by D. N. Leo
“Slow down! I’m a witch, but I don’t hop on broomsticks and fly like everyone seems to think witches do.”
“Sorry, Jaxper, but Lyla’s in trouble, and I’m running out of time. You don’t have to follow me.”
“Since she set foot on this Earth, she’s not only been in trouble constantly herself, but she’s also caused trouble for those around her.”
Michael stopped. “Are you saying she has something to do with what happened to your clan? Are you saying she’s causing trouble on purpose? Do you know why she’s here?”
“No…no. You don’t have to get angry with me. You kept saying people around her caught on fire. We have nothing to do with Lyla, but we have everything to do with you. So if whatever happens to her causes you trouble, then that trouble will indirectly fall on us. Is that a fair statement?”
“You don’t know what’s fair,” he muttered and kept racing ahead. Something inside him seemed to be telling him where he needed to go.
In front of him was a clearing that opened up to a small but thicker wedge of the forest. He hadn’t seen Lyla yet, but he could see Gale standing there, rocking back and forth on his feet.
“Gale, where’s Lyla?”
Gale turned around. “Where have you been? She didn’t talk to me. I don’t know what to do.” Gale pointed at a large rock.
Michael rushed toward the rock, but Gale pulled him back.
“Hey, be careful! She weirds me out,” Gale said with a lowered voice.
“What do you mean?”
From behind Gale’s feet, two small pumas walked out and sniffed Michael’s legs.
Jaxper rushed over, out of breath.
“This is Jaxper, a friend. What happened to Lyla?”
“We were looking for you. Then the puma mother came. She left her cubs behind and went to fight a space creature. I guess the creature came for Lyla. The puma couldn’t kill it, so Lyla had to burn them both. Then after that, she turned totally weird.”
“She burned them?” Jaxper gasped. “The way Michael burned those in the bush?”
Michael gestured for Jaxper to keep silent. Being mindful that Lyla was behind the rock, Michael lowered his voice. “What do you mean when you say she burned the creatures? She walked people through the fire before, and people died in the process. You saw that. You opened the gateway to the Daimon Gate for us.”
Gale shook his head. “No, this time it was different. Fire came out from her hands, and she streamed the fire to burn the creature while the puma held it down for her. Both of them died.”
“That’s self-defense, right? The creature attacked her?” Michael asked.
“It might have been sent here for her. I found a microchip in its ashes, but it was damaged. I figured if the creature was sent here for her, they might be looking for two targets—you and her—so I hooked up the chip to these two pumas before it sent its last transmission and died. Then I looked up and saw Lyla going all weird. Like she just realized something. Then she stopped talking to me.”
Michael sensed what was coming, but he hoped he was wrong. “So did the did the creature attack her, or didn’t it?”
Gale shook his head. “It never had a chance to attack before the puma pinned it down.”
Michael paced back and forth. “Was there another way out of the situation without killing?”
“I have no idea. It happened so fast. Why do you keep trying to shift the blame, Michael? I’m sure her family has been at war several times. Losing lives in war is common.”
Michael grabbed Gale’s shoulder. “What you know about war is from your computer games. Don’t try to compare your knowledge with the knowledge of those who have fought in real battles.”
“I’m not doing any comparing. I’m trying to understand. But she didn’t talk to me at all. She killed the cat. Why is that a shattering big deal?”
Saying no more, Michael rushed around the rock. When he saw Lyla, his heart skipped several beats.
He had heard of the Eudaizian law of virtue, but he’d never believed it existed. By the look on Lyla’s face, however, he was sure it not only existed, but she had violated the first principle of the law—she had intentionally killed an innocent for her own sake.
With her royal blood, the minor penalty for this was that she could never come into power and be a successor of Ciaran’s legacy. The most severe penalty was that she could never go home.
She would be exiled.
Lyla was sitting on the ground, leaning against the rock. Either she wasn’t crying, or she had run out of tears. Michael didn’t know. She looked up and saw him. Michael raced over to her and dropped to the ground beside her. He pulled her into his arms, holding her so tight that she had no choice but cling to him.
“Let go, Lyla. You can cry. A large part of you is human. It’s normal to cry. We’ll get through this together.”
There and then, she cried on his shoulder.
Now Michael understood why Ciaran had asked him to take this mission. When his princess was exiled on her first mission to a strange place, it wasn’t about winning the battle or defeating the enemies, it was all about survival, and for that, Ciaran knew who the best man for the job was.
After a while, Lyla’s emotion seemed to subside. He eased her out of his embrace. He tilted her chin up and looked into her magnificent striking gray eyes.
“Did you violate the Eudaizian law of virtue?” he asked.
She nodded. Another tear rolled down her cheek, which he wiped off with his thumb.
“What’s the penalty?”
“I can never go home.”
“Not even with Ciaran’s interference?”
“There’s nothing Father can do for me. If he could, I know he would. But it’s the system we’re dealing with, and it’s the EYE that records this sort of violation.”
Michael knew of the EYE, the most wicked computer and robotic system in the multiverse. Even the king of Eudaiz wouldn’t have access or any level of influence over it. “There must be a solution.”
