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Arri- July 6, 2004


July 6, 2004
Dear Keish,

The first batch of natron that appeared in the fairy ring was such a relief that we didn’t worry about the fact that it would cover so little of the tree. It meant that you were able to get help and that more was certainly on the way.
It is strange the way the fairies view alchemy. Almost any inorganic substance can be an ingredient in alchemy: metals, rocks, water. The fairies can touch all these things, of course. The point at which they can’t touch a substance occurs when the substance is identified as an ingredient in an alchemy project. How the fairies determine that moment is hard to understand. For example, if the fairies had decided to put a mushroom ring in the dry lakebed where you found the natron, they could have done so, and walked all over the ring without fear of touching or not touching the natron. The natron only became forbidden and dangerous when Liop told them we could use it to put out the fire. The same phenomenon occurred when Liop used iron powder as part his spell on the doorknob. He was combining alchemy with magic. When I opened the door, I broke Liop’s spell (it was badly made or it wouldn’t have exploded). Because the iron powder had been used in alchemy, it was toxic to the boy fairy.
These sorts of explanations that Banquo gave me made my head feel very heavy. I got the general idea that the fairies couldn’t help us spread the natron on the tree, and I suppose that was all I needed to understand. All of the fairies darted out of sight when we opened the first sack of natron. We started by spreading the powder all around the base of the tree in a large circle. When he started the spell, Banquo had drawn a circle around the tree, similar to the circle Mendel used to keep the wooden mannequins under control. But Banquo’s circle had been intended to contain an illusionary fire. He wasn’t sure how long it would hold out against real flames.
We were exhausted from having been up all night. Liop kicked at the last pile of natron to spread it and then collapsed on the pile of empty sacks. Poor little kid. I think he was asleep before his head touched the burlap. I envied him. Tired as I was, I couldn’t sleep. The gray glow of the sun overhead reminded me that it was high noon and the tree was still on fire.
“It will burn itself out,” Mendel told me, yawning, “even if Imato can’t get another sack of natron, the danger is past.”
“I won’t feel safe until all the flames are out,” Banquo commented, looking up at the tree. He was the only one of us who didn’t look tired. His tail twitched and his shiny, black wings rustled as he walked, pacing restlessly along the spot where the natron had appeared. I sat down and put my arms around my legs, resting my chin on my knees as I watched Banquo pace. When I first met him, I thought he must be wise and powerful. I felt very safe in his company, but I could see now that he was young and inexperienced, as capable of mistakes as I am, and as different from Trena as I am from my mother. I tried to remember Banquo’s grandfather, Noralt, but since I had never spoken with him or ever accompanied him and my mother on their adventures, I could only see him as a grand old lion that kept to himself. All these musings made me feel sad and lonely, and I wished I could fall into as innocent a sleep as Liop. Above me the fire crackled ominously. Its smoke stung my eyes and burned my throat raw, leaving a nasty charcoal taste in my mouth. Every few minutes a shower of ash rained down around us. It would have been dangerous, but Banquo had cast a shield spell to deflect the ashes.
Mendel came and sat next to me.
“Do you want to hear a funny story about me and Fairy?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said.
Mendel told me about a time that he brought several of Sean’s tamarins to the fairy ring because Nysa had never seen one, and one jumped on her back and held onto her hair screeching and refusing to let go, while the others scattered about the forest. It took Mendel hours to find them all. Then another time he was practicing magic and changed one of the tamarins blue, but he couldn’t change it back.
“Sean didn’t know about Fairy or my magic,” Mendel grinned, “so I had to research hair dyes at the library to try and find a chemical that would dye hair blue, because I needed a plausible explanation for what happened to the tamarin. And then I had to go to Lord Brio and try to convince him to sell it to me, which of course he wouldn’t do because I had such a reputation for trouble. He wouldn’t believe me that my mother wanted it to dye some cloth, insisted I bring a signed note.” Mendel sighed at this part of the story. “He was right, of course. Mother would never have sent her own son on such a trivial errand. I should have asked Clara to buy it, but I doubt she would have trusted me either…”
Mendel’s stories were distracting. He must have been a lot like Liop as a child.
Eventually Mendel curled up on the ground and fell asleep like Liop. Only Banquo and I remained awake to watch the crumbling tree. The fairies kept outside Banquo’s circle, coming and going, disappearing in the smoke. Directly around us the air was clear in a small dome-shaped space that Banquo created. Every hour or so it failed, and Banquo built up strength to cast a new one.
“Will the tree live?” I asked Banquo. He shrugged unhappily.
“The roots haven’t burned,” he commented a few minutes later, “maybe it can grow back.”
I could not fall asleep until the sunset, a smoky red glow among the trees. I curled up with my head on the burlap sacks near Liop and closed my eyes. I felt like I could sleep for years.

