by Ben Cass
Ellie rolled her hands together in a backward circular motion. “Go back. People from here go live there and people from there come live here?”
“Sure. Travel between the dimensions is quite easy, really, if you know what you’re looking for. Some people stumble upon it, while other people, like my sister, for example, intentionally use it. Her husband is from Ohio, not Kiamada. She came here to visit for a while, using a dimensional rift, but found him, fell in love and stayed here. She hasn’t been back since, although she says she does miss it. She’s been here for...oh, must be ten years now, I guess. Maybe a little longer.”
Ellie thought this over. “Wait...I heard her tell Jen a few minutes ago she got married after only being here a few months. Pretty sure that’s not how it works. Aren’t there all kinds of legalities to deal with when you’re an immigrant marrying an American?”
Doyle grinned widely. “From what I understand, there’s a small niche industry of people who help Kiamadan immigrants establish identities here. She used their services. Problem solved.”
“Isn’t that, I don’t know, illegal?”
“Why do you think I’m smiling?” he responded. “Although, as far as I know, there are technically no laws in place in regards to inter-dimensional immigrants.”
That made sense, in a weird, twisted way, so Ellie let it go. She looked over at Theonus. “So the Rottweiler breed came from the Wilers? They were the ones who stayed on Earth? And Wilers have some kind of magic or something?”
In a manner of speaking, Theonus answered. It would be more accurate to say Rottweilers are the Wilers of your world. And yes, we have magic, although probably not in the way you think of it.
Ellie chewed her fingernails, a bad habit she had acquired some years before. This all seemed like a dream to her, yet she could not deny it was happening. Another thought kept pushing at her. “Why did you travel here, Doyle? Did you just want to see another world?”
Doyle walked out of the barn. “Walk with me.” Ellie followed him while Theonus stayed behind, contentedly chewing on the trunk again. Doyle led her away from the building, twirling a piece of hay in his fingers.
Ellie waited for him to speak. At last, he broke the silence. “I once loved a girl, in Kiamada, but something happened and our relationship ended. It...broke me inside, I guess you can say. Given how my land had fallen into bad times since the disappearance of our future queen, I decided to leave Kiamada in search of inner peace for myself and, in doing so, find a way to bring peace back to our land.”
“Have you found it yet?” Ellie asked. “Your peace?”
“I think I might finally have found the start of the path. We’ll see.”
“You said your future queen disappeared. What happened to her?”
Doyle’s brow furrowed. “There are several theories, but nobody knows for sure. Some think she was murdered. Some think she didn’t want to be the queen and just abandoned us. Others think it was divine punishment for some perceived wrongdoing.”
Ellie tilted her head, studying him. “What do you think?” she asked him.
He scratched his cheek. “I don’t know what to think, to be honest with you. I’ve spent years trying to come up with a logical answer. Still haven’t found one.”
That was a perfectly ambiguous answer, she thought. He didn’t seem willing to say much more, so she changed course.
“So you weren’t really in the military, were you?”
“I was indeed.” Doyle shrugged. “Just not for any country you’re familiar with.” He laughed lightly.
“What is your world like?”
Doyle stared out over the horizon. “In many ways, our Earth is similar to yours. Mainly ocean, with a few large continents. Things don’t look drastically different; we don’t have red grass or pink water or something weird like that. There are some plants and animals that are very different,” he pointed over his shoulder to the barn, “and others that are basically the same. Our technology is virtually non-existent when compared to yours, though we make up for it in other ways. There are several countries, but not as much easy trade as you have here, as they haven’t all developed reliable ways of circumnavigating the planet. There are entire continents about which very little is known.”
“Kind of like Africa was?”
“Exactly. Kiamada itself is a large country, perhaps the size of Australia.” He frowned, thinking. “Actually, Kiamada might be our Australia, now that I think about it. Huh. Weird. Anyway, Kiamada is, or at least was, a peaceful monarchy. There wasn’t as much need for a military as there is over here, but since we had some rather...nasty...neighbors, the royal family had special soldiers—special forces, if you will—who defended the castle and our rulers in the case of an attack. There were some civilian groups who tried to help maintain order in the various villages. Other than that, there were the Tayamu.” He pronounced it “tay-AH-moo”.
