Made of Magic and True Grit

by Landry-Daniel Lié

“Shut up Meno, how can you be so stupid” Vince said “you saw for yourself what happened over there” Cammo gestured for both of them to be quiet. Meno and Vince reluctantly sat back down

  “Where is your brother?” Cammo asked

  “I didn't manage to free him” the words felt like being stabbed in the chest, but Pinly kept it together

  “Why couldn't you? You apparently saved thousands of fairies, what was wrong with your brother?”

  “He was held prisoner by Dragmar, it was harder than I thought it would be” fairies began to whisper at the mention of Dragmar’s name “And Vince was badly hurt so we had to leave”

  “I'm surprised you even made it out alive” Cammo kept pacing around the boys “Dragmar you say?”

  “Yes, and he has help from fairies” they all gasped in shock and began to whisper to each other again. Pinly hoped to see Benji so the boy could explain too. He looked at the fairies that were just freed from Jahny, but they seemed too afraid to say anything, they looked down every time his eyes met with theirs

  “It's true” Vince and Ayloo rose to their feet to defend Pinly

  “There are fairies working with the leprechauns!” Ayloo said. It sparked a roar of outrage, it was hard to hear everything they were shouting at him, some pointed angry fingers at him and others seemed to want to attack.

  “Quiet!” Cammo shouted. Everyone stopped talking and sat back down, still frowning at the boys. Pinly didn’t understand their reactions, they had seen it too! What was wrong with them? Were they all afraid? “What makes you say that young Pinly?”

  “It started here, a fairy called Count Rixo was hiding these skulls in Mendy, but we destroyed them all”

  “Like the one we caught a few moons ago?”

  “Exactly like that one, they are made by the leprechauns, they use fairy blood and their powers to create them, but the blood of a fairy brings out these elmers with skulls for head” Pinly turned to where Meno and his father Atili were “you saw them too!” Atili nodded seriously “and the golems…” He turned to Cammo “I’m not lying”

  “Thank you young Pinly, you may sit down”

  “What are we doing? They're killing fairies, enslaving them, thousands of them” Vince rose to his feet “you know this is all true, why aren't we marching to war” there were more whispering

  “Matters of war are none of your business. We will handle such things. This is not what we brought you here to discuss” Cammo glared at Vince

  “What are we here for then?”

  “Sit down young Vince” Cammo pointed at the golden floor “we are discussing Ayloo's punishment first” Ayloo who had been quiet this whole time looked frustrated but not surprised, Pinly and Vince were shocked, their mouths gaped

  “Are you out of your mind?!” Pinly shouted

  “Do not disrespect me” Cammo stared at him with fury

  “This is insane” Vince protested

  “It is fine” Ayloo said sharply

  “Young Ayloo, you abandoned your post” Cammo said

  “There are clearly more important things to do than look after birds right now” Pinly said, he was so angry, he wanted to set the pyramid on fire.

  “You opened a gate to another country without permission” Cammo continued, now ignoring Pinly

  “Are you going to mention all the fairies he saved?” Vince said, Cammo didn't even look at Vince

  “You will either be whipped…”

  “Over my dead body” Pinly and Vince conjured their swords, standing tall in front of Ayloo, fairies gasped at their audacity

  “Or you will be banished from Bonhill forever” Ayloo finally stood up and passed in front of the boys

  “I will never let you whip me. You are nothing to me. I hate Bonhill and all the fairies in it” he said “I used to think you were mighty” he looked deep in Cammo's eyes “but you are a blind, old fool. You focus your energy on me, when leprechauns are killing our kind as we speak... I finally found fairies who really consider me like family, I will be happy to never come back here” Ayloo glared at Cammo before taking off with one beat of his wings. Pinly and Vince followed him. That night the humming fairies of Bonhill did not rise to the sky nor did they make a sound. Most of the island was awake and just watched as the boys gathered the few things they owned. There was so much rage going through their body that they preferred not to look at the other fairies. Pinly could not understand what had just happened. Sure they knew Cammo wouldn't have been happy for them to go to Jahny, but this was just absurd. They had solid proof that the leprechauns were up to no good. There was a sudden struggle of voices behind them. A girl's voice shouting angrily. Pinly turned around to see Caleen slap Meno and force his hand off her wrist. She rushed towards Ayloo. Vince and Pinly flew away from the nest to give them some privacy, but they could still hear them

  “You cannot leave” her face was drenched with tears

  “I do not have a choice... Cammo has chosen to banish me…”

  “Then I am leaving too”

  “Caleen…”

  “Do not try and stop me!”