Lyla shook her head.
“There isn’t a way out, or you won’t tell me?”
She looked him in the eyes and said, “The latter, Michael.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lyla grabbed a fistful of the dark-colored soil with her bare hands and let the grains rain to the ground through the gaps between her fingers. She could feel the heat, the energy coming from it. This material made up the larger part of the forest landscape. Because this was a part of their natural environment, humans wouldn’t pay as much attention to the soil as she did. But there was no soil in Eudaiz, and neither was there a natural environment.
There was no point in brooding about this, though. If she were exiled, she might go anywhere—anywhere except Eudaiz and the Daimon Gate. She had friends in many places. Plus, her parents had allies everywhere. She could even go to Iilos, the friendly universe where Michael lived.
But there was something about Earth that made her choose it above all other options. If she couldn’t go home, then this environment would be hers. Forever.
Her parents had come from here—they used to be humans. But Lyla was sure that wasn’t the only reason she felt an inexplicable connection to Earth.
“Who’s that?” she shouted at the movement in the small scrub bushes behind her.
Jaxper stepped out and smiled. “Your senses are really good!”
“You risked your life sneaking up on me like that!”
“I know. You could burn me by accident, right?”
“If I throw fire at you right now, it won’t be an accident. I’ve done it before, and I can do it again.” Lyla scowled. “This time, I won’t need to justify my actions. So don’t provoke me.”
Jaxper chuckled. “No need to be testy. I know you didn’t mean to kill the puma mother.”
“What do you want?” Lyla asked.
“Is it true that you can’t go home now? I overheard what Michael said to you. Plus, Gale is a wreck after wha
t happened. He thinks he was responsible for what happened to you.”
“Our Gale Brody?”
“Of course! There’s only one person with that name in this forest.”
Lyla said nothing. Jaxper was Michael’s friend, but she was still a stranger. And for the first time in her life, Lyla recalled and took Ciaran’s advice seriously—never trust any creature outside Eudaiz, especially when it has to do with humans.
“Look, I know you have your own things to worry about, Lyla. And your top priority is to get home, whether or not it’s possible. But if you could spare Michael for a short period of time, the entire Mountain witch clan will worship you.”
“I have no desire to be anyone’s god. Michael is a free man. Why do you need me to give him permission?”
“He’s your guard and has vowed to protect and serve you. He’s not free.”
Lyla couldn’t help but smile. “Our culture and civilization are very different from yours at all levels. Simply put, in our world, all creatures are equal. Michael is only bound by what he considers to be right for himself. He didn’t make any promises to me.”
“He’d die if that’s what it took to bring you home. Do you know that?”
“Yes, but he would do that at his liberty. I can’t tell him what to do.”
Jaxper nodded. “Does that mean that whatever I do, as long as Michael feels obliged, he would do it for my clan and me? That it’s his decision as a free man?”
Lyla nodded although she felt a gigantic knot starting to form in her stomach. Am I giving Michael away? This can’t be right. I can’t give away what I don’t possess. But what is this uncomfortable churning feeling in my stomach? She cleared her throat and said, “Why do you need him? We didn’t plan to come here to meet you. What if we had never come? What would you and your clan have done?”
“Things happen for a reason. God wills it.”
“Your god. We don’t have religion in Eudaiz.”
“The place you might never call home again? If you stay here, you will have to follow our belief system. We worship a higher power. We have our own god.”
“If your god is so powerful, why do you need Michael to help you? And I don’t mean any disrespect, but please don’t tell me that Michael is your god—because even Michael would laugh at that notion.”
Jaxper’s eyes darkened. “He’s not our god. But he’s what our god needs. I’ll do whatever it takes to make him stay here of his free will. As you’ve said, he’s a free man and can do whatever he feels is right.” She turned and started to walk away.
Damn! Lyla thought. “Michael has a commitment to Eudaiz, to my father. He’s a free man, but he promised my father to go on this mission and bring me back home safely. I know him, and I would say that until he completes his mission, he won’t consider doing anything else. Don’t waste your time.”
Jaxper smiled. “I’d consider it time well spent,” she said, and then she raised her arms.
Lyla didn’t know much about the witch business, but she knew they had a lot to do with magic—and magic was one of her weaknesses. Reacting instinctively to Jaxper’s sudden movement, Lyla clenched her fists and quickly gathered the heat. She wanted to form fireballs right now and hurl them at Jaxper—but Lyla was in control now. She had learned quickly how to summon and how to release the fire.
In Jaxper hands, she saw nothing. Lyla refused to hurt another innocent, so she held off and put away her fire. As soon as it died out on her palms, she felt the prick of a needle on her neck. Her world blurred instantly. It had been a trap.
Jaxper smiled. “I don’t mean to harm you. But as you said, Michael won’t leave without you, so you’ll have to stay. With this poison in your blood, you have twenty-eight days to live. When Michael does what I need him to, I’ll give you the antidote before death claims you. It’s a win-win solution.”
Lyla’s knees buckled, and Jaxper rushed over to catch her. Michael and Gale came out of the bush and ran over as Jaxper lowered her to the ground.
“What happened?” Michael asked.
