Moral Decency

"Douxie!"

"Just a moment longer, Arch."

"He doesn't have a moment longer. His heart is already slowing down!"

Because Archie at times tended to exaggerate dramatically, Douxie convinced himself with a quick glance that his familiar - who had placed a paw on Jim's chest - really was right. Archie's fear-filled gaze spoke volumes, and that presented Douxie with a big problem.

"Fuzzbuckets! If I break the spell now, he won't be helped!"

"At least he will live..."

"But not for long if something like earlier happens again. You saw how his gaze was totally obscured before he just dodged the car, Arch!"

"Still, he needs to breathe!"

Breathe. The word made something resonate in Douxie and that's when he knew that somewhere in his mind was an appropriate spell. He just had to remember.

"Break it off or I'll end it for you!" Archibald raised his voice, spreading his wings threateningly as he shifted into his dragon form a heartbeat later.

Breathe… Breathing... Something blowing... Wind? Wind!

"I will not let you take the boy's death on your conscience."

But before Archie could act, another rune lit up on Douxie's vambrace as his mind found the spell he was looking for.

"Wait!" he quickly called to his familiar, leaning forward and holding his left hand over Jim's face as he once again gathered the magic within and around him and placed it next to the harvesting spell like a wave.

But when this wave was more powerful than he thought and nearly knocked him off his own feet, Douxie abruptly realized why one of the very first lessons Merlin had drilled into him was to never ever cast two spells at once - unless you were a master wizard with a staff to help channel the massive flow of energy that flooded through him at that very moment and almost took his own breath away! Well, Douxie was nothing if not determined and desperate! So, grounding himself, he consciously pressed his lower legs against the floor of the bookstore and willfully embraced the wave.

"Respirare ventus," he then whispered, feeling the magic do its work when three eternally long seconds later, the summoned wind entered Jim's lungs through his nose and mouth, lifting his chest.

"Douxie!" he heard Archie call imploringly, but he had no time for his worries now; didn't even have a hand free to wipe a rapidly forming drop of sweat from his forehead.

But even as this and other drops uncomfortably sought their gravity-driven paths down his face and neck and threatened to drag his energy with them, Douxie held on to the magic. That was his job, after all - protector of this realm. And that included helping people who found themselves in dicey, dangerous or hopeless situations or were negatively affected by magic, like Jim. But it was also more than just the job. Quite apart from liking the boy, Douxie saw it as his human and - as Archie had once called it - moral obligation to help others who were in need.

When the boy himself resumed breathing with a painful-sounding gasp, Douxie almost lowered both arms in relief. But Archie jumped to his aid and supported his right one, while at the same time reaching with his paws for the cup Jim had been drinking from when it began to wobble.

"Almost there..." Douxie muttered, concentrating once more so as not to let the strange flow of magic break off which was pulled into the drinking cup as if by a steady tug.

"Now, old pal!" Archie cried, as the magic in Jim finally broke away from him and flowed squirmingly into the cup as if resisting it. Quickly, Douxie put his hand on it and activated yet another rune, which made his hand glow deep blue and sealed the opening so that the strange magic couldn't escape again.

As soon as this was done, he let himself sink backwards with a long drawn-out groan and stretched out all fours, staring at the ceiling and breathing heavily.

"This is most unusual. Why doesn't the flow dissipate? It seems to me as if it had originally taken a different form," Douxie heard his familiar voice his thoughts.

"Eh, Arch, could you just take the cup to the back before Jim wakes up? I don't have the energy to worry about that right now."

"Don't expect any sympathy from me. You know how dangerous that was what you just put yourself through." Out of the corner of his eye, Douxie watched his friend rise into the air and grab the cup with both paws. But before he flew away with it, he looked at the wizard seriously. "But," he sighed, "good job."

Hearing Archie's praise, a liberating laugh released from his chest and for a second, or three, he closed his eyes in exhaustion. Yes, it felt good to have made it, even if he would probably feel this excess of magic use for days to come.

"Just don't tell Zoe about it," he muttered. "She's already bad-mouthing me because she thinks I'm not 1000 % committed to our upcoming gig..."

"Ridiculous!"

"Absolutely."

"You're really going to have to back off after that stunt, though, Douxie." Thanks to the draft, he felt exactly where Archie landed next to him and opened his eyes again. "And we need to find out how Jim came into contact with such magic. If a black marketeer has been moving through Arcadia without us noticing, we may get more such cases of magical possession in the near future."

"I could weave a simple tracking spell."

"Or I could follow him home and from there any potential magical trails I find."