  “You have to stay here”

  “But you promised, you promised… we danced”

  “I cannot hold that promise anymore, I am setting you free Caleen” Pinly knew how hard it must have been for Ayloo to say those words, but he had no other choice. It was too risky to let her come, better to let her find a new partner rather than to let her risk her life. Caleen fell to her knees and began to cry. Ayloo put a hand on her shoulder but she slapped it off. The winged boy took a few steps back, his eyes fixed on her one last time before beating his wings away from Bonhill, probably forever. The three boys flew in silence, past the village, past the archipelago and across many places they had spent a lot of time in. There was a sudden whisper in the air, coming from afar, it turned into beautiful whistling

  “Humming fairies… They are saying goodbye” Ayloo said without stopping, tears began to fall down his cheeks.

  Chapter 40

  The forest tribe

  “I see a gate, we can stop here” Ayloo said after only a day of flying

  “Already?” Pinly asked “Won't Cammo interfere?”

  “He will not, I am not part of his tribe anymore… He has no authority over me” Ayloo replied as they descended in the middle of a field of oversized corn.

  “So what's the plan? We don't know where we will end up in Jahny if we open a gate out here” Vince said

  “We will have to ask for our way” Ayloo replied

  “Ask? We will get found out if we do that” Pinly said “we need a plan to hide and remain unseen”

  “We can do it, not every leprechaun in Jahny is at war with fairies, there are wild tribes in the Jahnian forest that do not deal with the troubles outside their forests” Ayloo said

  “Do you know any of them?” Vince asked

  “No, but their customs are not very different from those of the Kahoories” Ayloo said

  “I guess that’s our only way in anyway” Pinly recalled his fairy dust and passed the bag to Ayloo who sprinkled some in the air, the gate revealed itself in a succession of vibrations. Before even stepping through, the boys could hear the calls of wild animals, the flapping wings of birds and the roar of big felines. When they stepped through, the surroundings matched the sounds perfectly. It wasn’t night time but it was dark and gloomy. It was hot too, very humid

  “We cannot fly here” Ayloo grabbed both Vince and Pinly as they began to lift off “we do not know who or what is in here, we need to be careful”

  They were finally back, this was their last chance to get Lion back and it had to be done fast. There were only three of them, it would be impossible to fight like they did the first time around, still Pinly would be happy to rid the world of Dragmar once and for all, everyone would be better for it.

  “So what’s the plan?” Piny asked

  “You need to use your white light this time” Vince said,

 
“It drains almost everything out of me every time I use it. If I use it I need to be sure not to miss” Pinly had thought about blasting Dragmar with his power last time, but it had become so powerful, he was afraid to hurt Lion in the process

  “And you leave all your golems with me” Ayloo said “I will stay outside whichever building they keep your brother in, Vince you go with Pinly and when he is within reach of his brother, you come back to me, I will use my light arrows to destroy the building…”

  “Good diversion” Vince said

  “When they come for me, the golems will protect me, but we have to be fast. Vince you will open a gate and as soon as Pinly is out with his brother we will go through and close it behind us”

  “That’s a great plan” Pinly said “I hope we…” Ayloo stopped them abruptly, his arms spread in front of them. It wasn’t long until Pinly saw what had worried his winged brother. Faces with shiny hair and glowing green eyes began to appear all around. How long had they been there? They were everywhere; in the trees and on the ground. These were undoubtedly the forest tribes Ayloo had mentioned earlier. Their whole body, including their faces were painted with different designs. Their weapons were pointed at the boys, but they didn’t look hostile, just curious. It was hard to tell how many they were, glowing green eyes shone in every direction. Very heavy steps approached at a steady pace. It felt like forever until they revealed themselves and what a sight it was! Fifteen feet tall beasts, mounted by important looking leprechauns; a male and a female. Pinly felt weirdly drawn to the beasts. He had seen them before. The long shaggy hair, the trunk and the immense, deadly but beautiful white tusks. Yes! He remembered now, they were in one of the books is father made him read. Mammoths. The Leprechauns slid off the mammoths’ head, all the way down the tusks.

