I was at a junk yard looking for scrap aluminum when Quinn summoned me. “Joshua, this is Quinn Gray. Are you okay?”
I said, “I’m collecting scrap metal, I think I am okay, what’s up?”
Quinn asked, “Can I come there?”
I brought him through. He looked around at the piles of scrap. “What are you looking for?”
I said, “Aluminum mostly, but the copper is interesting.”
Quinn asked, “Are you sure you are okay?”
“Why do you ask?”
Mumsie asked me if I knew any girls that might work out for you. I asked if you broke up with Ursula and she said, “He sort of did and sort of didn’t and now we need to find a match for that poor lonely boy.”
I said, “Let me find some aluminum and copper. Then I can take you out to eat. I’ll tell you the whole story then.”
Quinn said, “I can spare a bit of aluminum and copper. How much do you need?”
I shook my head. “I’ll need a lot, so I shouldn’t rob you. I’m doing a bunch of big sculptures. I plan to do some jewelry too, since I sort of showed off that skill. I barely know what I am doing but I need to get better quick. I’ll be going to Fairy and speeding time to learn to cast metal in gossamer.”
Quinn laughed. “Let’s go to your Fairyland and get you set up and trained.”
#
As we watched the glowing metal start to cool and look like metal again, Quinn asked, “So there is another you?”
I said, “I would rather you summon Lithos and ask him. I am sure he will be open and glad to see you. Ursula too, but I would rather not tell tales about him.”
Quinn nodded. “So you drew straws for Ursula?”
I shook my head. “Lithos isn’t young anymore. He wouldn’t survive loosing Ursula. I mean, she was my love, but with my memories and his nature, he was as lost as I was and less able to cope. He’s stronger mentally than I am in a hundred ways, but not this one. I thought I was the weakest ever this way, till I met him. I hope it works out cause if Ursula ever breaks up with him, he won’t last long.”
Quinn said, “Sucks to be you.”
I nodded. Quinn asked, “Do you like Goblins?”
I said, “I know one I kind of like, but she would run from me if she saw me. She’s a Goblin so there’s no way I could catch up.”
Quinn gestured to the cooling mold. “The gossamer water running through the gossmer tubes will cool the mold as fast as we dare cool it, but it may be an hour before we can open the casts. There are a lot of tricks we could do in Fairy to speed things up though.”
I said, “I need to be able to match the work in Real, so there is no point. I guess we can start another mold.”
Quinn said, “You were going to take us out to eat.”
I said, “Yeah, I’m a bit hungry myself.”
Quinn offered his hand to me. “I know a wonderful place, expensive, but since your buying, I can’t resist taking you there.”
#
We were in front of a counter looking at Avery, Quinn’s one true love. She was honestly as cute and cuddly looking as a girl could get so I looked away quickly. I was standing beside a display of water colors and watercolor paper. There were tripods for using to paint and compete art bags. Past them I could see the sort of brass setup fancy coffee shops had and a well stocked bar. There was a stair up to a dining area above the kitchen.
Quinn sat at a stool and asked, “No tentacles Avery?”
Avery said, “Joshua strikes me as the timid sort. He might not like food prepared by a monster.”
I looked over at Avery and then looked quickly back at the art supplies.
Avery asked, “Do you have any allergies or food you don’t eat, Josh?”
I said, “Not that I know of. I don’t see any prices, is there a price list?”
Avery said, “We adjust the prices depending on the customer. For the meal, I want to hear what happened with Ursula.”
I sat at the bar beside Quinn and told her the abbreviated version of the story.
Avery said. “Okay, that’s rough.”
She put a glass of milk, and a plate with a hamburger and fries in front of me. She put a small plate beside that and put some hot sauce and ketchup in front of me. I picked up a french fry and tasted it. Oddly it was like a golden moment. The french fry was insane perfection. I cover french fries in Ketchup normally. I just ate one after another and kept my eyes on my food because I didn’t want to fall in love with Quinn’s one true love. The bread on the hamburger was enough to make it the best I had ever had. The hamburger was on the edge of crispy well done on the outside and still tender and moist inside. The cheese had been melted in and was practically part of the meat. The lettuce, tomato and pickles were perfect. The onions were sharp and sweet. I paused half way through the burger.
