Forced Magic (21 page)

As soon as I pulled Booger out, Johnathen had put his hands
on either side of the ball and simply started to squeeze. It began to shrink
and as his hands got closer together the ball started to glow brighter until
with a loud pop it disappeared.

Booger started to struggle and squeal, but, before he could
cause any real damage, Fetch whipped out his tongue and hit him on the forehead.
Booger went limp. It seemed Fetch's tongue had an anesthetic effect on Booger.

“That’s a new one,” I said to Fetch. 

He looked as surprised as I did at this discovery. He kept
shaking his head and whipping out his tongue, trying to get the bad taste out
of his mouth. I guess it was pure instinct that caused him to try that. Part of
me was worried. Now that Fetch knew how to do this there was no telling what
was in store for me. Judging by Fetch's wicked sense of humor and his
continuing battle to keep me humble, I wondered if I would ever learn all the
fantastic things he could do.

Returning my full attention back to Booger, I kept a firm
grip on him as I went over to the table and slammed him down out on top of it.
He was squeaking and his eyes were looking around wildly, but he was unable to
move. I was glad it kept him from spitting acid everywhere.

“You like your new name, Booger?” I said through gritted
teeth.

I really didn’t like this little monster. He had broken my
nose and caused me a lot of pain. It was all I could do to keep from smashing
my fist into his ugly little face.

“You Flap!” he screamed.

I heard Johnathen mutter a word and felt a strange tingle.

“No one can hear us. No other portals will appear. I'm
sorry. In my haste to get here, I forgot to put up any concealment spell to
keep anyone from knowing I was here. I was careless, but we are safe now.
Booger? I like the name. It suits him.”

I looked at Johnathen. He had an amused look on his face and
motioned to me.

”Please continue,” he said.

I looked back at Booger as he continued his rant. “You are
troll fung. A pile of gnome snith. You have ruined me you Flap.” He screamed.

I just smiled and said, “Booger.”

He made a choking sound in his throat and spit at me. I guess
I was wrong about him not being able to spit. Before it could hit my face,
Fetch shot a thin flame at it and it sizzled in the air and evaporated. I was
impressed by Fetch's aim. He was really getting good at it. I gripped Booger's
neck a little tighter.

“Try that again and I will squeeze your head and pop it like
a zit. Hey, maybe that’s your new name.  Zit. You like that?" I asked.

He focused his eyes on me when he spoke. I saw the
calculating beast from the parking lot in that stare. “No, please not another
name, “he said, sounding like a twisted little squeaking mouse. “It’s hard
enough going around being called Booger. Haven’t you done enough damage already?
“He began to whine and choke and I almost found myself feeling sorry for him.
Almost.

“All the damage I caused?" I said, shaking him just a
little.

It was hard to control myself around him. It was like his
very presence was making my blood boil. I remembered how mad I was when Booger
and his friends attacked us in the parking lot, and how I used him like a club
to hit the others with. I had to fight the urge to pick him up and do that
again.

“You attacked me!" I shouted in his face. “You broke my
nose and tried to kill me! Why shouldn’t I return the favor, Booger? I should
break your nose. Or maybe I should just let Fetch eat you.”

Booger squealed like a pig and a gagging noise came from his
throat

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Michelle
standing next to me. She was looking at me with fear in her eyes. She had to
know they were just empty threats. I really wouldn’t kill him and feed him to
Fetch. But, as I looked into her eyes, I realized that I didn’t know that for
sure. I really hated this ugly little thing and it took all my willpower to not
smash its ugly face in. This scared me a little. I don’t think I truly ever had
those kinds of feelings before. I heard Fetch growling somewhere behind me,
ready to attack just as soon as I gave the word. I looked at Michelle.
Confusion filled my heart. What was happening to me?

“Jack, “said Johnathen, bringing me back into focus. “I
believe he will tell us what we want to know. If he doesn’t, then I believe
Fetch can eat him. “

Johnathen had that twinkle in his eyes that he had when I
first met him. He looked more like his old self. I hadn’t seen him look that
confident in the past week. It helped relax the anger toward my little friend
here.

