by Trista Shaye
“Troubling news indeed,” a member spoke up, and Diana heard the rustling of their robes as she was sure they were all nodding in agreement to the statement.
“We thought, well I thought, that you would know what to do,” Diana said. “That you would know why this is happening and how to stop it.”
“And why should we, child?” It was a curious question that Diana wasn’t sure how to answer because she hadn’t at all been thinking they would question their own power and wisdom.
“Because … because you are elders and learned of things that have been and will be. You have to know what to do. If you don’t, then who does?” the fairy girl responded, desperate for them to reassure and calm her.
“We were there when the spells were written and the realms laid out and the races put in their places. But we were not the magic wielders and did not decide which spells were for good or which were for ill. We did not create the balance of all that is and what is to be. We are simply care takers, watchers, and readers of the times. And these are grave times.”
“But what good is the wisdom you hold, then?” Diana asked, indignant, “if you cannot save what is worth saving or change that which is wrong? What good was being there when the spells were written if you don’t even know how to reverse them?”
“Magic is not for us to manipulate, my dear,” said a sad voice. “You should have learned a bit from the mage by now.”
The mage! Diana suddenly realized he would know about the magic, he would know how to help them unravel what was going on.
“Kendel! He can tell us more about the spell, he can help us stop it!” she said, certainty in her voice.
“We know of what the spell is and what it will do, we know of the realm’s demise, dear girl. The mage cannot and, might I add, will not, help us,” a council member crooned, and they all shook their heads.
“What? Why not?” Diana looked shocked, her options for fixing all these things were running out.
“The Magic Vale will indeed come to its end and soon, we fear. And it is by his hand and at his will that all things shall fall to ruin here. But it is far worse than we had initially thought, for his arm has grown long and is not only here in our realm, but in that of the gnomes', as well.”
Diana was confused. “What are you saying? You invited him here, why would he want to destroy the realm?”
“We did invite him but that was his plan, and we fell into it. My dear Diana, don’t you see?” one asked her. “Magic is for the wizards and the mages, it is from them that only the strongest magic can be cast and it is no coincidence that a fairy ring appeared not long after a mage was invited to our lands. Think Diana, it is not hard to understand nor interpret. He has our demise in mind.”
“What?” she whispered, so confused and so unsure. Yet, what they said was the only thing that made sense and still she felt at odds. They didn’t know Kendel like she did. But, then, maybe she didn’t know him like she thought she had.
Diana spun around to see where Kendel was as they declared him guilty and sentenced him as the un-doer of all things in the fairy realm. He had backed all the way up to the doors and was slowly shaking his head, his left hand reaching towards the handle.
“Kendel?” Diana asked, wanting to hear the truth from him and wanting all of the confusion to be lifted.
“You brought him here? The mage?” a member asked, and the voice was almost excited and yet upset.
“He brought us, but – ”
A bell suddenly tolled and the sound came from behind her, where the seven still sat in their snail seats. The doors burst open and in marched several fairy men – they had been waiting outside and waiting also for the signal from the bell. They had known this was going to happen, they had been waiting and hoping for the mage to come to them, as they knew he would be too powerful for them to contain if they didn’t catch him by surprise.
“Take him away and lock him up,” the council commanded, finally standing as one.
Diana met Kendel’s troubled eyes and he shook his head at her once more. Then, he vanished into nothing.
Everyone gasped, and Diana jumped a little. Where had he gone? And what would he do?
Nine
“You went back to your house?” Diana asked, disgust in her tone. She paced in front of the cell which was made of wood and coated with a paste of herbs and spices that greatly deterred the use of magic and rendered the mage fairly useless.
It was the next day and Diana had been granted access to come see the prisoner and to talk with him – his powers were greatly diminished so it was deemed safe.
After he had disappeared yesterday from the council chamber, a great search had commenced. One of the very first places the men had looked was the guest house, mostly to search for clues, but it ended up being their last stop as they had found the mage within. He had been surprised by their sudden appearance which allowed them time to throw fungus lint at him, which in turn caused him to collapse into a shallow sleep. They had brought him here, locked him up, and, she supposed, were still trying to figure out exactly what they would do with him.
“Where else was I supposed to go?” Kendel muttered, trying to cross his arms over his chest as he sat in the back of his cell on a wooden chair.
“I don’t know, anywhere else?” Diana said, grabbing the slatted wood that filled the cell’s window and peered in with narrowed eyes. “Back to your evil lair.”
“Lair,” he snorted.
“I’m sure you have one,” Diana nodded, turning to pace back and forth again. “Wherever you hide your dark scrolls with the evil magic and wherever your magic wand is.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Wizards and mages don’t use magic wands, Diana. Those are children’s stories, not reality. Nothing but rubbish.”
“Huh, so are fairy rings children’s stories, too?” she mocked. “Cause last I knew, they were real. And are evil mage’s only bedtime tales? Hmm, I’ve met one recently.”
