Micah or the end of Magic. Chapter 2.

 

Chapter 2.

 

Deserted Places.

 

Micah walked down the road feeling sad and confused. All his life he had believed that people who did magic were bad, like Magrib. He had wanted to learn magic so he could help people. Yet Dulcie was good, and she used magic every day. And the box… how could it have taken her power? His head was full of questions.

After a while he came to a farmhouse. There was no one about, and no animals either. That was strange. Usually, when Micah approached a farm looking for work, dogs barked at him long before he reached the door.

He knocked. No answer. He knocked again, harder. The door creaked open.

“Hello, the house!” he called.

Silence.

Micah stepped inside cautiously. He found himself in the kitchen. It was very quiet. He went to the big oven built into the wall. It was cold. The fire in a farmhouse oven should never go out.

Through another door he found the dairy. On the table lay a piece of cheese and some old bread. The house had been abandoned for some time. Micah felt a pang of sadness for the family who had once lived there.

He searched the rest of the house, but it was completely empty. He helped himself to the cheese and bread. Something about the place felt wrong. The family had left in a hurry, but not so much of a hurry that they hadn’t packed their important belongings.

There were no farm carts in the yard. They must have hitched up their horses and cows and loaded everything they could. They had gathered their hens and ducks too. If they had pigs, they would have driven them into the forest to fend for themselves.

A cat brushed against Micah’s legs, making him jump. He stroked it and gave it a piece of cheese. The cat purred, ate it, and wandered back outside. Micah smiled. There would be plenty of mice in the barn for it.

While he ate, Micah took the box from his pack. His fingers still hurt, but he managed. He opened the box and lifted out the jewel. It glowed red for a full minute before fading. The strange sensation returned, stronger this time, pressing against his chest. He put the jewel away quickly and closed the box.

He packed the remaining bread and cheese, filled his water bottle from the pump in the yard, and looked around once more. The place felt too strange to stay in overnight. He set off down the road again, still following the edge of the forest.

After a few miles he reached a signpost. A man was sitting against it. As Micah approached, the man stood up, leaning heavily on a thick walking stick.

“You can’t go any further,” the man said. “No one can get into Bilton.”

“What do you mean?” Micah asked. “The road looks open to me.”

The man wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Well, you can try if you want, but don’t blame me if you get hurt.”

Micah took a few steps forward, and walked straight into an invisible barrier. He stepped back and felt the air in front of him. Something solid was there, though he couldn’t see it.

“Told you so,” the man said. “But it doesn’t matter much. There’s no one left in Bilton. Just me. Everyone else has gone. My name’s Brean.”

“What happened?” Micah asked, uneasy. “Was it the plague?”

“No,” Brean said. “A couple of weeks ago, the witch came with an army of wraiths.”

“Wraiths?” Micah interrupted. “I thought they were just stories to frighten children.”

“So did we,” Brean said. “But she brought them, and in broad daylight. They wore strange armour. I’ve never seen anything like it. They rounded everyone up and made them pack their belongings. When the mayor argued, a wraith stabbed him. The witch had them throw his body down the well. She said everyone had one day to leave or they’d get the same.”

Micah handed him his water bottle. Brean drank deeply.

“Thank you, kind sir.”

“One brave man asked where we were supposed to go,” Brean continued. “The witch told us to go to King Rolan’s palace and tell him we were a present from the Witch of the Dark Forest.”

“Calizone,” Micah muttered.

Brean nodded.

“So why are you still here?” Micah asked.

Brean pointed at his leg. “I was left behind. I thought she’d kill me, but she just laughed and said I could be a sign for anyone who came along. Then she put a spell on the village so no one could get in. And one on me too. I can’t go more than a few paces from this sign. If a farmer and his family hadn’t passed by, I’d have starved.”

“A spell,” Micah said thoughtfully. He remembered Dulcie’s words about great magic. “Spells like that have to have a way of being broken. Did Calizone say anything?”

Brean grabbed Micah’s arm. “Yes! She said the spell would be lifted by a small man whose mother was a pig.”

Micah smiled. “Well, my name is Small, and my mother was a pig for a while, so I suppose it’s up to me.”

He walked back to the barrier and pushed. Nothing. He tried again. Still nothing.

“Are you sure that’s all she said?” he asked.

Brean nodded.

Micah scratched his head. “I’ve never dealt with magic before… but I wonder…”

He took the box from his pack and opened it. The jewel blazed brighter than ever. Both men stared, open‑mouthed. The glow lasted several minutes before fading. The strange sensation surged so strongly that Micah sat down, clutching his chest.

Brean hurried to him. “Are you all right?”

Micah nodded and stood. “Let’s see if that worked.”

They walked to where the barrier had been. Nothing stopped them. Micah stepped into the village.

Brean followed, beaming. “Thank you! You’ve lifted the spell, from the village and from me!”

“It’s getting dark,” Micah said. “Is there an inn where I can sleep?”

Brean led him through the empty village to an inn. The doors stood wide open.

Micah tried the ale in a jug on the bar. It was stale. He tried the barrel. Also stale.

“Ah well,” he said. “You can’t have everything.”

In the kitchen, the landlord had taken all the perishable food, but a fine side of bacon hung in the pantry. Micah cut a large slice for himself and a smaller one for Brean. After finding a frying pan and lighting a fire, they soon had a hot meal.

Micah opened the box again. This time the jewel only glowed faintly. He closed the box and put it away.

Upstairs he found a made‑up bed. He barred the door and checked the shutters. The thought of wraiths made him uneasy.

He slept very little that night.