted to learn to heal. Like how the healers sanctum does. They decided to practice on me. They took me to a wood near my family's home.” He stopped, he didn’t want to think of it.

“Take me to that wood,” Bibs said.

“I’ll try,” Kench said. He sliced at reality again, creating a tear. His consciousness entered the in between, the space that existed between space. It was all very confusing, but it made sense once you were there. He thought of the wood, and his mind shot through the space, passing over the sea, over land, until it arrived in the wood. He secured his rift in reality to where he was going to cut the new portal. In a portal this far, he had to seal the two sides before he opened it. Bibs had said that eventually it would all be so fast that opening a portal wouldn’t seem like he left his body at all, because in fact he hadn’t. He sliced the membrane of reality, opening the portal to the wood. It shot open with a crack, stopping where he had fused the membrane.

“That was sloppy, but for the distance I won’t penalize you too harshly,” Bibs said.

Kench nodded, then stepped through the portal. He knew this was the place, he could remember some of the larger trees, but some new smaller ones had sprouted up. He stood on the patch of ground where he had been magically bound before. His skin started crawling with goosebumps, he wanted to run. To flee. Bibs put her hand on his shoulder, then with her wooden spoon let his portal snap shut. He put his hand on hers, and was glad she was there.

“This is the place?” she asked. He nodded. “What happened?”

“I was there,” Kench said, pointing to the ground. “They bound me. I didn’t have my club, I couldn’t fight back.” He tried to keep talking, but couldn’t.

“Show me,” Bibs said.

Kench looked at her, confused. “How?”

“Vita Copulare,” Bibs said. “Cast it on me, and we will share a link, you can show me. Non biased, as the memory truly is. You can’t use the spell that way unless the other person is broken or willing. I think I am both at the moment.”

Kench pointed his club at her, and said, “Vita Copulare.” He felt the lurching sensation. He met Bibs in the air. He could feel her, who she truly was. There was strength, but mostly, love. She loved Kench, she loved Valera, she loved the Regalia and the people of China most of all. There was also hate, deep bone aching hate. She didn’t want Kench looking at that, he could feel it. So he didn’t. He could see into her being. She was weak, weaker than she let on. She had been drained by using her endowment so hard for so long. He was so much stronger after being near Valera. He wanted to give her strength but couldn’t.

“Remember, remember the woods with your brothers. We are there now, it will flow easily from you because we are there,” she thought, voice permeating from all around with an echo. “I am weak, I need you to focus.”

“Alright,” Kench thought back, his voice echoing as hers had done. He recalled the scene and the world around them shifted. The trees were in full bloom. They were far from the trail in the clearing. The grass on the ground seemed to sprout, replacing the fallen leaves that had painted it only moments ago.

“It’s right up here!” he could hear a high voice call.

“It was a fishing hole they were taking me to,” Kench narrated to Bibs. “They said we needed to get along, we were brothers. I never had a pole, they were going to let me use theirs.” Though he couldn’t see his physical body, he could still feel a tear run down his cheek.

Two boys carrying fishing poles ran into the clearing. One of the boys was small, with a round face and bucked teeth. The other was large and hairy, with thick eyebrows.

“Brutus and Bedgel,” Kench said. “My brothers.” A third smaller boy came running into the clearing. It was young Kench. His signature club was far too long for him, and hung from just above his waist almost down to the ground.

“Guys, wait up!” he said. The two stopped, and turned to wait for the boy. They looked at each other, Kench hadn’t noticed the look before, but it was the look of two people who were hiding something.

“Here’s the spot,” Bedgel said. “You ready to fish little brother?”

Boy Kench was beaming, delighted at the idea of being included. “Yes! But where’s the water?”

“We have to do a spell first,” said Bedgel, his huge teeth protruding in a wicked grin. “It’s a magic fishing spot!”

“Use mine first,” said Brutus, holding his pole out to Kench. Kench reached out for it, and in a flash the pole was revealed to be Brutus’ battle-staff.

