by Cate Farren
“What is the Scale Empire?”
“Shifters of the cold-blooded variety – weresnakes, weresaurs, weredragons. Nasty and vicious, the lot of them.”
We had weresnakes on my world, though I’d never met any. Weredragons had been made extinct during the shapeshifter wars. I had to admit I was a little excited to know there was such a thing as dinosaur shifters.
The other me grinned, despite the snow pelting her in the face. “Weresaurs aren’t as exotic as you might think. They’re old and ancient and wicked to the core. Pray you never meet one.”
We continued through the snow, now a raging blizzard, for another ten minutes before we finally reached her camp. It was a simple collection of six tents around a central fire pit. The bones of a pig were left by the unlit fire, which Essian couldn’t help but sniff at.
The other me led me into the red tent, which was slightly larger than the others. There was nobody in it, which seemed to surprise her. The sleeping bags on the ground seemed to be unslept in.
“That’s odd,” she said. “I saw people wandering around from up the mountain.”
“So did I,” I admitted.
We checked the other tents, finding no signs of life. Something must have driven them off in the last half an hour, and we hadn’t seen or heard it because of the thickness of the blizzard.
“Damn it,” the other me complained, heading back to the red tent again. Inside she screamed in frustration. “What happened to them? Could the Dorians or the Scale Empire have found us?”
“Are the Dorians with the Scale Empire?” I asked.
“Not that I know of,” she said. She sank to the floor. “If anything has happened to them…”
“There wasn’t any blood or signs of fighting. It seems to me that they left of their own accord.”
“They wouldn’t just abandon me.”
She seemed to know ‘them’ better than I did, so I didn’t say anything else. For now, I was just glad to get out of the cold. The temperature was certainly a lot cooler here than back on my Earth.
***
For the next hour the other me tried a host of spells to try and contact her friends. None of them worked. She said the snow was affecting her magic. It worked against me when I tried to perform a spell too. I didn’t understand how this could happen.
“This isn’t a regular storm,” said the other me, standing up. She seemed genuinely terrified. “This is a magical snow storm, meant to stop us from using magic.”
“That’s a new one to me,” I confessed.
She started to pace, annoying me. We should be trying to find a way out of here instead of staying in the warmth, doing nothing.
“We need to go,” I insisted.
“There isn’t a hint of civilisation for hundreds of miles in all directions!” she raged. “There’s nowhere to go!”
I wasn’t about to give up that easily. I pulled Circe’s necklace from my pocket and hung it around my neck. It glowed briefly as it touched my skin, making me feel all tingly.
“This will enhance my power,” I explained. “Maybe I can use it to create a portal and teleport us somewhere else. What about Chapel Green in Maine? Have you a place like that here?”
The other me nodded. “We do. But do you think you can get us there? This is a very powerful storm.”
I wasn’t sure, but I had to try. I didn’t fancy being stuck out here for the rest of my life.
Essian barked and ran up to me. He seemed agitated.
“They’re coming for us,” said the other me. “Prepare yourself.”
I ignored her, concentrating on trying to create a portal. I felt the power of the storm ripping at me, sapping me of my magic, but I pushed back harder until my magic started to work and a portal appeared.
“Jump in!” I shouted. “Quickly!”
The other me hesitated before jumping into the portal. Essian and I were about to join her when the portal fizzled shut. I screamed in rage, attempting to recreate it again, but I was spent. I wouldn’t be able to summon such magical energy for a good while.
What do I do?
I heard a roar outside. I assumed it was the wind tearing through the valley and continued to think up a plan. I couldn’t stay here. The other me had enemies that were coming for her, for me. If I stayed here I would die and my quest would remain unfulfilled and my descendants would suffer.
The fox yipped again, running around in circles, giving me a look as if to say, “Hurry up.” I tried but it was no use. I couldn’t create another portal.
There was another roar from outside. This time I knew with certainty that it wasn’t the wind. It sounded like a monstrous creature, howling for blood. It reminded me of the sound effects used on films for dinosaurs and dragons.
A weredragon.
I wiped the fascinated grin off my face and made my way out of the tent. Essian followed. I searched the skies but couldn’t see anything because of the snow. I wasn’t sure where to go or what to do, but I had to do something.
I ran.
***
The magical storm had a wide reach. I estimated I must have travelled for at least an hour and still it wasn’t letting up. Hard snow battered my body, making my face feel numb from the cold. The packed snow under my feet was getting thicker to push through, slowing me down even further. I even had to pick up Essian and hold him in my arms because he couldn’t lurch through the snow himself.
“We’re not going to get through this, are we?” I asked him.
He whined a little and blinked a few times. I hoped I could lead us both through this. I’d never forgive myself if I allowed Circe’s best friend to die in such an inhospitable place.
Something roared above me. I looked up to witness a dark shape gliding through the sky, partially obscured by the snow. I hoped it couldn’t see me. I hoped.
“What do I know of weredragons?” I mused.
I didn’t know a single thing. They were extinct on my world so I saw no reason to learn about them. The only things of interest I knew about dragons were from fairy tales and movies. Dragons were big. They were ferocious. They breathed fire. I assumed weredragons were the same. The fairy tales had to be based on something, right?
