The Changeling Princess

by Jackie Shirley

  You have done well my children. Return to your homes and celebrate. I will contact you for your next assignment.

  “Next assignment,” I said. “You mean we’re not finished yet?”

  I will explain when the time is right.

  Wade looked at me. “Maybe he’s going to throw a party for us?”

  “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor. Let me help you to your feet so we can get out of here.”

  * * *

  Mildred Wilson appeared as I was helping Wade toward the back steps. “Bring him into the living room,” she said as we entered the house. I laid Wade down on the living room sofa.

  “Wade was hurt, Ms. Wilson, so I used my rejuvenation beam. He appears to be a lot better.”

  Ms. Wilson looked at the wound. “It looks like his neck was bruised by some kind of energy beam. He’s lucky he had his collar up. He could have been killed.”

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” I said. “The Supreme Entity told us that we were going to be sent on another assignment.”

  Ms. Wilson paused. “It’s obvious this new assignment will require you both to work as a team. That’s probably why Wade wasn’t killed in the battle.”

  “That makes sense, but I was sure that Wade had died on the battle field. I guess it was just my imagination, but it really scared me.”

  Wade interrupted. “I think I was spared because the Supreme Entity didn’t like the idea of losing someone with my sparking personality.”

  I reached down and kissed Wade on the cheek. “And don’t you ever change. You bring a lot of sunshine into my life, so don’t even think about dying on me.”

  Ms. Wilson chuckled. “I have a special Witch’s cream for Wade’s wound. He’ll be up and around in no time flat.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, kissing Wade on the cheek again. I was one happy young lady because Wade hadn’t been taken from me.

  * * *

  I spent several hours with my parents discussing my adventures at the Portal of Darkness. “Weren’t you afraid?” asked my mother.

  “I didn’t have time to be afraid, Mom.”

  “That’s because Janis is a born warrior,” said my dad.

  “I guess I did pretty well because the Supreme Entity was pleased. Wade and I are waiting for another assignment.”

  My mother gasped. “Another assignment! What kind of an assignment?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  My dad appeared upset. “He’s asking an awful lot of an eighteen year old who just graduated from high school. I hope this will be the end of it.”

  “Me, too,” said my mother. “While I think of it, Sherri called you.”

  “I’ll call her in the morning. I’m tired and I’m going go to take a nap.”

  Missy and Izzy had been comfortably resting by the fireplace. When I walked upstairs, they followed me and jumped up on the foot of the bed.

  You weren’t gone very long, said Izzy.

  Just long enough to get the job done. I’m surprised I’m home so soon.

  I knew you could do it, said Missy. I wish I’d been there to help. I would have shown them varmints they can’t mess with Super Cat and live to tell about it.

  I picked up both kitties and hugged them. I’ll tell you girls all about my adventures after I’ve had some sleep.

  * * *

  I stopped by later that night to see Wade. He was back to normal and all that remained on his neck was a small scar. “I’m glad you’re here, Janis. I’ve been granted a new power that’s really terrific.”

  I think I flinched when Wade turned invisible. “That’s amazing Wade, you’ve obtained the power of invisibility.”

  “Isn’t it great? I was thinking that it might have something to do with our new assignment.”

  “That could be because nothing else makes sense. I’m curious, have you tried to fly?”

  Wade looked panic stricken. “Uh no, the thought never occurred to me.”

  “Stand in the center of the room and see if you can levitate.”

  Wade reluctantly walked to the center of the living room. He took a deep breath and then began rising into the air. When he was about three feet off the ground, he yelled out, “How do I get down?”

  “You use the power of thought and will yourself down.”

  Wade floated back to the floor and tried to relax. “That was scary.”

  “I can see why. You must have been at least three feet off the ground. I would have been terrified.”

  “Funny, very funny.” I was giggling when we felt the presence of the Supreme Entity.

  Your next assignment is to enter the parallel universe. To insure that the Portal of Darkness is never opened again, you must defeat the forces of evil in their own world.

  “Is that why I have been granted new powers?” Wade asked.

  That is correct.

  “Won’t we lose our powers if we pass through the Portal of Darkness?” I asked.

  Not if you enter through a portal that has been designed especially for you.

  “What else can you tell us?” Wade asked.

  Let me begin by telling you of an advanced race called the Krods who lived in a faraway galaxy billions of years ago. The Krods developed an energy crystal that became the most powerful force in their solar system. When they found out they could not control its power, they imprisoned the crystal in the center of their Sun. The Krods eventually moved to another portion of their galaxy because their Sun was dying out.

  “So what happened to the crystal?” Wade asked.

  The Sun eventually became a super nova and exploded. The crystal was blown into outer space where it traveled for billions of years until it came to rest in the parallel universe.

  “Is the crystal the reason we’re being sent into this universe?” I asked.

  Yes. The creatures that now possess this crystal are increasing their powers at an alarming rate. In another five hundred years, their armies may be too powerful to defeat when the Portal of Darkness is opened again.