“Avery, this is the best thing I have ever eaten. I don’t even know what to say.”
Quinn said, “Avery wins again.”
I said, “Avery, I owe you more than just a story. What boon can I give?”
Avery asked, “Would you go on a blind double date with Quinn and me?”
I winced. “I should have suspected. Okay, I won’t welsh on an offer. Is she aware of Fairy and stuff?”
Avery said, “Of course. Don’t take this too seriously, just an outing with friends. I will bring a picnic basket and we can do some painting. Take one of the bags there, it’s a complete set. Quinn can gift you with using watercolors.”
I said, “You know I am scared of sweet looking girls.”
Avery said, “Don’t worry, this one is mean looking. She can get fierce but she is really a sweet heart.”
I said, “I am assuming she is pretty, you know pretty scares me too.”
Avery said, “That’s going to be a problem then. She is quite a looker. A lot prettier than I am.”
I looked at Quinn.
Quinn picked up his glass of milk, “Yeah, I know. Avery, he agrees with me that it’s impossible to be prettier than you are.”
Avery said, “Seriously, you have met her. She has crazy long legs, a perfect and trim figure and a face that makes my heart skip a beat. Quinn you have to be kidding.”
Quinn sipped his milk and gave Avery a questioning look.
Avery said, “You’ve met Dusty.”
Quinn managed to keep from spewing his milk but dribbled a bit and started coughing.
He used his napkin and asked, “Are you serious? That’s the worst match possible.”
Avery said, “Joshua doesn’t need to fall in love at first sight. He just needs to get out there and meet a few girls. Dusty is perfect.”
Quinn said, “Joshua, Dusty is a North American Death.”
I gave Quinn a side eye. “They come in female and pretty?”
Quinn nodded. “She’s a looker, met her a couple of times.”
I asked, “Is she going to try and kill me? I’m kind of used to them trying to kill me.”
Avery said, “I was talking to Dusty and she said she wanted to meet you. I don’t think she meant it as a date and you don’t have to consider it a date, just an outing with friends. She told me you came back from the double death, beat up a bunch of Deaths, and now the Deaths are scared to go near you since they don’t want to offend you.
“I know you have issues with Deaths, but so does Dusty.”
#
We were in Spain painting cliffs when Harvey summoned me.
“Joshua. Harvey here, did you mean to abandon me?”
I said, “I figured you and Ursula got along.”
Harvey said, “I’m not so fond of ribbons and bows. Lithos is nice enough but he won’t protect me from her. Can you bring me through? Seriously even if you run me off and I die of worms, it’ll be better than this.”
I brought Harvey through. I never really gave him to Ursula. Since he talks, I didn’t really see that anyone owned him.
I held Harvey and scratched in front of his ears.
Harvey curled up in my arms. “Missed you. Seriously missed you. Ursula insists on going right for the belly fur. Lithos doesn’t stop her. With all the girls there I don’t get a moment of dignity.”
Quinn asked, “Are you Joshua’s cat or a friend?”
Harvey said, “Joshua is all I got. I’m pretty sure my original master, the one who made me a familiar, died. Joshua has been kind to me, but I kept the truth from him early on so I think I ruined any trust he might have in me.”
I said, “Harvey’s a friend. I trust him. We have both had hard times. I am not sure about the owner pet thing since he talks.”
Harvey said, “He scratches my head, mostly lets me be me, and gets worming medicine when I need it. So yeah, I consider myself his cat. Not a good cat, but he’s a good master.”
Avery said, “Dusty just summoned me. I think she chickened out. I told her it wasn’t like a date or anything. Joshua, you just won points in a game none of us knew about. I never thought Dusty would be scared to meet a guy.”
I said, “Honestly, I have been scared to death of meeting her.”
Avery said, “Wait a minute. Dusty summoned me back.”
Yes, we are in Spain.”
Avery said, “So I planned this badly. Dusty has to go through all sorts of red tape before she is allowed in Spain. She’s not sure they will let her in even then. Do you mind going to New York? She has a balcony we could paint the view from.”
