by P. S. Power
No one spoke for a moment, but Will finally did.
“I see. We don’t have that kind of person here. Demons. Not that I know of. Can she follow her slaves here, do you think?”
She didn't know, but got the idea. Getting them free would be hard. Only one person could do it safely, without killing the person enslaved. Or the Demon, but that was so hard to do that no one bothered trying that one for the most part. The issue was that Tyler, her friend, was that person. A being animated by The Rotted herself.
“I’ll look into that? It won’t be done this time, however, so please don’t mention it to anyone from my world. Greater Demons can drink a person’s entire life with a single touch, learning everything about them. I’m partially immune to that, being a Queen Dragon. Most aren’t.”
Clemance looked at her funny then, and nodded.
“We didn’t know that. That you were a Queen of your people. If we did or said anything insulting, please take our apologies.” He stood and bowed, Dumas doing the same thing, instantly.
She laughed.
“Um, no, it isn’t like that. It just means that I’m larger in my other forms and a bit more immune to magic than the rest. Plus, being able to travel between worlds. I don’t rule anyone. That would be hard to do with Dragons anyway. Especially if there were more than the twenty-seven of us that exist right now. So, no bowing or anything like that over it.”
It was the man in the child’s palm that broke the spell then.
“I get you then. Neat. I look forward to meeting you in person then. I can set up a tour, I think. Will you be wanting to go to some of the other planets? Saturn is lovely, I hear. I should see if I can find a pilot for us. That can get there. I know that Dareg Canton can do it.”
He was being manipulative, but Avery couldn’t tell who was supposed to be the one targeted. She even missed Clemance turning red in the face, until Tarsus pointed it out, coming out and marking the concept clearly for her. It was obvious then.
“I was really thinking about camping? Maybe someplace pretty? I have money. Gold or gems even, but my friends aren’t all that rich. I don’t want them to feel uneasy.”
Instead of hitting or yelling at her for being rude to them, since it was clear they had nice ideas, Will cleared his throat.
“We can do that? I know a lovely forest near a waterfall that would work for that. Actually, if you don’t mind, I could have in some friends of mine? They’re from the IPB. Good people, but hated in their own lands for being strange looking. They speak English however. We’ve discussed that, but haven’t done it yet.”
Avery thought about it for a second, then nodded.
“That could be fun. We should get to know some of the lower people there, not just those that lead their units. I did meet some of them the other day and have to agree they seemed helpful and kind.”
The man on the magical phone did something then, tapping on a table or a different device.
“Okay, Avery Rome… When will you be coming? Tomorrow, your time? That will be in about a week here, so it’s plenty of time for me to set things up. Well, us. Dumas, you’re in on this with us? You too, Clem?”
Both murmured of course, which set the man on the device to talking to her.
“This is a great idea. I might add a few people, if it’s all right? We’ll still want to make travel available. There’s a transport hut there, near where I’m thinking of, so that will allow a lot of things that way… Yes… I’ll take care of this. Nice meeting you, Miss Rome.”
“Call me Avery. Nice meeting you as well.” She didn’t know his last name, so didn’t use it at all.
“Will. Will Baker. I’ll see you and your friends in six days, say? That will mean leaving a little earlier than it is now, your time.”
She got to make a face then, trying to seem cute.
“I have no real sense of the passage of time. It’s an actual thing, because of being a Dragon. I’ll try to time things though, from when I get back? Is that all right?”
“It is. Talk to you soon!”
As soon as the device went black, Dumas started getting in touch with other people. The first one was a thin man with a deep voice, who spoke in English. Tim. He was invited, or more to the point, subtly invited to help out. Which didn’t really work.
“I’ll be working through that whole time, I’m afraid. Though, I could postpone this. Especially if friends of mine are coming. Yes, let me see…” Then he just hung up. It was sudden and without warning.
Dumas laughed at it happening.
“Uncle Timon is the Ancient of Austra. He also lives in Harmony, up on the Moon? They all have horrible manners that way. As if the time saved not saying farewell would ever be worth the potential hard feeling caused by being rude.”
Clem seemed to agree with that part of things.
“Now, we should have some of those biscuits that were mentioned. Before Will realizes that I was here the whole time and decides that means we need to run a second escape for the day. I know that I might need the training, but all the running is getting old.” There was a charming grin to go with the words.
Avery didn’t know how long she’d stayed, talking to the young men, but it was dark when she left. Her watch said it was nearly nine in the evening, but that told her very little. Things wouldn’t have been that lengthy, but she talked the boys into spending their day teaching her to speak Standard. She wasn’t fluent in it, but she’d gone from kind of understanding every fourth or fifth word to being able to speak without having to ask what a word was for several sentences at a time.
The concentration involved was intense, and her head hurt from stimulating the speech centers, as well as using visualizations to help her memorize the verbal content, but the new language trick did seem to be working. It wasn’t perfect, and would have taken longer if the language wasn’t close to German, which was something she already spoke.
