Made of Magic and True Grit

by Landry-Daniel Lié

  "Lets go" she said and the boys followed her immediately. If seeing Miss Poli in this forest had come to a shock to Pinly, seeing her fight had hit him like a lightning bolt. He didn't know what to think of her anymore. The surprises kept on coming. When they arrived at the house, Vince couldn’t stop walking back and forth. He trembled but Pinly couldn’t tell if it was out of anger or fright.

  “I’m telling you, this would have never happened if I had powers” he said when Miss Poli left.

  “I don’t know what to tell you Vince… There’s not much I can do about it” Pinly said

  “That’s where you’re wrong, recall the book please” he extended his hand. Pinly rubbed his together and gave the book to Vince. He knelt and went through the pages. He stopped at a page with the drawing of a big yellow stone. Vince turned the book around for Pinly to read. “I’m not sure what any of it means but…”

  “It’s a spell” Pinly interrupted, “to acquire powers”

  “Yes, that’s what I thought, can you perform it?” Vince asked. Pinly pushed the book away. The awful memory of trying a powerful spell once before hunted him.

  “I can’t do that for you” he replied

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know how, in case you haven’t noticed, the amount of things I can do are limited”

  “All you have to do is read it. It can’t be that hard”

  “No!” Pinly closed the book “Besides we need that yellow stone, where are we going to find something like that”

  Vince pointed at Miss Poli’s house “in there, she’s bound to have something like that”

  “We’re not going to steal from Miss Poli Vince, when do you stop?”

  “Why not? She’s stealing your freedom, We’re just borrowing, we’ll put it back when we’re done” he said. Pinly thought about it. “I hear that vibrating sound every night coming from her house, she opens magical gates, which means she goes somewhere, we can do it then. What do you think? I wouldn’t ask you if it didn’t mean anything to me, but I would be fulfilling my mother’s work at the same time… This is what she was trying to achieve”

  “Fine” Pinly went to lay down, facing away from Vince. At that moment, he didn’t know who annoyed him more, Vince or Miss Poli?

  Chapter 13

  The spell of power

  V ince was up all night, interrogating Pinly about being a fairy, that was all he seemed to be able to talk about. He told Pinly how he imagined himself flying with big great wings, rushing through the air and how he'd probably never use his legs to walk ever again, only to land on branches and survey 'regular people' from high up like a hawk. Then the noise Pinly apprehended the most vibrated inside the tiny house. Then nothing again, just complete silence.

  “That’s our chance” Vince stood up in a flash. Pinly followed. Vince put a gentle hand on Miss Poli’s door and it slowly creaked open

  “Be more quiet” Pinly hissed

  “I can’t do it any slower mate, the door is old” Vince snapped back. Pinly was relieved to find the house was really empty when the door fully opened.

  “Let’s do this quick, we just take what we need then we go, understood?” he said

  “I know” Vince replied, they split in different halves of the tiny house. Pinly opened one drawer after another. Old parchments, cutlery, cups, dried herbs, jars full of dead insects but no stone. “Be careful and put everything back in its place” Vince pointed at a parchment Pinly had left on the counter without thinking.

  “Sorry you’re the expert” he said

  “You don’t have to talk to me like that” Vince’s brows furrowed

  “You manipulated me into doing this, I’ll talk to you however I want”

  “Manipulated you? I was telling the truth”

  “Sure you were” Pinly replied. Vince shook his head then walked away.

  “Where are you going?” Pinly asked,

  Vince opened his palm, a red stone was resting on it. he tossed it to Pinly “let’s just forget about it” he said before walking out.

  "Okay, I'm sorry" Pinly followed him

  “Are you?”

  “Yes, truth is, seeing Miss Poli here is troubling to me, I don’t know who to trust anymore”

  “Why couldn’t you trust me?”

  “Vince come on, you have to see or hear yourself. You’ve done nothing but steal and lie”

  “Have I lied or stolen from you?”

