The Wizards

By Louis Corsair

At the end of the original Absolution, the Executor went back in Time and altered Reality, setting in motion a plan that will destroy him, along with all of Creation. It is a titanic crime that does not go unnoticed. There are some who discovered the crime in the Past, and are trying to do something in the Present to prevent an unimaginable Future. And these men and women are, were, will be the Wizards.

In the Past: Wendell the Great and his brother, Gathii Ra are youths in Africa, struggling to survive amidst Civil War. When they meet Anita Sendler, an American, in the mystical Stream, the three decide they must come together. It is then that they discover that Reality has been altered; an ancient, and mighty, entity has and continues to travel across Time, altering events, for reasons unknown. To combat this entity, they must join forces in America and bring together others who are like them.

In the Present: It is the 1980s, and Wendell the Great, Gathii Ra, and Anita Sendler teach a group of children who also can wield the Power; in time, they become like a family. But the youngsters, Quique Serrano, Chen Jiao, Butch, and Isis Wendell (Wendell’s daughter) are unsatisfied with the lessons and their purpose. Just why are they able to manipulate the Power? And what are they supposed to do with it? Save the world? Destroy it? As they grow into teenagers, Isis chooses a name for them, Wizards, and together, they are the Wizards. And she goes a step further. The Wizards must help the world in any way they can. Together, they tackle the supernatural monsters that have started to pop up all over Los Angeles. And they think this is their path until they come face to face with the mysterious Orb of Time.

In the Future: In the year 2019, Maeve Flanagan is a rookie police officer in the LAPD. While answering a call for backup, her partner is murdered by another cop...possessed by a blurry being. Unable to understand the odd circumstances, she seeks out her relative, Anita Sendler, who is known for being an oddball. Maeve will get justice for her partner, who was like a father to her, no matter what. But, there are hiccups. Anita reveals that Maeve is an untrained Wizard. Together with a woman named Jenn Adams, who can speak with the dead, they must untangle a plot to destabilize the universe that has been in motion since before Anita met Wendell the Great and is STILL in motion in the Past! The culprit Time Travels back and forth, trying desperately to alter events to help humanity in their own misguided way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louis Corsair
• Release date: Oct 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005645694

Louis Corsair

Louis Corsair is an eight year veteran of the United States Army. Currently, he lives in Los Angeles, CA. In the year 2020 he hopes to publish several more works.

Book preview

The Wizards can easily be called The Elohim Trilogy: Book Two. But it is not. It is a consequence of the events of the original Absolution, a book that no longer exists. It also isn’t a sequel to Absolution Redux; some of the stories in The Wizards take place before the events of Redux and some take place after. Also, the protagonists of the Elohim Trilogy appear in a few of these stories, but they are not the protagonists of this story.

I suppose, if anything, you could call The Wizards, The Elohim Trilogy: Book 1.5. But really, it is its own entity.

And yes, it did take me a while to finish. It has been…what…more than five years?

Time does fly…

LC

In the Summer of 2020

Prologue

From the most mysterious corners of the Kenyan Rift Valley came two brothers, both orphans before they could be named. And within each was the promise of greatness, of hope that breaches the most formidable barriers and overcomes the most oppressing odds. For, since childhood, each had wielded a type of Power that made them well-known in that part of the world. Waganda, some called them, but superstitious fear in others forced community leaders to exile them--no one wanted the taint of juju in their lives.

And it was this way in many places they traveled to.

Despite the ominous stories circulated about the brothers, the cruelties of war found them during adolescence: They were forced into the Mozambique Civil War. And there, they witnessed horrors that would shape them, including the use of children as soldiers. The oldest and wisest of the two knew the evil of this, for he had read the Good Book, along with a myriad of other sacred and philosophical texts.

And while these brave brothers fought against the use of children in wars, they saw that their efforts were ultimately futile. The youngest brother wished to leave Africa and use the Power to attain the comforts they had never known. Undeterred, the oldest and wisest brother wanted to continue. If only they had help…

It was during this period that the wisest brother discovered a crime that went beyond the crimes they had so far witnessed: Reality itself had been unmade and remade again, new; Creation had been stopped and then restarted.

And the culprit had done it in the Past, as a result of some act in the culprit’s Present, to bring forth an apocalyptic Future…

The brothers were not alone in discovering this: A Jewish woman named Anita Sendler, who lived in the United States, also became aware of this vast change. She too could command the Power, which clued the brothers that they were not alone. Power calls to Power, the wisest brother realized.

