Crow Boy

by Maureen Bush

  From there we looked down at a beach stretched thin along the edge of the rain forest. The ocean was huge beyond the sand, reaching out to a horizon marked by a faint line of mountains. Families walked and played on the beach, building sandcastles and collecting seashells.

  “I can’t go out there,” Aleena said. “I don’t look hu-man enough. We can’t water travel with them watching.”

  “We could go somewhere more private,” I said.

  “Exactly,” said Aleena, grinning. “We’ll cross the veil and play right here, in the magic world.”

  “No,” said Maddy. “We can’t take the ring across the veil again!”

  Aleena ignored her. “Josh, you open the doorway this time, if you want to water travel. Otherwise, I’ll go on my own.”

  Maddy gritted her teeth. “Josh,” she muttered.

  “If I can open it without using the ring,” I said, “then there won’t be any damage.”

  Maddy sighed.

  “I have to try,” I said. “We have to stay with her.”

  Aleena led me to two trees, one leaning slightly towards the other, and said, “There’s a doorway here.”

  I settled myself and drew in magic. It was harder in the human world, but I could do it, now that magic was soaking into me again. I drew softly against my pant leg with one finger, sketching mist and a doorway. As I drew, I could feel energy building; I pulled it into my lungs as I inhaled. When I exhaled, mist blew from my mouth and thickened into a white fog. Slowly a doorway formed in the mist. I felt a thrill of pleasure – I could do magic!

  “You did that without the ring?” Aleena asked.

  “Yes,” I said, smiling.

  “But you’re not tired?”

  “No,” I said. “Not tired at all.”

  “That’s strange,” muttered Aleena as she stared at me.

  I just grinned.

  “Yeah, that makes you really special,” Maddy grumbled, “Just like a crow!”

  Aleena laughed. “My crow boy.”

  I scowled, and stepped into the doorway. I was immediately surrounded by mist. Slowly I walked through it, until it thinned and I could step out into the magic world.

  Maddy and Aleena followed, but I ignored them while I looked around.

  The rain forest was older and more powerful here. I could feel magic all around us, radiating from the trees, reverberating in the bird song, and billowing in the ocean waves.

  Maddy stared around, a soft smile on her face, enjoying the magic. I could see the magic touch her, not like when it became a part of me, but more like she was a part of it, like she had always belonged.

  She played with her ring while she studied the forest, sliding it off and on. As she gazed past the trees to the bits of blue sky showing far above us, she pulled off the ring and used it to frame the sky. A strange look came over her face, like she’d just seen something she didn’t understand. Slowly she turned, looking all around the forest through the ring.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Silently, Maddy handed me the ring. I stared through it and almost dropped it in surprise. I tightened my fingers and looked again. Everything in the forest, every tree, every fern, every fallen leaf, was radiating a luminous light, faint and gleaming. As light was reflected off a tree onto a rock, it was sent on, to another tree, to a patch of moss, on and on and on.

  When Keeper had given Maddy the ring, he’d told her, “This ring will help you see magic.” Now I understood what he meant!

  Aleena grew tired of waiting while we stared at the forest – she wanted to get to the ocean. We climbed down the hill from the forest to the beach of grey sand and dark pebbles, stretching off in both directions along the softly curving coastline. But there was nothing soft about this beach. Even with the tide out, waves roared onto shore with a smash of white foam. Tree trunks were washed up along the highest tide line; the last high tide was marked with shells and seaweed.

  To our left the beach curved out of sight. To our right it ended far down the shore at a cliff wall, dark and wet. Huge trees hung down from the slope above the sand.

  Finally, I recognized it. “This is China Beach!” I said, shocked.

  Aleena grinned. “Very good. That’s what humans call it. But you’re the only humans here. It’s one of my favorite beaches, always a little wild.”

  “We were here in July,” I said to Maddy. “Well, on the human side. When we were visiting Grandma. She lives in Metchosin, near Victoria,” I told Aleena. “This is our favorite beach, too.”

  I turned back to Maddy. “We’re on the south end of Vancouver Island, but far enough west to be near open ocean. That’s why the waves are so big.”