“That’s not your fishing...” Kench started to say, when Brutus swung the staff and hit it hard into the boy's gut. Kench fell down, doubled over and clutched his stomach. His eyes were wide with pain and betrayal.

Bedgel rushed forward and took Kench's dueling club. Another flash and the illusion around his rod vanished, revealing his wand. He pointed it at Kench and blasted steam into his face, marring the boy with painful blisters. The child screamed in agony, and his eyes widened even more, peeking out from between fingers in terror.

Bedgel kicked him in the lower back, again and again, until the boy arched his back in response. The large Brutus dropped on top of the child and held the boy down by the throat with his battle staff. The smaller beaver faced boy pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, stuffed it in Kench’s mouth, wrapped it around his head, then tied it in the back.

“I was terrified there,” Kench told Bibs. “They could beat me in front of my parents, they didn’t need to take me out here to beat me. I thought they were going to kill me.”

“I’m so sorry Kench,” Bibs said.

“You didn’t do it to me,” Kench said.

“But I can feel sorry that my friend had to go through this,” Bibs said. It was small, but hearing her call him a friend while he relived this was a comfort in and of itself.

Brutus flipped Kench roughly, and bound the child's hands behind his back with twine. He did Kenches legs next, leaving the boy on his side on the grass of the forest floor.

“Alright,” Bedgel said. “Break something, I’ll go first.”

“I know just where to start,” Brutus said. He used Kenches body as an anchor, and wrenched his staff behind the boy’s arm. With a heave the boy's arm snapped, hyper extended and at an odd angle, still bound to the other. Child Kench screamed, though it was muffled by the rag in his mouth.

Bedgel pointed his wand at Kench and said “Egrutido.” Then, he stood there.

“Did it work?” Brutus asked.

“I don’t think so,” Bedgel said.

“The book said on your first time, you have to want to heal him,” Brutus said.

“Oh, well, give me a second then.” Bedgel closed his eyes, then opened them again. “Egrutido,” he incanted.

“Well?” asked Brutus.

“Nothing,” said Bedgel.

Brutus nodded, then lifted his staff high above his head, and brought it down on Kench’s throat, collapsing it completely.

“What’re you doing?” Bedgel yelled. “If he dies we get in trouble!”

“I bet you want to heal him now then,” Brutus said.

“Oh,” Bedgel said, grinning slowly. He pointed his wand at the boy, who was gasping through his gag. The boys’ eyes were wide with panic as he struggled fruitlessly against his bonds.

“Hurry,” said Brutus. “Looks like the twerp is passing out.”

“I have to decide if it would be worth the trouble to be rid of him,” Bedgel said. His face was conflicted.

“Stewards would hunt us down,” said Brutus.

Bedgel’s eyes widened with fear, and he said, “Egrutido.” His face went blank, twitching occasionally. Kench began to sob as his neck expanded. He heaved breaths in and out, lips blue around the bandana. The memory turned into vapor and Kench and Bibs were left standing in the clearing. Kench could feel the tears running down his cheeks. He collapsed, and Bibs tried to catch him. She was still weak, and he fell on top of her. She held him, and let him weep. To his surprise, she was crying too.

“That wasn’t your fault,” she said. “I felt the guilt in you, that wasn’t your fault.” She paused then said, “What happened after that?”

“They went on like that,” Kench said, sniffing deeply. “They never fixed my arm, they couldn't figure out how the bones went back together. So, they started cutting instead.” He shuttered and Bibs held him tighter.

“It's okay, it’s okay child,” Bibs soothed. She gave him time to cry, then more time to breathe. Finally, she asked “What made them stop?”

Kench hesitated, he didn’t want her to know. “I don’t...I can’t…” he stammered.

“Show me,” she said. “You need to heal, don’t hold anything back.”

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“Alright,” Kench said. He steeled himself. This might get him kicked out of the Far East Martial Federation, maybe even convited of murder. He didn’t care anymore. He was sick of carrying this around. This dark secret. The real reason he always looked over his shoulder, the real reason he was worried to let people get too close. Not even Valera knew this.

