The palace orchestra had sent some of its members along to provide music and aid the suspense. Haunting, creepy carnival music played the interim as a singular spotlight shone in the middle of the arena. Ivy stood on a red-and-gold striped pedestal, lifting a golden cane aloft as the spotlight beamed upon them.
“Welcome, welcome, debauchees and degenerates, freaks and fiends, to the greatest supernatural show on Earth!” Ivy announced.
Applause filled the arena, and Ivy gave a dramatic twirl on the pedestal. “Prepare to be amazed and have your mind twisted as our performers dazzle and delight unlike anything in this world! For our first act, we invite you on a trip across the sea. A wild beast, captured from the mysterious forests of Malovia, only to be calmed underneath the hand of our brave and mighty monster tamer! Behold as Marcus the Magnificent compels this deranged wolf to perform tricks for your amusement— that is, if the creature doesn’t cause him to meet his end!”
Marcus was the one doing all the work, so he had to go first, so it wouldn’t appear unusual when he was still lurking around the area. He stepped into the arena, wearing a red vest and black pants. In his hand he carried a rolled-up whip. Hoops and platforms were set up in a circle around him.
Danny and Chancey pushed a cage on wheels into the arena. Kallie was locked inside in her wolf form. We’d messed up her fur and put foam around her mouth for show. She banged herself against the bars of the cage, snarling in rage. The crowd looked on in interest.
“Observe how Marcus the Magnificent tames the wolf with nothing more than a whip and his words—” Ivy said, but the sentence was cut off as Kallie broke open the door of the cage and burst free. She charged toward the crowd and grabbed a vampire in her jaws, shaking him roughly. The vampirescreamed, and several onlookers shouted, reaching for their pistols. Marcus approached, cracking the whip. Kallie dropped the vampire and backed off, bowing her head. The vampire that had gotten bitten yelped and scrambled away.
“Stay back, everyone!” Ivy proclaimed. “The wolf is vicious. More than one onlooker has lost an arm to this maddened animal!”
Marcus cracked the whip again. Kallie charged at him, but Marcus put out a hand. Kallie acted as if she’d been blasted backward. She rolled on the ground, howling in mock-pain, and the crowd gasped.
“Now that Marcus has the animal under his spell, watch as he guides it to perform tricks!” Ivy cried. Marcus cracked the whip, and Kallie sat back onto her haunches, rising up to paw at the air. He circled around her, crying out orders, and Kallie did a pirouette before she climbed onto a nearby platform and poised to jump. As Marcus wiggled the whip, Kallie began leaping through the hoops. The crowd applauded in surprise.
I focused my attention on the hoops, and they burst into flames. Astonished cries came from the audience. Kallie pretended to balk at the fire, but Marcus shouted and cracked the whip, and she jumped through all the flaming hoops with ease. When she landed again, Marcus pulled himself onto Kallie’s back, and she began running around the arena in a dead sprint. The vampires began chatting amongst themselves in amazement as Marcus hung on to Kallie’s fur, flattening himself to her body as they jumped through hoop after hoop. One of the flames from the hoop caught his pant leg, but I quickly put it out before it could spread further.
“Observe as he rides the monster through the flames with no saddle, no bridle, merely his will!” Ivy called. “This is a creature completely under his control!”
I could almost feel Kallie rolling her eyes from here. Kallie came to a stop in the middle of the arena, rearing onto her hind legs and giving a vicious snarl. When she came down onto four legs, Marcus slid off her back and did a spectacular tumble, rising back to his feet to give a bow.
Show off.
The vampires loved it. They cheered in excitement as Marcus guided Kallie back into her cage with the whip. Once Kallie was locked away, Danny and Chancey came forward again to wheel her out of the big top. Marcus took another bow to amp up the crowd, and the applause grew louder. He headed toward a ladder at the edge of the arena and began climbing it upward.
“Marcus the Magnificent will now complete his act by walking the tightrope, finishing his performance by diving twenty feet into a pool!” Ivy gushed.
