I summoned Rodger Emanuel Qin. “Phil, the fishmonger king of Snipsnort summons thee, Rodger Emanuel Qin.”

Rodger answered, “I’m ready to complete the deal. Wait, did you say Snipsnort? I need to look that one up. Oh, come through, of course.”

#

In a long dusty room filled with cubicle offices, he led me to a clean office with windows at the end of the room. “Sorry about the mess. I won this place in a duel, but I still owe taxes on it. I mean to have it all cleaned up, but now I’m paying a crew to replace the windows you blew out. You would think an independent wizard would have all the money he needs, but expenses build up quick.

“On paper I am worth forty million. Considering I barely manage in my week to week handling of debts, I wonder how I got into this mess?”

I asked, “Do you have Daemon friends?”

He nodded. “Several have been really helpful along the way. I doubt I could have gotten the loans I needed to keep this going without them.”

I asked, “What do you owe?”

He said, “Twelve million more or less.”

I turned into me holding a laptop and connected to the internet and looked up the spot price of gold. Six hundred and forty pounds of gold would cover his debts.

He looked over my shoulder. “Yes, I know I could speed time and make enough gold to cover it, but then I would be spending four years in my Fairyland twiddling my thumbs without the internet. With expenses, it would be closer to five years.”

I shook my head. “I have lived week to week, but I have never been in debt apart from the debts I owe friends who have given me so much without taking.”

Rodger said, “I need to gift you and train you in the basics, but the place I normally make the gateway in at has a lot of workers on ladders replacing glass right now. We can go up on the roof, though. I have used it from time to time.”

#

On the roof, there was a clear area where a black painted circle with symbols around the perimeter was painted on the roof with thick black paint that was starting to peel in places.

Rodger gifted me and stepped back. “The story is that the Dread Lord of Fairy made up this spell in his head and then taught it to the wizards. It’s unlike any other spell I know. Tight, smooth, and clean. You can use this spell in dark or light and ignore the phase of the moon, but it will not function in the presence of someone who has not witnessed magic before.

“As long as you are in it and using it, it stays active but it collapses immediately if an unbeliever shows up or you leave the circle.”

Having been gifted with the spell I knew I could use it, but I didn’t want to immediately connect to Snipsnort. I stepped into the center of the circle and opened a gateway to my new desolate world.

I looked around at the gray skies and sand and then closed the gateway.

Rodger said, “You could win some duels just by opening that world. It feels like death.”

I smiled and opened a gateway to Snipsnort. I made the platform in the middle of the seven-way crossroads overlay on Real. I made an illusion of the lady who Phil Thibodeaux is supposed to have a crush on and then made a gossamer coin with her on one side and a fish with its tail swishing in front of its body on the other. Then I made the coin a one pound real gold coin. I made another illusion and adjusted it. This time with lines on the edges and morning glory vines around the edges on the side with the girl and spider lilies and iris around the image of the fish.

I crouched and made an illusion of a thousand of these coins, shifted the illusion to gossamer, and picked one up to examine it. Then I made the gossamer real and picked up a handful of the heavy coins and turned into me in another form, picked up another pair of coins, and shut down the gateway with me and the coins still in Real. The coins and I fell from the platform that was now gone and onto the roof two steps below.

“Rodger, I just took a handful of coins plus two. Maybe twenty or so pounds out of the thousand I made. You can pay off your debts to everyone. You will owe me a thousand pounds of Fairy fee and until you pay it off, if you accept my offer, you cannot force anyone to duel with you against their will.”

He asked, “Why are you trusting me like this?”

I said, “You kept your deal from before, so I think you’ll keep your deal now. While you could easily pay me back by passing time in Fairy, I suspect that after you are out of debt to everyone else, you will find reasons to put off paying me. So at least for a while, you won’t be forcing challenges on anyone.

“Since you kept your bargain, I think we might at least become something functional if not friends. I just don’t want any friends who force fights on people who don’t want to fight.”

Rodger walked to the center of the circle and picked up a gold coin. “She’s pretty. I like the fish. Heads and tails. Nice coin. I may make more money selling these to collectors than just the value of the gold. I may be able to pay this off faster than you think. Is she real?”

I said, “You’re talking about the woman I’m obsessed with. Or at least that is the story. I need to go back and examine some pictures. I think she may be real, but I didn’t quite get it right and I think she may be too perfect to be real. A lot can be done with Photoshop these days.”

#

I summoned my contact in Newark and from my suite there, I took some of the best images of the woman with me to Snipsnort. I made a few practice runs and some illusions before making a few statues of her. She really was a work of art, living or not.

Then I summoned Caerwyn. “Caerwyn can you bring me through?”

Caerwyn said, “Hubert is here. Give us a moment to load up, and you can bring us there.”

I went to the center of the room and waited before bringing Mr. Hubert and Caerwyn to the manor house.

Caerwyn and Hubert both put down their things and walked over to see the statues.

Caerwyn asked, “Phil, when did you meet Goldilocks?”

