Made of Magic and True Grit

by Landry-Daniel Lié

  “Let me go!” Vince screamed, Pinly rushed from behind the curtains and into the next room. Vince was in his human form and the squire was holding him by the arm. This time the squire wasn't in his spectre form, green eyes piercing through his gaze. Pinly charged at the squire who immediately changed into his spectre form. He went through him, just like Miss Poli said he would. Vince was free to go. The boys made a run for it, but before they could leave, Tempus had arrived. He stood by the door. The boys were now surrounded.

  “Sire, I have found these two lurking in the corridors! Filthy maggots they are!”

  “Who are you calling maggots, with your crooked face!” Vince shouted. The squire gasped in outrage

  “Let me kill them Sire!” He screamed with sudden madness

  “Bring it on!” Vince shouted,

  The squire gasped even louder “You insolents” he said, his face now scarlet with anger.

  "How dare you come into my castle and insult us" Tempus said. The boys didn't reply, they just conjured their weapons “I see” the leprechaun unsheathed his sword. Pinly didn't look back but he could hear the squire's axe cutting through the air.

  “Is this still part of the training?” Vince whispered

  “I don't know” Pinly shrugged “let's make a run for it” he said

  “How?”

  “We both run towards the gimp at the back” Pinly and Vince turned around and charged towards the squire. The bald leprechaun didn't show any sign of fear. He prepared to welcome them with a swing of his axe. Pinly dodged it and Vince transformed before passing between the squire's legs. They burst through the next room and continued flying throughout the castle. “Where are we going?” Pinly's eyes darted in every direction as he looked at the infinite number of doors and corridors. He saw blue lights flash before him. Tempus and his squire were now opposite them. It only took a second for the spectres to jump through the air, axe and sword ready to strike at the boys. Vince changed form and dragged Pinly to the ground, holding on to his ankles. The spectres missed them by an inch. Vince changed back and they flew away. The spectres were close behind the boys. They had to dodge attacks. The squire was laughing wildly. “In there!” Pinly burst through a door.

  “Don't let them escape!” Tempus shouted. They were trapped in that room, no other exit then the door that led straight to the leprechauns. A few seconds later, the spectres entered the room. The boys stood their ground, swords in their hands, ready to defend themselves. Both spectres grinned maliciously “Take the squire, I'll take the other one” Pinly said, Vince nodded. “You really think you can fight me?” Tempus laughed. His blue light disappeared and he was of flesh again. Pinly and Vince roared and charged at the foes who did the same. As Pinly expected, the leprechauns were fast, but before either side could strike first, an explosion of wind sent them all flying back.

  “Okay that’s enough for today” Miss poli's voice sounded out of nowhere. The spectres disappeared and the bricks behind the boys fell. It formed a hole big enough for them to go through which led to the outside where Miss Poli was waiting for them.

  “What was that?!” Vince looked as if he couldn't believe what had just happened

  “That will be your training from now on” Miss Poli replied when they landed

  “Don't you think it's a bit much, they're obviously much stronger than we are” Pinly said

  “That's good, you'll meet strong people out there, you need to be ready for it” she replied

  “What are these spectres? Were they ever alive once?” Pinly asked, he knew they had been alive at one point, he just wanted to hear it from Miss Poli. He wanted her to tell them who Tempus really was to her. Pinly and Miss Poli had a way of communicating. He couldn't explain it. They knew each other well so it only took a glance for them to say things to each other. Something Vince never seemed to notice. They didn't mean to keep him out of the loop, but there were things Pinly didn't want to ask or say out loud, all he had to do was look at the witch and she would understand. This was one of those moments.

  “Sit down” she waved a hand to the ground, before sitting on the stump. “All magical folks have a summoning power, the fairies can summon Golems, the leprechauns can summon Elmers and witches summon spectres” She looked at them as if waiting for them to ask questions. Pinly had so many of them already, but that would mean revealing more than he thought wise to. “Spectres are usually someone dear to the person who summons them" her voice broke a little when she said that, only confirming what Pinly thought.