These three used their mastery of the Power to meet in a place they came to call ‘the Stream.’ And there, they formulated ways of coming together physically. Finally, after the American woman had spent a small fortune to furnish the brothers papers to travel, they made this dream a reality.

And so, the nameless brothers set off to the Americas and there, they gave themselves legal names, nomenclatures that symbolized the unchained wanderlust of their souls: The oldest and wisest called himself Wendell; the youngest took the name Gathii Ra.

Together with Anita, they pooled their might to look further into the cosmic crime. Although they failed to learn more, Wendell had a premonition: There would be others who could command the Power, which he theorized was a direct result of the crime itself. These others were either children or yet to be conceived.

The task of Wendell, Anita, and Gathii Ra was to find and welcome these special children and teach them about the Power, to prepare them for the magical, mystical world that awaited them.

And these children are, were, will be…

The Wizards

The Wizard of Santa Ana

Starring: Amilcar Genovez and Enrique Quique Serrano

Featuring: Wendell the Great

The atrocities committed by El Salvador’s military during the country’s civil war shocked the entire world--Romero assassinated (March 24, 1980), the river Sumpul ran red, red (14 May, 1980), corpses of raped women and children littered El Mozote (December 11, 1981). Day passed and day passed, the sun rose gold and set a dotted pink, tainted. Yet, as woe and chaos became common across the country, in places like Santa Ana, campesinos still worked the coffee bean plantations.

That nectar of the American Gods was the only magic those simple folks knew in a world of blood and injustice.

***

The day was not special, just another afternoon in the summer of 1984--warm with humidity and war. And just like the day, the meson that Amilcar Genovez called home was not special, but run down; it was one of many that lay in the city streets of Santa Ana, few of its units occupied by paying tenants.

And yet, it was a special day for the boy. It was Amilcar’s ninth birthday, after all. And to no one’s surprise, a package arrived from the United States at the meson.

Amilcar’s mother, a skinny, black-haired woman named Ana, knew what was inside the box, but did not tell her son, for she wished to surprise him. Instead, she playfully walked here and there in the meson’s courtyard, making sure that Amilcar saw the plain box.

Sadly, Amilcar hardly noticed at first. The boy was in a foul mood because of the damp air that made everything sticky, and because Doña Peña, his teacher, had been especially demanding about the shape of the letters he drew.

At last, the sight of his mother with the box made him curious. He followed her until they were in the large kitchen; theirs was the largest unit in the meson because they were its owners. But he did not approach her. He stared as his mother pretended to peek inside the box.

His thick and arthritic grandmother, Mamatoya, watched the two from behind the store counter; the family used the extra space at the front of their unit to run a small grocery store. Slowly, her aged patience gave way.

"¡Ay Dios mio! Go see what your Papá sent you, vos!" said Mamatoya to the boy.

Amilcar knew suddenly that the contents of the box were for him. He raced to his mother. She smiled and showed him a new pair of tan American sneakers. In Amilcar’s eyes, and really those of any other boy in El Salvador, they were high quality sneakers just because they were from El Norte, the United States of America.

In reality, they were simple sneakers, easily found at any swap-meet in Los Angeles and which any person with a few dollars to spare could afford.

"¡Feliz cumpleaños, mi amor!" said his mother. She kissed his forehead and offered him the gift.

Amilcar snatched the sneakers from the box and threw off his dirty pair of patent leather shoes. Although the sneakers were a size too big, he loved them just as if they were a perfect fit; his feet were on fluffy clouds.

He took a triumphant lap around the dusty trail that led around the meson’s courtyard to let everyone see his birthday gift. Small, brown faces with tangled hair poked out of doors and stared at Amilcar; the children hoped that one day they too could sport such magnificent sneakers.

They were a symbol of prosperity, tangible proof that his Papá was doing well in California. Surely, his wish to have his father work in the movies of Hollywood had come true. He was certain only people with money, movie actors like Dirty Harry, could afford those sneakers.

As soon as Amilcar ran back to the bedroom he shared with his two older cousins, he took off the sneakers and cleaned them. He promised to forever keep them in pristine shape.

***

After finishing his homework, Amilcar put on his new sneakers and sneaked out of the house. He had a good three hours while his mother washed clothes and dishes in the meson’s pila before she needed his help at the dinner table. He wanted to show off the shoes to Enrique Serrano, his best friend in the whole world; his nickname was Quique and he was one of the many boys who worked in the coffee plantations in los cerros de Santa Ana--those fertile slopes near the Santa Ana volcano.

