Shadows

Kel looked nervously back at Robert and Angie, who were watching her from a safe distance at the edge of the grove. They wanted to see magic, did they? She’d only really been able to conjure arrows so far, and whilst that was more than sufficient for the time being she couldn’t help but feel she should do something more impressive. Robert was sat cross-legged on a tree stump watching intently, his full attention fixed on her, whilst Angie was leant on the ground against a tree trunk, her dog curled up in her lap.

“I have to say, I haven’t really practiced doing much magic so far,” Kel called back to them.

“T-that’s okay, I’m happy just seeing the arrow trick,” smiled Robert. “I’ve n-never seen magic before. All the books I’ve read say it was driven out of the Empire hundreds of years ago.” Angie stayed quiet, but nevertheless was paying close attention. As far as Kel was aware Angie hadn’t revealed to Robert yet that she had her father’s voice in her head, or had been asleep for around a thousand years. Some things needed to be worked up to.

“Okay then,” Kel smiled hesitantly. “I’ll try and hit that tree over there with an arrow,” she said, gesturing to a thick fir trunk several metres away on the far side of the grove.

“What are you doing, daughter?” asked Ambriel, making Kel jump. He’d been quiet recently and the sudden return of his voice caught her off guard.

“I’m just demonstrating some magic for Robert and Angie,” Kel whispered, trying to keep her back to Robert so he couldn’t see her talking to herself.

“I understand that, but why?”

“Because they want to see what I can do. They’re interested.”

“And would you show anyone who was interested what magic you could do? What if they find out what you’re capable of, and turn against you? This is not sensible, Keliashyrr.”

“They’re not going to turn against me, father.”

“So you think. You only woke up two days ago, and you’ve known the boy for less than a day. The girl for less than that. How do you know for sure what they’re capable of?”

“You said I could trust them!”

“Everything okay?” asked Angie, but she got no response.

“Only with what they know,” replied Ambriel. “If they start finding out how powerful your magic is they might well see more benefit in you as a tool than as an ally.”

“I’m doing this, father,” Kel said through gritted teeth.

“I can see why you’d want to impress them,” sighed Ambriel. “Magic, and subsequently power, is a heady toxin. You want to impress the boy, and show the girl you’re not someone to be messed with. You seem to act as if I can’t read your thoughts, daughter. A simple comment about height shouldn’t lead to such irrational action.”

Kel yelled and thrust her palm forwards, launching forth three silver arrows that soared across the clearing and struck the tree trunk one after the other. They sent splinters of wood flying and embedded deeply into the tree before fading away into smoke. Kel was panting hard, and heard Robert gasp and begin to clap in the background. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Angie nodding in appreciation.

“That was very foolish, Keliashyrr,” chided Ambriel.

“That was fun, father. I’m bored of listening to you.”

“V-very impressive!” smiled Robert. He turned back to look towards Angie, and she caught the look of child-like wonder in his eyes. Even she had to admit it had been pretty amazing. She was also grateful she hadn’t come to blows with Kel earlier, as even with the gambeson she wasn’t sure how much protection she would have had against those arrows. They’d buried themselves pretty deep in the tree trunk. Would the gambeson even protect against magical projectiles? Were the rules different with arrows that were conjured out of thin air?

Perhaps the more important question was: What are we doing now? Watching a magic show? The Skadirr had been dealt with, of course, but who was to say if there wouldn’t be other creatures after the Orb in time? What was the plan now? Robert seemed quite content to stay here for now, now that he knew the Skadirr had been dealt with, but Angie was itching to get going again. Where, she wasn’t so sure just yet, and when she did set off she wasn’t sure who would come with. She’d said she intended on going to the capital and hunting down the man who hired Verne and the man who had sent the Skadirr after them, but how would she do that? Robert had been helping her along so far but once he reached Alderbay would he stop there? Would Kel want to come along with them, or was she happy here in the forests? From the look on Robert’s face as he watched Kel firing more arrows into trees around the edges of the grove, would he want to stay here with her? Maybe she should just head back to Velayne and get back to life as usual. Would she be able to do that?

It had been simple when she’d been running from the Skadirr. Not that she’d dream of getting herself back into that situation, but at least then her course of action had been clear. Now it all seemed so unsure…

“A-are you okay, Angie?” asked Robert, who must have noticed her staring off into space. Kel had also turned to look at her too, having stopped firing off arrows for the time being.

