Forced Magic

by Jerod Lollar

  “Yeah,” I replied, “that’s what everybody keeps telling me.”

  “Come to the table, you three,” said Smith. “We must plan our next move.”

  Fetch and I hung back for a second. Once again I had a moment of disbelief. All of this was so strange. I looked over at Fetch. He was staring at me intently. He looked from me to Samantha and back to me. He kept on doing this back and forth for a while. I knew what he was doing. I pushed his head over to the side.

  “Shut up. There is no way, stupid lizard.”

  I walked to join them at the table with Fetch following close behind me.

  “Now,” Smith started, "I believe Michelle has gone to confront Johnathen. At the mention of Michelle’s name, my stomach dropped to my feet. I had run out of the club to stop her. So many twists and turns in this new world. One of my best friends had told me how dangerous and evil fairies were, and now I found myself almost trusting them. I had a flash of anger as something was revealed to me about this crazy world, something that I should have been told from the beginning. Smith knew these fairies. I was pretty sure he knew they would be at the club last night. I felt I was a pawn in some sort of game and I was getting sick and tired of it.

  “Michelle, I believe, is safe for now,” continued Smith. “I think the best thing to do is to present Fetch and Jack to the council. They would be under their protection and it would give Jack a chance to persuade them to act against the forces that seem to want him destroyed.”

  “No,” I heard myself say.

  This was it for me. We had been lead around by all of these forces and it hadn’t gotten us any closer to the truth of what was really going on. It wasn’t fair for me and Fetch to have to defend our right to exist in front of a group of council members who would treat us like most of the magical creatures had been treating us so far, with fear or wonder. Why should we have to defend our right to live when it wasn’t the fault of either of us that we were here in the first place?

  “Fetch and I are not part of your world. We are not part of the world I left behind. From what I have learned from all of you, we are something new and unique and I refuse to allow myself to be controlled by a council that might very well decide to kill us.”

  There was silence in the cave. Smith had a peculiar smile on his face.

  “What do you want to do Jack?” He asked. “What do you and Fetch want to do?”

  I looked at Fetch. I could see a look of pride in his ever-changing eyes and I could tell that he would support whatever I had to say.

  “We’re gonna go confront Johnathen. Ask him what is going on. I'll go see your council after that, maybe. I'm beginning to think that Johnathen has been keeping things from me and Fetch. I hope Michelle is with him and safe. That is another reason I want to talk to him, to make sure she is safe. What Fetch decides to do is up to him. I never claimed to own him and he never claimed to own me. I hope he stays with me. With everything that has happened, he is the only one that truly understands what I am going through. I would like your help. I feel you owe us.”

  Pete spoke up at this point. "We owe you nothing!" he shouted.

  “My brother has no memory of who I am. No one I knew before this mess knows me anymore, and, from what I understand, that is because of you fairies messing with his memories. I never asked for any of this at all. Fetch didn’t either. It blows my mind that he decided not to eat me, but, in my opinion, he has shown that we all have a choice. Heck, for all I know, he is waiting to eat me in my sleep one night.”

  Fetch made a retching sound and covered his nose at this comment. Molly laughed a nervous little laugh at his gesture.

  ”Yeah pal," I said to Fetch. “I would choke you all the way down.”

  Fetch gave one of his usual ‘Huh’ sounds. Molly giggled again. I walked over to Pete and jabbed a finger in his chest.

  “You owe me for erasing my life. Please help me. Let me and Fetch go to the one person that could answer our questions. Help us make sure Michelle is safe. She is just another victim in all of this and has done some amazing things to prove that she has the right to exist, either in this world or the other, with all of her memories intact. All I have seen of magic, so far, is how it is used to control and manipulate people. It has to end. It has to stop. I have a feeling that you all don’t fully agree with this council, or you would have at least tried to turn me over to them. Please help me. Show me that there is some of the good that I always found in the books I've read my entire life. Show me that there are true heroes in this realm of magic.”