When he got to the bus station, he took a certain bus and got off at a neighborhood of tin champas--where poor campesino families lived. Not that he was rich, but Amilcar’s family owned a small store, a meson, and his father was away in California earning American dollars; he was more or less wealthy in El Salvador.

As Amilcar walked through the champas, he got a reminder of the war that raged around him. The muffled sounds of explosions in the distance came in erratic intervals along with the whistling of bullets that was so much like his father’s whistling. He worried sometimes that Quique would be hurt in some way by the fighting.

"¡Ay viene el Chele!" some of the kids said when they saw Amilcar. They were small, dirty, brown children in tattered clothing, who played happily in the streets.

Amilcar was called El Chele by his little friends because he was born with a light, light complexion like that of a White man; his hair was golden brown, and his eyes were green.

"¡Mira! ¡Mira!" they said to one another when they spotted Amilcar’s new pair of sneakers.

"Where is Quique, vos?" he said to one of the boys, the one called El Chiflon because he was silly.

I’m here, said Quique when he saw Amilcar. What do you want?

Quique liked to act tough in front of Amilcar. The boy figured that every wealthy person needed a tough friend--Quique had shared this theory with Amilcar during one of his visits. When Quique saw the sneakers, the tough expression dissolved and he was as mesmerized as the other boys.

Quique and his family had once been tenants in the meson Amilcar’s family owned. That was during days when Quique’s father, Francisco, had a decent job at a factory and he could afford to rent a room there. When the civil war tore through El Salvador, Quique’s father left for the United States, like Amilcar’s father would a few months later. The only difference was that Quique’s father was an unskilled laborer, a man who could only do simple tasks. Amilcar’s father was a mason, a carpenter, and even dabbled in business ventures.

Quique’s mother had received envelopes stuffed with American dollars for two years before they had stopped coming. He and his mother had not heard from Francisco since. Rumors had him in the company of a Mexican woman and with a new family. This happened often whenever men migrated to the United States, but life continued on in El Salvador.

Nike sneakers from California, said Amilcar proudly.

No one dared to contradict him about the authenticity of the brand. They became Nike sneakers of the highest quality, even if the label read Pro-Wing.

"¡Jue-puta, vos!" said some of the boys as they admired the sneakers. "¡Que cabrones!" said others while whistling.

Amilcar and Quique separated from the group and walked along the dirt trails of the coffee fields. Quique’s sister, Melina, a black-haired girl with skin so dark she was almost Black, followed because she had a crush on Amilcar. But she was too shy to let him know.

Can I wear them for a little bit? said Quique as they headed back. He had wanted to ask Amilcar earlier, but only then did he have the courage to do it.

Amilcar laughed and took off the sneakers. He handed them to an eager Quique as Melina looked on. Neither she nor Quique wore shoes or socks.

Quique at first walked like a drunkard, but then his feet adjusted to them and he jogged lightly.

"¡Qué chévere!" said Melina over and over while clapping.

Quique trotted back and forth on the trail, laughing and forgetting he was a tough guy. Amilcar laughed too, until Quique hit a puddle and mud-water splashed on the sneakers. He cursed and then ran up to Quique.

You’ll get them dirty! said Amilcar and ripped the sneakers off of Quique’s feet. He cleaned off the mud-water from the synthetic material and put them on.

Quique was sorry for what he did, but running in such shoes was too difficult to manage.

"Don’t get angry, mano!" said Quique with a grin.

Melina joined him and the two tried to calm Amilcar, but there was no consoling him. He was angry that Quique was so inconsiderate. He ran all the way to the main road that led to the bus station and did not even say goodbye to his friends. He left them there in their tattered clothes and with hurt feelings.

And yet, our Amilcar was human and, before he got to the bus station, a great sense of remorse entered his heart. He should not have left without saying goodbye. He looked back to the tin champas; a group of barefoot boys played in the street, even at that hour. He would be late getting home, but he had to make things right. He was a man of honor, like his idols Rocky Balboa and Dirty Harry.

From somewhere in the distance came a great commotion. A woman’s screams followed. The boy turned and saw several mothers struggling with a group of soldiers, trying desperately to free their sons.

"¡Tenga piedad!" said one woman and wept. She hung onto a dirty boy by the feet; he was a few years older than Amilcar.