I said to Harvey, “Can I count on you to act like you are sick so we can leave if it gets bad?”
Harvey said, “Just reach for my belly fur and I start throwing up for you. That usually makes humans panic.”
I said, “Will it offend you if I say, ‘Good kitty?”
Harvey said, “ ‘Good cat,’ will do. ‘Kitty’ is kind of precious.”
Quinn said, “If it’s in North America, I can’t go. Especially when you consider that she is a Death.”
Avery said, “She won’t attack you.”
Quinn said, “She might not, but we can’t trust that other Deaths won’t. If they attack me, there are other forces that would see it as an opportunity and excuse to make up for past grudges.”
I said, “Now that you mention it, I don’t want to start a battle either.”
Avery said, “Sorry, Dusty. Quinn and Joshua are worried a fight might break out.”
Avery waited for a moment and said, “Dusty says the Deaths don’t use her place as a gathering anymore.”
I shook my head. “Can’t trust them. Eventually they are going to push it too far and I am going to kill one of them. If a fellow who attacked me had landed differently, he could have died. I am scared they will keep doing things till I do kill someone and then I will have to get used to killing them as they keep coming back.”
Avery said, “Dusty, Joshua is scared the Deaths will escalate and he will end up killing them. Quinn is scared a war will start if they attack him. How about this, any Deaths show up and I take them to Hell.”
Quinn looked at me like it was up to me.
I asked, “Can she do that?”
Quinn said, “Don’t test her.”
#
On a balcony in a high rise apartment complex I was learning how to use watercolors and painting the skyline of New York City.
Quinn was painting a portrait of Avery and Avery was painting a portrait of Quinn. After we were gifted Dusty and I started setting up our tripods and painting. She started out painting central park and tore it up early and started doing a picture of me, Quinn, and Avery. I had only taken the one good look at Dusty and shaken her hands before I used the art equipment to have an excuse to look elsewhere. I wasn’t really scared of her, she had a mean look and when you combined that with being a Death, the odds of my swooning and falling for her seemed remote no matter how pretty she was. She was very pretty.
Avery asked, “Can I do this and not be judged? The rest of you can all be gifted with this. I need to practice figure painting, but unlike some people, I have to learn it on my own as best I can.”
I said, “No judgment here. After that hamburger and fries, I will always consider you a genius.”
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Dusty said, “You got a hamburger from her? I can’t even imagine it. Was it spicy?”
I said, “I usually put hot sauce on everything, and there was some, but I didn’t even put ketchup on the fries. Why cover up perfection?”
Dusty said, “You probably missed out then. I bet she made the ketchup and the hot sauce.”
Quinn said, “She made me a baked potato and put bits of chicken fried steak smothered in gravy inside the potato. I have had it before, but it was always cut up bits of chicken fried steak. The way she did it, it was tiny bits of steak, tenderized and individually battered. She keeps making tiny changes and adding what no one else ever seemed to think of. The spices she used then took it out of the ball park. Your right, Josh, she is a genius.”
Dusty said, “I need to let all this, wet on wet, dry.”
She walked over and looked at my painting. She had been looking at me while painting and now she was close looking over my shoulder and I could smell her perfume. She walked past and Avery swung her painting around so Dusty couldn’t see it. Dusty walked over to Quinn’s painting.
“My legs aren’t actually that long.”
Quinn said, “But the human, or at least male eye tends to exaggerate things of interest. Without small variations, art is only craftsmanship.”
Avery walked over to where Dusty was standing and looked at Quinn’s painting. I decided to join them.
Dusty said, “See, everyone is going to be disappointed when they see the real thing after seeing Quinn’s painting. Avery, Joshua, you tell him.”
The painting was great, even unfinished and in the painting Dusty was long, well shaped and had a mischievous look. Then I made the mistake and looked at Dusty starting at her feet and looking up. She was wearing white shorts with a high waist. He top showed a hint of her waist and was loose at the bottom and tight on the rest of her figure. I stopped with her face.