He summoned the memory. The sun had started to set, casting golden beams through the trees. The child Kench lay on the ground, still bound. He was covered in scars, some only partially healed, all jagged and hideous. His small eyelids were barely open, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Kench remembered that feeling. He was exhausted, he felt like giving up. At first he had wanted someone, anyone to rescue him. Then, he wanted to just pass out. When that didn’t happen, he began to hope it would end. Though it wasn’t the last, it was the first time Kench had wanted it all to end. Just to die and not have to feel. His brothers were now trying to invade his mind, but they couldn’t get in. Not without his permission. He wanted to die, but even more he didn’t want his brothers in his head.

“Egrutido!” Brutus said. He hit Kench in the stomach with his staff, creating a healing link. “Quit resisting Kench! We need to learn how to do this!”

The child stared ahead, not acknowledging his older brother. Kench remembered feeling them prod around in his body and head.

“Egrutido!” cried Bedgel. The two stood over him for some time, then Bedgel moved away.

“I’ll kill you for real kid!” Brutus yelled down. He grabbed Kench’s face and dug his nails in.

“No you won’t,” said Bedgel. Brutus looked at his brother, obviously confused.

“I won’t?” Brutus asked.

“No! Of course not!” Bedgel said. “I mean, why did we learn to heal?”

“To be true warriors!” Brutus hollered.

“Yes, but think of why we learned on the twerp,” Bedgel said. “Cause he’s the one we need to heal.” Bedgel crouched down by Kench and gently moved his blood stained hair from his forehead. “Look twerp, thing is, we love you. We just can’t show it ‘cause of how much dad hates you.”

“What’re you on about?” Brutus asked.

“You know what I’m on about! We don’t have to pretend right now! Dad’s not here!” Bedgel said with a wink. Brutus guffawed thickly, then slowly grinned at Bedgel.

“Yeah, we loooooove you!” he said to Kench.

“Don’t you know?” Bedgel asked Kench. Young Kench’s eyes widened and he looked at Bedgel. “I mean, we want you to be part of the family, just normal.” The boy’s eyes widened more. “Don’t you want that?” he said, stroking the child’s head.

Young Kench hesitated, then nodded slowly.

“That’s why we did this,” Bedgel said. “So we could learn to heal. That way, we can heal your mind. Don’t you want dad to love you?”

“Mmmhmm,” the boy mumbled through his bounds.

“Let’s get you untied brother,” he ungagged the child, then cut the cords that bound his hands and feet. The child sat up slowly, grimacing as he moved, his arm still protruding at a strange angle.

Bibs spoke, “If you weren’t a magician you would have died. Thank god for our resilience.” Adult Kench grunted in response.

“You can make father love me?” the boy said.

“You won’t even have to call him father anymore,” Bedgel said. “First we need to go in your head and fix what’s wrong with you. And we can.”

Kench wiped tears and blood from his eyes with his free arm. “You’ll fix me?” he asked.

“Yes,” Bedgel said. “But you’ll need to let us both in.”

“Okay,” Kench said. “Okay!”

Brutus touched his staff to Kench, grinned wickedly, then said “Egrutido!” Kench’s eyes rolled back in his head. Bedgel followed Brutus’ lead and created a healing link of his own.

“They were lost in your mind?” Bibs guessed. Kench didn’t say anything. After a few minutes, Bedgel began to fade away. Then, he was gone. Then the same thing happened to Brutus, and Kench lay on the forest floor, unconscious and alone.

“It was my fault,” Kench said. The memory faded and he severed the link between Bibs and himself. The two were still in a heap on the forest floor. “I let them in, they wouldn’t have gotten lost if I didn’t let them in.”

“You were a boy who was deceived by a pair of cruel liars. They gave you false hope only so they could torment you more. You weren’t a person to them Kench. If it weren’t for fear of the stewards guild, they would have let you die.”

Kench didn’t say anything. He knew she was right, he just didn’t want to admit it.

