The Gorgon and the Dragon Ch. 4

I was walking home from the music shop. Lately, I was spending a lot of time in there. I finally knew that the sound that the came from the guitar was called music. My guitar lessons with Amber were something I looked forward to every week. After she noticed that I got annoyed if she over explained the subject to me, she quickly caught on how I learned better. She would play it to me, correct any mistakes I made on the first few times and let me practice until I knew it back and forth. Having thirteen minds running at the same time proved very useful in times like this. I didn’t want to make her suspicious so I restrained my speed and strength when playing, but she was still very impressed with my progress and even suggested on me buying a guitar.
It was actually a great idea, and I found a great guitar. It was a beautiful classical acoustic guitar, bathed in warm tones that started with yellow near the sound hole and extended until it was red on the edges. The neck was thin since I grew accustomed to thin ones and the guitar was all wood. I named her Elizabeth.
Amber became a part of my life that was as constant as Titian. We would spend time together and she would talk about her life and her work. Apparently, she wanted to craft instruments as a living, especially guitars. She currently was learning how to and told me everything that she knew so far. I loved to hear her talk so passionately about everything she liked and there was a positive energy surrounding her when she talked. She kept on calling me her friend and I was starting to think of her as my friend too.
When I came home, Titian was there carrying a box filled with metal scraps. He only grunted and didn’t stop until he placed it in his room.
While I had a musical interest, Titian had a mechanical one. He was fascinated with all the appliances that humans made and invented with metal and other components and was bent on figuring out what made them work. He would explain to me all the functions of different machines, and in exchange I reproduced different types of music to him. He seemed to especially like the heavy metal genre, while I leaned more to alternative rock.
He then came from his room, and he looked anxious and restless. He wouldn’t keep still and I was curious for what was making him uneasy.
“What’s wrong?”
He noticed until now that I was here with him and approached me in a fast pace.
“You need to feel this.”
“Feel what?” I didn’t know what was going on. Instead of answering, he just dragged me to his room.
In there, computers laid dismantled on the sides like abandoned carcasses and wires hung from the ceiling, sending the occasional spark. In the middle, there was a machine making all sorts of beeping noises and with antennas moving on top. We stopped right in front of said machine and I still didn’t know what I was supposed to be feeling.
“Place your hand on it.”
I did what he requested and the moment my hand made contact, I suddenly knew. The machine seemed to amplify a type of energy that was so thick; it was almost tangible in the air. It was unlike anything I had seen in this Realm, and it reassembled like magick from the Ethereal Realm. It had a luring feeling on it, but there was bitterness underneath that was barely noticeable. I gasped and let go as if it had burned my hand. The energy was less imposing now but its presence lingered in the air.
“What was that?!”
“I do not know and I intend to find out.” He paced around the machine and it seemed that his suspicions were confirmed. “Magick like this is far too dangerous to be in this world. Imagine if came in contact with technology?”
I paled at that scenario and knew he was right.
Magick and technology have never mixed. It wasn’t a problem before, since any technology that came to our Realm was destroyed upon entering and magick extinguished when in contact of technology. Chzo tried before to use weaponry coming from the World of Science but it became obsolete on our world. If something this powerful was here, then the backlash from the direct contact between these opposing forces would be disastrous.
“Do you know where it’s coming from?”
“Yes, it seems to originate from the north.”
“Then we’re going there.” I didn’t leave any room for discussion and Titian didn’t argue with me. I was starting to get fond of this world and I really didn’t want to go back to the Ethereal Realm. If this magick was endangering my home, it needed to be destroyed.
I called Amber (Titian gave me a ‘cellphone’ in case of need) and told her that I was going on a trip for some days. She understood and postponed our lessons until my return.
After we had anything we would need, we parted to the north.