The Two Worlds: The Three Moon Series

by Winter, Eden

  After some time, a high pitched booming voice spoke. “The council has come to a decision.” It was the witch who was the color of a brightened sea. She was also the tallest of the witches in the council. “We will hear the words of the elf warrior and her wolf companion.”

  Dende could feel her anger bubbling up inside of her. She took a step forward to protest, but Siluman gently yanked her hand and brought her back to him.

  “Patience, my lady,” he said from the corner of his mouth. It didn’t matter how low they were speaking because the witches’ council would be able to hear them anyway.

  “I cannot be patient when the life of my friend and king is on the line. This could mean the end of the existence of my very people.” Dende squirmed and pried her hands away. She marched over to the witches’ council while Siluman remained where he was and watched her in silence.

  “And what of Pyll? She protected us from the creatures who tried to trespass on our lands, and you cut off her head, elf.” This came from a witch with the blackest of eyes, and she was the same color as the moss on the trees around them. She was the only one of the witches who didn’t have a friendly face. The other witches of the council stood around her in silence.

  “She tried to kill us. Before I was able to say one word, she was turning me into an oak tree. If it weren’t for Siluman, we would both be dead. But she was your own. I did not know that, and I’m sorry.”

  “There are no forest sirens left. Pyll was the last of her kind,” Ragana said. She had a sad look on her face, and the black orbs for her eyes lowered. The witches all became silent, paying their respects to a creature they had once known.

  “I wish there had been another way. Believe me when I say I don’t kill for sport. I wanted to defend myself and possibly save the ones I care for,” Dende said. Her face was full of remorse. Now that she knew how much the forest siren meant to these witches, she truly did wish that there had been another way through the forest without needing to kill her. If only the forest siren had given her a moment to explain herself.

  Dende recalled how it felt for her bones to stiffen as she was slowly beginning to turn into the branches of a tree, and she knew that she had made the right decision. It was either Pyll or herself and Siluman. She was always going to choose herself no matter the situation, especially in one that included the lives of other people she cared about.

  “I mean no disrespect to the witches’ council when I speak, but there is no time. I have never encountered a witch in my life before setting foot into this region of the forest. I expected bloodshed from this encounter, I expected ambush, but what is now costing me the most is the waste of valuable time,” said Dende. She stopped in front of Queen Ragana. Nine pairs of eyes stared blankly at her.

  “If the council has decided that I speak, I can only say that this is a matter of life and death. I am Dende, a knight of the elves who dwell in the mountain. There isn’t much time. All I know is that my king will die in a few short days…”

  “King Kainen?” the sea colored witch squeaked. She covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. It was a strange reaction. Kainen had never met with any witches either. How did the council know of him?

  “What has happened to your king, Dende the Knight?” Queen Ragana asked. She slowly tilted her head to one side. Unlike the other witches in the council, she had remained calm upon hearing that King Kainen was in grave peril.

  “Queen Veri…” Dende started.

  “No. Queen Veri is not responsible for this. She is—” Siluman cut Dende off but then thought better of what it was that he wanted to say.

  “She is what? From what I know, we were safe from the sea creatures on our journey to Veri’s kingdom, and upon our departure we were targeted by merfolk, sirens, and wraiths.”

  “And who do you believe sent me to protect you, my lady?” Siluman asked. He did not know everything that was happening between the elf king and the vampire queen, but he knew enough to defend his friend. Veri was a true ally to him despite her stubborn nature.

  “His soul,” Dende continued, avoiding eye contact with Siluman. “Two wraiths stripped away most of his soul. He can be revived, but no number of my father’s potions will sustain him.”

  “And what does that have to do with us?” The same witch who was the color of the very trees around them looked at Dende with defiance. She was not convinced.

  “Aje, surely you know why this elf girl has come all this way for our help,” the high-pitched witch said. Her shade of blue sparkled for a moment and she almost appeared to be illuminated, but she quickly faded back to her usual turquoise color. Her hair was a much darker blue than her skin. It was a strange contrast. The other witches had hair that was almost the same color as their skin.

  “Maaya is right,” Ragana said. She gave a quick nod in the blue witch’s direction. “The elf warrior has come to us without fear of death. I’m sure there have been wagging tongues across this realm about the ways of witches, but that did not deter her from her duties. Her loyalty to her king has made her traverse the forest unknown and seek our help.”

  Maaya nodded her head vigorously. Her long tendrils of dark blue hair danced around her face and shoulders. She smiled at Siluman. He was still uneasy about the entire situation. It was in his blood to be suspicious of all things, even more so than Dende. It was possible that he would have been more open if Dende wasn’t there. He had grown to genuinely care for her, and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to her.

  “What do you need from us, elf?” the witch named Aje spat. Her black eyes were certainly blacker than the other witches’. Dende felt as if she was staring into an abyss when she gazed upon Aje.

