This World Bites (Cera Chronicles Book 1)

by Loni Townsend

  Cera Chronicles

  This World Bites

  Loni Townsend

  Chapter 1

  I IGNORED THE FINGER POKING my forehead and pretended to be asleep. Someone would eventually relent and carry me. Besides, I deserved to rest. I’d just saved us from a pit of molten lava and a fiery death.

  Something wet struck and clung to my cheek like a half-masticated glob of double-stick bubblegum.

  “What in the Realm…”

  I opened my eyes.

  Fues’s upside-down face grinned down at me. A fetid odor washed over my freshly slimed face. Probably parts of human stuck between his bleached-bone daggers of teeth.

  An uneasy feeling crept up my spine. There was something unnerving about the way his beady black eyes stared at me through the eyeholes of his wooden mask, as if I was the best cut of meat on the menu.

  I touched the moist goop on my face, and my fingers came away trailing yellowish slime. “You spat on me!” I catapulted into a sitting position and wiped frantically at the spot with my sleeve.

  Fues leapt back—his body a painted blur—and darted behind the safety of Seth’s legs. He burst into hysterical laughter. A series of clicks and guttural gibberish interjected the insane laugh. Since I didn’t understand his native language, I had no idea what he’d said, but the twisted little man clearly derived great pleasure from seeing my reaction.

  I stared at the fresh smear on my white blouse sleeve. “You frigging spat on me!”

  “It get you up,” the pygmy pointed out.

  Tribal markings scored his wooden mask with carved eyebrows set in a permanent devious expression. It looked like he’d hatched a wicked plan that was bound to end poorly for everyone involved.

  Michael, who had been sitting next to me this whole time and who could have prevented Fues’s disgusting deed, handed me a handkerchief. “It is not actually spit. I would never let him spit on you, Mistress Cera. It was the energy mix we picked up on the Labbomon world. He flung it at you with a spoon.”

  I glared at my guardian and sweetened my voice with a hefty scoop of sarcasm. “That is so much better. I may only vomit in my mouth instead of on your shoes.”

  Michael gave a small, coy smile that infuriated me further—not because I knew he was trying to manipulate me, but because it was working. Being stuck in the body of a nine-year-old made Michael somewhat sensitive around “adults” and amplified his ornery nature, honed over our five centuries of world jumping. Even so, he was adorable—complete with dimples—and he knew it.

  Seth bent to gather my backpack, and I jerked to my right to avoid being beaned in the head with the wooden staff strapped to his back. He tossed the bag over his shoulder as if it contained no more than a spare set of clothing and not the fifty plus pounds of weaponry, jewelry, and other paraphernalia I’d collected. His black hair was cropped military short, and his burnished steel gaze swept the trees and benches while he subconsciously checked the clearance of the sword on his hip.

  I eyed the bulging seams of my backpack. If we were lucky, this world would have a cure for my dad’s coma. Then we could go home for good, and not worry about overflowing luggage.

  A stench lingered in the air, foul and decaying, and this time it wasn’t Fues’s breath. Tidy rows of carved stone dotted the surrounding grass. It looked like one of those group gravesites some worlds used. At least I had landed us in a survivable, if not scenic, location—unlike the molten lava on the previous world. I’d had to freeze the area and immediately go into another transport seal. Back-to-back element and seal manipulation wasn’t easy for a mixed-blood, but I was awesome like that.

  Rin, the last member of our rag-tag expedition, walked barefoot and naked down the street, arms outstretched and face lifted toward the gleaming sun. His golden hair glittered like one of my sister’s festival dresses and reached the backs of his knees—the customary elemental length.

  I preferred short hair—easier to hide on a moment’s notice. I’d spent my childhood evading a Sovereign who wanted me dead, so I appreciated effective, quick disguises.

  “This way,” Rin said, his face as expressionless as his voice. He had the personality of a stick and his employment of decorum was at his own discretion. For example, he chose to wear clothing like another person would choose to wear a hat—he may do it, he may not. He tended to lean toward the latter.

