Indigo Magic (18 page)

I rubbed my forehead with a tired hand. ‘If I lift it, the gremlins will come in too – and everyone else who wants to harm us.’ My friends watched as I turned my back on the window and collapsed into my mother’s nest. ‘I’d have to redo the whole enchantment. It used up tens of thousands of radia the first time.’

Andalonus twisted strands of his blue hair. ‘You’re watching out for your radia? At a time like this?’

‘She’s right.’ Turning from the window, Meteor wore a heavy frown. ‘There are hundreds of fairies and genies out there. How would she decide who gets to come in? They’re all in a panic.’ He looked at me. ‘Save your magic, Zaria. The gremlins won’t stay for ever.’ He faced Andalonus. ‘If those fey folk had any love for Zaria, they could open the door. It’s not her fault.’ He pulled the curtain shut.

Leona floated over to me. ‘It’s not that everyone hates you, Zaree. They haven’t all tried the door.’ She looked tired, I could see it now. As for Andalonus, he closed his eyes and sank onto the cushions of the window seat.

‘Did you get the pixie song?’ Meteor asked.

Nodding, Leona pointed at Andalonus. ‘Would you believe yes?’

‘You got the song!’ I touched a wing to Leona’s then
flew
to hug Andalonus. ‘Did you like dancing with the pixies?’

He groaned.

Leona explained. ‘He had to do a lot of singing and dancing while I hid and spied on him. The pixies almost carried him away for ever, but we got out with the song.’

I smiled at Andalonus. ‘My sympathies.’

‘And what about you?’ Leona asked. ‘Did you get the gremlin biscuit?’

Meteor snorted. ‘No,’ he answered, floating back to the window. ‘But we got the Nectara from the trolls.’ He pulled a corner of the curtain and peeked out. ‘Oberon’s Crown!’ he roared before Leona and Andalonus could react to our news. ‘Your protection is failing, Zaree. Gremlins are getting past it.’

‘What?’ I darted to the window in time to see a mob of gremlins hurl themselves against the barrier. None got through. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I saw a gremlin run right inside,’ he insisted.

‘Are you sure?’ Rushing to open the door, I listened at the landing, my friends crowding close behind.

We heard muffled clanking sounds and flew at high speed down to the hearth room.

A small gremlin was hunched in a corner holding my family clock. He’d already managed to open it, and his little hands were crammed inside its workings.

My family clock! I swooped in on the gremlin. How
dare
he! I made a grab for the clock, but he scuttled away, leaving me holding nothing but air.

‘Give that back!’ I screeched so loudly I could have been a gremlin myself.

Meteor, Leona and Andalonus each tried to snatch the clock. Meteor almost nabbed the gremlin’s shoulder, but no one else came anywhere near catching him.

‘How did you get in?’ Meteor yelled.

The creature leaped onto our lowest perch. All four of us converged on him. Squeezing the clock with both arms, he squeaked defiantly.

For the first time, I got a good look at his face. ‘Tumble? Why are you breaking my clock?’

‘Already broken,’ he said in a piping voice.
Scamp!

‘Give it to me,’ I ordered, extending my hand.

He hunched over it more closely. ‘Why can’t I fix it?’

‘Fix it?’ Meteor exclaimed.

‘Gremlins don’t fix things,’ Leona said.

Tumble stuck out his lower lip. ‘We know
how
,’ he said. ‘Not supposed to.’

What? I remembered how his fellow gremlins had booted him out of their game. Was he an outcast because he liked to
fix
things? ‘All right, then,’ I said. ‘Fix the clock.’

Tucking his feet under him, he set to work. I watched as he adjusted tiny gears with his nimble fingers. Every now
and
then he held the clock to his ear. Soon, an extra-wide grin split his face. Bending close, I heard a soft, even ticking.

‘You did it!’ I hugged the little imp and joined him on the perch.

But just then, Laz strolled in.

F
AIRIES AND GENIES ARE ENJOINED TO USE THEIR MAGIC WITH CARE, ALWAYS CONSIDERING,
BEFORE
CASTING A SPELL, WHAT ITS EFFECTS MAY BE
. F
OR IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT AN ENCHANTMENT OF BENEFIT TO ONE MAY WELL BE THE DOWNFALL OF ANOTHER
.

Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland

LAZ STILL WORE
his backpack turned frontways. ‘Glad I could join you,’ he said caustically.

My friends were all staring at him, while his eyes moved lazily from one to another of us. ‘What? No words of welcome?’ he said. ‘Only seek me out when you’re in trouble? Which, by the way, you’re in now – if you haven’t noticed.’

‘Oberon’s Crown!’ Leona whirled on me. ‘The smuggler loves you?’