Below me, a pool magically appeared in the middle of the arena, and the crowdooedwith wonder. Marcus stumbled on his way up the ladder and had to fumble to grab onto the bars. The crowd laughed, thinking it was part of the act, but Marcus had actually almost fallen on his way up.
I didn’t knowwhywe’d picked Marcus to do the tightrope, because he was clumsy as they come, but he promised he could do it. Here’s hoping he didn’t splatter himself all over the arena floor.
Marcus took a deep breath to steady himself as he stood on the platform before the tightrope. Then he took a step— one that was too forceful. He staggered onto the tightrope, and the crowd held its breath as he struggled to maintain his balance. He floundered his arms like a chicken as he took a couple of staggering steps forward, and the tightrope bowed under his weight.
He was holding himself up by his telepathy magic, clearly. He couldn’t walk a straight line most days down a ten-foot-widehall. Marcus wobbled down the tightrope like a baby learning how to walk, until he got to the middle. The band beat the drums rapidly, and Marcus drew out the moment by putting his arms over his head before he swung downward off the tightrope.
He wassupposedto roll into a tuck like an Olympic diver, but Marcus didn’t really do much but flounder through the air on the way down. He used telepathy magic to break his fall, though not so much that it was noticeable. Marcus splashed into the pool, and the audience cried out.
He didn’t surface right away. The crowd waited on bated breath as Marcus remained at the bottom of the pool, holding his breath for as long as he could.
“It appears that Marcus’ act has gone terribly wrong, folks,” Ivy said in a somber tone. “A tragic end indeed for this warlock of immense talent?—”
Marcus burst out of the pool, throwing his arms up and sucking in a breath. A couple of vampires in the stands leapt to their feet, and others cried out in amazement. Marcus couldn’t swim, so I had to use my Toaqua powers to float him to the side. Marcus pulled himself out of the pool, and it vanished as Ivy lifted his arm and said, “Marcus the Magnificent, everyone!”
The crowd continued to applaud. Now that Marcus’ act was done, he slipped to the side and donned a red robe that was hanging on a hook. The pocket of the robe contained his wand. He busied himself by pretending to set up the next performances, moving the hoops to the side and getting the platforms out of the way.
But I wasn’t fooled. I saw the concentration on his face as he worked his mind reading magic. His eyes darted here and there as he scanned the minds of the underbosses sitting in the box beside the arena, and every now and then, his hand dove in the robe’s pocket so he could use the wand. By the looks on the mobsters’ faces, they didn’t suspect or notice a thing. Theyhad no idea Marcus was rattling around inside their heads. We needed things to stay that way.
Ivy was the best showperson on this planet, and they managed to keep the crowd’s attention on them and off of Marcus as they proclaimed, “Our next act features a damsel whose power rivals her beauty. Kalina the Incredible will inspire you with her feats of magic, as she is the greatest illusionist ever to be born!”
Kallie looked nothing like the rabid wolf she’d been moments before as she strode into the arena, wearing a shimmering purple leotard and a sparkling cape. She cast a spell, and wisps of purple magic burst from her fingers as three elephants appeared inside the arena. They appeared as real and solid as flesh-and-blood elephants would be. Several vampires within the stands appeared shocked. Kallie made the illusion elephants dance, hold each other’s tails, and sit on platforms. She then climbed onto the back of one of the elephants and did tricks herself. She performed a handstand and a backflip on the back of the elephant as it wiggled its trunk to give the audience a wave.
“Bringing these mysterious creatures to our circus isn’t the only thing Kalina can do,” Ivy stated. “Observe as she transports all of us to the plains of Africa itself!”
The big top changed, and the crowd let out noises of terror as the scene shifted. Daylight, hot and sweltering, encompassed the area. Long yellow grass bloomed everywhere, and mountains could be seen in the distance. Gazelles and zebras ran by, while a cheetah chased after them. Hyenas and baboons cackle before a loud roar silenced it all. A male lion stalked around the elephants, growling and baring his fangs. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear we were right in the middle of the Serengeti.
Kallie was so damn good. Most faeries would’ve killed themselves trying to make more than a few people see such anintricate illusion, and she was able to cast the spell on hundreds of people at a time without breaking a sweat.