Having seen Quinn’s painting, now I didn’t see the mean look so much as the mischievous look Quinn had painted. I didn’t know how to react to the mischievous look. My eyes were caught in her eyes and the depth of them seemed to go forever.
She asked, “So what do you think?”
I didn’t think as I said, “No one is going to be disappointed.”
I managed to escape my deer in the headlights moment and went back to my painting. Harvey was siting on the railing with the wind raising his hair as gusts went by. I was further back on the balcony where the gusts were not as violent. It made me nervous seeing Harvey on a railing with so far a drop below. Harvey met my eyes and shook his head before closing them and lowering his head to his paws.
Dusty asked, “Do you always bring your cat with you?”
I said, “Harvey goes where he wants to. He wanted to come so I brought him.”
Dusty said, “I want to pet him, but I am kind of scared I might startle him with him sitting on the railing. Do you think we could persuade him to come inside if I put some milk out?”
Harvey opened one eye. Again, I didn’t know what he was signaling. So far he hadn’t said anything so I wasn’t sure what his game was.
Dusty asked, “Do you have a twin? I heard you had a twin.”
I said, “It’s complicated.”
“Yea, there was a story that you were Lithos, but Lithos was always there at the initiations so there was a story that you were impersonating Lithos and then you showed up able to be Lithos’ twin.
“There was a bit of confusion. Avery said you were single, but it sounded like you were an impostor and married to Ursula. Is your twin married to Ursula?”
I said, “Very.” I wanted to sound final and try to end the question and answer thing. Instead she shifted the subject a bit.
“Ursula is a legend. After a while I started rooting for her. It put more work on us, but the boys she took out probably caused as much trouble as they took care of so despite longer hours, things seemed a bit easier.
“Now they are saying you have all the powers of a Death and move faster than they can see. Lithos was always famous for his speed and that’s kind of--”
I raised my awareness and glanced at her. She had a truth detection spell running and several other detection spells that you might expect if you were being questioned by authorities.
I asked, “Harvey, are you ready to go?”
Harvey stood. I walked over to pick him up as Dusty said, “Don’t go.”
I turned. “I have had quite a few Deaths attack me and I have been ambushed and killed by them. Excuse me if I think giving the Deaths extra details on me and those close to me might increase the risk of something happening. This was a pleasure and I hope you can continue having fun without me.”
I picked up Harvey and went to Fairy.
#
Quinn looked at the sky in my Fairyland and back to the sand we were standing on. “Having the center of your Fairyland start as an arena kind of advertises that fighting will happen. Having sand on the floor is going to limit the speed of your sudden attacks. No grip for your sudden springs into action.
He looked at he stone steps. “I am guessing Bell had this set up for you. Has he recorded you?”
I nodded.
Quinn squinted at the sun. “Your sun is harsh in the midday and your Fairyland resets to midday when you appear here. You are going to miss mornings and most evenings if you come and go a lot. Your security is solid, but it is set to black list by a list of enemies. Much better to let it make an intelligent and adaptive white list so those you invite and behave well are the only ones allowed.”
Quinn walked to the steps of the stone bleachers around the arena. “You have enough mass here and quite a few Fairies gardening. The flows are solid and the recycling is well balanced. The core of this Fairyland was set up for expansion, but right now it is only 3.28 miles in diameter. That lets you fly up and still identify people easily, but if you can get Avery to give you permission to use one of her maxed out bird forms, we could, without doing anything fancy increase the world size to 33.38 miles in diameter and you could still make out people as long as they are in your line of sight. Size to cost, it would be a real improvement.”
Quinn picked up a handful of sand and closed his eyes. “Now I see what’s up. The sand here dispels gossamer but doesn’t hurt Fairies. This was set up to prevent someone from growing any of the fast gossamer-real hybrid plants so they could eat them and connect to your Fairyland. Old technology. Dates back to seventy-eight.
I spotted a Fairy looking down from above the bleachers and waved.
Quinn called out, “Canst thou tell us the history of this Fairyland?”
He said, “I could. Don’t know why I would want to.”
Quinn pointed to me. “This is your Fairy King. He might like to know.”
