Three years earlier
Lights flickered. Branches rustled. Eyes watched, unseen, as the wind whispered secrets that carried through the forest. Something was afoot, it was clear from the enveloping, echoing silence which seemed to stretch for miles. It was broken only by the hiss of the wind, as if all life had been spirited away from the ethereal wood.
Shrouded in an enveloping, midnight blue cloak, a hooded figure moved through the trees. Gnarled branches reached out leafy hands towards this enigma, but their aura of mystery seemed an almost tangible - yet untouchable - thing. They continued to move, striding through the thick, stifling undergrowth as they trod a precarious game trail. Eventually, a clearing came into view.
Crystalline, a waterfall rushed down a sheer cliff into the glittering lake far below, which reflected the night sky’s infinite canopy. Pausing a moment to take in the idyllic scene, the figure continued their brisk walk until they reached a narrow ledge in the rock face. Inching carefully along the edge, they reached a fissure in the rock which opened into…
A library. Two facing walls were covered in all manner of books with stately cloth and gilt-edged binding, and even the occasional yellowed scroll. Another wall contained a crackling hearth and featured a polished desk of elm littered haphazardly with papers and the occasional stray flask of phial. Instead of a final wall, however, the comfortable cave had a curtain of water - the other side of the waterfall.
Not bothering to take in their surroundings, the figure grabbed a book off one of the shelves and flicked through the pages with a sense of urgency until reaching the one they sought. Text in some ancient tongue flowed across the pages of the tome as the cloak-wearer stepped into the centre of the room, murmuring under their breath in an eldritch language. There was a flash of light, and a faint whoosh!
Then they were gone…
“Come on, slowcoach,” teased the curly-haired boy standing a few metres below her. “We’ll never defeat the orcs if we can’t even make it past one teeny cliff!”
Lottie rolled her eyes, judging the distance. Where her brother Jamie had scampered down the rock face like a mountain goat, she preferred the way of caution. Around five metres - not difficult for experienced rock climbers like them, especially given the gentle angle. Still, she tucked her golden hair behind her helmet straps before beginning the climb. It was a nervous habit, and Jamie knew it. “James Watson, Orc Slayer, is about to go official!”
“But all the more discerning readers have noticed that Charlotte Watson does all the work. Kind of like Hermione Granger.” She slipped down to join him.
“I still beat you here,” Jamie said, smirking. That smirk was wiped right off his face, however, when she noticed the cave. A narrow opening in the cliffside, which they cautiously moved towards. Every time they thought they’d discovered every cave on their family’s enormous estate, they were proved wrong.
But this one seemed different. Different in a way which sent tingles running across your skin and ice flooding your veins. Moving as one, the twins slipped through the narrow opening and were stunned to find… a library?
“It looks like a wizard’s study,” Jamie mumbled.
Lottie nodded, speechless. (Jamie, of course, was never speechless, but rather lost the ability to speak coherently on occasion.)
Timidity evident in his posture, Jamie immediately gravitated towards the large desk across the room, where a book lay open, dust motes dancing around pages which had remained untouched for what seemed like years. The words were in Latin - a language which the unfortunate children were quite familiar with, thanks to their overbearing tutor.
“Divisio temporis ante me aperta est, et introibo per providentiam.” Lottie whispered the words and felt something, some power, coursing through her. She slipped her hand through her twin’s.
“Camelot. Anno DCL. In mense oct- nono? Via sapientium coniungitur infirmis, ut omnes bene faciant.” Jamie added, reading from what seemed to be a handwritten portion. He reached for the book. “The way of the wise is to unite with the weak, that all may prosper? What does that mean? And what about that thing you read before, about time and-”
A flash of light.
Then they were gone, leaving no trace…
Radiant. Light blossomed across every surface like a slow-motion explosion. It was a sweet, pure light, like a star - a star which was going supernova all around him. Images streamed across Jamie’s consciousness: a man with a long grey beard, bent before a simmering cauldron; a hooded figure moving through a wide, cobbled street; a dungeon, heavily barred; a lonely tower rising out of thick trees.
They passed too fast for Jamie to register any details, and then he was dissolving, particles of light glimmering around him as if refracted from some unseen prism. All he was aware of was Lottie’s hand, tight around his own. Until the blinding light dimmed, revealing…
Looming over them, a castle. Built sturdy and tall, the fortress was grey stone and dark secrets. Imposing spires pierced the sky like steely blades. A sense of dread permeated everything, a foreboding he couldn’t shake. Then came the sound, a rush of clattering and clanging, the sounds of toil and domestic life. But then, unusually, came touch and smell - one bringing the tickle of a gentle breeze and the pressure of his sister’s fingers, the other providing the pungency of grime and dirt. That was highly unusual. His daydreams didn’t usually have an olfactory-
“Jamie,” Lottie whispered, “are you seeing this?”
