by Phil Stern
However, their intervention wasn’t necessary. The undercover sorceress merely darted to her left, grabbing George’s right fist as it whistled by her head. Slamming her left palm into the back of his right shoulder, she pulled back hard on George’s right arm at the same time. With her left foot thrust before his right leg, she then effortlessly slammed him face first onto the dirty floor. Landing with a surprised grunt, the wind was clearly knocked from his lungs.
In the stunned silence that followed, only the fluttering of the flames could be heard. No one else made a move against her. Stepping back, Caylee allowed George to struggle up to his feet, nose bleeding from a superficial scrape.
However, the young ruffian had yet to learn his lesson. “You bitch!” he snarled, raising a quivering fist once more. “I’ll kill you for this!”
“Really?” Caylee sighed. Idly swinging a finger to one side, she magically “swept” George’s legs out from underneath him. Flipping the Donlon youth several feet into the air for good measure, he crashed heavily down onto his back. “Somehow I doubt that.”
It took almost a half-menlar for George to roll back up onto all fours, then slowly arise once more. No one else said a word. Nearly choking in fury, his finger now slowly rose to point straight at Caylee. “You bitch!”
“Hey, George!” Hands raised in supplication, Grant now fully stepped between them. “We did tell you she could do magic, didn’t we?”
“Magic!” he exploded. “You dummy! That girl’s a stinking witch!”
“You don’t say?” Arms on her hips, Caylee shrugged. “Governor, do you see any wands about? Or tall black hats?”
“You are so ignorant, George!” Leyla yelled, also coming to stand before Caylee. “Having magical ability doesn’t make somebody a witch!”
“It does to me!” he snapped back, burning gaze never leaving the blonde sorceress. “That’s for certain.”
“Well guess what?” Leyla continued. “Peck’s asked everyone to watch out for magicians. Of any ability! That’s why we brought her here!”
Several more moments of awkward quiet followed, the entire group intently watching George. Realizing the mood had firmly shifted against him, he now flung out a dismissive hand in Caylee’s direction.
“Fine! But until Peck get’s back, she doesn’t leave!” Again, his finger came darting out to point right at her. “I mean it, now! If Peck says you’re all right, then you’re all right. But if you’re really some lid-loving whore, girly girl, then that’s a different story, now ain’t it?”
“Hey, what’s wrong with being a whore?” another girl called out. To Caylee’s mild surprise, this remark was also greeted with general approval.
“I mean it now,” George insisted, wiping blood from his nose. “You hear that, you witch? Don’t leave the house here until Peck says it’s all right!”
Now everyone looked at Caylee, still nonchalantly standing on the other side of Grant and Leyla. “Fine, I’ll stay here and meet Peck,” she pleasantly agreed. “That’s what I came here to do anyway.”
Once more, George display a scarred fist. “But if he says…”
“Whatever Peck says is between him and me. In the meantime, governor, I’m going to get a little grub, and then some sleep.” And so saying, Caylee sauntered around the three of them, sitting down next to Mary by the fire.
“That’s the spirit,” Mary giggled, passing her a dirty bowl of the stew merrily bubbling away over the fire. “Don’t take no gruff, Caylee, that’s what I say.”
Though her back was now to George, the young sorceress sensed him still standing there, staring down at her in growing fury. The tension in the room remained high, everyone waiting for the next move.
Her power still gathered, Caylee nonchalantly tasted a spoonful of the not-quite-passable stew. Well, if George wanted to push things further, she would just blast him across the factory. And if his neck was accidently broken in the process? Well, she seriously doubted this world would be all that much worse off. Holding up the spoon, Caylee smiled at Mary as if the stew was really good.
Fortunately for him, George decided to let things drop, at least for the moment. Grumbling his continued disapproval to anyone who might care, the Donlon roughneck merely spun about and stalked off into the deeper recesses of the old factory.
*****
Nearly exhausted, her legs and hips virtually numb from having spent so long in the saddle, Sarina studied the Lysandy settlement across the short plain.
