Phoenix and the Dark Star

by Gerald Pruett

  The pen was partitioned off to create eight cages and everything about the pen—the walls to each cage, the door to each cage and the roof—was made out of chain-link-fencing material.

  The second and third cages from the right were empty while completely separating one of the Rottweilers from the other five.

  The Rottweilers whined as Ellen and the others approached the cages.

  With a perplex expression across her face, Ellen walked towards the cage on the far right. Before Ellen could get into touching distance to any of the cages Quentin grabbed onto her arm to stop her.

  “Don’t be sticking your hands in any of those cages,” Quentin ordered.

  “They won’t hurt me,” Ellen insisted.

  “Yeah, well, until I see you perform some dog whisperer tricks, keep your distance,” Quentin instructed.

  “Okay, well, here’s my first trick,” Ellen said before gesturing towards the Rottweiler that was set apart from the others. “This dog is hurt. His… or her belly has been sliced open several times.”

  “These dogs are all girls,” Quentin began. “This one is Shadow, and Shadow had a run-in with a raccoon recently. Her belly was torn up real good. She’s all stitched up, so she’ll survive her injuries. Unfortunately there’s a chance that the raccoon had rabies, so that’s why I have her separated from the others.”

  “Well, if this helps to know, Shadow’s mind-set and mood are the same as the other dogs,” Ellen informed.

  “Shadow’s fight with the raccoon was less than forty-eight hours ago, so Shadow would still appear normal this soon after being infected,” Quentin informed.

  Ellen reluctantly nodded before asking, “Okay, well, so what should I do to prove to you that I have command over your dogs?”

  Quentin thought for a second before saying, “Make them dance.”

  Ellen stared confusingly at Quentin while echoing in a matching tone, “Make them dance?”

  “Make them dance,” Quentin repeated. “Like small dogs do when they’re begging for treats.”

  Ellen shook off her thought before imagining what she wanted the dogs to do. Immediately following Ellen’s thoughts, the five dogs on the left reared up on their hind legs and danced. Shadow remained as she was and slightly whined.

  When the five dogs dropped back down on all fours, Ellen asked, “Satisfied?”

  Quentin pursed his lips for a moment before saying, “Just in case that was a coincidence, have the second one on the left bark six times.”

  Ellen rolled her eyes before imagining what she wanted the second dog on the left to do. Without Ellen looking at the dog, the second dog on the left barked six times.

  After the sixth bark, Ellen asked, “Any other tests?”

  Quentin pursed his lips again before saying, “Okay. Cautiously—for my benefit if nothing more—step up to one of the dogs and press the back of your hand to the fence.”

  Ellen amusingly grinned before slowly stepping up to one of the cages and pressing the back of her hand against the cage door. The dog reacted by licking her hand through the diamond holes of the door.

  While leaving her hand pressed against the cage door, she turned towards Quentin and said, “These dogs are no threat to me… as you can see. And I really need the use of your salvage yard and your dogs.”

  “You think that my dogs and my yard are going to be enough against an evil wizard who can emulate God-like powers?” Quentin asked.

  “I won’t be the only benevolent wizard to be waiting for his arrival,” Ellen said while dropping her hand from the cage door. “We won’t be able to emulate God-like powers, but I’m hoping we’ll have the numbers and the surprise on our side to take him.”

  Quentin thought it over for a second before saying, “Alright. I’ll give you the use of my yard... and my dogs.”

  Ellen nodded with a grin before saying, “Thank you.”

  “Just don’t blow up my yard or send it to hell… literally or figuratively,” Quentin retorted.

  Ellen amusingly grinned before saying, “I’ll try not to.”

  Quentin nodded before asking, “When will this… fight take place?”

  “In less than three hours,” Harris was the one to say. “So, Ellen, we need to get back to the house and prepare.”

  “Are you one of the other benevolent wizards that Ellen spoke about?” Quentin asked Harris.

  “I am. I don’t have command over the beasts though,” Harris shared. “And we need to get home and gather the others.”

