by Martha Carr
He spotted the troll climbing up onto the stage and positioning himself just behind Redd, shaking his booty and singing along, occasionally yelling out his name.
"Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me." Correk worked his way through the packed house, trying to get up front. A man with a long handlebar moustache scowled at him but quickly went back to dancing.
Correk made his way closer to the stage. The drummer in the band spotted Yumfuck and started but noticed the troll was keeping time with him. "Look at that, even the rats around here like your music, Redd."
The crowd cheered and clapped in time with the music as Yumfuck spun on his back, jumping up to his feet, yelling, "Yumfuck!"
"Yumfuck!" yelled the crowd, who were doing their best to imitate the tiny fellow.
"Lookie there. A talking rat!"
"A dancing talking rat!"
"This town has everything!"
"I think I can die happy," said Redd, giving a weathered smile, "because now I've seen everything."
Correk made his way to the stage, nodding at Redd as he kept right on singing. Yumfuck was doing a mean imitation of a two-step right on the beat. "Damnable YouTube videos," muttered Correk, as he scooped up the troll mid box step.
The crowd let out a collective moan and there were even a few boos as Correk kept a firm grip around the troll's waist, trying to put him back in his pocket. But Yumfuck leaned forward, one leg hanging out of the pocket, squirming in Correk's hand and blew kisses with both paws as the crowd let out an even bigger cheer. Correk rolled his eyes and tried to smile, taking a bow, finally pushing the troll back in his pocket. The troll leaned over the top like he was in a box seat, waving at people, even giving a wink to an older woman who started, then let out a laugh.
"I know you can bring your dog into most places in Austin," said Redd into the mic. "I suppose a trained rat works just as well. Thanks for loving the music, Mister. You too little fella." He went right back to the lyrics and kept on singing as Correk made his way back to the table.
"Congratulations dude. You should be on America's Got Talent! You'd win!"
"I'd vote for you! Better than that regurgitator. All he did was throw stuff back up!"
"That was amazing. Love your outfit too. Got a whole thing going!"
"Does the rat have a costume?"
"How did you ever teach him to say, yumfuck? Didn't know a rat could talk!"
"Love the dye job! Look, my hair's blue!"
"Is he for sale? Pay top dollar!"
He finally made it back to the table where Eireka was calmly sitting in her seat, sipping her beer, smiling.
"You look rather peaceful considering a troll from another planet just put on a show for a lot of humans." Correk put his hand over the pocket. "Don't even think about it," he muttered into the pocket. The troll looked up at him and blew an extended raspberry, sticking out his tongue.
"I'm kind of surprised he doesn't just give you the finger."
"Your daughter does more of a verbal variety of swearing but I'm sure he'll learn that eventually from someone in traffic."
"You know, if this is what my first day is like, I can't imagine what comes next. But look at everyone... they just went with it so easily. No one's running for their life or trying to stomp out Yumfuck. Maybe the world has changed."
"Or Austin is living up to its quirky motto."
"Either way," said Eireka, determination on her face, "I have more hope than I expected."
"You are really a remarkable woman."
"I spent fifteen years thinking about days like these. I'm going to do my best to celebrate as much as possible. Especially a crowd chanting Yumfuck to a dancing troll, while a Light Elf from the royal court wearing cowboy boots tries to grab him off a stage," she said, with a snort. "Come on, we should go before the crowd starts yelling encore. Hang on, while I throw an extra twenty in the tip jar." A friend of the band was wandering through the crowd with an oversized clear plastic container and a hand-lettered sign that read, Tips taped to the side. Eireka dropped in the money and danced her way back to the table.
"Okay, I'm ready. What's next?"
CHAPTER FIVE
"Show me again." Eireka was sitting on the couch in the guest house in front of Leira's laptop surrounded by shopping bags. Correk was in the red velvet chair, still wearing his cowboy boots, sporting a gray felt Bailey cowboy hat on his head. He had removed the glamour, saving his energy and the hat was tilted back, his hair behind his pointed ears.
