Forced Magic (27 page)

He seemed to act so sweet to Molly. I wondered what I could
do to get on his good side, the crusty old elf. As soon as I thought the words
I berated myself for thinking that. It really wasn’t fair to judge him that
way. As far as I knew, he had been through a lot. His apparent ability to use
computers must have made him an outcast from other magic realm people. He
called Molly a pupil, meaning that he must be teaching others how to use
computers, so he had to be a pretty smart guy. It was just hard to understand
that, when he was chucking soda cans at my head.

“Pek, we need to access someone’s Facebook page,” said
Molly.

Pek gave her a sad little look.

“Molly, that is the first thing I taught you how to do,” he
said in a trembling voice. “Have you already forgotten?”

I was about to pipe up and say that I could do it when Smith
spoke up.

”This page is one of your special pages, Pek.”

Pek jerked in his seat as if he had sat on something sharp.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Smith,” he said in
a high squeaky voice.

Obviously he was lying. I began to pace a little, trying not
to let all of this get to me. I should have just gone back to the hotel room
and gotten on my own computer. I started to feel this was a waste of time. I
reminded myself that Michele said to come here.

“It was made by one of your favorite students, Pek,"
said Smith in calm, even voice. “One that you took under your wing, even though
the council might have forbidden you to do so.”

All eyes were on Smith at this comment and once again I was
hit with the thought that there was more to this gnome than meets the eye.

“The council is not always right,” said Pek. "They can
be too easily influenced by fear and a lack of understanding of what is new.
You, young lady, should be mindful of that.”

He was pointing at Samantha at that last statement. She
looked at the small elf, her face turning red.

“I have done more than you know,” she said. “I have opened
discussions between members of the council that have allowed you to continue
your work."

“Not enough,” said Pek stubbornly. “You should have stepped
in between your father and Johnathen long ago.”

Once again I felt like I was being left in the dark over
matters involving the magic realm. How was I ever to fit in with a group that
seemed to have so many rules that I just didn’t understand?

“I found Jack and tried to warn him about the dragon egg in
his pocket. If he hadn’t been so stupid and stepped out into traffic, we
wouldn’t be having this conversation right now."

”Yes, perhaps not, but the problem would still be there. The
council would still be arguing and we would still be learning what we need to
learn in secret. Jack's stupidity may have set in motion things that needed to
be set in motion. “

“All right,” I said. I was getting a little annoyed at being
called stupid. “Let’s just move on, ok? Michelle is not going to get the help
she needs if we don’t stop this bickering. “

Pek had once again stood up in his chair.

“Did you say Michelle? Why didn’t you tell me it was
her?"

He sat down hard in his chair and began to furiously type on
the keyboard, mumbling the whole time. I got a good look at his computer as he
typed. I had never seen the symbol that was on the back of it before. It was
not like any computer I had ever heard of. The whole thing glowed blue and
would pulse as Pek typed on the keys. The design changed with every stroke of
the keys. It reminded me of Molly’s blue light that surrounded her. Pek must
have worked some kind of magic into this laptop, something I thought was
impossible to do. Where there is a will there is a way, I guess. The whole time
Pek was working on his computer he was mumbling to himself. Every once in a
while I would hear words like 'Flap' and 'troll dung' come out of his mouth. I
figured he was talking about me. I really needed to find out what flap meant.

After a few minutes Pek let out a little grunt of
satisfaction. He signaled me to come and look and I moved over to him. Fetch
followed me around and Smith came over. I noticed that no one else in the room
made a move toward the computer. They acted as if they were scared of it. I
realized that they had the same reaction that most people would have if they
were suddenly introduced to the magic world, untrusting and scared of the
unknown. I needed to work on this with them.

I glanced down at the Facebook page. Michelle’s smiling face
was there on her time-line. All of her posts seemed to be questions regarding
two things, dragons and tattoos. I knew that these were things close to her
heart, but reading the questions I discovered that she was trying to get
information from people about both. Questions of why people got their tattoos
seemed to spread all through the page and I thought she was gathering
information to give to Johnathen. But why? Why hadn’t I noticed this before?
What would Johnathen want with information about tattoos? I read a post where
she was encouraging people to check out my Facebook page, and I realized that I
needed to thank Pek for keeping it around. His face was still red and I decided
to wait until he was not so angry before bringing up that little fact.

