Forced Magic

by Jerod Lollar

  “I'm sorry,” I finally said. “This is all too confusing and frightening. I feel like I am going to lose you guys because I just don’t understand. I want to believe I am in a world of great possibilities. I guess the glass is half full. I’m just not sure what it is full of.”

  The words were out of my mouth before I realized what I had said. Fetch tensed up for a second but I don’t think anybody noticed it but me. I looked over at Johnathen, trying to keep my face as neutral as I could. I had just quoted a gnome expression about wizards. I wondered if Johnathen knew that and would catch on that we had made a new friend. Johnathen stared at me, his eyes narrowed. He was trying to get some sort of read on me. He heard me use the expression and was trying to decide if it was a fluke that I used it or if I had heard it from a gnome.

  He opened his mouth, ready to say something, when a high pitched humming suddenly filled the room. It was like a smoke detector going off. I turned to Fetch to tell him to stop blowing smoke, when I remembered I had taken the batteries out of the smoke detector. I was about to say something, when Johnathen jumped up. He had a snarl on his lips. I saw the reason why. At eye level in front of him was a familiar blue ball. It was already growing and getting brighter. This time I was ready for it. I quickly jammed my hand into the light. I hit something solid and without thinking about it I pulled it through. I had a goblin by the throat. I took him by surprise so he just hung there in my hand. I recognized him immediately. I smiled and said through gritted teeth, “Hello Booger so good to see you again.”

  As soon as I pulled Booger out, Johnathen had put his hands on either side of the ball and simply started to squeeze. It began to shrink and as his hands got closer together the ball started to glow brighter until with a loud pop it disappeared.

  Booger started to struggle and squeal, but, before he could cause any real damage, Fetch whipped out his tongue and hit him on the forehead. Booger went limp. It seemed Fetch's tongue had an anesthetic effect on Booger.

  “That’s a new one,” I said to Fetch.

  He looked as surprised as I did at this discovery. He kept shaking his head and whipping out his tongue, trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth. I guess it was pure instinct that caused him to try that. Part of me was worried. Now that Fetch knew how to do this there was no telling what was in store for me. Judging by Fetch's wicked sense of humor and his continuing battle to keep me humble, I wondered if I would ever learn all the fantastic things he could do.

  Returning my full attention back to Booger, I kept a firm grip on him as I went over to the table and slammed him down out on top of it. He was squeaking and his eyes were looking around wildly, but he was unable to move. I was glad it kept him from spitting acid everywhere.

  “You like your new name, Booger?” I said through gritted teeth.

  I really didn’t like this little monster. He had broken my nose and caused me a lot of pain. It was all I could do to keep from smashing my fist into his ugly little face.

  “You Flap!” he screamed.

  I heard Johnathen mutter a word and felt a strange tingle.

  “No one can hear us. No other portals will appear. I'm sorry. In my haste to get here, I forgot to put up any concealment spell to keep anyone from knowing I was here. I was careless, but we are safe now. Booger? I like the name. It suits him.”

  I looked at Johnathen. He had an amused look on his face and motioned to me.

  ”Please continue,” he said.

  I looked back at Booger as he continued his rant. “You are troll fung. A pile of gnome snith. You have ruined me you Flap.” He screamed.

  I just smiled and said, “Booger.”

  He made a choking sound in his throat and spit at me. I guess I was wrong about him not being able to spit. Before it could hit my face, Fetch shot a thin flame at it and it sizzled in the air and evaporated. I was impressed by Fetch's aim. He was really getting good at it. I gripped Booger's neck a little tighter.

  “Try that again and I will squeeze your head and pop it like a zit. Hey, maybe that’s your new name. Zit. You like that?" I asked.

  He focused his eyes on me when he spoke. I saw the calculating beast from the parking lot in that stare. “No, please not another name, “he said, sounding like a twisted little squeaking mouse. “It’s hard enough going around being called Booger. Haven’t you done enough damage already? “He began to whine and choke and I almost found myself feeling sorry for him. Almost.