Unlike Caylee, who’d broken up the trip with a night on the savanna, her older Coven-mate had made it here from the Boundary in a single, long day. And while Caylee’s magical trail clearly led straight into the human village, there still wasn’t even the vaguest hint of an active earth stone in the immediate area.
Indeed, the entire mission was beginning to take on something of a grim tone. Sarina’s party had been intercepted by a Coven battle hawk in the early evening, fretfully urging them onward. This was a very bad sign. Unless their sorceress was badly wounded, missing, or already dead, Caylee’s protectors would never have left her side to seek help. It was even possible that this lone bird was the sole survivor of some general disaster.
Contemplating all of this from the saddle, Sarina was relieved to finally see a strange unicorn come charging across the plain towards her. By now it was full dark, though a low-orbit moon bathed the immediate area in a shadowy, ethereal light. With her own two unicorns to either side, the sorceress simply remained in place as the uni quickly consumed the distance between them, coming to a dramatic, breathless halt some ten feet away. Whinnying a greeting, the young stallion promptly twirled about in place, urging her to continue on into the village.
Instead, Sarina dismounted to inspect the ‘corn, finding healing claw marks and other faint scars from the ronga battle. Kissing Tornado on the nose, the enchantress gave his neck a firm pat.
“You’re a brave one,” she tiredly murmured, only now realizing Tornado was virtually still a colt. Ostensibly another bad judgment call on Caylee’s part, though the unicorn seemed to have come through just fine in the clutch.
Well, she must be getting close to something. Leaping back up in the saddle, the sorceress continued on into the village itself, with Tornado impatiently leading the way.
*****
After seventy menlars spent chatting with the young people downstairs, Caylee was shown to her own sleeping area. It was an old storage room, accessed by a single door off the creaky gangway running around the rectangular interior of the third floor. Musty and dirty, there was a single cot set up in the corner.
Still, it suited the exhausted sorceress just fine. The one door sported a heavy iron bolt, which a minor spell would render virtually impregnable. And the smallish window was far too high up for any mundane intruder to access from the outside, yet would make a convenient escape hatch should any disaster strike the factory itself. All in all, not a bad setup.
Of course, Caylee knew that she was being held prisoner here. Oh, after George left everyone had been quite friendly, excitedly talking of the “revolution” and new “people’s government” soon to come. Yet her ultimate approval still obviously hinged on the mysterious Peck. Should he decide that Caylee was actually an agent of the hated lords, she supposed, then things might indeed get sticky.
Not that she was terribly worried either way. Magical ability in Donlon was virtually non-existent, and even if this Peck proved difficult, no one could actually stop her from just leaving. True, having a place to stay for a few days would be nice, but the city streets didn’t pose much real danger. The inept bobbies seemed to be the only organized force, while the lords themselves were surely nothing more than lazy aristocrats. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a drop of real personal power in the entire dimension.
Indeed, at the end of the day, the grand “underworld” of Lysandy lore was just an ultra low-tech, functionally-mundane backwater. Rife with poverty and class warfare, the only thing ever
yone seemingly had in common was the systematic abuse of refugees from other worlds. Even the street crew downstairs thought themselves far superior to the unfortunate “danders,” bragging of various insults routinely hurled their way.
Really, it was amazing that Donlon hadn’t fallen into complete chaos by now. And for that matter, how could this one city have come to dominate much of the planet? From what she understood, this was actually the capital of some far-flung empire. Sometimes, things just didn’t make much sense.
Moodily sitting on the edge of the cot, she idly conjured a few croissants. Appearing in a sedate burst of earth fire, the pastries demurely sat within an expensive gold basket lined with a fine linen cloth.
Rolling her eyes, the sorceress picked up one of the light, buttery rolls. She hadn’t intended to dress up her snack in such grandiose fashion, but there you go. Sometimes magic had a mind of it’s own.
