Free Archive by Viola Grace Page A

in the magical community had made her until now.
    She released the gremlin from his little seat then grabbed her bags from the car. It was the first of three relays. She breathed another sigh of relief as she noted that her grandmother had had the house prepared for her. Everything was clean, the fridge was humming and the lights turned on as she flipped the switch. Power was occasionally unpredictable at the cottage. There was, of course, a generator connected to the house but Jinx could never get it to work.
    She tracked her gremlin by the means of watching the flight of birds. He seemed to be having a good time, and the little beggar would come back to her before she left. He always did.
    Unpacking was quick, a matter of moments. Melissande had never been one to spend her money on fancy clothes so the majority of her bags were food. The one bag that was saved for last was her bag of writing equipment.
    She carried it over to the desk, turned on the light and laid out her tools. Rolls of parchment, ribbons, sealing wax, ink and quills. Satisfaction lit her features as the tools of her talent were in their proper places.
    Being the only living Archive in both the regular world and that of Realm was fun on occasion. It did mean that she was unable to use magic, but she was able to create spells for purposes that had never been conceived of before, on demand.
    She looked down at her notes and sat to begin her assigned writs. The first spell that had been requested was a birth-control spell. It was a favourite of the goblin born. They tended to give birth in multiples, so skipping one or two breeding cycles was not a terrible thing. George had been the tester for that particular spell and Jinx hoped that it could withstand a dragon mating.
    She wrote a spell in English and when it was completed she blew across the ink. A pleased smile broke over her features as the ink blurred and shifted into spell-script, just as it did every time. It never failed to amaze her that her own writing was becoming a part of the magical community. She sealed it and wrapped it with a red and blue ribbon, then tucked it aside.
    George had come up with the idea of selling her spells as a way of getting them into use so that she could observe them in the hands of different users and change them to be more effective. It also had the side effect of making them all quite wealthy, although they could not tell any of their friends or family where the money came from, for fear of exposing her as an Archive. It was the biggest secret that they had shared until now.
    The last three Archives had been taken to Realm and died in the service of the Magus and Warlock’s councils, respectively.
    They were always on the lookout for new Archives, but as none had been seen in over two hundred years, they had relaxed their sweeps. Jinx could only hope that she had missed a sweep after the glamour came down.
    Time would tell and in the mean time, there were spells to write and the whole night ahead of her. It was time to get to work.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
     
     
    A skittering at the window dragged her out of a sound sleep. The damned gremlin again. Melissande grunted as she rolled out of the warm sheets and stumbled to the back door. When he was in he wanted out, and now he was out and he wanted in. Sick little bugger.
    There he was, prancing happily on the other side of the door, holding a live squirrel in his hands. Apparently he had made a friend while he was out.
    With her eyes lifted upwards for guidance, she opened the door and he and his new pet scampered in and started looking for cookies. She stopped the grocery massacre by handing him a box and smiled as he handed the first one to the squirrel.
    “So, you have a new pet, and now are feeding him out of your own rations. That deserves to be rewarded.” She prepped her own breakfast and then made a smaller portion for her companion and his new friend. The toast and eggs were happily