“Everyone will take one cup of dirt and one seed. Over the weekend, I want you to work magic on the plant at least once a day, preferably twice, and on Monday you will be graded on how much it’s grown. This is a magic that takes patience. No cheating by getting parents or older siblings to help. No potions. Only growth spells.”
After they’d each picked up a cup and a seed, Aiden and Maggie went back to their seats. It was the first time Aiden had seen Maggie disappointed about an assignment.
“I’m afraid I won’t be much help this time,” she said.
“Why?”
“I’m terrible at growth magic… anything to do with plants, really.” She frowned at the seed in her palm.
While Aiden felt sorry for her, he was also excited. “Maybe I can help you this time. I’m good with plants.”
He dug a little hole with his fingers and stuck the seed inside, about an inch down, just like the teacher had said. He poured a bit of water from the pitcher at their desk and watched the dirt soak up the moisture.
He’d always liked helping Mom in the garden, and when he found out about the nature of his power, it made sense. “I accidentally made our tomatoes grow super fast, before I even knew what I was. Not that I think this will be easy, but… I think I have a talent for it.”
Maggie brightened. “Great! Even the best of us can’t be good at everything, so maybe I have the perfect partner for this.”
Aiden touched the cup, thinking about the tomatoes, about the affinity he felt for growing things. Trees, grass, bushes, flowers. He was still nervous that he might not do well, but this was the first time he’d been excited about an assignment. The warm, slightly tingly feeling of his magic filled his chest, and he shoved away the automatic fear. He had a little bit of control now, and he wasn’t upset, so his emotions wouldn’t cause his magic to burst out.
Part of him knew how to do this; it was instinct. Phoebe had said so, Dylan had said so, Ms. Yang had said so. He let a bit of that power flow out into the cup and through the cup into the little seed. Grow, he thought, picturing a spout, then a stem, then a leaf.
A tiny little shoot of bright green pushed out of the black dirt.
“Whoa,” Maggie said, eyes wide and impressed. “You really are good at this.”
He felt both proud and embarrassed. “It feels nice to be good at something again.” Maybe his magic classes wouldn’t be so bad. This might help bump his grade up, and Maggie would help him keep from failing most, or at least some, of his other assignments.
“Can you explain how you did that?”
She’d explained so much to him, even if he sometimes didn’t get it. A lot of what drove magic was emotion, especially at the beginning stages. He was learning that from both Phoebe and Dylan, although they had very different ways of going about their lessons. Dylan drew his magic from anger, and Phoebe encouraged Aiden to feel a deep connection to nature.
That was exactly what they needed for this assignment. “I’ll try. It’s all about feeling a connection to the plant and encouraging it to grow just like it normally would, only much faster. Don’t expect to have it sprout as fast as mine. I think this is… my specialty.”
“Okay.” She took a breath and closed her eyes.
He encouraged her through the rest of class. Although she didn’t get her plant to visibly grow, she seemed optimistic when class ended. “Can I call you tomorrow and you can help walk me through it again?”
“Sure. Oh, but not between six and eight. I’m busy then.”
“Okay. What are you doing? Anything fun?” She put away her things and stood.
“I’m training with Dylan.”
She made a face. “I still think you’re crazy for hanging out with him. And now I think you’re even more crazy for training with him. What does he teach you, how to burn everything in sight?”
Everyone always expected the worst of Dylan. “There’s more to him than that, you know,” he snapped. “Dylan isn’t just a jerk that likes to burn things. He’s never been mean to me. He’s a lot nicer than a lot of humans I’ve met.” Dylan was the most feared kid at school, but he was no bully. “He was nice to me from my first day, and he’s lonely. He acts the way he does because everyone treats him like he’s dangerous, but he’s really just like the rest of us.”
Maggie leaned back and stared at him while he went off on his little rant. “Okay, okay. I didn’t mean to insult your friend.” Other kids had stopped on the way to the door and they were looking at him or pretending really hard not to be looking at him.
Aiden sighed and laughed a little. “I guess I’m a little protective of him. Which is pretty hilarious.”