There was a blog that Michelle had written regarding the
reasons why people got tattoos. I knew I was missing something, something that
she was trying to tell me, something that very few people in the magic world
would ever discover. Then a post popped up on her Facebook page. A simple post
dated today:

"All the cool dragons meet here, even my tattoo."

There was a map that pointed to a single spot. I looked at
the map. It named two streets I was familiar with. They were the cross streets
where the tunnel that Fetch hatched off my leg was located.

 There was a loud booming sound outside of Pek's small
trailer. It shook us all to the bone, vibrating through our bodies. All of a
sudden the trailer was lifted into the air and then slammed down again. It was
like a giant child had picked us up like a toy and then threw us down in anger.
We all went flying through the small trailer. The power went out. The only
light was the blue glow Molly was generating.

I could hear Pek groaning. He was hurt, but I didn’t know
how to get to him. He seemed to be buried underneath a pile of his empty
chicken boxes. Smith was laying face down by Molly. She had her arms around
him, protecting him in case another attack happened. Samantha was helping Pete
up. He drew his sword, a wild look in his eye like he was ready for battle.
There was a gash across his forehead that was bleeding freely. There was a
strange glow to his blood. I felt a twinge in my hip as I got up. I had a
strange wild thought about my hip. Even though I had gone through all of these
amazing changes, I felt like one day I would still have to have my hip
replaced. I looked around, and, in the low glow of Molly’s blue light, I
couldn’t spot Fetch.

“Fetch!" I yelled “Fetch, where are you?"

He made a small sound. It sounded almost like he was
groaning. I spotted him over by the small window. He was looking outside, his
body was stiff as if he was getting ready to spring into action. A light had
appeared outside. Fetch began to hum. The only time I had ever heard that sound
before was when we first met in that tunnel. It was a sad and eerie thing to
hear. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Smith had slowly moved to a
sitting position with the help of Molly. He was staring at Fetch with a look of
confusion on his face. Samantha had followed Pek's moans, after helping Pete
get to his feet, and had successfully pulled him out of the middle of his
avalanche of garbage.  His computer was clutched to his chest and he kept his
eyes tightly shut as if this was a bad dream that he could wish away.

Seeing that everyone was ok, I turned my attention back to
Fetch and his strange humming. I move cautiously toward him. He was seeing
whatever had attacked us and seemed to be transfixed by it. I reached out to
touch him and before I could ask him what was up a voice spoke.

“Come on out, Jack. You and Fetch. We need to talk.”

The voice sounded familiar. At first I couldn’t place it, and
then it dawned on me. It was the voice from my nightmare in the tunnel. It was
the voice of my nightmare brother telling me I was a burden. I didn’t know who
was waiting for us outside, but I knew it had to be my mysterious attacker. He
knew mine and Fetch's names and somehow he had tracked us here. I wished more
than ever that Johnathen was here.

I looked around at everybody in the trailer. Both Molly and
Samantha had balls of attack light in their hands, and Pete's sword was glowing
with a white energy. Smith had stood up and spread his arms. He was chanting in
a language that was full of power. His very words had a weight to them and you
could almost see them as they fell out of his mouth. Pek continued to sit
there, his eyes shut.

I could hear laughter outside and again, his voice
amplified, he spoke.

“It’s all just empty gesturing my friends. You don’t have
the power to defeat me."

The trailer was picked up and dropped again, not as high as
last time but enough to let us know that he meant business. Pete moved toward
the window. When he was standing next to me, he tried to look around Fetch. A
light of pure energy shot through the window hitting his sword. He fell back as
if hit by lightning, his sword reduced to a twisted black piece of metal.

“Jack, I am beginning to get a little angry. If you don’t
come out now, someone is going to get hurt.”

I had no choice but to do what the voice said. I walked to
the door and stood there. Fetch had never stopped looking out that little
window.

“Fetch,” I said. “Come on.”

