Indigo Magic (7 page)

My friends wouldn’t understand. They would blame me for being drawn to a human at all, for seeking his friendship, and for wishing he could remember me now. I didn’t want to be condemned. Not by them. And even more important, I didn’t want there to be any possible chance for Lily Morganite to learn that a human was important to me. Not that my friends would tell her voluntarily, but Lily’s magic had a long reach.

I had hidden my visits to Sam as best I could, and I didn’t think she’d ever seen us together. If she had, she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him.

And now I was going back to Earth, but I wouldn’t allow
myself
to seek out Sam Seabolt again. No, I had spied on him for the last time. I would go straight to a grove of trees on a ridge above a field of wild grass. I’d been there before. There, at the base of a tall blue spruce, I had buried my mother’s spellbook to keep it from Lily Morganite. Most important, I had cast a long-lasting spell: no one but me could disturb the ground there. Ever. I could bury the indigo bottle in that same spot. It would be safe, and I wouldn’t have to spend more radia on another enchantment.

Now that I had a plan, I felt slightly less dazed and terrified and tired. All I needed was to cross over to Earth. I should have snooped around Laz’s café looking for a portal. Everyone knew that smugglers had portals; Laz probably had one leading straight out of a room in the back of the Ugly Mug. How else could he run all those Earth goods? He was too stingy to pay someone else to smuggle for him.

Then again, if Laz had a favourite portal to Earth, it probably led somewhere I didn’t want to go. Maybe into a sweetshop or a place that stored coffee beans, somewhere across the world from the grove with the enchanted ground.

Yes, I’d be better off travelling through a portal I’d used before. So, I transported to the Golden Station, the great hub from which most fey travellers made their journeys to and from Earth.

* * *

It was the middle of the night; I’d never been to the Golden Station so late. As a fourteen-year-old fairy, it was against the law for me to be there, no matter what the time of day, so I tried not to attract attention.

Symbols etched the walls, part of the durable spells holding open the portals to Earth. Hundreds of fairies and genies were flying in dozens of directions inside the vast marble room. Hallways branched off it, and each hallway held dozens of portal doors. Judging by the noise, the portals were getting lots of use, clicking open and slamming shut every two seconds. They showed no signs of failing as the Gateway of Galena had failed.

The fey folk were all talking so loud I couldn’t tell what anyone was saying. Besides, I was focused on the hordes of gnomes marching up and down and watching everyone. There seemed to be far more of them than usual, and I feared that some of them could be Lily’s minions. Were they simply keeping order, or were they looking for me?

Laz had said my disguise was terrible, but I hoped it would be enough to fool the gnomes. Head down, my newly dark hair hiding most of my face, I flew to a familiar door in one of the smaller hallways. I had found this portal by chance on my first journey to Earth. It got very little use by other fey folk, so I thought of it as mine. And I had given it a silly name: the Cornfield Portal, because it led to
a
cornfield on the other side.

Now, rising eagerness flooded across my wings as I opened the door. No one seemed to notice as I stepped through to Earth.

Spikes of rain pelted me, so thick and fast I could hardly breathe. In moments I was soaked and shivering. And the field on Earth had changed. The corn was cut, leaving only a stubble of dead stalks. Miserably, I hovered, longing for somewhere safe and friendly, somewhere dry and warm.

I thought of Sam Seabolt’s quiet street, of his wooden house painted green with a white trim. How thankful I was that I’d never told anyone where he lived. No one knew, not even Leona. And at this hour, Sam and his family would be asleep. I could get out of the rain and wait for the storm to pass. They’d never know I was there.

It was too much to resist; all my resolutions about keeping away from Sam dissolved. I hurried to transport away from the rumbling thunder, the wild lightning and rain, and instantly found myself in Sam’s room.

The first thing I did was to take off the bag holding the heavy bottle and set it on the floor. Then I looked at the human boy. A streetlamp outside shone over his red-gold hair, so colourful it could have belonged to a genie. He slept soundly, though his window was open a little. Wind blew in, riffling pages of a book that lay on the floor.

Water ran from my hair, my wings, my gown. It dripped more with every shiver of my wings. Quickly I infused to
Level
7. ‘Dry me,’ I whispered. It would be more magic lost, but worth it.