  I didn’t know that this was what I felt, until I said it out loud. I wasn’t sure I could trust these fairies, but maybe, if I could get them to help me go to Johnathen, I could change his mind about the fey and show him that they were not all bad. I felt like I was betraying him in some way, but so much had been said about how I was different from anything else ever seen in the magic world. Maybe it was mine and Fetch's destiny to change people’s opinions of things in the magic world. I couldn’t help but feel that if Johnathen was willing to accept me and help the council accept me, then maybe I could help him change his mind about the fairies. It was worth a shot.

  I didn’t know what Smith had originally planned, but I hoped he would see things my way. If anything, I wanted an explanation about the daggers and why Johnathen had given one to Michelle as well as one to me.

  Fetch came to stand in front of me. He looked at each of them showing that he supported me. I felt a wave of gratitude for him. In a way this affected him more than me. He was part of this magic world since he was a dragon, and for some reason he chose to go against his very nature and spare me. The many times I got mad at him, the times I tried to drive him off, and he still stuck with me. He was a victim too. From what I understood about Fetch letting me live, he may have turned all other dragons against him. Never accepted fully by his own kind, he would always be an outcast. Me, Michelle, Johnathen and Fetch, we had to help each other. We seemed to be trapped in between two worlds. Never fully accepted by either one. We were a strange family. In many ways Michelle was like a sister to me. I had to find her.

  I realized that everyone was staring at me, as if waiting for what I would say next.

  Finally Samantha spoke up, her voice heavy with sarcasm, “Fine, oh great dragon survivor, what is your plan? And it better be good. Anyone gets hurt, I will personally feed you to fetch.”

  She had a crooked smile on her face. It might have been my imagination, but I figured I might have won a grudging respect from her. I thought she might have tangled with this council on more than one occasion. I noticed that Pete and Molly were dressed in the most impeccable ways. Pete, with his Armani suit, and Molly, looking like she just walked out of a fashion magazine. This was quite different from Samantha's light summer dress. I wondered if this was her way of saying she was an individual, different and not wanting to fit into the norm.

  “Great!” I thought to myself. "I’m dealing with a bad girl rebel fairy. I’m surprised she doesn’t have a tattoo on her arm that says 'Born to Flutter'.”

  Smith spoke up. “Ok Jack, what’s your plan?”

  He had a slight smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. I remembered our first conversation and realized he was enjoying this immensely.

  “Ok, we need to find Johnathen and Michelle and find out what is going on."

  I paused for a second. This sounded better in my head. They were all staring at me with blank looks on their faces. I knew I needed to get in touch with Johnathen without him knowing I was on the side of fairies. I would spring that on him when the time was right.

  I continued, “Does anyone know how to get ahold of a wizard or his animal messengers?”

  Samantha groaned in frustration and looking at Fetch asked in a pleading voice, “Why didn’t you eat him?”

  “Wait," I said. “I was just asking, in case. I have a backup plan if you can’t. If I could get ahold of him, tell him I need to see him, then I could find out if Mic
helle has confronted him yet, and we can take it from there.”

  At that moment I remembered my cell phone that Michelle had given me. I felt stupid for not remembering it before. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. Molly made a little sound of interest, Pete sighed in disgust, and Samantha gave me a blank stare. I remembered that most people in the magic world were baffled by technology.

  “Uh, cell phone, forgot about it,” I mumbled.

  “We know what it is,” said Pete. “Who will you contact with it? Johnathen? He is known for having problems with tech stuff, just like a lot of us do, so you won’t be able to call him."

  I thought back to the times Michelle would show Johnathen something about tech stuff. He wouldn’t even touch the computer when she showed him the YouTube battle, with me and Fetch against Booger and the snot brigade.

  “Uh, this was given to me by Michelle,” I said reluctantly.

  Mentally I was kicking myself for not thinking of this sooner.