  “How many others are you talking about?” Quentin asked.

  Harris thought for a second before saying, “There will be eight to ten wizards and sorceresses, one witch and two others who are capable of helping. And regardless that we out number this wizard by more than ten to one, a wizard who can emulate God-like powers would still hold the advantage over us. So we need to get home and prepare.”

  When Quentin nodded in agreement, Ellen said, “Thanks again, Quentin.”

  “You’re welcome, Ellen,” Quentin said.

  Ellen nodded with a grin before she and the others turned and walked towards the front of the salvage yard.

  Once they reached the vehicles Ellen got into the car with Harris.

  Everett had wanted to go back with Ellen and Harris, but Lance had insisted that Everett go home with him.

  Once everyone was in his or her vehicle, Harris drove away first followed by Lance.

  Minutes later, Ellen and Harris were joining everyone in the living room. Jessica, Karla, Andie, and Winona’s group were still there.

  Winona’s group was in the dining room with Sadie, and Ellen was looking for them among the living room crowd when Jessica stepped up and said, “Andie’s been busy since you’ve been gone, Ellen.”

  “What do you mean?” Ellen asked while glancing at Andie.

  “Your Grandma Eleanor had put her to work,” Jessica said.

  “Okay,” Ellen said in an uncertain tone. “Doing what?”

  As Blaire stepped closer with papers in her hand, she was the one to say, “Andie has transcribed three defensive spells that can be linked to magical tokens, and each of these particular spells doesn’t just have a one-time use to them.”

  “Cool!” Ellen uttered. “What spells are they?”

  “One will create a whirlwind around you,” Blaire said. “It’s more for showy effects than actual battle, but if you could kick up enough dust, then you would make it difficult for the other to see…”

  “Plus if there’s a lot of gritty debris within the whirlwind, that could cause some damage,” Galvin added.

  Ellen nodded in an understanding manner before asking, “So what are the others?”

  “The second one will project images from your mind,” Blaire said. “This is supposed to create believable illusions of your choice, but unfortunately if you can’t imagine things in deep detail then the only thing that you’re going to create are shadows and distorted phantoms.”

  “We do have a spell that can amplify… well, sharpen really any mental image that you can come up with to where you can actually imagine the smallest of details,” Trevor informed. “It has a duration time of three hours, but I don’t see the duration time as being a problem in this case.”

  Ellen nodded before saying, “Okay.”

  “Anyway, the third one is actually a dangerous one to the person performing it…” Blaire was only able to get out.

  “How is it dangerous?” Ellen quickly asked.

  “The third spell will allow you to move at superhuman speeds in short bursts,” Blaire said. “However, any human moving at such speed and then falling or bumping into objects while at that speed could seriously hurt him or herself.”

  “We have no spell that can reduce the risk of injury,” Trevor added.

  “Alright,” Ellen said with a nod. “I’ll keep that in mine if I even use it.”

  “There’s another spell I believe you should link to a magical token as well,” Devon said
.

  “Which one’s that?” Ellen asked.

  “A spell that will give you telekinetic ability,” Devon said.

  Ellen nodded while saying, “Okay. I want to load each of those four spells to a magical token.”

  “Okay, well, the telekinetic spell that I’m referring to actually requires two magical tokens,” Devon informed. “One to mentally grab onto an object and another to throw that object at an intended target.”

  “So I need five pieces of jewelry,” Ellen took note of.

  “I saw a flowerbed in your neighbor’s yard that has small decorative rocks,” Blaire began. “So if you don’t have the jewelry, I suggest that you go outside and grab a few small rocks and charm them. As long as the charmed objects are with you, it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing them or carrying them in your pocket.”

  “As long as I’m five feet from the magical tokens,” Ellen added.

  Blaire gave Ellen a curious look before asking, “Where are you getting five feet?”

  Ellen shot her a confused look before pulling out her ruby-heart necklace from beneath her shirt and saying, “Trevor told me yesterday that unless I’m planning to activate the spell that was connected to this, I’m not to say the command word while within five feet of it.”