“They made their choices, the larger one even tried to kill you. In China, that’s punishable by death,” Bibs continued. “What I really want to know is why they felt like they could get away with this. Now Kench, you feel like it’s the end of the world because you let them get lost in your mind. If only you’d had a healer there, getting someone out can be as simple as, well, I have strength enough for it.”

“What?” Kench asked.

“Meld our minds,” Bibs said.

Kench hesitated, he looked at her. He could see the compassion, the concern on her face. “They will come out?” he asked. “Just right here and now?”

“Yes, I’ll pull them out as they are now. Everything they brought with them will come too,” Bibs said.

“Okay,” Kench said. Maybe he could return to his family. Having saved his brothers, he could be a hero. A world class duelist, have his own business, be rich, and save his brothers. He could go home!

They stood, and he raised his wand towards her. “Vita Copulare,” Kench said. He came out of himself again, meeting Bibs’ in the air between them.

“Now, we find your bothers,” Bibs’s voice said gently in his mind. “I can’t see them like a healer could, I’m just looking for a mass of power. I seem to have found one, but not the other. Let’s get this one out first then. Virtutem haurire.”

Kench could feel something, something deep inside of him. Like a light brush or tickle in his mind. A loosening of tension that felt like it was lightening the weight of his being washed through him. He breathed deeply, then exhaled. He felt the withdrawal of Bibs as he returned to himself.

He opened his eyes, and saw Bibs looking down to the forest floor. On the ground in front of him were two men, well, one man crying over the top of a shriveled corpse.

“Brutus,” Kench said. The small beaver faced man flinched at Kench’s voice and looked up at him. The man pulled out his wand and pointed it at Kench.

“Who are you?” The man snarled.

“It’s okay!” Kench said, “It’s me, it’s Kench!” The man kept the wand pointed at Kench. “Your little brother!” Kench said. “It’s me! You’re free!”

“He can’t hear you,” Bibs said. “I put him back in the normal time stream. He will be fine here without you. Let’s keep going, we aren’t done today.”

“Bibs,” Kench stammered. “My brother, he’s dead. Finnigan really killed him.”

“It seems so,” Bibs said. “I don’t mean to be cruel Kench, but this is the same person who tried to kill you.”

Kench felt numb, he didn’t know what to do, what to say. “My brother, he’s dead,”

“And the other lives. Now, I’m getting tired Kench, and we have one more thing to do yet this day,” Bibs said. “Think of it like a bandaid, just rip it off.”

“Okay,” Kench said. “Where do we go?”

“I think you already know that,” Bibs said.

Kench stood, the world seemed still. He realized it was because of Bib’s endowment, yet his breath still caught in his chest. He opened a portal, and he was surprised at how natural it felt. He could see a gnarled old yew tree in a clearing. Beyond the tree was a small stone house, that rounded into a circular thatched roof. He stepped through his portal, waited for Bibs, then let it close gently behind him.

“Excellent work on the portal Kench. You might be the fastest learner I’ve ever taught,” Bibs said. Her voice sounded weak.

“Thank you,” Kench said absently. “That’s my sister, Gwen, I haven’t seen her in years.” She was tall, and beautiful. She had dark hair, a slender frame, and sad looking eyes. “She didn’t used to look this sad,” Kench said. “She was the one who always smiled. On birthdays, she would save a piece of cake for me and sneak it to me at night after everyone else had fallen asleep.”

He walked over to his sister. She was frozen in the act of raking leaves. She must still be the one who kept up the yard. Kench was sent to do it, and she would always come to help him. He grabbed a spare rake and began to help, she wouldn’t see him help, but she wouldn’t have to spend her day doing it alone.

“We don’t have time for this,” Bibs said. She waved her wooden spoon and the leaves all simply broke down and vanished. “Alright, let's get you inside and take a look around. I want to see who made it the norm to torture a child,”

“Okay,” Kench said. Seeing his sister, if she could still be here, safe and sound, he could go in. He gently brushed a strand of hair from her beautiful face, then gave her a small kiss on her cheek. “Love you sis,” he said. He turned and walked to the house. The door was unlocked, so he and Bibs opened it and entered. He looked back at his sister, and her head was pointed towards him. He could have sworn her head was looking at the leaves before, but shook himself off, he must be mistaken.