But how did that work? Had Caylee’s earth stone somehow encountered a similar basket and cloth in the past, retaining the configuration for future use? Or had she subconsciously pictured the basket and cloth, the magical talisman merely picking the image from her own brain? Either way, did that mean an earth stone, unknown to it’s sorceress, actually exercised a certain amount of discretion in carrying out her wishes?
Thoughtfully taking an initial bite, the young magician let out a deep sigh. Right now, she didn’t really care. Locked in this old, dirty room, momentarily safe within an inherently cruel world, such existential issues didn’t seem all that important.
Boy, this croissant was good, though. Especially after that dreary, patchwork meal downstairs. Crinkling her nose at the recent memory of Mary’s stew, she gratefully stuck her nostrils deep into the French treat and inhaled. Croissants even smelled really nice. No wonder Tornado liked them so much.
At the thought of her unicorn, the sorceress felt a little sad. After a long, hard day apart, she really missed her animal friends back in Lysandy. Well, a day or two more apart wouldn’t hurt, and then…
Without warning, there was a distinct magical pop from the corner. Something had breached her defenses, and was now in the small room with her.
Leaping up, Caylee instinctively erected a strong magical shield around herself, earth stone surging with vast reserves of additional power. Clearly, there wasn’t time to remove the old window frame and leap to safety. With confrontation her only option, the magical warrior yanked a broken chair out of the way, fist raised to strike.
But almost as quickly, the utterly stunned sorceress froze in place. For standing in the corner, nearly quivering in fright, was a very familiar tiger cub. Eyes going wide at Caylee’s militant stance, she let out a loud whimper.
“Pend!” Caylee cried out, letting her fist drop to her side. “By the stone, how did you get here?”
Dashing across the few steps between them, the tiger princess eagerly barreled into Caylee’s legs. I’ve found you! she cried out. Why did you leave me like that?
“Leave you?” Half thrown back against the cot, Caylee just let herself drop onto the dirty sheets. “Pend, I had to go to another dimen…uh, I place, I mean, and…”
Yeah, and I had to swim after you! Retreating a step, Pend’s rear end truculently plopped down into a sitting position, her wildly expressive face falling into a deep frown. And I hate swimming!
“So you swam after me?” Leaning forward to throw her arms around the miffed cat, she gave a careful squeeze. “Under water and then up into the lake?”
Yes! It was very wet and cold.
“And you’ve been here since then?” Caylee had almost forgotten how warm and cuddly the tiger cub was. “In the city?”
Yuck! Irritably twisting from Caylee’s grasp, it was now Pend’s turn to crinkle up her nose in feline disgust. I don’t like it here, she pertly announced. It’s very smelly, and we should go home.
“We will, I promise.” Idly stroking the cub’s head, the young blonde unsuccessfully tried to imagine the magical cub running around Donlon. “Pend, what have you been doing all day? How did you stay out of sight?”
Hanging out in the woods, mostly. Rumbling in discontent, Pend twirled about in a frustrated feline circle. Which got boring.
“The woods? You mean the park with the lake?”
Stopping mid-twirl, Pend rolled her eyes in frustration. The woods! With the trees! Which was actually much nicer than all these rude people and square, sharp rocks!
“Pend, those are called cobblestones, and they’re not designed for…”
Did you know, the princess haughtily announced, that the villagers here are very, very mean? And stupid! Why, they routinely leave broken glass on their boring square rocks, which I actually stepped on!
“Look, this world isn’t meant for tigers. Especially royal ones.” Letting out a deep sigh, Caylee held out a hand, palm up. “Now let me see your injured paw.”
Absurdly long tail twitching back and forth, Pend shifted her weight to one side before holding up her left front paw. A little magic easily drew out the tiny shard of glass, with a conjured compress cleaning and disinfecting the wound.
Better, Pend finally pronounced, giving the unwary sorceress a big lick across the cheek. Can we go now?
“Soon. But Pend, this is important. Did anyone see you?” Mind racing, the sorceress uneasily touched her earth stone. “Or chase you?”
One little boy, the tiger princess conceded. I thought maybe he wanted to play.
“So what happened?”
