The Ragnix Circle

“Look out the window Tyler,” my mum said.

We had finished going through some magical exercises a while back and we happened to be relaxing. I took a sip of the cool liquid in my hands. I hated to admit but the liquid was actually nice and refreshing. The journey had lasted more like half a day from what I could tell and I was growing restless with waiting. Now that I was trying to accept the magic in me, I could not wait to see the capital of capitals and find out what was so great about magic.

I looked out the window and I was shocked. It was like a city built in the sea. Buildings of various shapes and colors sprung out from the seabed, contrasting with the corals and seabed. I stared at them in awe.

“Nodrid is an underwater city then,” I said turning to face her.

“No this is just the part under the sea,” my mother replied. “Some magic users prefer to live underwater staring at the various creatures and train. Most of Nodrid is above water and to be exact, the central part of the city is old London.”

“London, the capital of Britain, right?”

“That very one.”

“All passengers are welcome to Nodrid,” the voice on the speakers blared through to us. “Please take your seats and await the siren before disembarking. Thank you.”

“What’s going on mum?”

“Standard protocol in such times,” my mum said.

“What’s happened mum?”

“We’ll tell you once we get to our new home.”

“You mean you and that guy right?”

“That guy…” my mum put on the seat belt and waited for me to finish fumbling with mine. “…is your father Tyler. In time you’ll learn to accept that and even love him.”

“After he ditched us for what…sixteen years,” I laughed. “Yeah right mum.”

She didn’t reply to my snide comment. We sat in silence as the train slowed to a halt. I saw a bright red light illuminating the train as we waited for the siren. As it passed over our cubicle, I felt some force grip my mind and hold me still as it passed through every crevice of my body, undressing me to the core. The sensation passed within a minute leaving me shaken.

“What was that?”

“The magical detector.”

“What does it do?”

“Lets the guardians know which people are seated on this train,” my mum said. “Sort of like a file up loader. Lucky for you and me, it only got a glimpse of the fake identities. Nodrid is not safe for either of us Tyler and you must remember that.”

“Fake identities, how?”

“The magic of a pure blood is powerful in the right hands,” my mum said. “I know my way round this particular system, so it was easy to lock it out of the actual magical core inside you.”

“So to them we are like a simple magical family of two coming to the city.”

“Yes and I’d love it if you kept it that way.”

“I will.” My answer was drowned out by the loud screeching siren we were supposed to be waiting for. It was not like I wanted to really acknowledge I was something that I had hated for all the years of my existence.

We stepped off the train and headed toward the large space labeled exit. It led into a large tunnel illuminated by star shaped bulbs on the ceiling. Guardians seemed to be ushering people through that space if they felt they were lost. I noticed that some of the other passengers seemed to be at home and enjoyed shoving the others away. There were throngs of people all heading in that direction and we followed them. I managed to offer the guardians a wide smile as we passed by their station and only got scowls in reply.

“At least they should be more gracious and welcoming,” I whispered.

“Give it a rest Ty, we aren’t back with the Turners or Wilsons.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. We continued following the throngs of people up the tunnel. None of them spared us as much as a sideways glance whenever we moved to pass them.

Halfway through the tunnel, my mother dragged me off to a side door. It led to the outside of the tunnel into a secluded car park of the train station. A large number of cars lined the walls of this part. Some of the passengers that I had seen earlier were driving away in the state of the art cars or riding some really cool bikes. Trinkets of the old world.

“I think this is our ride,” my mum said heading towards a bright red car at the end of the parking.

“You wanted to us to keep on the low.” I looked at the car awkwardly. “Doesn’t this…”

I pointed to the car. “…doesn’t this beat the whole point of being on the low?”

“Well this is the best solution,” she replied. “Hide in plain sight and no one will bother to look.”

“Ok.” I was still skeptical about the flashy red car.

“Just get in.”

She opened the door and threw her back pack in without a glance. I followed suit using the opposite door. As I climbed into the passenger seat, I noticed a small leather wallet gently placed on the seat. I picked it up and observed it with a keen eye. The leather shone in the dimly lighted parking yard. I opened to reveal its contents.

