by John Booth
Daniel wondered if he would ever use it
To protect a damsel or to catch a thief
Yousef was angry when he got back to the camp
As the morning was getting quite late
They had far to go before they could sleep
One more deed wrong on poor Daniel’s slate
The city was still a few miles away
When darkness fell as they rode
The hills were full of vagabonds
No one wanted to get caught on the road
As they were walking wearily on
A hoard of brigand jumped them so fast
They were trussed up to be sold as slaves
Their days as traders over at last
That night as everyone went to sleep
Daniel slowly worked his gag down to his neck
“Magic Sword my bonds” he whispered
They were sliced in two in a sec
He looked over to where his brother was bound
Counted the sleeping thieves who were many
“Magic Sword thieves throats” he said with regret
And then, of the thieves there were not any
“Magic Sword my hand” he said and it was so
He quickly cut his brother free
He sheathed his dagger before his brother looked round
Dumbstruck at the dead bodies he could see.
“How did you do it?” he wanted to know
“You could maybe kill one, two or three,
But to kill all seven without one getting you
That is just unbelievable to me”
Yousef kicked his brother when no answer came forth
His beating went on until the dawn
Till eventually Daniel told him the whole fairy story
He told it while stifling a yawn
Well Yousef did not believe a word of it
It was a story that just could not come to pass
He looked for something to whip his brother
Saying very unwisely, “Magic Sword my ass!”
Jalia Gets a Magic Ring
Jalia was travelling all alone along dangerous roads
With more money than most rich men ever earn
It was payment for killing a giant more than once
The sort of money that make even wise pockets burn
She met a lad called Daniel also travelling alone
A trader who still laughed and sometimes dreamed
He used to travel with a brother who had hurt himself with a knife
And could no longer walk any distances it seemed
Now Daniel traded for his brother between the city states
Brought him back money after journey long and tough
His brother couldn’t work or keep himself at all
He blamed Daniel for his accident which seemed rough
So she and Daniel shared a fire and food they cooked together
Life on the road seemed less daunting when there were two
Daniel never explained the accident that destroyed his brother life
Well, Jalia also had her dark secrets too.
They planned to part at the first city that they came too
An eastern place with tall minarets and customs very odd
Jalia would have to wear a veil to walk down the streets at all
While Daniel would have to worship another God
At the market place Jalia helped Daniel set up his stall
Selling spices and sweat meats that he had to trade
Jalia stayed just long enough to sell some of his wares
For twice as much as Daniel would have made
In a dark hot coffee shop she found what she sought
Men with rough voices playing games for money
For Jalia nothing sweeter than the clink of gold coins
This was her joy, this was her honey
There was no game on earth that Jalia couldn’t play
Better than the best player that ever has been
And soon those rough, touch men were cursing the moment
This female demon with the luck of the devil was seen
Only she and a young man were still in the game
Judging by his fine clothes and manner he was slumming
Only he had had the money to meet all her plays
But even he, now out of money was running
Jalia raised the stakes by more money than he had
By the rules of the game he had lost
Then he offered a ring, which sparkled so bright
That ring more than covered the cost
The cards were turned over and he had three swords
Very close to the best cards that could be shown
But Jalia turned over three towers which beat that fine hand
And all of their money, Jalia owned
The young man’s face turned ashen, he couldn’t believe he had lost
He faced Jalia and told her he would pay much more
For the return of the ring he had so foolishly bet
She said no and he called her a whore.
She kicked him in the groin and he fell to the floor
Then punching and fighting broke out
Jalia, with her money, crawled out of the place
No one noticed, not one point, not one shout
Within an hour there were soldiers all over the city
Apparently the caliph’s son had been mugged
Of a family heirloom reputed to be magic
Some people claimed he had also been drugged
When Daniel left the town next morning
His donkeys appeared to be overloaded or sick
When he checked their loads just out of the city
He found Jalia stowed away, very slick
She explained what had happened and what she had done
She would pay for the goods she had displaced
If he would take her and her gold to the nearest city
She would pay far more than the goods she’d replaced
That night, by the fire, under blazing bright stars
The ring they both examined and wondered
Could it really be magic the way it was claimed?
