by D. N. Leo
Arik and Dinah sprung to their feet, panting.
“We just time traveled as a group. It’s okay. Don’t freak out,” Arik said.
“I’m not. We were flying in the air just a moment ago, and I’m just a bit disoriented. You were unconscious. Do you know where you’ve transported us?” Dinah asked.
“You’re bleeding, Arik,” Madeline said.
Arik tugged at the collar of his shirt and looked at his shoulder. There were bloodstains on his shirt. The hole on the shirt made it look as if he’d been shot, but he saw no wound. “Well, I guess only my shirt was hurt,” he said.
Madeline looked down and saw Ciaran on the ground. Her feeling of loss started to make sense. The last time she had experienced that sensation was at the finality of the Daimon Gate tests with Ciaran—when she saw him die in front of her, and there was nothing she could do about it.
The pain of the memories was terrifying.
In front of Mon Ciel, both she and Ciaran had their eudqi on to enhance their power. That was how Ciaran had been able to shoot through the air holding Arik, and that was how she had gotten to them at the creek in time. She was sure her eudqi was off now. She flopped to the ground, yanked Ciaran’s shirt open at the chest, and saw the faint mark of his eudqi point intact.
So he’s fine. He isn’t dead. She exhaled in relief.
“Is he injured?” Dinah asked.
“Not physically. But I don’t know what’s going on.” Madeline shook Ciaran’s shoulders. “Come on, Ciaran.”
“Can you tell where we are now, Arik?” Dinah asked.
Arik was surveying the landscape. He shook his head. “Too hard to tell with the trees and grass. It all looks the same. Animals would look the same, too. If we saw a dinosaur running out from that bush, that would be different, but here, I need to see people and some buildings or some kind of civil activities to tell the era.”
On the ground, Ciaran stirred.
“There you are!” Madeline helped him sit up. He looked around groggily.
Dinah crouched. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “You must have hit your head on the flight!” She smiled with concern.
Ciaran smiled back politely and rubbed his head. Madeline helped him stand up. He swayed a bit and then steadied himself. He looked at Dinah again and then Arik, and then he looked back at Madeline.
“Thanks, Lucy. This is embarrassing. How did I hit my head?” Ciaran said to Madeline with a heavy American accent.
“Excuse me?” Madeline said.
Ciaran lowered his voice, glancing at Arik and Dinah. “Are they the secret contacts you talked about, Lucy?”
Madeline was speechless.
Arik immediately figured out what was going on. He approached quickly, reaching his hand out to Ciaran for a handshake. “Arik. Nice to meet you. No, we’re just friends. Not secret contacts.” He offered a wide grin.
“Robert,” Ciaran said and shook Arik’s hand.
Dinah shoved her way in, standing in front of Madeline, and reached her hand out as well. “Dinah Greenwoods. I’m sure we’ve met before. You’re one of the Donovans, right?”
Ciaran, as Robert, chuckled. “Oh no, if I had met a beautiful lady like you, I would certainly remember. I’m a Lincoln.”
“Oh fuck!” Arik exclaimed.
When Ciaran raised an eyebrow, Arik gave an apology. “I’ve left my travel documentation at the hotel. I put it in the safe then forgot about it when I checked out.”
Madeline’s head was spinning—as was her world. This was unprecedented—the fact that people who time traveled with Arik took on real roles in the past. Did that mean they couldn’t come back to 2017 from whatever year it was now?
When Ciaran died at the Daimon Gate, it was the physical loss of him that pained her. She didn’t know what kind of loss this was. What was she to him at this moment, as Lucy? Were they together? Judging by his manner, Lucy and Robert weren’t exactly intimate.
Unsure how to handle the situation and the role she was supposed to take, she looked away, trying to avoid conversation.
Ciaran said, “All right, although I don’t know where we are and why we’re wearing these strange clothes, I’m going to take Lucy home first and then give you a lift to the hotel.”
He turned toward Madeline, thinking she was Lucy, and gave her the crook of his elbow. “Ready to go home, Ms. Hale?”
Madeline smiled and glanced quickly at Arik and Dinah. If they were to hail a taxi, she would be in trouble. Where does Lucy live? Who is she?
Madeline summoned all her energy and willed a psychic channel into Arik’s mind, hoping for some information. It bounced. Damn.
She did it again with Dinah. Dinah clicked. Madeline sent her message, channeling to Dinah’s mind. I have no idea what to do, she said. I can’t take him to a home I don't know!
Dinah winked. Getting the hint, Madeline peeked into Dinah’s mind again and saw a word—faint.
Madeline slumped to the ground, pretending to pass out. She heard Dinah’s voice say, “Oh dear, I told her she had to drink more water. This play consumes a lot of energy.”
“She was dehydrated? Are you sure? I dislike the idea of bringing her to the hospital,” Ciaran said.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Dinah said. “She needs only rest.”
“I’ll take her home. Her father has access to the best private doctors.”
“I don’t think she’d like that.”
“What do you mean, Dinah?”
“She told me they’ve just had a disagreement. She didn’t say what it was about, but I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be taken home like this.”
“All right. I’ll take her to my place.”