“Close the door and I’ll tell you what you have there.”

I slammed the door shut and was shocked at the soft click that followed instead of the loud bang. My mother just laughed at me and turned the engine on. She steered the car onto the tarmac leading out of the parking lot. It must have been like returning home for her because she knew what to do and when to do it, whereas it all felt strange and odd to me.

“So,” she said as she eased the car into a steady speed following the others out. “What you have there, is your new wallet. There’s the premium card you’ll need to buy staff when you’re not with us and it is your easy access to many places.”

“Ok mum,” I said confused. “But what in the name of heaven will I need to buy in this place?”

“Clothes, books whatever you teenagers like these days.”

“So that is what you dim as a lot?”

“Tyler, you’ll need it and believe me it might be the only thing you’ll ever have at some point.”

“Yeah right.”

“It’s a lot, trust me.”

As soon as she had said those words, the upper levels of the city came into sight. We got onto one of the main roads and I did not know which direction we were heading. The sky scrapers punctured the sky, with a network of train tracks running through the sky along with the various confusing tarmac system which run all the way to the sky. I had only seen glimpses of such a system in the discarded papers. The modern buildings in shapes of stars, squares, animals and weapons plastered themselves at the side of the road.

Neon lights were flashing everywhere as we climbed to a higher level of the road system. I almost freaked out when one of the bullet trains sped past the road. I could feel the vibrations off its sides like I was in it. My expression made my mother laugh as she reveled in the surroundings. Cars and motor bikes sped past us going in different directions.

After a while we were in an area with towering buildings. They were not as high as any of the scrapers I had seen earlier in the city but I guessed that they towered over most of those in Klaios. The buildings seemed to curve towards each other almost touching at the very top. I thought that this was where we were going to stop but we passed through the area. The traffic had almost become non- existent as we drove further.

“What is all this?” I asked.

“Those are the curved scraps,” my mother replied. “They are the apartments of many families…well those ones that live here in Nodrid. You’ll see many different types of buildings like that. You can live anywhere you want in this city and right now to quell your curiosity, I can tell you we are heading north of the central hub.”

“That was one building?”

“Why do you act so surprised?”

“That can’t be one building mum no way that is possible.”

“I know it is a major change from what you are used to Tyler,” she said. “I too think it is unfair that plebs have to live a close to primitive life out of the cities and the other classes enjoy the advances magic has brought. If there was a way some of us would change that, believe me. There are those with magic that would wholeheartedly give plebs magic.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“Would I have lived with plebs for sixteen years if I did not believe that?”

I shrugged, knowing that she was right. No pure magic born person would live with plebs if they were in their right mind. This made me think of my own father. I wondered why he left us out there with plebs. Something was tugging at my brain and I dint know what it was. Maybe I should not judge them too quickly.

At some point we were crossing a bride. Small boats sped past us on the river below.

“This was once the Thames River.”

“That means that building was once the house of parliament,” I said pointing to the great rectangular building which loomed over the river. The towers at the corners shone bright red in the late evening sun. The flags of Ragnix hung over the sides. In the middle of the building a spiral tower rose piercing the sky like an arrow throw a film of leather.

“That’s the council building now.”

“Ragnix seats there,” I said.

“Indeed.” My mum stepped on the accelerator and we moved deeper into the awe inspiring city. My eyes wanted to pop out of my sockets at each turn my mum took.

I noticed that my mum had slowed to a snail’s pace and was peering around alert. What was she looking for? With a silent sigh, I ignored the pace and observed the environment. Cars were packed at the side of the road and it looked like the train tracks never reached this side of the city; or so I thought until a shimmering light under the now glass road caught my eye. I could not feel the vibrations as the train sped away under us. I had to admit that that was pretty awesome. There was no way that would have happened without magic. Building a road right above a train track, I thought as I watched the red lights of the train’s rear disappear in a distance.