“Tayamu?” The word sent a tingle up her spine, although she didn’t know why. “Who are they?”
Doyle let out a breath slowly. “The Tayamu helped to protect the entire world, not just Kiamada, although they’d only ever come from Kiamada, as far as we know.” Doyle tossed the hay to the ground, letting the breeze catch it and spin it away.
“The Tayamu were true masters of all weapons, of all styles of fighting. They knew the medicinal value of every plant in existence. They were thought of as the living avatars of Nature itself, since they could communicate with animals and plants, and call upon the forces of Nature to help them.”
“Call upon the forces of Nature?” Ellie asked. That sounded pretty awesome.
He nodded. “Oh, yes. They all had command over the elements. It was...awe-inspiring to see.”
Ellie smiled at him. “Sounds like people you’d want to have around.”
“They were.” Doyle looked down at the ground, his voice distant.
“Were?” Ellie looked up at him, shading her eyes from the sun. “What happened?”
Doyle was quiet for a few minutes. He stood there, his long shadow covering Ellie. She waited patiently. When it came, Doyle’s voice was tense and strained. “They were slaughtered by the man who claimed the throne after the disappearance of our future queen. He made a pact with a neighboring country, Amielton, which is to the north. In exchange for assistance in dealing with the Tayamu, there would be a joint ruling of Kiamada. There were masters of the dark arts in this other country, men and women who had destructive powers beyond mortal comprehension.” He shook his head. “The powers and talents of the Chiami rivaled the Tayamu. By an unspoken agreement, the two groups usually didn’t confront each other. What’s the phrase your government uses? Mutually-assured destruction?”
Doyle paused, looking into the distance. A slight breeze swirled around them. “The Tayamu were summoned to the castle under the pretense that an invading army was preparing to overwhelm Kiamada. They, and our special forces, answered the call for help. Unfortunately, it was a trick. The Chiami outnumbered the Tayamu and the special forces nearly six to one. We all paid the ultimate price. At least a few members of the special forces managed to escape the slaughter and go into hiding. From my understanding, though, only a single Tayamu managed to survive, and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Before I left Kiamada, I heard rumors that people held out hope for this lost Tayamu to return, but nothing ever happened.”
Ellie was stunned. “That’s terrible!” She ran a hand through her hair. “How many Tayamu went into the battle?”
“Nearly a thousand.” Although paltry when compared to the losses suffered in any of Earth’s numerous wars, the thought of an entire group of people being destroyed was still hard for Ellie to comprehend. And he’d said they were outnumbered six-to-one. That was even harder for her to comprehend. Doyle looked down at her. “Is there anything else you want to know?”
Ellie cocked her head to the side, studying the black Wiler back in the barn, who was still contentedly gnawing on his piece of tree. “
Well, one obvious thing comes to mind. How exactly did you get Theonus?”
I chose to bond myself to him as a young pup. A belated birthday present, you could call it. Theonus looked over at Doyle, affection clearly showing in his eyes. Being chosen by a Wiler is a high honor in Kiamada. The highest, the Wilers would say.
“Not to mention the most time-consuming,” Doyle murmured to Ellie. “They’re so high-maintenance.”
Theonus responded with a good-natured growl and returned to the tree trunk. Doyle chuckled, so this was clearly a running joke of some kind.
Ellie smiled at the bond between the man and the Wiler. “Are you going to tell Jen all this stuff?”
Doyle nodded. “When the time is right, yes. When that will be, I don’t know.”
Ellie paused and then plunged ahead. “Are you in love with my sister?” Doyle’s imperturbable calm seemed to finally crack some. He simply gazed at her for a few minutes before speaking, although she did notice him swallow hard, which told her more than anything he could say next. She got the impression he was trying to phrase his answer carefully.