"¡Dios mio! ¡Dios mio!" said another woman trying to stand between an equally dirty boy and several soldiers.

Both women lost their respective battles to the brutality of the soldiers. Their boys went into cargo trucks like so much equipment. One of the soldiers spotted Amilcar and signaled the others with a loud whistle.

And the boy understood: The soldiers were looking for unwilling recruits for their conscript army. They usually captured boys 11 years of age, but none of the campesino boys had identification cards and no one back at headquarters would care.

Amilcar ran away to the safety of the other boys, but they had scattered and were no longer in the street. He tried to hide behind the remains of a beat-up truck, but was too tired to trick the soldiers. One caught him by the collar and lifted him up, his grip so tight it cut the circulation to the boy’s shoulder.

"How old are you, cerote?" said the soldier.

Amilcar did not answer and at first wept, but then he remembered what his mother had told him.

"My Papá is Javier Genovez de Santa Ana!" repeated Amilcar several times.

"And my father is Ramon Castillo, pendejo!" said one of the soldiers. They laughed at Amilcar.

The soldier dragged him towards the cargo truck where a few more boys awaited. But they stopped when a man with brass on his collar met them.

"¡Mi teniente!" said one of the soldiers. He saluted the man with brass on his collar, the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant inspected Amilcar’s clothing, face, eyes, and then the shoes. His eyes bulged open, for he knew immediately the sneakers were from the United States.

"¡No sean pendejos! This one is not from the champas. Look at his shoes," he said to the soldier dragging Amilcar.

Angry, the Lieutenant slapped the soldier on the head and forced the others to look at the sneakers. The soldiers left Amilcar with the Lieutenant and retreated towards the other boys already in the truck. Amilcar watched in horror as soldiers captured more and more of the neighborhood boys and dragged them to the hungry trucks.

There was El Chiflon and the one they called Salpor because he liked to eat salpores. They even had El Gordito and El Gruñon in their custody and they were some of the wildest boys. Amilcar searched desperately for Quique or Melina, but they were not among the captured. In all, seven boys were in the truck. The tough boys, who once had bragged about farting ten times in a row, were reduced to sobs, some screaming for their mothers.

"Mira, hijito," said the Lieutenant while straightening out the boy’s shirt. Something turned inside Amilcar’s stomach when the Lieutenant called him "hijito." He pitied the son of such a man that would drag boys by force into the military. "These things, they happen for reasons that you won’t understand. But look, hijito, who sent you the sneakers?"

Amilcar was too shocked to speak for a second. When he found his voice, he told the Lieutenant that it was his birthday and his father had sent the sneakers as a present. He said his father was rich as a result of living in California and working in the movies of Hollywood.

He assured the Lieutenant that they were indeed Nike brand sneakers of the highest quality and that if he wished it, his father could send him more. Amilcar thought to use the sneakers as leverage in case he saw Quique or Melina dragged into the truck.

The Lieutenant cleaned the sweat from his brown face and laughed. "Look, hijito, tell your father that el señor Ramirez--don’t tell him that I am a Lieutenant. Tell your father that el señor Ramirez helped you when you needed help. And then, well, ask him in a friendly way if he doesn’t need any help over there in the United States. Tell him el señor Ramirez is an honorable man who works hard for his wages! This way we help each other, hijito, understand?"

Amilcar took in quick breaths and he fought tears. But these were burning tears of anger.

Fuck you, said the boy. Where that courage had come from, the boy did not know. But it was out and it shocked him.

The Lieutenant shook his head and backhanded the boy. A red welt grew on Amilcar’s face. Another burst of courage helped the boy sprint away from the soldiers. They chased him, laughing as if it were a game. And they cornered Amilcar in an alley.

"Pendejito," said one of the soldiers. He turned to the Lieutenant to see if it were okay to hurt Amilcar.

"Hijo de puta," said the Lieutenant. You tell me, fuck you, when I try to help?

The affronted Lieutenant pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the boy. Without concern for the age of his target, this vicious man pulled the trigger and the barrel burst with flames. Amilcar saw the bullet coming at him so slowly that he thought it was the moment where his entire life would flash before him.

A few seconds later, the slow, slow bullet hit him in the forehead and bounced on the ground.

"¡Santo Dios!" cried one of the soldiers.

The Lieutenant stared at his gun and the bullet on the ground. Sparkles of light began to dance in the new night air. One dozen, then another. Were these fireflies or something sinister? Their behaviors left only one explanation: Hadas, like the ones in the cuentos de hadas, fairytales.

