Forced Magic

by Jerod Lollar

  Johnathen mumbled a few words and a whistling sound came out of his fingers. A strange dome appeared in the sky over us for a second and then faded.

  “There," said Johnathen. “That should keep them away."

  Fetch flew in close keeping an ever watchful eye on the sky.

  We made it back to the hotel. We hurried into our room and shut the door. Johnathen sat on the bed with his head in his hands. He was stressed. There was a slight tremor in his hands and he was breathing heavily. I felt bad. He seemed to be doing so much for me and Fetch. It looked like it had taken its toll on him.

  “Hey, are you ok?” I asked again.

  “No! I’m not ok!” he shouted. "I’m getting nowhere with the council, Jack. They stubbornly believe you two are a threat. Now they are convinced that since you are hiding and not showing yourself that you have some plot to destroy their precious way of life. I have made so many bad choices when it comes to you and Fetch, Jack. I don’t know what way to turn these days."

  I could hear the heavy burden in his voice. I looked at Fetch. His fire on my finger had gone out, but I didn’t need it to tell he was feeling bad too. He nodded at me, and I knew he knew what I was about to say. He came over and stood next to me as I spoke.

  “Maybe it is time for us to show ourselves to the magic world. If they can see that Fetch and I are not dangerous then they will accept us. At the least maybe they will leave us alone.”

  Johnathen looked up at Fetch and me. He seemed to be struggling with this idea. Finally he spoke.

  ”It seems to be the answer, but please, Jack, give me a little more time. I know this whole thing is unfair but if I can just persuade the council to see you, I know they will see the light. Then you will have all their protection and we can stop whoever it is that is trying to kill you.”

  I was getting tired of hearing about this council. It seemed like every time Johnathen mentioned them, I felt a little more annoyed by them. Why were they so afraid of change? What did they have against someone who was different? I was beginning to feel that I didn’t want to have any part of the magic world, if I had to follow along with the guidelines of this council. I reminded myself that Johnathen and Michelle were the only friends that Fetch and I had. I nodded my head. I would wait a little longer, but not much longer. Johnathen looked to be in bad shape and, if anything, I wanted to help him. I felt in my heart, if I exposed myself to the magic world, it would relieve some of the pressure that was on him. I would wait but not for much longer.

  Chapter24

  The next couple of days went without any excitement. Johnathen left that night, after I agreed not to reveal Fetch and me to the magic community yet. We stayed near our room, ordering room service. I had called and texted Michelle several times in those few days. She had heard about what happened from Johnathen, but was anxious to hear mine and Fetch's side too. She told me that she was busy with a project, but wouldn’t give me any details. She said that she would love to show me instead later. I sent her a text explaining Fetch's mood. I asked if she would come see him, knowing that would cheer him up. I wanted to see her too. I had a feeling that she would say 'No' and that Johnathen would keep her from coming for her own protection. But, to my surprise, she responded saying she would love to see us. We decided to meet at the ramada in the park, that night around ten. When I told Fetch, he perked right up and snorted a bright purple flame. It was worth the risk to see Michelle. I held the teardrop and felt its warmth, knowing that it would protect me.

  That night Fetch and I walked to the park. On the way, I saw the same gnome as always. He was fixing a pot hole in the street that looked like a giant troll footprint. I kept myself hidden from him as I walked by. He was wearing the same purple sweatshirt that he wore the first time I saw him.