Or had the Caliph and son just blundered
Daniel suggested she ask something of the ring
Like ‘Magic Ring bring me water” for example
It was better than doing nothing, so Jalia tried
The three foot of water they were suddenly in, seemed ample
They reached higher ground and collected their goods
Drying out in the dry and hot dessert air
“I think, I had better be careful about using this again”
Said Jalia as Daniel dried his dagger and its sheath with some care
The sand fairies giggled as they hid in the dark
Drawn swift by the magic the two of them carried
When the two of them slept, the fairies would have both
And their bodies in sand would be buried.
The Sand Fairies
Sand Fairies are an evil breed that have no natural magic
But sense out magic objects whenever they are near
They will steal and kill given the slightest chance
Without remorse or guilt it would appear
Snicker-sneaking in the dark and on the sand
Their poison knives glittering the darkest blue
Towards the dark bulks where the humans sleep
Knives poised then plunge in and through
Again and again they strike the blankets
Beneath which the humans were asleep
But they make no noise, not even a groan
So quiet, no sound, not even the slightest peep.
"Magic Ring, sand fairies bind in rope"
A voice beyond the camp spoke
And all the sand fairies were bound in an instant
Suddenly looking a very sorry folk.
Jalia and Daniel entered the camp c
arefully
Carefully gathering the sand fairies into heap
Daniel shook his blanket out, in tatters from the knives
"Let's kill them, they held our lives so cheap"
"I agree. They have nothing to bargain for their lives"
"We have!" A chorus of high voices began to cry
"We have treasure beyond the mind of man
We have much if you do not sentence us to die!"
Jalia smiled because she liked a real challenge
And getting treasure from Sand Fairies was certainly one
They were sneaky and clever and there were hundreds to fight
She was grinning as she realized the game was now on
"Your castles are filled with hundreds just like you
And they are far too small for us to get in
If we let one of you go you'd go back to your brethren
And they would overwhelm us before we could begin"
"The magic ring could make you small as us
And your magic dagger could kill us one and all
Our king will go with you to show you the way
You could take the treasure with no trouble at all
Jalia looked at the dagger sheathed to Daniel's belt
Daniel grinned in apology then said
"What is this treasure that you're talking about
I think I would prefer you all dead"
The King Sand Fairy raised he voice with a cough
"We have special treasures it is true
The greatest of which is the holy grail
Which can give eternal life to you"
"I prefer gold or gems to magical trinkets
There are easier to trade and much less trouble
I'm beginning to think that Daniel is right
Let's just slit your throats and bury you under this rubble"
"We have precious stones in aplenty of course
Gold coins and trinkets we have without measure
As well as magic objects of course
All parts of our hoard of treasure"
Jalia considered, then she spoke these words
"Magic ring bring the sand fairies treasure to me"
Knowing happened except that the sand fairies laughed
"The ring has limited range," they told her with glee
"If there hadn't been a river hidden underground
Just below where you had come to stop
Your wish would not have been fulfilled
And of water there would have been not a drop"
Jalia and Daniel conferred quite heatedly
It was clear Daniel just wanted to get away
But they made a deal of sorts and shook hands on it
What they agreed, they did not say
They moved the donkeys till they were well hidden
Gathered up the sand fairies and swords
The put them into a cage they made
They didn't want to face again this hoard
Daniel first cut their poisoned swords in half
His magic dagger shining so bright
As he sliced them into little pieces
They would never again be used in a fight
The Fairy king they separated from the rest
"We will take you and non of your other men
But first we need to shrink to your size
Magic ring shrink us to the size of a hen"
In a flash they shrank to nine inches tall
But their clothes didn't shrink at all
So they both stood naked facing each other
Feeling suddenly very, very small
"Magic Ring make our clothes so they always fit us"
Said Jalia after thinking it through
But putting your clothes on meant moving your hands
Which Daniel was loath to do
Jalia was used to using her body as a tool
And she had thought of Daniel as a lad
She noted that a part of Daniel's body was quite large
And for some reason, that made her feel glad
Daniel had never seen a girl naked before
His natural reaction had made him blush bright red
Jalia was better looking than any fairy queen
And her body stoked a hunger in his head
They dressed while Fairy King laughed at their plight
He himself had many reasons to be glad
He could feel the magic ring was pretty much drained
And a reversal of fortunes was soon to be had
They set off down the path that alone the King could see
And before long they saw a sight that filled them both with awe
A blue glowing castle set against the snow white moon
More beautiful than any building they had seen before.