  “No… and I don’t think you would. I’m just conflicted. But you make it harder for me when you ask me to do things like what we did yesterday or like this”

  “I know, I’m sorry. That’s the only thing that kept me alive in Chavo. It’s a difficult habit to break”

  Pinly recalled the brown book “ok, let’s do it then”

  “Really?” Vince asked, Pinly nodded. He opened the book and put the red stone in front of it. Vince took a deep breath, extended his arms and squeezed his eyes shut, “Go on, hit me!” he said

  “That's not how it works” Pinly said

  “How then?” he asked

  “We need to summon some kind of spirits and they need an offering” Pinly read

  “An offering?”

  “Something of value, very valuable”

  Vince looked at Pinly and he understood straight away. Pinly rubbed his hands together and the jackets full of gold appeared at their feet, he then grabbed Vince by the shoulders “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” he asked

  “Yes” Vince nodded

  Pinly sighed “Ok, Sit down” he read the instructions. He grabbed the jackets “cross your legs” he said and Vince did so. He poured the gold in the gap of his legs then tossed the jackets away. Pinly felt his body tense as he remembered his failure back home. “Hold this” he gave the stone to Vince. “Spirits if you’re listening to me…” he began reading the spell. He stopped. Nothing happened.

  “What’s wrong” vince asked

  “I don’t know, but something should be happening I think”

  “Try again, but relax Pinly, just breathe”

  He did just as Vince suggested and took a deep breath. “spirits if you’re listening!” he said. That time he felt his aura awaken like wildfire. A circle of purple light drew itself around Vince, it passed just in front of Pinly, its glow, almost blinding him. The purple light began to draw shapes inside the circle. The drawings joined together like a web. He was shouting the next words of the spell, but his voice was odd, too deep, inhumane, it did not belong to him. His aura wrapped itself around Vince “I implore you to look at him! Please take his humble offering and accord him the great powers he desires” as he spoke. Vince’s neck rocked back and his body went limp. But he didn’t fall, at first it was as if something was carrying his unconscious body, then his body tossed and turned, the movements were slow and gracious as if underwater. even his hair floated about his face. The purple light below him began flickering, it made Vince go up with a surge of light and drop when the light went off just to catch him again a few meters off the ground.

  “What are you doing!” Miss Poli shouted from behind. Pinly hadn’t seen her coming, but even if he had, he didn’t know how to stop. His hands were stuck to the ground. Miss Poli extended hers. The magical rope around Pinly became visible again. She pulled on it and managed to free him of the spell but Vince was still floating. She held another rope, like a whip, she attempted to catch Vince but the rope was sent flying back at her. She looked at Pinly “This is going to hurt just a little” she grabbed Pinly and threw him at Vince with a strength he never knew she had, but wasn’t surprised.

  “Ouch” Pinly complained. His body impacted with Vince and both boys went tumbling out of the magic circle. It disappeared as if swept by the wind. “why did you do that?”

  “This was all your power so you were the quickest way to stop it”

  “Couldn’t I just have grabbed him?”

  Miss Poli rushed to Vince, checked his pulse then his breath
ing “He’ll be ok. I’ll deal with the both of you when he wakes up”

  Chapter 14

  The spirit

  V ince felt like his whole body was being pulled into a hole in the ground. Then total darkness. When he opened his eyes, he was floating in blank space. He descended slowly until he landed softly onto the ground.

  “Hello?” his voice echoed “is there anyone here?” Everything flashed before his eyes. This time, he was in a forest. The boy was surrounded by small green trees and flowers of every colour rising up to his knees.

  “Who are you boy?” A very deep voice asked out of nowhere

  “My name is Vince” he said “can I ask who you are?” A deafening laugh came from the voice. Vince had to cover his ears.

  “I'm the one you came to see, Vince! I and only I will ask questions” the voice growled “let me guess, another one who wants powers?”