  “Who are you?” The female leprechaun asked, as she jumped off the beast. Pinly stepped forward, not sure what to do, he slightly bowed

  “My name is Pinly, and these are my brothers, Vince and Ayloo”

  “What are you doing on my land?” she circled them

  “We only wish to pass through… to be honest we’re a bit lost” she kept circling them for a while, observing without a word. The rest of her tribe still had their weapons pointed at them.

  “You need to offer something” Ayloo whispered, Pinly nodded and began to rub his hands together. The Leader backed away and brandished a weapon at his throat.

  “Easy, I only want to offer you something” he said, his hands up “can I?” he asked, she nodded, keeping a safe distance between them. Pinly slowly put his hands together and began rubbing again, the tribe was getting agitated as the white light began to shine. Leprechauns’ magic was very different, so they probably had never seen this happen before.

  “This is very dear to me” he said as he picked up a balled-up cloak from the ground. The leader stepped back as he straightened it up and handed it to her, she hesitated, scrutinising it from all angles before catching it by the tip of her fingers. The male leader said something to her, pointing at the cloak. She threw it to him, he had the widest of smiles as he tried to figure out how to wear it, when he finally managed the simple enough task, he pointed at his chest, looking at Pinly “Cloak” the boy said “may I ask what your name is?” he turned to the female

  “Rah” she said, she waved around for her tribe to put their weapons down. “what are you doing here?”

  “We are looking for the city with the silver roofs” Pinly replied, Rah frowned and narrowed her eyes

  “It is a very dangerous place for fairies, what do you want there?”

  “I can’t tell you”

  “Then I cannot help you”

  “Please Rah, I just don’t want you and your tribe to be mixed in this foul business”

  “Can you at least show us the right way?” Vince asked

  “You would not find it, you would be lost” she replied

  “Leader Rah, I know that you do not approve of what they do in that place, help us put an end to it” Ayloo said

  “What is a Kahoory doing out of Mendy, shouldn’t you be protecting it?”

  “Protecting it has required me to come to your land and now we need your help” she seemed to be thinking about it for a while. Then without a word she turned back and began climbing her mammoth.

  “Follow us, we will take you to Goorik, but that is all the help you will get from us” she said as the enormous beast turned around at her command. It was the first time that the boys heard what the city was called; Goorik. They looked at each other at the mention of it by Rah. As they went deeper into the forest, Pinly was glad they had found the tribe. It would have been impossible to find their way in all that, especially after deciding not to fly. The forest was full of dangerous creatures; enormous insects, hordes of reptiles and building sized snakes, but all seemed to keep a safe distance from the tribe. That place was a death trap for anyone other than these leprechauns.

  “I’m worried” Pinly said over a fire during their second night in the Jahnian forest. They were holding lizards heads on sticks over a fire of their own.

  “What is worrying you? Ayloo asked

  “I’m worried he has done anything to my brother or taken him somewhere else far or worse…”

  “Don’t say it” Vince cut in “You can’t be negative right now, that’s not going to help you or anyone”

  “I know, but it’s hard”

  “If your brother is half the fighter you are and I’m sure he is, there’s nothing to worry about”

  “He will not kill him, I’ve seen the way Dragmar was looking at you when I was taking you back, he will be waiting for you” Ayloo said

  “What are you saying? Are we flying straight into a trap?” Pinly asked

  “Not if they don’t know it's us” Vince seemed to have had an epiphany “Remember what Count Rixo said? He said he had given fairies to the leprechauns…” Pinly nodded waiting for the rest of the explanation “and then you said, that fairies were working with the leprechauns… What if you were to sell me?!”