The Fairy started walking down the stone bleacher steps. “We have a king now? Really? Did Bell agree to this?”
I said, “Bell gave me this. I don’t know about being a Fairy king.”
The Fairy said, “And who’s the other one and why would I want to talk in front of the both of ye?”
Quinn said, “My name is Quinn, my dad set this Fairyland up. I can tell. He had only been a Fairy King for a few months when he did it.”
Quinn turned to me. “Dad made a bunch of experimental Fairylands and gave them to different factions of Fairies. Hopefully Bell gave you a safe one.”
The Fairy sat on the lowest bleacher with his feet on the sand. “Well, if your our king, the founding statement was made by your friends father, and we are in the free speech area, I suppose I can bring myself to sin by explaining things. The Dread Lord said, “Don’t go on and on if you don’t have a clue.”
The Fairy closed his eyes and said, “Forgive me for my speech this day if I need forgiveness and it is right to forgive me. Otherwise please ignore my plea.”
He looked back at me and asked, “What are your religious beliefs?”
I said, “I am pretty sure there is something behind all of this, and while I have seen more than most, I wouldn’t dare to say any of it makes sense to me.”
The Fairies eyes widened. Tear formed in his eyes and he knelt on the sand. He lowered his head. “My liege. Bell promised ages ago he would find a king we might tolerate. My lord, the wait has been worth it.”
I said, “Thank you. I’m not really comfortable with bowing and thinking one person is more important than another so could we not do that?”
He quickly stood, dusted off and sat back down. “Quite right sire.”
I said, “My name is Joshua Bear. Josh or Joshua will do.”
He said, “Joshua means ‘God is deliverance.’ While that seems to be a good intention and I might accept it personally I think Josh is better since I don’t know what it might mean. My guess would be ‘God is,’ but there is the issue in a nutshell. We, in this Fairyland were called by others, ‘Antiblasphemists.’ We don’t take any name ourselves since it would divide us from others and possibly be an inverse blasphemy. Since we don’t know if there is a conscious and aware creator that likes people to make up and argue their stupid ideas about what he is like, we can’t know that making up nonsense about the divine is a sin.
“We prefer to live simply, treat each other well, respect the environment and avoid any discussion of theology since it all ends up trying to espouse something that no one has any proof about.”
I asked, “So thou art mostly atheists?”
He said, “I won’t fall for that trick question. Why would I espouse a belief that I could never ever prove? No, for me proper reverence, would be not making things up, and not adding my voice to the babble.”
I asked, “I would think that thou couldst get along with most people. Why isolate yourselves?”
He looked down and shook his head. “My personal reason is my own and I will not say it is what guided any of the others. At the time I moved here, the song, ‘And They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love,’ was popular. I liked the tune, I liked the concept, but the folk singing it were not turning around and showing much love after the song was sung, so while I wanted to join in and sing it, I knew it was a lie on their lips and I got angry as I sang.
“I don’t want to live in hatred, so I came here where religious songs were not going to top the local charts. A Fairy becomes what they think and feel so this was the only way to protect myself from turning into something dark. I mostly agreed with the unspoken creed, but as the years of living with folk that were truly honest, kept their nonsense to themselves and helped each other out, I grew to love this community and understand the value of the Dread Lords statement.”
I asked, “Why is this area an arena?”
The Fairy said, “This is the free speech area. A lot of religious folk think beating up others is free speech. We don’t have a lot of fights, but we don’t limit free speech if someone decides to do it here.”
Quinn asked, “Would it be okay if your king hid a few large rocks just under the sand?”
The Fairy smiled at me. “Call it free speech and express yourself. You are king after all.”
#
Quinn said, “Dad set this up as a sort of solid stone cup with all the parts inside it inside the sphere of space that this Fairyland consists of. He had it with ports that would drop out at the bottom at a few intervals so water could seep through sand and gravel into the base if the Fairyland was expanded, but he didn’t set it up with extending legs to stabilize it.
“I’m not good with all the gravity tricks my dad does, so I can’t manage it as well. So what we are going to have to do, since you already have water and buildings, is make gossamer supports so the core of your world doesn’t shift or roll to it’s side. Then we bring in enough boulders to support it and drop the gossamer so the boulders slide in snug against the core. So first we make gossamer levels here in the arena so we can make sure the place is level when we are done.”