That was even stranger. He and his sister shared their dreams, but not literally-
“Jamie!” Her voice came, sharply, “Jamie, this isn't a dream. I think… it might be real.”
“But that would mean…” he trailed off, neither of them wanting to be the first one to say it. So they chorused; “we time travelled.”
Before either could fully react to this startling revelation, a gruff voice growled “You there! Come where I can see you!”
Uncertainly, the twins complied, stepping onto the wide, cobbled road leading up to the castle. They were faced with a grizzled gate guard, a lean, wiry man with hair greying at the temples. As he looked them up and down, his bearded face drained of all colour. “You shouldn’t be here,” he murmured.
Suddenly, his arms shot out with blinding speed as he grabbed them by the wrists. Powerless in his viselike grip, Jamie was towed along. Somewhere in his periphery, he could see Lottie struggling slightly. Still reeling from his shock, however, Jamie could do nothing but limply allow himself to be half-dragged through torchlit stone hallways until they reached a low wooden door.
The guard pushed it open and they entered a small, dimly lit space which appeared to be a storeroom of some kind. Lottie opened her mouth to say something (probably some variation on “Now, who do you think you are,” or “What are you doing” or - Jamie’s burning question - “Where and when are we?''), but the man forestalled her by speaking words which shouldn’t have been possible.
“You’re Aurelia’s children, aren’t you?” Their looks of shock were confirmation enough. “I know your mother.
“And I know where to find her…”
“What are you talking about?” Lottie asked, stunned. “Our mother has been missing for two yea-” she trailed off, smacking her forehead. “But of course… time is relative…”
She reeled. She had so many questions, her mind working overtime as she tried to process the new information. Finally, she managed to choke out, “Where is she?”
The man sighed. “I suppose I should start at the beginning.
“Aurelia was always slipping through time here. She brought warnings, wisdom from the future. And in the times of the Old Kings, she was appreciated for her service. But… that all changed when the wizard arrived. Our King didn’t stand a chance - he’s a puppet ruler now. The true power in this kingdom is the wizard Icefyre Frostlocke, and-”
“Icefyre Frostlocke?” Lottie asked incredulously. “No. There is no way that’s his real name.”
“It isn’t,” the guard replied, bemused, “his name is Dave. But can we focus, please? Frostlocke felt threatened by your mother’s immense power. So he decided to pass some new laws strictly sanctioning the use of magic. They were passed quickly and without her knowledge. So the next time she slipped through to the castle, she was immediately ambushed and taken into custody for time travelling without Frostlocke’s permission. Tomorrow, on the equinox, your mother is going to face a public trial for unauthorised use of magic under the Frostlocke regime. And she will be executed.”
“No,” Jamie whispered, “we can’t let that happen.”
“Exactly,” replied the man. “And now that you two are here, we might have a chance at rescuing her.”
Immediately, her brain went into overdrive. There were many questions she wanted to ask, questions like ‘Where is she being held’ and ‘What resources do we have,’ and ‘How do we even know you’re telling the truth?” But the thing she had to know was: “Why us? Why does our presence give us a chance to rescue her?”
He gave her a confused look, like this was something she should already know. “Because magic is hereditary, Charlotte Watson.”
A few hours later, Jamie still wasn’t sure they were ready. Correction: he wasn’t sure he was ready. Unfortunately, the time for being unready had passed. Their plan hinged on him and Lottie being able to do what needed to be done.
Their mother’s life depended on it.
Their plan, as all good ones are, was charmingly simple. After nightfall (a nerve racking fifteen minutes away), the guard - whose name was Benedict - would cause a distraction which allowed them to sneak into the dungeon. Following that, they would do the hard part, and attempt to free their mother from the bonds - both physical and magical - which held Aurelia captive.
They could do this. They had to.
“Everyone ready?” Lottie asked. Nodding grimly, Jamie eyed his sister. Despite how nervous she was probably feeling, she still seemed cool and collected. Only Jamie could see beyond that exterior. They were both terrified. Because if they were caught, there would be no do-overs. Even if they understood how magic worked, they wouldn’t be able to time travel out of a magic-proofed cell…
“We have to leave,” Benedict whispered in his husky voice. “I’ll start my distraction. You kids run when you get the chance.” The man had changed into some (distinctly soiled) billowing white robes. Jamie smiled. The distraction had been his idea.
Abruptly, Benedict took off running through the hallways as castle staff were milling back to their sleeping areas.
“It is I,” he screeched, “King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeator of the Saxons, sovereign of all England!”
“Pull the other one!” One of the staff called back to him, shaking his head.