  “These were leprechauns weren't they?” Vince asked

  “Indeed” she nodded “The best I've ever known” she said proudly. This was Pinly's opportunity to ask his burning question

  “Who were they to you?” He asked softly. Miss Poli looked up, trying to hold her tears back

  “My younger brother Cook…”

  “Younger brother?” Vince interrupted her “but he's a leprechaun”

  Miss Poli smiled “It's just like you and Pinly, we found and adopted each other…”

  “No offence, but Cook is very disturbed” Vince said, Pinly elbowed him in the rib “Ouch”

  “It's alright” she chuckled “when you are summoned into a spectre, everything you were before, changes”

  “Why are you so sad? You still get to see them” Vince said

  “It's not the same, they're trapped and have no idea who they really are…”

  “Who's Tempus?” Pinly hurried to ask before Vince could interrupt with another of his questions, Miss Poli sighed

  “Tempus…” She said softly “He was my right arm and I was his... He was my everything” she said

  “How did he die?... If you don't mind me asking” Pinly asked,

  she shook her head “It was during the war for the new countries, he died on the battlefield”

  “So which side were you guys fighting for?” Vince asked

  “Okay, that's enough of that, let's eat" she said before disappearing into her house. Miss Poli didn't come out for several hours that evening. Pinly was worried that all the questions may have saddened the witch. Her past was full of heartbreaks. She had lost so many close ones, many more than he had. She finally came out late during the night. The boys didn't mind. Vince had spent the last few hours telling Pinly how exciting he found the new training. How there was so much they could learn from fighting Leprechauns and how at the end of that training they'd be able to fight anything and anyone. Pinly was glad Tempus and Cook were leprechauns too, he couldn't have hoped for better training partners than other leprechauns just like the silver soldier. The witch handed two plates to the boys, both with a lot of vegetables and big pieces of meat. The boys had stopped asking what meat they were eating, they never knew what they were or even how she had come across such animals. The only thing that mattered is that they were always good.

  “So now that Tempus knows about us, things are going to get harder right?” Vince asked as he stuffed meat into his mouth

  “Yes. I guess it's for the best, you can learn quite a lot from those two” she replied

  “Any tips?” Pinly asked, Miss Poli nodded

  “Don't try to outrun or outfly them. Try to make it through without being seen, but if they do see you... Fight like hell, they won't kill you, they know what's going on”

  Chapter 19

  The breakdown

  T he next day, the boys were back at it.

  “Remember, they can't do anything to us in their spectre form” Pinly said. Vince nodded absentmindedly. He seemed focused. They went through the corridor, then discreetly flew inside the red and gold room. Pinly put a hand on Vince's chest to stop him moving forward. Tempus was there, sitting on the throne, his eyes were shut and his head was resting on his fist.

  “Do you think spectres can sleep?” Vince whispered, but before Pinly could reply, he had to violently push the tiny fairy out of the way. Cook had appeared out of nowhere, mid-air, his axe ready to strike them down.

&n
bsp; “No they don't!” Cook laughed like the maniac he was. His axe embedded in the wall. The boys flew down, but Tempus was waiting there for them, his sword ready to slash. Pinly conjured his own and they clashed. The fairy was sent flying back by the impact. He saw Cook coming from behind, his axe fully drawn, but before Cook could reach him, Vince was swinging at the squire with both his swords. Cook changed to his spectre form and Vince went through him. The squire let out another of his demented laughs and engaged in a fight with Vince. The speed at which they both changed to their different forms was impressive.

  “Don't forget about me!” Pinly dodged Tempus just in time but was grazed on the cheek. Small beads of blood began to drip down his face, it stung but he wasn't going to complain about such a small cut when Tempus was swinging at him, left and right. He couldn't keep up with him at all. He had to fly back to avoid being cut again.

  “P the door!” He heard Vince's voice and saw one of his sabres fly towards Tempus. The leprechaun dodged it, giving time for Pinly to escape to the other corridor.