The water evaporated. Very quietly, I slid the window closed and looked around. Shelves lined one of the walls, holding books and narrow boxes and shiny statues. Clothes lay on the floor; a shirt was flung over the back of a chair.

I floated towards Sam and hovered lightly, listening to his breathing, wondering what it would be like to live in a world where technology took the place of magic. Suppose I had been born a human girl? I loved to visit Earth, but would I want to live here? Could I accept being unable to fly or use a wand?

Sam had basic magic. If you didn’t count flying, he had more than Andalonus; he had enough to go through a portal. I had seen him do it. When it happened, I didn’t feel surprised. After all, everyone knew that the occasional human had Level 5 magic.

‘Do you have above Level Five?’ I whispered. Humans weren’t given crystal watches, so there was no way to know the answer.

The rain was softening. I could hear it running down the window, a steady slide of water, gentle as a lullaby. How tired I was. If I went to sleep now, maybe I could step into Sam’s human dreams, and tell him all that had happened since we last saw each other.

No, I must not sleep. If I did, I wouldn’t wake until morning and lose my chance to bury the indigo bottle during the night. It wasn’t wise of me to come here. Seeing Sam – even asleep – only awakened my wish to befriend him again.

No one must know of my visit, least of all Sam himself.

F
EYLAND IS RULED BY
K
ING
O
BERON AND
Q
UEEN
V
ELLERON
(
SOMETIMES CALLED
M
AB
),
H
OWEVER, THEY DO NOT ENJOY MANAGING THE DAY-TO-DAY GOVERNANCE OF THEIR KINGDOM, AND SO THEY TURN IT OVER TO THE
H
IGH
C
OUNCIL OF
F
EYLAND
. T
HERE ARE TWELVE COUNCILLORS: SIX FAIRIES AND SIX GENIES, ALL OF WHOM BEGIN THEIR SERVICE WITH RADIA RESERVES OF GREEN OR ABOVE
. T
HE LEADER OF THE
C
OUNCIL IS CALLED EITHER
M
AGISTRIA OR
M
AGISTER, DEPENDING UPON WHETHER THAT LEADER IS A FAIRY OR A GENIE
.

T
HE ROYAL RULERS LIVE IN THE SAPPHIRE STRONGHOLD ON
A
NSHIELD
I
SLAND
. B
Y MEANS OF PASSWORDS THAT OPEN THE GATE, ALL COUNCILLORS HAVE ACCESS TO THE STRONGHOLD
. I
F EVER
F
EYLAND IS IN DISTRESS, THE COUNCILLORS INFORM THE KING AND QUEEN, WHO COME FORTH AND DO THEIR UTMOST TO AID THEIR SUBJECTS
.

Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland

RELUCTANTLY I GLIDED
away from Sam’s bedside, and as I did I caught a glimpse of myself in a small mirror on the wall.
I
didn’t like looking at my disguise, not at all. I wasn’t sure why, because Sam was asleep, so there was no one here to see it but me.

I just wanted to look like myself.

I waved my wand. ‘Take off my disguise.’ Immediately the streetlamp showed my wings purple again, and my hair its normal shade of lavender.

Drifting closer to the shelves along the wall, I examined them. A small bottle lay on its side. Picking it up, I let the light from the streetlamp play over it. It was made of plain amber glass covered with a fine layer of dust. When I unscrewed the cap, the bottle was empty. Perfect for my purpose, something the boy had obviously forgotten. It would never be missed, and I wanted a memento of Sam. More importantly, I needed it for another reason.

This was a safe place, quiet and still. Here, I could transfer a little aevum derk from the large bottle to the small one. Leona and Laz had convinced me that the powder was a mighty weapon. After burying most of it, I would keep just a small bit on hand in case of dire need.

I rubbed the little bottle on my gown to dust it before setting it on the windowsill. The cap was made of plastic, which would never do for aevum derk – thanks to Laz, I knew that now.

Lily had created a glass lid for her cup, but I would be more clever. It would take less magic to transform something than to make something from nothing. Infusing
my
wand, I touched the plastic cap. ‘Change into glass.’

I brought out the indigo bottle and set it carefully on the sill. How heavy it was, its dark shine more terrifying than ever. The powder it held could kill off the magic in an entire region of Feyland. What if I spilled it? If one small grain touched my skin, what would happen to me?

I had to stop thinking about what could go wrong. Otherwise, I might as well live out my days in a hideaway, doing nothing, seeing no one.