Amilcar feared this phenomenon too and cowered on the ground. As the soldiers ran away to the safety of their war vehicles, more of these light spheres surfaced and struck them, leaving them dumb.

Alone, the boy trembled. The hadas flew close enough to his skin, scaring him further; he could feel their warmth. He closed his eyes and began to pray like his mother would. And he did this until a man’s voice told him to stop. This person was there suddenly and the spheres of light were gone.

The man poked at the boy with a wooden staff and said in English, Forgive me. He shook his head as if remembering something and then added in Spanish. "Perdoname." He spoke in Spanish from that point on.

When it was clear this man posed no threat to Amilcar, the boy looked up. This was a strange person indeed. He was dark-skinned like Eddie Murphy and his English, like his Spanish, had a strange, heavy accent--as strange as the emerald dashiki and matching pants he wore.

The boy was tempted to compare him to tough Snake Plissken, but there was a solemn grace to this man that put him closer to Superman. Here was a titan, and the boy could hardly stand to be in his presence.

Thank you, said the boy.

Wendell, said the man and pointed to himself.

Amilcar, said the boy and did the same. He pointed wildly in the direction of the military vehicles. "Please! The children, señor! You must help them!"

Wendell urged the boy to follow, for the spooked soldiers had regrouped. Amilcar reluctantly obeyed and suffered knowing his friends would be gone. He hoped only that Quique and Melina would be okay.

And the two walked without saying much and headed for the coffee bean plantations. Wendell brushed his hand against the plentiful coffee bean trees, whose green, green leaves were still moist. At one point, he took off his shoes and curled his toes in the dark earth, which was so much like his flesh.

"Are you a mago?" said the boy, letting his curiosity have a voice.

I am of the Earth, said Wendell. He cleaned his feet and put on his sandals. I am a man, like you, Amilcar.

"But your magic! The hadas!"

The dark man shook his head and urged the boy to look below. The scene in Santa Ana disappeared and before them were other places in El Salvador, shown in midair like a magical television screen. There was war and blood and death. Wendell watched these events unfold, the pain clear in his eyes. He pointed and the boy looked where he pointed.

This is your land. The people are its blood and when the scythe of conflict cuts them down, the country bleeds, said Wendell.

Are you here to stop the war? You can do it; you are very powerful!

Wendell puffed his chest and stabbed the soil with his staff. I shall do what I can, for my place of birth was littered with war as well.

And the other boys? said Amilcar.

Wendell shook his head. Alas, the boys have met their destiny. As you have yours…

Mine? said the boy, confused.

Wendell smiled and gripped the staff with both hands. Your voice drew me here, for you see…I believe you are like me, said Wendell. As I have come to understand, Power calls to Power…

What amazing luck! Amilcar was overjoyed and jumped up and down. "Señor, can I call the hadas as well? I might help you save my country if we first save my friends!"

"Ah, niño…it is not so easy…" said Wendell and told Amilcar his plan to take him from the war-torn country to join others with such Power.

This saddened Amilcar and there were new tears in his eyes, tears of pity. To fulfill this amazing destiny, he would have to leave his friends, his family…

Do not cry, child, said Wendell. I shall seek you out soon, and if you wish to go, I will take you. As soon as the military vehicles had left with their teary cargo, he escorted the boy back to where they had met. "Cuidate," offered Wendell and watched the boy walk away.

Amilcar was hesitant to leave. He went back to the champas and waited to see if Quique or Melina came out, but they did not. When he could wait no longer, he ran to the bus station and got on the first bus available. He cried during the entire trip back, both because of his great luck and because of the miserable choice he had to make.

When he arrived home, he did not bother with deception. He opened the front door and walked in. His mother and grandmother waited for him with the whipping stick--the thin one that sometimes cut the skin. Their faces were twisted with fury, but even this did not faze Amilcar. He simply ran to his mother and sank into her form. She, sensing something terrible, dropped the whipping stick and inspected the boy.

Soldiers tried to take me, said Amilcar and it was enough for his entire family, even those listening behind doors, to come out and see how they could help.

His mother held him tight against her breast and cried with him. Amilcar’s grandmother cursed the government and shed bitter tears on her rocking chair while his aunt, a thick woman named Lupe, comforted her. Even Meme and Hugo, Amilcar’s two sixteen-year-old cousins who taunted him with pranks every day, tried to comfort the boy by offering him an un-chewed piece of gum.