  “All the damage I caused?" I said, shaking him just a little.

  It was hard to control myself around him. It was like his very presence was making my blood boil. I remembered how mad I was when Booger and his friends attacked us in the parking lot, and how I used him like a club to hit the others with. I had to fight the urge to pick him up and do that again.

  “You attacked me!" I shouted in his face. “You broke my nose and tried to kill me! Why shouldn’t I return the favor, Booger? I should break your nose. Or maybe I should just let Fetch eat you.”

  Booger squealed like a pig and a gagging noise came from his throat

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Michelle standing next to me. She was looking at me with fear in her eyes. She had to know they were just empty threats. I really wouldn’t kill him and feed him to Fetch. But, as I looked into her eyes, I realized that I didn’t know that for sure. I really hated this ugly little thing and it took all my willpower to not smash its ugly face in. This scared me a little. I don’t think I truly ever had those kinds of feelings before. I heard Fetch growling somewhere behind me, ready to attack just as soon as I gave the word. I looked at Michelle. Confusion filled my heart. What was happening to me?

  “Jack, “said Johnathen, bringing me back into focus. “I believe he will tell us what we want to know. If he doesn’t, then I believe Fetch can eat him. “

  Johnathen had that twinkle in his eyes that he had when I first met him. He looked more like his old self. I hadn’t seen him look that confident in the past week. It helped relax the anger toward my little friend here.

  "I’m sure Fetch is hungry."

  He gave me a little wink of encouragement. I wondered if he saw the same fury in me that Michelle had seen.

  Fetch moved over to Booger's face, opening his mouth and snapping it closed inches from Booger's pig like nose. Booger squealed in terror. It seemed that Smith was right in saying that goblins were cowards.

  Fetch stayed close to Booger's face for a while, growling and snapping. I wanted him to think we were serious about letting Fetch eat him. Booger continued to squeal in terror and he began to sniff and hiccup. It was hard to imagine, but this ugly, smelly creature, that so viciously attacked me in the parking lot, looked like he was starting to cry.

  “Ok, Ok!” he sniveled. “I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just please don’t let him eat me.”

  I stayed silent for a few more minutes, letting Booger sweat it out. I looked over at Johnathen like I was trying to decide what to do. I shook my head and sighed.

  “Ok, this is against my better judgment, but we’ll let him talk.”

  Booger began to giggle with relief. He took in great big gulps of air and his ugly little face relaxed.

  “You guys mind if I smoke?" he asked with the same growling bravado he had at the parking lot.

  I squeezed his throat a little and Fetch growled. Booger squealed again. Even though I had calmed down, and had the upper hand on this goblin, the last thing I wanted was to lower my guard around him too much.

  "Who sent you to attack Fetch and me?”

  "Attack you and...?" started Booger. His eyes got really big. A smile formed on his lips and he looked at me in surprise, as if he was just now realizing something.

  “The dragon has a name?" he squeaked. ”There were rumors but no one believed it."

  Fetch rolled his eyes at this. He moved in closer and continued to growl. He whipped his tail around, smacking Booger on the side of the head. Fetch was getting a little tired of
everyone being surprised he had a name. Booger snarled at Fetch, showing teeth. I reached over and forced his mouth closed.

  ”No snarling or spitting or I will break your jaw.”

  Booger looked me in the eye. He sighed and mumbled something that sounded like an 'ok'. I let go of his chin.

  “Man boss, you have gotten stronger,” he mumbled.

  I guess he was right. I had changed quite a bit in the time since I fought him last. In a strange way, I wanted to fight him again, to show him I wasn’t the clumsy doofus that had barely got away the last time we fought.

  “Look, we are getting tired of this,” said Johnathen from behind me. “Just answer the question."

  Booger looked around at all of us with a wild look in his eyes. He took a deep breath and with a pitiful look on his face said, “I don’t know.”

