Dervish Goes Nova
April 14, 2078
A fire dervish has been pestering people in Pointe-Claire lately. I chased him from the chimney of one of my clients again today. She thought she had raccoons. This is only the second dervish I’ve met in over ten years of critter wrangling. They’re that rare.
For those of you who don’t know, a fire dervish isn’t really a dervish any more than a Tasmanian devil is a devil. The name refers to the whirling. They like to spin. Sometimes for fun, sometimes in agitation. The spinning seems to ramp up their magic potential, causing a maelstrom of power.
Dervishes have often been mistaken for brownies or gnomes. They are similar in stature and mostly humanoid, but covered in curly fur, usually gray or brown, but sometimes black or brindled. The first time I saw one, I thought, “Wow, a poodle mated with a gnome.” Would that make it a gnoodle?
My first encounter was about six years ago. That dervish was old even by fae standards, and he walked with a cane. Some kids had cornered him in an alley and thought it would be fun to taunt him into spinning. Probably the same kind of kids that like to squash stinkbugs just to see if they really smell bad.
I was walking by the alley on my way to a job when the wind suddenly picked up, tossing debris in the air like a mini tornado. I heard the kids whooping and hollering and went to investigate. They were poking the dervish with sticks. One kid shook a bottle of soda and sprayed it over him. The poor creature was disoriented and scared. As he spun, smoke streamed from his ears. Though I’d never encountered a dervish before, I could easily sense the build-up of power coming off him.
The kids were too dumb to realize they were in the line of fire. I used my best angry adult voice to scatter them, and then I tackled the dervish, like smothering a fire with my body.
Thinking back now, that was really foolish. I’ve read a lot more about dervishes since and know that my actions could have made things worse. Much worse. I think the only reason I escaped with nothing but a few scrapes is because of the dervish’s advanced age.
So my questions for you good reader are these:
Have you ever seen a fire dervish go nova?
What’s the best way to de-escalate a pre-nova dervish spin?
I ask only to be ready for my next encounter. This new dervish is young and healthy. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing more of him.
Comments (7)
Unfortunately, there will always be dumb kids around, looking for fun at the expense of another living creature :(
Cornucopia277 (April 14, 2078)
Give those kids medals! Making our streets safe from fae scum!
CurtWad (April 15, 2078)
It takes a lot to make a dervish go nova. But when they do, it’s deadly. One took down half a block of apartments in my ward last year. I didn’t see it, but there were eye-witnesses. Said it was like a fiery tornado!
BeverageBaker (April 20, 2078)
I’m sorry to hear that. Were there many casualties? Did the dervish survive?
Valkyrie367 (April 21, 2078)
3 dead that I know of. They never found the dervish. The building collapsed on top of him.
BeverageBaker (April 21, 2078)
Best way to stop a dervish from going nova? A bullet between the eyes. Works on fairies too.
Holierthan666 (May 1, 2078)
Wow! A dervish? I’ve heard of those, but never seen one. They sound dangerous.
DaddysGirl (June 10, 2080)