He repeated his tale later, but he omitted the encounter with Wendell and the hadas, for who would believe such things? And they would believe even less that he too was a mago and belonged with the hadas.

***

Amilcar’s mother refused to let the boy leave the house, even though Hugo and Meme volunteered to stay with him. She also refused to tell him why he could not leave; her rash behavior confounded him. Luckily, Hugo and Meme were bold enough to share information with him. Hugo heard from one of his cheros that the government expected renewed rebel attacks following the election of a right-wing official. The government in turn would find those they deemed a threat and make them disappear. This put anyone in danger.

That meant that Amilcar had to stay away from school, and the campesinos who lived in the champas. Amilcar was fine about missing school, but it was torture not to go see Quique and ascertain his fate.

Had the soldiers taken him? Amilcar knew Melina was fine because Hugo and Meme told him the soldiers never took a girl. They said the soldiers did other things to the girls, but the boy thought she was much too young for any soldier to want her that way.

It was for Quique and Melina that Amilcar decided to tell Wendell he would remain in El Salvador; the magic and the hadas would have to wait. If only he could communicate this to Wendell…

Several days later, Amilcar got the worst news of his life. His mother had called Don Javier Genovez in California and described how his son had almost been recruited into the Salvadorian conscript army. Unable to fathom the idea that his son might die in an unjust war, Don Javier opted to have Amilcar and his wife sent to him immediately through channels that all the money he had earned could open.

His mother told Amilcar that in two days they would leave with a certain family friend and travel south to Mexico and then to America. Though severe poverty might follow during their first year in California, it was better in the long run to an uncertain tour in an army unit.

The news left Amilcar numb. It had been his wildest wish, to travel to America and California to visit Rocky Balboa and Dirty Harry. The circumstances crushed his dreams.

What had Wendell said about his destiny? Indeed, it was clear to Amilcar now that his destiny was to leave El Salvador. One way or another, magical or economical.

And Amilcar could not stand still any longer. He was nearly out of time and his friend needed help. Out of desperation, he thought of a bold plan to help Quique. In order to carry it out, Amilcar had to leave the house and brave the dangerous streets.

In the middle of the night, while his mother slept, Amilcar put on his new pair of sneakers and threw some of his clothes in a bag. He carefully left the house and made sure he was unseen as he ventured out into the sidewalk. The clandestine nature of his journey excited Amilcar and he felt like the heroes he had seen on television.

Because he had not received more lunch money, Amilcar had to travel by foot to the place where Quique lived. He was too young to realize how foolish his decision was, but had he known, he would have cared little about the consequences. He had an oppressive need to see Quique again and secure his safety.

He was lucky during the first leg of his journey and was met by empty streets. Even the bagabundos were at home instead of drinking outside and crying their sorrows to the neighborhoods they haunted. But his luck did not last very long.

He first heard the wails of a woman somewhere nearby. He took cover in a shadowy corner. Soon, several soldiers walked out of a house dragging two men and a woman.

"¡No, Dios mio!" was all they said before the soldiers shot them dead.

Stunned, Amilcar tried in vain to contain his tears. He got up and ran away as fast as he could. The more he ran, the more screams and gunfire he heard. It was a miserable night suddenly and he could not find a place free of screams and gunshots.

Fear crept into him. He saw shadows moving in every direction and he thought he heard Lieutenant Ramirez laugh behind him. His hands and feet trembled and he wished to quit, but he had gone too far. Honor demanded that he act like a man and help his friend, no, his brother. Yet boyish fear kept him in place. Within seconds, a soldier patrol flashed their spotlight on him.

Wendell…please, said Amilcar, desperately.

Something made them stop and they drove off following what looked like a flying light.

Why are you here, Amilcar?

The boy looked up and saw Wendell there.

You came! said the boy, amazed by his magical might.

I never left you, actually, said Wendell. Since that day, I have been near you… He leaned on his staff. Why are you here?

I have to help Quique before I leave, said the boy.

But it is too dangerous here! You must come with me at once! I shall help you return home! said Wendell.

Just then, another soldier patrol shined their light on the two wanderers. Wendell produced more of the hadas, confusing and frightening the soldiers. Amilcar knew this was his only chance. He ran, but not for home.

Two hours later, Amilcar reached the darkened trails that led to the champa where Quique lived. In the wind, the thin foils of the champa’s roof made obnoxious noises that got louder as he approached.