“This is it,” he said. From the outside, the house looked tiny, and in typical magician fashion, it was bigger on the inside. Though in this case, not by much. “Home sweet home.” It was smaller than Kench remembered. On the wall immediately as they entered was a large family portrait. It had Gwen, Brutus and Bedgel, and Kench’s parents. He, of course, wasn’t in the portrait at all.

”You’re not here,” Bibs said, “This was painted after the incident I take it?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before so that would be my guess,” Kench said. He walked into the living room and saw his father sitting on a padded chair wrapped in a blanket. Kench had to stop himself from flinching at the sight of the man.

“This is him,” Bibs said, walking up to the man. She looked him up and down. “If he were in China, he would be put to death for what he did. The lawless lands created by the impotence of the stewards guild make me sick.” She spat at the man's feet.

“It’s not lawless, they prevented my murder after all,” Kench said, feeling slighty irritated by her comment.

“But what about the abuse? Years of it!” she snapped. “Now, let’s see what happened the day you got thrown from the family home. Make the link.” She was being abrasive, but Kench took solace knowing it was on his behalf.

He recast the spell to create the link and joined them in essence again. He recalled the memory. The room changed subtly as his memory took its place. The front door opened, and in stumbled the boy Kench. He was covered in blood, and his arm hung unnaturally at his side. A young Gwen walked into the room and dropped the dinner plates she was carrying to the kitchen.

“Kench!” she screamed. She rushed to his side and helped him into the living room. He sat on the couch and stared blankly ahead.

“He home?” the father bellowed from the dining room. “He’s late! No dinner!” A few moments later his father walked into the room. He was a thick built man, much like Kench. Both had thick beards, only the father sported a receding hairline and a nose several sizes too large for his face. His mouth dropped open when he saw Kench.

“Where are your brothers?” he asked. His voice trembled as he spoke. “Were you attacked?”

“They’re gone,” the boy said, staring blankly ahead. Kench’s mother came into the room.

“That’s my mother,” Kench said to Bibs. “She was like a pair of eyes for my father. She usually whispered when she spoke.”

“What do you mean they’re gone?” his father snapped. “Where did they go?”

“I don’t know,” the boy said. His exhausted eyes were bloodshot from the tears, yet still managed to produce more. He blinked hard, and rubbed his eyes with his blood and mud caked hand.

“I was terrified,” Kench said. “I thought they would kill me.”

“They just walked off without you?” The father said, “Then what happened to you?”

“They did this,” Kench said, a deep gasp starting a fit of sobbing.

“Liar,” the father spat. “They are warriors! Not cowards attacking a pathetic lump a shit like you!”

“They wanted to practice healing,” the boy sobbed.

“Oh,” said the man. “Well, at least you were useful. So then where are they? I made ribs!” he added with a grin.

“Father, may I have permission to heal him?” Gwen asked.

“See how good the boys did while you are at it,” the old man said.

The boy went to speak up, but was interrupted by Gwen saying, “Egrutido.” The boy's arm snapped back into place, then the cuts and scars on his face all vanished. Finally, Gwen leaned in and said, “Good as new.”

“And?” Asked the father. “How did my boys do?”

“Poorly,” Gwen said. “They did more harm than good. They left behind enough healing energy for me to make it right though.”

“If they did poorly,” the father snarled, “then it’s because you didn’t teach them right!”

Gwen glared at her father, then turned and looked at young Kench. “Brother, you said they did this to you. Did you mean you got hurt and they healed you, or they hurt you so they could heal you?”

The boy looked up at his father, then back at his sister and hung his head.

“Baby brother,” she said, almost pleadingly. “Talk to me, focus on me, and be brave. Did they mean to hurt you so they could try healing you?”