“Oh, yeah,” Angie said, shaking her head and propping herself back up against the tree. “Sorry, just a bit tired. It’s been a long few days.”

“You d-do look shattered,” nodded Robert.

“Thanks,” grunted Angie.

“If you wanted to sleep, we could stop here for a while,” suggested Kel.

“Thanks, but I’m not all that comfortable sleeping during the day. I’d be happier if we could get a plan in place of what we’re doing next, to be honest with you.”

“But I’ve only just started experimenting with what I can do with my magic,” Kel groaned. “Can’t we keep doing that for a while and plan later? Or you could plan and I’ll just keep playing?”

“I’m more than happy to plan on my own, but I wanted to get sorted out what you and Robert were going to do now. Obviously we’ve all just met really, and we’ve been thrown together by one mad event after another, so I’d fully understand if the three of us wanted to go our separate ways. Neither of you need to come with me, but I need to take the Orb… somewhere.”

“I’ll come with you,” smiled Robert.

“I need to go where the Orb does,” chipped in Kel.

“Oh? Why?” asked Angie.

“No reason.”

“This is only going to work if we’re all honest with each other, Kel. I know you’re concerned about us turning on you or ratting you out, but no offence, I’ve got enough on my plate and really couldn’t be bothered about turning on you. Why do you need to accompany the Orb?”

“Well,” sighed Kel reluctantly looking back and forth between Angie and Robert, “I think it’s a relic of my people. That’s what my… father’s been saying.”

“Your father?” asked Robert.

“Yes, my father.” groaned Kel. “My father, Ambriel, left an imprint of himself in my head. I hear his voice, he talks to me; he gets on my nerves. He said my people tied their life-blood to the Orb to give them power or something like that, and if the Orb is destroyed there’s a good chance I could die.”

“Ah,” said Angie blankly. “Well alright, I guess. That makes as much sense as anything has recently. Don’t destroy the Orb or you die, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Probably die,” Kel corrected. “And from what I’ve heard I think the Orb is pretty hard to destroy without powerful magic anyway so I wouldn’t worry,” she added, both girls noticing that Robert was now cradling the Orb nervously. “You dropped it nearly ten times last night, I wouldn’t worry about dropping it now.” Robert had gone pale.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I w-would have been more careful if I’d known.”

“Well, now you know,” shrugged Kel. “That’s why I have to stay with it anyway, though I’m not overly happy about having to spend my life guarding it.”

“Well no, neither am I.” sighed Angie. “I don’t really know what to do with it now. I want to get vengeance on the men responsible for Verne’s death, but I also want to keep the Orb far away from the people who killed Verne for it. How’s best to go about that? Leave the Orb here and head to Vaygenspire without it? I don’t feel comfortable leaving it unguarded… Do I stay here and wait for them to come to me? Head back to Velayne and just lie low for the rest of my life?”

“I c-can’t go back to Velayne,” said Robert.

“No, you need to get to Alderbay.” But I don’t want you to go, thought Angie. I’m sure Kel has good intentions but I’d rather not be left alone with her and there was something surprisingly comforting about Robert being around. “So perhaps we should stick to the original plan and continue on to there, then review the plan?”

“Where’s Alderbay?” asked Kel.

“It’s a little port town to the southwest of here. From there we can restock our food, maybe look for jobs if we want to stay, or head on to the mainland if we decide to keep travelling. Hell, maybe we could even try and head up to the ice fishing villages to the north to live out in secrecy there?”

“I can’t say working in any of those places sounds appealing,” grumbled Kel.

“Well look, we’re going to have to work for a living somewhere.”

“Why can’t we just stay out in the woods and live here?”

“I thought you might say that,” sighed Angie, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I mean, there’s no exact reason we can’t, but I can’t say the idea of living in the forest is that appealing to me either.”

“You’d rather live in a town and work?”

“Honestly, yes.”

“Well why do we have to do what you say?” pouted Kel. “The Orb is more mine than yours anyway, I should just take it and live out in the woods. You can go to this Alderbay place and work.”

