by Jada Fisher
“I think the dimension hopping is more of a latent skill of all seers, although some of us might have more of a propensity for it than others. Trust me, if you work hard, you will find me. I believe in you.”
She leaned forward and pressed a single kiss to my forehead. It filled me with a split-second of happiness and familiarity, allowing me to forget what awaited me when I awoke.
A roar sounded above our head, so out of place in this environment that my stomach almost exited my body from the sheer force of the startle. Mickey let out a curse and grabbed my hand tightly.
“That’s the rotten dragon. He doesn’t seem to like when multiple seers are together in whatever this dreamspace is called. You have to go now.”
“But I have so many questions! I need to see more of this place!”
“I know, babe, but time’s up. Remember, I love you, and we will see each other again.”
With that, she let go, and I was falling backward, flailing into the abyss until darkness swallowed me.
11
Get Up to Get Down
I sat bolt upright, gasping and panting and a complete mess. Somehow, my wild movements didn’t wake Mallory, so I had to shake her violently to get her eyes to flicker open.
“Geez, what is it?” she groaned, pulling her phone from where she had shoved it into her cleavage. “It’s…four in the morning!”
“I know where my sister is.”
She sat up faster than even I had, and I almost got dizzy just from watching her. “You what?! Where is she? Come on, if we go to Bron now, we can get her back before tomorrow!”
“Um, it’s not quite that simple.”
Mallory’s head whipped to me, no doubt confused as to why I wasn’t taking off like a rocket. But I was still reeling from my own emotional whiplash and I couldn’t figure out how I felt yet. “What do you mean? You know where she is, so we hop on a dragon and we get there, bingo bongo, your sis is foundo!”
“She’s not on Earth.”
Mallory stared blankly at me. “Come again?”
“She’s not on Earth. Or any other planet. She’s in a different dimension, one with no sun or any other people that I could tell.”
“I realize that this is something that you would not joke about,” Mallory said slowly. “But I’m sure you can understand how much this sounds like one.”
“I know, I know,” I admitted, sliding out of bed and throwing on a pair of slippers. “But I’m being serious. They were going to be captured by a red dragon, so she teleported herself and the men to another world in another dimension, but then they got sick, so she put them all to sleep. I have to find that dimension and wake her up to bring her back home.”
To her credit, it only took Mallory about a minute of blank ogling before her brain managed to wrap itself around the concept so she could reply to me. “Alright then. That’s, uh…something.” But her stare didn’t stop. “Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?”
I thought about keeping it from her, I really did, but Mallory was my best friend and would see through me easier than a clean window. And at this point, I needed all the support I could get, and I couldn’t ask that of the pint-sized MMA fighter if I wouldn’t give her my trust.
“I have no idea what dimension she’s in, but I’ve seen it in a vision before.”
“Uh-huh. You don’t sound very happy about that.”
I nodded slightly, striding to the door so I could go to the library. “Probably because I feel like it’s the dimension I’ll die in.”
“Alright, pass me that blue book we found by the scrolls,” Mallory said, dropping one of the ancient novels onto the pile beside her desk.
“There’s no way you read through all of that in just an hour.”
“Seems like you’re wrong then, because I definitely just did. Amazing what you can do when your friend’s life is on the line.”
I sighed and handed her the book she asked for. “I shouldn’t have told you,” I murmured. “Like I said, I don’t know if I’ll die there, I’ve just got a strong feeling. I haven’t quite figured out if these visions are literal or more metaphorical.”
“Ugh, I feel like that’s always the catch twenty-two of any future-telling and oracle stuff. But still, I’d rather play it careful and I’m sure there’s gotta be something about blue crystals, or a central hub, or a rotted dragon. I mean, the dragons and all of that came here from another dimension, right? So, someone, somewhere must have written something down.”
“I hope so.” I was trying to be optimistic, but it was hard. For a moment, I had felt like I had my sister back, but then she had been yanked away from me again. And while I did have the confirmation that she was indeed alive, I didn’t know where or if I could even get to her if I did know.
“Oh, this is where you two are! I’ve been looking for you all morning!”
I glanced to the door to see Bron, dressed to the nines in an embroidered tunic with dark pants and high boots. He really did look like a prince from a fairy tale, especially with his white hair pulled up into a high ponytail.
“Did you need something?” Mallory asked, her tone quite short.
“Apologies, was I interrupting something?”
I sent her a sharp look and she just shook her head. I had asked her earlier not to tell Bron. While I was working on my trust issues and letting down my walls, I didn’t want to deal with all the drama that would come from telling him that I had painted my own death.
“Ah, very well. I am glad to hear that.” He stepped in and had such a bright, hopeful expression that it was hard not to feel my mood lift. “But I have come here to extend a royal invitation to the both of you to join me for the grand celebration tonight!”
Huh, it seemed Baelfyre was right. Bron had been meaning to tell me and just wanted to sneak a surprise in there. I guess I really did need to have more faith in him.
“A grand celebration?” I said, trying to sound sincerely shocked. Judging by the slightly muffled snort from Mallory, my performance was only so-so. “What’s that?”