Over all, it was worth it however.
Especially when she got back and asked Eve how long she’d been gone.
“A little over an hour and a half?”
She just nodded and didn’t mention what she’d been getting up to.
“I should go and look in on my mother.”
It felt weird, saying that after all that time. Her mother had been gone from her life for over three years, so it honestly was strange to Avery.
Good, too.
Chapter nine
The next day was fast paced for Avery. Not just because of doing strange things, like going to all of her friends’ workplaces and trying to get them free for two days. It didn’t work in each case, like with Vince.
He wanted to go, but was leaving the next day to go and work with the leader of his people. The Mages. Since it was an internship that he’d been personally selected for by several powerful people, that was a big deal.
Interestingly, Terra and Alan from art class could both go. Part of that was thanks to Avery having helped out the Alede a lot in the last months. Terra was actually ordered to go by her boss. Riley, the Trickster.
The most telling part of things was that Phillip was actually allowed to go. That one had been a bit of a trick, performed by Edom. He’d sold the idea as the Vampire trainee having a special chance to meet some famous celebrities. Rebekah and Scotty. The idea that it was in a different reality had been spoken of, but also sold as being rather normal. At least for the people involved.
The rest of it had been about Avery making sure they had enough tent space for everyone, as well as food and new clothing. She was getting faster at making things, but even staying up late hadn’t been able to really make a new set of clothing for every day she was going to be gone. That, failing in her orders, left her feeling sad. Not worried, since she did have enough to probably count, even for Bente. The Greater Demon pushed her, but wasn’t mean about it, really.
What she did have were three tough and sturdy outfits, complete with t-shirts and heavy trousers that could take punishment for a long
time. She had to use her combat boots, which had been manufactured, but that went with the rest of the clothing. There was also a heavy shirt that was much like a light jacket, in case it got too cool at night. Avery wouldn’t feel it, if that took place, but if everyone else was dressed for the weather and she wasn’t it would stand out.
That said, the clothing was also well made and tailored to her body. She also had two new skirts and blouses, along with dressier shoes, just in case it came up.
It was early in the morning when she blinked, tired from being up all night, and actually swore. Out loud, which had Eve, who was home with her, showing up in the door to her bedroom.
“Are we under attack?” She seemed to really mean it, looking around and sniffing the air, as if something might be in the room with them at that very moment.
“No. I just forgot to ask Kait if she wanted to go. I have some things to talk to her about, and…” She nearly didn’t mention what she wanted to suggest or talk about, since it wasn’t Eve’s business. Except that she was dating Kaitlyn.
That was a really important thing, even if the woman was going to be sleeping around with anyone she could. Vampires were pretty good about not being bothered by things like that, but they could be territorial. That data was both in her head and a thing she’d seen firsthand.
“I met an Alede man the other day. Marty Hagman. He’d ordered her killed at one point. I was thinking we should work out how to…” She shrugged. “Really, I don’t know what she wants to do about it. I was thinking that we could destroy him and the others that were working against her? Or, is that too much for just trying to kill her when she was in high school?”
The Vampire in the doorway went very still for almost a full minute. It was a very long time, but Avery didn’t let herself speak to break the tension. Finally, a slow grin started to curl the sides of her lips.
“You know, I think the plan is for a takeover of the Alede power structure. You should get with her on that. I’m in, on whatever you need me to do.” She held her right hand up, the pale thing unmoving once it was at head height. “As long as it doesn’t harm me or anything like that. You know, whatever I need to say to get around all the Greater Demon rules that would muck up my nearly perfect record that way?”
“Okay. Good.”
The problem there was that it was four in the morning, which would mean that normal people might well be in bed.
Without saying that, Eve nodded at her.
“Sure, she should be in bed, and probably will be, but I bet she’s awake. Well-fed Alede don’t need sleep. They still enjoy having friends around though. So, let me put that call in? It isn’t every day you get invited to camp out in another world.”
The phone call was just as awkward as Eve had hinted at. Part of that was due to the fact that it was kind of clear that the person in bed with Kait at that moment was familiar to Eve. Her ex-boyfriend, Ben. The one that had dropped both her and Kait, when he’d become a Vampire.
It should have been tense, but Eve just shrugged, and spoke as if he weren’t there at all.
“Hey, Sweetie. Avery is hooking people up for a free trip to a different reality. Her friends, which means that you’re invited. If you want to go, it will be two weeks on the other side, but only two days here. You have the time off, right?”
“I do! That sounds fun. Who all is going?”
That conversation was mainly about showing that she’d be able to have enough sex to keep her alive. When she was at home, she could get enough energy from Eve to really make that kind of thing optional for her. Away from home, in a different world, she’d have to have enough people around to make sure she could capture sexual energy required to keep her alive.
They agreed to meet at noon, at the Yoghurt World. They could have used one of the other nodes, but that was the one the Avery tended to default to, when she thought of home. Taking her kit with her from the house, she managed to get into place about half an hour before everyone else showed up.