“You know nothing of magic,” Kendel said sadly, “or of me.”
“Oh really?” Diana retorted, irate. “You used me!” she declared, pointing an accusing finger in his direction.
“How do you figure that?” he asked, turning from sadness to surprise.
“Well, let’s think about it, shall we?” she said, hands on her hips. “What happened the day after I showed you my home and the forest, hmm? What happened? Oh, I know! A fairy ring appeared and now my realm is doomed! All thanks to you.” She glared. But slowly her glare faded and she looked down with a sigh. “I was just trying to be your friend.”
Silence filled the small space. Diana rubbed her arm and looked out the room’s window into the trees. The door behind her creaked open and Andante entered, stuffing his large fluffy self into the small space. Diana wasn’t exactly sure why he was there, but she didn’t really care too much. Life had recently gone south quite drastically, more south than it had ever gone before and she felt a little listless and empty.
Andante looked from one to the other and saw the sadness and anger and misunderstanding written on both faces and he tried to lift their spirits by smiling at them each in turn.
“Should I sing something for us?” he asked. It was the only thing he could think of to say.
“What?” Diana asked.
“No,” Kendel shook his head,“why would you say that? This is hardly a time for singing.”
“Oh.” The moth’s antenna dropped and his wings slouched a bit. “I see.”
An awkward silence filled the place once more and Diana took the time to bolster whatever little courage was left in her heart. She turned one last time to the mage and looked him square in the eyes.
“I will save my realm. I will,” she said, just above a whisper.
“How?” Kendel asked, trying to stand but being too weak to, he just slumped back into the c
hair again. “The fairy ring magic, it’s too strong. It’s old magic, Diana, you can’t break that.”
“Then tell me what you know,” Diana said, coming up close to the cell’s window again. “Tell me of the old magic.”
“Why?” he asked, trying to cross his arms a second time, but he was even too weak for that and they slipped off his chest and fell to his sides limply.
She wasn’t sure why he should tell her anything. After all, if he had caused all this to happen then he would have no reason to help her in any way and this was but a loose end and she would get none of the clarity she urgently needed. Diana would have to seek help elsewhere.
She sighed, dropped her hands and turned, right into Andante. She motioned for them to go.
“I’m innocent,” Kendel’s weak voice carried out to them as they turned, “I didn’t do this.”
Diana’s back stiffened and she clenched her teeth and fists. It was probably a ploy to keep her talking but she couldn’t help herself and she spun about on her heels. “Why did you run then? Cowards and traitors run, guilty people.”
“Or confused ones, scared ones,” he countered. “I didn’t know what they would do to me. I didn’t know where else to go or what else to do. You yourself said I should have gone to my lair, but Diana, what if I don’t have one because I’m innocent.”
“What if you don’t have one because you’re lame.” She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, hurling defiance in every way she could think to.
He blinked several times, looking hurt. “Well … I … I suppose.”
She snorted, even his response had been lame. He was wasting her time – precious time the council said their realm didn’t have.
“What if, what if it’s not a coincidence, me being here when this all has come about,” Kendel began again, sounding like he was pleading.
“Yeah, duh!” Diana shot back. “That’s the council’s point, this isn’t mere chance, this is you weaseling your way into our realm so you can destroy it!”
“No, no, no. That’s not what I meant.” Kendel sighed and grunted at the same time, making a pained face. “I mean, what if I'm here for such a time as this, Diana. What if I’m the only one who can help you heal your land, and I was sent here to help you, unbeknownst to any of us.”
“You mean like destiny or something?” Diana asked, slightly interested, but only slightly.
“Yes, sure, whatever you’d like to call it. What if the timing just happened to be what it is, and the wizard who planned this didn’t know I’d be here to help, didn’t count on you knowing someone who knew the old magic. What if, Diana, I’m not your realm’s doom bringer, but rather the one who will help you save it?”
“Why did you bring me here?” Kendel asked, almost peeved but mostly confused. He wiggled under his vine bonds, trying to see how much he could move. “Must moths,” he muttered under his breath when no one answered him.
“What did you say?” Andante asked, hobbling closer. However fuzzy and gentle and cute he might appear, in that moment he looked and sounded slightly menacing.
“Oh!” Kendel jumped in his skin a little. “Do pardon the expression, sir. No offense meant. Your kind is nothing like those little blights.” He chuckled nervously then swallowed hard at his mistake – not the only one he had made recently.
After he had made his grand pronouncement of being the one to save the realm instead of the one who had begun to destroy it in the first place, Diana had hurled fungus lint into the cell and before his eyes had gotten the chance to go wide, he had fallen into sleep once again.
Diana had then broken him out of his cell, which wasn’t hard. The fairies had no practice in making that sort of thing and it was quite breakable to one who wasn’t affected by the herbs and spices they’d used. Andante had hidden him under his belly fuzz and they had hobbled out of there and down and away from the city without a second glance from the guards outside.
