But it never came. A brick wall created by Kalli materialized out of thin air to intercept the attack. I teleported to her side and cast the first spell that came to mind.

“Pew!”

A rock the size of a baseball shot off my wand and into Merlin. His robe ballooned out to soften the blow. It still hit him with considerable force, causing him to wheeze and stagger backward. I raised my wand to cast another spell but he waved his wand and suddenly I was frozen again.

He waved the wand theatrically. “Tricks like this are also possible with magic. Sorry it’s come to this, but you’ve left me no choice.”

I could tell Kalli was also paralyzed as he stalked toward me. The next shot out of his wand was a stream of blue plasma which I was powerless to stop. The force of the impact knocked the wind out of me and seared itself into my midsection. I went down in a heap, fearing the attack had gone straight through me, taking vital organs out along with it.

Melvin! Kalli shrieked, rushing to get in front of me.

Looking down, I realized what happened. While my shirt had been incinerated, the armor Merlin gave me absorbed the worst of the attack. All I felt was the impact and some of the heat. In a moment of fear, Kalli managed to break free of the paralysis and rush to my side. Either that or Merlin couldn’t do two things at once. That made me think. We could do two things at a time, and we could do them seamlessly.

Rising to my feet, I pointed my wand at Kalli and sent as much flame as I could muster at her. She reached out a hand to collect it, allowing it to form into a great ball of fire while flashing her most Kalli-like glare at Merlin and editing a tiny pebble on the ground in front of him. It expanded into a massive wooden doll, sending Merlin flying into the air. At the same time, I edited a portion of the ceiling.

Item:

One Ton Rock (Edited)

Components

Rock. Dirt

Item Rank:

D

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

It shuddered and broke free. Watching the boulder fall made it sink in that we were back in Lavender’s hideout. Merlin looked up at the last second and just managed to propel himself out of the way before the boulder crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of debris.

He landed across the room from us and swished his wand in the air again. The tightness returned and we found ourselves paralyzed again. Rather than following up with an immediate attack, Merlin closed his eyes and began chanting.

“Quedious Mikka Oddulous Rai.”

Mana began to accumulate at the tip of his wand, causing it to take on a distinctly green hue. His eyes closed as he focused mana from some unknown source. Even while paralyzed we still had full access to the system. Between the two of us, we edited more items in an attempt to break free from his control.

Merlin laughed and a barrier appeared around him, deflecting the feeble attacks. There was only one thing inside of the barrier with him. Mom. She rose to her feet behind Merlin and he cast her a sidelong glance as mana continued to accumulate on the tip of his wand.

“I’m sorry, my love,” he whispered to her. “I can’t let anything stand between us anymore, not even our son.”

Merlin gasped as a slender hand reached out and grasped the tip of his wand. Her hand began to wither before he could do anything about it. Horror filled me as the green light invaded Mom’s unawakened body. I felt the paralysis slip again as Merlin dropped his wand and caught her. Kalli and I both rushed over as Merlin clutched her.

“Why would you do this?” He cried out, tears running down his cheeks. “You can’t take world magic inside of yourself. It will damage your soul.”

Mom reached out to me with a shriveled hand that had turned so black it appeared gangrenous. I instinctively took it, not caring if her affliction might spread to me.

Looking over Merlin’s shoulder, Mom squeezed my hand. “Do it. It’s the only way.”

Unable to control myself, I began sobbing and pushed mana through the ring and into Mom. Her hand dropped as her soul was sucked into the ring. Merlin stiffened as well, his body touching hers and also caught in the magic of the ring. I continued to push mana into the ring until I was certain both of them were firmly trapped. Mom’s body continued to blacken the world magic continued to rampage through her body.

Kalli pushed past me and took Mom’s body in her arms. Before I knew it, she’d vanished with her. Realizing there was only one place they could have gone, I left Merlin where he’d fallen and followed them into the void.

Just like the last time, Mom’s body was a statue in there. The world magic paused as well, only extending halfway up her arms and legs. Relief washed over me as I realized there might still be hope.

Did you manage to put their souls in the ring? Kalli asked, giving me time to compose myself.

I held my hand with the ring up, reaching out for Kalli with the other.

There’s only one way to know.

A heated argument was well underway by the time we arrived in the ring.

“I was doing this for your own good!” Merlin roared through the door in the second cell. “If you hadn’t been so stubborn, I never would have had to resort to such extreme measures.”

“If you’d respected my decision, you could have gone on to lord over creation to your heart’s content,” Mom countered from the first cell.