“We’re in deep shit,” I mumbled, slogging along. I was about to say something else when I tripped and found myself plunging into the snow, unable to breathe.
Shit. Shit.
Essian pulled himself away from me, yowling in panic. I managed to get to my feet again, only to fall backward. I considered just lying there, letting the snow bury me.
“No,” I whispered. “If I die then my family dies. I have to carry on.”
I used all my strength to pull myself to my feet. My legs ached from marching through the thick snow, but I ignored it. I’d endured far worse pain in my life.
***
An hour later the thick snow started to thin out. I started to feel I could breathe properly again as my magic began to slowly return. Soon I’d be able to follow the other me and we could formulate a plan. Dorian wouldn’t escape from me this time.
The ground shook behind me, and I heard another roar. I looked down at Essian, nestled in my arms, and I ran, stumbling and almost falling, but I persevered. I wasn’t going to allow a weredragon to kill me, not when I was so close to my goal.
I saw a cave entrance up ahead. I grinned and made for it, hoping I could get myself lost inside. I needed a place to concentrate and create another portal. I couldn’t do that out here. I was sure now I could use the extra magic provided by the necklace to help me escape, even though the magical storm hadn’t fully dissipated. I had to at least try.
Another roar behind me stopped me just as I was about to enter the cave. I could hear loud breathing, feel the heat of something on the back of my neck.
“Stay where you are,” a deep voice ordered.
I didn’t dare look around, for fear I’d stare in awe at the dragon. It was my enemy, not a fascinating creature for me to gawp at.
<
br /> I ignored the order, rushing for the cave. I expected a gust of fire to incinerate me at any moment, but no attack came. When I reached the mouth of the cave I used a tiny rush of magic to propel me forward into the darkness.
“Stop!” the dragon ordered again. “Stop!”
I pulled myself to my feet, heading farther into the cave system. I had no idea where I was going, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to be staying here very long anyway. I only hoped the dragon was too big to follow me.
***
After ten minutes of heading down passages and through cave systems I stopped. It was pitch black, and so I lit a small ball of fire and stuck it on the wall. Essian was sniffing around my feet, looking for something. He snapped up some sort of insect off the floor and ate it.
“I’m hungry too,” I admitted.
I wish I’d brought food with me. I was starving.
I sat down cross-legged, feeling the magic in my body. The storm wasn’t affecting me any more.
“Keep watch,” I asked the fox. “I’m going to get us out of here.”
I created a portal almost immediately. Essian leaped into it without a second thought. I grinned and followed, finding myself thrown instantly into the town that I hadn’t seen since the day I abandoned my daughter.
I stood up as the portal vanished behind me. It was night in the town square and nobody was around, though there was some sort of klaxon screaming through the air. It reminded me of the air raid sirens from World War II. Even now that sound created a sense of panic in me, making me think back to the Luftwaffe raids on London. It hadn’t been a good time.
“Where to first?” I asked.
Essian looked up at me. His wise eyes seemed to hold so much. I knew he understood every word I said.
I headed down the sidewalk toward Main Street, the white fox by my side, figuring the sheriff’s station was my best bet. That’s if they had a sheriff’s station. The town looked the same, though I couldn’t be sure how different the place really was. For all I knew nobody lived here, or the place was populated by Fey. The other me hadn’t really been forthcoming on much of anything really.
I’m a complete idiot. I should have stayed at home.
“Other me!” a voice echoed. “Stay where you are!”
I turned to see the other me racing toward me. She was followed by a group of soldiers wearing similar black leather clothes as she was. They were all carrying rifles and they were all witches.
I waited for her to catch up to me before saying, “Are you okay?”
She sighed and said, “I was worried. What happened? What took you so long to get here?”
“I couldn’t perform any magic,” I explained. The witch guard eyed me with suspicion. “I had to travel outside of the magical storm before I could open another portal. And I had a damn weredragon pursuing me as well. I barely got away with my life.”
“It was the weredragon that created the storm,” the other me explained. “It must have been Gloria. She’s an ice dragon and she can control certain icy weather conditions.”
I’d heard of witches that could control the weather, but not weres. The weredragons of this world sounded ultra powerful. I was glad I’d gotten away when I could. Yet the voice of the dragon following me didn’t sound female. It had sounded male. Perhaps this Gloria just had a deep voice for a woman?
“Come on,” said the other me. “Let’s get you some food. You look starving.”
One of the witch soldiers stepped up to me. He pointed his rifle in my face. I wasn’t impressed.
“Not so fast,” he said. “I don’t trust her.”
“She’s fine, Remus,” the other me said.
Remus laughed. “I don’t trust anyone. Not until I know them inside and out.”
Before I had a chance to object, the witch guards were grabbing my arms. Essian yapped, but he was ignored. I considered trying to fight my way free, but there were too many of them.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked.
Remus grinned. “We’re going to interrogate you.”
Chapter 4
“Do you work for the Scale Empire?”