Quique’s window was really just a hole cut into the material of the tin champa. It would do. Amilcar grabbed a small rock and launched it into the dark space behind the hole. The first few stones missed, but the fourth one hit someone in the darkness.

Amilcar! said Melina. She poked her head out of the metal hole with a wide smile on her face. Melina always dreamed that her true love would come one night and rescue her from the misery of her life, like in the fairytales her grandmother had told her.

"¿Y Quique?" said Amilcar.

Melina sighed. "He’s in la finca! He’s afraid of the soldiers."

Amilcar cursed his luck. It would take forever to find Quique in the coffee bean fields. But he could not afford to lose his temper that night. He would search the entire cerro to find him, even if he had to go all the way to the Santa Ana volcano.

Things became difficult almost as soon as he ventured into the hills. He heard the distinct sounds of a patrol of soldiers wandering the area. They were in a decrepit truck with a spotlight illuminating darkened corners.

Amilcar crouched down and became as small as a coffee bean cherry. He stood silent and waited until the patrol was gone. He knew they would return and had to work fast. Running deeper into the hills, he began to call out Quique’s name in stern whispers. He knew that Quique would not wander too far away for fear that his family might get hurt.

But Amilcar got no reply from anyone in the darkness. He continued forward and yelled Quique’s name at measured intervals. He did not stop until he tripped over something bulky.

"¡Ay!" said someone in the darkness.

Who’s there? said Amilcar.

Amilcar? said Quique. "¿Que putas haces aquí, vos?" Quique was not angry with Amilcar. He was angry that he had been discovered so easily. He got up and dusted the roaches and ants off his body. How did you avoid the soldiers? They are everywhere!

"A Mago del Oeste! He says I am a mago as well, so you see, my magic is great!" said Amilcar excited. He had waited all that time to tell Quique about Wendell and the wondrous things he could do.

"Why are you here, pendejo?" repeated Quique.

"Look, vos, my Papá sent pisto so that me and my Mamá can go to El Norte," said Amilcar. The fact had not sunk in until he repeated his mother’s words to someone else. He really was leaving. Something stuck in his throat and tears welled in his eyes.

What are you doing here then? said Quique angry. He pushed Amilcar. He wanted him to leave.

"No, vos!" said Amilcar and handed him the bag of clothes he had brought. They were his best clothes. Take them!

The plan was simple. Quique would wear Amilcar’s extra clothes and pretend to be his brother. Their mothers would not mind and Melina would be fine while the two traveled to California. Once there, they would tell Dirty Harry about their situation and, because he was a man of honor who fought for justice, he would give them both enough work to help their cause.

For it was Amilcar’s deep belief, regardless of what his grandmother had said about Ronald Reagan, that the people in America were not cold-hearted bastards. Afterwards, when they had earned enough money, they would send for Melina and her mother.

But Quique was wiser about these matters than Amilcar suspected. Once, he had found a letter his father sent to his mother. In it, his father had detailed the reasons why he could not bring them both to California. Among those reasons was the high cost of a person called a coyote, who would help them cross the Mexican border into California.

Quique knew that Amilcar’s father would never pay for an additional boy to come along. He also knew that if his friend remained there with him, he would surely miss his chance to leave for California. He told all this to Amilcar, but it confused him to see his friend smiling.

"Don’t worry! Wendell promised to take me to the hadas! So, you see, my father will only pay the coyote for one boy!" said Amilcar.

Now, Quique sensed his friend was toying with him.

"¡Come mierda, pisado!" said Quique and ran off.

Amilcar thought Quique wanted to act tough one last time. He chased him, nearly tripping and often hitting vegetation. It was then that he remembered the patrol.

Quique! There’s a soldier patrol! said Amilcar.

In the distance, an engine screamed as the truck turned around. He had spoken too loudly and the soldiers had heard him. Amilcar caught up to Quique and the two ran through the many rows of coffee bean trees. Quique wanted to hide in the darkness, but Amilcar stopped him.

Put on the shoes so they think you have money! said Amilcar. He took off the sneakers and threw them over to Quique.

As Quique struggled with the laces, his eyes filled with horror. They’re dirty, he said with a dead man’s voice.

Amilcar could not believe it at first, but it was true. The sneakers were covered in mud from his trek through the hills. They did not look at all like a new pair of Nike sneakers of the highest quality. They looked like peasant shoes. Quickly, as Quique sobbed, Amilcar used his shirt to clean the sneakers.

