Forced Magic (15 page)

“What? No, I’m not a good writer."

“I think you are, Jack, and besides, if my idea works, you
won't have to sit there and type everything out. The magic will do it for
you."

“I don’t understand. You mean let the magic tell the
story?"

“Yes, from what you have told us about your forced magic, it
seems to be a part of you. You wanted to stop the goblin but you didn’t want to
hurt the baby. The magic put them both to sleep. I think on some level you have
complete control over the magic. You don’t want to kill anyone, so the magic
won't. It has built up inside you and it has to come completely from you. That’s
why it is uncomfortable for you to release it. It is a part of you. If my hunch
is correct, you can use it to write your story. We can get it online and people
will be able to read it. You can get the word out about magic to the non-magic
world."

“How would I do this? I have only been able to use my magic
when I am fighting or in some sort of danger."

“Have you tried? I mean, have you concentrated on something
and tried to use the magic to make it happen?”

“No, I guess I haven’t done that. I don’t really know where
to start. I don’t think I can do this."

Fetch came over to me, sat in front of me and just stared.
His eyes stayed green and he put a paw up onto my computer. It was obvious what
he wanted me to do. I had his vote and also his faith. If I did this right I
could help change the world and warn them about magic elements that might
affect their lives. People had to know that their fantasy book could come to
life. I thought about my nightmare vision, the one that Johnathen seemed to
dismiss. I wouldn’t wish another person to go through that. Not even my worst
enemy. They had to know about not picking up something as simple as a sparkly
rock. It could actually kill them if it were to turn out to be a dragon's egg.
It had to stop, and if this could stop it, then I had to do it. All I could do
was try.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember what the magic felt
like when I had used it before. I needed to find a way to bring it out of me
when I wanted it to, not just when I was in danger. I stood there for a long
time. I could hear Michelle and Fetch breathing in and out, in and out. At
first it sounded like two separate breaths, but then it seemed like they merged
together and were breathing together. I could feel their presence, almost as if
they were pressing in on me and trying to share their strength with me. I felt
a small tugging in my stomach, and then the familiar itchy feeling slowly
started to come over me. As it grew, I tried to control it. It was like trying
to hold onto sand. I seemed to get a grasp of it. I pictured myself balancing a
broom stick in the middle of my hand. I had to make sure that I kept
concentrating on keeping the magic still in my body until I was ready to
release it. I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the computer screen. I put a
hand on Fetch's neck.

“This is as much your story as it is mine, Fetch. I wish you
could put yourself into it as much as I am about to."

Fetch let a small jet of flame pass in front of my eyes. He
kept the flame burning. It was his healing fire. I watched it slowly change
colors. When I released the magic, it would pass right through Fetch's flame.
He would be a part of this story. I was nervous. I figured Fetch was too. We
were pretty much winging it and I hoped that our computer wouldn’t blow up in
our faces. I thought about that first day. Picturing it in my mind, trying to
imagine it as words being typed on a computer screen. I knew I had to start
with a warning, hoping to grab the full attention of whoever read it. Then I
pushed. I felt the magic forced out of me. I could see a glimmer as it passed
through Fetch's flame. When it touched my computer the screen went black. Then
all of the colors of Fetch's fire began to pop up on the screen. It went to a
blank white screen and just stayed that way. At first I thought that it didn’t
work, but then I saw words appear. They didn’t type themselves onto the page,
they just appeared on the screen. They were the first words of my story, “Do
you believe in magic?” I watched as mine and Fetch's story began to appear on
the screen. It wasn’t all at once but in spurts. I believed it was coming from
my head, but it was something more. It had to be Fetch's twist on the whole
thing. At times it wasn’t all that flattering to me. It was showing the real
me. Michelle sat next to me and the three of us continued to read the story. I
didn’t even think of it until that moment, but Fetch can read. Just another
thing he seemed to be able to do. I wondered if it was part of the magic of all
dragons, that from their birth they seemed mature and able to do so much
immediately, or if this was just unique to Fetch?  I wondered if I would ever
know or would it remain a mystery like how Fetch got takeout food from
restaurants.