“Don’t be so grumpy, Kel. We need to find a solution that works for all of us.” Why, though? Thought Angie. Maybe she should just give Kel the Orb and leave all this trouble behind her; move on with her life. It was like she’d told Duvet Verc-Lean back on the road, though – she had to make sure Verne’s death wasn’t in vain. If she handed the Orb across to Kel and walked away she might well be safer, but in a way that would mean leaving Verne behind as well and there was no way Angie was happy to let him go yet.

“Why?”

“Why? Because like it or not, the three of us need to work together on this.”

“There seems to be an awful lot of work when you’re around…”

“That’s what life is, Kel! It can’t all just be some party, playing about in the woods!”

“Why not?”

“You’re not even trying to argue, you’re just being awkward!”

“I am too arguing!”

“T-technically, an argument is an exchange of opposing views b-backed up by a reason or set of reasons in support,” Robert piped up. “You’re just c-contradicting each other.” Both girls turned to glare at him.

“Very well, what do you think we should do?” asked Angie. “Do you want to go on to Alderbay or do you want to live out here in the woods?”

“I d-don’t want to live out in the woods,” said Robert after some careful thought. Angie almost thought she could hear the cogs in his mind turning.

“Well that settles it then,” smiled Angie. “It’s two against one.”

“B-but,” continued Robert. Argh, don’t ruin it now! Groaned Angie. “Whilst we’re out here it would be nice to explore a bit, don’t you think? T-there’s a lot of work in life, but it doesn’t have to all be work, does it?” Kel, who had been starting to sulk, turned to Angie and stuck her tongue out.

“What are you, four years old?” muttered Angie, and Kel glared at her. “Very well then Robert, you’re in charge. A couple of days flouncing about in the forests, taking the scenic route, then on to Alderbay? Suit everyone?” She had a feeling the plan didn’t really suit anyone, but such was compromise.

“Right, well if that’s the plan then I’m going to make the most of the time we spend here in the woods,” grumbled Kel, sloping back into the middle of the grove where she resumed firing arrows into trees with a variety of flair and technique.

“I wonder if she can do things other than conjure arrows?” Robert mused to himself, and began to head back to the tree stump to sit and watch.

“Before you go and ask,” said Angie, rooting around in the supply sack, “I have something I was meaning to give you.” She dug out Robert’s diary, only slightly crumpled and scorched, and apprehensively handed it to him.

“H-how?” he breathed. “I thought you said the wagon blew up?”

“It did,” nodded Angie. “But I managed to grab that out before I set up the trap for the Skadirr. Sorry that it’s a bit damaged, I obviously didn’t stash it far enough away from the wagon when it exploded.”

“It’s all here,” Robert whispered to himself as he flicked through the pages. “I thought I’d lost it…”

“Yes, well,” gulped Angie. “I tried my best to rescue it, by means of thanks for taking the Orb to safety and… as an apology for reading it.” Contrary to her expectations, Robert did not drop down groaning as he had done last time she’d mentioned that to him. “I am sorry about that,” she began to say, but Robert lunged forward at her making her jump. Her heart skipped a beat but started up again, albeit at a faster pace than usual, when she realised he was hugging her.

It was an awkward hug, as Robert didn’t seem to know what to do with his arms and his chin had nearly collided with Angie’s forehead, but it was nice. Very unexpected, but very nice. And over all too soon, thought Angie, though she’d never say it. She quickly looked over to see if Kel was watching, but the girl was focused on seeing how high she could fire an arrow directly upwards, then dodging it as it came back down.

“What was that for?” asked Angie. Was Robert blushing? Was she blushing, come to think of it?

“As thanks,” mumbled Robert. “And as an apology for t-throwing a wobbler back in Clifftop. It’s j-just, no-one’s read my diary before.”

“I’m sorry. No-one should really read a diary – which has always made me wonder why people bother to write them – but that’s not important now. I think I know why you write your diary, at least.”

“And you d-don’t mind?” asked Robert nervously.

“Of course not. It was… a bit strange at first, but I understand. You have difficulty understanding people, don’t you? And writing it all down makes it clearer. Gives you something to read, to study, am I right?” Robert nodded.

Angie remembered leafing through the pages of the diary, each entry marking a day of Robert’s life and under each day, a list of people he’d spoke to, his best recollection of what had been said between them, and then in the margins… oh, the margins. Written in precise, orderly handwriting were questions, or little comments such as:

“Why does this annoy people?”

“This comment seemed inappropriate – why?”