I awoke at first light with a pounding headache. Banquo was still pacing.
“There was another small batch delivered a couple hours ago,” he told me, “It came with a note that Imato’s on his way. I spread it on one of the lower branches.”
“From Keish?” I asked.
“No, someone named Tish.”
“Aegolius’s niece,” I said, and either Banquo knew who that was or he was too tired to care. He was already walking away from me.
“You awake, Arri?” Mendel’s voice came from where I left him a short ways off.
“Not really,” I lied and lay back down, closing my eyes. My head felt like it was going to explode.
“Good,” came the reply, “I’m going back to sleep.”
Time inched past. I’m terrible at sleeping during the daytime. I put one arm across my eyes and that helped. I dozed off a few times, but always woke up soon. Beside me Liop’s breathing was deep and steady. It would be sad to wake him up.
As you know, the Imato and his soldiers started filling the fairy ring with natron in the late morning. We also received your letter and read it hurriedly in the dim light. The tree had now been burning for twenty-four hours and it looked terrible. The outer branches had succumbed fastest to the flames, leaving the tree virtually leafless. However, a closer inspection revealed that most of the trunk was still unscathed, although the bark was stained gray with ashes. Banquo had to do most of the work, coating the trunk and branches with natron. Being unable to fly, the rest of us ran around the ground tying the sacks of natron together in pairs. We used a quick release knot to close the bags and took turns riding on Banquo to help scatter the natron evenly. Mendel experimented with explosions that he hoped would scatter the natron into the tree from the ground up. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the blasts strong enough and the sounds made my headache even worse.  We worked all day, two sacks at a time. The fairies brought us water to drink, but no food. I think it was part of our punishment for starting the fire in the first place. Liop wore out by lunchtime and I quit helping to gather fruit and nuts for us to eat. Banquo did not eat anything, but neither did his strength slacken. After lunch, Mendel forced me to lie down for a couple of hours. After I rested, he did the same. The bubble of clean air could not move with us, so it was always a relief to return to it.
By late afternoon I realized the smoke was diminishing. The sunset was still red, but it was brighter than the night before. I’m not as good as you at staying up late, Keish. I wanted to curl back up and go to sleep. I don’t know how late it was when I heard Mendel say, “Arri, we’re finished.” I only know that I collapsed instantly on the sacks and was asleep.

