by Serena Rose
“Oh no, little girl. We’ve been playing cat and mouse for far too long. There’s nothing you can say that will delay --”
“Let them go.”
He did stop at that and his eyes went wide in amusement. “Pardon me?”
“Let them go. Take just Myrik and I.”
“Myrik.”
“The dying dragon.”
“Mercedes, what are you doing?” The Advisor growled.
“What kind of shit deal is that?” Perin shot back.
“I can make it worth your while.”
“Look, you may be cute, but you could have the world’s most magical vagina and I wouldn’t-”
“I can open a portal to another world!”
That stopped him dead in his mid-rejection, and he looked at me for what had to be at least a solid half minute of silence. “Repeat that again.”
“I…can I reach into my bag? I can show you.” He held up his hand for the archer to hold their fire, and I shakily fumbled with my battered messenger bag. Somehow, I managed to pull my abuela’s journal from the bottom without bursting into tears, and I held it up for him to see. “I don’t really understand it, but I think together that we could work it out. She has a lot of stuff in here about how to hop worlds.”
“I don’t believe you,” He said, eyes so trained on the cover of the aged book it was like I wasn’t even there. I was struck again by how he could be any number of boys I had hung out with in college. “You’re bluffing.”
“Here, let me open it.” I held it flat then offered him my hand. “I need you to cut me.”
“What?”
“It’s a blood thing. Do you have a blade?”
“I… no.”
“Ask one of your men for their swords.”
“You have to think I am the dumbest man to ever walk this earth.”
“I’m serious!” I cried, tears now falling freely down my cheeks. “Maybe Myrik and I are doomed but I will do anything to save the rest of them. Let them go.”
“You do realize that they’ll ultimately die in the end anyway?”
“Please,” I whimpered. “Just get a blade.”
He let out an aggravated shout, but then called for one of the men to drop down a weapon. The sheath landed a few feet away and Perin stalked over to it before whipping the sword out.
My heart skipped a beat as the light glanced off the impeccably polished blade. He approached me much too quickly, then held it out. “Here.”
I looked from him, to the blade before standing as straight and tall as I could. “Promise to me you’ll free them!”
“Not until you prove to me that this is worth my time.”
“Promise me!”
“Alright, fine, fine. If you can open a portal for me, not only will I leave your friends be, but I’ll hop right out of this world to never return again. There. Does that make you happy?”
I nodded then pressed my pinky against the edge of the sword.
“That’s it, your little finger?”
“Yeah,” I retorted, not knowing where I found the strength to verbally bite back at this mass murderer. “Did you think I would cut the palm of my hand? There are a lot of important nerves and vessels there. And keep holding the blade.”
“Don’t worry, I planned on it.”
I snorted derisively, but forced myself to keep going. I let the blood welling up from my finger drip onto the strange blade-lock on the side of the journal, then pulled the sharp point out. Quickly, I flipped to the exact page I was looking for.
To answer the call, blood is required. Spill the red from the anchor of that world, sharp and aged.
“See, this is it!” He leaned in but I quickly snapped it shut. “Let my friends go.” I reminded him. “Tell your men to stand down.”
“What’s to stop me from having them shot down the moment you finish showing me all this?”
“I guess we’re just going to have to trust each other.”
“That’s a terrible idea, really, but if you insist.” Another gesture and all the dozens of bolts trained on us lowered. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief that I probably shouldn’t of, then opened it once more. Like I knew he would, Perin leaned closer.
One can use a mirror, but risks destruction of themselves should the glass come to hand.
Water is best, with its ripples and constant force.
It will carry you there, and everywhere.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Quicker than I had ever moved in my life, I grabbed his wrist before driving the long, pointed end of the book-lock into my arm.
“It means we’re about to take one hell of a trip!”
The reaction was instantaneous, even the archers were unable to raise their arrows back up before a massive burst of light erupted from the blade in Perin’s hand. We both screamed as invisible hands grasped us, violently pulling us in.
I watched as Perin’s body distorted and warped in its influence. His body allowed me a momentary reprieve to fall to the earth and latch onto Myrik’s arm before the pull became irresistible.
And then, like water swirling around the drain, we were sucked into the blade.
CHAPTER NINE
Although I had been through this once before, the journey was just as jarring. I was spinning, tumbling, churning through a realm that seemed like it existed and yet didn’t at the same time. Time didn’t exist, making everything feel too surreal for me to function.
My body scattered itself across a span that I couldn’t possibly comprehend. I should have been dead. Was I dying? Was I even alive? And it was so full of these fractions, fissures and quandaries that I slammed into something solid and hard.
I groaned as I slowly pushed myself up. It was dark, almost colorless, and it took several seconds for me to realize that was because I had crashed into asphalt.
“Myrik?” I gasped, trying to get to my knees.
There was a groan not too far away from me, and I crawled to the dragon’s side. “What did you do?” He hissed, blood leaking from his mouth.
“Saving your life.” I answered. “While not a part of the plan, I thought you’d appreciate my adaption.”