  “Since my king is missing a portion of his soul, it is only a matter of time before the remainder of it fades away forever,” Dende said. There was urgency in her voice now. Like Kainen’s soul, this day was wasting away. She could see that the sky overhead was darkening. Soon, the moons would be out, and that would leave only a few days for them to return to the kingdom in the mountains.

  Maaya covered her mouth with her hand and gasped again.

  “There is only one way to restore his soul to him. My father sent me here. He says you are the only ones who are able to save the king,” Dende said.

  “And why would we save a ruler we do not know? We are ignored and feared by the creatures in the other realms unless we are needed—” Aje started.

  “Enough!” Queen Ragana hissed at Aje. Aje replied with a scowl but was wise enough to remain silent. The smoke was building in her eyes, and it swam through the black orbs with defiance.

  “Your father?” Ragana glided closer to Dende. Her voice had calmed down now that she was speaking to Dende.

  “My father is Guiden.”

  Ragana stopped dead in her tracks. There was complete silence for a moment, but to Dende it felt like a silence that had lasted for all of time. Ragana made a soft sound but said nothing more.

  “What do we witches have that you need?” Maaya squeaked.

  “A potion. There is a spell and a potion that only you have that can save the—”

  “Oh, no,” Ragana whispered. Even though her voice was low and soft, it was enough to prevent Dende from finishing what it was that she wanted to say.

  “You mean the Siela potion,” Maaya said. Her words came out like a breath, but the look on her face was that of complete heartbreak.

  “If that is what is needed to save my king, then that is the potion I need,” Dende said.

  “We cannot help you, Dende,” Ragana said. She clenched her jaw, and the prominent bones of her face showed off her striking beauty.

  “Why is that?” Siluman asked. He didn’t mean to sound as upset as he was, but they had come this far. They had come so close.

  “Because there is only one creature who can help create Siela’s potion,” Maaya said.

  “Yes,” Aje said. She spat her words out at Dende and Siluman. “And that is the very creature that you
just killed.”

  Chapter Three

  The Pawn

  Adam shivered from a cold wind that was flying by his face. Not even with a long-sleeved shirt, a jacket, gloves, and a hat on could he bear the chill in the air. The tip of his nose was red, as were the tips of his fingers. All these years experiencing winter, and he was still not used to the cold.

  He had stepped through the portal almost two weeks before today, but time worked differently in the land where he had just been living. A moment in that world meant about twelve days had passed in this world. But it also worked differently once he was back in this world. If he stepped through the portal again, virtually no time would have passed once there. At most, it would have been a few hours into the night in that realm.

  Adam could have sworn that he had seen Queen Veri slip into the portal just after he had, but he was already out into this world before he could be sure. If it was true that she had gone through, that meant today was the day that she would land in this world. No time would have passed for her, but he had been living his life for two weeks. He couldn’t take his mind off of her or the world he had just left behind. He would be back there soon enough; he had to be.

  Adam had to make sure that he found Veri before anyone else did. He would need to send her right back where she came from or risk everything he had worked for in this world and in hers.

  But he wasn’t an incubus in this world. He was simply a human. If that meant that Veri would be a human in this world, that would save so much time and trouble. But if her powers transcended the portal, if she was still a vampire, then she would be able to wreak havoc on the people in this world. It didn’t help that she had a personal vendetta when it came to Adam. She would stop at nothing to win back the love of the elf king.

  The only creature that existed in this world and in this time with equal sentience was a human. There were no mythical or magical creatures. It would be easy for her to find him, and Adam didn’t know what she was capable of. Would Veri be willing to leave a trail of blood in her path just to find Adam and figure out what it was that he was doing?

  “Adam?”

  He looked up, startled. He wasn’t expecting anyone he knew to be around. His eyes were down and he stared directly ahead of him, too focused on where he was going and what needed to be done. He was on his way to the dark alleyway that led him to the portal to the other world. Adam didn’t know what time Veri could possibly fall through, so he wanted to remain in that area for the entirety of the day if need be, unless Veri had already landed in the alley.

  “Mark. Hi,” Adam said. He presented his friend a weak smile. Mark was too friendly a person to keep this encounter short. Adam was dreading it already. He didn’t have the time for any social niceties.

  “I hear you’ve got an exhibit tomorrow night,” Mark said.

  “I do,” Adam said with a nod. His eyes darted this way and that, looking for an escape. He needed an excuse to walk away. What could he possibly say to get Mark out of his way?

  “You must be so excited—your first show in three years. I loved your last show. Capturing people in their day-to-day lives and asking them for their receipts? Brilliant. Their receipt showing material things that they need juxtaposing with images of their faces and fashion sense. Does the product match the persona? It really made me think, man. Don’t judge a book by its cover or a person by what they buy, am I right?”

  “You sure are, Mark,” Adam said. Vapors from the cold escaped their mouths when they spoke then rose slowly and dissipated. Adam’s disappeared quicker, signifying the urgency of his mission.