We continued to read until it came to the nightmare I had. I
didn’t want to read that and was trying to figure out a way to erase it. So
much of what is now my life seemed to be coming out on the page. It was
embarrassing enough when it mentioned that I was naked for so long in the
tunnel, this dream was too intimate. It exposed fears and regrets of my life
that I wasn’t ready to share. I reached to shut my computer off but Michelle
grabbed my hand.

“Don’t hide this, Jack. The world needs to see as much as
they can. This could end up helping a lot of people. Even if it only keeps
people from picking up a shiny rock that ends up being a dragon's egg, it is
important. This could save lives, Jack.”

 “Ok," I said, "but we have to agree not to read
this ourselves. You are a part of this story too, Michelle, and what you have
told me will also appear on the screen. Are you ok with this?"

Michelle kept looking at the screen. I could tell that this
was something she hadn’t counted on. She let my hand go and closed the
computer.

”It has to be ok. It has already started.” 

I could tell what was bothering her. Since the story was
being written in my words, she would be able to see what I thought of her. I
wouldn’t be able to hide it. My feelings for Michelle were a little confused. I
really didn’t know how I felt about her. She was my friend and I cared about
her. I didn’t know if I felt anything more than friendship. I was unclear on
her relationship with Johnathen, and, if she read something in my story that
suggested that I had any strong feelings for her, then it could cause a strain
in our friendship. I was beginning to regret my decision to do this. 

Michelle gave me a level look and said. “Let’s agree not to
read this ourselves for a while. When it gets ready for the public to see, then
we will go over it, but, for now, let’s trust that the magic will write the
story the correct way.”

This sounded fair to me. After all, I really wasn’t sure how
I felt about Michelle. I would have hated to have tension between the two of us
over any mixed feelings. I knew that she had strong feelings for Johnathen,
even though she might not admit it. And, the way Johnathen acted tonight, I
didn’t want to cause friction between the two of us either. It was funny to me.
Here I was, my life turned upside-down because of magic, and my biggest concern
at that moment was a possible crush that sounded like an old high school style
drama. What a mess! There was a part of me that wanted to undo the magic and
forget the whole thing. But the idea of warning people, any way I could, about
what could happen with magic was too important.

I wanted to talk to Michelle about feelings, but it just
didn’t seem the right time. She sat uncomfortably on the bed. I could tell that
she was not ready for that kind of talk. She looked different. She was wearing
a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved red blouse. Her long black hair was back in
a ponytail, and all that could be seen of her tattoo was the tail and claw on
her hands. She seemed tired and a little thin. Almost like she had been working
too hard. I felt bad that I hadn’t noticed before and I felt even worse at my
outburst voicemail I had left earlier. I should have realized that the reason
she hadn’t been in contact with me was that she had been working hard with
Johnathen, probably over something for me.

The silence between us had stretched to an uncomfortable
amount of time. I didn’t think either one of us knew what to say. The silence
was broken by a familiar scratch at the door. We both seemed to start to
breathe again. I went over to the door and opened it. Instead of the bobcat
Johnathen stood there.

He had his crooked familiar grin. He stood there with his
hands in his pockets. He had a sheepish look on his face as he walked in. He
seemed a little embarrassed. He wouldn’t look either of us in the eye and
Michelle just looked up at the ceiling, not wanting to look at him. I grabbed
his arm and smiled at him. I was just glad to see my friend. I hadn’t seen him
since the park and I could see a little grey in his hair. There were also faint
dark circles under his eyes. He seemed tired and had a stretched-too-far look
to him.

“I would like to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have
been so short with you both. I was being silly and I should have known
better."

He shook my hand, not really taking his eyes off Michelle. I
had the feeling that he was apologizing more to her than to me. I didn’t mind.
He walked over to Michelle and put his hand on her knee. He looked at her until
she dropped her head down and looked him in the eyes.