“Is it nearby?” Arik asked.
“I have no idea where we are, but let’s get to the road.”
Madeline felt herself lifted, and then she was held comfortably in the familiar arms of her husband.
“I’ll get my document later. Let me give you a hand with this,” Arik said.
“I’ll call for our family doctor when we get home.”
“No need. I’m a doctor,” Arik said.
“And I’m a nurse,” Dinah said.
“Right then. I won’t call the doctor. But what were we doing in the bush at this time of day? Which play were you talking about?”
“You don’t remember anything?” Dinah asked.
“No, unfortunately. As you’ve said, I must have hit my head hard. I was talking to Lucy in the courtyard at my place. She said she wanted me to meet someone. Then this. I don’t remember anything else.”
“But you remember your name,” Dinah said. “Wrong one anyway.”
“Excuse me?” Ciaran asked.
Arik cut in, “We were rehearsing a play . . . it’s a futuristic story. Hence the strange clothes.” Arik said. “It’s amateurish, of course. We’re doing it for charity, to support your father’s campaign. And you’re not playing. You were just standing in today.”
“Of course. I’m no good at acting,” Ciaran muttered, his eyes darkening a shade.
“Oh, an animal-powered vehicle is coming!” Dinah shouted.
“That’s what it’s called in the play,” Arik cut in. “She means a carriage. Dinah takes her part very seriously.”
9
Charmine awakened and stared straight up at the stone ceiling of a dark cell that reeked of mold, rotten corpses, and sewage. She didn’t know which smell was worse, but it didn’t matter. Thirst burned her throat, but she would rather go to hell than drink the water in the puddle next to her, formed by the water trickling down from above. She could feel a chilled toxic mist seeping up from the floor. Someone or something was chanting from above. The humming noise of a praying crowd crept into the cell. She must be underground.
She moved her body. The pain stabbing at her brain told her she was very much alive. She rubbed gently at her tummy.
“How are you, my sweet child?” She refused to believe their child hadn’t survived.
<
br /> She recalled vividly how she had plunged the knife into her evil sorceress sister for the second time. There was no dark magic that could save Luna from that injury. Charmine didn’t regret many things in life . . . until now. And it wasn’t killing her sister.
She should have taken her apprenticeship in the house of Gods more seriously. That would have stopped Luna from cursing their child. Or at least she would have known how to break the curse.
She sat up in her cell. Her mind was crystal clear despite her body being numb with agony. Luna had broken her right leg, twisted her flesh and bone into an unrecognizable mess. Dried blood stains clung to her white dress, rubbing at whatever was left of her skin. She used her arms to push herself to a sitting position against the wall.
Who had saved her and then locked her in here? she wondered.
Charmine knew that with a stab wound so severe, Luna was dead. But she didn’t know the spiritual consequences of her actions. Then, just before her world blurred into oblivion, someone had stood behind her and ripped Luna’s heart out with bare hands—or claws.
A monster? Charmine shook her head. It couldn’t be. Why her? She had nothing to give anyone except for a soon-to-be-swollen tummy. She had no profession, no possessions, no magic, and no other supernatural power whatsoever.
She sighed. “What would you like to do when you grow up, child? Do you want to be an angel like your father?” She couldn’t help but smile when she thought of her husband. She refused to believe he was dead. Luna had lied to her. All she had was a bloody feather. Jael would come to save her and their child. He was an angel, and his family was most important for him to protect.
But she needed to protect herself until he came for her. Angels couldn’t bring you back from death. She knew that much by eavesdropping on important meetings in the house of Gods.
A door slid open at the far end of the dark dungeon, and two men in long hooded cloaks walked in.
Now she could see clearer. Along that dungeon hall were the cells of other prisoners. She wasn’t sure what kind of creatures they were, but they reached out their hands—or things that looked like hands, maybe tentacles—and tried to grab the two men. The men ignored them and walked straight to her cell.
From outside the steel barred wall, they stood and looked at her. It was too dark for her to make out their faces.
“She’s awake now,” one croaked out.
“Where am I? What do you want from me?”
“And she speaks,” the other man said.
“I’m not speaking—I’m asking questions. I ask, and you answer. That’s communication based on the house of Gods’ etiquette. You don’t want to disrespect me and anger the Gods,” she said.
Both men laughed.
“She’s quite a tough bitch, isn’t she?” one man said.
“It’s a pity we don’t care about her. So what do you think? Is she tough enough that the curse didn’t work on the child?”
The other man shook his head. “Hard to tell. I’ll check with Master. He always knows what to do.”
“I need clean clothes, water, and a clean bed!” Charmine demanded.
The other man chuckled. “She’s funny, too.”
A loud bang echoed in the dungeon, and sounds of panic, chaos, and fear followed.
“Shit, what is that?” a man asked.
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Wait, what about her?” the other asked but opened the cell without waiting for a response.
Despite verbal abuse and punches and slaps of protest, which barely created a scratch on the man’s scarred skin, she was flung over his shoulder, and he walked out of the cell.
“If this place crumbles, she—or rather the thing inside her—is our ticket for survival at Master’s hands. You’ll thank me later.” He walked past the other man, heading toward the only exit from the dungeon.