  “Do you get a lot of people who come to you for that?” Vince asked, a strong wind swept past him, almost knocking him off his feet

  “I said, only I ask the questions!” The voice shouted

  “Sorry, it's just that, I would very much like to have powers”

  “Why?”

  “I want to help Pinly and for that I need to be able to protect him like he protects me” Vince said. The voice sniggered in a way that gave him chills

  "And how do I know your intentions are true? That you're not just going to use the powers I give you for evil?"

  "Can't you see it? You are some kind of god right?" Vince asked

  "Flattery will get you nowhere here boy! I am a proud spirit" The voice shouted, his roar lifted a wind that knocked Vince off balance. He fell on his back.

  "Ouch" he complained then painfully stood back up "I didn't mean to offend you, I was just asking" the voice stayed quiet "oh I forgot, I'm not supposed to ask questions... So how can I prove to you that I have good intentions? Oh mate I'm just not good at not asking questions, that's kind of my thing" the voice stayed quiet for a long while.

  "Whoever brought you here must have warned you about the test" it finally broke its silence.

  “No, he knew just as much as I did about this. Nothing” Vince replied. A gentle wind lifted, it first caressed his skin like a summer breeze, but it didn’t last long. The wind became stronger, Vince had to cover his face as branches and leaves flew too close to it. The boy had to fight forward as the wind blew even stronger. It then lifted him off and as Vince landed he realised the scenery had completely changed. He knew that place like the back of his hand, it was Chavo.

  “Mr Woodward?” Vince waved at an old man, the old baker who always gave him and his brothers the bread he wasn’t able to sell “But you’re dead” he said quietly. The old man ignored him, in fact he didn’t even seem to be able to see him. Why did that day seem so familiar, he had an odd sense of deja vu. The chatter of the agitated crowd that surrounded him, made it impossible to focus. Everyone was anticipating something. “George!” Vince said as he noticed his brother pushing his way through the crowd “No!” another voice was screaming from further away, not another voice, his voice. Vince followed George through the crowd. That’s when he saw himself and her. She was binded. Two soldiers were escorting her. Her hands were bound behind her back.

  “Keep your brother safe” she said

  “Mom I’m sorry!” Younger Vince cried

  “Do not look, both of you just walk away” she said as she stumbled forward.

  “Please let her go!” Younger Vince cried out. They walked her up the stairs of a stage and attached her to a wooden pole.

  “You blame yourself for what happend don’t you?” The spirit said as the scene unfolded

  “Why are you doing this?” Vince clenched his fists. This brought back too much pain for him. He was sad beyond reason, tears began to fall down his face.

  “This is your test” the spirit replied

  “How is that a test?” the words barely came out before he burst in tears, he covered his ears and closed his eyes as they sentenced his mother “I can’t do this” he sobbed

  “Open your eyes and I will grant you your powers” the spirit said. Vince shook his head

  “I won’t, you can keep them!”

  “Open your eyes!” The spirit kept screaming. Vince shook his head again and again. He could hear the crowd cheering, a younger him crying and flames raging on stage. But he could not open his eyes, he refused to. This was too much. He had spent years trying to forget, the flashbacks of her burning were less frequent, but now everything came back to the surface.

  “No!” he screamed.

  “I said open your eyes!” A hand grabbed his face, forcing his eyes open. Vince anticipated the worse, but nothing. Chavo had vanished, he was alone again, in an empty space. “What do you think being a fairy is?” The spirit asked, but Vince didn’t reply. He was still under the shock of the memory. “it is not just the powers” he paused “Do you know what your friend Pinly is made of?”

  “No” Vince shook his head.

  “That boy is made of magic and true grit… But you’re only human”

  “I can’t help that” Vince shouted

  “And you shouldn’t, I do not believe powers are what you need to help him. You’re human nature is power enough, but…” he paused again for a long minute “I can grant you powers if you really want them”

  “Didn’t I fail your test?”