"I’m sure Fetch is hungry."

He gave me a little wink of encouragement. I wondered if he
saw the same fury in me that Michelle had seen.

Fetch moved over to Booger's face, opening his mouth and
snapping it closed inches from Booger's pig like nose. Booger squealed in
terror. It seemed that Smith was right in saying that goblins were cowards.

Fetch stayed close to Booger's face for a while, growling and
snapping. I wanted him to think we were serious about letting Fetch eat him.
Booger continued to squeal in terror and he began to sniff and hiccup. It was
hard to imagine, but this ugly, smelly creature, that so viciously attacked me
in the parking lot, looked like he was starting to cry.

“Ok, Ok!” he sniveled. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.
Just please don’t let him eat me.”

I stayed silent for a few more minutes, letting Booger sweat
it out. I looked over at Johnathen like I was trying to decide what to do. I
shook my head and sighed.

“Ok, this is against my better judgment, but we’ll let him
talk.”

Booger began to giggle with relief. He took in great big
gulps of air and his ugly little face relaxed.

“You guys mind if I smoke?" he asked with the same
growling bravado he had at the parking lot.

I squeezed his throat a little and Fetch growled. Booger
squealed again. Even though I had calmed down, and had the upper hand on this
goblin, the last thing I wanted was to lower my guard around him too much.

"Who sent you to attack Fetch and me?”

"Attack you and...?" started Booger. His eyes got
really big. A smile formed on his lips and he looked at me in surprise, as if
he was just now realizing something.

“The dragon has a name?" he squeaked. ”There were
rumors but no one believed it."

Fetch rolled his eyes at this. He moved in closer and
continued to growl. He whipped his tail around, smacking Booger on the side of
the head. Fetch was getting a little tired of everyone being surprised he had a
name. Booger snarled at Fetch, showing teeth. I reached over and forced his
mouth closed.

”No snarling or spitting or I will break your jaw.”

Booger looked me in the eye. He sighed and mumbled something
that sounded like an 'ok'. I let go of his chin.

“Man boss, you have gotten stronger,” he mumbled.

I guess he was right. I had changed quite a bit in the time
since I fought him last. In a strange way, I wanted to fight him again, to show
him I wasn’t the clumsy doofus that had barely got away the last time we
fought.

“Look, we are getting tired of this,” said Johnathen from
behind me. “Just answer the question."

Booger looked around at all of us with a wild look in his
eyes. He took a deep breath and with a pitiful look on his face said, “I don’t
know.”

Fetch let out a short burst of flame to show his anger.
Booger squealed, throwing up his arms. We all noticed this but Booger didn’t
seem to realize that he could move yet.

“No. I swear man. I don’t know. We were pulsed, all of us.
We found a bag of money and directions on where to find you. It was nothing
personal man. It was just a job. We were just doing a job. The only time I even
came close to finding out who it was that kept us going on these raids, was a
glimpse of him on a mountain top. All I could see was a shadow of this guy. But
the shadow was kind of like this inky smoke that kept moving around. It gave me
the creeps. It was all I ever saw of this guy. He kept on giving us money and
leaving us notes as to who to attack next.”

Johnathen put his hand on my shoulder. “I think he is
telling the truth, Jack. Goblins are not the most trustworthy of creatures. It
makes sense that whoever hired them to attack you, would pulse them into
forgetting or hide themselves in some way. The thing is, it is very hard to
pulse a goblin. They have very sharp, clever minds."

“A goblin don’t forget easy,” squeaked Booger.

He giggled that insane little giggle again. I kept my hand
on his neck. There was something about the way he described the inky black
smoke that sounded familiar. I thought back to that dream I had in the tunnel.
Could it be connected somehow? I let go of Booger's neck. He sat up realizing
that he could move now, but Fetch remained close enough and ready to paralyze
him again if he made any sudden moves. Michelle, who had been quiet this whole
time, finally spoke up.

“Do you think it was someone from the council?" she
asked.

Booger had moved a little to get a better look at her. He
licked his lips greedily and reached behind himself, pulling out one of those
cigars. He popped it in his mouth and prepared to light it.