Leira kept glancing up, looking at him in the mix of Oriceran garb and Western wear, squinting at him. "What is going on here? What has happened to you? You're like a magical butterfly turning into something."
"I know there's an insult buried in there somewhere," said Correk.
"Come on, show me again," said her mother. "I want to see what people are wearing these days. You two are not good fashion barometers." She turned to Leira, drawing her brows together. "I saw a girl wearing a bra like it was a shirt! A lacy bra! No one seemed to notice."
"Oh, I noticed..." Correk gave a short cough.
"Nice. Where exactly did you take my mother?"
"Tourist central. South Congress Avenue. What do you think of the new kicks?" He held up a leg to show her.
"Don't do that. Don't try to be Earth hip. You're far, far, far too old for that."
Correk frowned and put his foot back down.
"What's for dinner?" asked Leira. "It was a long day." She made a point of not looking in Correk's direction. The troll climbed into her lap and curled up into a ball.
"We found a place called Taco Bell that makes a dinner you can hold from a Dorito!"
"Calm down there big guy. That's a little too too much excitement over a fast food taco. Show some dignity."
"Taco," trilled the troll.
"We already fed him," said Eireka.
"I'm not sure that matters in the scheme of things. I have no idea where he fits it all in that tiny little body. Of course, I think the same thing about you." She finally looked up at Correk who had his arms crossed.
"Leira, can you help me get it all out of the bags in the kitchen?" asked Correk
"Subtle. Sure. Can't you just add a good blink to those crossed arms and make them appear, presto change-o, right here?"
"You're stroking out again. Come help me."
"Go help him," said her mother.
"Your mother said you have to help," said Correk, a smirk on his face. He walked into the kitchen, doing a middling imitation of bow legs in his new boots.
"That is not happening! Don't get your magical feelings hurt. Don't pout, Mom'll see you." She glanced back at her mother, trying to delay going into the kitchen to have to face Correk.
"Go on, I'll be fine," said her mother.
Not you I'm worried about right at this moment.
"Okay, what do we have?" Leira still hoped she could quickly put out the food and go back to the living room.
"Not so fast. Tell me what happened."
"Don't know what you're talking about." Her voice was firm, even if she was picking at a taco, looking down at the counter, an intent look on her face.
"Whatever it was must have really scared you. Never known you not to look someone dead in the eye."
Her face popped up and she scowled at him, her eyes glowing for just a moment.
"That's more like it."
"Very clever. You're right, though."
"About what exactly?"
"I was that scared, maybe for the first time in my life and I don't back down. Not in my DNA."
"So, tell me."
She shook her head. "I'm not even sure what happened. The Feds wanted help figuring out who killed a big witness of theirs. I was just about to see if I could find a clue when..." She batted her hand in the air, holding back the mixture of anger and pain that rose into her chest at the memory of the afternoon.
Correk leaned back against the sink and waited. Leira smiled, thinking of Hagan and his tacti
cs. Never be the first to speak. Alright, this one is mine anyway.
"The dead girl appeared. Not the first time either."
"What do you mean not the first time?" Correk's voice grew louder.
"Little lower or my mother will be in here and I'd like to spare her parts of this story if I can."
"What parts, exactly?"
"All the parts that involve me. Look, I didn't think it was really anything the first time. We saw my grandmother when I connected my energy to my mother."
"I know all this."
"Interrupt me and it takes twice as long. You were doing so well at using your patience skills."
Correk did his best not to say anything back to her.
"Much better," said Leira, glaring at him. "As I was saying, my grandmother managed to contact us from that netherworld but the moment I knew it was her, someone kind of spectrally thing shoved her out of the way."
"That girl," Correk whispered.