"Or that. Yeah, I'm definitely for that," Douxie quickly agreed as the mere thought of another bout of weakness gave him a headache.

It took a full five minutes before Jim stirred again. That gave Douxie time to regain his composure and think about his next steps. He had also used the time to fetch a new, non-magically sealed, cup, which he briefly rinsed with water to make it look as if it had been drunk from.

When the boy finally opened his eyes with a pitiful groan and looked around with a disoriented gaze, Douxie held out a hand to help him sit up, which he took.

"Douxie?" the boy mumbled as he looked at him with eyes that were still cloudy, but were becoming clearer by the moment, instantly reminding him of the deep blue of his mother's eyes. Freezing inside, it was impossible for him to avert his gaze. But that was also the reason why it didn't remain hidden from him how the last veil of the spell that had lain on the boy lifted and his irises became a much softer tone than those of his mother had been.

Consciously exhaling slowly, Douxie tried to shake off the tension from his body. The last thing he needed now was another flashback. He already had enough of them this month thanks to Arcadia's new steam bath...

"Are you okay?"

Jim's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and forcing the corners of his mouth up, he smiled. "Shouldn't I be asking that? It's not me who just keeled over. You must've been extremely dehydrated."

"Dehydrated?" Jim asked with immediately furrowed brows and Douxie was glad he had prepared the new cup. For when Jim took it in his hand, he began to look at it and feel it from all sides, as if waiting for a rabbit to hop or a dove to fly out of it, as if from a cheap magic hat.

"You sure about that?" he asked Douxie, looking at him with a strange expression. "When I drank this, something happened. It was as if something was... enveloping me."

"Yeah, well, like I said, totally dehydrated. It looked to me like you were literally sucking up the water."

To cut the conversation short, he stood up and stretched demonstratively.

"You should try drinking more, Jim. That's probably what caused that headache, too, and-"

When the boy laughed softly, Douxie fell silent in mid-sentence. He watched Jim straighten up and look out the window, where he had leaned the boy's bike against the wall of the building, with a sigh. Then he turned back to him and smiled with a knowing expression that at the same time showed a fear in his eyes as deep as Douxie hadn't seen in young adults since the battlefields in the days of World War II.

"It's okay, Douxie. Thanks for your help. I'll better be on my way. My friend will be worried otherwise. See you around."

And with that, Jim shouldered his bag and left the bookstore - leaving Douxie speechless and looking after him in disbelief and perplexity as the boy mounted his bike with routine, though still somewhat hesitant, movements and rode away.

"Well?" Archie asked a few moments later, and Douxie could literally feel his expectant gaze resting on him.

"I have a bad feeling that there's definitely something going on out there that we have no idea about, Arch. James Lake Jr. knows more than a normal small town teenager should know. Make sure he doesn't see you on your stakeout. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to find out more about this strange magical flowing."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Ha ha."

"I'm serious, Douxie. This spell essence smells like old magic. Powerful old magic. I don't think it was an accident that it hit the boy. Such magic is mastered by only a few, and those who are capable of it work precisely."

And that was exactly what worried Douxie.

"All the more reason to find out what's going on with him. You should follow him now, before you lose his trail."

"Ah, that you always have to forget my fine nose..." Archibald laughed. But a breath later he was already out the door, and Douxie saw him running with long leaps parallel to the road Jim had also taken.

With a sigh, the wizard pulled the store door shut again and got to work.

It was hours later when his familiar returned. Deeply engrossed in a grimoire of a hedgewitch from the Asian rainforest, Douxie was startled when Archie suddenly brushed around his feet before leaping onto the table. Instantly, the grimoire was forgotten. Instead, he stared at his familiar as if he had grown a second head.

"What happened?" he asked incredulously, barely able to stifle a grin at the sight of Archie's displeased, annoyed and at the same time definitely embarrassed expression, which without words already pronounced that his mission had failed.

"Next time I will chase him flying. Even if you have to make me invisible to do so."

Sympathetically, Douxie hissed with pursed lips, knowing full well how much Archie hated being cast with an invisibility spell. Wordlessly, he held out his arms and accepting the invitation, his familiar jumped to him and let himself be scratched between his ears.

"I haven't really gotten any further either. But I did find the perfect present for Zoe's birthday."

Before he could report more, however, he was interrupted by a sudden noise that sounded like someone knocking over garbage cans in quick succession. With a frown, Douxie rose, gently shoving Archie on his shoulder as he did so, to see who was rioting downtown at this late hour. When the first screams began to pierce the night in the next moment, a chill ran down his spine and he expected the worst.