Bron, bless his heart, didn’t seem to catch it. What I wouldn’t give to trust like he did. “It’s a truly spectacular night of friendship and appreciating what we have! I’ve never attended one myself, being that we haven’t gone to war since long before I was born, but my grandfather speaks highly of them!
“There will be food, and dancing, and singing! It will quite the spectacular occasion!”
Part of me wanted to tell him that I was finding my sister and I didn’t have a second to spare, but then I would have to explain alternate dimensions and where my sister was and my dreams and honestly, I didn’t have the energy for it.
Besides, there was only so much I could read in a day before my eyes started to cross, so a little celebration before the dark days came wouldn’t exactly be bad.
“We’d love to,” I answered.
He clapped his hands together, and his smile somehow doubled, something that I had previously thought was impossible. “Fantastic! Then, when you’re done here, perhaps sometime after lunch, you’d like to meet me by your rooms?”
I sent him a quizzical look. “Why after lunch? Isn’t that a little early?”
“Just trust me,” he said with a wink. “But otherwise, is there anything I can help you with while I’m here?”
“Nope!” I said quickly. “Just girl stuff! You go enjoy whatever pre-feast prep you gotta do.”
He gave a little salute and I didn’t understand how he was so adorable for a tall, broad-shouldered man that could turn into a fire-breathing dragon. “Alright then! I’ll leave you to it! Remember, after lunch.”
“You got it, Bron.”
He gave me another happy little nod and marched out. But as he left, so did the bright mood that was beginning to seep into me, and I found myself back in doom and gloom mode.
“I’m surprised you said yes,” Mallory murmured, looking down at her book so that I couldn’t see her face—altho
ugh I was sure she was smirking like the smarmy little brat she was. “I thought you’d want to hole yourself up in here forever.”
“Well, you thought wrong,” I said. “I figure things are gonna get real stressful real fast, so we might as well enjoy ourselves while we can. You know, one last hurrah.”
“How nihilistic of you.”
I shrugged. “Can you blame me?”
She seemed to think for a moment. “Yeah. I guess not.”
Thankfully, she let it drop there, and we sank into our books yet again. I learned many things, like that there once had been fifteen large dragon clans, half of them matriarchal and half of them patriarchal like Bron’s family. It seemed seers lived among the dragons and other underworlders as recently as three hundred years ago. Granted, while that was a long time considering my lifespan, it wasn’t really that long considering the history of the entire Earth.
But I found nothing useful. Not really. Nothing about pocket dimensions or people-preserving crystals or anything like that. Just a lot of legends and lore.
By the time it was lunch, my stomach was practically eating itself and I had to put the books down to go eat. I dragged Mallory with me, and for once, we didn’t run into Baelfyre or anybody else we didn’t anticipate. For being such a massive building, I felt like we experienced way too many coincidental meetings.
We didn’t even have to say anything. We just walked into the same door Bron had taken us through, the same chef saw us, then disappeared to make us plates. In the end, he handed us what looked like a chicken quarter and some roasted vegetables, then shooed us to the same corner where we’d occasionally eaten before.
When we finished, we stacked our plates and headed out, bellies full and contented. I almost headed back to the library before Mallory reminded me that we were supposed to meet Bron at my room, so we quickly turned and headed up.
I had no idea what he wanted or what he was planning, but I didn’t think of it. Maybe it was an etiquette lesson or a tutorial on who was who? Whatever it was, I would pretend to be excited for Bron’s sake.
We reached my room to see the doors already wide open. That made my heart jump before I managed to calm myself and my brain reminded me that I already knew who was waiting for me.
But what I didn’t know was that we wouldn’t be alone. It wasn’t just Bron waiting for us, but also three other people all armed with tape measures, pins, and a large pile of dresses. Were…were these tailors?
“Mallory! Davie! Since the celebration is a formal affair, I thought you might want to blend in. And what better way to blend in than to wear traditional clothing of my clan?”
“Are you serious?” Mallory said, chuckling slightly. “We’re going to be able to go full Renaissance Festival for this feast thing?”
“I, uh, I don’t know what that is.”
“Don’t worry about it, prince-man. Just suit us up!”
Bron beamed like we had just handed him the proverbial keys to the kingdom. Turning to the three tailors, he said, “Do whatever is needed to make sure these ladies are satisfied. Until then…” He turned back to me and did that bow thing he did that always made me feel so fancy. “After the fittings, they will do what alterations you need. I’ll send a maid to help both of you to prepare later. Then, once you are ready, I’ll escort both of you to the feast and you’ll see a real party.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I answered. “Go do what you gotta do.”
He nodded and headed out, a skip in his step. I watched him go, feeling a bit better about everything that was going on around us.
Or at least I did, until the tailors got to work.
Why did no one tell me that having someone measure me would be one of the most awkward experiences of my life? Measuring tape and hands seemed to go everywhere with a quick sort of efficiency that my mind couldn’t catch up with, and apparently, the tailors didn’t like the measurements that they found.