  Fetch let out a short burst of flame to show his anger. Booger squealed, throwing up his arms. We all noticed this but Booger didn’t seem to realize that he could move yet.

  “No. I swear man. I don’t know. We were pulsed, all of us. We found a bag of money and directions on where to find you. It was nothing personal man. It was just a job. We were just doing a job. The only time I even came close to finding out who it was that kept us going on these raids, was a glimpse of him on a mountain top. All I could see was a shadow of this guy. But the shadow was kind of like this inky smoke that kept moving around. It gave me the creeps. It was all I ever saw of this guy. He kept on giving us money and leaving us notes as to who to attack next.”

  Johnathen put his hand on my shoulder. “I think he is telling the truth, Jack. Goblins are not the most trustworthy of creatures. It makes sense that whoever hired them to attack you, would pulse them into forgetting or hide themselves in some way. The thing is, it is very hard to pulse a goblin. They have very sharp, clever minds."

  “A goblin don’t forget easy,” squeaked Booger.

  He giggled that insane little giggle again. I kept my hand on his neck. There was something about the way he described the inky black smoke that sounded familiar. I thought back to that dream I had in the tunnel. Could it be connected somehow? I let go of Booger's neck. He sat up realizing that he could move now, but Fetch remained close enough and ready to paralyze him again if he made any sudden moves. Michelle, who had been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up.

  “Do you think it was someone from the council?" she asked.

  Booger had moved a little to get a better look at her. He licked his lips greedily and reached behind himself, pulling out one of those cigars. He popped it in his mouth and prepared to light it.

  “Why don’t you leave with me when we are done here?" he asked. “We could have a good time before I eat your face, pretty girl."

  This was supposed to scare her. Michelle just opened her hand and closed her eyes. She muttered a few words and a small flame appeared in her hand. She blew the flame in Booger's direction. It landed on his eyebrows, which quickly disappeared.

  “Hey!” he squeaked, beating his face to get the flames out. He sniffed the air when he put out the flame out, his eyes narrowing. “You weren’t born with it girl. You're not supposed to do magic.”

  Johnathen sent a ball of what looked like raven feathers into Booger's face. They slapped him silly for a few seconds before disappearing.

  “That is none of your business," he said. I could tell that Johnathen didn’t like how smart Booger seemed. He stared at Booger for a few seconds, his eyes flashing. He was angry. You really don’t want a wizard to look at you the way Johnathen looked at Booger.

  “Ok, I get it. You all hate me. So what’s a guy to do?” He started to light the cigar.

  Fetch grabbed it out of his mouth, leaving just the tip between Boogers lips. Fetch quickly chewed the cigar and spit it on Boogers face. It stuck to his cheek. He had a look of shock and hurt on his face that made it hard not to laugh.

  “Ok dragon," he said. “You can eat me if you want, but don’t destroy the stogies. That’s just harsh."

  Shaking his head, Johnathen walked over to the mini bar. He reached inside, grabbed a bottle of soda, and handed it to Booger. Without even thinking about it, Booger opened the bottle and in one gulp drank it down, never taking his eyes off of Fetch. He stuffed the bottle in his mouth, chewing loudly, and swallowing hard. Johnathen leaned down looking Booger in the eye.

  “I think we need an inside man to keep an eye on things for us. Someone who can discover just who we are dealing with. And you, my friend, will do nicely.”

  Booger's eyes got even larger at this comment. “No! No way! This guy finds out I’m working against him, no telling what he will do to me. He is powerful. He has a magic I have never seen or smelt before." At this last statement, Booger looked at me. “It’s close to yours, but darker and twisted.”

  Booger shuddered at this last comment. It had to be pretty bad for a creature like a goblin to shudder that way. I went to the mini bar getting a soda for myself.

  “Do you think we can trust him?” I asked Johnathen.

  “No,” he laughed. "But I can put a spell on him that will dissolve his head if he betrays us."

  I really didn’t think Johnathen would do that, but, it didn’t hurt our situation to let this guy think that he would.

