Life After Death

Corryn: ghost in the middle

{Corryn}

Galahad sat on the stone countertop in Dagonet's lab far more calmly than I would have in his place. Dagonet had books opened all around him, reading them intermittently as he peered at his little brother.

I felt mostly useless without magic, but that was Gawain's rule if I was to help at all. I was curious about Galahad and his spell, but not eager to incur Gawain's fury. Dagonet, unfortunately, had other plans.

"There's no point in your helping me if you can't touch anything," he insisted, and set down one book to stir a potion on the table. "You have more experience than I do."

"Not that much," I told him. "I mostly learned what I know last night. Some sort of condition was met; something happened last night that hasn't happened before."

"I turned twelve," Galahad supplied, trying to be helpful.

"But you're twelve now," Dagonet pointed out. "And nothing is happening."

"Mikaela said that it happened at six twenty last night," I added. "Anything exciting happen then?"

"Did you see anything at all in the future?" Dagonet asked Galahad. "At least, last night."

The boy shook his head. "My magic showed nothing abnormal until the future was no more What was there just vanished. I do not know how else to describe it."

"So the change didn't affect your own magic at all," I mused. "Until it was too late of course."

Dagonet turned off the fire below the potion and set it aside. He cleared the rest of the ingredients away without speaking to either Galahad or me and then stared at the book on the table.

"So change magic does this," he said.

Before I could stop him, Dagonet lit his hand on fire and then muttered at it. The orange flames gave way to a black gaseous looking substance that threatened to creep up his arm. I stepped backward without meaning to as Dagonet held his arm up, peering at the change magic.

Carefully, he held a jar with his left hand and let the black goo drip off his fingers into it, sealing it tightly before plunging his right hand into the sink, dowsing it with water. The water hissed against his skin, and when he pulled his hand out of the water, it had welts and burns up to his elbow.

"That was incredibly foolish," I told him.

"Corryn, I've been doing research too," he assured me. "I neutralized it."

"And a blistered hand for your troubles," I responded.

Dagonet pulled another jar out of his cabinet and smeared salve on his hand. Within seconds, the welts were gone and his hand was normal. He smiled at the result and held his hand for me to see.

"I told you I had done my research," he said. "Don't worry so much. Nimue and I made this together; it's unbelievably expensive and time consuming, but works perfectly. And now I have raw change magic to work with."

I didn't know what to say. Everything I knew about this magic told me that it was dangerous. I knew that Dagonet was careful, methodical, and curious, but surely I could keep him from these experiments somehow. I glanced at Galahad who was frowning as if he was concentrating.

"Dagonet?" the boy said. He folded his hands into his lap and watched his older brother clean the mess the change magic had made in the sink.

"Yes?"

Galahad did not speak until Dagonet turned around and stopped working.

"I can tell you what you will discover," the boy continued, and for the first time, he looked uncomfortable. "I can see the experiments you have to do, and they are dangerous. I do not wish you to risk your life so. May I tell you?"