“Why don’t you leave with me when we are done here?" he
asked. “We could have a good time before I eat your face, pretty girl."

This was supposed to scare her. Michelle just opened her hand
and closed her eyes. She muttered a few words and a small flame appeared in her
hand. She blew the flame in Booger's direction. It landed on his eyebrows,
which quickly disappeared.

“Hey!” he squeaked, beating his face to get the flames out.
He sniffed the air when he put out the flame out, his eyes narrowing. “You
weren’t born with it girl. You're not supposed to do magic.”

Johnathen sent a ball of what looked like raven feathers
into Booger's face. They slapped him silly for a few seconds before disappearing.

“That is none of your business," he said.  I could tell
that Johnathen didn’t like how smart Booger seemed. He stared at Booger for a
few seconds, his eyes flashing. He was angry. You really don’t want a wizard to
look at you the way Johnathen looked at Booger.

“Ok, I get it. You all hate me. So what’s a guy to do?”  He
started to light the cigar.

Fetch grabbed it out of his mouth, leaving just the tip
between Boogers lips. Fetch quickly chewed the cigar and spit it on Boogers
face. It stuck to his cheek. He had a look of shock and hurt on his face that
made it hard not to laugh.

“Ok dragon," he said. “You can eat me if you want, but
don’t destroy the stogies. That’s just harsh."

Shaking his head, Johnathen walked over to the mini bar. He
reached inside, grabbed a bottle of soda, and handed it to Booger. Without even
thinking about it, Booger opened the bottle and in one gulp drank it down,
never taking his eyes off of Fetch. He stuffed the bottle in his mouth, chewing
loudly, and swallowing hard. Johnathen leaned down looking Booger in the eye.

“I think we need an inside man to keep an eye on things for
us. Someone who can discover just who we are dealing with. And you, my friend,
will do nicely.”

Booger's eyes got even larger at this comment. “No! No way!
This guy finds out I’m working against him, no telling what he will do to me.
He is powerful. He has a magic I have never seen or smelt before." At this
last statement, Booger looked at me. “It’s close to yours, but darker and
twisted.”

Booger shuddered at this last comment. It had to be pretty
bad for a creature like a goblin to shudder that way. I went to the mini bar
getting a soda for myself.

“Do you think we can trust him?” I asked Johnathen.

“No,” he laughed. "But I can put a spell on him that
will dissolve his head if he betrays us."

I really didn’t think Johnathen would do that, but, it
didn’t hurt our situation to let this guy think that he would.

This was becoming quite an interesting situation. What an
opportunity to fall in our laps. As far as I knew, this was as close as
Johnathen had got to finding out who was attacking me. If we could keep Booger
in line, we just might have a shot.

I turned back to Booger and got down close to his face. I
knew this was risky, but I wanted to let him know that I had no fear of him. I
felt a pounding sense of urgency. I had pushed down all the fear and concern
over this unknown enemy. I felt closer to answers than I ever had and I was not
going to let this opportunity go. As I stared at Booger, fear dawned on his
face. He seemed to see something in my eyes that frightened him.

“What are you?" He asked in a shaky voice.

I had no idea what he saw when he looked at me, but I seized
the opportunity to use this little coward's fear to my advantage.

”I am your personal worst nightmare. You will never be able
to hide from me or from Fetch.” I sniffed the air, closing my eyes for dramatic
effect. ”I've got your scent now. You turn on me and I will hunt you down. I
will make you pay for any kind of betrayal, and when I am done, you will beg to
have your head dissolved by Johnathen.”

My heart pounded in my ears as my own words frightened me.
The silence in the room was intense and heavy. I stood up after a while, still
looking down at Booger.

“I’m counting on you, Pockhammer. Whatever Johnathen asks
you to do, you better do.”

The room was completely silent. Everyone was staring at me.
I turned around to look at Booger and saw an evil grin on his face, his eyes
narrow. Something had happened and for a second Booger had lost the fear that I
had given him.

“You’ve been making friends,” he growled. ”I thought I
smelled gnome on you.”

I realized what I had done. I had called him 'Pockhammer'. I
had called him by his true name. How would I know this?