Made of Magic and True Grit

by Landry-Daniel Lié

  “Humans cannot handle the truth, they will engage in battles they could never win and end up destroying themselves, trying to destroy beings that do not even pay any attention to them. Cammo told me one day that all magical creatures and humans used to live together in Fiby… But that was a very long time ago”

  “Yes we were told the same thing by Miss Poli weren’t we?” Vince said

  “What are mages like?” Pinly asked, it had intrigued him since he had heard that wizard call Miss Poli the great mage

  “Mages are a lot more powerful than witches and wizards. They are the ones who create magic spells, enchantments and curses for their folks. They are very dangerous to have as enemies”

  “And who are the most powerful of all magical folks?” Vince asked,

  “There is no way to tell, fairies can gather more power, but that does not guarantee a victory... It depends on the skill of the fighter, anyone could overpower anyone if they are smart enough”

  “Have you ever killed anyone before or do you always have to bring them to Cammo?” Vince asked very seriously

  “Oh yes, I have killed many…" Ayloo replied. Both Pinly looked stunned “once in a while a witch, wizard or something else wanders into Mendy and if they threaten my life, I kill them” he looked at Pinly's stunned face “do not worry. You were not in danger, you could not have threatened my life with the little strength you had when we met”

  “I've killed too before... But it was an accident” Pinly said

  “He was trying to protect me” Vince patted Pinly's back

  “Well, where we are going, there will be a lot of killing, so you need to be ready” Ayloo said, none of the talks about killing seemed to worry him at all. It was comforting to Pinly to know that Ayloo was ready, probably more than he would ever be.

  “Do you think fairies in Bonhill would try to stop us?” Pinly asked after a long moment of silence. Ayloo gestured for him to speak quietly than pointed at Vince who was fast asleep

  “If they knew what we were up to, they would. I am sure Cammo is trying to locate us as we speak” Ayloo whispered

  “How would he manage to do that?” Pinly asked

  “When we use powerful magic, he will be able to feel it… Anyway, we are not going to do any of that until we reach the south” Ayloo yawned and kept whispering, but lower and lower until he couldn't help but fall asleep too. Pinly, having no one to talk to now, struggled to stay awake. He fought his heavy eyelids until they were too strong for him.

  The next morning, although very high up, it wasn't the sun that woke Pinly up. It was the abrupt halt of the Golems. Pinly fell forward onto the floor. The other two boys awoke jumping as Pinly shouted the pain of landing away. It was only as he stood up that he realised that they were in the middle of a field. It looked like a vineyard, but instead of grapes hanging by the small trunks, there were small grey and black clouds, sparks of lightning shone out of them. There were rows after rows of those

  “Weather farm” Ayloo breathed “we need to leave now”

  “What's wrong?” Pinly asked

  “We are stepping on someone's land, they are allowed to shoot arrows at us if they want to” Ayloo replied

  “I'd like to see them try” Vince said

  “I'm not saying we cannot beat them, we already have a battle ahead. Let us leave now, let us walk. We do not want them to try and shoot us down” as they cautiously walked through the field, the thunderous tree clouds, changed for fluffy white ones, Pinly ran a finger through one and was surprised to see that his finger came out wet

  “What's the use of a weather farm?” he asked

  “It is mostly for other farmers, sometimes they need more rain for their crops, so a weather farmer comes and makes it rain over the land”