“We’re here.”

I turned to look through my mother’s window. She parked the car at the side of the road in front of an odd looking house. The triple storied house at that side of the street was a stark contrast to all the modern and out of this world buildings in the city. It was made of red half bricks with wide and high windows colored red. The wooden door at the entrance had a large brass knob shaped like a dragon’s spiked tail. All the buildings towered over it like two parents over a little toddler. The tiled roof shone in the late evening sun giving off an effect like the old flashing lights in the South Pole.

As we stepped out of the car, someone opened the door and waited for us to make an approach. We stepped through the door and it swung shut behind us. I was still shocked as the hallway into which we had stepped, was lined with the finest statues I had ever seen. Most of them in old paper cuttings of the old world, I thought. The cream walls seemed to be humming with life as we walked through.

“Welcome back Mrs. Emily,” a voice said behind me. I turned on the spot and found myself staring at a grey balding man. He had on a white shirt along with a grey waistcoat all complementing the clean pressed white trousers. He held two linen towels in his hands by the looks of it.

“I thought Sam would have gotten rid of you a long time ago, Ben,” my mum replied the greeting with a smile on her face.

“He can’t get rid of me that easy. I have served this family for two generations,” Ben said. He walked round me observing me carefully. “I take it this is the young master.”

“Between you and I,” my mum stopped the old man in his tracks, “it will take him some time to accept that he is the young master of the house.”

“The pleb effect, isn’t it?” Ben shrugged.

“Still disagree with us then,” my mum said.

“Uh-huh,” Ben smiled at me. “I am Benjamin Fitz Gamray. I’m what you’d call the butler of this house young master. As long as you don’t do something stupid, we shall get along just fine.”

“Hi, I am Tyler,” I offered him my hand.

He ignored it and turned round. “The master said I was to take you to his study as soon as you arrived.”

We followed him down the hallway emerging into a massive heart shaped room. The walls were crowded with books of all sorts and the dim lights on the ceiling gave the room an aura of importance. The high ceiling made it look like you were looking so far up the sky that your head would hurt. We turned right into a simple oak door and followed a dimly lit corridor for a few steps until we stood in front of a large metal door. Ben turned to us with a question in his eyes.

“Let me do it,” my mum said.

She moved to the door and placed her hand on the metal sides. Her eyes closed for a moment before snapping open. The dark green orbs had disappeared and a film of grey black covered her irises. She muttered a few words in a language I did not understand, and a blue light covered the door. It was not long before the metal begun to dissolve and eventually disappear revealing a state of the art library.

The shelves were made of green wood which seemed to be woven together in an intricate fashion. The large windows opened into the most amazing view of the city and its neon lights. The small patches of the wall that were visible appeared to be telling a story in a long lost world. The man who fathered me sat at his table talking to a middle aged man. From their body language I could tell that they were friends. I was shocked at this revelation because I was somehow dismantling the other guy without a provocation. I knew all his inner workings and most of all he was a pleb. Not dressed like one, I thought, but definitely a pleb.

“Here they are Adrian.” Samuel Michaels got up from his seat. Unlike the last time I had seen him, he was overly under dressed. He reminded me of the old lumber foreman in our village. His checkered and buttoned shirt hung out over his dark blue faded jeans. For one so powerful, he had no way of hiding his preference for the fashion of the plebs in villages.

“I know Tyler,” he said. “I know. How am I supposed to be one of the great members of the Ragnix council and yet appreciate the plebs and their fashion sense?”

“Yeah.”

“Plebs are not all bad you know,” Sam said. “Seeing as you and your mother have lived with them for such a long time, you understand my point, but many people would disagree with me and you.”

I nodded as I went to the window seat and sat there looking at the three adults. My mum walked to my dad and gave him what appeared to be a long overdue kiss. They must have forgotten I was in the room along with this total stranger.

Gross.

The other gentle man cleared his throat in a mechanical way.

“Where are my manners?” my dad said. “Mr. Turner, this is my wife, Emily Bennett Aperdian and my son Tyler Bennett.”

