Tricked

not sure how you saw it or how you did that. «
    I sighed, frustrated with myself. » I should have bound your sight to mine so you could see it. Didn’t think of it at the time, but let’s fix that now. Nobody’s watching, and I think I can trust you to keep your mouth shut, so I’m going to give you a glimpse of what you were up to last night. «
    Frank frowned at me. » What the hell are you talkin’ about? «
    » Brace yourself and don’t freak out. I know you have some kind of magical sight, but I’m willing to bet mine’s a bit different. Here, give me your arm so you don’t fall. Granuaile, will you get his other side? I’m going to return you back to normal and do Frank. «
    » Got it, sensei. « I unbound her sight, and she smiled at Frank as she rose from the ground and looped her arm through his. It’s tough to get too surly when Granuaile smiles at you, but he still scowled at her, and a querulous note leapt into his voice.
    » Now, hold on here, nobody’s doin’ me, that’s for damn sure— «
    » Relax, Frank, you’re about to see the wonder of your medicine for the first time. You’ll be the first hataa³ii to ever see evidence of the Blessing Way like this. I’ll explain as we go. Ready? «
    » No, I’m not ready, because you’re not making sense, you crazy bastard—whoa! « He lurched forward and would have fallen had we not supported him. » What happened? What’s wrong with my eyes? «
    » Nothing’s wrong with them. You’re just seeing through my eyes right now, and at the moment I’m looking at the world in the magical spectrum. I’ve filtered out most of the noise, so it shouldn’t be too overwhelming. But let’s turn around here and go back to the hogan so you can see how the Blessing Way protected us last night. «
    We led Frank over to the door, and I focused in on the ward around the door first. » See all that white webwork? That’s your doing. We learned last night that it’s an extremely effective ward against spirits from the First World. It burns them. «
    » It does? « Frank said in a tiny voice.
    » Yep. Saw it firsthand when one of the bobcats fell on the ground here. « I pointed at the ground near the first log and focused on the webwork there. » You say it takes four days to complete the ceremony? «
    » Yes, four days for public buildings. «
    » Well, then, I’d assume that by the end of four days this ward will completely envelop the hogan, roof and all. You won’t need me around then. «
    » What are you, Mr. Collins? For real. «
    Sophie was still in the hogan and might hear us, so I dissolved the binding and returned his own sight to him, then beckoned him to follow me some distance away. Once we were safely out of earshot, I told him, » I’m a Druid. «
    I waited for the customary dismissal, but instead there was an awkward pause. » I don’t know what that is, « Frank admitted.
    I laughed. » That’s all right. I guess you could say my job is to protect the earth from assholes. «
    » Oh, I see. « Frank paused, then said, » Kinda seems like the assholes are winning, don’t it? «
    » That’s because I’m vastly outnumbered. «
    » Ha. Know what you mean. «
    » Can I ask you something, Frank? «
    » Sure, go ahead. «
    » What you were doing last night—that ward you were laying down—is that normal for a hataa³ii ? «
    » Well, not exactly. I’m singing the songs and doing everything a normal hataa³ii does, but I’m kinda like that chef on TV who’s always throwing garlic in the recipe and shouting, ‘BAM!’ «
    Granuaile smiled at him. » So you just kick it up a notch? «
    » That’s right. Normal plus hot sauce. That’s me. «
    » Where’d you get that hot sauce, if you don’t mind me asking? « I said.
    The shadow of a wince passed across Frank’s face. » You’d think I was crazy if I told you. «
    » Frank, I’ll believe darn near anything. You saw a Norse goddess of death yesterday. That wasn’t the first deity I’ve run into—just the ugliest and the smelliest. If I can wrap my head around that, I can probably handle your secret. «
    Frank turned his head and spat contemplatively. » All right. I was down in Canyon de Chelly a couple years back and I got ambushed by a buncha hippies. «
    » Real hippies? «
    » Naw, I mean those New Age turds who wanna hijack native religions for their own use ’cause nothing in the great white world speaks to them. They flock around at the solstices and try to find