  “Wouldn't it be faster to water your crops on your own?” Vince asked

  “Not if your land is vast” Ayloo replied

  “You say rain but I haven't…” before Pinly could finish speaking, there was the sound of heavy rain pouring. As they walked further down, the source of the noise was clear. An immense tree stood in the middle of it all. It had light grey clouds like a normal tree would have leaves. Rain poured down from the immense tree down to the ground. A sign read: Do not approach the rain tree with thunder clouds, death almost certain. Another sign next to it read: Land of Count Rixo do not trespass. Ayloo and Vince marvelled at it as they passed around, but Pinly froze. The other two boys bumped into him before realising what was in front of them too. There they were, scattered around the field, he hadn't heard them because of the noise of the rain falling from the tree, but he was focused now. When they saw him, the skulls struck their teeth together like they always did. Their dark capes floated slightly with the wind as they marched towards the boys. This time there would be no tears or screams coming from Pinly. This time he was ready for them, it wasn't long until the boys’ golems raised themselves out of the ground and stood side by side, ready to fight. Pinly conjured his sword and Vince his sabres. Ayloo held a baton attached to a spiked metal ball and chain. They all charged at once. As he shattered one skull after the other, Pinly wished he had been that strong back home, but he was now. He dodged the blades swinging at him, and cut them down as he moved forward. It was the first time he saw the golems fight, he was impressed at how skilled they were. He had never taught any of this to them, he hadn’t taught them anything for that matter, how could he? Their skills were superior to his. Nits shattered the skulls with devastating punches. Vince was like a flash of light as he pounced left and right through the field.

  “Stop them!” a voice resonated, “stop now!” the voice was getting closer. As Pinly looked up to locate the voice, he saw hundreds of fairies, charging towards them. The boys and their golem had to step back, out of the reach of the skulls.

  “What in the hell do you think you're doing?” a fat fairy came forward, pushing his way through the crowd of skulls and hostile looking fairies. He seemed to be the leader. He was so severely obese, that his wings looked as if they were barely holding on, they slumped behind him. “What are you doing on my land?” he demanded

  “What are we doing on your land?! What are they doing here?” Pinly pointed at the skulls

  “What is it to you?”

  “They kill fairies!” Pinly shouted

  “I know that” Count Rixo said looking down at Pinly

  “Why?” Pinly's voice trembled with rage "you're a fairy" he said

  “Why does that matter? You little fairies are interfering in my business, now I can’t let you go…” the fat fairy said with a grin on his face

  “I'm not scared of a bunch of farmers”

  “We outnumber you boy, you need to either keep quiet or start begging for your life” the fat fairy said, but Pinly wasn't listening anymore, Vince flew up to Pinly’s shoulder

  “P, I know how you feel right now, but there's at least a hundred of them and there's eight of us” Vince said, the numbers opposite only grew as golems came out the ground.

  “I’m not running away Vince, not this time” Pinly replied

  “You’re going to get us killed”

  “Then leave if you want but I’m staying” Pinly said. Vince didn’t reply to that, he seemed to be looking for something as he spiralled

  “Fine, get as many as you can under the big tree” Vince whispered before flying the other way.

  “Wise boy” Count Rixo said as he watched Vince fly away “You too, are you going to…” Pinly threw his sword in Count Rixo’s shoulder. The fat fairy screamed at the top his lungs with pain that seemed like no other. “Kill them!”

  “Follow me!” Pinly said, grabbing Ayloo by the arm. They flew back to the tree and began circling around it. Count Rixo’s fairies were close behind. Pinly didn’t know what Vince’s plan was but it had to happen fast.

  “Now!” He heard Vince's voice resonate from a distance. They flew out of the tree. As they hurried towards Vince, Pinly saw a branch of the ligh
tning trees, bolt passed him. Boom! A deafening explosion and a blinding white light struck the field, it sent Pinly, Ayloo and Vince flying several meters back. It took Pinly a minute for his vision and hearing to fully comeback. There was a burning smell of flesh, floating around. Under the tree, the bodies of the fairies who were after them were now motionless, some were even on fire. The only golems left were their own. Gor and Trampler, Nits, Blindy and Junior were charged pass to meet with the approaching skulls. They were everywhere, Pinly was panting, there was blood running across his face, his own blood.