“Eye contact – work on!”

It had been a heart breaking insight into Robert’s mind and difficulties interacting with people on a social basis, and couldn’t help but soften Angie’s heart towards him. She was used to tending to ailments of the body, ailments she could see plainly before her – there was no mistaking a severed leg, for example – but there was also no mistaking that Robert had some ailment of the mind. From his diary Angie knew he was trying his best to overcome it, to work around it, and though she knew from experience he didn’t always manage to, she couldn’t help but admire that determination. There was just one question…

“I hope you don’t mind if I ask,” Angie mumbled hesitantly, “but there was an entry in there about when you and I first met, back in Mrs Gable’s attic.” The colour dropped out of Robert’s face.

“W-w-what about it?” he stuttered, holding his diary close to his chest defensively.

“It’s nothing to worry about!” Angie protested. “I just wondered… and please be honest with me – what does the word ‘pulchritude’ mean?”

It was early evening now, and the setting sun turned the leaves of the trees crimson and amber as it fell across them. Shadows stretched forth from the tall trunks, but they didn’t seem as threatening now as they had the night before. The air was warm and humid, and felt like walking through a warm blanket. Robert felt decidedly sleepy, and from where Angie laid against a tree, eyes drifting and her head bobbing gently, she must have felt sleepy too. Even so, thought Robert, there was no denying her pulchritude.

How embarrassing that had been to explain to her! He’d been so tongue tied he’d had to start his sentence four times, and his palms had got uncomfortably clammy. Then when he’d finally been able to explain the word Angie had gone bright red, coughed awkwardly, mumbled ‘thank you’, and then gone off to sit against the tree again. Occasionally Robert had caught her giving him looks as he wrote up today in his diary, but the moment they’d made eye contact both had gone red and spent the following few minutes staring intently at the floor. Or at Kel, of course.

The girl had been trying to expand her range of magical abilities, but so far was having difficulty doing anything reliably other than create arrows. Everyone had jumped when Kel had suddenly launched herself six foot off the ground with a burst of air only to come crashing back down with a squeal, and Robert had yelped when Kel had accidentally whipped up a wall of leaves in his direction, so to say those were the most successful of her experiments was disheartening. Currently she was focusing intently on a branch, glaring at it and occasionally making movements with her hands.

“W-what are you trying to do now?” asked Robert.

“I’m trying to set fire to this branch,” muttered Kel out of the corner of her mouth. “It’ll be night soon and we’ll need a fire.”

“T-true,” nodded Robert. “Good thinking. How are you getting on so far?” Kel took her eyes off the branch for the first time in a while, and gave him a look.

“Is the branch on fire yet?”

“No.”

“Then I’m not doing so well.” Kel sighed.

“It’s funny,” shrugged Robert, “from w-what I remember reading about magic, they said there had to be words. L-like ‘Abracadabra’ or something.”

“Father said not to use words. He said it was all in the breathing.”

“Oh. Curious. I can’t say I’ve heard that before, but I assume he would know more on the subject. Why don’t you ask him how to cast other spells?”

“He’s not talking to me!” groaned Kel. “He doesn’t trust the two of you not to turn against me if I display powerful magic. I think he’s being too cautious – ever since I woke up he’s not let me have any fun!”

“Your f-father’s not talking to you?” asked Robert.

He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with Kel and her father. The girls had tried to explain to him that it was part of some magical spell that enabled her father to talk to her, but that he was dead. In Robert’s books that meant her father shouldn’t be able to talk to her, spell or not. There hadn’t been that many books about magic in Mr Colywick’s Book Emporium, and to his shame Robert hadn’t paid as much attention when reading them as he wished he had now. It had all seemed so outlandish, so wonderful but impossible at the time, but now he found himself in a situation requiring knowledge about it he sorely wished he could change the past.

After all, magic was fascinating, in part because no-one really knew how it worked, or where it all came from. From what he’d read there were so many different types of magic and opinions about magic, often written by people who hadn’t even been alive when it had been commonplace in the world, that it seemed for all the study into the subject no-one really knew anything. For example: once someone was dead, should their magic stop working? This could obviously not be studied in the present day,[35] so all people had to go off was ancient texts and manuscripts.