I glanced at the bed, where Sam remained lost in sleep. Lucky for him, he had no idea who was in his room or what I’d brought with me.

For a second, I thought of Laz, but only because I happened to know that he had somehow been selected to be Sam Seabolt’s genie godfather. Not that he took his post seriously in the least. I had even heard Laz scoff at the idea that humans needed fey folk for anything, especially to help them grow up. But just then I wondered if Laz had ever checked in when Sam was a baby or a young boy.

I wasn’t about to ask him.

‘Unseal,’ I said, tapping the indigo bottle with my wand.

With the greatest care, I poured aevum derk from one bottle to the other. My wings fluttered as I hurried to seal both of them with my strongest magic. ‘No one but me can open or break these bottles, for ever and always.’

Tucking them into my bag, I slung it around my neck and took a last look at Sam. ‘Goodbye,’ I whispered.

Of course I wanted to stay with him. But instead I transported to the grove.

The only sound came from dripping trees, the night so dark I could see only black outlines of the grove. Kneeling on the soggy ground next to the blue spruce, I felt large drops spattering me. I was cold again, and damp. And so tired.

I dug with my hands, which were soon coated with mud and crumbling pine needles. After a while, I lifted out my mother’s spellbook and used the sleeve of my gown to wipe some of the mud away.

Unlike the aevum derk, Cinna Tourmaline’s spellbook felt light, almost weightless. Holding it again, I breathed easier.

Now that I knew I could use common words for spells, I wouldn’t need to memorize those my mother had recorded. A normal fairy would study every spell until she knew them all by heart, but I wasn’t a normal fairy. Still, the words on the pages were precious to me, because my mother had written them. I hugged the book, and while I did, she didn’t seem so far away. I could actually imagine finishing the letter I’d been writing her.

‘I’ll write it all down,’ I whispered. ‘And I will find you and free you.’

Wrapping the spellbook in scarves, I stowed it in my bag. Then I dug deeper, and brought up something else I had buried: a human weapon, a laser gun – the very same gun
that
had injured Leona. I was tempted to take it too because I had seen its deadly red beam. Such a weapon could keep me safe from Lily’s followers. Even a crowd of gnomes carrying iron bats would not be able to hurt me if I raised this human gun against them.

But I left it under the tree with the indigo bottle. I couldn’t bear to be the first one to bring a gun into Feyland. Bad enough that I had created aevum derk, a dreadful weapon of magic.

I had done what I could now. The aevum derk was hidden beneath the blue spruce. Hidden well, and even if someone happened to learn where it was, no one could remove it but me. My long-lasting spell would make sure of that.

I placed the little bottle of aevum derk deep in a pocket of my gown. Yes, I would carry it with me, although I knew just how dangerous it was. I had kept it from Leona, afraid she’d get hurt or cause disaster. Shouldn’t I keep it from myself too?

Maybe so. But somehow risking a friend seemed much worse than risking myself. Besides, I was more careful than Leona. Not by much, some would argue – but I would never blow up a human’s house and turn him into a toad as she had done, no matter how much he offended or hurt me.

By now, I was shivering and faint. The thought of returning through the gnomes in the Golden Station was
daunting
. If I didn’t get some sleep, I could easily make a mistake.

I decided to sleep there in the grove. Crawling under the prickly spruce branches, I called on my magic again to make a trench that held warmth, and pillowed my head on the lumpy bag holding my mother’s spellbook.

N
O TREES GROW UPON THE WORLD OF TIRFEYNE
. T
HERE ARE MANY TALL BUSHES, AND A GREAT VARIETY OF FLOWERS, MOST OF WHICH CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON
E
ARTH
. O
UR HOMES ARE BUILT OF STONE AND PRECIOUS METALS, NOT WOOD
. P
APER COMES FROM THE POUNDED STEMS OF REEDS – UNLESS, OF COURSE, IT IS SMUGGLED HERE FROM
E
ARTH
.

O
UR WORLD IS RICH IN MINERALS AND GEMSTONES
. T
IRFEYNE ALSO HOLDS A GREAT VARIETY OF INSECT LIFE AND BIRDS
. H
OWEVER, THERE ARE NO BEASTS – UNLESS GREMLINS OR TROLLS WERE TO BE COUNTED AS BEASTS
.