I asked, “Where do we get boulders like that?”
Quinn smiled, “You will be doing me a big favor taking some materials off my hands. I had a rather large Fairyland filled with stuff when I was little. I was told that I could take what I wanted to, and it was just going to be there for a little while. That was a long time ago, so if I want any room in that Fairyland, I have to clear stuff out by taking it. So have you considered how you want your Fairyland to be. You will have 550,000 or so extra acres to play with.”
I tried to imagine 550,000 acres. “That’s not a question I have never ever asked myself before. I would like it nice. I can imagine buildings and stuff, but I have no idea really what I might want.”
Quinn asked, “Can I bring in an advisor then?”
I nodded.
Quinn summoned in a small man in overalls.
“Good day to thee both. So what are thy plans here?”
Quinn said, “We have a size eight Fairyland early Dark Lord and as simple as any he made for the various tribe of separatist folk. He gave this one to the Antiblasphemists and gave it to Bell to manage. Not sure what plants and critters he put here to preserve them, but it seems nice enough. Bell gave it to my friend here. We are going to adjust and update the systems and push it to size twenty. So first we need to stabilize it and match drainage to the core. This will let me clear my storage world enough to actually use part of it. He wants aluminum, and copper for sure, and plans to do large sculptures and casting. I taught him a bit of casting already and he caught on fast.”
The man said, “So boulders, rock, gravel, and sand. Spools of wire and cable. We might put a small dent in your Supplies Quinn, but a size twenty is only 33 miles across so it’s still not going to clear much out. So, what sort of plans dust thou havest? We figure, nice, lots of scenery, water works, all the standard hedge mazes, castles and manor houses. Gazebo’s and labyrinths and formal gardens. The basic stuff, but dust thou have any serious plans?”
I closed my eyes. “That all sounds good to me. Whatever you think really. Don’t let me take anything too valuable from Quinn. He has already given me enough. Just good stuff to sculpt from. I want a good place to do sculpture and jewelry work though.”
I felt him take my hand. I opened my eyes and he shook it. “Then we have a deal. I’ll be bringing the crew in. The two of thee can start adjusting. After we get a few in to stabilize things, you can start expanding. I’ll a have me daughter in to help with the expansion. She needs the practice. What did you say your name was?”
I said, “Joshua Bear.”
He said, “The one that’s been dealing with the North America Deaths then?”
I asked, “You’ve heard of me?”
He smiled broadly and looked at Quinn, “This ones going to be special. Not every day I get to make something for a hero. One moment whilest I summon me daughter Constance.”
He cleared a patch of sand, and made a few circles before calling out. “Constance, Da here, we got a size eight to twenty conversion, with Quinn Gray and a friend of his named Joshua Bear.
“Yah, he be that Joshua Bear. Wear something nice, I hear he’s shy around girls and recently single.”
A lady dressed like she was in the cast for Mary Poppins appeared. She was terribly cute, but only half my height.
She fanned herself and asked, “Can I borrow a few ounces of fee from thy world?”
I said, “Sure.”
She held out her hand and an ink well and pen appeared in them. She dipped the pen and handed it to me. She held out her arm. “Canst thou write, ‘For my dear fan, Constance,’ and then sign it?’
I asked, “You want me to write on your arm.”
She looked back at her father. “With Da here, yes, probably just my arm.”
I transformed and took out a magic marker. I signed her arm with as much flourish as I could before changing back and handing her the unused dip pen.
She smiled at me and disappeared.
Quinn asked, “Where did she go?”
Constance’s father said, “She’ll summon me back soon enough. For now she is probably showing off your autograph to all her friends.”
#
We were watching as lava was flowing into clear gossamer forms. They were casting floors, cliffs and structures for retaining soil. They were casting the beds for streams and waterfalls so it looked like a glowing version of the largest jumble of parking garages anyone had ever seen that went down for miles covered by Andean terraced mountains.