  “What have I done…” he heard Vince whisper. The boy looked terrified as he looked at Pinly “I swear I only meant to distract them so we could escape” Pinly quickly looked back at the pile of bodies under the tree but most importantly the approaching skulls

  “We can't worry about that right now Vince, get it together!” Pinly said but Vince fell to his knees, a powerful wind lifted as Ayloo opened his wings and charged at the skulls. Pinly had no choice but to leave Vince there and go help Ayloo. It was like the number of skulls was never ending, more and more kept coming. There was a terrifying rumble of thunder just before lighting struck inches away from him, soon lightning was hitting everywhere with incredible force. The golems tried to protect the boys, but the bolts of lightning were too fierce, they took chunks out of the golems. The tree had change, the enormous grey clouds had turned a frightening black. That didn't seem to stop the skulls who kept coming despite the explosions of thunder. Pinly’s three golems were around him whilst he tried to find a solution to get them out of there. Then a crazy idea came to him. He remembered how he felt the first time he did the spell of life, how connected he was with the life below him. It was crazy to even think about it but that was his only solution now. Pinly knelt and put both hands over the ground. He began connecting with it, the roots of the immense thunderous tree passed under him, they were like reigns, waiting for his orders. He didn't have to say or do anything more. The electric charge, passed through the tree and roots before rising from the ground. Bolts of electricity flashed through the field, only this time it wasn’t hitting randomly, it was aiming at the skulls, destroying them by the dozen in explosions of bones and earth until there weren't anymore of them. Pinly crumbled to the ground, when it was all over.

  “Pinly are you alright? How did you do that?” Ayloo asked, but Pinly wasn't done. Count Rixo was still alive. The fat fairy couldn't fly properly anymore, he made poor attempts at it as he tried to fly away from the boys. Pinly too tired to fly ran after him. It wasn't hard to catch up with the Count. He pinned him to the ground

  “You've ruined me” Count Rixo said

  “Shut up!” Pinly shouted then kicked him in the ribs, the fat fairy moaned in pain “who paid you to keep them here?” Pinly asked

  “I can't tell you, they'll kill me”

  “Ayloo do wings grow back?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If I was to cut off one of his wings, would it grow back?”

  “No, it would not” Ayloo replied, Pinly grabbed a hold of one of the brown wings

  “Don't you dare!” the fat fairy said, but Pinly conjured his sword

  “I'll give you gold, I have tons of it” he begged and screamed, Pinly raised his sword and struck down until the wing came off. He then grabbed it and threw it on a nearby fire. The fat fairy was crying

  “Should I do the other one?”

  “No please, I'll tell you” he sobbed

  “Spit it out!” Pinly shouted

  “Leprechauns... They put an enchantment on my land”

  “But these creatures cannot be created by leprechauns” Ayloo said

  “They can... They spill the blood of fairies on the ground, then they recite enchantments in words that would chill your blood… I had no choice!”

  “How many fairies did they kill for that to work?” Pinly asked

  “I gave them fifty fairies” he replied

  “You gave them!” Pinly grabbed the other wing and started pulling on it.

  “Stop it!” Vince pushed Pinly to the floor “Enough!” He screamed, Ayloo stepped between them

  “Have you lost your mind?!” Pinly stood up, enraged

  “This is not what we came to do!” Vince pointed back at all the dead fairies in the background “This is mass murder!”

  “They would have killed us if we hadn’t killed them, why do you care?!”

  “We are not them, we were just going to get your brother, nothing more”

  “What did you think would happen?”

  “I'm not stupid, I knew people would die…” Vince said, his eyes were red from crying “But this…” He looked back again

  “Vince this is what it is!”

  “I wish Miss Poli was here so we wouldn't have to go look for your brother”

  “No one's forcing you to be here!”

  “You're all I have now, I have to be here”

  “Well you're not!” Pinly regretted his words as they came out. Vince was about to say something else but Ayloo stopped him,

  “We do not have time for this, Cammo knows where we are, we need to leave now” the boys lifted off and their golems crumbled into piles of rock “he will probably send fairies to take us back home” Ayloo said as they soared rapidly through the air. Vince and Pinly were barely listening, they were too mad to even look at each other.