Pend did her version of a tiger shrug, restlessly pacing about the tiny room. Well, he pet me, which was good. But then his unruly mother shrieked at me. A royal princess! Can you believe that?
Actually, Caylee could. “And then?” she gently prompted.
Well, this rude villager mother carried on so much I had to go! Sitting back once more, propped up on her oversized cub paws, Pend did her best to give Caylee a resentful stare. She wasn’t very respectful. Or nice.
It was too much. Giggling, Caylee leaned back on the cot, elbows propped behind her. “Pend, the humans here aren’t villagers, like you’re used to. The boy’s mother didn’t know who you were! Why, the poor woman must have thought you were going to eat him!”
What! Amazed alarm burst across the juvenile feline face. I’d never harm anyone! I just wanted to play.
“But she didn’t know that! And no one knows you’re a princess here. Can’t you see that?”
Eyes falling into a half-hooded scowl, Pend’s long tail again swished back and forth. That’s a mean thing to say.
“It’s not mean. It’s just the truth.”
Humph. First pretending to look away, Pend suddenly leapt up on the cot with the young human. Caylee allowed herself to be fully shoved down, the perplexed cat now staring right down into her eyes. You’re not mad, are you? That I followed you here?
“I’m not mad, but it is a bit of a complication.” Stroking Pend’s soft face, the sorceress then gave her a good scratch behind the ear. “So you found me by smell, I take it? And then just teleported here?”
Yup. Quite pleased with herself, Pend fully leaned into the scratching. I’m good at that sort of thing.
Caylee had to briefly turn away, coughing on cat fur. Clearly, the Lysandy cats were more magical, and adaptable, than she’d ever dreamed. “In one shot?”
No, it took several jumps, the tiger princess admitted. And I might have, um, scared a few more people along the way.
Inwardly groaning, Caylee imagined a seventy-five pound tiger suddenly appearing on a street corner, getting her bearings and teleporting away again, all while stunned locals ran in fright. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that. The question now is how to get you back to your own world.”
You want me to go? Pend wistfully tumbled down beside her human on the tiny cot. Feet propped against the wall, she vigorously rubbed her back against Caylee’s side. But I want to stay with you!
“Well, you can’t. At least not here.” Nea
rly shoved off the cot entirely by the squirming tiger, Caylee slid over as far as she could, half hanging off the edge. “The only problem is that sneaking you down to the lake again may be difficult.”
The lake? Leaping up again on the narrow bed, the cub irritably swiped at some dust on her nose. I don’t want to swim again!
Caylee wearily sat up on the shaking cot’s edge, feet on the floor, facing away from Pend. “Well, I don’t see any other options.”
Of course there is! Emphasizing her point, a furry tiger face firmly slammed into Caylee’s back. I can just go back to Lysandy on my own.
“Really?” Thoughtfully looking over her shoulder, Caylee let a moment pass. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Uh! It’s so dirty here! Pend now buried her face in the musty sheets, vigorously rubbing away. How do you humans stand this?
“No…Pend, listen to me! Don’t get distracted.” Fully standing up, the sorceress turned and looked down at the tiger, trying to hold her attention. “Are you saying you can just teleport home?”
With a final exhale into the covers, Pend sat up and began vigorously grooming her face with a huge front paw. Of course I can
“All the way back to Lysandy? Across dimensions?”
Huh? What’s a dimension?
“A dimension is a…well, don’t worry about that. What I’m asking is…”
Look! the cub mentally bellowed. Leaping up against the wall, standing only on her rear legs, Pend excitedly batted at a spider near the ceiling. I can get it!
“Hey! Stop that!” Casting a quick spell, Caylee muffled the sudden cat whimpers and loud banging surely emanating around the cavernous factory. “Pend, don’t worry about the spider.”
But it’s going to get away! With a final stretch and swipe, Pend lost her balance completely, thumping down to the dirty floor in a mass of paws and swishing tail. For his part, the irate spider scampered into the center of the ceiling, then up into a crack out of sight.