Mr. Hubert said, “Phil, that’s Helen of Troy. Whatever you do, don’t fall in love with her and don’t trust her for a moment.”

I smiled. “It’s apparently too late. It seems that I’m obsessed with her and have a crush on her despite never meeting her. She’s very pretty. I’ve met someone that almost resembled her but I shouldn’t say.”

Mr. Hubert asked, “It seems like you are obsessed?”

I said, “Exactly.”

#

Flying over the path the bridge was going to follow, the cleared area had a different color under the water. I flew down and dropped into the water to swim. There was a gossamer footing going the full way. I climbed out and turned back into a rook and flew back to where the men, along with one muscular woman, were building the bridge.

“What is the reason for the gossamer foundation?”

The woman said, “Please don’t tell the other nobles. They will play games and dispel it. It’s the only way to keep the mud clear down to the bedrock so the bridge will have a good foundation later.”

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I changed from being a crow and stood in front of the table they had plans set up on.

Everyone bowed, kneeled, and genuflected except for a few who were moving a large stone.

I said, “Please rise and when you’re working there is no need for any formalities.”

I went to the water’s edge where they were lowering the stone. The area in front of them had gossamer wooden ramps built to guide the shaped stone into place. I walked out of the area they were working in and waded out into the water. The top of the gossamer footing was about twenty feet under the surface. I swam over the footing and shifted it to white quartzite before making it real.

#

Voices were shouting. I was dizzy, I coughed up water and threw up. Someone pushed me on my side. I was washed off and given water. I went to sleep again as I was lifted into a boat.

I was woken to drink broth. I drank a lot and went back to sleep.

I heard Annabell’s voice, “We didn’t mean for him to kill himself.”

It might have been a dream. I woke for a moment as something was put in my hand. A voice said, “Transform well, Phil.”

I lay for a while and opened my eyes. In my hand was a bone. The label on it read, “Otter.”

Someone brought me more broth.

I woke up miserable. My head hurt and I felt like I had a fever. Someone brought me more broth. I drank it. “Is there something more solid to eat?”

They brought me porridge. I felt disappointed. I at least wanted stew or gumbo or chowder. In spite of that, the porridge was wonderful, and I went back to sleep.

I woke up and looked around the room. A candle was lit. My attendants were sleeping so I turned into me well with a backpack with food. I ate and then I went to the Fairyland that I was first abducted in and slipped through the gateway and into Real.

#

It was early in the morning so I slowed time in Snipsnort and shadow stepped to a grocery to replenished my backpacks of food. Dense food with lots of nutrients and lots of protein and no worry about how much fat was in any of it.

I flew as a rook back to Mr. Hubert’s house and sat on my bed before turning into myself still sick and holding the bone. I put the bone on the bed. I was hungry but felt well enough, so I turned into an otter.

I slid off the bed and managed to reach the doorknob and get out of the room. I ran to the stairs and half-ran, half-slid down them. I got to the front door and opened it. Closing it took a while. I ran to the fish tanks and looked down at all the delicious fish.

I carefully chose my next meal and slid into the tank with it.

#

Rested and healed, I sped time back up in Snipsnort and summoned Mr. Hubert. He brought me through to Fairy.

“Mr. Hubert, where are we?”

Mr. Hubert said, “Just Hubert. This is Bogview Castle. How much mass did you use?”

I checked. “Barely any of it. What happened?”

Mr. Hubert said, “You made a real stone footer for the bridge all the way to Nowhere. They say that you have finished three-fourths of the job and done all the really hard work. My advice is that you start small and see what you can handle. Just make a few tons and see how you feel.”

Mr. Hubert went to a door, opened it, and said, “The king has returned and appears to be in good health.”

I said, “I will be flying over the bridge, no need for any concern.”

Mr. Hubert said, “Before you build anything else, take me to our house in Real and let me show you something.”

#

On one of the pallets was a large spool of cable. Mr. Hubert said, “Fiber optic cable. Not part of the rest of the equipment but if Caerwyn can manage to get the internet in Fairy, we might have a use for it. The reason that Anthony got it was that he heard about Goblins using it at an exclusive passage. Can you travel through the cable?”

I found the end and felt the shadows. There was no passage. I turned into an owl and jumped up on the spool. The other end was probably wrapped so it wouldn’t pass light. “Hubert, this may work. Thanks, I will try it when I make the rest of the bridge.”

#

I studied the plans and since I was going to use better stone, I decided to use my gifted construction knowledge and just wing it. With time sped up in Fairy, I swam as an otter and made columns to support the bridge above. I tested my limits and ate fish that had never learned to fear an otter. I swam and made columns for days before I had managed to complete the trail through the swamp. Then I flew as rook and made gossamer arches to connect the columns that would support the bridge above. When the arches were stable and looked how I wanted them to look, I turned them into real stone. Flying high above the water so I could see deep underneath, I could see stone under the water. I made extra supports and put in ramps and stairways and more arches that would go up to the bridge.

A boat with bridge workers in it waved for my attention. I landed on the prow of the boat.

