Magical 911 Dispatch - Tales from the Console Part 1
âHey Gnash,â I said as I passed my supervisor. âHowâs shift?â
He harumphed a giant sized harumph my direction. I might have felt the whole of the comm center building tremble a little.
 âThat bad, huh?â
âItâs a full moon. What more is there to say?â The center trembled a little more from his grousing as he keyed up his crystal. âUnits 956 and 947, copy a transfiguration with injuries.â
That was my cue to sashay with a bit more haste to my console. A long shift could make Gnash an ogre in any situation. I mean. He is one. But full moons are a whole other stalk of beans.Â
Sinking into my chair at my favorite console, I took a long sip of my coffee for a fleeting moment of zen. It passed all too quickly.Â
Every other report crystal was lit up at the consoles around me, and the faint chime sound meant there were more calls holding, too. Time to plug in. I set my mug on the warming stone and swiped my spell chip over the headset dongle.
As if calls waiting werenât enough to ruin my moment of zen, my partner Luna was bound to. The tip of her conical hat waggled behind her scroll screens, clearly frustrated. Her quill scratched out a transcription that was surely of a caller who hadnât taken a breath since the fall of Rome.
âMaâam! Maâam! MAAAâAM!â Luna practically shouted into her mic. A couple heavy thumps meant she was banging on her desk in exasperation at her caller. âMaâam, I need you to listen to me. Is the effigy changing color? Maâam?â She huffed and the thumping sound came again.Â
âHung up on you?â I asked.
âOf course. Nothing like calling Tilde-Star-Star and then hanging up on the crone trying to help you.â
âAnother goblin screaming âjust get them hereâ?âÂ
âMmmmmhm.â Her annoyance could have curdled butterbeer. The sparkling gem twirling above her scroll twirled faster as she hit voicemail on redial. âWell of course.â The gem suspended above her workspace winked out as she flicked the scroll over to Gnash.Â
âYouâre killing me!â The room rumbled with the bossâs displeasure as he stared at the new scroll.Â
âNope. Thatâs why they pay you the big ingots!â Luna shot back his direction, winking at me. I hid my chuckle behind another sip of coffee.
Lunaâs wide-brimmed headwear popped up over her scroll as she bounced forward to squint at me. âHey, arenât you off tonight?â
âI was.â I sighed heavily. âBut Jakub called out at dusk. Full moon.â
âOhhhh, bummer.â She didnât sound disappointed for me, though. In fact I would stake my first wand on the bet that she was glad she wouldnât be the only one on calltaking tonight. I didnât mind. Iâd prefer to work with Luna than some of the night walkers I could have been stuck with.
âYep.â
She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. âYouâd think heâd take the potion forââ
âIiiii know. But you know how New Age werebeasts are. Anyway, I donât mind padding my coin purse and itâs supposed to be mostly cloudy tonight.â
âMmmmmmhmâ. Her response brimmed with skepticism.Â
My crystal shot out a beam of scarlet light accompanied by soft chimes. âSo it begins.â I groaned and tapped the crystal, now blinking furiously. âTilde-Star-Star, where is your emergency?â My quill floated up, scratching out the start of a new call for service.
A distinctly thick accent sputtered in my ear. âForbidden Forest, Grove Seventy Seven.â
âOkay, and whatâs going on there?â Nothing good, I would bet. The Forbidden Forest is dicey to visit at the middle of the month, let alone the end.Â
The translator critter on itâs pedestal protested as I gave it a little nudge and raised my eyebrow. Itâs feathered antennae twitched some wordless backtalk at me. Translating critters were notoriously dodgy in the twilight hours. Who could blame them though, really?Â
The voice coming through my headset coughed nervously, but was clearer this time. âSo, uh⊠my friend and I were totally not doing anything illegal but my friend has Witches Cough and Iâve been feeling pretty ill myself.â
I sat up a little straighter. âHow long has your friend been sick?â
âI dunno, maybe⊠a couple hours?â Gnomes. Always can trust them to wait until itâs too late to call. âNot to worry, weâll get some healers headed your way,â I reassured the voice. âAre there any spells or hazards we need to know about?â
The answer tumbled out in a barely intelligible rush, despite my critterâs efforts. âWell I think we might have set off some tricky charms here, because one of my other friends here is running from a really, really mad pixie right now, and I think sheâs summoning her family.â
GAH! GNOMES!Â
I wanted to punt the crystal. My fingers itched to pound my desk like Luna had only moments before, but I managed to remain still. Why does no one lead with the most important details?!
Barely containing my irritation at the caller, I flicked the scroll flying away to Gnash with more force than strictly necessary. He rumbled again.Â
âItâs gonna be one of the nights, Gnash!â I called as he started to key up his crystal.
âWhat did I tell ya!â The floor shook a little harder.
Thatâs when I really started to regret coming in. All the console gems started to spin and pulse colors at once.Â
âLooks like the clouds cleared up,â Luna cackled.
 I swore a half-uttered curse under my breath. âJust my luck!âÂ
Reluctantly I tapped my crystal and recoiled as screams of a banshee hit my ear.Â
âMaâam!â I started, biting back another curse. As the wailing continued I made a mental note to come down with potion poisoning on the next full moon. A little case of Mutation Sickness could be easily faked.Â
More crystals chiming interrupted the thought. Banshee or no, I was sure of one thing.
It was the last time Iâd pick up a werewolfâs shift during their time of the month.Â