"Yes, but I just let that part go. There seemed to be bigger things on the table. Mom's return, my new job, my grandmother caught in fucking no-wheresville. But the dead body was that girl. And then, there she was in ghost form and the fucking agent with me could see her too. I didn't think that was possible."
"Not normally." Concern grew on Correk's face.
"So I improvised."
"You what? With the world in between?"
"You yell one more time and I stop talking till later. Got it?" She jabbed the air with her finger. Suddenly, she could feel how tired she was from keeping herself in one piece and still on this side of the veil. "What the hell did you think I was going to do on this job? Something weird is going to be coming up constantly and I'm going to have to think on my feet. So I thought on my feet! I sent my energy out ahead of me to investigate, feel her energy. Find out what asshole killed her."
"That's impossible." Correk slammed his hands down on the island between them. It only made Leira more determined.
"I found that gun, and there was the moron who kidnapped the little girl. Of course it's possible."
"You don't understand. It's not possible. You crossed over the barrier between here and there. This space and the world in between." He pointed to one space and then another. "You did it with magic. That's impossible."
"Well, I have a Fed who looked several years older in a matter of minutes who will back me up. He could see the whole thing. He saw the world in between, the dead girl and the black mist..."
Correk rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. "What happened when your energy went into the world in between? You know that's an extension of you. It can't be severed. It's as good as stepping into the world yourself." He was jabbing the air with his hand, the strain showing on his face.
"Totally get that. Especially when the black airy thing tried to pull the rest of me inside."
Correk gripped the sides of the island, the symbols lighting up his arms, and crawling up to his neck and face at record speed.
"If this was a cartoon I have a feeling steam would be coming out of your ears," said Leira, narrowing her eyes. "First, can we acknowledge that I'm standing right here. I didn't go over the edge, and there was a fucking edge. Boy, that's a weird thing you never get used to. Worse than that invisible castle you call home. The floor actually does end. Are you counting? That's a thing in Oriceran too? Take deeper breaths or you'll pass out."
"Stop babbling."
"Now that's rude. You want me to tell you what happened you're gonna have to put up with the color commentary. More worried I am, the more jokes I make and today was a regular stand-up routine. Okay, I'll get to the rest of the details."
"Do you let people you arrest talk to you this way?"
"Actually, yes. More they run on at the mouth the more likely they are to tell me exactly what I want to know. You could stand to learn a few things about interrogation."
Correk shut his eyes for a few seconds, tapping the top of the island.
"The counter top is from Lavender Rock, did you realize? I didn't at first. I wonder if it has any energy stored in it." She waited till Correk opened his eyes. He looked like he was ready to send a fireball in her direction. Leira gave him a crooked smile.
"You take fucking forever to realize when someone is messing with you." She said it very slowly, leaning over the counter at him.
"So, none of this is true? That's impossible. I saw what happened to the troll."
"No, it's true but I'm perfectly capable of telling you in a few sentences. Look, I can take care of myself, for the most part. This thing, whatever we're doing, I don't know, Starsky and Hutch meet the Jetsons isn't going to work if you get this worked up every time. Too much stress for both of us."
"You almost got pulled into a world where you most likely could never leave," he hissed.
"But didn't," she said with a hard nod. "Besides, Nana showed up like the cavalry and saved the day. Good thing too because I could not get the agent to let go of the back of my pants no matter how much I yelled. See, that vein is popping out on your forehead again. Everybody’s safe." She held her arms out to her sides. "Really, it was more like her energy showed up and combined with mine. It was just enough to do the trick. Whatever that black mist was, it was super powerful and nasty. Okay, I concede. Don't want to do that again. Ever." She waved her arms in front of her.
Correk let out a breath slowly. The symbols started to recede.
"Look, Hagan and I got into some pretty nasty scrapes while we were together. He even got shot not that long ago. But we were still effective because we saw each other as equals and knew we had to run into the fight, every time. Yes, I'm not as well trained on this new job as I'd like to be but there doesn't seem to be a crib sheet or an online course."