I shook my head. He’d asked me that same question over and over again for the past two days straight. I was starting to wish he’d torture me, just to relieve the boredom.
“Do you work for the Scale Empire?”
When I wasn’t being asked this asinine question I had my own cell. It had a bed and a toilet bowl and it was quite comfortable. They fed me and even gave me books. They weren’t cruel. They were quite nice in fact. Perhaps they hoped to make me spill my secrets by suffocating me with kindness?
“Do you work for the Scale Empire?”
I hadn’t seen the other me since I’d been locked up. I asked to see her but they said she wasn’t in the facility any more. I knew they were lying. Sometimes I could hear her voice, shouting outside. I had a feeling she was having as much trouble getting to me as I was to her.
“Do you work for the Scale Empire?”
I had a collar around my neck that negated my magic. It was very uncomfortable, like having a noose wrapped around my throat twenty-four-seven. I hated being cut off from my magic. It was like having a limb removed.
“Do you work for the Scale Empire?”
Occasionally I heard Essian yipping. I hoped he wasn’t being tormented too. I had a feeling his bark was a lot worse than his bite.
“Do you work for the Scale Empire?”
My interrogator, Remus, leaned against the wall of the interview room, a small cube-shaped space with a table, two chairs and a barred window. It was cold and drafty, but they’d given me a blanket to wrap myself in.
Remus studied me for a moment, and I took the time to study him. He was mixed race like myself, maybe half-Chinese and half-European, maybe Italian. If they had an Italy on this world. It gave his skin a soft caramel tint to it that I myself found very attractive. He was tall, with a buzz cut and thick stubble. His nose had been broken one too many times and his lips were dry and cracked.
“So what brings you to Chapel Green?” he asked.
I was so shocked by the alternate question that I couldn’t help but sigh with relief. Maybe he was finally taking the hint that I wasn’t involved with the Scale Empire.
“Hasn’t she already told you?” I said enigmatically.
I heard Remus yip again. He didn’t sound like he was in pain, but it still unnerved me.
“She has, but I want to hear if from you,” Remus explained.
“I don’t work for the Scale Empire,” I stated emphatically. “And I’m here to kill someone. Not you, by the way. At least not yet.”
“So you are from another Earth?”
I nodded my head, wondering why the reason for the sudden change in tactics. He must have known I wasn’t a spy for his enemy all along. He was probably bored and needed someone to torment.
“And they have no Scale Empire there?” he asked.
“Not that I know of,” I said. “I mean we have the odd weresnake, but weredragons went extinct a long time ago. As for weresaurs…I don’t think they ever actually evolved on my Earth.”
His voice was awestruck. “It sounds like a utopia.”
Perhaps it did for someone who’d been involved in such a long and bloody war. My Earth wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was paradise compared to some of the places I’d been.
He sighed again and walked over to me. I flinched, thinking that maybe he was going to start using physical threats. He pressed his thumb against the collar around my neck and it vanished. I sighed with pleasure as my magic poured back into body.
“That feels good,” I said, grinning. “So good.”
Essian stopped yipping. Did he somehow know I’d been freed from the collar?
“I’m sorry,” he said, seeming to mean it. “I had to be sure. The Scale Empire employ vile tricks to try and get to us. I wouldn’t put it past them to send a double of Rebecca Campbell.”
I was confused. “Who’s Rebecca Campbell?”
“She’s you. I guess they decided to call her something different on this Earth.”
I remembered a story mother had once relayed. She and Father had argued over what to call me. Mother wanted to call me Rebecca, after her grandmother. Father wanted to call me Kezia. I guess mother won the argument over here.
I sat up and looked at Remus a second before punching him in the face. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
“What the hell was that for?” he demanded, nursing his broken nose.
“That was for interrogating me for two days,” I snapped. I helped him to his feet. “I can help you with that nose. But first I want to see Rebecca.”
“You broke my nose!”
I sighed with impatience. “Just lead me to Rebecca and stop stating the obvious. We have a lot to do.”
He glared at me in sheer incomprehension before walking away. I followed him, knowing he’d never try to interrogate me again.
***
Rebecca was sitting at a bench, eating what appeared to be oatmeal and blueberries. She was alone. The rest of the rebels, or whatever they were, seemed to be avoiding her. I understood why. She was a really hard person to like.
“Can I join you?” I asked her, sitting down before she could answer. I grabbed her cup of water and drank from it. “This water tastes good. No chlorine or whatever in this.”
“You survived your interrogation then,” Rebecca stated.
I noticed Essian sat on a table in the corner, eating what appeared to be mashed corned beef from a plate. He looked at me and gave what appeared to be a smile. I gave him the thumbs-up.
“That was hardly an interrogation,” I said, despite the fact I had this serious urge to beat Remus to a bloody pulp. “Compared to some of the stuff I’ve been through, that was merely a mild telling off.” I refused to think of the time I’d been tortured so badly I had to regrow a new hand. “I don’t think Remus has the balls to torture anyone.”
Rebecca laughed. “No, I don’t think he does. Remus is…I think you’d call him a eunuch.” At my surprised look she said, “The Scale Empire captured him a while back. They…were brutal.”