As they entered into the castle standing quiet before the keep
Men surrounded and gagged them with fairy hands so small
"Magic Ring, kill them now" shouted Jalia breaking free
But the magic was exhausted and nothing happened at all
The Fairy king took her magic ring and tossed it in the air
"It will be fine when it has rested for a day
Take this woman to my room where I'll use her for the night
The boy to our dungeons, take him away
But before he goes take his magic dagger
Put it straight in my trophy room
We will torture him tomorrow to see how it works
Then we will throw him off the cliffs to his doom"
Trapped Among the Sand Fairies
Daniel knew he had just one chance to make a difference
As the fairies held his mouth so he could not talk
He thrust his sheathed dagger down into Jalia's skirt
Then allowed the fairies to hold him without a squawk
Jalia felt the dagger slide down her knickers
In the small of her back and below
As the king took the ring from off of her finger
She cursed in her mind what she didn't know
Daniel had known how to use the magic ring
So the form for the dagger must be similar to that
"Magic Dagger do this or do that" she thought
When she could speak she would murder these rats
She heard she was going to be taken and raped
And the boy would be put killed on the morrow
Then the king called for the dagger and her heart leaped
Perhaps this would all now end in sorrow
The couldn't find the dagger and they didn't look on her
And they weren't going to let Daniel utter a word
Then he bit the hand that covered his face
Shouted, "Sword" which was all that she heard
They dragged her away and tied her to the bed
Spreadeagled, with the dagger rough down her back
She could speak now but wasn't sure what to say
Daniel's word would have to put her back on track
The dagger and the ring had shrunk when they both became small
And Daniel once told her he had rescued a fairy true
To her a dagger might have looked like a massive sword
In that was the case she knew what she must do
Her skirt and knickers were ripped off her body
And the king had stripped himself bare
It seems that fairies were disproportioned
And she gulped as she saw what stood there
It seemed this experience would probably kill her
She doubted she could take that inside her and live
"Magic Sword cut his balls", she shouted in desperation
As she was about to take all he could give
The King screamed like a girl as he was castrated
Falling backwards blood running all over the place
"Magic Sword cut his throat" Jalia said wearily
Wondering how much more she could face
Fastened her skirt about herself as best she could
She knew she should rescue Daniel at once
And once she'd explored, well she would!
The Kings apartments were connected together
She went swiftly from room to room
Till she came to one filled with pedestals
Each lit while the room was in gloom
This must be the trophy room
She thought as she saw a human head
From her present size it seemed like a giants
And she was glad it was obviously dead
Daniel might be being tortured
Jalia thought as she retrieved her magic ring
But the trophy room was full of treasure
A few minutes more would not change a thing
It was only when her skirt fell down
From the weight of all the objects in her pocket
That she decided she had better rescue Daniel
To forget the treasure and get on with it
She decided the dungeons would have to be down
It's the traditional location after all
So she headed down all the stairs she could find
Making sure no one saw her at all
In the dirty manky dripping tunnels
Beneath the castle down deep
She found a door surrounded by guards
A place where prisoners they might keep
The magic sword was dispatched and killed
All the guards standing there
She found a bunch of keys in one man's hands
And travelled down into despair