  “It’s just like corporate America to…” Mark started off on a tirade that Adam immediately shut out of his mind. Veri could be here by now. She had no knowledge of this place, and he had no way of knowing if she still had her powers as a vampire. If she did, she would more than likely kill him. Or maybe she wouldn’t since she needed him to get back to her own time and place. It was a place that was so far away and so different from what Adam had ever known, but he was beginning to feel more and more at home in that place, while he was becoming more distant from the world he had truly grown up in.

  Mark was still talking, totally unaware that Adam had long since tuned him out. Adam couldn’t take much more of this. Being polite was not an option right now.

  “I have to go,” Adam said. Mark’s mouth hung open for a moment. He was clearly confused that he had been cut off so abruptly.

  “Sorry. You stopped me when I was on the way to do something important, but come through tomorrow. We can catch up and talk more about politics and ways we can change the world,” Adam grinned and patted Mark on the shoulder. Mark’s expression changed into a warm smile. He didn’t want to be in the way of anything.

  “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. If you need me, you can maybe send me an email or give me a call. I should be home all day.”

  “Will do,” Adam responded. He was facing Mark but was taking tentative steps in the opposite direction.

  “I almost got a pager this week,” Mark called as he walked away, “but then I asked myself what the point of that would be. If people wanted to find me, they would know where to find me. Plus, I’m not George Clooney, and my life isn’t like ER.”

  Adam wasn’t paying attention, but he waved and smiled. He eventually turned around and walked as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself. The sidewalk was full of people going in all sorts of directions. They were like the waves of the sea crashing into each other. If there were people in the alley when Veri arrived (if he had even really seen her come through the portal), there was no telling what she would do. They would probably get her to a hospital or mental health care facility. If she started talking about being a queen who lived in a world where there were three suns and three moons, they would think she was out of her mind. There would be no accounting for the fact that she was the palest being he had ever seen, and her hair was almost as white as her skin.

  Adam blended into both worlds because this was the world he knew, while the world he had just left was slowly becoming a home to him. There were humans in that world too, and so much more. There were so many creatures and places of that land he had not yet explored. How did the incubi and succubi ever become extinct in that world? And what was he doing in this world without powers? It must mean there were possibly more incubi in this world who were totally unaware of the powers that they possessed. So why did he know?

  He was beginning to understand his powers and what he was capable of. His powers were impossible to harness in this world, but where Veri was from, he had the ability to take small glimpses into the mind and memory of the vampire queen (and who knows whatever other creature), though she suffered from terrible migraines because of it. He was always able to tell that she was in pain; he could feel her whenever he did that. He was worried that now she knew what he was, she would try and fight harder for Kainen.

  Kainen. That was one of the reasons why he was here. He needed to find a way to save him. There had to be some medicine or even a doctor he could bring back with him. He was going to save Kainen. He wasn’t going to lose him after what they had been through. It may have been a new love, but there was something about him that Adam hadn’t felt with anyone in his own world.

  Adam hoped that Veri hadn’t stepped into the portal, because if he was going to save Kainen, Queen Veri was going to have to wait.

  Chapter Four

  The Queen

  Veri’s eyes were closed when she suddenly realized that the world was not a black pit spinning around her. She was standing in an unfamiliar place. The ground beneath her feet was grey and hard. There was no grass or soil that she could see. Buildings surrounded her. Most of them were made from the same hardened grey material that the ground was made from. She looked around for trees, for a world she knew, and for any sign of life.

  She looked down to see if she had come through the experience in one piece. She was still wearing her white riding clot
hes. Everything about her was intact as far as she could see and feel. Her hair was still bright and flowing, and her skin was supple and white.

  So where was this place?

  “Hey. Hey, lady!”

  Veri whipped her head around in the direction of the voice. The person speaking had a strange way of speaking. His accent wasn’t one that she recognized.

  “You got a dollar?”

  The person was sitting on something white and rounded. He was dirty, but that wasn’t what was alarming to her. They didn’t know each other, and he was bold enough to speak to her.

  He held out his hand and waited. Veri didn’t know what he was waiting for. What on earth was a dollar?

  “Keep away,” Veri whispered. She backed away from him. She didn’t know which direction to go. Where would this strange place lead her? Were there more ruffians like the man who was asking her about a dollar?

  Veri half stumbled and half ran away from the man. She caught herself in between two walls. One was full of windows covered with something hard and see-through. There were ladders and stairs that led to the various windows on the higher floors.

  Once she had moved past the tall walls, she gasped. Now she was standing in a sea of people. So many of them were moving up and down the grey ground beside her and around her, some not even paying any attention to her or what she was doing. They were all humans. She could not point out a single other creature. Each human was dressed more strangely than the last, and their clothes came in different colors, sizes, and styles. Most were covered from head to foot because the air around them was particularly cold. Not all of these humans had hair that was long and flowing like most of the humans that she knew. Many of these people had hair that was much too short. Some looked like they had pointed spikes or round balls of black and brown cotton, and one man walked by her without hair on most of his head aside from a long pointed train right down the center. It was a bright green. He must have been a witch of some kind.