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| Always tip the buskers. |
Dan strummed his guitar and glanced in the case. He'd never had a problem making money with his music and he was doing well today. Still, he'd been a bit unsettled recently. He kept seeing the same few people watching him, no matter where he set up to play. They'd even shown up in some of the bars he played in. Dan decided he'd take what he made today and head home. He hadn't seen one of those people yet, and he didn't want to.
Dan finished his piece and let it drift away on the wind. Then he scooped up his earnings, packed up his guitar, and was off. After a few blocks, he checked behind him. The same guy he'd seen yesterday was tailing him. "Great," Dan thought, hefting his guitar. Normally, Dan liked the size of this town, but today he wished it were larger. If he had played near the college today, he could have easily found a crowd to hide in and his guitar wouldn't have made him stand out so much. As it was, there weren't enough people around for that and no one else downtown carried a guitar. Dan cycled through possibilities in his mind. Downtown wasn't that big so he'd have to figure this out soon.
He was coming up to an intersection where the light was about to change. Dan shot across and turned sharply into an alleyway. He tucked his guitar behind a garbage can and said a small spell over it so it wouldn't be noticed. Then he ran down the alleyway and out the other side.
He cut across a few more streets and doubled back in a parking lot. When he checked behind him, the man was gone. Dan gave it another five minutes and when he still didn't see anyone, Dan began to slowly make his way back to his guitar. He eased into the alleyway and looked behind the garbage can.
There was nothing there.
This was bad. No one should have been able to find that. Unless they also had magic. Dan had come to this town because he knew there was some magic here, but he'd never expected to be on the wrong side of a mage. If this person had taken his guitar and they knew Dan was a mage, that could only be bad. The thief had to know Dan would stop at nothing to get his guitar back. Part of his magic was in the instrument and in the wrong hands, it could be sent back on Dan. Sure enough, as Dan moved the garbage can for a better look, he saw a slip of paper.
"Prairie. Tonight at midnight. Come alone."
Dan shook his head. That was the trouble: he was here alone. Once this was done, he needed to make some allies. Dan decided the magical risks of touching that paper weren't worth it. They could have a tracking spell on it, and Dan did not want them to know where he lived. So, he just turned around and headed home.
Once he got home, Dan began to prepare. He had learned how to use a knife, at least a bit, so he chose a knife, wiped it down, sheathed it, and set it near his boots. They were probably going to try to force him into something and Dan did not intend to come quietly. Then he turned toward his notebooks of spells. There had to be something he could do without his guitar.
Once his preparations were done, Dan ate and laid down for a nap. He would need his strength for this.
Awhile before midnight, Dan's alarm went off and he got out of bed. He ate again and went over his preparations again. He could always sing his magic, but Dan hadn't put much effort into learning that, so those spells weren't as powerful. "Add that to the to do list," Dan thought ruefully. Briefly, he considered bringing his phone. There was a possibility he would want to call for help, but the only people he could call didn't have magic. Besides, that would be one giant source of information about him if his enemies got it. Dan turned his phone off and slid it under his mattress. He took a quick look around his apartment.
He had already locked away his magical notes and paraphernalia and hidden the keys. It just looked like a normal apartment for one. Dan checked his motion with his boot-sheath one more time. Then he left his apartment and locked the door behind him.
He should have figured it would be cold on the prairie at midnight. It was always windy in town because the land was so flat, but it was even more windy out here. The wind could pull his music away before his enemies heard it, making it useless unless it was loud enough. Great. Dan kept walking on the path, guessing his enemies were waiting somewhere on it.
There was one good thing about the wind, it flattened the tall grass enough for Dan to see the three people waiting for him just around a bend in the path. Those were the three who had been tailing him recently. Of course. Dan walked around the bend, just until he could see them, and stopped.
"Good evening, Daniel," the one in the middle said. He was the one who had stolen Dan's guitar today.
"Hey," Dan replied.
They stared at each other.
"So, what are you going to try to make me do?" Dan asked.