  We followed Rin down the street, assessing the surrounding area for threats. Too often, we found ourselves running for our lives after our arrival on a new world. I stretched my fatigued muscles, curling my arms and lifting my knees as I walked. Only female elementals could cast seals, so if transporting was necessary, I needed to be ready.

  Concrete buildings rose on either side of the cracked paved road. Weeds stretched from the crevices, some reaching my knees. Discarded plastic wrappers and bits of broken glass littered the ground. Was the area abandoned?

  “Where in the worlds are we?” I asked.

  “It is called Jeryul.” Michael scribbled notes into his eternal log of destinations. “It means ‘big, hairy, flame-prone communities of low intelligence’.”

  “Ah.” I licked my lips and frowned. The elemental deities didn’t care for humans, so it was safe to assume any brutally honest name was attached to a human-populated world.

  Michael scanned the buildings, his mind busy processing the painted windows and rusted steel signs. “It looks like they use a similar variation of written language as the Declo and Hydis worlds. Should be easy enough to decipher.”

  Easy for him. I never learned how to read Declonian.

  “I want food.” I cast a wary glance at Fues from beneath lowered lashes. “And I want to know what the meat is before I eat it this time.”

  The pygmy clicked a defensive sound and gnashed the air with his teeth. Cannibal world had been one bad experience I never wished to repeat.

  Behind Fues’s wooden mask of painted ferocity was a fantastic linguist with a mind sharper than the point of his spear. But even his own people considered him eccentric on several levels.

  Of course, I couldn’t fault him for it. He was my father’s guardian. Guardians took on some of the traits of their master or mistress. And my dad…well, I wouldn’t call him stable. But we would address his mental state after we found a cure.

  A whiff of what could pass for worm-ridden rejects from a pastrami processing plant invaded my nostrils. I clamped my hand over my nose and fought back the roiling in my stomach. So much for my appetite. I stopped short as the first pair of this world’s inhabitants crossed our path.

  “So he says to me, get a life.” A woman glided alongside a suspiciously similar looking female—same outfit, same haircut, same height and facial features. “Can you believe that? I mean, how rude! Like I had any choice in the matter.”

  They almost looked human, but something was off. The speaking woman didn’t cast a shadow. Her legs weren’t moving, and her dress never shifted with her progression down the street. And I could see through her.

  The second woman reeked—clearly the source of the smell. Her once strawberry-blond hair was matted to her head with so much grime it didn’t even move. She stopped at what appeared to be a waste receptacle. Gray-tinted fingers shuffled through bits of discarded vegetation and tossed aside an occasional foil wrapper.

  “Seriously.” The first woman continued gliding, too absorbed in her rant to notice her companion had stopped. “He wasn’t worth it anyways. I’m glad he got mauled by that yeti. Serves him right for—wait, what are you…” She stopped, looked for, and found the other woman. Her mouth fell open, features contorting with appalled fascination as the second woma
n slurped a worm through pursed lips. “You must be kidding me. That is disgusting.” She bent and made retching sounds. “Oh jeez, I wish I had a stomach so I could throw up right now.”

  She lifted her gaze to meet mine. Her image wavered like heat rolling off pavement, blinking out of existence for a moment before solidifying again. Her pink sweater and pristine white dress made vague outlines on the city street backdrop. I considered waving a hand through the space she occupied to see if she was physically present, but thought it might be considered rude.

  “Please make her stop eating this trash.” Her eyes widened and she clasped her hands together beneath her chin. “They have restaurants specifically designed for people like her. Take her to one of the buffets. Then I wouldn’t be forced to watch her…her…” She shuddered and threatened another pretend upheaval. “Can you believe she hasn’t bathed in over a month? A month!”

  Yep, I believed it. I stepped backward. “Why don’t you stop her?”

  “I’ve tried. She won’t listen to me. All she does is stare, too stuck up to respond with anything but an occasional death moan. It’s as if she thinks she’s better than me because I’m the one stuck haunting her. I’d move on, really I would. But she’d be in worse condition without me and I can’t stand the thought of what else she might do to my body if I weren’t here. You don’t know the damage I’ve already suffered. Last week, she got me kicked out of the freaking pet store. We both agreed on the schnauzer. I didn’t agree with her eating it.”