  “On the contrary, the fact that you didn’t open your eyes shows to me that you wouldn’t do everything for the powers, you’re not as greedy as you pretend to be”

  “What now?” Vince felt a finger touching his forehead and he was plunged into total darkness.

  Chapter 15

  The humming fairy

  P inly spent most of the previous night thinking about Vince's body floating in the air, but moving as if underwater. The motions were unnaturally smooth and slow. The most disturbing were Vince's eyes, they were like two white balls, starring in empty space. The whole ordeal had drained Pinly of all energy. Miss Poli said that Vince would take time to wake up, she then transported him inside her house. Pinly did nothing for the rest of that day, he just paced around the forest for hours, napping on tree branches then going swimming, but none of it was fun without his friend. He began to warm up to the idea of Vince having powers. It was all so rushed that he wasn't even sure Vince realised what he was getting himself into, but now that it was all done and that the worst hadn't happened, Pinly couldn't wait to see his friend’s powers.

  “Wake up!” Pinly awoke to a violent stomp of Miss Poli's foot close to his face.

  “I'm awake” the fairy briskly sat up “I’m awake” he then yawned

  “We'll start the first part of your training while we wait for Vince to wake up” she said, Pinly began to stand up “no, stay seated” she waved a finger then pointed at the ground “you will learn to harvest your power with meditation. Let's start. Cross your legs and close your eyes” Pinly did as she asked. “Fairies use their Aura to wield magic. Most of you do it unconsciously, but once you know how to do it consciously, you can draw even more power from it…” She said then took a deep breath, Pinly took a deep breath too “That’s it… Keep your eyes closed and Imagine the power flowing through you” Pinly began to concentrate, he felt a gentle wind caress his face, it was strong enough to move a few strands of hair. “Whatever happens now, do not open your eyes” he could hear her pace back and forth in front of him, then a weird sensation took over Pinly's legs; he felt something like a rope, slowly crawling up, then wrapping around his waist “Stay focused!” He heard Miss Poli say. Pinly was dying to open his eyes and see what was taking a hold of him. It kept crawling, he could smell its grass like musk then when the crawler reached his neck, Pinly's mix of fright and curiosity took over him and he opened his eyes. Thin, green vines were wrapped around him, the exact same way they had been every time he had tried the spell of life. “Again” Miss Poli shook her head, before wiggling he
r fingers, making the vines untangled themselves around Pinly. He closed his eyes, but again, his concentration was broken when he heard the creaking of Miss poli's door. Pinly rushed to his feet, forgetting all about his mediation. Vince stood there, he looked pale and weak. Nothing in his appearance had changed, but Pinly could feel an aura around Vince, an aura very similar to his.

  “So?” He ran to him “how do you feel?”

  “It didn't work” Vince replied. Pinly turned to Miss Poli

  "But I can feel it" he said, Miss Poli nodded "maybe you're like me!" Pinly said excited again "it makes sense..."

  "I don't think that's it" Vince interrupted, he looked disheartened. The boy went to sit down on the stump next to Miss Poli

  "But I can feel his aura... Just the way I felt the others back home" Pinly insisted

  "Then why don't I feel or look any different?" Vince looked at Miss Poli expectantly "Can you see it too?" he asked

  "Yes, but it could be anything, it could be the spell that hasn't worn off yet or just some of Pinly's aura still on you since he performed it… We need to talk about what you both did, it was reckless and dangerous" Vince stood up and walked away. Pinly followed him. They walked quietly through the woods. Pinly avoided flying. He didn't want to use his powers near Vince at a time like that, it felt inconsiderate. They walked to the pond where they usually swam. Vince sat by the edge of the water and dangled his feet in it. Pinly ran from behind and jumped head first in the water and disappeared inside the pond.

  “Pinly Stop it!”, Pinly heard his name from underwater and swam back up “P, stop it!” Vince said again, he seemed to be trying to get his leg free, but whatever was pulling it didn’t not let go “Pinly cut it out! I'm not in the mood” Vince protested,