Maggie picked up her cup of dirt with the little seed growing inside. “Friends stick up for each other.”
He thought of how Dylan had offered to beat up Conner Mays for him. “Yeah, they do.”
“Are we okay?” Maggie asked.
“Yeah.” Aiden picked up his backpack and his own cup of dirt with the little green sprout in it.
“I’ll call you on Saturday, not between six and eight.” She flashed a wide smile and left.
* * *
This time Aiden recognized the forest as soon as he saw it. When he saw the oak, he turned and went the other way down the path. But the tree soon appeared in front of him again, and with it, the shadow.
“Hello.” The shadow formed into Uncle again, who had a slight smile on his face.
“How are you coming into my dreams?” Aiden asked.
“It is a talent of mine.” The fae who called himself Uncle came closer. “I do wish you would not fear me.” His hand lifted, reached out for a brief moment before he let it fall. “I will cause you no harm.”
“You’re creepy. You make me nervous.”
“Is it my appearance? This is my true form, and I wished to honor you with it.”
I go to school with monsters. Even though they didn’t look like it, he knew what they were. This man was fae, like him. “You appear out of the shadows, and you’re invading my dreams. And there’s just… something not right about you.”
Uncle tilted his head. “Of course. You have never seen another fae, and certainly not in true form. Would you be more comfortable if I were to alter my appearance?” Without waiting for an answer, his body shimmered for a second and a middle-aged man stood in front of him. Dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, eyes a warm brown. Now he wore black pants and a white button-up shirt. “Is this better?”
If Aiden could stop trying to picture what he’d looked like before… “Yes.”
“Good.” He smiled. “I also apologize for stepping into your dreams, but this was the only way to contact you.”
“Why? You know where I am, so you can just come to Shadow Valley.” Was this man really a relative?
“I am not in your world. I am in Faery, and dreams are thin places, places where one can communicate across worlds.” He stepped closer, and Aiden stepped back.
“You’re in the same world my parents are, right?” It made his heart beat faster to think about finding them, being able to ask them all the questions he had. Being able to see his brother.
“Yes.”
“Can you find them? Can you bring them to my dreams so I can talk to them?”
Uncle’s eyes narrowed as he frowned. “Mayhap. I have the taste of your magic, so I may be able to track them down.”
Aiden didn’t like the idea of this man tasting his magic. “I’d love to talk to them, so if you can find them, please do.” He’d already accepted that it would be years before he could go searching for his other family, but now there was hope he’d be able to meet them soon.
“It may take some time, young one. In the meanwhile, I would like you to do something for me.”
“What?” Aiden asked cautiously.
“Go to the edge of town, where the barrier is—”
“Barrier?” Aiden frowned. “Do you mean the invisibility shield, or the cloaking, or whatever it is that hides the town from the road?” Driving straight through trees that weren’t there… Aiden didn’t want to do that again.
“Yes, that is it. Touch something to the barrier, a leaf, a twig, and take this thing with you when you sleep. Hold it close to your body.” Uncle mimed holding something against his chest.
“What for?”
“The barrier about the town makes it difficult for me to hold our connection.” The man paced a bit on the narrow path, hands folded behind his back. “This will allow me to… understand the magic it is made from, and strengthen our dream connection.”
“How does that work?”
Uncle opened his mouth, closed it, then said, “It is complicated. But I must make our connection stronger to bring others with me.”
“Like my parents.” This was so weird, but everything else in his life was weird. Was a dream visit from his birth parents really much stranger than anything else that had happened?
“Yes.” The colors around them started to fade. “Our time has ended for now. I will see you again tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was a school day and another lesson with Phoebe. “I might not be able to get to the barrier until Saturday.”
“Satur… day?” Uncle asked.
“A few days from now.”
Uncle pondered a moment, a finger to his chin, as the trees faded to black and white. “Call my name when you have done what I ask. Repeat it thrice as you fall asleep.”
“Okay.” As if things weren’t strange enough already, now he felt like he was in the middle of a fairy tale.