  “They're so strong!” Pinly said as he realised he had a few more cuts than he thought. He quickly glanced back and realised that the spectres weren't following them “let's hide” he said. They entered a new room. It was dark and dusty, there was a large bed and a few other furniture he didn't take time to look at. They quickly slid under the bed.

  “What's the plan?” Vince could stand under the bed since he was so small. He stayed close to Pinly's ear so he could whisper.

  “I don't know, but we need to avoid being seen at all cost” Pinly replied

  “Absolutely” Vince nodded. The thought of fighting Tempus again made Pinly's heart race. Now he understood why Miss Poli was training them to run more than to fight, if they were to meet folks as strong as Tempus out there, it would be bad. There would be no Miss Poli to intervene. They would be killed. Pinly silently gasped when he saw the blue light of one of the spectres illuminating the room. There was no way to tell if it was Tempus or Cook as the spectre flew too high for them to see their feet. Vince walked to the edge of their hideout to have a better look. He clapped his hands over his mouth, the tiny fairy stepped backwards, his arms blindly reaching for Pinly's face.

  “Ouch!” Pinly's voice resonated louder than he wanted it to as Vince's hand poked him in the eye. Pinly heard feet rapidly land on the bed. Then total silence. Suddenly, a blade went through the mattress and missed to cut Pinly's face by an inch, he rolled out of the bed and to his horror, Tempus had multiplied by twenty, all twenty in spectre form apart from the one with the blade embedded though the mattress. Vince took advantage of the situation and pushed Tempus while he was retrieving his sword. They then made a run for it, through the corridor again. “Pinly!” He heard Vince scream, but before he could realise why, Cook was about to cut through him with his axe again.

  “Ok that's fine” Miss Poli's voice resonated and Cook turned back to a spectre before reaching Pinly who was still shielding himself with his bare hands, awaiting the blow.

  The next few weeks, the boys kept invading the castle. Each time they failed to hide from the spectres and it would turn into life threatening battles around the castle. They had managed to move further into the castle, discovering new corridors and rooms, hidden passages and trap doors, but every time they thought they were safe, they would stumble upon either Tempus or Cook. One never too far from the other. The positive thing was that as Vince had predicted, they were much better at fighting, they learned new things every day. Whenever they finished in the castle they would mimic some of the moves Tempus and Cook had done and even some new moves they had improvised. Pinly now managed to fight without getting cut as much, even though Tempus was still way too fast for him. Vince had been fighting Cook most of the time and told Pinly how powerful the squire was, even though Pinly had witnessed it and was well aware of his strength too. Cook once swung his axe so hard, he went through one of the wooden doors, Miss Poli immediately called off the training that day. Vince was beyond excited, he even begged her to let it continue but she refused. She made them run around the forest instead. The weeks passed and the boys made no progress, it didn't seem as though they would find that diamond anytime soon and Pinly grew frustrated. The month period by which Miss Poli had said they should have found the diamond had passed. Sure they were stronger and much better fighters now, but Pinly began hating losing every day. One day, Pinly and Vince had managed to get to the tower where the diamond was. They were at the bottom, when Tempus and Cook found them. They engaged in their usual fighting, but Pinly was in a particularly bad mood, a kick to the chest from Tempus had done it that time.

  “Enough!” His voice resonated through the tower staircase, louder than the ruckus, Vince and Cook made whilst fighting. Everyone stopped at once. “I've had enough!” Pinly shouted, but he wasn't talking to Tempus who was standing in front of him. He was talking to Miss Poli. “Get me out of here, I don't want to do this anymore!” He screamed, he was hot with anger and meant every single word. There was no response from Miss Poli, the tower remained silent and cold. Tempus and Cook disappeared at once. Vince came flying down next to Pinly.

  “P what's wrong?” Vince changed into his human form and put an arm around Pinly's shoulder, but he shrugged it off without even acknowledging him.

  “Miss Poli!” Pinly screamed, he felt a sudden outburst of aura. He concentrated the power into his hands and it manifested into white light, it was much more powerful than before. Pinly ran towards the wall and blasted a massive hole through it. He had to fly over the castle's ramparts before landing where Miss Poli was waiting by her small house. The witch looked angry, but Pinly was not sorry for what he had done.

