Adelfried

His first week with the Harper family continued like a bizarre dream. A few hours spent experimenting with different quartz samples easily turned into entire days. A stream of blood meant additional work on his battlefield patched shoulder necessitating more rest. All the while he was using heightened learning to continue to expand his English to better understand the fascinating world around him. He had never pushed himself so hard. Even in rest he found no peace with nightmares of Leyna and Minna growing old and dying or being chased by a demonic version of Harold.

One afternoon, after escaping the intense heat of the garage, he fell asleep on the couch only to be startled awake by the presence of Zarg, a huge, almost wolf-sized bag of elbows over six feet in length. He had laid down on the couch facing Adelfried and stared at him with huge watery eyes. Adelfried knew those eyes wanted something from him. They held an impatient quality that unnerved him. Perhaps because those aqueous orbs were situated in the longest head he had ever seen, complete with a snout that seemed to stretch out farther than he thought possible and tipped with an additional inch of bulbous wet nose. The whole setup reminded him more of a bird’s beak than a dog’s snout. His anxiety partly stemmed from the large set of white teeth situated in the beak that were exposed by a large yawn. The creature seemed prone to excessive yawning, perhaps because Zarg spent an inordinate amount of time on the couch. In fact, he couldn’t remember seeing Zarg anywhere but the couch. He surmised that he was potentially permanently tethered there in some manner because no creature could be that lazy. Zarg suddenly swiped at him causing Adelfried to sit up quickly with a shield at the ready to defend himself should the beast strike.

“He just wants scritches,” Evan said, sitting down behind Zarg where there was just enough space and started scratching his side. “If you’re on the couch with him, you pretty much have no choice.”

Adelfried looked at the leggy creature a moment before deciding it was safe and slowly reached out and stiffly rubbed his fingernails on top of Zarg’s head like he was trying to scratch an itch. “Like this?”

“Eh…you’ll get the hang of it.” Zarg, seemingly unhappy with Adelfried’s attempt, rolled to his back so Evan could scratch his chest.

“Why does this animal not move from the couch?”

“He loves his comfort. Pets, scratches, food, and a soft place to sleep is all he wants really, and to occasionally chase a rabbit.”

“Is that his purpose? To hunt?”

“It would be if we let him. He loves it. He caught one once and my dad tried to get it away from him. Before you know it, my dad had half and Zarg had half.”

Kae came into the room with a half glass of lemonade. “Oh my God, don’t remind me, that was so gross.” The ice clinked as she sat down on the chair opposite the couch.

“Yeah, it was really more a third to Zarg, a third to my dad and a third to the ground,” Evan said, with a big grin on his face. “That last third is what Zarg ended up eating later while no one was looking.”

“Ew stop, you're gonna make me gag,” Kae said, as her face started to change shades. “And no, we don’t hunt for our food, we go to the store.”

“So, what is his purpose?”

Evan scrunched his face up. “He’s our dog… no purpose, I guess, other than to be our friend. So, when are you going to show me how to do some magic?”

Adelfried frowned. “I’m sorry, you suck, you…you only suck magic in, not out.”

“I’ve been telling him that for years,” Kae said, grinning ear to ear. “What about me? Can I learn?”

It had been a few days since he arrived, and even with Evan absorbing most of the magic from the Root, some might have seeped into her by now. “Maybe, some should have made it to you, I think. The Root puts out magic, a lot of magic, and people near it will absorb it. The closer and longer you are near to the Root, the more you absorb.”

Kae seemed pleased as she shot Evan a smug look. “And then you can use the magic, if you don’t suck?”

“Yes, for most people. But not for you, Evan. Like I said, you are special. Just not how you want to be special, I think.”

Evan considered this for a moment. “Well, what if I were to absorb like a ton of magic, like just sat next to it all day for a year?”

“I don’t think it works that way. I think you destroy the magic, make it disappear because you—”

“Well, you can show me,” Kae interrupted.

“Yes, you can try something small. The easiest thing to do is to try and push something.” Adelfried put his hand out, palm open. “Put your hand out like this.” She followed his instructions. “Now close your eyes and feel this flat piece of wood on the table in your mind.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“You mean the coaster?” Kae replied.

“Yes, now close your eyes.” Kae complied with her hand still outstretched towards the coaster. “Do you see it in your mind?”

“Yes.”

“Now imagine it moving forward, like you are pushing it with your mind,” Adelfried continued.

“This is ridiculous,” Kae said.

“This is how it works, now focus…try to feel its texture in your mind. Its…its…” Adelfried wasn’t sure how to describe it.

“Its woodiness?” Evan chimed in.

“Yes, its woodiness,” Adelfried agreed.

There came a sound of the coaster sliding.

“I did it!” She yelled as she opened her eyes to find Evan sliding the coaster along the coffee table.

“Evan! You little shi—”

“What are you doing?” Jim stood at the door to the living room, hands on his hips.

