Love's Magic

“Is this the place?” I asked Riley, looking at the patch of flowers. The only patch of flowers in the entire clearing.

“Yup,” he answered.

“Woof!” barked Fang, Riley’s guide dog. I trusted them even though I knew he couldn’t see it. The blind, the deaf, the mute, and the inhuman seem to be more sensitive to these kinds of things than the rest of us.

“Then I’m going in,” I said. “Get out of here. I’m not sure who’ll be following me when I come out. If I come out.”

“I thought you already came out, Warren,” he joked.

“Not funny,” I said. “Seriously, get out of here, Riley.”

“Got it,” he said. “I wish I could come with you, though.”

“Heh, so do I,” I told him. “Well, guess I better get down there.”

After adjusting my backpack on my shoulders, I pulled up on the dirt underneath the flowers to find that Riley was right. Under the flowers was a stone stairway. I hurried down hoping that the dirt and herbs I was carrying would cover the smell of my sweat and the iron.

The stairway was much longer than I thought with a couple of twists and turns. I was a little out of breath when I reached the door at the bottom. I pushed open the door and peeked inside. What I saw amazed me. Everything was sparkling, or so it appeared at first. Upon closer inspection there were snowflakes hanging in the air, suspended in time.

Then there were the tables, overflowing with plates of food. The smell was so tempting, but I knew that if I took any there would be punishment. Their food is not meant for the human stomach. I’ve seen men go insane with want from just one bite.

But the smell of the food was not the strongest smell in the room. No, that had to be the sweat from the bodies on the dance floor. It was spectacular. In one area there were big, towering creatures moving around in a way that vaguely resembled dancing. Near them were small pixie-like things swirling in the air like floating ballerinas. Up closer to the stage a mosh pit seemed to have formed. And keeping these three groups separate was a river of bodies moving through the spaces. Some so graceful it looked like they were floating; others shoving through with brute force.

But I knew what was behind these beautiful things. I just wish Blake would have believed me. That’s the whole reason I’m here.

It was only a week ago when heshowed up. The satyr; an ugly thing with the head and body of a man, but the legs, ears, and horns of a goat, swooped in and took him away. Blake couldn’t see them; no, but I could. I tried to tell him. Tried to tell him that he was no good. That he was one of them. That he was in for trouble; that he was being deceived. But he wouldn’t listen. They never do. They all think I’m crazy. They laugh at me, call me names. It’s all true, I suppose, but it still hurt to hear. I had never gone in for any of them. I always thought that they deserved what they got for not listening to me. But not Blake. He’s different. No, he was there for me; he never hurt me like the others. He doesn’t deserve this. And I love him too much to be without him.

I looked around the room a second time and that’s when I saw him. He was up on the stage and playing a stringed instrument that looked like a deformed guitar. I noticed that there were other people on the stage. There was one man beating what I assumed to be drums with his hands, another one blowing into something I couldn’t begin to recognize, and one lying on the ground who might have been dead. The living ones were miserable and, looking back, I’m sorry I couldn’t have saved them all.

Quickly, and without knowing what would come next, I shoved through the crowd dodging claws and other things trying to catch me as I jumped up onto the stage. They must have been too shocked to follow me.

Blake was chained to the floor by thorny vines. I grabbed the vines and pulled them. They gouged his soft skin as the slid across his hands. He was extremely pale; his fingers and wrists were bleeding badly, and I hoped that he would be alright once we got out of here. I turned around to see them all their ugly faces looking straight at me.

“We’re going!” I said to Blake as I pulled the iron bar out of my bag. I grabbed his arm and put it around my shoulders and pulled him off the stage beside me. I ran toward the staircase that I had just come down, swinging the iron bar at every monster that came within reach. Just as I thought we might make it, there was the satyr.

“Give me back my paycheck!” he demanded.

“Get out of the way!” I yelled back, holding the bar in the air.

“Now why are you in such a hurry to be leaving?” said the satyr. “Why don’t you stay and play a little game with me.”

“I know who you are,” I said. “And I’m not staying here for one more second.”

“Look around you,” he told me. “Do you really think you can escape?” I didn’t have to look. I knew he was right. We were surrounded by monsters. His game was my only chance…

“What kind of game?” I asked.

“Oh, how about… A banjo competition?” he said. The banjo. I loathed sound of it, but my uncle had insisted on giving me a few lessons last summer, but I had never actually played or even practiced. But what choice did I have?

“Alright,” I said grudgingly. His smile chilled me to the bone.

“Acacius!” yelled the satyr. Someone, presumably Acacius, tossed two banjos to the satyr. He handed one of them to me.

“I’ll start and you one-up me,” he said with the same evil smile. “If you can.”

He handed me one of the banjos and I took it, setting Blake down gently to the floor. I slipped the strap over my head and gripped the neck tightly.

Dah dah dum played the satyr.

Dah dah dum dum I played.

Dah dah dum dadum he played.

Dah dah did-ah-li-dum I played.

With another one of his bone-chilling smiles, he rocketed into a complex banjo solo.

We were done for. I started inspecting the instrument in my hand. I noticed the smoothness of the neck, the texture of the body. I noticed the metal ring around the body if it and an idea struck me. But would it work? Well, I had nothing to lose...

As the satyr was happily playing away as if I didn’t exist, I lifted the strap off of my shoulders and over my head. I raised my banjo and rammed the metal ring straight into the neck of his. His banjo snapped into two pieces; the look on his face was priceless.

“It seems my banjo has bested yours,” I said to him. He paused looking for a way out.

“Go!” he said finally. I grabbed Blake by the arm and ran toward the exit. The stairs seemed longer this time, but it didn’t matter at all. I had Blake back in my arms. I looked to him to see that he was becoming more and more aware of what was going on the closer we got to the surface.

When we finally got there, it was almost dawn. Riley and Fang were nowhere in sight, so we just ran until we reached the street.

“Warren?” said Blake looking up at me in the almost-darkness. He was still a little bit out if it from the spell, but he was much better than when I found him.

“Shhh,” I said to him. “’S alright now. We’re safe.”

“You rescued me,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” I said.

He sat there looking at me for almost a full minute. I looked right back at him; I looked at his porcelain skin, his black hair, his oceanic blue eyes. Finally, Blake reached up and kissed my lips so gently. It only lasted an instant before he pulled back blushing. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could I leaned in for another. This was just the beginning of one of the most passionate sunrises of our lives.