Theo’s ice-blue eyes looked at Zayn, assessing. There, sort of broken, but not like before when he tried to pancake us both.
“Listen up, Zayn. While you were doing your thing in the desert, remember that other ship of the three-eyed types? The ones we escaped from?”
“So?”
“These guys aren’t talking to the others, Zayn. They act like they are on a different mission, and aren’t doing anything except trying to capture Magic folks. Right now, Topper has a portal open to Glacier, she’s fighting the aliens, capturing a bunch more, but what do you think those aliens that grabbed us are doing?”
Zayn raised an eyebrow.
“They aren’t doing jack! They’re watching it go down, Zayn. Now, why do you suppose they’d do that?”
“Clean up on aisle nine,” Zayn made a noise between a laugh and a growl. “They’ll let Topper take everybody down, and then they’ll zap us up in those little boxes of theirs.”
Theo scratched his stomach scales, nodding. “I think that’s the plan. There’s at least a couple dozen, and they’re cloaked. Think you can make them fancy like before, without getting caught?”
A slow smile spread across Zayn’s face and he crumpled to smoke, rising.
“They’re by the back of the bank,” Theo said. “Light ’em up.”
Zayn rose, spreading thin across the sky and raised the sand, building the hurt, being misunderstood, and the sadness he felt, and flexing it into the sand. Diamond dust, beautiful and cold, lay in a transparent sheet on the air before him and he twisted it, releasing his dust devil of loss and pain onto the cloaked aliens.
I cannot release you so easily, Haseya, but out of love, I will leave you alone.
“Report!”
“This stone dust appears to be a natural component of this planet, High Scientist, but these particles do not move in this manner. This is a manufactured ruse to de-cloak us.”
As the aliens tried to brush each other off, Zayn floated back and drifted down to Theo, settling on the roof. Showtime, Hero. You’re up.
20
The appearance of Jonah in Haseya’s hut elicited a scream from his mother, who leapt up from her cushion to fly across the hut and fold him into her arms.
“Thank you, thank you so much, Haseya. I am so grateful.”
“It is my way," Haseya, said, “but, he is injured. Please, sit with him while I make the medicine.”
Jonah’s bright eyes inspected the hut. “Where are we, Mom?”
“This is Haseya’s home, across the interdimensional plane. She moves back and forth.”
“Oh, cool. Zayn does that too!”
Haseya felt tears fall into her cooking pot and the leaves she held blurred in the thoughts of what would not be. She and Zayn, happy, helping in the earthen world and Zayn showing her the secrets beyond this plane. He wants nothing but to be with me and I withhold that. Those who knew my promise are long dead. My Nation...
Haseya steeped the tea, struggling for control.
I fear I have killed that alien. Even the briefest touch ends evil. Yet, I touched Zayn and felt only love. Then, I tell him to his face he will make me dark. He who covers me in light and love. That I have taken as a mate, then shunned. Truth, Haseya. You are dark already and have demonized the good within Zayn. You’ve forsaken his love, and have none to blame but yourself.
Haseya brought the tea to Jonah and his mother, snuggled on a big pillow near her fire.
“He should drink this, then sleep. I must go help your tribe.”
“Go!” the hut chorused, as Haseya stepped into her twirl.
Theo executed a soft landing a couple buildings back from the bank and looked at the glitter-covered aliens. They weren’t wholly visible, but to a dragon’s eyesight, they were lit up and ready to barbecue.
“Blue light, Maestro, if you would be so kind,” Theo said, turning his head to protect his eyes.
Zayn blasted blue light at Slodoon’s team. This, thanks to the diamond dust, looks off the chain. Zayn let off a low laugh. Cringing and moving to avoid the light, the aliens scurried around towards the side of the bank.
“All yours," Zayn said, still laughing. Grabbing hold, he swung a leg over as Theo sent two fireballs along the side of the bank, and as aliens started to run, Theo lifted off and moved, sending two more fireballs racing along the front of the bank.
“Get moving, kids. Get out in the open," Theo muttered.