"I'm not going to be able to just watch you put yourself in harm’s way without any kind of help."
"Then teach me what you do know, as much as you can."
"That's the part that I don't like. Your abilities... your power is already surpassing what I've ever heard of, much less seen. And here on Earth, no less. I'm not sure I can teach you enough to keep you safe." My mission.
"Okay, this brings me to the last part of the day's events. Not a dark story. At least I don't think so and my detective skills are on point. Magic or no magic. It was just a strange little moment. I pulled over to just take a break after almost sliding into the world in between and a very old Light Elf down the block opened up one of those tunnels. Said he could feel my pain. Can you do that?"
"Not on Earth. Takes skill and energy."
"Well, he could here on Earth. He was talking to me like we were old friends. Started talking about dark things being stirred up. Said he had an idea but he wasn't going to say more till he was sure. He knew my name. He knew about you, too."
"Did he say his name?"
"Turner Underwood. Called himself the Fixer for the magical community."
Correk sagged in the center and leaned back hard against the sink with a thud.
"Are you okay? You know who that is?"
"It can't be." Correk's heart pounded in his chest.
"Okay, now you're doing it to me. I have to admit, it is annoying. What can't be?"
"That's the name of an old family friend who fought alongside my father."
"He was there when your father died?" It was Eireka standing in the doorway. "Where do we find him?" Eireka came and stood next to her daughter.
"We don't. He said he'd find us when the time is right."
Eireka wrapped an arm around Leira's shoulder, gently hugging her. "Tell me about how you almost died today."
Leira started and glared at Correk but she could tell by his surprise that he didn't tell Eireka.
"Like I don't know what it means when a troll goes blue. I knew but apparently unlike you," she said, pointing at Correk, "I have more faith in my daughter to pull off the impossible. So, tell me. What happened today?"
"Well, first, Nana saved my ass..."
CHA
PTER SIX
The followers gathered on top of Camelback Mountain overlooking Phoenix, Arizona in the valley below them. The air was cold and crisp this time of year, especially this early in the morning. They were standing on the summit of the smallest mountain in the range. It was another kemana sitting on top of a large crystal burrowed deep into the Earth, topped by a mountain. Many in the magical community had even discovered over the past hundred years that it was easier to open a portal to Oriceran from on top of the smallest mountain. A rarity.
This particular spot had also acquired the nickname of the Dark Kemana. It was a favorite with those who wanted to revive the darker aspects of magic. The kemana drew dark magical practitioners from all over to the top of the rock. One long party. Most shot off harmless fireballs that petered out before they reached Phoenix down below.
Back when the gates were fully open the last time, a group of rogue witches and wizards practiced alchemy spells but only got as far as flipping around some of the geological layers of the smaller mountain. What the locals called the head of the camel. Large chunks of hard granite that were over a billion years old sat right on top of younger, softer sandstone that was only thirty million years old. That was supposed to be scientifically impossible. It was really just bored teenage witches and wizards.
The twenty hand-picked for the early morning incantation were their descendants. They were another sect of the new followers of Rhazdon's teachings and were assembled to help open a portal. The necklace needed to come back to Earth. Too many magical beings were hunting it. Besides, the Gnomes were particularly good at sniffing out powerful artifacts. The high priest who was starting up the movement again wanted the necklace moved and now.
The Dark Kemana was the perfect place to hand it over. It was more difficult for the Order of the Silver Griffins to patrol the area without someone ratting them out, and quickly.
A young short witch stood on the summit, excited to be leading the morning ritual. Finally, someone was smart enough to put me in charge. She looked out over the vista, the sky still dark and thought about all the stories of aliens moving the rocks. They were so close to the truth. She smiled, narrowing her eyes, tapping the palm of her hand with her wand made from a local Juniper tree, passed down to her from her grandmother. Among witches that was better than pearls and carried the same rule. In polite magical society, no one ever asked to handle someone else's wand.