I woke suddenly in pitch blackness, unsure of what had wakened me. I looked around. The bubble of clean air was gone, but the air was less smoky than it had been, although still too smoky to see the stars. I had a sense that it was not quite morning. I waited and soon the first glow of morning revealed the silhouettes of those around me. I saw Liop next to me, breathing heavily and deeply. Banquo was curled up near the tree. Mendel lay on his back a bit further. I thought something had wakened me and I looked around. Finally my eyes picked out the silhouette of a stag standing at the edge of Banquo’s circle. I sat up, but the vision vanished with my movement. I lay back down and fell asleep.
I woke up slowly to the bright light of late morning. It felt strange and disorienting. I sat up slowly and a fit of coughing shook me. I could hear my breath moving in and out. I looked around and saw only Banquo curled up in a tight ball and sleeping. The ground was covered in gray ashes and powdered white natron.
“Where did everyone go?” I asked, hardly able to rasp out the words. When no one answered me, I tried again, louder. Banquo shuddered and raised his head slowly.
“Where’s Liop?” I asked.
“The fairies took him back to the palace,” he dropped his head back between his paws, looking defeated. I saw the implications of this immediately. We had failed. Everything we had done to free Liop had been wasted. For a long time Banquo and I stared at each other without speaking. Why didn’t we take Liop and run the moment the fire was out? I knew the answer immediately. We were too weak with exhaustion. It was impossible.
“Where’s Mendel?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” said Banquo.
“What do we do next?” I asked.
“I can’t do anything,” Banquo answered, “As soon as I have strength to return to the caves, I must leave.”
“But Liop…” I murmured.
“I’m sorry, Arri,” he shook his head sadly. He looked awful, his fur caked with natron and ashes.
“I’ve been thinking though,” he added slowly, “about Imato’s ward and also what happened to the boy fairy with the iron powder…”
I didn’t see a connection.
“Liop turns eight years old on July tenth,” Banquo explained, “if the fairies’ spell hasn’t worked by then, I think it will fail and Liop will stay human. However, it will be nearly impossible for Imato, or anyone, to maintain a ward on Liop for so long, considering how many days the ward has already been working. Liop has been using alchemy for the past couple of days and he has alchemy ingredients throughout his body—mainly the natron under his skin and any powder he breathed into his lungs. That boy fairy couldn’t handle the alchemy in Liop’s doorknob spell. I think—I’m not sure—but I do think there’s a chance…” he was watching me closely, “The fairies can’t break through Imato’s ward; I think the alchemy will also deflect the transformation spell. It’s going to take weeks to get all this pollution out of our bodies. It might be enough.”
I stared at him.
“If Imato’s ward fails, Keish will cast one of her own,” I said.
“Keish’s ward on you is a good one for most spells, but it won’t really stop the fairies.”
I looked up at the ruined tree. We had come all this way and I wasn’t really sure we had accomplished anything. A fit of coughing hit Banquo and I stared at him in shock. Throughout the fire he had seemed so strong, impenetrable to the smoke and flames. Was he really?
I walked over and knelt next to him, reaching out to put my hand on his shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to try to pull the smoke out of your lungs like I pulled the iron out of the boy fairy,” I explained.
“Don’t,” said Banquo immediately, “at least wait till we’re away from the fairies. You don’t want them to try and force you to pull the natron out of Liop.”
“Oh,” I pulled my hand back, “what do we do now?” I asked.
“Wait for Mendel to return. Then we can consider your options,” he frowned thoughtfully.
Waiting for Mendel to return was frustrating. I wanted to do something, but there was nothing to be done. I pulled out a piece of paper and started this letter to you, not knowing how or when I would be able to send it. The sun was high in the sky when Mendel finally showed up.
“Hey, Arri, Banquo!” he called out before we actually saw him. He was riding Glory and looked annoyingly cheerful.
“Here,” he jumped down from Glory and handed me a bag with a large piece of potato, some hazelnuts, and a tomato. “It’s kind of random,” he acknowledged, “but are you hungry?”
I was starving, though I hadn’t really been thinking about it. I bit into the potato raw and chewed. They’re definitely better cooked, but I was too hungry to care.
“I followed the fairies with Liop,” Mendel informed us, “and he’s back in that tower, of course.” He shook his head. “Imato’s ward is really something,” he continued, “They’re throwing spells at it one after another without effect. They let me watch for a while. Liop is tired, but he’s holding up just fine. I think in a few days, he’ll start terrorizing them with magic and alchemy again. What’s the plan now?”
Banquo repeated what he had told me. When he finished, Mendel was frowning.
“Has anything like this ever happened before?” he asked Banquo. The winged lion’s wings rustled as he shook his head.
“I don’t know any stories like this one,” he said.
Mendel leaned up against the tree trunk. None of us said anything for several minutes. Then Banquo turned his head and I saw a pair of fairies watching us from the edge of the circle. They carried swords and glared at us.
“Can they enter the circle?” I asked nervously.
“Yes,” said Banquo, “as long as they don’t touch the natron. Arri, we have to leave now.”
“I can’t leave Liop,” I said.
“I can’t leave you,” Banquo responded, “How would you get back?”
“Could she ride back on Glory?” asked Mendel eagerly, “She could stay here with me. We might get another opportunity to rescue Liop.”
“I’m supposed to take her back,” Banquo frowned. I looked at Glory. If we rescued Liop, we would have to take him too, and although Glory might be able to carry two people, she couldn’t carry three.
“Could I ride back on you?” asked Mendel. He glanced from me to Banquo and back again speculatively. I thought to myself that the idea of riding a winged lion probably appealed to him, but maybe not as much as continuing the adventure of rescuing Liop.
“Maybe,” began Banquo thoughtfully. At this point a long discussion of traveling magic began. It seems that getting into the land of the fairies isn’t so much about traveling over distance as it is about building up enough of a certain type of magic. You build up the magic by jumping from one fairy ring to another, pulling cords of magic behind you. It takes at least eight jumps for a human (four for a lion) to build up enough magic. The result is a kind of slingshot. You then use the magic to propel yourself into the fairyland. The return trip is actually easier, because you follow your trail of magic, cutting the cords when you reach earth. Mendel started the spell in the prairie when I left Moonstone and ended it at the fairy ring behind Westridge Manor in Odsreq, which is why he was able to collect your letters from Sean. The question was whether I could take over Mendel’s spell.
In the end, we had an impromptu practice session with Mendel starting a simple spell and me trying to take over and finish it. It took a couple of hours, but I finally managed it. Then I climbed up on Glory and tried to take hold of the cords of magic connected to her golden bridle. I took hold of the reigns and felt a surge of magic pass through me. The practice had not been necessary, because the spell was in the reigns. I could feel it. Mendel gave me the words for the return trip.

It’s evening now. There isn’t really much of a plan, Keish. I’m going to stay here until Liop’s birthday. If I have an opportunity to rescue him sooner, I’ll take it. In the meantime, Mendel will return with Banquo and get this letter to you. I should be able to work the return spell with Glory, but it still makes me nervous.
I think the fairy queen owes you and Imato more than a little oregano for your help. Unfortunately, I’m not brave enough to tell her so. I’m not sure how she feels about my role in the tree catching fire.
Tell Imato that I love him.

Love,
Arri

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