  “Yes,” Blaire said as an understanding expression came quickly across her face. “For that spell, five feet is the activation range; however, each spell linked to a magical token is different. In fact, certain spells require that the magical tokens are either physically touching the skin or be separated from the skin by only a very few layers of clothing.”

  “Okay, well, does any of these need to be touching my skin?” Ellen asked.

  “No, as long as you are in possession of the tokens you’ll be fine,” Blaire assured her.

  “Cool,” Ellen said. “And I do have the required pieces of jewelry… among the jewelry that I got from my mom.” Ellen then gestured in the direction of her bedroom. “I’ll go get them now.”

  Blaire nodded with a grin before Ellen could step away.

  As Ellen was walking away, she looked back over her shoulder and said, “My cell phone’s in my room and I’ll call Wesley and Melanie while I’m in there.”

  “Okay,” Harris, Allyson and Blaire said, simultaneously.

  Ellen went to her room, pulled out her cell phone and called Wesley and Melanie. When Wesley picked up, Ellen informed him of the details.

  Wesley agreed to be at the salvage yard, and when Ellen hung up, she went to her mother’s jewelry box.

  Ellen rummaged through her mother’s rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings for several seconds before picking up a pair of metal band bracelets that each had six amethyst stones. A grin came across Ellen’s face as she ran her finger over the stones of one of the bracelets for only a moment. She then picked out three of the rings and left her room.

  As Ellen was reentering the living room, she asked, “How big does a magical token have to be to work?”

  “It depends on the spell that you want to link,” Trevor replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “My mom’s bracelets have six jewel stones each,” Ellen said as she held up one of the bracelets. Blaire stepped closer to Ellen while staring at the bracelet in Ellen’s hand. “I’m thinking that I could pop out the jewel stones, cast the required incantations on just the stones and then put back… or glue the stones back in place.”

  With papers in her left hand, Blaire held out her right hand for the bracelet before requesting, “Let me take a look at that.” Ellen nodded before handing over the bracelet. Blaire then took the time to examine the bracelet. “For the types of spells that you’re wanting to link, these amethyst stones should be big enough.”

  “Cool,” Ellen said before turning towards Allyson. “Do we have any glue?”

  “I bought some glue two months ago for a stone that came loose in one of my earrings and it worked great,” Allyson shared. “I’ll go get it.”

  “Thanks,” Ellen said before Allyson could walk towards the kitchen.

  As Blaire was holding out the bracelet for Ellen to retake, she said, “Now come up with a command word or phrase for each of the five spells.”

  “Okay,” Ellen said while retaking the bracelet. She then glanced towards her chest. “Oh, and I had also used the blow-back incantation against Cory. So I’ll need to reload my necklace.”

  “Right,” Blaire said with an amused grin. She then gestured towards the next room. “Let’s go to the kitchen and link those spells.”

  “Why don’t we go into the dining room?” Ellen asked.

  “Sadie is helping Winnie and Cory to pick out some useful spells for their cause,” Blaire informed.

  “What cause does Cory have?” Ellen quickly asked.

  “Cory has joined Winona’s cause,” Blaire said. “They’re planning to break into two teams, with Winnie and Riley as one team and Cory and Brad as the other team.”

  Ellen gave Blaire the thumbs-up sign while saying, “Cool.”

  Blaire gestured towards the kitchen again and repeated, “Now let’s go into the kitchen.”

  Ellen nodded before she and Blaire walked towards the kitchen.

  Allyson—while yielding the way to Ellen and Blaire—was standing on the kitchen’s side of the doorway with the tube of glue in her hand as Ellen and Blaire entered the room.

  “Here’s the glue, Ellen,” Allyson informed while holding it out for Ellen to take. “You can glue your fingers together very easy with this, so be careful not to get any on your fingers.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Ellen said with a slight amused grin.

  “Hargrove, one of Merlin’s great-grandsons had done the exact same thing that you’re planning, Ellen,” Blaire shared as she stopped at the table and faced Ellen.