  We watched the waves grow as they neared the shore and broke in plumes of white. Then we turned right and headed up the beach, just as we’d done with Mom and Dad, towards the cliff where the beach ended.

  “If we go this way, there are tidal pools,” I said. “At least in the human world.”

  Aleena nodded. “Here, too.”

  The sun was hot as we moved into the curve of beach sheltered by the cliff. At the base of the cliff, a sheet of rock created a ledge that was exposed when the tide was out, and submerged at high tide. All the little pockets in the rocks were filled with saltwater and sea creatures.

  Maddy and I walked from one pool to another. We came here every year with Mom and Dad, but we’d never seen so many different creatures. We found red, purple and orange starfish, sea urchins, barnacles, blue mussels almost black in the shade, green sea anemones like flowers in the water, and tiny fish darting in the shadows.

  Maddy was leaning over a pool close to the cliff edge when she yelled, “Josh!”

  I walked over and knelt beside her.

  “Look,” she whispered. She pointed into a large pool, filled with nothing but sea anemones. They were larger than I’d ever seen, a forest of tentacles waving in the water.

  “Wow,” I said. “They’re really big.”

  “No, no. Watch!” she insisted.

  So I just watched, trying to figure out what she was seeing. Then I gasped. The anemones were walking around the pool, stopping to touch tentacles with first one anemone and then another, and then moving on again.

  “They’re having a party!” Maddy giggled.

  Aleena joined us and laughed. “Yes, they do like to chat.”

  Maddy sat down and pulled off her silver ring. She gazed at them through the ring, totally entranced.

  Finally, I tapped her shoulder. “Can I have a turn?” I asked.

  She smiled and patted the rock beside her. “Sure, but sit down, so if you drop the ring, it won’t go far.”

  I held up the ring and peered through it. Just like Maddy, I was enthralled. As the anemones touched each other, magic flowed through their tentacles, moving from one to another; in each transfer, the energy grew. They weren’t just sharing, they were building! Maddy and I took turns with the ring, until the waves crashing on the edge of the ledge started to splash us, and the anemones became quiet.

  Maddy and I moved back to the beach and watched the tide come in. I could feel energy surging up from my feet through my body, bursting out of the top of my head. I tried to memorize the details of everything I saw so I could draw it later, but I knew I’d never capture it all.

  Aleena played in the ocean, letting the waves break over her. Eventually, she waded over to us. “Time for a firestone?” she asked.

  “My own firestone?” I said.

  “Josh!” scolded Maddy. “Stay focused.”

  I quivered, longing to feel the smooth rock in my hand, to draw fire from its veins of gold again.

  But this wasn’t the time. I had to get the ring back, to keep my promise to Keeper. He trusted me to do this, not to be playing with Aleena. I took a deep breath to settle my mind, and quietly sketched on my leg. What was the best way to get the ring?

  Aleena seemed to be enjoying showing us her favorite places and teaching me magic. If we sta
yed with her long enough, we might figure out how to get the ring from her. In the meantime, I could learn more magic!

  I leapt up and followed Aleena to the cliff, dark from water dripping down its face and green with moss. She walked straight into a waterfall pouring down the cliff, into a slight cave behind it. She crouched down, looking at the rocks, and called to me over her shoulder. I couldn’t hear her over the sound of the water, but she gestured for me to come. To walk through the waterfall? I tried to ease around it, to not get wet again, until the water hit me, dancing magic across my skin. It was amazing. I stepped right into the waterfall and walked through as slowly as I could.

  Aleena gestured to the rocks on the ground behind the waterfall. “See if you can find a firestone.”

  The firestones I’d seen had been smooth black pebbles with gold threads lacing through them. I looked for shiny black, but because they were wet and in the shadows, all the stones were dark and shiny. Aleena laughed as my hands hovered over the pebbles. Then I let magic seep into my fingers, and I knew exactly where to reach.

  My firestone was shining black, with bright gold threads gleaming in it. When I quieted my mind, I could reach in and touch one of those threads. I didn’t pull it out – I didn’t want to waste any threads – I just needed to know I could still do it.

