Teagan in the Labyrinth Part3

And here is the end of the chapter!

She shook her head slowly, “No, it’s not possible. It’s just this place, it’s magical isn’t it?” She looked up to him hopefully.
“Well, you are right about this place being magic. In Animus Gratia magic just exists everywhere, like oxygen. But some people can control it more than others.”
“Like Maggie?” She asked. He raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, Maggie can control magic a little. She kinda specializes in comforts; food, clothes, a warm place to sleep…”
“And you? What do you specialize in?” she asked quizzically.
He smiled and ran a hand through his sandy hair, “Well…some say I can work my magic with the women.” He smiled and winked at her. Teagan stared back at him with wide eyes, feeling as if she had been tricked. His smile slowly faded.
“Teagan, that was a joke.” He said.
“A joke? Liam, I don’t need jokes right now. I need the truth.” She stared at him, waiting for a reply. He sighed deeply then picked up a handful of sand and closed it in his hand.
“The truth? I can barely control any magic at all. I can alter things slightly, but that’s the extent of it.” She looked at him raising one eyebrow. He held his closed hand up in front of her and opened it slowly. He had been holding sand but now tiny blue pebbles slid off his hand and piled onto the soft sand. “It isn’t very useful for the most part, I could never turn sand into a butterfly like you just did.”
Teagan looked out across the water thoughtfully. “How did you know I could do it?” she said quietly.
“Well, for one, you have a group of fairies following you.” She looked behind her and saw the tiny creatures that she had assumed were butterflies and gasped in surprise. “They are drawn to people with magical abilities.”
Teagan stood up and studied the fairies closer. “Will they hurt me?” she whispered.
Liam laughed as he stood up next to her, “Of course not, they worship you. In fact, they kind of protect you. You do not want to come across a pissed off fairy. Here, watch this…” He gently grabbed her arm and held it up, palm up.
The fairies fluttered and slowly, hesitantly flew towards her out stretched hand. A red-winged fairy stepped onto her palm and bowed. Teagan brought her hand slowly towards her face to examine the tiny creature. It had beautiful rose colored skin that glowed slightly, it wore a dress of what appeared to be woven rose buds and grass. It’s short hair floated around her head as if she were under water.
“She is beautiful.” Teagan said softly, smiling.
Liam smiled, “ Yeah, they are.”
Teagan stretched her arm out again and a green and blue winged fairy landed on her hand, both bowing deeply. Teagan smiled widely. The swarm of fairies began to fly closer and land on her arms, shoulders and hair. Before she knew it she was covered and they fluttered there bright wings, cooling her. A tiny fairy floated in the air in front of her nose. It reached out a tiny hand and touched the tip of Teagan’s nose. Then it leaned closer and kissed her. Teagan could feel the cool, wet kiss on her nose.
“The kisses of fairies have the same effects as the pond, but it lasts a little longer. They are blessing you.”
“Wow,” Teagan breathed at a loss for words.
The fairies slowly started flying away one by one until they were all gone and flying in the air above her.
“That was amazing. It was the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.” Teagan said beaming.
Liam smiled at her and to Teagan it looked like the first genuine smile she had seem from him since arriving here, free of all smugness and self-assuredness he usually possessed.
“I just have one question; you keep saying that you can’t tell me anything or that it’s not your job to tell me. Why can’t you tell me?”
“Well, it’s in the name. We are the Guardians of Truth. That is exactly what we do. We are kind of an elite secret society. We are sworn to secrecy and cannot ever break that vow. I know it’s hard to understand to an outsider, but I hope you understand that if I could I would tell you everything. Please understand that.” He looked at her pleadingly.
She studied his face and wondered what great and terrible secrets lay behind those warm brown eyes.
“Why have you been avoiding me?”She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
He hesitated and ran a hand through his hair. “That’s two questions; you said you only had one.” He smiled in that charming half-smile of his.
Teagan rolled her eyes, “Liam…”
“Teagan, I like you. I really do. When I talked to you in the bookstore that day, well, it was the first time I felt like I could be myself. The first time I felt I could connect with someone.” She smiled shyly at him, “But, it is forbidden. It is not advisable for me to have any kind of a relationship with you, even friendship.” Her smile faded and she looked at her feet. He stared at her waiting for a response. After several minutes she looked up at him and smiled.


She walked over to the pond and dipped a toe in the water. “So, what else can I do with this magic?”
He smiled widely at her, “You can move the world of you want to.” She playfully kicked water at him and he ducked out of the way.
“Show me.” She said holding out her hand.
He walked over to her and held her hand in his. “Remember, the first day you were here? I had you and Taryn hide in the cave? What happened right before I came back?”
Teagan bit her lip in thought, “It started raining.”
He smiled at her, “Before that?”
“The lightning? It struck the branch and caught it on fire.” Teagan said.
“And when it fell into the cave, you were scared right?”
“Of course I was. I thought we were trapped inside. I thought we would die. I remember wishing that…” realization swept over her and she looked up at Liam, “…wishing that it would rain. Did I make it rain?” she asked excitedly.
“You figured that out all on your own, I didn’t technically reveal anything to you, remember that.” He said smiling.
“I made it rain? I really made it rain? It’s impossible…” she said shakily.
“No, Teagan, not for you it isn’t.” He took both her hands in his and faced her, “And you can do it again, anytime you want.”
Teagan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a few seconds it began to rain softly on them. She lifted her head up to the sky and smiled gleefully. The rain was warm and gently falling on her face, it felt like a thousand tiny kisses from a thousand tiny fairies. She let go of Liam’s hands and laughed as she began dancing in the rain. Spinning happily in the falling rain that she had created.
“You did it Teagan! You made it rain, and you can do so much more. You can have anything you need.” Teagan stopped spinning suddenly and looked at Liam sadly.
“What I need more than anything right now is a friend to get me through this.”
He smiled sadly at her, “I think…” he brushed the hair out of his eyes, “ I think that I can handle that. Everyone needs a friend.”
“It’s not forbidden?” she asked.
“Ah, screw them. There is nothing wrong with friendship, right?” he smiled at her and she smiled back.
“We should be getting back, it’s almost dinner time. You know by now how Maggie is about punctuality.” Liam said walking over to her and holding out his hand for her.
Teagan picked up her bag and reached for his hand. They began finding their way through the labyrinth as the rain slowed and stopped and the sun warmed them, drying their hair.