From research, the statement seemed true for magical users such as wizards, but perhaps not for inherently magical creatures. With nymphs, for example, their magic was claimed to persist after death, with the nymph themselves returning to the aspect of nature they belonged to. Forest nymphs blossomed into trees; water nymphs formed springs, rivers, lakes.[36]

In conclusion, Robert didn’t know a lot, and that made him curious. What if Kel’s people were the cultists he had seen in his vision when he touched the Orb? It seemed likely. They’d disappeared during some ritual with the Orb, but Kel had been left behind for some reason? Kel had also tried to explain she’d been sleeping for around a thousand years. Did that fit the timeframe for when the cultists had disappeared? Robert was itching to touch the Orb again and read its history once more to find out for certain, but there was no way he could do so without Angie or Kel noticing. Maybe he should just tell them what he could do? Kel was magical herself, and he hoped Angie would continue to be understanding…

“Are you listening?” asked Kel.

“S-sorry?” replied Robert.

“You asked me a question, then seemed to go blank. I was telling you that my father isn’t talking to me at the moment.”

“Oh. Oh, yes. Sorry, w-why did you say he wasn’t talking to you again?”

“I think it’s because I was rude to him. He was being so boring though! So restrictive, always telling me what I should and shouldn’t do. Whatever I should do was dull, and whatever I shouldn’t do was always the more exciting and entertaining option. It’s so infuriating!” Kel sulked, throwing her arms up in the air and smacking them down on the forest floor.

“I t-think that’s what fathers are like all over,” shrugged Robert. “I n-never knew my mother, or my father for that p-point, but Mr Colywick was pretty much my father and he always tried to k-keep me safe.”

“But safe is boring!”

“Safe is safe,” Robert stated, “whatever else it might be as well. I don’t generally mind boring, I tend to k-keep myself occupied.”

“But didn’t you want to be doing what you wanted to do? Didn’t you want to tell him to leave you alone; to tell him you didn’t want to listen to him anymore?”

“At times,” nodded Robert, “but I have learnt this is rude and I shouldn’t say things like that. That d-doesn’t mean I’m faultless,” Robert added, noticing Kel looking despondent. “You know how I told you I g-got into a fight back in Velayne that meant I had to leave?”

“Yes,” replied Kel, shuffling into a more comfortable seating position. Robert noticed Angie looking a bit more awake now, listening in to what he was saying.

“W-well, that was all because I d-didn’t listen to Mr Colywick. He told me going to the Summer Festival would be too d-dangerous, but I did it anyway. And as a consequence, I’ve had to leave Velayne, and him, for good. One silly decision c-cost my home, my job… my father. I t-think your father’s just trying to prevent you making the same mistakes.”

Kel fell quiet for a minute, and Robert wondered if she was trying to talk to her father inside her head.

“I see,” she said eventually. “And… I know that, but I can’t help wanting to have fun. I’ve been cooped up in that damn cave for what I thought was sixteen years, but was actually a thousand, and now I’m free I want to enjoy myself!” Kel cried through heaving sobs. “I don’t want to have to work, or look after an Orb, or keep myself hidden away from people! I want to enjoy life! Otherwise, what’s the point?!”

Robert was not good with this sort of emotion. He never knew what to say, and the last thing he wanted to do was make this worse. He shot a look over towards Angie, who was looking at Kel with what Robert thought was sadness, mixed with pained understanding. It was a look not dissimilar to the one Mr Colywick had given Robert when he’d had to say goodbye to him back at Mrs Gable’s Apothecary. That seemed an eternity ago now…

Robert noticed Angie catch his eye, and he nodded towards Kel with a look he hoped said: “Please come and comfort her, I’m no good at this.”

Angie replied with a look that practically groaned: “I really don’t want to. I’m tired, and in my opinion she’s a bit whiny anyway, and she wound me up earlier, and what’s more… oh, fine!”

Angie grumbled reluctantly, got up and hobbled over to Kel, who was on her knees crying, her body shaking with shallow, wretched breaths.

“There, there,” she tried, rubbing Kel’s back with her hand and looking at Robert with exasperation. “It’s alright, Kel. It’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not! Life is supposed to be fun, not a burden! But I don’t want to lose my father, either! If only he could just understand that whilst I may be the last of the Olossa, first and foremost I’m a child who wants to have fun!”

“The last of what?” asked Robert.

“The Olossa,” sobbed Kel.