Amazed, I gazed at the lanky genie. Did he love me? Laz? Was it possible? But then my eyes went to the battered cap on his head. ‘Tell them about your cap, Laz,’ I hurried to say, afraid Leona had betrayed the secret of how my protections worked.

‘Yes, I have great fondness for Zaria,’ he told Leona,
sneering
. He wrinkled his nose. ‘Is that putch I smell?’

Glancing at my skirts, I saw just how bedraggled and filthy they were. There was definitely a stench coming from me – and, now that I noticed, from Meteor too. I whipped out my wand. ‘Clean clothes,’ I muttered, waving in the direction of us both, relieved when my gown freshened and so did Meteor’s robes. It was a wasteful use of magic, but at that moment saving time seemed more important.

‘Your cap? Tell them,’ I said to Laz, rising from the perch. Well, I tried to rise, but Tumble clung so tightly to my waist, I lost my balance and fell back onto the pillows. Gently, I unfastened his arms, putting the mended clock into his hands. Clutching it, he scooted back, almost disappearing in the worn cushions.

‘Laz’s cap is magic,’ Meteor told Leona. ‘It protects him from all enchantments.’

Laz bowed again, mockingly. Even when he bent far forward, the cap remained on his head. ‘Including Feynere enchantments,’ he said. ‘And all it cost me was a hand of cards.’

Leona flew at the smuggler, grabbing the brim of his hat. She gave it a tug but it didn’t move. She tugged harder. The hat stayed fixed to Laz’s stringy hair.

He clicked his tongue. ‘Careful, my temperamental fairy. This cap can only change hands voluntarily – much like one of the ingredients of aevia ray.’

Leona looked at me in disbelief. ‘You told him about aevia ray?’

‘He
guessed
.’

She brandished her wand at Laz. ‘Give me that cap.’

The smuggler chuckled gratingly. ‘No.’

Leona infused fully. Level 200 magic, twice as much as the highest-level fairies and genies in Feyland!

‘Wait, Leona,’ I cried.

Her eyes changed from silver to hard grey as she aimed her wand at Laz. ‘
Resvera den
!’ The breaking spell – with more power behind it than anyone had ever used.

The cap should have fallen from Laz’s head. Not only that, it should have been turned to dust. Instead, it transformed, changing from battered to jaunty. Even the shabby feather perked up.

Panting, Leona lowered her wand.

Laz grinned. ‘Thank you, my lovely. You just gave me some of your power.’ He swept her a bow.

‘G-gave you power?’ Leona sputtered.

‘Absorbed by my cap.’ Laz brushed his feather. ‘A convenient feature, considering the company.’

A jolt shook the walls. I glowered at Laz. ‘Did you use the front door? Everyone out there will think I’ve let you in on purpose.’

‘Of course I didn’t. I used a window on the first floor. As I told you before, Zaria, gremlins are pesky thieves.’ He pointed a languid finger at Tumble. ‘And although no doubt
many
in the crowd are angry that I got in when they couldn’t, everyone saw
him
walk in. Trust me, gremlins are far more hated just now than I am.’

I turned to look at the little gremlin. He bounded up from his perch and raced across the room with the clock, setting it in its place on the mantel. While he was close to the hearth, I shivered with fear for his safety. What if Lily suddenly appeared there again?

I held out my hands to him, and he darted over and leaped into my arms. The little rascal was grinning and patting my face.
Only those who love me may enter this house as long as I’m alive
. I smiled fondly back at Tumble.

‘Zaria?’ Laz said. ‘How did the gremlin get in?’

‘How much is the answer worth to you?’ I said spitefully. I didn’t like the way his eyes slid from me to Tumble and back again.

Tumble wriggled, so I set him down. Something streaked between me and Laz, and I heard a crinkling sound. When Laz lunged for the gremlin at his feet, I leaped in the smuggler’s way. He caught hold of my arm. I shook him off, trying my best to look dangerous.

Tumble appeared just out of reach, holding a paper sack with grease stains on its side. He pulled out a thick biscuit. ‘Snicker doodle,’ he burbled.

‘I warned you, they’re pesky thieves!’ Laz made another grab for the gremlin.

‘Biscuit for Zaree,’ Tumble said, beaming, and offered it to me.

I gaped at him. We all did. Every one of us stood perfectly still, our mouths hanging open, Laz’s the widest.

Finally Meteor nudged me, and I reached out. The little gremlin turned his hand over and dropped the biscuit into mine. ‘Thank you,’ I breathed. ‘Thank you!’ I carefully transferred the biscuit to Meteor before hugging Tumble. ‘All the rest of our biscuits belong to you,’ I told him.