I wanted to ask him what he saw. I knew I was about to see
it myself. I didn’t think this guy wanted to kill us. If he did, he would have
already done it. Fetch's tail twitched and he moved over to my side. He had a
look on his face that I had never seen before. It was like he was in some sort
of trance. When we stepped out of the door into the unnatural light, I
understood why.

It was just a silhouette standing there. It moved and
twisted around and I knew what it was. It was the smoke from my nightmare.
Smokey and oily, moving around like it wanted to change form. This was the
thing that had attacked me in my dream. I was sure of it. Power was emanating
from the smoke. Behind it was a red and gold scaled dragon the size of a house.
Its long neck curved in the same 'S' shape as Fetch’s. It stared straight ahead
not even looking at either one of us. Ignoring us as if we were beneath its notice.
Its presence radiated power and its slow breathing gave off a heat that had me
breaking out in a sweat.

“Impressive, huh?” asked the voice. This is what Fetch
should be, Jack. He should be like my good friend here.”

At the word 'friend', the dragon glanced down at the black
shadow. His eyes went from a green color to a dark red and the smoke coming out
of his snout was the same color. He was not happy at being called 'friend' by
this shadow. Then it hit me.

“You have some sort of control over him.” I said.

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. The dragon glanced
down at us as if telling us this was true. It was not happy at its situation.
The shadow waved his hand in the air and a very familiar blue ball appeared.
Dozens of goblins began to pour out of the orb. They were strangely quiet, just
standing there waiting for an order to attack. I heard Pete rattle his sword
behind me and knew that my little group of friends was behind me. The shadow
laughed.

“You really think you can stop me now?” he asked. “Now? I am
more powerful than all of you combined and could destroy you with a flick of my
hand.”

“What do you want?” I asked ignoring his bragging.

“Many things, Jack, many things, but first things
first."

He threw something at me from within the darkness. It landed
at my feet. It was Michelle’s cell phone.

“She is mine now, Jack. I caught her just outside of the
club. Did you think that you and Fetch were the only ones that were important?
She should have stayed safe. By leaving Jonathan's side and going into the club
to expose herself and you, she betrayed the one who would protect her from
harm."

I didn’t like the sound of this. He sounded crazy and I was
scared he had hurt Michelle in some way. I knew that Michelle's Facebook page
was a clue as to what was going on.

“It's not too late to save her, Jack. All you have to do is
join me and you can save her. With your ability to control Fetch, and the
changes you have gone through, I could make you the controller of all the
dragons, Jack. Hundreds of them, all yours to command.”

At these words, Fetch and I turned to each other and did
something that shocked everyone present. We laughed, long and hard. Here we
were in the presence of a power that, for all we knew, could wipe us completely
out of existence, and we laughed. The dragon looked down at us with an obvious
look of surprise on its face. This just sent us into more fits of laughter.
Fetch took his tail, and, like so many times before, smacked me in the back of
the head. I turned to him and punched him in the snout, just like I had done
the first time we met in that tunnel under the street. We stood there laughing
as I rubbed the back of my head and Fetch grabbed the front of his snout, tears
streaming out of his eyes.

Shaking my head, I looked toward the shadow. I was scared
for Michelle, but I felt that giving this thing the upper hand was a bad idea.
Putting a hand on Fetch's shoulder, I spoke.

“Man, you just don’t get it, dude. I don’t control Fetch.
Never did. He can leave anytime he wants. He is free to do whatever he wants.
He hangs around because we are friends. No one understands that I have never
controlled him. He makes his own choices. Sure, his hatching on me, and his
choice not to eat me, has changed me and made Fetch different from other
dragons, but it was his choice to do so. Even his name was his choice, not
mine."

This little rant was greeted with silence. All the pieces
were coming together, and if I could keep talking, I might distract the shadow
long enough for Smith or someone to find a way out of this. If I could get to
Johnathen then he could help me get Michelle, but giving into this thing was
wrong. I could feel it in my bones. Giving into its demands would mean terror.
I could hear Smith chanting behind me and Molly whispered so no one would hear,
”Stall”. This thing seemed focused on me, so I had to come up with some way to
keep it occupied.

“How did you do it? How did you get into my dream that
day?"