“You bitch!”
I whirled, having completely forgotten that I hadn’t just brought a friend along. Perin was running at me, raising the sword above his head to bring down right onto me.
He never got quite that far, however.
He was still a step or two away from me when he stumbled back, screeching in pain. When he looked up, parts of his face here cracking and sloughing away, like charcoal blowing off of an ember.
“What’s happening?” he screamed, eyes filled with murder.
“Didn’t you read the book?” I asked, standing to face with this man who had killed so many for his own self-interest. “You can use a mirror to travel between worlds, but you’re not supposed to touch the glass.”
The man seized and fell onto his back, and I saw small beams of orange energy start to punch out of his middle. Perhaps I should have felt sorry for him as he screamed and writhed, but all I felt was a mild sort of satisfaction. “There was no mirror!”
“No, but I figured the rule would work with anything super reflected, and I remembered from my time in the palace how ardently Julian insisted on all of his men keeping their royalty-issues supplies in top notch condition.”
“You-” Another scream of pain. “You planned this! All of it!”
I crouched down over his body. His face was almost non-human now, consumed by the burning-whatever that was still ricocheting around the rest of his vital organs. “Guess I did. It turned out pretty well, I would say.”
“How… how could you have…”
I pulled my fist back and slammed it right into his stupid nose. His face crumpled at that, cracking like a too-ripe melon, and he erupted into a shower of sparks. “Guess you’re not as unpredictable as you thought you were.”
Not that I was in the line of vanquishing my foes i
n a flurry of light, but I would have liked a moment to gloat. However, life was having none of that when I heard Myrik gurgling frantically.
Running to him, I rolled him onto his side. “Hold on, okay? It’s going to be fine, I promise!”
“Where are we?” He fought to get out, making my heard ache when it should have been celebrating our big triumph.
“My home.”
“I do not understand.”
“No, but you will. Just trust me, I’ll be right back, okay?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
I got the feeling that he was trying to be funny in what could be his last moments, but I didn’t have time to laugh. Although it felt like the absolute wrong thing to do, I bolted as fast as I could towards the end of the empty parking lot. There had to be a road there, right?
My lungs burned and I was gasping for air as I sprinted, but it was all worth it as I vaulted over the parking-bar and onto a two-lane street. I looked both ways before figuring I had a fifty-fifty shot and took off to my right.
For each second that passed, I was sure that Myrik was dying, alone and cold in a world that was not his own. I let that fuel me, and flew faster than I ever thought I would.
When headlights bobbed in the distance, my first thought was to get out of the road. But I couldn’t risk them driving past. I stood there, waving my arms with blood running down my hand. They were either going to run me down or stop them, goddammit.
Thankfully, they chose the former, slamming on their breaks. Almost as soon as they stopped, a middle-aged man burst out. “Oh my god, are you alright?”
“No!” I cried, feeling a new wave of tears burst out again. “Someone attacked me and my friend! Please, he’s bleeding in this parking lot over here! They ran off when I screamed.”
“Hold on honey, let me call nine one-one.”
Another man leaned out of the driver’s side. “Hey honey, how about you get into the car and you tell us how to get to your friend?”
Normally I knew it was not a good idea to hop into a car with strange men, but with everything that I had been through in the past few months, any sort of danger they posed to me seemed hilarious.
I jumped in and was treated to an impeccably clean little sedan where the back seat was plastered with dozens of rainbow stickers. It was such an innocuous thing, but it was so intrinsically home that I couldn’t stop the sob that escaped my throat.
“It’s okay, honey.” The passenger said, jumping back into the car with his phone pressed to his cheek. “Hi, yes, I’ve got a girl here who’s bleeding and she says her friend is laying on his own bleeding out.”
The was a beat of silence. “Yeah, I’m a volunteer EMT. We’re gonna try to stabilize him.” He pushed at the driver’s arm, gesturing for him to get the car going. “Of course, I’m staying on the phone. This isn’t my first day, you know.”
I sat back, feeling a strange mix of relieved, hopeful and powerless. The fate of one of the men I loved was hanging on a thread, and he might even be dead by the time we reached him.
That thought broke my heart, and I could only put my head down and wait.
It was out of my hands now.
The driver pulled into the parking lot and raced to the back before pulling beside Myrik’s body. I launched myself out of the car and was relieved when I could still hear his breath rasping between his lips.
“I’m here Myrik, I’m here!”
He groaned, unable to speak, but the sound gave me hope that he would survive.
“Alright, where’s all this blood coming from? Help me get these clothes off. You got any scissors, babe?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but it was the driver who answered. “Let me check our first aid kit.”
“You sit back, darling.” The guy on the phone said. “Your friend is in good hands.”
I did as he said, and everything started to catch up with me. The day’s ride, the rescue, creating the portal and running for the car, I suddenly felt the world start to slip away from me and my breathing slowed.
I slid onto my belly, my head growing heavy, but I reached out for Myrik’s hand. His eyes rested on mine, and slowly, painfully slowly, his fingers pressed through mind. I held his gaze until his eyes closed and I felt mine go soon after him.
