Watford Tales

Red Rubber Ball

Baz

They're up in the air. Simon has his hands on the Humdrum's shoulders, and the Humdrum has his hands on Simon's shoulders. They're both kind of transparent - vessels of the power that is pulsing through them. It's like watching a light show. First Simon is dominant and the light is blue white, like his sword, and then the Humdrum gets an edge and the light takes on a darker purplish hue. I see Simon starting to falter. I can feel the wall of power coming from him weakening and I realize that the Humdrum is going to win. And the whole time I'm sitting there, unable to move or speak, the power radiating off of them like two massive magnetic fields as they tussle back and forth. Then Simon looks into my eyes and says "I love you." Those magick words. And then everything changes.

It starts as a tingle at the tips of my fingers and all of a sudden I can move again. I open my hands and I feel the power moving up through my arms, to my center. It's surging between us, Simon and I, moving from his heart to mine, like a circuit that's been completed. The sticky blue ropes fall away. I pull my homemade wand out of my pocket and I'm reaching for Simon. My feet leave the ground and I'm drifting up toward the ceiling to join him. I look down and see the Mage's face crumpled into a furious scowl. I touch Simon's shoulder and his power rushes into me full stop, filling me completely. The magick keeps building, getting stronger until it's nuclear, it's infinite, like that time, that very first time, when we shared our magic and went to the stars. His blue white light is shining brighter now, glowing all around us, until I can't even see the people below us anymore, staring with upturned faces. The Insidious Humdrum is starting to shrink in Simon's hands. His wings fold up, his face gets more and more scrunched and red, like a baby. Simon is using his hands to mold him smaller and smaller until finally, it's just Simon, there in the air, his wings outspread, power radiating from him like a white aura. My hand is still on his shoulder and he's holding a red rubber ball in his hand.

We all stare at that red ball. The Insidious Humdrum, packed up and tucked away. It's still radiating power, but it seems strangely unthreatening now. Then, with a loud pop, it disappears from Simon's hand.

"No!" screams the Mage. He's covered in blue potion and sweat and his face is twisted in an evil grimace. I really want to sink my fangs in his neck but I'm sort of stuck up in the air with Simon. I'm not sure what's going to happen if I let go.

Simon looks at me and I look at Simon and then he puts his hand to his thigh and hands me his glowing sword. "Don't bite him," he says, and we drift gently down to the floor.

The minute my feet touch I'm after the Mage, the sword flickering blue white and hot as I swing it. It's incredibly light and supple. I feel the power radiating off of it, and I go right for the throat but the Mage has his sword out as well. He fends off my initial onslaught and it quickly turns into a duel.

"Crowley, I hate you," I say, as I lunge and jab. "You bloody bastard." Everyone in the room is standing, watching us, mesmerized by the spectacle of the Sword of the Mages flashing through the air. It's between him and me, then. Good.

"You let the vampires into Watford," I say, thrusting my sword at him. He blocks me neatly, and jabs back, making me step backward to avoid his blade. "You're the one responsible for my mother's death. You're the reason I was turned. You had me kidnapped by the numpties so my mother couldn't return to me when the veil lifted. You took my little sister, and tried to sacrifice her for her pure, innocent, heart. And all you've ever wanted out of my boyfriend, your own son, is to steal his power and twist it to your own ends."

"Your boyfriend," he snarls back, thrusting his sword at me hard. I block it with a shuddering clang of metal on metal. "You Nancy! What would your blessed mother say if she saw you now? Natasha Grimm Pitch," he spits. "That elitist bitch! I was never good enough for her! I wonder what she'd think of you and your bloody boyfriend."