The way it worked was that they had several different dress prototypes that weren’t quite finished, and they were supposed to see which one fit us best then tailor it accordingly. The only issue, none of the dresses even came close to fitting me.
Either they were too short but fit me most other places, or they would be long enough but wouldn’t fit. Or they’d match my bust but not my hips, or not my biceps either. I guess I just wasn’t a great dragon template.
Of course, Mallory wasn’t having a much easier time. Everything was way too long on her, and on the off chance they did have something that fit her length, it was made for a child and couldn’t hope to fit her hourglass curves or thick muscles.
By the time everything was said and done, all three of the tailors seemed incredibly stressed. They left in a huff, hauling their pile of dresses out and leaving Mallory and I standing there without a word.
“Uh, I think there’s still a pin in my butt,” Mallory said, stepping off the little platform they’d had her stand on.
“Yeah, toward the end there, I think they were stabbing us on purpose.”
She shrugged and flopped onto my bed. “What did they expect? We’re not dragons like they are, of course we’re not going to share their exact body shapes. But dragons have really never gelled with dwarves anyway.”
“Honestly, it seems like no one gets along around here.”
“Huh, I guess you’re not wrong.” She rolled onto her side and looked me over. “So, what do you want to do to kill time? More reading?”
“Honestly,” I said with a sigh, “I just want to sleep. Maybe I can find Mickey again in my dreams.”
“We can only hope.”
12
A Word in Edgewise
I felt beautiful.
It wasn’t exactly a sensation I was used to, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. I felt like a fairy princess stepping out of a movie instead of a lumbering oaf. The transformation was pure magic—no ifs, ands, or buts.
I looked in my mirror again, turning this way and that. The tailors had arrived at least four hours after I had tucked in for a nap, carrying just two dresses this time. They brought the maid along with them, and before I knew it, I was being shoved into the most beautiful dress I had ever seen.
It was lilac and gray, falling somewhere between Renaissance and Regency, if I remembered my history…which I probably didn’t. It had a corseted top, with four or five layers of translucent, gossamer material over it. It shimmered in the light, throwing prisms this way and that, making it look like I was dressed in stardust itself.
Delicate trims decorated the edges of the square neckline, as well as the ends of the sleeves and the bottom hem. The skirt itself was three different layers, the bottommost being the most purple with delicate silver embroidery on it, and each layer after being both lighter in color and in weight.
“Wow,” Mallory said with a whistle. “You look good, girl.”
I turned to her breathlessly. “I feel good!” I took a moment to see what she was wearing, and her outfit was just as lovely. Well, maybe not just as lovely. It was hard to believe that anyone in the entire world could feel or look as amazing as I did in the moment.
Her dress was green and gold, sturdier than mine and with fur trims. For all their grumbling, they had certainly made a garment that fit her wonderfully, if I did say so myself.
It was only then that I realized the tailors had disappeared, leaving us only with the maid. Thankfully, it wasn’t the same woman that I had met earlier who seemed to have a pretty strong dislike for me. For that I was grateful, but it didn’t mean I was ready for her to sit me down and start going at my hair.
For what it was worth, she was as gentle as she could be considering it was weeks since I did an oil treatment and several days since brushing it. It wasn’t that I meant to neglect myself, but with everything that had happened, it was easy to just throw it up in a ponytail and forget.
So, it did take a while for her to get my tresses in some sort of manageable state, but she never complained. My scalp
was a bit tender, so she gave me a few minutes’ break before braiding it in some elaborate patterns.
I heard a knock on the door a bit before she finished. Naturally, I couldn’t exactly turn my head, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped it wasn’t anyone I didn’t want to see.
“Give us, like, five minutes, Bron,” Mallory said. “Then Davie will be done, and I’ll be a short bit after her.”
“Of course!” I could hear his voice just faintly through the door. “I wouldn’t want to interrupt while anyone was indecent.”
“Don’t worry,” Mallory shot back. “The only thing that’s indecent is how beautiful Davie is.”
“Mallory!” I hissed, reaching out to cuff her arm but I missed because I couldn’t see her.
“What? It’s the truth!”
“I’m sure that you both look resplendent. I will await patiently.”
My stomach began to bubble with anticipation, and my leg bounced. The maid finished my hair and grabbed a case that she had brought with her. I watched, curious, until she opened it in front of me and revealed an entire case full of high-end makeup.
“Do you need assistance, or would you like to do this yourself?”
My eyes went wide, and I looked up at her like she was the Messiah himself. “These are all for me to use?”
“If you wish.”
I loved makeup. While I never wore it, mostly due to the expense and the fact that I never had time, it was basically like paint for my face. I could make all sorts of pretty feels and ideas with colored powder and all sorts of creams! I figured this particular art wouldn’t trigger a vision like my paintings always did.
I dug in excitedly, putting on foundation and then setting powder, then highlights and contour and eyeshadow. I went for dewy and mystical, with plenty of shimmer and glitter, and I thought I pulled it off pretty well for not having much practice.