  “Then it’s our assignment to destroy the creatures that use the crystal for evil? Are we to destroy the crystal, too?” I asked

  You cannot destroy the crystal. You must find a way to render it useless so it is no longer a threat. Time is short, so Wade must work on developing his new powers. You have one week to prepare.

  The Supreme Entity vanished and Wade and I were left staring at each other. “I can’t believe what I just heard,” said Wade.

  “It’s a lot to comprehend. Do you realize we don’t have the slightest idea what life in a demon world is like. How do you prepare for something like that?”

  Wade looked worried. “What scares me is that the Krods were such an advanced race and we’re just a couple of teenagers. How are we supposed to solve what the Krods couldn’t? I only got a C- in science class.”

  “I love the way you always project a positive attitude. I’m curious, can you read my mind?”

  We both went into deep concentration. “You’re thinking of going to the mountain retreat tomorrow morning,” Wade said gleefully.

  “That’s correct. Now we know you’re a telepath. Do you have anything planned for the next hour?”

  “No, and I’m afraid to ask what you have in mind.”

  “I want you so come to my house and see if you can talk to my cats. I want to see if your power of telepathy extends to animals.”

  “I’m going to write that down in my diary. ‘Today, Janis asked me to her house to have a conversation with her cats.’ What’s next?”

  CHAPTER 51

  The kitties were lying on the foot of the bed when Wade and I entered my bedroom. Missy poked Izzy. We’ve got company. Janis brought a guy with her.

  Wade looked embarrassed. “What do I do now?”

  “Try speaking to them with your thoughts. They can’t understand you if you speak with your human voice.”

  Wade stared at the cats. My na
me’s Wade. How’s it going girls?

  Missy sat up. Pretty good. You’re the guy in the picture on Janis’s dresser.

  Wade stared at me in disbelief. “I don’t believe this. I can actually hear your cat talking to me.”

  Are you a Changeling? Missy asked.

  Wade looked down at Missy. No, I’m a Witch.

  Where’s your broomstick? Izzy asked.

  I don’t have a broomstick. Only Witches on television have broomsticks.

  Izzy spoke again. Are you Janis’s boyfriend?

  Just a minute, I said. Who said anything about a boyfriend?

  We saw you kissing Wade’s picture, said Izzy.

  That’s right, said Missy. Are we bad kitties because we thought Wade was your boyfriend?

  “I’d like to know the answer to that question,” Wade said, trying not to grin. “Are they bad kitties because they saw you kissing my picture?”

  I was totally embarrassed. Jeez, what did I get myself into?

  Missy heard my thoughts. Did we say something wrong? We don’t want to be bad kitties.

  I reached down and picked up Missy and Izzy. You girls couldn’t be bad kitties if you wanted to be. Both of you are great big sweethearts.

  I agree, said Wade as he reached out with both hands and rubbed the kitties behind the ears. You girls are really precious. No wonder Janis loves you so much.

  I like you, said Missy. You’re real nice.

  I think your real cute, said Izzy.

  I looked at Wade and grinned. “Okay cutie pie; let’s see you get out of that one.”

  * * *

  We arrived at the mountain retreat right after the Sun came up. I morphed into the Changeling Princess and turned to Wade. “Me gustaría una taza de café. What did I just say, Wade?”

  Wade looked puzzled. “You said ‘I’d like a cup of coffee.’ ”

  “That correct, but I asked for the coffee in Spanish.”

  “It sounded like English to me.”

  “That’s because you now have the ability to hear foreign languages in English. Now I’m going to tell you that I’d like sugar with my coffee, but I’m going to say it in French. J’aimerais sucre avec mon café.”

  “Still sounded like English to me.”

  “That’s good, but sometimes what you hear is a little strange. Sometimes some of the words are left out.”

  Wade looked puzzled. “Give me an example.”

  “Okay, take the phrase; ‘I will come now because I am needed.’ What you may hear is ‘I come now, I needed.’ Another example is, ‘I am Wade, I am the leader of this tribe.’ What you may hear is ‘I Wade, I leader of tribe.’ ”

  “I see what you mean. The sentence is no longer correct English, but it still says the same thing. Do the words always come out strange?”

  “No, sometimes it’s perfect English, but don’t ask me why. Maybe it has something to do with the I.Q. of who you’re talking too.”

  “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

  “Good, now let’s go on to something else.” I held up my hands with my fingers stretched upward. My palms were facing Wade. “Open your hands and grasp mine. I’m going to test your strength by bending your hands back and forcing you down to your knees. Let’s see how much resistance you can put up.”

  Wade did as I asked and grasped my open hands with his. I continued applying pressure until Wade was down on his knees. “That was terrific, Wade. Judging by the amount of effort I put forth, I’d say you’re at least fifty times stronger than you were. Let’s test you strength on that large bolder at the edge of the clearing.”

  Wade walked up to the bolder and picked it off the ground like it was a pebble. “Wow! This is hard to believe, Janis. I bet I could lift an automobile over my head.”

  “You probably could. Now let’s see if you can turn into a Mist.”

  Wade concentrated and turned into a Mist. He floated up into the air and made a quick circle around the clearing. When Wade returned, He couldn’t control his excitement. “Wow! That was really something.”