The child nodded.

“LIES!” roared the father. “What really happened?” The boy flinched, but didn’t say anything. “Answer me!” the father yelled.

“I’m sorry!” the boy wailed. “It’s my fault, I didn’t mean to hurt them!”

“What?” said the father. “You couldn’t have hurt them. Where are they?”

“They tried to heal me, and they went away!” young Kench yelled. “I’m so sorry!”

“No,” yelled the father. He ran outside, pulling out his wand as he went. “Boys!” he yelled from outside. They could hear him muttering an incantation. “No,” he yelled. This time his voice was high and shrill. “Boys! Where are my boys?” He ran back into the house, “What did you do to them?” He grabbed Kench with one hand and pressed his wand into the boy's throat.

“Nothing, I didn’t mean to, they just turned to dust,” the boy said, eyes wide and wild.

“What?” the mother hissed. “What are you? Get out of my house!”

Kench got up and ran out. Gwen reached to stop him, but the father grabbed her and held her back. “Kench! No!” she screamed as he left.

Kench broke the connection with Bibs, and the room returned to the present. “I ran,” he said. “I stayed outside for a while. I learned that magicians could go a while without food or water. Doesn’t stop the hunger pain though.”

Bibs sat on the couch heavily. Her tremendous mass bowed the thing. “I think you’re better off without them Kench. It seems Gwen was the only one who…” Bibs stopped in mid sentence. She didn’t just stop talking, she froze. A strange grey aura seemed to be surrounding her. It wasn’t her own magic, it was coming past Kench.

He turned around, and saw, standing in the middle of the gray power, his own mother.

“Mother,” Kench stammered.

“I told you to get out,” she hissed at him. “I always knew you’d be back, our family shame! We should have turned you in to the stewards instead of let you escape that night! Your father's greatest regret!”

“How are you doing this?” Kench asked.

“No!” she hissed again. “You took our boys from us, your father has been in mourning ever since! You took him too! Well, now it’s time for him to avenge his children from the bastard that took them!” She turned and looked at the chair on which her husband sat. The grey aura extended to him, and he slowly began to rise. The aura thickened and he entered the same time stream as them.

He turned and looked at Kench. He saw Bibs on the couch, his wife, then his eyes widened. “You,” he breathed at Kench. “I’ll beat you to within an inch of your life then turn you in to the stewards!” He went for his wand. The old man had been an ametuer duelist in his day, and he was faster than Kench remembered, but Kench was a world class duelist. He had his club out with deflection spells in the air before his father could launch a single spell. That didn’t stop the old magician though. A barrage of magic shot from his wand, which Kench batted aside with ease. The old man wasn’t fighting to kill Kench, Kench knew these spells. They would simply make Kench feel like he had been punched firmly in the stomach.

His father gained speed, so Kench turned up his defences. He didn’t know why, or how he got the courage, but he decided to fight back. He didn’t want to kill his father, and Bibs had taught him just the trick in their time together: blackout spells. He incorporated the blackout spells into his weave of magic. The old man deflected the spells and came back at Kench even faster. Kench shifted back to deflection spells as his father launched another barrage of magic.

The old man seemed even faster than Finnigan. Rage and lunacy painted his face as he launched spell after spell at his son. The grey aura around him darkened, almost to a black outline, and the father's speed increased even more.

“Mother!” Kench yelled. “He’ll kill me!”

“Don’t call me mother!” the woman shrieked. “You killed your brothers then left! We didn’t get closure, we couldn’t even bury our sons! Now, you call your father a murderer?”

“I know where Bedgel is!” Kench yelled over the torrent of magic.

The aura around his father vanished. Kench turned to his mother who was surrounded by her magic. “Where is my boy?”

“First, you have to let her go!” Kench said, pointing at Bibs. His mother shrieked, then her aura extended to surround Kench. He felt himself slipping from the time stream. The pull on his soul from Finnigan became apparent as he approached normal time. He could feel him pulling from Kench even at this great distance.