  Aleena nodded her approval and walked back through the waterfall. I followed slowly, holding the firestone in my hand and letting the water dance over my skin again in a play of magic.

  Chapter 5

  Water Travel

  Aleena set us to work building a fire. Maddy and I placed rocks in a circle on the sand, above the high tide line. Then Maddy dragged driftwood into a pile, while I collected deadwood from the forest floor above the beach.

  Maddy built a base of tiny twigs and dried needles and moss. When she was ready, I held the firestone in my left palm. It was smooth and cool, and I could see glints of gold. I let magic flow into my fingers and danced them across the stone. Then I reached in, caught the end of one thread, and pulled it out of the stone. I dangled it over the kindling, lightly touching down with the tip, and fire flared up the thread. With a gasp I dropped it onto the dry moss. The moss smoked and flared; slowly the fire grew. Contented, I slid the firestone into my pocket.

  While we were lighting the fire, Aleena had been collecting food. She washed everything in the waterfall, then laid out an assortment of fish and shellfish on leaves. She set aside a few – I knew she’d be eating hers raw. Carefully she wrapped the others in kelp and laid them on rocks near the flames.

  I wasn’t sure exactly what she’d collected – mussels rather than sea anemones and starfish, I hoped.

  “How can you eat that?” Maddy asked, looking ill.

  “What?” asked Aleena.

  “We were just playing with them!”

  Aleena shrugged. “We have to eat something.”

  Maddy wouldn’t eat any of it. When she was finally too hungry, she nibbled on kelp. It turns out that Maddy likes kelp, salty and crisp from the fire. I hated it – I stuck with mussels and scallops and fish, which were surprisingly good roasted. Still, I felt guilty. I eat meat at home, but eating creatures from a magical world seemed wrong. At least everything we ate gave us so much energy we didn’t need a lot.

  When we’d finished eating, Maddy washed her hands in the ocean and sat close beside me. “This is hopeless, Josh. She’ll never give us the nexus ring.”

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Hit her over the head with a rock and take it from her?”

  “Of course not,” said Maddy, but there was a slight hesitation in her voice. “We’ve got to think of something. We can’t let her keep travelling and taking the ring across the veil.”

  “As long as I’m opening the doorways, it won’t cause any damage.”

  “Are you sure?” Maddy asked. “No one has ever travelled across the veil with the ring without using it to open the doorway. No one but you could. What if the tears are caused by simply crossing the veil with the ring?”

  “They’re not,” I said. “Keeper said so.”

  Maddy wasn’t convinced. She turned to Aleena dozing on the sand. “You need to give back the nexus ring,” she called out, her voice soft but determined.

  Aleena rolled over, her back to Maddy.

  Maddy raised her voice. “You’ve caused enough damage to this world. Give back the ring!” Maddy stood, hands on her hips, looking stubborn as only Maddy can.

  Aleena didn’t say anything, but I could see her body tensing. Suddenly, she rolled and sat up, dark eyes flashing. “Who are you to talk about damaging the magic world, human?” She unfolded herself and stood, hands on her hips, imitating Maddy.

  I could see where this was going. If Aleena got mad enough, she’d just leave with the ring, and we’d never be able to catch up with it.

  So I interrupted. I walked up to Maddy and slowly turned her away from Aleena. Then I asked Aleena, “Can you teach me to water travel?”

  “No!” she said, shaking off her annoyance in an amused smile.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Because you’re not a water spirit,” she said with a laugh.

  “Yeah,” I said, “and I shouldn’t be able to open doorways without getting tired, but I can. So could I at least try?”

  Aleena nodded ruefully. “Well, you can do those things. You’re a strange little human.” She shrugged. “We could try.”

  While Maddy played in the sand, I stripped off most of my clothes, and left them in a pile on the sand.

  Together, Aleena and I walked to the edge of the ocean. Aleena took my hand and pulled me down, deep into the water. We became smaller and smaller, slowly becoming part of the ocean.

  Once we were water, Aleena let me explore wherever I wanted, but always holding hands so I wouldn’t get lost, and never far from the shore and Maddy.