  Fetch and I were across the street from him, and, as he had done before, he glanced in our direction almost as if he could see us. We stood perfectly still, and for a moment I had the crazy idea that I should just let him see us. I remembered my promise to Johnathen to wait, and just watched him look in our direction. After a few seconds, he went back to his work. It was a very comical thing to watch as he performed magic to fill in the hole. He kept shaking his head and clicking his tongue. He had walked out into the street, focusing on the work at hand. He was so involved with his work that he didn’t see the car heading straight at him. The driver certainly didn’t see him. He was going to get hit. I couldn’t let that happen. I shouted, running toward him. He looked up to see where the sound was coming from and finally noticed the car barreling down the road toward him. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, completely frozen and unable to move. Running at full speed I grabbed him by his hood and pulled him out of the way, just in time. The car never even slowed down. It just honked as it sped down the road. The gnome squeaked and hung there, limp in my hands for a second. He blinked, shook his head, and gave me a surprised look. It was apparent that he could see me now. Fetch came bounding up behind me, his cameo mode forgotten. It was already dark and I had the idea that Fetch didn’t always like having to stay hidden. I didn’t think too much about it at that moment as I was more concerned over the little guy. He saw Fetch coming and his eyes got even bigger with surprise. I gently set him down.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Oh, yyyyes,” he stammered. He kept moving his head back and forth between me and Fetch. "Thththank you for saving me,” he squeaked.

  “No problem,” I said, trying not to laugh.

  He looked so comical standing there, head bouncing back and forth.

  “Just be more careful next time.”

  He stopped moving and stared at me for a second. All of a sudden his eyes filled up with tears and he started breathing rapidly. I was a little concerned that he was going into shock when he reached out and grabbed my hand.

  “It’s true! You really do exist,” he said. “Everyone is talking about you, but here you are so it must be true. You saved me! Oh, thank you! Thank you!”

  He was really starting to get worked up. I didn’t want to leave him like this, so I sat down on the curb next to him. Fetch had gone back into cameo mode, but, as the sun was going down, I could see in the gloom the orange smoke of concern that was pouring out of his snout.

  "Hey guy,” I said, patting him on his shoulder. “You’re ok. Calm down now. My name is”

  “OH! I know who you are,” interrupted the gnome, “You’re the dragon survivor.”

  He pointed in the direction of Fetch's smoke and in a whisper said, “And this is the dragon with a name. You are the protector. You fought off the goblins and won."

  With these words I now knew just how far my story had traveled, and, with a rush of concern, I also realized that by saving this little guy I had my first exposure to the magical world. How would I explain this to Johnathen?

  It was the second time I had been called the dragon survivor. I couldn’t think of anything cornier to be called, but the way it was said by this little guy, let me know just how serious it was to him. The way he was looking at me made me feel uncomfortable. I didn’t really know how to respond to him. He looked as if he was able to see right through me. His dark little eyes seemed to twinkle in the disappearing light of day. I hadn’t thought about it for a while, but I was glad for my ability to see in the dark. This guy seemed harmless but I didn’t want to take any chances.

  The way he was talking, I surmised people in the magic world were talking about me and Fetch. I liked the idea. The more people knew about me, the better. That way when I revealed myself it wouldn’t be such a shock to them. I realized I wanted to be accepted in the magic world. I didn’t want to be this mysterious thing that creatures like this little guy thought of as a savior or a protector. Is that what Johnathen was training me to be? How could I be any kind of a protector?

  I looked down at this funny little guy. He was looking at me with a look of awe. Johnathen would look at me like that sometimes. I wanted him to stop looking at me that way.
I stuck out my hand again and said.

  “I don’t really think I am anything like you just described. My name is Jack. This is Fetch. What's your name?”

  His eyes got bigger with surprise at the gesture, and slowly a smile started to appear on his face. Grabbing my hand, he pumped it up and down. It surprised me how much strength he had as he squeezed my hand.

  “Jack and Fetch,” he said with just as much enthusiasm as his handshake. “Thank you for saving me." He spoke clearly without the stammering. “My name is Smith. That’s my whole name, not my last. Gnomes don’t really have last names, so it’s just Smith. “

  He threw back his head and laughed. It reminded me of a groundhog jabbering in the park. I wasn’t sure if I understood what was so funny, but, seeing what I thought was a sad sack type character laughing this way, I couldn't help but join in. From his cameo hidden mode I heard Fetch laughing too.

