by T J Trapp
“I’m starving!” Alec said, breathing in the tantalizing smell of the grilled meat. He was pretty sure that he ate more than his share, although Erin ate ravenously as well.
A flicker from the corner of his eye brought Alec out of his contented state. A four-legged creature stood at the top of the knoll; the animal was a little over knee high with long shaggy fur and a humped back. It snarled at them, showing its long yellowing canine teeth. “A hyra,” said Erin, calmly pulling out her sword.
Alec pulled out one of his rocks and tossed it at the animal. The rock hit the animal in the shoulder. It let out an angry grunt as it scurried into the grass.
“They hunt in packs, so there are more of them. The smell of blood must have attracted them. They are scavengers and will attack defenseless animals. They will attack us in our sleep if we give them a chance.”
“Why won’t they go after the dead bodies over the hill?”
“They are afraid of trogus and probably can still smell the dead ones. Until they are sure all the trogus are dead they will seek other prey.”
“What do we do? We can’t run from them, and it will be dark soon,” Alec asked.
Erin started to dig into the hillside with her hands. “We need a cave to provide us protection.”
“You’re going to hurt your hands,” Alec said. “Let me help you.” He scratched at the soft dirt; he could dig into it with his bare hands, but it was slow going. “It will be dark soon. I’m going to try something,” said Alec. “Scoot.”
Erin stepped away from the hole.
Focus. A blast of dust came out of the ground, and a burrow appeared where Erin had started to dig. Twice more Alec created a disturbance before the hole was large enough for them both to fit.
Erin climbed into the cavity – the entryway was barely large enough for one person to fit through, but the inside was large enough for them both. “Nice,” she said. “There are some advantages to traveling with a Great Wizard. Can you make us a soft bed to sleep on?”
“I don’t think so,” said Alec, assuming she was serious.
“Then maybe there aren’t that many advantages, after all,” she said with a smile, as she collected enough grass to provide some padding against the dirt. Then she slipped their packs into the burrow and began to undress.
“What are you doing?” asked Alec a little surprised.
“I am not going to sleep in these filthy, scratchy rags,” Erin replied.
Alec swallowed hard and tried to figure if her should watch her undress or not, considering that she was sitting very close to him and there was really nowhere else for his eyes to look. In the dusk in front of their little burrow, he could see that her back was crisscrossed with oozing red welts.
“What happened to your back?”
Erin tried to look over her shoulder to examine her back. “That is where they beat me. They would beat me until I would squeal. For the first few days I refused to squeal, but I learned that the sooner I started squealing and begging, the sooner they would stop.”
“Do they hurt?”
Erin gave him a look. “Of course, but it doesn’t do any good to complain.” Then she wriggled into their burrow.
Alec slipped off his shoes, and after some consideration slid out of his bloodstained pants and shirt before he also climbed into the burrow. “Now let me see if I can make us a door.”
Focus. The entryway was sealed with only a small area at the top for airflow.
He felt Erin’s warm body beside him on the grass mat and sensed the pain that she had suffered. Instinctively he put his arms around her. She sobbed softly underneath her breath as she relaxed in his arms. She trusts me, he thought, I can’t let her down.
She curled up close to him but flinched whenever her back touched anything. “Let’s try something,” Alec said, speaking softly into her ear. He focused, and pulled a small amount of dark energy. Then he pushed the dark energy into her and let it flow through her body.
Erin’s body relaxed, and she slid into a deep sleep.
✽✽✽
The next morning, he awoke early and could feel Erin’s body nestled against him in the half-light of the burrow. He could tell by her breathing that she was awake, but neither moved nor spoke. They lay together for a long while absorbing the feel of each other. Finally, Erin spoke.
“I almost lost hope, but you, my Great Wizard saved me – and gave me back hope.” She sighed, thoughtfully. “We have a Seer at home. She is not a great wizard like you, but she does have some spells, and sometimes she sees the future. Can you see the future?”
“I don’t think so,” said Alec, “but I have never tried. Dark energy and time are linked together so it might be possible,” Alec mused. “But I have never done that.”
Erin continued. “I wanted to learn about the world before I had to settle down. When I was trying to decide whether to travel on this trip, the Seer came to me and said she had seen a very disturbing vision.” Erin pursed her lip. “Her vision told her that if I didn’t go, my people would all die. But if I went, I would suffer but shouldn’t lose hope for I would return home and find what I had lost. Now you have given me hope.”
They were silent for a while. Then, since she had spoken of her home, Alec ventured a question that had been bothering him.
“Do you have a special person at home?” he asked, although it seemed to him a strange question to ask someone lying naked beside you.
“I did,” Erin answered, “but he died a year ago.”
Maybe this was not a good thing to ask her, Alec thought. But he wanted to know. “Do you … do you want to tell me about him?”