As the aliens fled the protection of the bank building, Theo let ’er rip, sending a steady stream of fire behind their feet, pushing them towards the spell lines.
“No! Stop!” Slodoon ordered, but it was too late. The weapons pointed at Theo shot water, hiding Theo in a momentary patch of steam. He rewarded them with another blast of fire, then swung east to blast the other side of the group, driving them and a few stray Morducks on that side towards Topper.
“Hold the line!” Slodoon screamed. “Capture that, that… thing.”
Impotent boxes pointed at Theo and Zayn, who waved at the hopping aliens from his perch behind Theo’s wings before sending another blue blast, one that Theo had to jerk his head to avoid.
“Gimme a heads up next time, partner.”
“Damn. Sorry, Theo.”
Sorry? SORRY? From a Djinn. I have truly seen it all. Theo laughed, snorting smoke, and swung around, heating the sand by Slodoon, who broke out in a sparkly, hot-footed dance. Zayn’s laughter roared above him as Theo’s fire, bit by bit, pushed the group towards the shrink line.
Diving, Theo blew the last blast at Slodoon, burning his backside just as he hit the shrink line. Scooping air frantically, too late, Theo realized he wasn’t going to make it.
“Adios, amigo!” Zayn blasted off Theo’s back into a million bits across the sky as the dragon crossed.
*pop*
“Aren’t you cute?” Topper murmured, picking Theo up and tucking him between her breasts. “I may have to keep you.”
Haseya? A little help?
Topper smiled as Haseya rose before her. “Can you heal him without the ‘teaching’ as you call it? This one was burned and needs attention.”
“Do you not want him to learn?” Haseya asked, bending to inspect the tiny, smoking alien.
“I don’t want him dead is all," Topper laughed. “I think he may be the leader. If you can fix his burned butt and teach him at the same time, that’s fine with me. I’m all about lifelong learning.”
Haseya’s white teeth flashed in a smile, and she tapped Slodoon’s mind with her own.
“He is far gone, but teachable. Cover your ears.”
Haseya picked up Slodoon, who began to shriek.
“Shhhhh. You are a bad little alien, but you aren’t a lost cause. Understanding has a price.”
As Slodoon writhed in her palm, Haseya examined his burned backside.
“I’m reluctant to take him to my fire. The less he learns the better it is. I’ll do the best I can with his injuries.”
Haseya touched the heart of the burn, and the wound began to clean itself, and seal from the worst of it to the healthy edges of his skin. Once the skin sealed, Haseya tapped it and the alien stopped shrieking.
“I removed the pain," she said, to Topper’s raised eyebrow. “Now, back to learning.”
She tapped his forehead and the little man curled up in her palm, trembling. “You can re-orb him. This one definitely is the leader. He was hoping you’d drive off or capture the others, let your guard down, and he’d be able to catch you all. He’s not a nice being. Overfond of what humans call money, uses anger to hide his fears, and more than a little puffed up about his intellectual importance. He’ll still be intelligent but he won’t be such a venomous snake in the future.”
Elthera caught Topper’s eye. “What do you want to do with the portal? Close it?”
Topper pulled Theo out of her boobs and held him to her ear.
“All of them?” Topper shook her head. “We don’t have them all. A few are still out on the fringes.
”
She listened intently, and a grin lit her face. “That would work. I like it, Theo. Sort of like a grand finale.”
Holding him in her palm, she called the witches and warlocks, motioned to Zayn, who rocketed down from the sky, landing just beyond the shrink line, and to Haseya, standing near the witches. Topper crooked a finger to the six dwarfs and trolls. Whispering, the grin went from face to face; they liked the plan. Zayn shot skyward once more as Haseya fell into the earth.
Topper stuffed Theo back between her breasts, smiling at the indignant little puff of smoke that wafted from the neckline of her tunic. Stepping back, she magically tossed every orb, except for Slodoon’s, into the portal. Waving her fingers, a pen and paper appeared, and Topper quickly dictated a note to the bobbing pen, which raced over the paper. The note folded itself, and Topper sent it through after the orbs.