She couldn’t see what was ahead because of the way she was being carried, but she thought they were about halfway through the corridor. The noise in the dungeon suddenly subsided. She couldn’t hear the person entering but could tell the power of that person by the pressure in the air and the reaction of the prisoners.
The man carrying her stepped backward slightly.
Then she heard a calm, deep, and powerful male voice. As soon as he spoke, even the insects in the dungeon didn’t dare utter a sound.
“Release the prisoners, and I’ll let you live.”
She didn’t know what kinds of creatures the prisoners were, but she recognized their sounds of ultimate joy.
The man holding her captive hesitated then put her down to the floor. While the two men walked past all the cells and opened the doors, she had a full view of the one who had just come to release them all. He looked to be human, in his forties, and incredibly formidable. Although he looked human, the aura around him suggested he was not. Familiar with the house of Gods, she had learned a lot. He didn’t have magical energy, but he wasn’t human.
When all the released prisoners had exited the dungeon, the man glanced around. Pleased with what he saw, he turned to leave.
The two men who had captured her turned to her. She scooched herself backward on the floor then grabbed a huge piece of dried bone and brandished it at them.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted.
The formidable man stopped at the door of the dungeon. He turned around and came back. He could see now she couldn’t walk with her injured leg. He pointed at the man who had carried her before.
“You—take her out of here.”
“Who do you think you are? I don’t take commands from you,” the man said.
“You know who I am. That’s why you obeyed me before.” He pointed at the other man. “Maybe it’s your turn now. You take her. Or maybe I should say whoever takes her out of here will live. If I carry her, I’ll have no free hands. You’ll attack me. The easiest solution for me is to kill you both and carry her out. But I don’t want to kill if it’s not necessary.”
The second man muttered some profanity but appeared to obey.
Suddenly she was engulfed with a strange muddy smell that seemed to come from nowhere. She felt a presence but couldn’t see anything. She pointed the bone at the approaching man.
“No, I can’t let them touch me.”
Standing at a distance, the man who had carried her before pulled a small knife and stabbed into what appeared to be thin air. A stream of slimy green liquid spurted out, shooting into the face of her savior. He rubbed at his eyes and staggered backward.
The two men charged at him in attack. Their skin glowed in shimmering yellow shades, and they started to change into lizard-like shapes.
Seeing her savior slump to the floor, Charmine held up the bone. “Stop right there. One more step, and I’ll curse my own child. You know I’m from the house of Gods. You know if I curse my own child, there will be no cure.”
“You won’t,” a man in half-creature shape growled.
She spoke through her tears. “I have nothing to lose. I’ll curse my child and kill myself. Even if your master could retrieve the child from my body, there would be nothing he could do. You know I’m telling the truth.”
“She’s right,” a voice said.
“No, she’s bluffing, you idiot.”
She raised the bone higher. “In the name of the Gods, in the name of the angels, I, Charmine—”
“No, no, stop! What do you want?”
Before she could answer, her savior darted at them. With two swings of his glowing sword, their two bodies dropped in four pieces on the muddy floor.
He retracted his sword and turned toward her. “Well, I guess I’ll have to carry you out of here.”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
“No, you saved yourself. You’re one brave woman. I might have to borrow your eyes—I still can’t see anything.”
“All right. Over here.”
He came to her, groping on th
e floor. She grabbed his hands to give him guidance. He lifted her up and started walking.
“Straight ahead,” she said. “Were did that green poison come from? It seemed to come from nowhere.”
The man chuckled. “You obviously don’t know where you are. This is Xiilok, the land of multiversal outlaws. This dimension is notorious for its elusive properties. If you’re an outsider, you will never see anything real. The creatures with poisonous blood were standing right in front of us, but we couldn’t see them.” He hit his head on a low-arched door. “Ouch.”
“I’m sorry. I meant to say watch your head. That doorway is real.”
He shook his head, smiling. “I can see about ten percent now. He glanced down at her face. “You must be good at playing games.”
“Why do you say that?”
“That cursing trick can only fool children.”
“You think I was bluffing about cursing my child?”
“Curses exist only in fairy tales. Not in my world. I guess if you really believe it, though, I shouldn’t call it bluffing. I’m sorry.”
She said nothing. This man obviously wasn’t from her world. She was wondering, if she went with him to his world, wherever that was, could she erase the curse Luna had put on her child?
“Do you?”
“Huh?”
“Do you believe in miracles?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t mean I can do magic. I bluffed the curse on my child when those creatures wanted to attack you. But I don’t know magic. My fake curse wouldn’t work on my child anyway.”
He laughed so heartily that he almost dropped her.
Two men came from around the corner ahead as they approached what appeared to be a hillside.
A man said, “Sciphil Three, we’ve cleared the right wing . . . Oh . . . are you okay?” His voice trailed off when he saw the green substance and the condition of her savior’s eyes.
“I’m fine. Please take my guest to the capsule. Register her to a guest chamber. Be careful, she’s injured. I need to wash my eyes.”
The man took her. “You let me know if it hurts, ma’am.”
“Where are we going?”