“Leonder was his name.” Erin put her arms under her head and looked at Alec. “Leonder was my first real love. I met him at the Queen’s court. He came to Theland from the moonward land when his father, Leon, came to be a member of the Queen’s personal guard. My mother thought I was too young to have a serious love.” She laughed softly, remembering her past. “Leonder wanted to be a scholar and not a fighter. At first, Mother thought I should have someone more … warlike.”
“Did you … were you … How long ago was that?”
“I first met him about four years ago. We spent many days together, talking about our wants and desires. After about a year, we coupled, both for the first time.” She smiled wistfully, remembering. “Leonder was my love. My passion.”
“That first summer we spent many afternoons in the woods near my home enjoying each other’s company, both mentally and physically. We wanted to consort then, but there were two problems. The first was that I was still young and needed my mother’s permission.”
“The second problem was that we have an old custom from our warrior past that is still part of our law.” She scowled. “It is a barbaric law that was originally intended to produce the strongest people. To make the strongest pups. Warrior pups.”
“What is that?” Alec asked.
“For women of my position in our society, it is imperative that we have the strongest mate, so that we will produce the strongest pups. So, once I announce a proposed consort arrangement, anyone else who wants to consort with me has three days to post a claim. Then the claimants meet in a public fight to the death, and the winner claims me as their consort.”
“What?!” Alec exclaimed. “That sounds like wild animals – lions or gorillas – not civilized people!”
She shrugged. “It is our law,” she said simply. “We have ancient customs. They must be followed. “
She paused and clenched her jaw. “A disgusting man, a bully named Brunder, also wants to consort with me. Brunder is one of the best fighters in Theland, and everyone knew Leonder would be no match for him.”
“Last year, I went on a two-week trip with my mother and told her of my desire to consort with Leonder even though he was not a great warrior. Mother had thought about great warriors a lot. She told me there are different ways to be a great warrior. She said that some great warriors have strength of a
rm and some have cleverness of mind.”
“Mother worried that if we tried to consort, the one who would suffer would be Leonder. If the two of us were sure we should be together, though, and Leonder accepted the risks, she would allow it. She agreed with my consorting with him.”
“Mother is very clever. She came up with a plan to thwart Brunder. She decided that she would announce our plans to consort after Brunder went on his annual hunt with his father. They hunt in the mountains every year, several days from our home. We would send a messenger to inform Brunder of the arrangement. We thought that by the time he heard of the proposed consort and returned to make his challenge, the three days would have passed and Leonder and I would be consorted.”
“But it was not to be. When Mother and I returned from our trip, we learned that Brunder supposedly had taken Leonder on a boar-hunting trip while we were gone, and that Leonder had been gored and killed by a wild boar. My Leonder was dead! Mother was right, I made Leonder suffer because I wanted him, even though he was not a great warrior!” She stopped, and Alec gently stroked her arm.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“I did not even get to give my final farewell because the departing ceremony was performed while I was gone!” She curled her lip. “Leonder did not like to hunt, so I do not believe that story! He would not have willingly gone with Brunder in any case. I think Brunder found out about Leonder and me and decided to eliminate a rival.”
“Did anyone do anything about it?” Alec asked.
“When this happened, his father, Leon, was out of town with us, as part of the Queen’s guard. When Leon returned and found out about Leonder’s death, he was very angry. He accused Brunder of foul play and challenged him. They fought the challenge at the circle in our city’s arena. Leon was one of the best of the Queen’s guardsmen, so everyone came to see the fight. Leon and Brunder had a tough fight. But eventually Leon slipped, and Brunder sliced the tendon in the back of Leon’s heel so he could not walk. Then he disarmed Leon and spent a long time tormenting him before he finally killed him.” She clenched her fists and Alec could feel her body stiffen as she recounted the fight. “Finally, after Brunder tired of playing, he beheaded Leon right in front of me. Then Brunder cut off the male parts from Leon’s dead body and tossed them at my feet. It was a clear message to anyone who might be interested in me! I was distraught!”
She drew a deep breath. “Brunder is a crowd favorite, and the spectators thought it was the best fight in a long time.”
“Sounds absolutely barbaric,” Alec muttered.
“Leonder’s death is my fault,” Erin said, and then began to sob. “If I had not decided to consort with Leonder, he would still be alive. It was my love that brought about his death!” Alec held her as she sobbed in his arms. Finally, the sobs abated. “I will never find another like Leonder. Brunder will kill anyone I want as my consort unless they are a great warrior.”
“But you don’t have to … consort … unless you want to, do you?” asked Alec.
She exhaled sharply. “While Father was alive, he protected me, and let me recover from the pain of losing Leonder. Since Father died this past winter, the pressure for me to consort has increased.”