  “That would get us through the door… When I think about it, I haven’t seen one humming fairy in there last time, that would definitely be of interest to them” Pinly said

  “Okay, let us change the plan. You will have to ask to see Dragmar. Once you are inside, Vince you will free yourself and come to me, I will hide up in the sky, once you reach me, I will start the distraction, Pinly you have to hurry and free your brother. Hoping he’s there”

  “He will be” Pinly said

  Chapter 41

  the final battle

  T he next day, after walking through the morning, they finally caught sight of Goorik’s silver roofs.

  “This is where we leave you” Rah said from the top of her mammoth “I hope you find what you are looking for”

  “Thank you Rah” Pinly said.

  A sudden movement in the bushes made everyone look in the same direction. Ayloo opened his wings for the first time and flew to hide up in a tree, Pinly hurried to conjure a cage and just as the source of the noise revealed itself, Vince had just managed to change form, enter the cage and bind himself like a real prisoner.

  “What are you doing here?” a youthful yet very authoritative voice demanded. A young leprechaun, mounted on a monstrous, four legged elmer, stepped into view. He dismounted the beast. The young leprechaun ignored Pinly, his eyes were fixed on Rah. “You’re not allowed to come this close to Goorik, unless you’ve changed your mind?!” he waited for an answer as they glared at each other with profound hate. “I didn’t think so, now take your savages and leave”

  “Be careful of the words you use Gravehart” Rah unsheathed a sword

  “How I wish you would make that mistake, my father would take pleasure burning your forest down… Do it!” he screamed. What were the odds? Dragmar’s son was there, alone. Pinly could have killed him there and then, but that wasn’t the plan, that boy could be the easy way straight to Lion and Dragmar
at the same time. He stepped in the middle before a fight broke out.

  “They were only helping us find our way” Pinly said, Gravehart’s eyes, slowly drifted down to him

  “And who are you?” he asked, Pinly raised the cage with Vince inside. Gravehart leaned in and began to smile “A humming fairy, I’ve heard of those”

  “This one is very special…” Pinly said, Gravehart’s eyes widened

  “How so?”

  “It can speak,” he replied. Gravehart laughed, it was as if he had completely forgotten he was enraged just a second ago

  “I want to see this” he said, Pinly began to shake the cage. Vince stumbled from side to side

  “Stop it!” Vince screamed in his tiny voice. Gravehart seemed very impressed, he rubbed his hands together.

  “How much do you want for it?” he began untying a heavy looking bag, probably full of gold.

  “I want to see Dragmar” Pinly said, stopping Gravehart halfway through untying his bag. His face wrinkled with frowns as he looked at Pinly.

  “My gold isn’t good enough?”

  “Your gold is fine, but I have many more of these” he said raising the cage “I want to strike a deal with your leader”

  “You fairies” Gravehart chuckled “you’d do anything for gold” his eyes then turned to Rah and her tribe again

  “Thank you very much Rah, I will be fine from here” Pinly said before Gravehart could insult her again. She slightly bowed her head to him, then turned around. Pinly glanced everywhere for Ayloo, but the winged boy seemed safely out of sight for now

  “Come with me” Gravehart mounted his terrifying beast. When they stepped through Goorik leprechauns bowed and moved out of Gravehart’s way. There were a few odd stares so Pinly kept his head down, in case anyone could recognise him from the last attack. “How come you did not come through the main gates like everyone else” Gravehart asked. He stopped and turned his beast halfway around to look at Pinly, waiting for an answer. He had no idea about the main gate and had to come up with a lie fast.

  “Umm, I didn’t have access to it from where I captured this one” he said, Gravehart slightly nodded and began moving forward again, Pinly and Vince exchanged a look of relief, it was a close one. They soon arrived in front of a grey stoned palace, greeted by immense arches that formed a long corridor, all the way to a large silver door. They were guarded by two immense skulls in armour, by far the biggest Pinly had seen so far. “No flying allowed in the castle, never even think about it and don’t say anything unless spoken to, understood?” Gravehart said as he dismounted his beast