The beam of light found the two boys and the soldiers ran towards them. Amilcar did not stop cleaning and he hastily threw the sneakers onto Quique’s feet. He even tried to take off Quique’s shirt and switch it with the one he wore to church. He did not stop until a cold hand tightened around his wrist.

What’s going on? said the soldier holding Amilcar’s wrist. He whistled to the others. Two new recruits, sergeant, he told the man holding a flashlight, the sergeant.

The ray of light found Quique first. The man behind the flashlight laughed.

"Se mojo el jotito," said the sergeant and they all burst out laughing.

Amilcar looked and it was obvious that Quique had wet his pants. The ray of light then found Amilcar’s face before it went off. The sergeant hit the man holding Amilcar’s wrist.

Sergeant? said the soldier as he released Amilcar.

"¡Pendejo! This one is not from here. He has money. Maybe his family gives us some for returning him, said the sergeant and illuminated the boy’s golden hair and clothes, which were of much higher quality than what Quique wore. Take the other one." The soldiers took hold of Quique and dragged him towards their truck.

And right then Amilcar saw his chance to save his friend. He ran up to the sergeant and got on his knees.

No! He’s my brother! he repeated over and over.

Your brother? said the sergeant. He did not want to make the boy’s parents angry and risk the reward by taking the other boy if they were related. He whistled to his men. They stopped and waited for instructions. The sergeant pointed the light beam at Quique. Are you two brothers? he said to Quique.

Quique’s face hardened. He’s not my brother, he said. His family is rich, not mine.

He’s my brother! said Amilcar and tried to rush to Quique.

The sergeant laughed. I knew it. Take off his shoes and let’s go!

The soldiers ripped the sneakers off of Quique’s feet and threw them at Amilcar. Defeated, Amilcar wept. The sergeant put the sneakers on the boy’s feet and stood him up. Amilcar did not have the strength to fight.

Tell me where you live, said the sergeant and turned off the flashlight. In the distance, the only sounds came from the sobs Quique let out as they forced him onto the truck bed.

And Amilcar’s anguish grew into rage. He rushed the sergeant and hit his genitals--which forced the older man to his knees--and then kicked him in the head. The soldiers stopped and returned to their supervisor. Amilcar ran to the truck in the darkness and found Quique.

Come on! said Amilcar. His friend was hesitant. I hurt the sergeant. Now they will take me too if we don’t go!

The two boys ran deeper into the coffee bean plantation. Behind them, the soldiers had mounted the truck. They began to spray bullets in every direction, for they were furious now and the lives of the children meant nothing to them. Many times, the boys had near-misses.

Wendell! cried Amilcar. Wendell!

There! said the sergeant with the spotlight pointed in the direction of Amilcar. The men trained their rifles at the boys and fired.

And fired.

And fired.

Amilcar! said Quique.

Amilcar had been shot in the arm. Quick-thinking Quique dragged his friend’s body down the hill, for he hoped the truck could not follow so easily without the trails to help it. To their horror, a second patrol truck waited for them there. And it pointed its guns at the boys.

Wendell! Wendell! cried Quique in a panic, copying what Amilcar had said earlier.

Amilcar, dizzy from blood loss, saw something amazing: His best friend’s boyish voice produced a wave in the night that spread outward like a splash in water.

Quique. His voice had some odd quality.

These were the beginning notes of a melody of magic that would continue until his dying day, for Quique was like that man, Wendell, not Amilcar. That first night when Wendell had come, Amilcar realized, Quique must have been hiding nearby, watching, making sure his best friend, his brother, was safe. And that boyish wish had summoned Wendell.

Again, the soldiers fired. But brave Quique threw himself on Amilcar. The boys screamed.

With hazy vision, Amilcar watched as the hadas returned, dozens of them. And Wendell came with them. The magical man raised his staff as he spoke words that thundered.

A fantastic light broke apart the night and they were there, winged men. These were like the knights of old, armored, but had great insect wings protruding from their backs. With swords drawn, a dozen or so attacked the soldiers, using brawn and magic to beat them.

"Hadas, Quique! Look! Like in the stories," said Amilcar, but gasped suddenly.

Quique lay on the ground, watching the spectacle, blood running wild from a bullet hole in his chest. He took a last breath and his eyes closed.

Quique… said Amilcar and wept. He shook his friend. Quique!

Your friend is very brave, said Wendell. As are you.

He touched the staff to the Amilcar’s wound. The most miraculous thing happened: It closed on its own, like a film playing backwards; the bullet came out and the wound healed