“Bennett?” he asked.

“It is safer that way and you know why Adrian,” my mum said.

“Always a pleasure Emily,” Mr. Turner crooned elegantly. His voice reminded me of the springs that whistled past your ears at night during a blissful dream. “I am so sorry for what happened to your brother and sister.”

“Darius and Stella both passed into the core flex Adrian,” my mum said. “My tattoo grows darker each day with their lingering energy and I’m sure Tyler’s does so as well.”

“Hold on mum,” I said shocked. “Are you saying that I had an aunt and an uncle?”

“You did once.”

“What happened to them?”

“Murdered,” my father answered. “When your mother left with you all those years back, we were o the brink of war. Some members of Ragnix saw it fit to rid us of a certain infestation and others did not. Those others included our two families. Lucky enough the headship of Ragnix passed to me and I managed to avert the war. However, those members silently went about their work, destroying all the families that stood against them. That was why I sent you and your mother to a zone so far away that no one would dream to find you there.

“We faked Emily’s death and spirited her out of the city to save you both. Five years ago, your aunt and uncle were murdered and this meant that your mother is the last scion of the Aperdian line, unless you count yourself. As for me, I’ve watched helplessly as the Ragnix traitors have corrupted the guardians, charmed and alchemists to the core. My family was murdered helplessly and there was nothing I could do about it. So Tyler, the reason we have kept you with plebs is to see the problems of Ragnix and make your own mind up. The magic that runs through your veins makes you too powerful for any of the Ragnix to foolishly ignore.”

I had no answer or question for them after hearing this.

“Ty,” my mum said. “Things are changing and life is not as it used to be. It is for your own protection that you keep this entire secret.” She turned to Adrian Turner and looked him squarely in the eye. “I knew you loved Stella and she loved you but the classes prevented you and her being together. Protect my son, her nephew in that school. I’m sure the Le Fay’s have kids there and it won’t be good for Tyler once he starts.”

“He’s already starting late, you know that,” Mr. Turner said thoughtfully.

“We know that,” my dad said. “I’ve taken care of it. He’s coming as a pleb transfer from Klaios.”

“How will he practice magic and control over it?”

“Adrian,” my mum smiled. “You were quite inventive when it came to meeting Stella so do your best. We’ll do what we can from here but he has to learn it from your school.”

“Wait,” I was up in arms. “Who said anything about me learning to control my magic? As far as I’m concerned I don’t want it.”

“Too bad Tyler,” my dad said angrily. “You’re stuck with it and its life. Live with it. It is not so bad.”

“Very well,” Mr. Turner said. “Bring him to the campus in the morning Emily and make sure you leave him as far away from the entrance. There are so many eyes these days.”

“Thank you Adrian,” my parents said together.

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Mr. Turner said getting up from his chair. “I’ve a school to run. See you tomorrow Tyler Bennett.”

I watched him leave the three of us to our little family reunion.

“We’ll show you to your room Ty,” my dad said awkwardly. “Feel free to explore the house whenever you want.”

“Really?” I asked. I could feel my eyes bulging and ready to pop out of their sockets. “Tell me he is joking mum.”

“Much as I’d like to say he is,” my mother smiled. “Your father rarely jokes.”

“Which reminds me,” my dad said opening a small drawer on his table. He rummaged through the drawer before pulling out a soft leather porch. He held it as if he was afraid of it. “This is yours Emily; Stella gave it to me just before she was murdered.”

“So she knew they were coming for her,” my mum said gently grabbing the porch from him. “Who was it?”

“The Le Fays Em,” my dad said. “They’ve gunned down a lot of us and I think the only hope we have is a war. The fools have turned the others to their side and I stand alone literally. And you know that the last time a war was fought involving magic, the world was destroyed.”

“How the Le Fays would love that!” My mother acknowledged.

“Who are the Le Fays?” I asked.

“None of your worries yet,” my dad said a little quickly. “Come on lets go see about that room.”