Quinn said, “It will mostly be unfinished stone, sand and soil so you will have a lot of work ahead of you to turn it into something comfortable. Why are you in such a hurry to learn sculpture?”
Constance said, “If you need to learn fast, I would be happy to give private lessons.”
I said, “It’s kind of a secret. I have a way to possibly fence a lot of gold for clear and honest legal tender in Real but I need to be a famous artist to make it work. I have a woman coming over to my estate to film my workshop in Malta. I need to fill my workshop and make it look like I have been doing this for a while and it would help if I were actually good at it.”
Quinn said, “How much gold?”
I held my arms wide. “Too much but I have a way to do it and not impact the price of gold. I have ten Fairy Kings wanting me to broker gold for them and a few of the projects are going to be big ones so I may be fencing a few hundred tons of gold.”
Quinn asked, “Does Bell know your plan?”
I shook my head. “He kidnapped me and put me to sleep when he gave me this world, but he hasn’t gotten an update since.”
Quinn put his hand on my arm and said, “Join me for a bit.”
#
In Quinn’s secure area we sat and he asked, “Is your exchange method dangerous?”
I said, “I suspect so. I have come back from death so I am willing to risk it.”
Quinn said, “Can you share it?”
I said, “If something happens to me someone should know the trick. There is a market that the Djinn use to bid on artwork that only the magic savvy know. If you sell gold artwork, and they think it is collectible, you can sell it for legal tender free and clear and the gold will disappear from this world and never bee seen again. You can get more than the gold is worth and you will deprive the Djinn of money they might spend elsewhere.”
Quinn sat for a moment without moving. “Get with Bell immediately. Do the other stuff, but with this in mind, he will make sure you are quietly and secretly, so only the underworld paranormal elite really know, the artist they all want works from. This is one of the best ideas I have heard, but your right, it’s dangerous. The Djinn might decided to kill you to raise the value of your art.”
#
Bell and I were driving electric motorcycles on mountain roadways that wound through the terraced mountains. The few scattered Fairies out planting in the terraced garden beds waved to us as we passed. We stopped at gazebo with a fountain and a pool under it.
Sitting in the water, Bell said, “Don’t worry about the Djinn trying to kill you. They figure they will outlive everyone and you will die when the world ends so they will want as much of your art as they can get. As long as you stay fresh, they will keep buying your dragons splashing in arcs of water, and as long as you don’t start copying your old works and degrading them, they won’t come after you if you lose your edge. Since you can keep coming up with fractal variations, and you don’t in fact have an edge to lose, I think you can keep this up forever.
“Don’t worry about trying to pay back the spools of gold Quinn gave you. In Fairy the big use of it is to protect worlds like this one and he is glad to have you take it off his hands.”
I asked, “Did he really give me gold?”
Bell said, “The odds are pretty high that he did and that he would be glad to replace all you use. If not, the Dread Lord will be delighted to fill your mountains with spools, lumps and ingots of the stuff. We have to keep this one under wraps, and with our direct connections to the Dread Lord, we don’t dare participate directly, but your taking money from the Djinn is the best news we have heard in years.
“Your funding the North American Deaths and forcing them to reform is brilliant as well. They are probably not going to target you anymore. In fact you probably have a golden pass for anything you do, but be careful. There might still be a few influenced and fooled by the Djinn. We don’t want the Djinn to know that you and you are the same person, but Lithos can cover that. Give it a few years with you supporting them and you might even be able to trust them.
“As far as Dusty goes, you can trust her. If you get brave enough to kiss her, you can even date her. She is probably not going to last long though.”
I asked, “Is she in trouble?”
Bell said, “With the reforms, she will have to give up her apartment. She will have money, but she loves that place. She is tired of being a Death and her retirement is too far in the future for her to even think she will still be around to see it. She has in her own way been fighting for reform and she has been loosing the fight with few gains to too many losses. The odds are good she will be pushing past bravery to suicidal courage. Eventually that’s got a good probability of killing her.”
I asked, “Is there a way to save her?”
Bell said, “I can think of only one good way, but you will need to act quickly.”
I asked, “How do I save her.”
Bell said, “With a kiss.”