  Allyson remained where she was standing and listened.

  Ellen pleasantly smiled before guessing, “Linking spells to jewel stones and gluing the jewel stones to a bracelet.”

  “Actually he used a wand,” Blaire corrected. “But he didn’t glue the jewel stones to the outside of the wand...”

  “What did he do with them then?” Ellen asked curiously.

  “Hargrove had wanted to hide the number of spells that he had linked to tokens, so he had hollowed out the wand and hid six jewel stones within the wand.”

  “Giving him six tokens,” Ellen presumed.

  “Six tokens?” Blaire echoed, challengingly. “I think you need to count again.”

  “Six jewel stones equal six tokens,” Ellen quickly said.

  “Yes, but you’re failing to count something,” Blaire again challenged.

  Ellen thought for a second before saying, “The wand itself. The wand itself was turned into a token as well.”

  “Very good,” Blaire praised. “While saying the appropriate words or short phrases, Hargrove was able to cast seven spells while carrying a wand filled with six jewel stones.”

  “And I can do the same with the bracelets and the amethyst stones,” Ellen deduced.

  “Exactly,” Blaire said as Riley stepped into the kitchen.

  When Ellen, Allyson and Blaire looked at Riley, Riley requested, “I would like to get a glass of water.”

  “We have cola and juice in the refrigerator if you rather have that,” Allyson said. “Either way, just help yourself.” Allyson then gestured while continuing with, “There are cups and glasses in the cabinet.”

  “Alright,” Riley said while moving towards the refrigerator.

  “Take enough for the others too,” Allyson suggested.

  “Okay,” Riley agreed. “Thanks.”

  “Let’s get started, Ellen,” Blaire suggested while taking a seat at the kitchen table.

  “Do the incantations require anything before saying the words?” Ellen asked.

  “You’ll need to redraw those two symbols in blood on the necklace before casting the blow-back incantation,” Blaire informed. “As for the others, just coating the to
kens with your blood is fine.”

  “I’ll get a pin from the cabinet,” Ellen said while putting the jewelry that she was holding onto the kitchen table.

  “That vampire incapacitating spell that Winona casts on the crystal balls requires blood to work,” Riley shared as he was getting out the sodas.

  “Most tokens do require blood to work,” Blaire informed as Ellen moved towards the cabinet. “The blood is what binds the token to the person.”

  “I was wondering why it had to be blood,” Riley said.

  “So, Ellen, do you have the activation words or phrases picked out?” Blaire asked.

  “I’m having trouble with that,” Ellen admitted as she was getting a pin. “Any suggestions?”

  With sodas in his hand, Riley was shutting the refrigerator door while sharing, “Winnie uses words from the Mikasuki language.”

  “What language is that?” Ellen asked curiously.

  “That’s the Seminole’s native language, and Winnie can speak it as well as she can speak English,” Riley informed.

  “I know some Spanish, but I can’t really use Spanish words for my command words,” Ellen said.

  “Why not?” Riley asked.

  “I’m planning on using my Spanish when the time arises and I can accidentally set off a spell during a casual conversation,” Ellen explained as she was walking back towards the table with the pin.

  “That’s when you need to come up with short phrases,” Blaire informed as Ellen was taking a seat at the table. “And don’t make them where you’ll give away your spells either.”

  “What do you mean by giving away the spells?” Ellen quickly asked.

  “Uttering ‘bring forth an illusion’… or uttering ‘show a mirage’ will give away that you are only creating illusions, so don’t use them as activation phrases when you want to project believable images from your mind,” Blaire explained. Ellen just slightly grinned. “And don’t be afraid to create words either.”

  Ellen thought for a moment before saying, “Okay, I have them. And I also want to link the blow-back incantation to these three rings.” Ellen gestured to the three rings on the table. “That way I could use that spell four times.” Blaire picked up one of the rings and examined the width of the band. As Ellen went to take off the necklace she continued to say, “Oh, and I want to change the activation word for the blow-back incantation on this necklace as well.”