"Make you? Dear boy, we have an offer for you."
"An offer? That you had to make in a deserted spot at midnight after you stole my guitar. Sounds like it'll be good."
"It will be. Don't you tire of hiding your magic?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Dan replied, wondering why he had put his knife somewhere that was impossible to subtly remove it.
"Oh, you may play for the crowds and bespell them into paying you, but that's hardly practicing openly. Your whole skill-set is based on trickery."
"Why would that be a bad thing? Life is much easier if you just blend in."
"We offer a way you won't need to blend in any more. We're going to make the world one of magic."
"Excuse me?"
"We'll change it. All of the people without magic will be gone, so there will be no more hiding. It will be paradise!"
Dan raised an eyebrow and carefully shifted his feet to distribute his weight better. "Paradise, huh? Don't you read?"
"Excuse me?"
"Any time someone offers you paradise, it's a trick. No one can make this world perfect all at once like that."
"I did not realize you were so jaded."
"Funny thing about me," Dan replied. He was going to rush them. Maybe he could do this without the knife. "I'm never quite what I look like." Before he finished speaking, Dan ran toward them, lowering his head. He hit the speaker for the group first. Dan took the hit on his shoulder and knocked the other man to the ground. Dan used his momentum to flip over the man and get himself standing. He turned around to deal with the other two, but he stopped in his tracks.
The woman was holding his guitar.
"Play nice," she warned. "Something might just happen to this." Her crony nodded, but didn't seem to want to move toward Dan.
Dan shut his mouth with a snap. He was not going to beg these people for anything. Wait. Dan began speaking, varying his pitch just slightly. "Please give me my guitar back."
The woman laughed. "Never! You're ours now!"
Damn it. Dan concentrated. "Please give me my guitar back." He was a bit louder this time.
"I told you no!"
The man in the middle began to pick himself up, coughing. The third person looked like they might be ready to attack, now that they had backup.
Dan had no choice. As loudly as he could, he sang, "Please give me my guitar back!"
Before they could stop it, the guitar sailed over and into Dan's hands. Immediately, he played a chord. His three enemies began laughing hysterically. That wasn't right. Were the strings out of tune? Hopefully the intervals between them were all about the same. Dan slid his hand a bit down the neck and tried a different chord.
His enemies began wailing as if their hearts would break.
Sighing, Dan moved his hand even further down the neck. He separated his fingers just a bit more and played again. Now, his enemies stopped crying and fell into a deep sleep. Finally.
Sighing, Dan walked over to the side of the path and found his guitar case. Dan played a quick melody on his guitar and checked they hadn't messed with his case or guitar. They hadn't. Sighing in relief, Dan put his guitar away and snapped the case shut.
At the sound of someone clapping, Dan whipped around. There was a man with dark hair standing in the prairie grass. Something about him held Dan's attention. Dan had met many magical creatures, but this man made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"Nicely done," the man said. "Although you might want to learn a few more spells without the guitar."
"Probably," Dan agreed, wondering if he needed to get his guitar out again.
The man laughed. "Don't worry about me. I'm a friend. Or I could be."
"A friend?" Dan asked.
"Yes," the man said, walking toward Dan. "Here, take my card."
Dan looked down at the card. He wanted to trust this man. His gut told him it was okay. Listening to your gut at a time like this could get you killed. "Thanks, Luke," Dan said, looking at the card, "but I'm lousy about business cards. Lose them all the time."
"Ah well then." Luke put his card away. "Out of curiosity, why didn't you take their offer?"
"They were forcing me into it. It couldn't have been good for me."
"That makes sense," Luke replied. "If you ever need me, come to the Velvet Tango Lounge. I am a great person to have on your side."
"I'll keep that in mind," Dan replied. However, after he left the prairie and made his way home, the first thing Dan did was look online for bands looking for a guitar player. He decided to audition for a Prince cover band called Charming. He hoped there was another mage in the group. This town was starting to get dangerous.
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