  “What is the meaning of all this?” She frowned. Pinly was frowning furiously too and his fists were clenched so hard they were bloodless.

  “I don't want to do this anymore”

  “Do what? Train? Save Lion?” She crossed her arms, Pinly felt so much rage at the mention of his brother

  “This is not helping Lion! I'm tired of playing hide and seek with these damn ghosts!”

  “Control yourself Pinly! You're acting like a child!” Miss Poli raised a severe finger at him

  “Maybe it's because I am, and maybe a child shouldn't be fighting thousand years old spectres!”

  “Who do you think is waiting out there? Huh?” She glared at him “Stronger creatures are out there, if you don't feel up to the task maybe you're right, maybe you should give up!”

  “Maybe I will!”

  “Pinly calm down, we're still…” Vince began

  “Vince stay out of it!” Pinly snapped “I'm not doing this anymore”

  “You don't have a choice, you either fetch the diamond or you will stay here for a very long time!” She said before turning her back to him and walking into her house. The door banged behind her.

  “Ahh!” Pinly screamed before falling to his knees. He stared at the green door for a long while, but Miss Poli didn't come out again that day. The boys hung around the forest, nibbling on fruits, barely talking at all. When Pinly had had time to calm down, he realised how crazy he had acted and how rude he had been to Miss Poli. Truth was that, he started to feel scared, the more he fought against Tempus, the clearer it was that he wasn't strong enough. Sure he was getting stronger and was training harder than he thought was possible, but none of it seemed enough. Each defeat in the castle made him more bitter every day. He wasn't angry at Miss Poli, Vince or the spectres at all. He was just mad at himself for being so weak. He now regretted taking his frustration out on Miss Poli. The boys were sitting by the lake, just dipping their feet into the water. Pinly didn't feel like swimming at all.

  “Pinly, we're so close, why are you giving up now?” Vince said. Pinly could tell Vince had been wanting to say these exact words for hours now.

  “I'm not giving up, I'm just fed up, it's just so frustrating…”

  “What's frustrating? Did you think the training wou
ld be painless? It wouldn't do us any good if it was!”

  “I know Vince ok?!” Pinly flew up to rest on a branch. Later that evening, he went to knock on Miss Poli's door.

  “Enter” he heard Miss Poli say. He entered the brightly lit house. The witch was sitting by the table. Her hands rested around a steaming tea cup. He found her calm stare uncomfortable. He would rather have her scream than acting so calm. There was no way to tell if she was still angry or not. He pulled a chair and sat opposite her.

  “I'm sorry for earlier” he said, she nodded “I'm scared, I don't know if I'm capable of saving Lion and it terrifies me”

  “I'm scared for you too and that's why I'm training you, but you don't have to worry about Lion anymore. I told you, I will take care of that, I will get your brother back, I promise” she sighed deeply “But I know for a fact that you will meet these creatures again. Whether it's tomorrow, in a year or two. I know you will, so all I can do is prepare you for it, but you have to let me do it... As a fairy you have powers beyond anything you've ever imagined. There's only so much me as a mage can teach you, but you have to let me teach you what I know” Pinly nodded

  “Ok, let's finish this” he stood up, more determined than ever. That talk was all he needed.

  Chapter 20

  The last try

  T he next morning Pinly and Vince were waiting for Miss Poli by the doors of the castle. They were stretching and warming up. Pinly was still all fired up and so was Vince, but then again, Vince always was.

  “I'm glad you changed your mind” Vince grunted as he stretched his leg low to the ground.

  “So am I. Today is our day. We cannot leave that castle without the diamond” Pinly said.

  “You read my mind mate” Vince began stretching his other leg

  “I've noticed something about Tempus and Cook…” Pinly began, Vince stopped what he was doing and paid better attention to what Pinly had to say “The only times we managed to move forward in the castle is when we separated them” Vince's face wrinkled as he thought hard to remember.