Penny and Nick let loose with all they had left. Above the chaos, Kate heard Simon shout, and he plunged down on top of the mecha. He smashed through the softened metal into the heart of the thing. Kate cried out in alarm, but then saw Simon crash out the bottom and fall heavily beneath the monstrosity. He hit the ground like a meteor. He had cast his stone spell on the way down and had plummeted all the way through the machine like a catapult boulder.
The mecha staggered with a horrific whine building inside. The smoke blew away from the machine to reveal a large jagged hole through its crown. Fires ignited in what was left of its brain. Gears and wires were in a tangled ruin. An explosion in its belly erupted, casting debris everywhere. The great mechanical creature shuddered and froze. Then it toppled backward with a horrific creak of metal and collapsed in the dirt in a cloud of dust and smoke.
Nick hooted in triumph. Kate ran past him, diving into the smoke, coming as close as she dared to the flaming wreckage. She searched frantically for a sign of Simon. Through the haze and flying cinders, she saw him in a hollowed-out crater, still bent in a silent motionless crouch. She turned back, searching for Nick through the impenetrable choking cloud.
Malcolm sprinted into view, with Nick at his side. The Scotsman followed Kate’s frantic gesture. “Barker, clear off the fire. He can only stay in stone form for a few minutes.”
Nick was already waving his arms, gathering the flames. He dumped them somewhere to the north where the grounds were more dirt than forest and the fire would burn itself out quickly. Nick then made another gesture and a stiff wind drove the smoke away from the crater.
The stone spell wore off and Simon stood up in the midst of the smoldering debris. He saw the group surrounding him, staring down in concern, and he took a bow. A low formal bow. And then he raised his arms like an actor at the end of a bravura performance. “And that is how you destroy an infernal machine.”
“Show-off,” Malcolm mumbled, giving him a hand out of the crater.
Simon laughed with unrestrained glee. “It felt damn good to do that.” He was breathing hard though Kate doubted it was from exertion.
“You’re aether drunk.” Malcolm steadied Simon as he weaved slightly.
“I am indeed.” Simon grinned. “And I hope soon to be conventionally drunk!”
Penny was already scrabbling through mechanical debris. “Damn it, the brain’s in pieces.”
“My sincerest apologies, Miss Carter,” Simon offered. “But I have no doubt you’ll have it back together and thinking good thoughts in no time.”
Penny beamed at the praise and immediately pulled out a thick leather glove and began rooting through the shattered pieces. Kate swore she heard humming.
She looked at her side and saw Nick staring at Simon with his mouth agape. The older magician was in pure wonder at his former student. Kate said with a bubbling laugh, “You’ve never seen him like that, have you? He’s amazing.”
“God Almighty,” Nick breathed.
Simon lurched forward, planting a kiss on Kate’s forehead. Her perception of the world did not shift at his touch, but she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not. While she didn’t see aether surrounding them, she did feel his muscular tattooed arms warm around her waist.
“So, it worked, did it?” she asked with mock humility.
Simon stepped back and slid his hands along her bare arms until he was clasping both of her hands. “Kate, do you know what you did? I’m sure you do,” he raised his voice, “but for everyone’s benefit, you have converted blood magic into white magic. There are none in this world, the history of the world, who have ever done such a thing. None. Not Pendragon. Not Merlin. Not Hermes Trismegistus.”
“It was nothing.” Kate blushed in spite of herself. Seeing Simon whole and unharmed made her chest ache with joy. “If I’m such a wizard, why can’t I keep my house from being destroyed?”
“A house? What’s a house? Some sticks and mud? Anyone can build a house.” Simon touched the tattoo above Kate’s heart, the mirror image of the one above his. “Only you could make this.”
“Simon, darling.” Kate put her hand over his.
“Yes, my dear?”
“Might I cover my bosom? I feel a bit tawdry.”
“If you must.” Simon kissed her.
Simon stood in front of the ornate silver mirror in his room. It was late and shadows crowded around him. A lantern lit by sparkling brownies stood on the night table, but the glow was feeble. The little fae inside chattered away incessantly, staring at Simon through the glass, whispering foul things, but he turned a deaf ear. He was too mesmerized by the new tattoo over his heart. The raw red lines made it stand out from the others. The rune looked remarkably different, less identifiable but more personal. It burned against his flesh, a constant reminder that it was there. The well of aether inside him bubbled like an incessant cauldron. He could call it forth and touch it with but a word if he so wanted. The temptation to do so forever on his lips.