He fell to a knee, the thick, suffocating power of his mother all around him. He tried to pull it off, will it off, and to his surprise, it responded to him. He moved her power away and re entered the altered time stream once more.

“What?” his mother asked. “How?”

“I’m your son, looks like I got this from you,” he snarled back at her. She reached forward, hands like claws grasping the air between them. As she did, her magic drew closer to him. She appeared to move faster as she altered his place in the timestream once more. He pushed back, willing her away. Finnigan had drained him in those few moments, and he hadn’t had much left before that anyways.

His mother let out a howl of rage, and redirected her magic back at the father. He sprang into motion, this time grabbing his staff from the mantle and charging Kench. The man was a blur, Kench’s mother had moved him into a faster time stream. Kench only just raised his club in time to deflect the staff, but his club snapped in two as he fell to the ground. His broken club’s pieces shot in opposite directions, one out a window, the other skittered out of sight into the neighboring room.

“Knock him out!” his mother shrieked to his father. “He has Bedgel!” The old magician raised his staff high above his head and brought it down towards his son’s skull. Kench closed his eyes and waited for the blow.

It never came.

“Kench, get up,” he heard a familiar voice say. He looked up and saw Gwen standing there, a brilliant white aura surrounding her.

“Gwen, how are you doing that?” Kench asked.

“You heard her, we need to go, I don’t have much left in me,” Bibs said. “Your bitch of a mother sent me to a slower time stream, I didn’t realize it because I was moving so much slower!”

“Don’t call her a bitch,” Gwen said hoisting Kench. The three of them moved quickly out the front door. “They lost their favorite children years ago, and it’s poisoned them ever since. You’d be that way too after all this time. Kench,” she said, turning to her little brother “You know where Bedgel is? What about Brutus?”

“He’s dead,” Kench said.

“Okay,” she said. “I thought he was dead ages ago, so I’m okay, but Bedgel is alive? Where is he?”

“He’s in the woods by Stotes field,” Kench said. “He’s okay. Gwen, how did you get into this timestream?”

“Her,” Gwen said, pointing at Bibs. “When you came, her power attached to me, it moved me into, whatever this is.

“A different time stream, time is a jumbled mess that flows forward at different paces. We just moved into a faster stream,” Bibs panted.

“Well,” Gwen said as they walked across the grass toward the yew tree. “It moved me into your time stream. Things like this happen whenever I’m around someone who, well I don’t know. But you did it too. Mom is grey, I’m white, and you’re purple. It made you look like an oompa loompa!”

“What?” Kench said.

Gwen lengthened her stride even more and said, “It’s when mom uses her power. You saw hers?”

“Yeah, it got all dark,” Kench said.

“Then you pushed hers back, look, I don’t know what it is, but we need to get you out of here before mom steals more of this woman's power and they come out here,” Gwen said. “And Kench,” she added. “I’ve missed you. I watch all your duels. Now, let’s get you a new fulcrum.” She waved her hand at the trunk of the yew tree and it opened.

She reached inside and pulled out a staff. Most staves were narrow at one end and a little bulbous at the other end. This one was shaped like several interwoven vines, smooth, and white. Both ends were a little bulbous, with tiny wand tips ensconced within them like a crown pointing in all directions.

“Is that my old staff?” Kench asked.

“Yeah, I changed it though. I came up with something else.” She pulled out a silver chain with what looked like a pearl trapped in vines of silver. “This is for you, open it when you’re alone. It’ll explain everything. Kench, mom and dad love you. They don’t know how to handle their emotions, and I’m so sorry they just lost it, but one day we will be back together.”

“Gwen, I can’t, how can we...” Kench stammered.

“Take them!” she commanded. He took the silver chain in his hand. It was warm, he could feel the whispers of magic resonating from within. He took the staff, and the ends of it glowed. He felt magic for sure. Years of magic he laid into the staff himself, but he also felt that of his sister. It was strong, and harmonized with his. The staff was his, he knew, and the staff knew it. Warmth radiated up his arm and through the staff. Runes that had been etched into it glowed bright enough to be seen in the sunlight.