  A crimson aura flared about her, and an icy chill radiated from her insubstantial location. A small puff of steam rose from my breath. “How unfortunate. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” I tried to step around her.

  She blocked my path and flailed a hand in her counterpart’s direction. “Look at what she’s done to my hair. I used to visit the salon every other week, and she hasn’t stopped by even once since I left. And fashion sense? None. Absolutely zilch. I was a trendsetter. People looked to me for advice. Me! Do you think anyone has gone to her? No one—not even once. I was the fashion goddess and the first thing she did when I left was eat a priceless snakeskin purse. I had to wait in line for hours to buy that and she ate it! I had to wait weeks to get it back and by then, I didn’t want it.”

  Fues prodded the silent woman with the butt of his spear and affected no response beyond a wheezing puff of putrid air. He shook his head and rumbled out a disappointed sigh. “No good. Meat spoiled. You no want to eat her.”

  “Thanks,” I responded dryly. “I’ll be sure to send her back to the kitchen with a complaint.” If Fues consider her inedible, she probably wasn’t human. Clearly the other woman wasn’t either. And if they weren’t human, what were they?

  The first woman noticed Seth standing a pace behind me with most of our equipment strapped to his back, and glided forward. The temperature returned to normal and she appeared to have momentarily forgotten her plague of woes. “Hey handsome. How about you and me go get a bite?”

  Seth wasn’t much for conversation. He supported the theory that keeping your mouth shut provided less space for inserting a foot later. He looked through her and narrowed his gaze on the decaying being sitting on the ground. His fingers tightened on his sword hilt.

  She waved a hand past his face when he didn’t look up. “Hello! My eyes are up here.” After receiving no response, the woman looked from him to the other woman and back again. “Men! You’re all the same, only interested in my body.”

  Michael, busy staring at the fuming woman’s conveniently eye-level cleavage, failed to notice the second woman turn a death-hungry gaze toward him. She lunged, knocking him backward and sinking her teeth into his shoulder. He let out a startled yelp and batted at her with his notebook. Seth’s sword left his scabbard, sliced through the space occupied by the transparent woman, and bisected the attacker.

  I summoned forth a column of water and blasted the nasty thing with enough force to fling the remains into a nearby tree. The translucent woman shrieked, “My body!” and ran toward the tree. She should be more grateful. Her counterpart had finally gotten a bath.

  Removing Michael’s shirt revealed oozing wounds where teeth had broken skin. An impressively long list of obscenities rolled off his nine-year-old tongue while I rinsed the wound and Seth applied balm and bandages.

  Rin placed a hand on Michael’s head. “He has contracted a disease spread by many of the occupants of this world. I would suggest he refrain from biting anyone until we determine a cure.” His inflectionless analysis derived from his ability to touch something and know its history. It was invaluable, though tedious. He could bore a cadaver to death.

  “Why would I bite anyone?” Michael snapped. “Mistress Cera, would you do me the pleasure of letting me watch you incinerate that woman? I would like to see her burn. No good, lousy, stinking, mother of a…” His voice drifted off into low muttering.

  I searched the area around the tree. The two women, or parts of the women, had disappeared. But others had taken their place. The once-empty street now held aimlessly wandering people of the same complexion as the filthy tree-bound wretch. Aimlessly wandering…closer.

  Chapter 2

  “I AM SO HUNGRY.” Michael beat his forehead against the table. The rhythmic beats on the synthetic wood rattled the plates and glasses. I grabbed my utensils before they vibrated onto the floor. He wrapped his midriff with his arms and emitted a whine that would send dogs howling. “Can they not hurry with the food?”

  “It’ll be here soon enough.” I flashed a smile in response to the disapproving glare offered by the occupant one booth over. The aged woman frowned, adding to the wrinkles framing her mouth. She turned her attention back to her food, muttering in low tones about youngsters nowadays having no patience.