  Smith motioned for us to follow him into the park. We walked a little way in and he stopped at a bush. He put his face up to it and blew on one of the leaves. The bush shook a little and split apart, revealing an opening to what seemed to be a tunnel. Smith motioned for us to follow as he walked into it. We still had time before meeting Michelle, so with a look in Fetch's direction, I shrugged and followed Smith into the hole with Fetch at my side.

  We entered the tunnel by crawling and, to our surprise; it opened up into a big room. It was the most fantastic and strange room I had ever seen. First of all, it was enormous! There was a mishmash of magic items and non-magic items. Smith had planted himself on an overstuffed couch in front of a big screen TV. On a table next to the couch was a small cauldron, bubbling and popping with some sort of potion. It smelled like a tennis ball and cinnamon stick. There was a toy plane flying overhead being chased by what I thought was a silver ball at first, but, when it hovered in front of my face for a second, I could see that it was a quarter spinning in the air. The room seemed to stretch all around us, with broken toys and little gizmos tweeting and hooting as they chased each other on the floor. I realized that these little things were playing tag. They stopped playing as Fetch came into view. They slowly moved over to him. Before long, he had a whole group of them just sitting there staring at him. One little car moved up and started crashing into his back paw over and over again. Fetch bent down and, with an amused look on his face, he blew purple smoke in the toy's direction, sending them all running behind the couch, accompanied with squeaks, whistles, and buzzing sounds. After they all disappeared, one little stuffed mouse stepped out from behind the couch. It shook a tiny fist at Fetch, squeaking and hooting. You could tell that he was really chewing him out. This was more like the magic world I had fantasized about.

  I glanced at a workbench that was cluttered with different objects. In the middle of this table was a laptop computer. I looked back over at Smith. I was in full geek mode again. It felt good to have these familiar feelings. So much had changed for me that a familiar excitement was a comfort.

  Smith had a can of soda and was loudly slurping it down. He patted the seat next to him and waved us closer.

  He burped loudly saying,”Please sit. I’m sorry the place is such a mess. As you can see, I have been busy with a few projects that have gotten away from me."

  He smiled and his eyes twinkled. I couldn’t believe that this was the same little guy who seemed so meek just a few moments ago. Here, in this cave, he seemed to be in his element. I had a feeling that the meek little guy was more of an act and this confident little fellow was more like the real Smith. He handed me a soda and offered one to Fetch. He stared at Fetch with a look of curiosity and wonderment.

  “Amazing!" he said. “You have to forgive me for staring at you, Fetch. I have never seen a dragon up close before. I’ve cleaned up after one that has caused trouble, but even that has been while ago.”

  Fetch seemed a little bothered by this last statement. Once again word reached our ears that dragons might not have been seen for a while. I wondered if Smith knew anything about the dragon eggs that had been spread around. I thought I would see what he knew about dragons.

  “What do you mean it’s been a while?" I asked.

  Smith looked at me with a blank look on his face. “Don’t you know?” he asked. “Fetch is the first dragon to be seen in this area for twenty years. That’s why everyone is talking about you. When you were seen on YouTube together, it got everybody in a dither. First, there was Fetch hatching, and then choosing not to take your life force, then the two of you fighting together. Why for years now there have only been rumors of other dragons hatching, but no evidence, only trace magic of an essence exchange, a smell of magic gone dark and nothing else. Just the fact that you are both alive is a great mystery. You see Jack, if Fetch didn’t consume your essence, then he shouldn’t be alive. That your life force wasn’t consumed, whether Fetch wanted to do it or not, is just as big a mystery as what you have become. You both are forces against the very nature of magic.”

  He reached for another soda, giving us time for this to sink in.

  “There are many stories about you. It is believed that a wizard is helping you. If I may be so bold as to ask, would this wizard's name be Johnathen?”

