Author: dhsully
Company: US Army

Mistress of Magic

There was nothing special about the small curio shop.  Old  English  lettering on the plate glass window proclaimed "Antiques and Curios."
Desiree stopped.  "Wait," she said, "let's take a look at what they've got here."
Sheila rolled her eyes upward.  "Are you serious?  I can tell you what they've got. Crummy junk, that's what.  Just look at the dump."  She tugged her sister's arm .  "C'mon.  Let's not waste our time here."
Desiree was only half listening.  "I have a gut feeling that this place has something I can use in my act."
"You and your gut feelings will do me in.  First you get a gut feeling to come to this run-down part of town, and now you want to go in this run-down joint.  Let's get outta this area before we get mugged."
"No, wait.  I mean it.  I want to check this place out.  It'll only take a few minutes."
Sheila shrugged and rolled her eyes.  "Whatever you say."
Desiree laughed.  "C'mon, let's go in."
It was a small hole-in-the-wall shop, and there wasn't much to see.  It was dingy, dimly lighted, and the items weren't displayed attractively.  A thin, stoop-shouldered woman behind the counter looked up as they entered.  Her bespectacled eyes widened and her mouth flew open.
"Why…aren't you Desiree, The Mistress of Magic?"
Desiree smiled.  "Yours truly."
"We watched your TV special last night.  We think you're great."  She chuckled.  "My grandson's got a crush on you.   Raves about your raven hair and violet eyes.  Me, I think you look like a young Cindy Crawford."
"Well…maybe a slightly toned down version," said Sheila.  They all laughed.  After promising her autograph and assuring the woman she needed no help, Desiree proceeded to browse through the shop with Sheila in tow.  She saw nothing but the usual items such as statuettes, vases, jewelry boxes, and such.
"Some really nice stuff," Sheila muttered, "We shoulda brought a shopping cart."
Desiree ignored the sarcasm, but was about to admit that Sheila was right when she spotted the black leather case.  It was about eighteen inches long, and about two inches on each side.   It held her eyes like a magnet. 
Without looking inside, she said, "That's what I'm looking for." 
Sheila stared at her in disbelief.  "Are you out of you're ever-lovin mind?   You have no idea what's in there and you're buying it?  I should have you committed."
 But Desiree would not be swayed.  She knew that she must have the item inside that case.  She purchased the item and they headed home.
~~*~~
"A magic wand?"  Sheila rolled her eyes.  "A child's toy and you paid  two hundred bucks for it.  That little old lady will probably go home tonight and brag that she ripped off Desiree, Mistress of Magic."
Desiree wasn't listening.  She was studying the wand that she held in her hand.  It was silver, or perhaps silver plated, about fifteen inches long and one-half inches in diameter, and had a small five pointed star attached to the end. 
Sheila went on, "If you're going to use a wand on your next show, you could have found something a little more spectacular.  And cheaper.  Sheesh."
Desiree was always searching for supernatural  things she could work into her act.  But she had no such plans for the wand.
"No.  I'm not going to use it in my act.  It's just that I've always wanted a wand that could do real magic."  She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. 
"You've always been fascinated by magic, Sis, and you believed in fairies, elves and stuff when you were a little girl.  But you're a big girl now, and you've become one of the best illusionists around.  You, of all people, should know there's no such thing as real magic."
Desiree sighed.  "Of course I know that.  What I meant was that the wand is merely symbolic of real magic.  I see it as a sort of fulfillment of a childhood dream.
But Desiree knew that was only a half-truth.  She had always dreamed of having real magic at her command--not merely the illusion of magic at which she had become so adept through years of study and practice.  But it wasn't her dream of magic that had led her to the little curio shop.  In fact, she did not know what led her there.
 ~~*~~
That night, when she went to bed she placed the wand on the night stand beside her, for she found that she felt uneasy when it was out of reach.  It seemed to be taking control of her mind, which made her uncomfortable.  She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.  Tomorrow, she decided, she would get rid of the wand.   She smiled.  Ha, that will give Sheila something more to gripe about.
As she was finally drifting off to sleep, something awakened her.  A voice was whispering her name.  Was Sheila calling her?  No, the voice was in her mind.  It was her imagination.
The voice grew a little louder.  "Desiree, I am real.  I am not your imagination."
She was alert now, sitting up in bed.  She could hear the voice plainly.  It's that damned wand.  It's causing me to lose my mind.
"You are sane, Desiree.  Please listen to me, for I cannot hold contact much longer.  Please come to the world of Grenair…"
"What…who are you?"
"Please.  I have no time to explain.  Please listen carefully.  If you do not come to Grenair, our world will perish.  We need your help.  Now, this hour.  You have the key to get here:  The Wand of Merlin, which you, and only you, have the power to command. 
"Please listen carefully.  To use the wand, you must first address it, Wand of Merlin.  Second, you state  your command.   Then finally end with,  I so command.
"Your command to come here will be, Wand of Merlin, take me to Arlyn Castle of Grenair.  I so command."
The voice repeated the command, and then began to fade out.  "I must go now, my time is up.  Please hurry, Fair Desiree."
