Clay Franklin and Ivan Santana have lived in close proximity to one another for most of their lives. Clay has lived in his father’s house since he was brought home from the hospital after his birth, and Ivan had lived with his family in and around the same city since they moved to North Carolina from the west coast.
After Ivan returned from Mexico with his family, when he was about ten years old and he had spent all of his time there with his grandfather who lived alone in a barren section of desert, he was never alone again. The blue deer, who was called Koyu followed him wherever he went, waiting for the moment that he hoped would present itself when he could overpower the seemingly powerful Ivan and wrestle back control of the magic that Koyu had lost all those years ago before it jumped to the next person chosen as worthy who might be more powerful than Ivan. Koyu was impressed with Ivan the first time he laid eyes on the boy in the Mexican desert and it was clear that he was a pinnacle, unlike anything Koyu had seen before. In an attempt to sabotage Ivan, Koyu created a rift between the boy and his grandfather who would be his steward into the world of magic. Koyu convinced Don Luis Manuel Santana Nieto to reject his grandson because with the backing and support of his family, Ivan’s power would be truly indomitable.
A similar thing happened to Clay, though his potential as a soldier of the trickster spider Anes was not apparent until Ivan was shot at his apartment complex. Anes had been much more successful at sabotaging the lives of potential bearers of her magic, and though she has been unable to reclaim it for herself, she was able to make Clay and his past counterparts forget and be uninterested in the family that could remind them. When Ivan was shot, all of his powers were activated and they sought out the counterpart that they had known for millennia; the powers of Koyu had been fused with that of Anes by Fomorn and Mog who are technically very early, if not the first, ancestors of Ivan and Clay respectively.
The tricksters Anes and Koyu are not friends, in fact they are eternal enemies who both forfeited their powers at a time when things were very desperate. They had hoped to eventually retrieve them when the threat to them was gone and they could resume their bitter rivalry to determine who was the best trickster, but they were both weakened by the forfeiture and only survived as entities in the veil existence because of the latent magics that exist there.
Having watched Ivan and Clay as the current wielders of their fused magic for much of their lives and for the entirety of their relationship, Anes and Koyu have been scheming, mostly Anes who thinks that she may be able to reverse the fusion.
“They love each other,” Anes says as she and Koyu ride a pink pterodactyl across the veil of existence that overlaps the physical realm.
“And so what?” Koyu asks.
“So we should be able to use that…”
Koyu interrupts, “They are always in love, that has never made this easy in the past.”
“These two really love one another and they have been together for years now. They would die for each other. And I think our new friend will give them the opportunity. Only, we don’t want either of them to die, we can show up just in time to propose the bargain, give us our magic or your love is dead. We’ve never tried that before.”
“Because it won’t work,” Koyu says.
“You underestimate the care they have for one another. How close are we now?”
“They are just below us next to that lake,” Koyu says and the pterodactyl begins to descend to the neon ground. When they land, Koyu looks around. “Your champion is nowhere in sight.”
Anes just smiles and points up as what looks like a comet shoots across the sky and comes to land near them. The form of the man is silver and a giant fiery spider wraps his torso.
Ivan knows that Clay is not dead, but it is horrible to see him as he is, unconscious and his cheek swelling bigger by the minute. When he does finally open his eyes, he can hardly speak.
“He ain’t strong enough,” Clay struggles to say.
“Maybe my grandfather can help,” Ivan says. He has been in regular contact with the Don since their confrontation with the red father. “We can’t stay here, though, I’m pretty sure he’s coming.”
Clay shakes his head, “Too far.” He tries to stand on his own in the ready position that normally casts fear in the hearts of his enemies, but his body is wobbly and Ivan has to hold him up.
“Clay, we can’t stay here. We need a place for you to rest. We can’t let him catch up, we’re not ready.”
Clay looks Ivan in the eyes and then puts a hand on Ivan’s cheek. “I’ll protect you…” he says and then his legs go weak.
Ivan powers up with a yell that rivals Clay’s growl and they are surrounded in a green flame and then they levitate and disappear in a green streak across the night sky.
Desperation lands in the spot where the couple had just left and he creates a crater around him. Anes appears next to him.
“He is taking the soldier to his sister. Follow him, but let him arrive. You can wipe out his family too, that would make me smile.”
Desperation smiles and then bends his knees, then launches up into the sky, traveling further and faster on one jump than ever before.
Ivan’s jump to Bluffton, South Carolina is instinctual and he would never have allowed himself to show his powers so openly in the view of the public, but the current situation calls for desperate measures. He had witnessed it before, when Clay was with his sister they had a connection that is restorative; Clay had helped her cope with the after effects of her possession by the red man, more so than he had been able to help Ivan. He figures that he has done all he can for Clay in his current condition, maybe his sister can do more.
They land near a river and thankfully there are no people around.
“Where is Brittany, Clay?” Ivan asks and Clay has sat on the ground resting his head between his legs. Ivan kneels and lifts Clay’s head. “Come on, babe, where do I take you from here? Focus for me.” Ivan puts a hand at each of Clay’s temples and then a frantic bolt of green electricity shoots through them and through Clay’s head. Ivan struggles to sustain it.
“You have to take control Ivan, it’s so hard to focus. He’s never hit me that hard, no one ever has before. Just do what you do, use my mind.”
Ivan stops the electricity and then Clay slumps down again.
The first time Ivan and Clay officially merged their minds, it was after they reunited, after Ivan had left in pursuit of the berserk Crude and Clay found him after wandering to Tennessee. They had been separated for about a year and when the imminent threat of Crude had passed, they lay together in Ivan’s apartment, and Ivan showed him his powers, and they explored the green energy that they shared. When they were physically close, they could exchange energies and Ivan could manipulate them, while Clay could use them to alter the size and density of his body. When they focused together, they could talk to one another without saying a word, they only had to think and they both knew the thought.
Clay is no help in the current effort, but Ivan focuses. He calms his fires and soon only his eyes glow green. He focuses on Clay, his cheek swollen and eyes closed, until there is a hint of the green glow at the slits his eyes form in the low position.
“I got you,” Ivan says as he stands and watches Clay stand as well. It takes concentration to assist Clay in his motor function, but he has Clay stand behind him and wrap his arms around his torso tightly. Then he probes Clay’s mind for information about the location of Brittany. It is a skill that he had learned from Alia and soon he powers up, the green energy now a bright glow that illuminates both their bodies, and they fly toward the home of Clay’s aunt.
Desperation is itching for this fight. He has never felt so strong. He waits in the shadows, close enough to watch Ivan take off without the ball of flame, but a bright glow, and then he jumps along after.
PRL Serials 