Modern Magick

The Wonders of Vale: 14

'I'm really going to need those pipes,' I said in a smouldering voice. I'm surprised I didn't set fire to Wyr's stupid hat.

'Like I said,' he answered. 'I'll trade you.'

'You don't understand. I can't get her back without those pipes.'

Wyr, at last, stopped juggling. 'You mean to say,' he said slowly, 'that these pipes can summon Majestics?'

'No. Just one particular one, and only if I do it.'

'How convenient.' He patently did not believe me.

A flicker of colour caught my eye. Some small, darting thing dived down upon Wyr, and flashed away again.

And the Wand was gone from his grasp.

'What?' His head came up, the pipes momentarily forgotten. Eyes narrowed, he looked hard at me. 'How did you do that?'

'You figure it out,' I said, with a smile. Let him chew on that.

Meanwhile, Miranda — for it had been she — whispered something to the bright blue bird in her grasp, and let it fly again.

This time, it returned with Orlando's glassy-looking toy.

Wyr's quick gaze caught some part of its return flight, for he whirled in Miranda's direction. 'You've got to be kidding me,' he spluttered. 'A Majestic and a gods-blessed lirrabird?'

I turned a questioning gaze upon Miranda, for I'd heard that name before. Lirrabirds were listed in Dramary's Bestiary. They were as fast as hummingbirds and not much larger, but remarkably strong for their diminutive size, and they responded well to training. They were sometimes referred to as the little winged wizards, because — as this one had just demonstrated — they were highly magickal, and difficult to deter by wizardly means. They'd made quite the pests of themselves among magickal communities, some few hundred years ago.

They were also extinct, at least on our Britain.

And now Miranda had a pet one.

'Ancestria Magicka pays well, hm?' I said.

'You're one to talk,' said Miranda. 'Do you know what I would have given for a tame unicorn?'

Ack. Had my friendship with Addie somehow fuelled Miranda's dissatisfaction? Was I part of the reason why she'd jumped ship?

I shook off the thought. Now wasn't the time to try to explain how Adeline and I had come about. 'Handy,' I offered instead, for to be fair, that lirrabird had just saved our hides.

Miranda gave a crooked smile, and tossed my pipes to me. 'You know,' she said, 'you could ask Addie what she'd like done about Wyr.'

'I reckon she wouldn't like him much,' I said, tightly clutching my pipes.

Miranda's smile widened. 'I reckon the same.'

So I lifted my precious pipes to my lips and I played Addie's song.

And I waited.

She didn't come.

'So much for the pipes,' muttered Wyr. He looked about at all of us with an expression much aggrieved, and added, 'And so much for the easy mark.' With which words, he stalked off, back towards the town.

'Good riddance,' I said, emulating Emellana's inhuman calm, though my insides were tying themselves in knots. What had become of Addie? 'Question,' I said, as Miranda handed my Wand back to me. 'What did he mean about horns, teeth and bones?'