Lyla could feel his arms around her shoulders. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t tell him what had happened.
“She was bitten by a snake,” Jaxper said. She lifted Lyla’s hair and parted it so that Michael saw her neck where the needle had pricked her.
Lyla summoned the strength she had left and pushed Jaxper away. She leaned on Michael. “Yes, I was bitten by the most poisonous snake on Earth, Michael. I have twenty-eight days to live. If I have to die here, it’s my dying wish that you take me home at all costs.”
“I won’t let you die here,” Michael said.
She could feel every muscle in his body vibrating with emotion—the kind he had plenty of as a human, and the kind she wanted to have more of one day if she survived this.
“Promise me you’ll take me home. Even if it’s my dead body. I want my essence to be with my family. Will you promise me?”
“Yes, I promise.”
She looked at Jaxper, whose smile had vanished and was now replaced with a look of disappointment. Then she blacked out.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
105x fired up the small engine beneath his feet and raised himself up to the surface. He had miscalculated the landing point and ended up parked deeply under the surface, but the soft soil gave way easily. He hadn’t worn his suit and thus used his own favorite form—a human in his thirties. He loved to shift into fox form and have a run—he hadn’t run for as long as he could remember—but time didn’t permit it now. He had a job to do.
He glanced around. A dangerous location, he thought. Too many trees around. The plantation blocked his ability to gather energy in the light. He remembered what Kan said. On Earth, he would be himself. He had no allies. No support. No connections to Kan.
He did have resources and an arsenal. But that was about it.
When he involuntarily joined the multiverse, he was converted into a condemned Xiilok citizen, and thus his eyes seemed to have worms swimming inside them. But he figured anything was better than permanent death. Being from Xiilok gave him supernatural power, but his dilemma now was that with his eyes looking the way they did, it was like declaring to the humans that he was alien.
He saw a group of humans trudging slowly along a small path leading into the woods. He smiled at the fortunate opportunity.
Switching on a dimensional shield so that ordinary human eyes wouldn’t be able to see him, he approached the group. He chose a strong-looking male, and as soon as he got within arm’s reach, he grabbed the man and pulled him behind the dimensional shield. From a human vantage point, it would appear as if the man had just disappeared.
The people standing close to the man saw his disappearance and stopped, puzzled.
For the man, being pulled past the dimensional shield was a death sentence. He fell to the ground instantly. Wasting no time, 105x bent down and touched the man’s head. In a swift move, he pressed all five fingers into the man’s skull and sucked out his life force. Shortly after, he shifted into the man’s form.
He then stepped out from behind a thick bush and smiled at the people in his group.
An older man scolded, “Don’t disappear into the bush like that, Tin. Didn’t what happened to your father teach you anything?”
Is that the human’s name? Tin? He’d better remember it. “I’m sorry,” he said, and what came out of his mouth was a perfect native dialect and sounded just like the voice of the man he had just killed. Anyway, as long as his wormy eyes were hidden, he was fine with any name they called him.
He walked along with the group but kept his senses alert, searching for Lyla, Michael, and his lifelong enemy, Gale Brody.
A woman in the group pointed to his side and said something. She was in tears, and her voice broke, and 105x’s internal translator couldn’t pick up the meaning. He looked down and saw the blood staining the front of his shirt. He pulled up the shirt and saw a long gash running from one side of the body to the other. H
uman intestines tumbled out from the cut.
The woman screamed. Others saw it and started screaming too.
He had accidentally killed the human when pulling him across the dimensional shield. The human must have been cut by one of his weapons.
Now the whole group was in a panic. Chaos was the last thing he needed.
“Dang it,” he cursed and charged at the group of humans.
Body parts scattered everywhere, and soon the forest returned to its usual tranquility.
He sat down on a rock for a short moment. Then he stood, took a deep breath, and allowed himself to indulge in his long-awaited activity—he howled and shifted into a fox.
Then he ran, sliding on the soil and jumping over rocks, tree branches, and any Earthly obstacles in his way. He ran deep into the woods. He could feel the soil underneath his pulsing paws. The tropical mist in the air absorbed into his fur. He’d missed this experience so much. He kept running.
Then his nostrils perked up. No, actually it wasn’t his senses that picked up signals, but the tracking equipment Kan had embedded in him. He sensed Lyla.
Moving in the direction of the signals, he saw an open area in the woods, and there was Gale, working on some sort of primitive equipment. At the far end of the clear space, Lyla sat, leaning on a large tree trunk, her eyes closed. 105x’s brain detected a halo of Eudaizian energy surrounding her. She must be healing herself from some sort of injury.
The tall man standing nearby, putting ammunition into his handgun, was Michael. 105x had seen him with Lyla in Xiilok on a spy screen. He was much more formidable in real life. 105x twitched his fox nose. This animal form wouldn’t help him much in fighting Michael. And there was another female creature here that he sensed wasn’t quite human, but she wasn’t a creature of the multiverse either.
None of the people he saw now showed any sign of having silver blood energy—the sort that only the top commanders in Eudaiz would have. If they had that kind of power, 105x would have to put his tails between his legs and go back to Kan as a loser.