  Chapter 36

  Jahny

  T hree days had gone past, but Pinly and Vince were still not talking to each other. Ayloo tried his best to get them talking again, but both boys were too stubborn, they only sighed and shook heads at each other. It felt like the longest part of the journey. They flew over fields, towns, lakes and rivers but not a word was spoken. They only stopped to look at the map, eat and sleep. Every morning after bathing in the nearest water, Ayloo would paint his face in different colours. It was only now that Pinly paid attention to Ayloo's morning ritual. The winged fairy kept clay stones of different colours hidden in a pouch tied to his side. One morning he took the stones out and laid them on a smooth rock in front of him.

  “Pinly, Vince” Ayloo gestured to them to approach and sit with him. They both did, putting some distance between each other “say it”

  “Say what?” Pinly asked

  “Say what's in your heart” Ayloo rested a hand on his chest

  “Ayloo, Come on…” Pinly began to stand up but was pulled down by his winged friend

  “I didn't mean to panic the other day…” Vince started “it's just that…” He stopped, he looked at the ground, as if ashamed

  “Say it” Ayloo nudged him

  “Before you and I met I had already killed” He looked up “I killed once after my mother died then I did it again and again... and again. Came a time when I wasn't fazed by it anymore… poison, a dagger to the neck and run” Vince's hands were shaking

  “Why did you kill those people?” Pinly grabbed one of Vince’s shaky hands and Ayloo grabbed the other

  “They were the ones who had given the order to have her executed... A bunch of old superstitious men… I couldn't let it go and yesterday I saw myself in you, I saw myself when killing was not a problem anymore, when I had become a monster” he squeezed Pinly’s hand “I don’t want that for you. I know we have to go save your brother, but we can’t become the worst versions of ourselves in the process”

  “I'm sorry, I didn't know” Pinly said

  “It's okay. I'm sorry too. It was the worst time to have a breakdown” Vince smiled faintly

  “Before meeting you, I used to paint my face red... I do not think you know what it means... Kahoories, paint their faces depending on their mood, it can mean other things too” he paused and looked at them, before raising a red stone “Red is for anger, I was angry every day before knowing you two, I did not have any friends or family, but with you I have both... Today we're all going to paint our faces” he put down the red stone and grabbed a black one “I choose black, for
war you can choose black too and unite again or choose red and be angry, but we will never succeed if we do not unite again” Ayloo picked up the black stone, dipped it in water and began drawing lines on his face “what is it going to be?” he asked when he was done. It was true, Pinly couldn't remember Ayloo's face painted in red, only the first two days of their meeting, but after that, he was in blue and green and sometimes a mix of bright colours but never in red. Pinly looked at Vince and picked up a stone

  “Black” he said, Vince looked back at Pinly and picked one up too

  “Black” he repeated. Ayloo smiled and began to draw on their faces.

  “I think we have arrived” Ayloo said as they reached a forest with the highest trees Pinly had seen yet. When they landed, it was clear that something bad had happened there. A rotten smell of raw flesh made Pinly gag. He had to wave his hand around to chase away an abundance of flies and at the same time cover his mouth and nose to block some of the stench. When they landed, Pinly noticed the dry ground was stained with blood and feathers. There were nests and booleafs up in the trees just like in Bonhill, but it was awfully quiet, too quiet.

  “Guys” Vince called out. Pinly turned around to find him carrying a large black wing. They walked slowly through the forest. It was only then that they saw the bodies of the fairies. They were everywhere. Some had lost their wings, others their heads or limbs. Blood was dripping from leaves, turning the ground a dark red. Uncontrollable tears began falling down Pinly's cheeks as he remembered his city was in a similar state

  “Why? Why are they doing this?” His tears made some of the black paint leak, but they weren't just tears of sadness, they were also tears of anger. A greater purpose began to build inside of him. This was bigger than he imagined. It was beyond just saving Lion, something had to be done about this. Ayloo looked too angry to even speak. The winged boy took out one of his red stones and marked his forehead with it, Pinly and Vince did the same and followed Ayloo as he paced through the forest angrily. The winged fairy came to an abrupt halt