“I am giving Kae a lesson on magic, it may be a bit early, but in time it will come.”

Jim frowned, his voice took on a dangerous tone, as he pointed at Adelfried. “I will let you live here, but I don’t want my kids involved with this magic.”

“Why not?” Kae snapped. “What are you afraid of, it’s not like he’s giving us cigarettes.”

“Look, my house, my rules. Besides, you don’t know what that will do to you.”

Adelfried started, “Maybe—”

“This is just typical!” Kae yelled, jumping to her feet, fists clenched. “Why do you care? You don’t let me make decisions for myself. You know I am turning eighteen soon, I’m not a child.”

“Well, when you move out you can do whatever you want, but in this house, no magic.”

“Maybe I should just skip college then and get a job so I can be free!”

Adelfried leaned away instinctively not wanting to get involved in the family squabble. That was not his place. He at least understood what Conrad must have felt like when he and Harold went back and forth. But after a few rounds he finally interrupted them. “Jim. She must learn. You must all learn. Living this close to the Root, the magic will get into you eventually. Better to control it and know it. This will make it better.”

“What? You never said living here was going to affect us. Is it permanent?”

“Depends.”

Jim’s face twisted up something fierce. “What do you mean it depends? Depends on what?”

“This is good, it is safe, nothing to fear, the Root—”

“You don’t know that! Look at you. You’re stuck in another world unable to protect your family, and you sit here in my house and tell me it's safe. Why don’t you ask your wife and kid that question?”

Jim’s words were like a kick in the chest. He was right, the Root and the abilities that came from it were not safe. They were powerful and dangerous and only Evan’s natural ability to absorb the magic made it safe, just not for the family that had to live near it. The Root would endow them all with great and terrible powers whether they wanted them or not. He had to do something and do it now.

“You are right.” Adelfried stroked his beard. What could he do to protect them? “I will work to completely block the magic from the Root. That is only fair.”

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As weeks piled up, Adelfried still hadn’t made much progress. While successful in securing numerous variations of quartz and armed with a basic understanding of the mineral content of water and how it varied, he was still unable to reproduce the potion that had sent him to this world. He realized how much he did not know, and when Evan casually mentioned in passing that they lived on a round thing called a planet that was floating through the expanse of emptiness called space, he decided that he needed to learn more broadly. Thus began Evan’s general knowledge lessons while he continued his work.

“Think of the internet like a virtual world,” Evan said, while they were both sitting in the study in front of a laptop.

“Virtual?”

“Hmm…like something that is real, but you can’t touch it. A world that only exists in a computer, just like you can picture a bird in your head that you can’t touch, well that is what virtual means. It is real in your head, but you can’t put your hand on it, but you can see it. In this case, you can only view it from a computer.”

“Okay…” Adelfried said, pondering the concept. “And this thing is a computer, a fake brain?”

“Yeah, there are millions of these fake brains with all kinds of information in them and all connected.” Evan made the page roll down as endless lines of text seemed to go on forever about anything and everything.

Adelfried studied the screen. Something about the text unnerved him. He could not read the language yet, although he was working on it, but the text was almost too familiar. Had his world and this world been in contact before?

Evan asked, “So any questions you want to ask?”

“Can it tell me how to get home?”

Evan shook his head. “You need to be very specific. Like…how do I open an interdimensional doorway?”

Adelfried leaned in closer to the screen. “What does it say?”

Evan tapped and moved the text and images on the screen several times. “It says that is the realm of science fiction, so in other words it can’t be done.” Evan continued tapping. “But there’s this talk of multiverse and other stuff, but I don’t know, sounds like the scientists are just speculating at this point. There’s this quantum mechanics thing and parallel universe and I don’t know. We’d have to research it more.”

“Yes, I think I need to focus more on learning to read your English if I am to make progress.” So much learning still to be done. And even once he could read, he would have so much to read. “Evan, I want you to know I am very thankful for all you have done for me. It is very kind of you.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. It’s been fun, between my know-it-all sister and my mom who actually helps build rockets for NASA, it’s good to talk to someone who’ll listen.”

“Adelfried!” Jim had that ‘what the hell now’ tone to his voice that Adelfried was becoming very familiar with. He always seemed to be in trouble with Jim. First it was his tools, then giving his children magic, then his bathing. What could possibly be next? “What’s with the wooden plank glued down in the hallway closet?”

“I was going to surprise you. I thought you would be pleased.”

“Pleased? The closet door won’t shut. Can you put it in the garage?”

“If I move it to the garage, it will be too far away, it is safer in the house.”

Jim squinted. “Why do you need a wood plank in the closet?

“Oh, there is the confusion, it isn’t a… what did you call it? A plank? It’s a hatch or trapdoor.” Adelfried smiled at Evan, who seemed to appreciate his improved vocabulary.

“Wait.” Jim put his hands on the doorframe. This was good because everything he did seemed to make Jim angry. His voice was low. “Are you saying that is a door?”

“Yes, a trapdoor.”