“Shut it, my sisters!”
The portal snapped closed.
“Ready?”
“Ready!” The witches and warlocks had formed a circle, facing outwards.
“Release the shrink line!”
The closing portal and the faint pop caught the attention of the remaining aliens. Several were sent running towards the witches, who watched while counting.
“Four... three... two... NOW!”
A rain of spells encapsulated each citizen of Magic within an individual large orb. Topper looked up through her orb and nodded.
Zayn burst across the sky, lifting sand and glassing over the entire town center in an airtight dome. As the last of the glass hardened, Haseya rose into the dome, her matte black skin stark against the glass. Looking at the aliens, she began to inhale, sounding like a freight train. Orchestrating an oxygen tsunami, Haseya pulled the air from the dome, letting it fill and expand within her body until she resembled an Alice in Wonderland Skinwalker on too many cakes.
The aliens staggered, falling to their knees and then to the ground.
Haseya waved her hands broadly across the domed space, pulling the unconscious bodies to her, shrinking and orbing them into a small pile by her feet. Looking up at Zayn, her eyes full of lost love, she threw her arms into the air with a snap as the air ejected from her shrinking body. The dome shattered and fell back, sand once more.
Topper’s bursting spell disintegrated her orb with an sharp crack. The sound repeated as the other witches and warlocks followed. Turning, they freed the remaining citizens from their orbs.
“I was a little worried when I saw we didn’t have any air holes," a dwarf confided to Topper as he brushed the dust off from his surprise landing. “Despite my big ears, I don’t hear as good as I used to. But, I reckoned whatever you were whispering, it oughta work. But, when the dark one pulled the air out, I figured out what the plan was, cuz we ended up being the ones who had air. Pretty neat trick!”
“Her name is Haseya," Topper told him. “You need to meet her. She’s incredible, and I hope she makes Magic her home.”
21
Haseya materialized in her hut, smiling at Jonah and his mother. “The trolls and dwarfs are back in Magic," she said. “It’s time to go. How is your leg?”
“It’s great! Look!”
Jonah bounced around the fire, ending in a high kick.
“Jonah?” His mother shot him a look.
“Oh, yeah! Thank you, Haseya. For saving me and making me better.”
The cub ran and buried his face in her dress, and Haseya patted his head, overcome with longing for a child. This love that bursts from children, it is the brightest of lights.
“You are welcome, Jonah. My heart feels happy to see you well once more. Shall we?”
Extending her hands, she pulled them to her and stepped into Magic.
The air in the town snapped with industry. Dwarfs swarmed over the broken buildings, assessing and repairing. Trolls washed the soot from Theo’s fire off the sides of bank. Other citizens swept sand, emptied apples from the chambers, or collected the weapons and boxes.
Topper popped into the square, depositing the final orbs, containing the few aliens left who guarded the ships.
“These are a little dinged up, but the children will have fun playing with them,” Elthera told her, shooting one of the water pistols. “That was more fun than I’ve had in years, Topper. Seems like we older ladies are useful in a pinch.”
“Oh, Elthera, I’ve learned from you for my entire life, You are the keepers of the spells. Your libraries are my heart. Please, don’t feel you aren’t the backbone of the witches here in Magic,” Topper replied, hugging her. From her blouse, a little squeak emitted.
“You can’t keep him in there forever, darling,” Elthera laughed.
“He seems content,” Topper grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll give him up… at some point.”
Haseya stood on Zayn’s porch, looking across the desert. Nobody was home, and she let her mind wander over the night they shared, under the stars, before it grew complicated and dark. I don’t understand myself. I am dark and I know my darkness well, but Zayn’s anger is worse? Then why could I touch him and feel nothing but his love and desire for me?
Sitting on the swing bed, she rubbed her eyes. Even for a Skinwalker, today felt long. But, it was a good day. We vanquished evil, but also, evil learned of itself. So, today, the scales tipped. In the world, evil stepped back. In its place, light filled the spaces and new life can grow there, new circles created.
