Wings and Magic
Image courtesy of Jared Rice at Unsplash . Janey lay blissfully stretched out beneath the sun, completely unaware that she was in mortal danger as sharks circled hungrily beneath her. Fortunately, her guardian angel was up to the mark. With a dramatic flourish, Caitlyn drew her shining sword, unfurled her angelic wings, and prepared to dive-bomb the sharks and deliver some righteous wrath upon them for daring to threaten her charge.
To her surprise, she never got the chance. A blinding bolt of plasma whooshed past her, and and one of the sharks exploded in a blast of steam. Janey nearly fell into the ocean in shock. “No worries, ma’am!” a tremendous voice boomed. “I’m here to rescue you!”
Caitlyn, very much annoyed, looked around for the source of the voice, but saw nothing except for a vague ripple in the air close by. She quickly realized what this had to mean. “Magic,” she sighed. “Wonderful.”
“Look,” she said to the ripple, “I’m already rescuing her! I’m her guardian angel, I have dibs! And what kind of an idiot are you, shooting plasma bolts at the ocean? It’s water, genius. Water and electricity don’t mix!”
“I am Squalulus!” boomed the voice. “Mightiest wizard of the hidden community of Wistwick!”
Caitlyn’s eyebrow arched. Being an angel, she knew her Latin. “Squalulus? Doesn’t that mean Baby Shark?”
“…yes,” said the voice, and suddenly it was much less resounding. “Yes. It does. But-“
“All right, Baby Shark, I know you’re being invisible because you’re a wizard and you think it’s cool and stuff, but playtime’s over,” Caitlyn cut in. “Show yourself.”
“Why should I?” sulked the voice. “I’m the mightiest-“
“Wizard of Wistwick, yeah, heard you the first time. I should be impressed? I never even heard of it.”
“We’re a hidden community of wizards. You’re not supposed to hear of us. Kind of the point.”
Now both Caitlyn’s eyebrows arched. “Ah. And you’re out here trying to electrocute my girl because….”
“I..got bored. With the hiding.”
“Ah. Grow up, Baby Shark. It’s the way the world works. You get bored sometimes. I’m an angel. I’ve been around for millennia. I was in Angel Choir for three whole centuries. Ever try singing the same part in the same song for an entire decade? It gets boring. You deal. Now how about you magic yourself home or whatever and let me get back to saving my-“
Janey screamed from below. The surviving sharks, paying no attention to Caitlin’s speech above, had decided to go for the kill. There was a flash and a bang, and a very confused Janey found herself surrounded by a cloud of butterflies that had once been sharks.
“You were saying?” said the wizard, sounding distinctly more smug.
“Shut up,” said Caitlyn.
