Masters of the Veil by Daniel A. Cohen

throbs, Sam was looking at himself, or at least a black and white portrait hanging in the air.
    The mirror image of his face was not only the right size and shape, he could feel that it was more than an image. The flies had captured the depth of his eyes and his inner emotion. It was incredible, a truer reflection than just looking at a shiny surface.
    May’s voice was just above a whisper. “Now try them out.”
    “Try them out how?” Sam tried his best to speak through a closed mouth, but he couldn’t keep his lips from moving. The black and white doppelganger mouthed the same thing he did.
    He couldn’t help but smile.
    As his lips curled, so did the echo flies’.
    Then, as quickly as they had come, they broke form and vanished off into the brush, flying in single file.
    “That was incredible!”
    “That was befitting, too.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well,” May rubbed her hands together, “that’s another aspect of the Veil that I need to explain. Actually, the echo flies couldn’t have picked a better time to show up. You see, not everything that comes out of the Veil is… nice.”
    Sam looked off in the direction the flies had gone. “So the echo flies are bad?”
    “No, no, I wouldn’t go as far as saying they’re bad , it’s just that with some of Her gifts, you have to be careful. It is rare, almost unheard of, for something truly malevolent to spring from the Veil here. You see, Atlas Crown, along with every other sorcerer community, is an all-inclusive deal, and most of what the Veil gives us is meant to help. We need nothing from the outside world because of what the Veil provides. Food, shelter, clothing, and even entertainment are found within. They are gifts. The drecklers and symflowers are just the tip of the iceberg. You see—”
    “So where do these echo flies come in? The entertainment?”
    “No.” May flashed a mischievous smile and twirled a finger. “They are the vigilantes of the woods.”
    Sam stared, blank-faced.
    “You didn’t happen to see their stingers, did you?”
    “No, they kind of looked like ordinary flies to me.” He pulled out another tuft of dreckler cotton and shoveled it into his mouth. “Okay, maybe ‘ordinary’ isn’t the best word, but all the same.”
    May’s ungloved hand ran over the diamond-like covering on the other one, hovering around her wrist for a moment. “There are animals called Irukandji jellyfish. They are about the size of a fingernail. Irukandji are extremely venomous and can cause all sorts of nastiness for their victims.”
    Sam’s words were sloppy and wet, his mouth still full. “Those jellyfish came from the Veil?”
    “No, from Australia.” A smirk played across her face.
    “So what do they have to do with the echo flies?”
    “Think Irukandji in the air. But, unlike the Irukandji—which can die from even the smallest impact—echo flies are not easily killed. The echo flies have a hard exoskeleton and live in very large swarms. They police the forest as best they can.”
    Sam bent down to examine a patch of twinkling, furry moss growing on the side of a rock. “How so?”
    “They can see through you.”
    Sam cocked his head. “Like, to my organs and stuff?”
    “No, they can see through you. They don’t just mimic your appearance. They decide whether or not they see you as worthy. Once they decide your fate, they will either move with you or—”
    Sam stood up. “Worthy of what?”
    May smiled.
    “What?”
    “Using the Veil.” She turned and started walking, her heels clacking together in her hand. “Come. We are getting close.”
    She strode toward the pillars and brushed away a few silver strands hanging down from a tree just off the path.
    Sam trailed close behind. “So, you would have let them sting me?”
    “Of course not. I would never have let them harm you. I could have easily kept them away.”
    “So, why didn’t you?” Sam stepped over a frog-like creature with tiny puffed-up throat sacs