  "We were keeping in contact with each other."

  “You mean you had the ability to speak to her this whole time and you didn’t?" said Samantha.

  “So sorry, your fairy highness. Before I could use it I was shot and beaten with baseball bats, then I was passed out for a while,” I said through gritted teeth.

  ”That’s two, “she said, looking at me in a very threatening way.

  “Great! “ I thought, pulling up Michelle’s number and texting her. “Now she’s keeping track of what I do that makes her mad. I don’t even have a clue what that is."

  I texted two words 'U ok?' and waited. It didn’t take long for the response.

  “Check Facebook. Help the dragons go see Pek."

  I sent her a question mark and got no response. This worried me. Obviously there was something on her Facebook page that would help us find her.

  I repeated those words to the others. When I said the name 'Pek' they all gave each other a look. I knew I had heard the name before, I just couldn’t remember when or where.

  “I need to get to a computer," I said. "This phone can’t get Internet. Do you guys know where I can access a computer?”

  “Your text from Michelle has the answer,” said Smith. “I think it’s time you met Pek.”

  It hit me where I had heard the name before. Michelle had talked about him with Johnathen and with Smith. He was the elf with a knack for computers. I was about to meet this Pek.

  I looked over to Smith's workbench and saw his computer was gone. I turned back to him with a questioning look.

  “When we got back here, I found my computer gone. I didn’t want to alarm anyone. It seems as if someone was trying to keep us from using computers, another reason to see Pek. He might be in trouble. He should be warned."

  I was trying to text Michelle again as Smith was talking. I was encouraged by her message that she was still unharmed, but her lack of a response after her message had me worried. I wondered what she would think when she discovered that I was working with the fey. Still, no response.

  “Ok," I said, “let’s go see this Pek.”

  Chapter 33

  We left Smith's tunnel home, walking across the park. I kept my eyes open looking for any signs of one of Johnathen's bobcat messengers. They were nowhere to be seen. Samantha had surrounded us in a cloak of concealment, allowing us to walk undetected through the park. I could see it shimmering in the dark. It surrounded us like a dome and kept up with us as we walked. We walked in silence except for Molly. Molly never stopped talking. She was fascinated by me and Fetch and was not afraid to let us know. She asked us everything from what kind of deodorant I used to asking Fetch how he got rid of evidence of going to the bathroom. Samantha had gasped in protest and began to berate her for asking such a personal question. Fetch stepped in-between them, staring at Samantha, telling her in his unique mute way that it was ok. He seemed to be in a good mood. I could tell that he felt we would soon be reunited with Michelle and was also happy that he didn’t have to go into cameo mode as usual. He went up to a very full garbage can. At first I was afraid he was going to go right then and there, but, with a short burst of flame, caught the trash around it and in it on fire. Within a matter of seconds the garbage was reduced to ash. He looked at Molly who didn’t seem to understand at first.

  “He burns it," I said. “He lights it on fire and destroys all evidence of it.”

  I tried to sound casual about this, like I had known the answer all along. The truth was I had wondered that myself a time or two. There was still so much I didn’t know about Fetch. I still had no idea how he was able to get those bags of food he kept showing up with.

  Our short walk through the park led us to a tunnel going under the street. I looked over at Fetch. He was looking back at me with a half-smile on his face. I was sure that he was thinking about the first time we met. It seemed like forever. I was definitely a different person, and not just physically. With all that I had learned and experienced in such a short time, I had gained a confidence I had not had before. My whole life I had run away from conflict. Now I have fought goblins, faced a dragon, made friends with gnomes, and now I am leading a group of fey into what could very well be a confrontation with a wizard.

  The tunnel opened up to a type of subway stop. Green balls of energy were whisking people to their destinations, yet another surprise from this realm of magic. I guessed that not all magic users could transport themselves like Michelle or even the goblins could. I looked around thinking of the goblins and looking for their blue balls that appeared before they would show up. I didn’t see any.