  My stunned silence was enough of a reply

  “Ah, yes. He has always had a connection to the world of humans, and for years he has been trying to discover the mystery of the dragons. His past is a tragic one full of misery. No one knows his full story. He is very mysterious and there has been talk that the council has not agreed with what he does. He is a wizard with great power. He keeps them on their toes. Wizards have a way that can keep others guessing about their intentions. Johnathen is a good man and a better wizard. It is just hard to read what his intentions are sometimes. We gnomes have a saying, 'A wizard's glass is always half full, but you never know what it is full of.' Smith laughed at what he seemed to think of as a good joke. I didn’t know how to respond to this. I took a drink of my soda and glanced over at Fetch. He sat there listening to every word trying not to look too interested. I felt a little uncomfortable at how the conversation seemed to be going. It seemed like our new little friend knew more than it had first seemed. After a short pause and a long drink of his soda, he continued talking about Johnathen.

  “He has had a lot of difficulties with the Fey. Many a time he has accused them of causing trouble. There was one incident that involved a little girl, but no real strong evidence has surfaced. Some say it is because a Fey sits on the council. Have you had any interaction with the Fey?”

  I looked him in the eye at this comment. There was that little twinkle. I wondered just how much he really knew about me and what had happened. I wrestled with the idea of saying 'No'. I looked over at Fetch and saw his eyes changing colors rapidly. They stopped on their neutral green color, giving me the idea that he seemed to think it was ok to answer truthfully about my run in with the fairy.

  “Yes. Just before Fetch hatched, I saw a fairy. She tried to kill me.”

  At these words Smith's eyes got big and round. He sat there in stunned silence.

  “Tried to kill you?” he asked.

  I nodded my head 'Yes'.

  “How?”

  Again I looked at Fetch for some guidance. He nodded his head 'Yes'. I felt that I needed to tell my story. It could be helpful and I was in too deep as it was. I was taking a chance telling our new little friend as much as I was, but it was my story. I wanted to get the word out, so I went for broke. I described how it all happened in as much detail as I could remember. I wished I had my computer with me so I could read the whole story to him. I finished up to the point when Fetch began to hatch. I didn’t want to go any farther than that for now. Smith sat there rubbing his chin. I felt something bumping my foot. I looked down to discover the little toy car that had bumped into Fetch was now trying to get my attention. In fact, all the toys had gathered around me. I guessed that they had been listening to my story.

  “Did she use magic to lure you
out into the street?” asked Smith. “Did you feel a tug or lightheaded? Are you sure she cast a spell to lead you into the street? The fey are trying to find all of the scattered dragon eggs, it is true, but to lure you out into the street so you were almost hit by a truck, and risk damaging the egg, seems strange to me."

  “Yes. I mean, I think."

  I was trying to remember exactly how I felt. I always thought it was strange that she would risk damage to the egg that would become Fetch. I remember feeling lightheaded, but was that because of the shock of seeing a fairy, or because she cast a spell? When I took a moment to really think about it, I wondered why she would do that. I was beginning to have my doubts.

  “Ah, my young friend, I can see that you are troubled. I just wanted to learn more about you. You are the biggest mystery that the magic world has had in a long time. There are things that have happened to you that make you an enigma. For instance, I saw your battle with the goblins on YouTube. You were very brave."

  “Do you know who sent the goblins to attack me?” I asked.

  “Yet another mystery,” said Smith. "There have been rumors that someone has been controlling them for a while now. They have attacked others and caused trouble, but I wouldn’t worry about them now. They are a very cowardly lot. You beat them pretty badly."

  I didn’t want to go into the other encounters with the goblins. I was beginning to feel I had already said too much. This little meeting left me feeling strange. After a while Smith broke the silence.

  “Now Jack, I have a question for you. The lead goblin that attacked you is a chief leader of his people. I recognized him by his always present cigar. His name is Pockhammer. He is considered very cunning and has a fearful reputation. In the goblin community a name is very important. A nickname can destroy the reputation of a goblin, so I need you to be completely honest with me. Did you really call him Booger?”

  I nodded my head 'yes' and shrugged. Smith threw back his head roaring with laughter. After a few minutes, he sat up with tears of mirth in his eyes.