“I’ve only just met her, Elowyn. How could I possibly love her?”
She gave a calculated, casual shrug. “Love at first sight. It happens. It even happened to your sister, I do believe. I heard her mention that to Jen a little while ago.”
“You seem to hear lots of things,” Doyle said. “Even things you shouldn’t be able to. How is that?”
“It’s a recent development,” she admitted. “It’s not all the time, either. I couldn’t hear you and the sheriff talking in the hospital. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m developing super-hearing, but my powers aren’t fully charged yet.” For some reason, Theonus snorted, but she didn’t know why. “Nice try, by the way, but I don’t fall for the old change-the-subject routine. Jen tries it and fails all the time.”
Doyle bowed his head slightly. “It was worth the effort.” His tone seemed to indicate a double meaning, but Ellie didn’t feel like trying to interpret it at the moment. She repeated her question.
“Elowyn, I honestly don’t have an answer for you. I was in love once and ended up hurting the girl—the woman—whom I cared for, causing her to disappear from my life forever. I refuse to make the same mistake again, even if it means denying myself all possible opportunities.”
Ellie hopped up onto a stack of crates that were just sitting in the middle of the field. “I’m probably the last person who should be saying this, but that sounds pretty damn stupid to me.” She hopped from foot to foot, testing her balance. To her surprise, it was perfect, so she tried doing some intricate patterns with her feet, just to see if she could. What was the old game we used to play? Criss-cross, pig in sauce? No, that’s not it. Maybe...
“It does sound stupid,” Doyle agreed amiably, watching her leap and spin. Ellie glanced over at him and returned her attention to what she was doing. “It also sounds reasonable.”
“Agree to disagree,” she said, hopping off the crates and landing easily on the ground. That was a bit surprising, since she’d never really had great balance. “You’re telling me you never want to fall in love again?”
Doyle tilted his head. “Do I hope to fall in love again? Yes. It’s the greatest feeling in the world. Will it be easy for me? No.”
“Are you...in love...with my sister?” Ellie repeated firmly, drawing the question out with emphatic pauses.
“I admit the possibility of an opportunity exists.” Doyle sighed, looking up at the puffy white clouds overhead. “I do not, however, say I will leap at that opportunity. I will not let myself hurt somebody again, no matter how unintentional it may be.”
“Doyle...” she trailed off, uncertain what to say. He must have been burned by this girl. Ellie had a sudden, powerful urge to slap her upside her head. What had she done to him?
Doyle blew out his breath, rubbing his ribs gently. “I’m discussing love with a sixteen-year-old girl? I must be getting desperate for company.” Ellie stuck her tongue out at him, and he gave her an innocent grin. “I’d better get going. It’s almost time for Kira to start packing, and I need to go check on something first.”
“She’s leaving already?” Ellie’s heart dropped. She had been looking forward to spending more time with Doyle’s twin sister.
Doyle groaned. “If only I were so lucky. No, Kira is not leaving yet. She just cannot stand to have anything out of place. When she goes somewhere, she has to unpack and repack everything at the same time every day, just to make sure she still has it all and it still fits properly. If I’m around, she makes me double-check.” He rolled his eyes and continued, “She’s a little obsessive, I think, but that’s part of what makes her so charming. Maybe I’ll hide one of her bras again.” He started laughing. “Last time I did...” His laughter doubled, and he wiped some tears from his eyes. “Last time, she and I spent an entire hour tearing her hotel room up, searching for it. It was hanging from the mirror in her car the entire time, right where I’d left it.”
Ellie didn’t want to laugh, but that was pretty funny. She could easily imagine Kira going crazy, searching for this bra, Doyle helping her while fighting back his laughter.
Doyle playfully bumped her, then walked off, whistling. Ellie leaned against the crates, arms folded, thinking.