“Gwen, thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” she said smiling. “Can you make a portal?” she asked. “I don’t know where to send you.”

“I can,” Kench said.

“Of course you can, you always were good at magic.” She leaned in, kissed him on the cheek, then gave him a tremendous hug.

“Gwen, I want to talk to you more!” Kench said.

“That’s what the bracelet is for!” she said. “Now go! We don’t have time now!”

Kench took the chain and held it by an end. It unfolded and showed itself to be a bracelet, with the pearl in the middle. He strapped it on his wrist, looked at his sister, and said “I love you.”

“I love you too!” she said beaming at her baby brother. “Now leave!”

Kench gripped his staff. As he did, he became acutely aware of the many different tips protruding from it. He selected the most forward one on the top and slashed through the air, opened a portal to the palace of the Regalia. He stepped through with Bibbs on his heels. He turned and took one look back at his sister, who smiled, then shut his portal with a wave of her hand.

“How did she do that?” Kench asked. “She never used a wand at all.”

“Her ring, she used that as a fulcrum. It’s actually quite advanced magic,” Bibbs said. “Now, I need rest dear boy. And you need to think about what happened. I think maybe it was your brothers who were the biggest problem. A couple bad eggs spoiled by parents who were a little unfit. Now, lay to rest and think. I’ll meditate.”

The portal shut as Gwen waved her hand, her ring glowing as it released the power. She took a deep breath. She saw where Kench’s portal went. She could get to her brother if she needed to. She could learn magic so quickly, she just wished she’d had a real teacher.

Kench’s companion, the short plump woman, had a strange gift. Gwen held on to that gift. It was always this way when she encountered someone with a special power. Gwen could use it too, until she met someone else who had one and decided to use theirs. This time, she had been raking, then everything became still. She was drawn into the woman's power, and that’s where she got it. This was a special gift, she’d never seen this one before. Usually it was old farmer Stotes, and his ability to predict the weather. This was much more useful.

She held herself in the altered timestream, time was of the essence, and she had as much of it as she needed now. She didn’t know how she knew how to use other peoples gifts, but she figured it was like a baby knowing how to breathe. It just does.

With a wave of her hand, another portal appeared where Kench had been moments before, right to the edge of Stotes Field, where the forest lay. She strode into the thicket of trees, keeping her eyes looking from side to side. This time stream was so much faster than normal, no one would even see her. It was like being invisible, but not at the same time. The thought exhilarated her. The thicket wasn’t very large, though out of the way of anyone else.

“Where are you Bedgel?” she said to herself. She came around a large rotted trunk when she saw him. A man with a remarkably ugly face, knelt down with his wand pointed to the side. The tip of the wand was aglow with what Gwen guessed to be a spell. It was blue and shed a light on Bedgel’s face that made his terror look somehow at peace. She reached out to him with her new power, and pulled his wand into her timestream. The blue spell shot through the canopy above and into the sky. Gwen took his wand and placed it in a deep pocket in her jacket.

Gwen began to reach out to Bedgel when she noticed something beneath him. At first, she thought it was a roasted pig that had dried out, but at a closer look, she realized it was a man. “No, not Brutus!” she said. She reached out and moved Bedgel off of the man, and rolled him over. The features were similar to her brother as she remembered them all those years ago. She used both hands to conjure a weave and wrapped it around her brother.

She turned to Bedgel, and reached out with her new gift and pulled him into her time stream.

“Kench,” Bedgel panted as he collapsed, covering his head. “No, don’t put me back in! I’m sorry! We were boys, we didn’t mean to!”

Gwen wanted to reach out and hold her brother, he had been through so much. But first, he needed to admit his guilt. If she wanted her family back together this was the first step.

She reached out and grabbed him with magic, then turned him to face her. His eyes focused on her. “Who are you?” he stammered. He looked closer at her face. “Gwen?”

“Hello brother, we have some things to discuss.”