  Shaking my head to try and focus on the task at hand, I took out the cell phone that Michelle had given me. I texted her hoping for a response. I got one. Hurry Jack, Facebook important. See Pek.

  Everybody seemed to be in agreement that this Pek guy would have answers for me. We all got into a bubble and started moving fast through a tunnel. I was relieved that I finally got a response from Michelle. She was ok for now, but she seemed to be running out of time. She couldn’t tell me where she was. I was hoping this Pek could.

  We reached a kind of station and got out of the bubble. There were too many fantasy creatures to count, all rushing around like they were going to work or heading home. If it wasn’t for the fact that some were floating, seemed to be on fire, or some other fantastic magical thing was surrounding them, you could almost believe that it was just another subway station in some major city, something you would see in a movie or television show.

  I saw two bobcats running through the station and wondered if they were Johnathen's. I looked around and discovered many different bobcats and other animals running around. I guessed that animals were used in this way a lot. If I could just see them, I think I could have figured out if they were Johnathen's or not, but, as quick as I spotted them, they disappeared, moving through the crowd in a flash.

  We had walked from the underground station into the cool night air of the desert. Not paying attention to what direction we had been headed I had no idea where we were. All I could see was the dark outline of cacti and hear the sound of coyotes howling. As far as I knew, we were either out of the city limits in the middle of the desert or in a large vacant lot in the middle of town. Tucson is like that. You never knew what you were going to find around the next turn. Maybe that was why all the magic creatures of the world seemed to be here. There were so many places to hide.

  We walked through the desert for a short while and came across a dirt road. Without any hesitation Smith began to lead us down this road. He seemed to know where he was going. As we walked, I remembered the first time I saw Smith. I wondered if he had known I was there, watching him shoo away that troll from the dumpster. I had the feeling that he did. There was definitely more to him than I understood.

  We reached the end of the road. There was a small trailer with bright floodlights surrounding it. A small picket fence stretched around the piece of property. All around the yard was an assortment of di
fferent colored lights and electronic devices in an odd decorative style. Everything from Christmas lights to Halloween pumpkins and bats surrounded us as we walked through the yard. Neon signs glowing the cliché 'EAT AT JOE'S' or 'Get car washed here' littered the ground. All of them were working, blinking and shining brightly. You could probably see the light for miles and I wondered why this Pek creature didn’t try to hide himself like all of the other residents of the magical realm did. It was as if he wanted to be discovered. As we walked up to the front door, we must have stepped across some kind of hidden sensor. Two of those waving things you would usually see in front of a car dealership popped up. One looked like a tin Christmas soldier. The other was a gorilla. They waved up-and-down and side-to-side like overly excited guards. Molly squealed in delight and Pete, who I guess had never seen anything like that before, pulled out his sword.

  Smith walked up to the door of the trailer and knocked.

  “Go away,” said an angry voice from within. “I’m busy and I don’t care if my Santa Claus is freaking out your dogs. I’m not turning him off.”

  I guessed that he was referring to the big waving Santa on top of the trailer. You could hear him 'HO, HO, HO'ing', loudly and happily. Smith chuckled at this and pushed the door open, signaling us to follow him inside.

  As bright and colorful as it was outside, it was dark and shadowy inside. The only light in the small trailer was coming from a laptop computer. In the glow of the screen I got my first glimpse of this mysterious Pek.

  He had a long curved nose. His greasy looking black hair hung down in his eyes. A pair of glasses hung in the air about four inches from his face. He was about two feet tall from what I could tell and I could hear his short fingers hitting the keyboard of his laptop computer at an alarmingly fast pace. Without looking up he spoke to us.

  “Rude, “he said in a high but gruff voice. “After telling you to go away, you still just barge right in. So rude.”

  “Sorry old friend, “said Smith,”but we don’t have the time to wait for a formal invitation."