This was real magic, she realized, beautiful and pure. Mina smiled and looked at Jared. She didn’t see the annoying boy from school. She saw someone who was ethereal and glowing with power. The rush of it took her breath away, long enough for her to forget, for a moment, that she didn’t entirely trust him.
Mina’s smile only faded when she recognized the shape he was molding the branch into. It was a weapon, a wooden sword, much more dangerous-looking than any of Charlie’s. The beautiful moment passed. Once the wooden blades stopped glowing, she snapped out of her reverie and realized her mistake. She was miles from the nearest house, without a phone. She was with a strange boy who had powers and had just morphed a tree branch into a sword. Jared had never told her exactly whose side he was on. She took a step away from him.
Jared just looked at her, eyebrows raised, and handed her the sword.
“What’s this for?” she asked, worrying over the answer.
“It’s a weapon, dummy.”
“And what am I supposed to do with it?”
“You’re not really that dull, are you?”
Mina stuck out her tongue in response. She swung the sword around a few times while Jared began to concentrate on a second branch.
“So where do you live? Never-Never Land?” she joked.
Jared opened one eye to address her, still concentrating on the branch. “Something like that.”
“Aren’t the Fae supposed to be my enemy?”
“Some of them are. Which is exactly why I brought you here.”
With the second sword completed, Jared took off his shoes and stepped toward the water’s edge, motioning for Mina to do the same.
“Not happening.” Mina felt her blood turn cold just looking at the water.
“It’s either shoes, or I wish away your clothes,” he threatened. Mina jumped out of her shoes so fast, she stubbed her big toe on a tree root and had to waddle out to the lake bed like a wounded duck.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” she mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. When she reached the water’s edge, she turned and stared at Jared, rolling her eyes impatiently. He motioned for her to step deeper into the water.
Next thing she knew, with no warning, Jared rushed Mina, quickly stabbing at her with the sword.
She jumped backward and barely missed being gutted by the blade. “What the heck!” she shouted.
Jared turned again and swept his foot out, catching her behind the knee.
She fell backward into the water. Cold liquid burned her lungs as she inhaled the water. Mina flailed her arms and got on her knees, crawling to the edge and coughing. “Why’d you do that!” she spluttered.
“Relax, it’s only water,” he said. “You’re not letting your instincts guide you. Let go of your fear, and I’ll show you how to do what I just did.”
Once she’d caught her breath, they started again. He taught her blocks, stabs, and even a few basic flipping moves. Obviously, most of the time he flipped her into the water, and she came up looking like a drowned duck. Finally, Jared let Mina use a hip throw and knock him into the lake. She screamed and ran around in circles with her hands in the air, chanting her name and doing a victory dance.
Jared grinned and waded out of the water over to their shoes. Carefully, he looked for dead and fallen tree limbs, and made a fire on the beach, using a lighter. Mina felt a little disappointed that he couldn’t call up fire on the spot with magic. But she forgot all about her disappointment when the heat began to warm her soaked clothes.
Jared sat next to her and began what would be a very enlightening lesson. “There are various Fae…uh, fairy tale creatures that you will most definitely come across. You’ve already met one of the wolves.”
“Don’t you mean fairy tale people, not creatures? What I saw was a man, not a wolf.”
“Don’t let your eyes fool you. You only see what’s on this plane, not the next.”
“You mean there’s more than one?” she asked.
Jared rolled his eyes at her question. “Of course there is more than one plane. For instance, there is the physical plane and spiritual plane. Where the physical and spiritual planes meet and the veil between the two is thinner, weaker, and constantly moving exists the Fae plane. Never-Never Land, as you say. This is where the Story itself resides and all of the Fae tales originate. The two planes almost never converge, but when they do, the merging of the spiritual and physical creates aperture, or gates, for the Fae to cross over. Over the years, hundreds of Fae have crossed over and have run amok among the human world.”
“Do you mean like fairies and witches?” Mina asked.
“Your world drew them like moths to flame. The Grimm brothers realized this. Somehow the brothers found a gate to the Fae plane and confronted the ruling Fae, or, as some call them, the Fates. The Grimms demanded that the Fae return to their own plane. Now, the Fae love games more than anything, and they take great pleasure in toying with humans.”
“Well, that much is obvious,” she said.