Her eyes closed. I’ll rest a moment, lying in what could have been.
Zayn flew in silence, scooping air with his wings and landing on the rail of his porch. Turning his head sideways, he looked at the sleeping woman. Her beautiful face looked tranquil, silken hair spread across his pillows. Why? She fought me in a frenzy, every particle of her against every particle of me, a billion bits of her truth denying a billion bits of mine. I had my answer. Now, this.
The eagle paced along the railing, talons clicking, loosening the paint in a little shower to the floorboards below. A part of me says screw it, but that’s the old Zayn. Haseya made me see my world for the shallow circumstance it was. A series of takings with nothing feeding my heart. No matter what, however long I have left, that part of me is dying and I’m not going back. But, what is forward? I can’t chase a woman who doesn’t want me. There is no respect in that choice. I’m stuck, both loving and unloved.
Zayn bowed his head. The shift came on him, and he crawled, in human form once more, into his bed. I can at least hold her while she sleeps, my heart breaking within her breath.
Wrapping his arms around her, he let it all go; the misery sliding through him as sleep crept from the corners to claim his mind. I’ll awaken alone, but I can die then. For now, I live with her in my arms, safe and warm.
Haseya woke in Zayn’s embrace, covered in peace. Looking through the railings, she watched the moonrise and the slow awakening of the night world, the living, mating, and dying that turned the world forever. Each life spark became part of the forever fire.
This peace is because he sleeps beside me. He is not dying from my touch. He is dying from my pride.
Slipping from the bed, Haseya became smoke and materialized near a fire in the northwestern part of New Mexico. This was the fire of an old woman whom Haseya watched from afar when she felt the need for her people. Tonight was not that night. Tonight, she needed more.
“Ya at eeh, Adeezhi.” Greetings, younger sister.
“Ya at eeh, Adi.” Greetings, older sister.
“I seek your wise counsel,” Haseya said. “May I join your fire?”
“Sit at this fire, Adi, and speak.”
“I am an old spirit, born when the Nation was younger, before the time of the white and the Mexican men, long before the time of sorrow and the long walk to this place.”
The old woman’s clouded eyes looked at Haseya’s and nodded. “I sense your spirit, Adi. What do you seek?”
“I am a healer, as are many, but banished for being a Skinwalker. This is also my truth.
I am both and have been both for all the time of our people. I accepted my banishment and vowed to live alone and barren as a healer, forsaking the darkness. I have done this, but no longer can. I have met a spirit, also light and dark. I cannot live without him, but I cannot live with the darkness that will fall on me if I turn my back on my people’s wishes.”
“What is your truth, Adi?”
“I love him. He is only in the light with me, there is no darkness in our unity. We drive the darkness from each other. I want only to be light and with him.”
“And you seek blessing for this?”
“Yes, Adeezhi.”
“You held the bond of trust for hundreds of years, Adi. In that time, the people struggled, but our belief in and love of the earth and its creatures is strong. You are a creature of this earth. In that spirit, I release you. Be the force for good you can be, but make love in this world, for it needs that to bind the wounds of the centuries.”
Tears flowed down Haseya’s face. “I stand humble and grateful before you, Adeezhi.”
“Go, Adi. Be what you are becoming.”
Haseya returned to Zayn’s porch, but the bed was empty. Kneeling, the keening wail of death flowed from her throat and she lay across the bed, grief flowing across her like a flash flood in a riverbed dry for centuries, unable to pull in the healing rain. I am too late. My pride has killed us. He made it clear that without me, he could not go further. What have I done?
The owl twisted his head, looking down at the noise in wonderment. Was that coming from my place? Swooping down, Zayn saw her, sobbing into his scent on the bedclothes. The sound covered him; it was the sound of love lost, a crumbling heart. She came back? Grieving for me? Why? What changed?
Zayn landed on the railing and shifted, kneeling to pull Haseya into his arms, amazed at the sense of wholeness radiating from her. Unthinking, he lifted her onto the bed and lay beside her, folding her into him while her body shook.
Messing Up Magic Page 9