“Who are the Olossa?” questioned Angie, looking at Robert. He shook his head.

“I’ve never heard of them before.” Robert shrugged.

“Never heard of us?” wailed Kel. “Father said we used to rule the world, and the humans despised us! You formed up against us and drove us to extinction! How could you just forget us?”

“Well, it has been a thousand years,” said Angie delicately. “Most people struggle to remember what they had for breakfast last week.”

“We’re not breakfast last week!” Kel wept inconsolably. It would have been a funny sentence if not for the situation, thought Robert. “We were a proud race, with culture and laws and art and everything! Father told me! How could we just disappear from the world and not leave a trace?”

“You’re here,” suggested Angie desperately.

“I don’t want the weight of our civilisation on my shoulders, though!”

“Look!” shouted Angie, sharply slapping Kel around the face and making her jump. “Do you think I wanted the weight of the Orb on my shoulders, hmm? Do you think I asked for my friend to die; for this task to fall into my lap? No? Do you think Robert asked to be like he is? No offence meant,” she paused, turning back to him.

“Some taken,” he replied, dazed.

“We play the hand we’re dealt, Kel,” Angie continued. “We can whine and mope and complain until the cows come home but that doesn’t change the cards we’ve got. All we can do is make the most of what we have, understand? We face what’s ahead of us, no matter how unpleasant. Do you understand me?”

Kel had stopped crying now, but gave a faint sniffle and nodded meekly.

“Now look. I know that might not make you feel better. If anything, it might make you feel worse, and in that case I’m sorry. None of us are perfect, and none of us can be faultless at all times. Sometimes we’re not as good as we wished we were, or handle things as well as we wished we could, and that’s okay. We’re all just people, and people make mistakes. People screw up. I probably shouldn’t have slapped you just now, but I didn’t know what else to do. You can only do what you think is right at the time, and live with the consequences.

“You miss your race. I can’t pretend that I can understand how that feels, but I know what it feels like to lose a father figure and I can only imagine losing your race is a thousand times worse. I’m… nowhere near getting over my loss yet, so it would be beyond unfair to expect you to be over yours. At some point we’ll have to come to accept our losses, though. Until then – we’ll be here for you. Won’t we?” Angie asked, looking at Robert.

“Yes.” He nodded resolutely. “That’s what friends do.”

“Thank you. Both of you,” whimpered Kel softly, and yawned. “I’m tired.”

“Me too,” yawned Angie in response. Robert could feel his eyelids drooping as well. “Best get some sleep, then.”

“I thought you said you could lead us back to the witch girl?” asked Art impatiently, as Arrow poked the fire nervously with a stick.

“I can Art, I can!” he replied, biting his lip. “It’s just it’s gone too dark to follow the trail properly so we need to wait until dawn before I can start tracking her again…”

Art huffed, his brooding figure lit menacingly by the dancing flame and shadow, and went back to sharpening his dagger.

The group of bandits had been trekking up through the woods for a full day now and were no closer to any sight of the fabled magical girl than they had been back down by the coast. Art was getting annoyed, as his plan so far hadn’t been going smoothly.

To start with, the coup against Duvet Verc-Lean hadn’t gone anywhere near as neatly as planned, and had left him nursing an angry looking scar down the left side of his face and several other mutineers dead. Who would have known the bumbling idiot was a dab hand with that ridiculously fancy blade of his? What was worse was that Verc-Lean had managed to escape the wild melee, meaning Art hadn’t even had the satisfaction of killing the damned buffoon.

All that wouldn’t have really mattered though, if only Arrow had been able to find the girl. So far he’d been frantically trying to piece together signs that might resemble a trail leading towards her, but he was getting more desperate and less convincing. Where had she gone? They’d returned to the clearing he’d seen her at, but had been unable to follow her path from there.

Compared to the baking heat, uncomfortable even though the sun was now beneath the horizon, the trail had rapidly grown cold. Arrow was going to have to think of something, and fast, if he wanted to stay on the right side of Art’s dagger.

[35] Due to a lack of magical users, sadly not because of some ethical agreement barring the killing of magicians for research. Back in the days before the Great Magick Cull when magicians were around it was relatively commonplace.

[36] The fact the ‘evidence’ for this had come from a children’s book of fairy tales might go some way as to showing how baseless the study of magic had become in some parts.