‘To me.’ He grinned. ‘And Zaree!’ He held out another.

‘You eat it,’ I said, smiling.

He chomped down, cooing delightedly, sprinkling crumbs all over the dilapidated rug.

T
O ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING OF GREATNESS, IT IS OFTEN NECESSARY TO PROCEED WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE OUTCOME WILL BE
. H
ISTORY TEACHES US THAT THE UNEXPECTED IS FILLED WITH MAGIC OF ITS OWN, AND NOT ONE OF US CAN PREDICT THE EVENTS OF OUR LIVES
. A
LL OF US LOOK BACK IN WONDER, PERPLEXED AND ASTONISHED BY THE EVENTS WE HAVE WITNESSED
.

Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland

I WAS SO
happy about Tumble’s gift, even the sight of Laz still hovering in my circle of friends couldn’t irritate me – at least not unbearably.

‘We have all the ingredients except one?’ I asked.

‘You got the Nectara?’ Laz seemed truly awestruck. ‘But the trolls captured you!’ His gravelly voice rose an octave. ‘When I heard a rumour you’d escaped, I came straight here. How did you get away, let alone steal Nectara?’

‘A rumour? Who could have told you?’ Meteor was glaring at the smuggler. ‘Did you even try to rescue us from the trolls?’

‘Of course not,’ Laz answered. ‘I may be many things, my
fine
young genie, but a fool is not one of them – and it would take a very great fool for that. Believe me, I was more than happy to be left behind when they took you away, though why they would capture such a small—’ He stopped, and rubbed his face with his knuckles, looking grim. ‘Feynere,’ he said. ‘They know, don’t they?’

‘Yes,’ I answered.

‘What did they want for the Nectara, Zaria?’

But I wasn’t going to tell him.

‘Tell me you didn’t give aevum derk to the trolls.’

When I didn’t answer, he nodded. ‘So that’s how you got away.’ He looked completely different now: not lazy or careless, not angry or amused. Instead, he looked tired. Very tired. He shook his head and yanked on his cap. ‘Nothing to be done about it now.’

‘Thank you,’ Meteor said sarcastically. ‘Without your wisdom, we would never have guessed that much.’

Laz gave him a baleful grin. ‘One day, you’ll seek my help but won’t find it.’

I sighed, hoping to avoid a quarrel between them. ‘Let’s go up to the first storey and decide what to do about finding the thing cherished by leprechauns.’ I hoped my friends would remember why my mother’s room would be a safer place to talk about the last ingredient for aevia ray. The blackened ashes in the centre of the hearth should remind them.

‘Yes,’ Leona said. ‘Laz can stay here and watch the gremlin.’

‘Not likely.’ Laz was himself again, his tone baiting, his cap tilted at an arrogant angle. ‘You need me.’

‘What for?’ I asked.

‘I have the final ingredient.’

‘Of
course
you do,’ Leona said scornfully.

‘Upstairs,’ I said. ‘We’ll discuss it there.’ I didn’t like the idea of Laz in my mother’s room, but short of asking Meteor to jab him with the poker we’d never get rid of him.

Leona turned to lead the way. Tumble bounded over to me, shedding biscuit crumbs. He tugged on my arm, pointing to the highest perch. There lay Andalonus, sound asleep.

Of course. The aftermath of dancing with the pixies.

He was so groggy, it took both Meteor and Laz to get him off the perch. They carried him up to my mother’s nest, where he sank into deep sleep again in an instant. Leona flopped down next to him, yawning.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said before I could ask. ‘I won’t go to sleep. Yet.’

I took a quick peek outside. The crowd was just as large, but now it was mostly fey folk. The gremlins must have got tired of flinging themselves at an invisible wall, and left. Not so the fairies and genies. There were more of them now, watching the door with cold fury.

O
N
E
ARTH, THERE ARE SKILLED HUMAN SURGEONS WHO CAN MEND DIRE INJURIES
. I
N THIS REGARD, HUMANS HAVE FAR SURPASSED FEY MAGIC, FOR ON
T
IRFEYNE, HEALING SPELLS DO NOT EXIST
.

A
S CHILDREN, FAIRIES AND GENIES ARE CAREFULLY NURTURED IN
G
ALENA SO THAT NO INJURY MAY BEFALL THEM
. L
AWS AGAINST HARMING ONE ANOTHER ARE STRICT, FOR THOUGH MINOR INJURIES WILL HEAL FOR US JUST AS THEY DO FOR HUMANS, WE HAVE NO ENCHANTMENTS THAT CAN MEND A BROKEN WING OR RESTORE A SIGHTLESS EYE
.