  “It’s important to remember that there are limitations when you’re in a Mist form. You’ll be limited to speech, invisibility, scent and reading minds. That means that you can’t use your energy bolts. You can morph back and forth between a Mist and your human form, but that’s it. One last point is flying together. It’ll be much easier to communicate through telepathy.”

  “That makes sense. Flying side by side is going to be a new experience for both of us.”

  “Now I want you to return to your human form to see if you’ve acquired telekinesis. I want you to concentrate on the space in front of you and try to harden the air. Concentrate on an area about four foot square and one inch thick.”

  It only took a split second for Wade to construct a force field. He walked over to the transparent piece of air and examined it. “This is really cool, but I can’t budge it. How do I pick it up?”

  “You do it with your mind by commanding it to be loose.”

  Wade started at the force field and then picked it up with his hands. “How do I get rid of it?”

  “By using your mind. You simply command it to dissolve.”

  Wade stared at the force field and it disappeared. “Believe it or not, Janis, but I’m speechless.”

  “Just remember that you can’t use telekinesis in Mist form.”

  “I’ll remember that. No energy bolts or telekinesis in Mist form.”

  “Okay, now let’s see if you can grow your height. Your strength will grow in direct proportion to your height, so concentrate on being taller and let’s see what happens.”

  Wade took a deep breath and began growing. I estimated his height to be about eighteen feet, three times his normal height. “Okay, I want you to pick up the bolder again.”

  Wade did as he was told and began laughing. “It’s so easy it’s embarrassing. Do you wanna do the hand pushing thing again? I bet I could beat you this time.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t want to take the chance. It might destroy your confidence.”

  “Ah ha, the words of a chicken.”

  ‘Okay, so I’m a chicken. Are you ready to test your flying skills?”

  “Do we have to?”

  “Now who’s the chicken?”

  Wade returned to his normal height. With just a small amount of concentration he felt himself being lifted off the ground. As he floated higher into the sky, I flew beside him to help him retain his confidence.

  We’d only been in the air for five ten minutes and Wade was flying like he’d been born in the sky. He’d completely lost his fear of height and was actually challenging me to a game of tag. He even increased his height to give himself more speed. I was really proud of Wade.

  “We have one more test,” I said as I reached out and pinched Wade on the arm.

  “Ouch, that hurts. Why did you do that?”

  “I wanted to see if you were invincible. Apparently you’re not because you can still feel pain.”

  “Well, Janis, I can’t have everything, but I’m thrilled with what I’ve got. I just hope I’m prepared for what’s expected of me.”

  “You and me both, Wade. You and me both.”

  CHAPTER 52

  Our lives were at a standstill and the only thing that mattered was perfecting our skills. We had been partners for the last two years, but now that term took on a whole new meaning. When we combined our powers, there wasn’t a force on Earth that could stand up to us.

  Several days later, I picked Wade up at eight in the morning and we drove to the mountain retreat. We had been practicing for about an hour when we became aware of the Supreme Entity.

  The time has come for you to enter the parallel universe.

  We were holding our swords and shields as a small portal formed directly in front of us. I looked at Wade. “We’d better make ourselves invisible. I don’t know where we’re going and we don’t want to make a dramatic entrance.”

  “I’m not weari
ng my black robe,” Wade said before we stepped into the portal.

  “I can always make you another one.”

  We turned invisible and stepped through the portal. I had a feeling we were going to have the experience of a lifetime.

  * * *

  We found ourselves standing in a field about fifty feet from what appeared to be a dirt road. On the other side of the dirt road was a large wooded area. Far off in the distance I could see a large castle. The scene reminded me of the middle ages with a village surrounding the castle walls. I also picked up a scent that was new to me. I was positive the scent belonged to the crystal we’d been sent to find.

  The temperature was in the mid-seventies and the Sun was shining brightly. I guess I expected it be dark, just like all the creature movies I’d seen on television. I looked up into the sky and saw three dragons flying overhead.

  “Do you see what I see?” asked Wade.

  “I sure do. We’re definitely not in North Carolina anymore.”

  We walked toward the road and saw a horse drawn cart coming our way. The horses looked like Clydesdales except they were much larger. Driving the cart was a large stocky man. Sitting directly behind him were four smaller men that looked like helpers.

  I could tell by the large man’s scent that he was a Demon. He was exceptionally large and his features were extremely crude. His mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth and he smelled of death. I couldn’t figure out how evolution could have produced such a vile creature.

  As they got closer, I saw that the cart was piled with dead bodies. When the cart came to a stop, the helpers jumped to the rear of the cart and began throwing the dead bodies onto the side of the road. When they were finished, the Demon held a strange shaped horn to him mouth and blew several high pitched notes. The Demon paused, turned the cart around and headed back toward the castle.

  Wade looked puzzled. “I wonder what that strange horn was for.”

  I pointed up in the air. “I think those creatures will answer your question.”

  Flying toward the dead bodies was a flock of small dragons. They ascended on the dead bodies and began tearing the flesh from the corpses. “Apparently these dragons are the equivalent to the vultures on Earth,” I said.