The moon was high overhead now and the stars blinked brightly in the crisp sky. It was usually clear as a cold front was moving through, causing the two beings who did not have any fur to shiver in the chill air. They were far from the city and headed toward The Magic Vale’s western edge.
Diana came down from her perch atop a rock and walked over to her prisoner who lay in the grass, propped up on a little knoll. She looked unimpressed and unamused.
“You said you’d help me save my realm.” She brushed at her nose with the back of one hand, the cold weather causing it to run.
“So this is helping?” he asked, raising his shoulders, the only movement he could really manage. “Being tied up in the grass at night?”
“It’s keeping you from doing any more harm until I can decide if you’re innocent or not,” she replied, “I don’t know that I believe your claim of being guiltless in this. But you can prove yourself. Maybe. We’ll see how I end up feeling about it,” she shrugged.
He struggled against the vines entangling him and Diana stepped forward and half knelt down, opening her hand in front of his nose. “See this?” He nodded vigorously. “Don’t make any more attempts to get away, don’t magic yourself into a bear or something to maul us - ”
“Magic doesn’t work like that …” he said with a furrowed brow.
She rolled her eyes and straightened. “Well, please, tell me how it does, then. Especially in the case of certain fairy rings and old magic and what one must do to fix them. I’d love to hear all of that specifically.”
He sighed. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But it’s a bit to tell, and it’s rather disappointing.”
“I want to hear it,” Diana replied, “tell me what you know.”
He nodded and thought for a moment, “I’ll tell you what I’ve learned and what I’ve seen. At Castle Majestic every mage and wizard learns from their master about the fundamentals of magic. We also learn of the old magic, the spells that were written at the founding of the realms, such as a fairy ring spell, or an ethereal blessing, or a nixos noggin spell, or – ”
“Just tell me about the fairy ring,” Diana cut in impatiently. “Please,” she added after a moment and sighed.
“Oh.” He blinked and shifted, as if not aware he was rambling. “Right, that one.”
“Yes.” She nodded, her eyes wide as if she was talking to a child. “That one.”
A cricket chirped nearby and started up a cacophony of chorusing chirps from the forest all around them, the bugs playing their tune in the background of the mage’s words.
“You need to know a few things about the old magic before I explain about that specific spell itself. Firstly, there were ten base spells written in the beginning. I know what you’re thinking. So few? Yes. From those ten spells every other derives its essence and if you know the ten original, you can create smaller, lesser spells of your own, but we’re not taught to do that specifically. There is a lot more knowledge the greater masters know about the old magic and their spells, we’re only taught the bases of them, especially the evil spells.
“Secondly, when they were first written they were neither good nor bad. They had the potential to be either, but never both. Over time, as they were used in certain ways, they took on the characteristics that they were most used for and were either defiled for evil or raised up for good.”
“But that’s strange to me,” Diana interjected, shaking her head. “There’s never been any evil here in The Magic Vale. How could any spell be turned for evil if there is none outside of it?”
“You don’t know the other realms’ history. Especially mine,” Kendel answered sadly. “Just because your realm has been the last to see darkness, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist elsewhere and you were just blind to it for a time. In my realm, there was great evil done in the past and even some in the other four.”
Diana looked to Andante to see if the mage spoke the truth. The giant moth inclined his h
ead in agreement and she felt her heart fall.
“We’ve been so safe here and now that we’re not, we have no idea how to deal with it,” she said sadly as the gravity of the situation continued to sink in.
“Every several hundreds of years, a mage is born who has incredible powers and knowledge. They are known as the Gilded Mage. The last Gilded Mage who came, turned the evil on its head and began a new reign of peace and prosperity at Castle Majestic. But in the time it took for the Gilded Mage to be born and to grow into her power, the spells from the beginning had been turned one way or another; it was about a half and half split.” Kendel went on to explain what a fairy ring did to the place it was cast over, leaching power from the land and destroying things from the inside out.
“It’s entirely up to the caster how fast the process goes,” Kendel continued. “But it usually takes anywhere from six to eight months if left to fester alone. There is no known way to stop it from spreading.”
“Right.” Diana nodded, pursing her lips and looking up into the sky as if hoping to find the answers written in the stars above.
“But, sir mage,” Andante chirped and took a little step forwards. “What does it mean when two fairy rings are found within days of one another?”
Kendel looked like he was weighing the options in his mind. “My best guess is that it means whoever cast it, linked them together and can control them simultaneously. I would assume they’re trying to destroy both realms at the same time.”
“Both realms?” Diana’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Kendel shrugged. “I’m not the caster.”
Diana shot him a look, one that was trying to see through him and decide if he was indeed telling the truth. “Maybe you are, maybe you’re not.”