“I am! And this is my trusty servant Patsy,” he gestured to a random man in the throng of people who were now gathered around him.
Before Jamie heard the man’s reply, Lottie seized his arm. “Look, as funny as it is watching Benedict reenact Monty Python and the Holy Grail hundreds of years before it was even invented, we’ve gotta move.”
Nodding, he and his sister started to creep through the hallways, heading down narrow flights of rickety stairs and through endless hallways where eyes seemed to be watching them. Jamie felt a growing sense of dread as the sound of footsteps on flagstones echoed deep underground.
Things always seem hopeless, Jamie thought to himself, just before the heroes discover a hidden power buried deep inside of them to save the day.
I just hope I can hold out until then.
Picking up on his mood, Lottie murmured, “Forget about ‘James Watson, Orc Slayer.’ James Watson, Wizard Slayer has a much cooler ring to it.” It looked like she was about to say more, but just then they reached the door leading to the wizard Frostlocke’s personal dungeon.
“Stop!” Called the carved door knocker, “Who would enter the Dungeon of Doom must answer questions three!” There was a dramatic pause. “What… are your names?”
“James and Charlotte Watson,” Jamie called back, smiling. Maybe there was more truth to The Holy Grail than he had previously realised.
“What… is your quest?”
“To rescue Aurelia Watson.”
“What… is the capital of Assyria?”
“Assur!” They both chorused.
The door swung open, and they entered the dungeon. There, on the other side of the room, stood a tall, bearded figure in star-spangled robes.
“Ah, the Watsons,” Icefyre Frostlocke purred, “I’ve been waiting for you…”
Lottie was perplexed. This was not going to plan. Frostlocke was supposed to be distracted. The disturbance in the corridors… he wasn’t… he shouldn’t… her plan… was falling apart?
“What do you want with us, wizard?” Jamie called, taking the initiative.
“Oh, nothing much,” the sorcerer replied, taking a step towards them, “just your lives. An insignificant cost, really, when the reward is getting to assist one as great as I with my plans?”
Plans… got to make a plan. All she could see was her mother hanging limply, manacled to the wall…
“After all, you have already proven yourselves useless enough to fall into my trap. This castle is my domain. Did you really think the Ambience wouldn’t allow me to hear your plans?”
Ambience? What was that? They just didn’t know anything…
That was when a plan came to her. She gave Jamie a meaningful glance, explaining it in Morse code with her eyebrows the way they had spent so many hours practising. Luckily, Morse code hadn’t been invented yet, so Frostlocke was unlikely to know it.
“Great one, we knew you were powerful, but we never realised how powerful. Tell us, is anything beyond your influence?”
“Ha! Of course not.” The wizard looked amused and pleased by her flattery. “It’s simply a matter of focusing on the magic in my bloodline. Merlin was my great-uncle, you know - and I am the greatest sorcerer since him, since the fall of the Old Kingdom!”
“Merlin? Really?” Jamie asked, with a wide-eyed curiosity that had not been faked.
“Yes. Focusing on my kin - their magic, their accomplishments - is what gives me my power. I am the culmination of their achievements.”
Lottie seized this for the vital information it was. She thought about her mother. How strong she always seemed. How in control. She linked hands with Jamie. Thought about all the things she loved about him. How he gave her strength.
Strength. It welled up inside of her, until she and Jamie released… something. Twin bursts of light. Radiant. A raw, untrained power. Frostlocke fell to the floor, stunned. There was a similar shining in the vague position of their mother. Everything was a vague smudge of light to Lottie’s eyes, but she thought she saw the manacles shattering. She lunged for her mother’s hand as the light consumed them, shattering into a million bursts of glittering glass and reforming into… the cave. They were home.
Something was wrong. Jamie could sense it in the air - a warping, as if too much power had been stuffed into a tiny space.
When he stepped out, it was to see a mauve skyline extending above him, hung with strange, smudgy planets even in the daytime, figures on broomsticks and cotton-candy clouds. Something was definitely wrong.
Their father was outside to greet them. “I sensed ripples in the Ambience,” he said by way of explanation, “But don’t you think two weeks is a little long to be on a time-travel adventure? Oh well. I guess we can always go back again.” Something was definitely very wrong.
“Wait,” Jamie confirmed, “you know about magic?”
“Of course I know about magic,” his father replied with a booming laugh, “magic has been everywhere since the Dark Ages…”
Author's Note: Really sorry about that cliffhanger. I thought it would be interesting in a time travel adventure to have something like that happen. And I'm sorry if the ending seemed a little deus ex machina. Overall, however, I'm fairly pleased with this story. If I ever resolve that cliffhanger, I'll try to make it a bit less soft magic.
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