The woman said, “We noticed that you spend more time traveling to find food than building so we came prepared.”

They had fruit, bread, and meat. It sped up the process, and I started working from the prow of the boat as they paddled along.

#

The bridge surface itself was easy after all of this. I could walk and build. The food carts kept coming and apart from rest and sleep, I was able to continue without interruptions. I was working on a covered area for fishermen to use lines and poles from the side of the bridge when Hubert came to visit with a tall man who looked like a Daemon.

The tall man asked, “Do you recognize me?”

I shook my head.

Hubert said, “Just call him Anthony. No need to call him uncle.”

I ran to hug Anthony, no longer Uncle Anthony but still Anthony.

#

The bridge was in use, but the plans were for it to be covered and have places for small markets. There were a lot of plans that would look grand, but the craftsmen and workers were arguing over them.

Under the stone roof of the market area I had built where the bridge officially started, they had tables set up with their plans and drawings. None of them were ready to compromise on their plans.

I cleared my throat. “Fine, then it is settled. When none can agree, then my decision is final. Make sure to get along, gentlemen, or you will have to tear down and repair my arbitrary decisions if you all agree they are horrid.”

I looked at the crew who built the first part of the bridge and fed me as I built the rest. I looked at the men who quarried the stone and started making an illusion of them pushing and hauling a huge stone. When I finished, I altered the stone to take water from an as yet unbuilt aqueduct and splash down to a pool around the sculpture. With some adjustment and a shift to gossamer so it would remain stable as I examined it, I finally finished it and made it real.

The muscular woman said, “Nice work, sire, but if you would spare me, please no more statues of me.”

Another worker said, “But pretty women are the basis of great art.”

She said, “Get someone else to pose.”

I asked, “Did I go too far?”

She said, “No, sire. it is a great honor and I thank you, but apart from this one I would rather not be put on a pedestal.”

I thought about having women pose and decided it might not be ideal. While thinking about it, I went to an empty pedestal and made an illusion of Mable, the attractive Daemon lady that lived near Mr. Hubert. I couldn’t get the details right, and I didn’t know if she wanted to pose. I had enough pictures of the woman who I was apparently supposed to be obsessed with, and I had already made statues of her, just not big enough for this pedestal. From the pictures of her, she had no issue with posing for paintings or sculptures.

I changed the illusion to look like her, and the men around me applauded. I made it in gossamer, checked it, and then made it real.

#

My heavy equipment collection had been moved inside the large garage at my empty factory in Gary, Indiana. I set up a gateway and took a boom crane truck with a large bed to my barren Fairyland.

Then I went to the Fairyland where I was first abducted and went to Hubert’s house. I made another gateway to the barren world and brought the crane out on the driveway in front of the carriage house. Using the crane, I tied off pallets and loaded them on the truck. With the first load secured, I opened the gateway to Fairy and discovered the gazebo around the seven-way intersection and the platform were going to cause problems. I was going to have to remake everything.

#

I opened a gateway large and moved the entire gazebo around the seven-way intersection to Real. It collapsed on the uneven field where I moved it. I considered moving it all to the Fairyland of death, but I liked the ruins look of it in the field and left it there, wondering how it would look when it was finally discovered.

I rebuilt the intersection to have a wide path around the center and the center area was raised to the level of the platform. I brought the crane truck in, and with it there, I made a new gazebo over the remade and much fancier intersection. The gazebo had columns and arches and a dome over it and statues of my muse/obsession in between the roads.

Then I drove the truck to the manor and unloaded it with the crane. After ten more trips, I flew back over the road and upgraded it as I repaired the damage I had done driving over it. As part of the repair, I made and laid an armored wound stainless steel tube with fiber optics running through it.

#

Duchess Byebye summoned me as I was operating the crane. “Are all of those statues, Goldilocks?”

I shrugged. “I never met Goldilocks. Do you think she will mind?”

Duchess Byebye said, “She’ll probably steal them all when she finds out about them. I’m bored bring me through.”

I asked, “Are you sure you’re immune to steel?”

She said, “I have a steel dagger and a suit of steel armor that pinches when you bend over.”

I brought her through. She sat beside me as I used the crane to lift a solar panel up for Anthony to position on the mounts set on the roof.

Duchess Byebye put her head against me. “Big brother is wonderful.”

She sat with me and watched as we put things in place and shadow stepped out to watch us build the next morning. With everything lifted. I took the truck back to real and put it back in the garage at my factory in Gary.

#

After returning to the Manor House I started working on running a fiber optic section through the hole in the wall that the old caretaker used to pass the wards on the manor house. I was debating how to safely test the passage when Fuzzy went through it.

He came back out and looked up at me. “Pick me up.”

I picked him up and scratched under his chin.

“Oh yeah, right there. Now stop. Other side. Harder. Lower, not that low. Right there. I like the light tunnel. Leave it there so we can get in and out.”

I continued scratching until he jumped out of my arms and shadow stepped back through the fiber optic cable and into the manor.