Everything he’d told her sounded like the ramblings of a madman, but somehow, she knew it was real. One glance back at the giant, telepathic, saber-toothed dog convinced her to just accept the story and not try to rationalize it.
Doyle was from another universe. Not just any world: a world with magic, warriors and all that fun stuff. A world with a land that had lost its rightful queen and was ruled by a despot. A world with mysterious, unexplored countries.
And he had a giant dog to help him.
The dog looked up at her and gave an unmistakable, and very human, wink. Ellie laughed out loud, amused by the Wiler’s action. “This whole thing sounds like a fairy tale,” she said aloud. “I hope it has a happy ending. I hate sad ones.” She jumped off the crates and followed Doyle to the house.
Chapter Sixteen
Ellie settled herself onto the couch in Doyle’s bedroom, while Jen stretched out onto the bed. “And where have you been?” asked Jen. “You look guilty. You weren’t out causing trouble, were you?” Her tone was light and teasing, and Ellie took it as intended.
Ellie shook her head absently. “I was out walking with Doyle. We talked about some stuff.”
“I see.” Jen seemed distracted by something, her fingers idly combing through her hair. Ellie had long since learned this meant Jen had something on her mind she was puzzling over, and decided to turn the tables on her sister.
“What’re you thinking about? That kiss he gave you?”
“Actually, yes, I am.”
Ellie did a double-take. “Say what? Don’t tell me it was that good?” She shook her head, holding both hands out. “No, wait, I take it back. Details! I need details! Tell me everything!” She leaned forward, crossing her legs on the couch, looking excited.
Jen smiled faintly. “To tell the truth, it wasn’t anything special. I’ve just been trying to figure out what happened afterwards.”
Ellie’s eyes were getting wider by the second. “Oh...my...god. Don’t tell me...”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, young lady. When Doyle...kissed me, I had this...this image...pop into my head. It was a young man’s face, and I feel like I should know him, but I can’t remember. It’s been driving me crazy ever since.”
“Maybe you should talk to Doyle about it,” Ellie suggested. “He might be able to help you.”
Jen gave a soft laugh. “Right. He’ll be able to help me identify somebody from my past. If this boy was somebody I knew, it was more than twelve years ago.”
Ellie tried to speak, but she suddenly felt as if somebody had punched her in the stomach. The spasms doubled her over briefly, erasing whatever thought had popped into her head. All the air left her
lungs and her arm muscles locked into place. When she started to fall off the couch, Jen jumped off the bed and grabbed her. “Hey, you okay?”
Ellie managed to nod. “What? Yeah, I’m fine.” She hesitantly sat up straight. “I just had some sudden cramps, that’s all. Pretty strong, too.” She waited for a moment to make sure they were gone, and then rose to go to the nightstand. Doyle had left the bottle of red gummies in the drawer, so Ellie took one and chewed it.
Jen nodded in understanding. “Been there. Don’t be afraid to talk to me if you need to, okay?”
“When have I ever been?” asked Ellie, genuinely puzzled.
Jen considered this and then shrugged. “Now that you mention it, you haven’t. I just felt the need to remind you. I’m still getting used to being a big sister and a mother.”
Ellie threw her arms around Jen and kissed her cheek. “You’re doing fine,” she declared. “Now if you would just get a boyfriend, everything would be perfect.”
“I’m thinking about it, actually.” Jen’s calm admission stunned Ellie again; she could only blink in surprise.
“Now I know Hell has frozen over,” she muttered.
KIRA leaned against Theonus’s head, gently stroking his cheek. His face moved as he breathed in and out, and a deep rumble came from within his body. She would have called it a purr, but she suspected Theonus would have objected strenuously. She had come out to the barn, determined to talk to her brother, but he was not there, so she settled for petting Theonus instead.
Her mind flashed back to the day the Wiler had literally smashed through the front door of their home. He had been young, only a few days old, but already stood over three feet tall at his shoulder. Kira had never seen a Wiler up close before that day, but most people hadn’t, as the massive animals tended to avoid human towns.