The shadow laughed. There was a shimmer, and, for a second,
I saw someone behind the shadow. The smoke was just a shield, a disguise hiding
the person behind.

“Get into your dream, Jack? I didn’t get into your dream. I
caused it. It was all part of a spell. The dragon eggs, the nightmare visions
you had were all part of a spell designed to gain control over the dragons, to
gain part of their power. I was on my way to becoming what this world needed, a
master, someone to take control and set this world right. Your nightmare was
part of a spell designed to give me part of your essence and life force, as
well as the essence of the dragon consuming you. I pull the host into my mind
at the time the dragon consumes them. When they do a part of me is consumed as
well. This part gives me power and control over the dragon. But Fetch decided
to go against nature and keep you alive. It broke the spell, causing me to lose
my impetus of changing this world into my design. It doesn’t matter though, I
have another path to power and control. This botched spell will only set things
back a little bit. That's what you really are Jack, a botched spell."

This guy was a maniac. Whatever else he was, he was crazy.
You could hear it in his voice. That scared me the most, power with no
conscience. I thought about what he said. It seemed to make sense in some
strange way. I wondered what this new power he was talking about was. I wanted
to believe he was bluffing, but I wasn’t sure.

“Sorry we spoiled your plans, dude." I said. “I guess I
was better equipped for getting some dragon power than you were. Of course, the
way you were forcing it, may have given Fetch the ability to choose.”

It was a risk talking to him this way but I needed to keep
him on his toes. All the talking was directed at me and Fetch, and no one else
seemed to want to say anything. The dragon looked down at us at my words. For a
second it looked confused.

“So what’s this new thing you are talking about? You're
taking snot from trolls now to make a power drink?”

I knew it was corny and taunting to say what I was saying. I
was relying on my years of comic book reading for guidance. I was trying to get
the villain monologue-ing. Trying to get him to give away his plans. Behind me
Smith continued to chant.

The shadow laughed. ”Oh no, Jack. My new powers come from
ordinary people. I need no help from dragons. I found a way to take the life
force of people and add it to my power. I will soon be too powerful to stop.
People’s emotions fuel their essence. Fear, doubt, regret, anger, happiness,
love, all of the emotions, and the memories attached to them, are powerful
things, Jack. I have found a way to take them from certain people. I have been
working on this for a while, Jack, not ever having much success, until tonight.
Not until I captured your friend, Michelle. She was the first true success. Oh,
how she screamed for you and Fetch. How she begged for me to stop. But in the
end, I had to take it all. She will never be the same, but you can still save
her, Jack, by joining me."

During this little speech my anger and frustration were
building up inside of me. I couldn’t keep it all in check much longer. I was
ready to attack this shadow and tear it apart. Something in its voice made me
believe he wasn’t bluffing. He had hurt Michelle and for that I was ready to
tear him apart. But, before I could do anything, Fetch attacked. With a roar
and a flash of red fire he charged. This shadow guy made a fatal mistake. He
had pushed Fetch's buttons.  He hurt Michelle, and there was no more listening
to him.

The red dragon roared in return and blocked Fetch's fire
with a red blast of his own. Smith seemed to finish his spell and a blast, of
what looked like silver, shot out of his hands straight for the chest of the
shadow man. As it got close, the shadow man clapped his hands together in front
of him. As the silver hit his hands, he pulled them apart, splitting the silver
spell in two. It went in two different directions into the desert and
disappeared. The spell seemed to have an effect on him though. He staggered
back making a grunting sound.

The goblins that had come out of the ball began to move on
us. With one shout from the shadow man they stopped and crouched down, waiting
for another chance to advance. Fetch had been knocked back by the blast from
the red dragon but had recovered quickly. He stood at my side, growling, ready
for another chance to attack.

“You picked the wrong friends, Jack. My, my, what will
Johnathen say about you spending time with fairies?"

“What will Johnathen say when he finds out you hurt
Michelle?" I retorted.

I was getting angrier by the minute. I could feel the forced
magic beginning to build in me. It swirled around in my chest, gaining strength
from my anger. The shadow man pointed at Smith.

“You have interfered for the last time, Smith,” he said,
“you and Samantha. I have decided that one of you must die.”