  This was becoming quite an interesting situation. What an opportunity to fall in our laps. As far as I knew, this was as close as Johnathen had got to finding out who was attacking me. If we could keep Booger in line, we just might have a shot.

  I turned back to Booger and got down close to his face. I knew this was risky, but I wanted to let him know that I had no fear of him. I felt a pounding sense of urgency. I had pushed down all the fear and concern over this unknown enemy. I felt closer to answers than I ever had and I was not going to let this opportunity go. As I stared at Booger, fear dawned on his face. He seemed to see something in my eyes that frightened him.

  “What are you?" He asked in a shaky voice.

  I had no idea what he saw when he looked at me, but I seized the opportunity to use this little coward's fear to my advantage.

  ”I am your personal worst nightmare. You will never be able to hide from me or from Fetch.” I sniffed the air, closing my eyes for dramatic effect. ”I've got your scent now. You turn on me and I will hunt you down. I will make you pay for any kind of betrayal, and when I am done, you will beg to have your head dissolved by Johnathen.”

  My heart pounded in my ears as my own words frightened me. The silence in the room was intense and heavy. I stood up after a while, still looking down at Booger.

  “I’m counting on you, Pockhammer. Whatever Johnathen asks you to do, you better do.”

  The room was completely silent. Everyone was staring at me. I turned around to look at Booger and saw an evil grin on his face, his eyes narrow. Something had happened and for a second Booger had lost the fear that I had given him.

  “You’ve been making friends,” he growled. ”I thought I smelled gnome on you.”

  I realized what I had done. I had called him 'Pockhammer'. I had called him by his true name. How would I know this?

  Johnathen walked over to Booger and above his head made a green ball appear. It floated down, covering his head, and grew until it covered his entire body. I could see him inside it, yelling and screaming. He was really angry.

  “I think it is best to keep him with me for now.”

  Johnathen looked over at me. There was anger and hurt in his eyes. He had heard what Pockhammer had said, and all he had to do was look at me and he knew it was true.

  “Johnathen,” I started, "let me explain."

  “Explain?” he interrupted. “What’s to explain? You obviously have been making friends despite my pleas that you stay hidden."

  “You don’t understand,” I started again.

  Johnathen just raised a hand. “Now is not the time or place for this, Jack. Whatever happened, it could cause serious problems. All my work over the last few months could be c
ompromised. I don’t pretend to have any control over your actions. You are free to do what you want. I just hoped you would listen. You betrayed me, Jack. Both you and Michelle.”

  Michelle sat up. She was starting to look a little pale again. She looked confused at his words. She must not have heard what Pockhammer had said. Johnathen turned to her.

  “Michelle, you took a great risk using that spell. I asked you to keep it simple and stay safe. But you went ahead and took the risk that could have killed you. I wish I had never taught you magic. You betrayed me as well “

  “Jack, it seems the magic world is already forming their opinion of you and Fetch. You can’t hide forever. You seem to have already found a gnome and made a friend. That means that your story is being spread even more. Please be careful. It is hard for you to believe, but I do have your best interest at heart. I don’t know how to fix this. It changes everything."

  Once again Johnathen got that faraway look. We had hurt him deeply. I wanted to explain what had happened, but I could tell he was in no mood to listen. Fetch sat there, his eyes changing color rapidly.

  “Michelle, I think you should stay here for now and recover. You have had quite a shock to your system and it is dangerous for you to move around too much. Please do not attempt any more magic for now.” He put his hand up to his forehead. ”I really have been working too hard. This changes everything. I need to go now. I will be in contact with you soon. Within the next couple of days I think.”

  He got that faraway look again. He reminded me of a guy I knew in high school who was addicted to meth. He had that same faraway look.

  “I would ask you to stay here and not leave this room until you hear from me, but I don’t think that would do any good.”

  He looked as if he was about to say something more, but then changed his mind. With Booger flung over his back, still swearing at all of us, he opened the door and left. In the silence that followed Michelle began to cry.