I could only hope that when I was conscious again, he would be too.
*
I knew the smell of the hospital before I even opened my eyes. There’s was a very specific, over-sanitized yet stale smell of every single medical building I had been in. I opened my eyes, and saw that I was in a shared room with a curtain drawn around my bed.
I sat there stupidly for several beats, trying to get my body to move, before I managed to find the call-button buried in my hospital blankets. I pressed it repeatedly, until a nurse’s voice sounded.
“We’ll be right there,” she said simply.
Less than a few seconds later a portly woman hurried in, a pleasant smile plastered on her face. “Hey there, darling. Glad to see you’re awake now.”
“How long have I been out?” I asked.
“Only a few hours. I know you’re probably very curious, darling, but there’s just some information I need. You didn’t have any ID on you so we haven’t been able to pull up your medical records. Can you tell me who you are?”
“Oh, yeah.” I quickly rattled off my name and some important details.
“Thank you darling, and any medical allergies we need to know right away?”
“N-no.” I sat up and my body groaned a bit.
“Careful there, you need to take it slow.”
“My friend.” I gasped. “Is he alright?”
“Sorry, I can’t discuss that with you sweetie, but I’ll ask the doctor if you would be able to visit him.” She smiled sweetly at me and checked the monitors hooked up to me, and my IV bag. “But I can tell you that your babies are fine.”
“Babies?” I asked, my voice cracking.
Her eyes went wide for a moment. “Oh goodness, that wasn’t a surprise to you, was it?”
“No, I knew, I just… wasn’t certain. But they’re alright? They’re… normal looking?”
“Well, I don’t know what you mean by normal, but they are healthy and don’t seem too stirred up by what happened to you two.” She paused for a moment. “Speaking of what happened, do you think you’re ready to speak to the police? Both of you looked like you had a pretty bad night.”
I shook my head. “Uh, no. Not yet, sorry.”
She approached my bed and gently patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell them you still need rest. I’ll tell you what the doctor says as soon as I can get a hold of them. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“I, uh… my stuff? Can I have my stuff?”
“Oh yes, I’ll see if the police have finished photographing it. You just rest for now, alright?”
I nodded and settled back, but my mind would not stop whirring. For some reason, I didn’t feel safe. Everything in my mind was telling me that this was not the end of the story where the happy ending rolled in and everyone skipped into the sunset while holding hands.
I needed to find Myrik.
I waited for a while, however, making sure there wasn’t going to be any sort of surprise visit by the nice lady nurse. Once I was sure I was strong enough to get up and go, I slid out of bed, pulling my IV stand along.
I peeked out into the hall and was surprised to see it was midday. I suppose that made sense considering I must have arrived during the middle of the night. But it being busy was probably going to work to my advantage. I shuffled out, and joined the flow of patients who were up and milling about.
Now… how on earth was I supposed to find Myrik? I didn’t even know what branch of the hospital I was in, let alone how many floors there were or if he was in some sort of treatment. What if he was still in surgery? The nurse’s words had made it seem like that wasn’t the case, but what if I had misinterpreted w
hat she meant?
I pressed myself against the wall, trying to think of some way around this rather mundane hurdle. Looking around, I tried to spot someone who could help that wasn’t my nurse or someone who was overly concerned in making sure I went back to my room.
My eyes landed on a man dressed in scrubs who was pushing a trolley full of supplies. Perfect!
I rushed forward as fast as I could, given I was dragging my IV stand behind me.
“Excuse me,” I murmured, waving to him shyly. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m a bit turned around. I’m trying to find my friend, he just got out of surgery?” That was a guess, but it made sense to me. The guy had probably a dozen deep puncture wounds from the arrows yet no arrows to be found. I was guessing that they had disappeared somewhere in our jump between worlds.
The man nodded and pointed down the hall. “All the way down to the blue elevator. Hit the second-floor button, then turn right immediately out the door. The nurse at that desk will be able to help you further.”
“Thanks! Thank you so much!” I raced off, again slowed down quite a bit by my metal pole friend I was lugging around. My heard was racing again, but I was determined. I hadn’t come all this way, defeated my enemy and saved Myrik’s life just to lose him in a maze of identical rooms and sanitized equipment.
As the elevator doors closed in front of me, I tried to control my breathing. It wouldn’t do to have a passing medical attendant thinking I was in need of assistance and then start asking questions.
Waiting for the elevator to get where I was going was torture. Every single floor we stopped at had multiple people getting on, and multiple people getting off, and more often than not, there was a wheelchair being maneuvered in between all the bodies.
When it finally, finally stopped at the floor I needed, I nearly ran out muttering ‘excuse me’ about fifteen different times.
The directions the man gave to me were fairly apt, and I found the station only a few moments later. “Excuse me, Miss?”
A nurse looked up at me and an instant look of suspicion shot across her face. “Do you need help? Where is your escort? You’re not supposed to be wandering around alone.”