  Sometimes I got turned around, not sure where I was, but Aleena always led me back. Fluid and cool, we travelled under rocks and between grains of sand, and flipped into the sky as the foaming crest of waves.

  Finally Aleena let go of my hand, to let me explore on my own for just a moment. I dove down towards the ocean floor, wanting to see what it looked like. Before I could reach it, a current grabbed me and pulled me further out into the ocean.

  I struggled, but it was too strong. It pulled me down, deeper and deeper. As I was dragged down, the magic around me changed into something darker and much older. Soon I was surrounded by ancient magic, and lost in it.

  Suddenly Aleena grabbed my hand and we rose up and up and up, struggling against the current. The water became clear and the magic normal, at least as normal as magic can be.

  Aleena pulled me to shore. I staggered onto the beach and lay shivering while she surrounded me with a blanket of warmth. I felt like waterlogged paper, not good watercolour paper, which is meant to be wet, but cheap stuff, soggy and weak.

  Maddy hovered, drying my shaking limbs with my hoodie.

  “What were you doing?” Aleena scolded. “If you’d gone any deeper I wouldn’t have been able to reach you – you were right on the edge of where I can go.”

  “How could he do that?” Maddy asked.

  Aleena shrugged. “I have no idea. Josh can do strange things,“ she said, as she stared at me.

  It didn’t feel at all strange to me. Well, it was strange, of course, and scary, but underneath the strangeness and fear, it felt absolutely natural, like I’d been born to do this.

  Maddy was staring, too. “Josh, this is not right.”

  “What?” I said with a soft smile. “This is awesome.”

  “No. You’re a human boy. This magic is not for you. Not for us.”

  “You’re wrong,” I said. “This is totally and completely perfect.”

  ~

  Maddy sat with me while I rested on a log, watching the tide turn as we warmed ourselves in the last sliver of sun. A row of crows joined us, lined up along a tree branch abov
e the beach. They just sat and watched while they quietly muttered to each other. Aleena dozed on the wet sand nearby.

  Finally, as the sun set, we leaned down to pull on our runners. When we looked up, Gronvald was standing right in front of us.

  The first time we’d seen him, we’d thought he was a short, lumpy man. Once Aleena had cleared away his disguise, we saw him as he was now – a troll. He was short and wide, with rough skin, a lumpy nose, and big ears sticking out from his head. His thick black eyebrows hovered low over his eyes.

  Maddy shrieked, backing into me so hard I toppled over the log. I felt sick. I did not want to face him again. We’d learned before how Gronvald had used the ring to travel between worlds, stealing, hurting and killing, doing anything for more gold. His passion for the ring was even greater than Aleena’s, and he cared even less about protecting the magic world.

  He leaned toward us, his nose twitching like a dog trying to catch a scent. Then he caught it and stared straight at Aleena, reaching out, his hands opening and closing. He looked totally determined to get the ring back, whatever it cost him.

  Maddy had been warm all day but now I could feel her shivering. I pulled her close and swallowed my fear. Even more than getting the ring from Aleena, we had to keep it from Gronvald.

  Aleena sidled closer to us, picking up her cloak as an excuse.

  “How did he get here?” I whispered.

  “He knows all the ways under the earth. Distance doesn’t bother him. And the scent of the ring seems to lure him from anywhere.”

  Gronvald gathered himself in with a deep breath, and then somehow puffed himself up to look even larger and more threatening. “Give me my ring,” he said.

  “No,” I said. “Leave us alone.”

  “Ah, no,” he said. “Not ever. Not in all of time. As long as you have that ring, I shall follow.”

  A shiver shook me from my ears to my toes. There was no way I wanted this troll following us for all of time.

  Gronvald stepped forward, blocking Aleena from the ocean.

  Maddy caught my eye and gestured towards a trickle of water flowing across the sand just beyond me. I nodded and took Maddy’s hand, while she grabbed Aleena’s. I stretched until I could touch a foot to the water, but I couldn’t feel it through my runner. I glanced back at Maddy. She mimed falling to her knees – I nodded.