Desiree was stunned.  She had not been dreaming, and the voice was not her imagination.  But what the voice asked of her was staggering.  To save a world from destruction! 
The owner of the voice must have witnessed some of her illusions and assumed that she had magic powers.    But she was a mere illusionist.  An entertainer.  No way could she save a world.  The owner of the voice had also mistaken the wand for that of the great wizard, Merlin.  But in truth it was a mere curio, or a child's toy, as Sheila had called it.
But the voice had been desperate, saying that the existence of his world depended  on her decision.  She decided that at least she owed him a try.  And what harm could it do? 
She got out of bed and pulled on her jeans, blouse, and jogging shoes.   She chuckled.  Don't want to show up in a strange world in my nighties.
She glanced at her watch.  It was almost midnight.
Feeling a little silly, and glad no one was there to see her, she repeated the words as the voice had instructed.  
Wand of Merlin, take me to Arlyn Castle on Grenair.  I so command.
She blinked, and she was there.  She found herself standing in the garden of a walled in courtyard.  She looked up at the surrounding towers and spires and guessed that this must be Arlyn Castle.
She heard voices and became aware of a group of people emerging from an arched gate in the wall.  In moments, she was surrounded by the group, and a strange group it was.  There were what she thought of as normal people, little elves, and a couple of giants at least ten feet tall.
Seconds later, a man appeared.  He was bald, except around the fringes, sported a well trimmed white beard, and wore a toga-like robe and sandals.
"Rest period is over," he shouted.  "Back to your duties."
The group quickly dispersed.
He came up to her.  "Fair Desiree, Mistress of Magic, welcome to Arlyn Castle." 
Desiree, still dumbfounded from her experience, could only gape at him. 
"I am Arlyn, Chief Wizard to the Grand Alliance of Kings and Queens.  On behalf of all the rulers in Grenair, I welcome you and express our undying gratitude for coming to save our world."
She found her voice.  "How do you know my name?  Are you the voice I heard?
"Yes.  And it was I who guided you, through your inner conscience, to the Wand of Merlin."  He chuckled.  "And a difficult task it was, getting through to you on another world.  I am still recovering."
"I hate to tell you this, but your efforts were for nothing.  I have no magic powers.  I am merely an entertainer, and my magic is trickery.  I truly wish I could help you, but I cannot."
He studied her.  "I can understand why you feel this way.  Magic has been gone from your world for so long that it is now nothing but a myth.  The people of Earth scoff at magic.  But I can assure you that my efforts were not in vain.  You do indeed possess power, Fair Desiree, for you are a direct descendant of Merlin."
She stared at him.  "That's ridiculous.  How can I be expected to believe such a thing.  What you're telling me is simply too fantastic to believe."
"You are here in a strange world because you uttered a few words to that wand in your hand.  Do you not find that too fantastic to believe?"
She looked at the wand and took in her surroundings.  "When you put it that way, I guess I should be ready to believe anything.  But why didn't you choose my sister?  If I'm Merlin's descendent, then so is she."
"Yes, and she has the same potential as you, but because of her skepticism she would be very difficult to convince."
"I can understand that," she said.  "Even I, much less a skeptic than she, was hard to convince.  If you'll explain all this to me and tell me what I must do, I'll try my best."
"We don't have much time," Arlyn said, "so I must be brief. 
"Earth was once a magical place," he began, "and Merlin was the greatest magician on Earth, or for that matter, any other world.  Even though Merlin passed on  before my time, the great wizard is still remembered on Grenair.  On his home world of Earth, he is now but a myth.
"Magic needs faith.  With the passing of Merlin,  the practice of science grew on Earth.  In science, everything must be proven, and so magic was all but forgotten.
"During Earth's magical time, there was a portal between Earth and Grenair.  Anyone with magical powers could pass freely between the two worlds.  Beings such as ogres and fairies came and went through the portal, and the myths of those creatures persist on your world even today.
"But as the magic on Earth faded, the portal between our worlds closed.  I am considered the most powerful wizard on Grenair, but even I cannot pass through the void between Earth and Grenair.  Merlin, who was still around for a while after the portal closed, was the only wizard with the power to travel between worlds after it closed.  How great were his powers!
"Before his passing, he bequeathed his powers to his direct descendants through the medium of his wand.  You, Fair Desiree, being his direct descendant, and in possession of his wand, have the power of Merlin."
She interrupted him.  "But how can you know that I am Merlin's descendant?"
"I can't travel between worlds," he said, "but I have the power to observe events on Earth, and with some difficulty, to project my thoughts there.  My ancestors before me also observed Earth and kept records of Merlin's descendants."
"How long have you been watching me?"  She asked.
"Since your birth," he said.  He chuckled, and added quickly,  "You needn't be concerned about me eavesdropping or peeking into your intimate moments.  I only check occasionally to keep track of your whereabouts, and some of your public activities.  For your information, I have long been aware that your shows are merely illusions, and not real magic.  
"But the wand you hold in your hand gives you true magic.  You have the power of Merlin himself.  As long as the wand is within your sight you have the power to control it."