  This was our second restaurant. The first one served maggot-infested specialties made with all-natural ingredients. One hundred percent organic. The dirt burger on a whole-wheat bun repulsed me, and I’d quickly made for the other side of the street, upwind of the decomposing scent of the other clientele.

  Michael apparently regretted not placing a to-go order.

  This restaurant was clean. Shaded windows dimmed the otherwise cheery interior of the small diner. Alternating black and white tiles covered the floor. Circular black discs—records, Michael called them—and images of dramatically posed humans decorated the walls. Red vinyl with silver specks clung to the skin of my legs as I shifted to study the other occupants, most of who tried not to be conspicuous while staring at Rin.

  Rin stuck out like…well, like a glowing, naked void elemental.

  A nervous mother hushed her curious daughter and placed a hand over the girl’s eyes after the child loudly proclaimed, “That man isn’t wearing clothes, mama!”

  He stared at the girl, though I knew he was mentally cataloging the reaction. Despite not having much in the way of a personality, he was extremely curious. His curiosity almost wiped out my world once. We try not to dwell on it.

  I pulled a folded sheet of paper from my jacket pocket, kept there with a jar of homemade black paint and a short-handled brush. I painted a few familiar characters—ones I had used on several occasions exactly like this. Rin took the paper without a word and the illusion of clothing shimmered across his skin.

  Power over the senses—Miasho power—stemmed from my human heritage, while the transportation seals and the ability to manipulate water and fire came from my elemental background. The former was less energy intensive, so I used it a lot. Plus, it was the best intervention to keep us from being thrown out for indecent exposure.

  The waiter strolled to the table bearing a tray filled with plates. A few strands of his slicked-back, chocolate-brown hair fell loose over his brow. His sharp nose and high cheekbones added a sexy slant to an already handsome face, and his pale skin contrasted well with eyes the color of fresh-spilled blood. He exuded confidence in the way he walked—almost borderline conceit.

  “Alright, we have one pa
rsley burger, one sweet potato shake with a tofu sandwich, three orders of cabbage fingers, a corn cake, and a bowl of beet soup.”

  I liked the way his voice drawled, and mentally tallied it as one of my favorite otherworldly accents. I batted my eyelashes. “What’s your name?”

  He grinned, showing straight white teeth and elongated bicuspids. “Duke.” He pointed to the tag attached to the front of his shirt. “And what’s yours, pretty lady?”

  Fues cut me off before I could respond. “Where is meat?” the pygmy demanded.

  Duke crinkled his nose. Even with the expression, he was no less attractive. “This is a vegan establishment. If you want meat, go buy yourself one of those dishes down the street. The wolves will sell you anything, but you never know who or what you might be eating.”

  “My name is Cera.” I glowered at Fues before turning my attention back to the handsome Duke. “You don’t eat meat?” Flirting rule number one: show interest.

  He shook his head. “I’m trying to set a trend. It’s called: eat fries, not friends. My family insists I’m going to fail, but those bloodsuckers can bite me, for all I care.”

  That explained the menu selections. Michael had translated a few options aloud, ones he thought Seth and I would like. After as many centuries as we’ve spent together, he knew our tastes. I sipped my sweet potato shake and bobbed my head in social agreement. Not half bad. The tofu sandwich was a bit wanting though. It could use dill and a touch of salt.

  Michael stared mournfully at his empty plate, having devoured the three orders of cabbage fingers in two bites. Not even crumbs remained. I shoved my shake toward him and prepared to order another.

  Fues patted Michael’s arm with a sympathetic rumble rolling from his throat. “I go get us wolf meals.” The small man hopped off his chair and scurried out the door.

  “Do you have a medical facility or practitioners on your world?” Rin asked, handing the remainder of his beet soup to Michael. Full-blood elementals didn’t need to eat to sustain life, only to replenish energy when sleep wasn’t an option. I had to eat, but Rin did so out of pure inquisitiveness. “One of your animated corpses bit our companion and he will require treatment.”