“Which works for me, since I don’t know where to take anyone. It didn’t even occur to me that I might need directions.” It was silly of her to have forgotten that part of things. After all, her job, one of them, was literally about getting directions and delivering people to the right place.
Eve, who was on the phone, just nodded toward the back room, as if that were going to be enough for Avery to figure out what to do. Then, after a few moments of thinking, it really was. She needed to find someone who knew how to get to where everyone was going to be camping. The person who had that information, Will Baker, was in a different reality. The only people she knew who had a line on that particular fellow lived there as well.
So, about ten seconds after she came to that stunning conclusion, she walked out of the booth near the Thomson family castle. Once there she found, rather helpfully, Will himself, sitting on the ground, looking at a rock. It was a rather nice one, but it seemed a bit more like meditation than just admiring the bit of shiny.
“Um, Will?”
She didn’t want to interrupt, if it were a religious devotion or important thing to the man. Rather than growl at her for being annoying, he stood up and put the stone away quickly.
“Miss Rome! Right on time. I wasn’t certain if you would be, given the time differences here. I can show you how to get to Pine Creek from here?” He was speaking in English, doing so nearly perfectly. Feeling adventurous, for her, she tried to answer in Standard.
“People will be arriving soon, in my world. I just… Wished to make certain I had the right spot.”
Without missing a beat, the man switched tongues, not even acting impressed that she’d done that well already.
“Very well! If we go into the transport hut here, we can just use the menu for it. Once we do that, well, you can go back to the specific location on your own, right? Even from another world?”
She grinned at that one, since she really could pull that off.
“I can do that. Thank you for your…” She had to break into English to get the word she needed. Embarrassingly, it was almost the same, when Will spoke it back to her. “Yes, help. Thank you for your help in this.”
The man just smiled, then waved for her to go into the little red glowing transport house with him. Alone. She didn’t jump when his hand touched her back, though interestingly he winced a bit after a moment. Avery thought that it might be about her being unclean or something along those lines but there was a large head shake.
“We can’t have this much contact between men and women in the smaller towns. It’s fine in the Capital, Harmony or First City, but Pine Creek is rather…” The word he used wasn’t one that Avery had been told about when she was learning the language from Dumas and Clemance. It was similar to what it would have been in English however, so after a few seconds she worked out what it probably would mean.
Country.
Given the context, Will probably meant that it was provincial or a little backward. Not that she had a problem with that.
“I’ll pass the word to the others.”
That got the man to take his hand back and then scroll through a list of words written with strange glyphs. Avery had no clue what they were supposed to mean at all. Then, after they were hit with a wave of strong distortion, space bending and shifting around them, he turned and tapped the door behind them. The star sigil that opened it. Leading them out onto a brown and tan glass street, with wooden buildings up and down the way. Surrounded by a lot of pine trees.
She stood for a while, just memorizing the position.
“I have this, I believe? Should I meet you here with everyone to go to the camping spot? Or…”
She could go just then, but figured that traveling as a group would be safer.
“That would be good. I need to get some of my IPB friends. It’s about a two mile walk to the camping spot I set up, if that’s all right? We have some people already there. A food unit as well. Aunt Tiera insisted we get one of her newest for tha
t, which was nice of her. I mean, queens don’t always take time for us little people.”
Avery nodded at those words, still trying to make herself understood in the other man’s language.
“I know. That sounds very kind of her. We have food as well, if that’s all right? We really don’t want to be a burden to anyone.”
“Oh, you won’t be. This is kind of fun, actually. I’m using it as an excuse to get some time off from my own training. That’s gotten less than fun all the time, lately. Just taking people around for a while will be a nice change up.”
Avery nodded.
“It will probably be a little bit before we’re all here. Even if I hurry on the other side. I’ll do that though, so people won’t have to wait too long.”
That got waved away.
“It takes as long as it does. It’s early still, so we have ten hours to get camp set up for the night. I’ll let you go first, but as soon as you get here, empty the hut quickly? That way we won’t have to all squeeze in at once.”
That made sense to her. The huts weren’t huge things. Putting more than five or six people inside would get a bit close. Especially if they were large people.
“I’ll continue to hurry.” It sounded a little awkward to say it that way, but she had a limited vocabulary in the new language.
Her new contact, since she didn't have a better term for a helpful person she didn’t really know yet, took a step back, allowing her to leave first. That had her back in the Vampire embassy only about two minutes after she’d left. Just sixteen minutes according to her own watch. Eve was just getting off of the phone, her face a bit grim.
“Did things go all right?”
“Oh, yes. Will Baker was waiting for me personally, and took me to the correct place for people to go to for the trip. Now I just need to get people there…” As she said the words, Kaitlyn walked into the shop, dressed in jeans, boots and a midweight long sleeve shirt. That was purple, but wasn’t tight or meant to show off her figure, which was strange to see on an Alede.