If anybody else was paying attention, they weren’t being obvious about it. Once I saw Mom’s face poking out of the slat in the first door, I opened it and let her out.

She hugged me and smiled. “Good job, Melvin. I knew you’d make the right decision. It’s over now.”

“Not yet!” I cried. “It’s not over until we save you. Your body is… Your body…”

I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence, so Kalli took over for me. “Your body is just fine, Mrs. Murphy. I brought it to the void where time doesn’t flow. It’s safe until we can figure out a way to…”

Mom cut Kalli off with a finger to her lips. “Call me Sam, Sweetheart. Or Mom. Are you two far along enough in your relationship to call me Mom yet? That isn’t important now. You two saved the important bits. See, my soul is just fine.”

She twirled for emphasis.

“It’s not the same,” I replied, feeling like Mom wasn’t taking this seriously. “I need you out there.”

She ran her hand across my cheek. “You don’t need me anymore, Honey. I raised you and that was enough. You’re strong. Even if you don’t see me again in this life, there’s always the next one.”

“What about our Daughter?” I asked, taking Kalli’s hand in mine. “Surely, Sindra is going to need her Grandma around as she grows up.”

Mom laughed. “Well, then. She’ll just have to visit me. Or I can borrow a body. There are options.”

“We can’t do that,” I said, remembering what Lavender told me about editing bodies. “Someone would have to die for that.”

Mom shook her head and pointed over her shoulder toward the cell Merlin was in. “It seems to me you have a spare body laying around that isn’t in use. While inhabiting an awakened body will take some getting used to, I’ll do it for my Grandbabies.”

“Grandbabies?” Kalli asked hesitantly. “I only agreed to one. Not plural.”

Mom smiled. “It’s fine, dear. You can go at your own pace. I’m in no rush.”

“Um, okay,” Kalli replied, mollycoddled for the moment.

“I never agreed to let anyone use my body!” Merlin shouted from his cell.

Mom walked over to the slat where he was glaring at us from the darkness. “Listen here. You wanted to spend eternity with me and I’m in here with you. At least for now. But I’m warning you, if you keep acting like a jerk, I’m going to reincarnate and you’ll never see me again. Don’t think you found me all those times. I let you every single time.”

Kalli leaned over and bumped me with her shoulder. You’re Mom is a badass!

I smiled weakly, still hurting that she was okay with being virtually dead.

Don’t I know it?

Kalli wrapped her arms around me, sensing my turmoil. It’s going to be okay, Mel.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she reassured me. She remembered that her parents also died. I squeezed her back, kissing her wet cheek.

It’s going to be okay for both of us. Now that this is over we can go find your parents too.

She smiled. I’d like that.

Just as we turned to leave, Merlin’s frantic voice called after us. “Hey! Don’t forget to preserve my body.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied over my shoulder. “Mom’s gonna need it. We’ll throw you in the void too.”

“No!” He nearly screamed. “You can’t store things in there. We aren’t the only ones with access.”

That gave me pause. I stopped and walked back to his cell with Kalli. Mom stepped aside to let us see him.

“What do you mean we aren’t the only ones?”

Merlin looked down the hall toward the other cells. “The fact that you stole my ring and how quiet in here it is, tells me that you let the other prisoners out. That means you let my father go. I hate to break it to you, Kid, but he’s a far bigger threat than I ever was.”

“Your Dad?” I asked, gaping at Merlin. “Which one?”

“Malric,” he drawled the name. “I don’t know how you figured out how to get in here but letting him out might as well have doomed the universe. It was a miracle that I got him in here in the first place.”

“What about Longinus?” I asked, remembering the other man who had offered help with our corruption in exchange for his freedom.

“That old monk?” He asked with a chuckle. “That guy was too cocky for his own good and challenged me to a duel. After I defeated him, he swore he would never stop challenging me, so I put him in timeout. I suppose you released him as well?”

“Yeah,” I replied, crossing my arms. “And Nir Vana.”

Merlin chuckled. “I would have thought you of all people would keep her locked up, with your moral convictions. That was one naughty little minx. She destroyed souls to prolong her life.”

“How did she destroy them?” I asked, second-guessing myself once again.

He let go of the bars. “Did you ever wonder how she managed to live so long? It wasn’t just the fresh bodies. She fed on the souls of others. I can’t imagine her not doing it again, even if you promised her otherwise. Reincarnation will not be kind to her after what she’s done.”

“She made a contract with me,” I balked. “A magic one.”

Merlin sighed. “Well, maybe she will behave. If the penalty for doing otherwise is severe enough.”

“She’ll die,” Kalli said softly.

“That might do it,” Merlin said.