Johnathen repeated, “I’m sorry.”

I could see Michelle break down and melt at his gaze. She
put her hands on his cheeks and smiled. He opened his arms and engulfed her in
a big hug. It was that moment that I truly realized the affection and love that
these two had for each other. I had the feeling that the fight they had was a
lot more than Michelle had suggested. Over Johnathen shoulder I saw Michelle's
closed eyes tear up.  She was in love with Johnathen.  Really in love with him.
I had no idea if he felt the same way.

They finally came out of their hug and Fetch came over to
Johnathen. He had been waiting until there was no tension between Michelle and
Johnathen, before he would even acknowledge Johnathen at all. I had to keep
from laughing as Fetch pushed his head into Johnathen's chest playfully. It
almost knocked Johnathen over.

Laughing, Johnathen pointed at him and said, "Careful,
I am a wizard you know."

Fetch stretched his neck up to his full height.  He was now
taller than Johnathen. He blew purple smoke out of his snout. With a flick of
his head the smoke made a ring around Johnathen's head. It looked like a crown.
My jaw dropped and Michelle gasped in amazement. The smoke just stayed there
floating around Johnathen's head. It almost looked solid. It was just out of
Johnathen's line of sight so he had no idea what we were all staring at. He
turned and looked into the mirror. It was his turn to look shocked. He reached
up and touched the ring of smoke. It slowly lifted into the air and dissolved.
The last part of it took on the form of a small dragon before it flew into the
ceiling and disappeared. Fetch chuckled at his little joke, pleased with all of
our reactions.

Johnathen turned to Fetch, “Long ago I had the opportunity
to work with the dragons. I saw many amazing things. I have a deep respect for
them all, Fetch, but during all the time I was with them, I never met one as
amazing as you my friend. You are truly one of a kind.”

Fetch's eyes changed colors rapidly.  He bobbed his head
slightly as Johnathen's words affected him greatly. I tended to forget how
alone he must feel at times, never seeing another of his own kind. He had to
feel lonely.

Johnathen reached into his pocket and pulled out his pouch.
Reaching into it, he pulled out a bottle of wine and four glasses. He opened
the wine and handed a glass to each of us.

“I thought a little wine was in order," he said.

The wine was a deep red color that shimmered in the glass,
almost like a light blinking on and off. I could have sworn it was making a
humming sound. Johnathen caught me looking at the wine with a strange look on
my face and laughed.

"It’s called 'Wizards Celebration'. The grapes are
cultivated by gnomes. They sing and perform magic on them before they are
pressed into wine. That humming you hear is part of the song they sang. Once
you take a sip of the wine the humming will change. The gnomes claim the song
you hear is the song of your true self. Each one is different. Crafty
magicians, the gnomes, they have cleaned up magic messes for centuries. They
were never asked to do it nor were they ever ordered to do so by any council.
They have just always been there to do it."

“I’ve seen one around here,” I said. “There have been a
couple of times that I would swear he can see me with the teardrop on."

A shadow seemed to pass over Johnathen's eyes when I said
this.

“Was he the one you saw tonight?”

“Yes I think so, unless they all wear the same kind of
purple sweatshirts with hoods."

“No, they don’t. Be careful around him, Jack. If he keeps
being around wherever you are he might sense you. He has to have some idea that
you are around, especially after tonight. You don’t realize it, Jack, but you
demonstrated yet another new ability. You worked magic tonight, magic that has
never been done before."

“What? New magic?”

I was keeping myself from looking at Michelle. It seemed
that Johnathen had known about my little bit of magic I used to start my story.
This was something we didn’t want Johnathen to know about yet. I figured
playing dumb would be the best thing to do. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust
Johnathen, I just didn’t want him to be worried about it. After all, we did
kind of go behind his back and get the whole thing started.

“You don’t have any idea what you have done, do you? Jack,
you were right there when the gnome sent out a pulse. It had no effect on your
memory. It had to have passed right through you and it didn’t affect you at
all.”