“My older brother – Devin – told me that after this trip I would have to consort. He told me that if I didn’t find someone suitable then Brun, the head of our Council, would force me to consort with Brunder. Devin knew I detest Brunder but said ‘politically it would be a good match’ for me. It would tie the two most powerful families in Theland together. Brunder is the greatest fighter in Theland, but he is an egotistical pig who wants to bed every girl in Theland. I do not want him!” She turned her head and spat into the grass mat.
“My brother told me several times to quit complaining and consort with Brunder. Devin said that I didn’t have to like Brunder, just occasionally sleep with him and have pups with him. The rest of the time, Brunder would be too preoccupied with his other ‘interests’ to bother me.
“That is not the kind of consort I want.” Her lip quivered, and Alec could see she was fighting back the tears. “I wanted Leonder,” she whispered. “I wanted Leonder, and now he is gone. Brunder killed him so that I could not have him.”
She turned to Alec and buried her face in his chest, and he slid his arms around her and held her as she sobbed.
✽✽✽
The sun had risen high in the sky by the time they emerged from their burrow. Alec looked at Erin’s back as she reached for her clothes. “Your back – look at it! The welts are gone.”
Erin craned her neck around to try to glimpse her back, and rubbed gently against the bush. “It feels much better.”
Then with mock seriousness, she turned towards Alec. “My brother always said that men only think about one thing. He never told me it would be my back!” Then she turned away from him and started pulling on the rough dirty clothing she had discarded the night before. “My brother told me that I am too hard and thin. He said men like curvy, soft, girls. He said that I would have to stop riding and training and develop some curves if I wanted to be attractive.
“I know that I am not curvy in the front. Is that why you only noticed my back?”
Alec flushed red and just stood there for an instant. “I don’t know about your brother, but … I think … I think you are beautiful,” he stammered.
“Thank you,” she said seriously, and began to poke around their small camp, retrieving some scraps of left-over meat from the stash in the burrow. After a while, she asked quietly, “I told you my story. But how did you arrive here, my Wizard? Why are you here?”
Alec had quit correcting her. Maybe he was a wizard. Anyway, he was a wizard to her.
“Well, I was in my Lab when something happened, and then there was an explosion, and then suddenly I was here.” She looked puzzled.
“‘Lab’?” she said. “‘Explosion’?”
“The Laboratory where I work, at the Institute – that’s a big school where thousands of people study things. The Lab is a big building where people like me study science – ‘magic’ – and do experiments, so we can see how to use scientific phenomenon. How to use ‘magic.’ We do not have wizards at home. I am a scientist, not a wizard.” Why am I calling ‘science’ ‘magic’?
“I have spent years studying something called ‘dark energy.’ That’s the stuff that allows me to focus energy and do what you have seen me do: change things and move things. Like when I made your sword, or the ‘fire-dragon-in-the-sky,’ or the hot cooking rocks.” She nodded.
“For some reason, dark energy is much denser here than it is at home, so it is easier to use. At home, we must build big concentrators – big machines … um … big pieces of equipment – to focus enough energy to do anything. Even little things are hard to do. At home, I don’t think I could do the things I’ve done here.”
“Oh – I see,” Erin said. Alec knew that she didn’t. “And the ‘expulsion’?”
“Explosion,” he corrected. “I don’t understand it. I was in the Lab, and I was talking to Dr. Alder … one of my other … wizards, and then there was a big flash, and then I was here.”
“A flash like your fire-dragon?”
“Well, yes, sort of like that.” Not really.
After they had eaten their meager breakfast, she stuffed their supplies back into the packs.
“And you have a special person?” she asked, casually, combing some leaves from her dark hair with her fingers and pulling it back into a knot. “You said you have a ‘girlfriend.’”
“Well, yes – I mean ‘no,’ not really,” Alec answered, slightly flustered. “I have … I mean, ‘had’ … a girlfriend, Sarah. We’ve been seeing each other for a while. Several months.” Should I explain Sarah to Erin? How? “But we aren’t that serious.” Are we? Were we? He swallowed. “Neither of us has decided that we are the right person for the other,” Alec said truthfully. “We aren’t ready … weren’t ready … to commit to each ot
her.” And how would he explain Erin to Sarah? If he ever saw Sarah again.
“Things haven’t been going too well with Sarah recently,” Alec continued. “I think we both understand that we are at a stage where we either patch things up or drift apart. But I don’t even know if I will ever see her again.”
Erin hugged Alec tightly. “Now I understand. You want to be faithful until you decide she is not the right one. That is wonderful. I want my consort to be like you, not like that rutting pig, Brunder.”
Alec returned her hug, and then looked over her head at the endless waving sea of grass and stepped away from her. “I don’t know if I can ever find Sarah again. I don’t know where I am, how I got here, or how to go home. I don’t even know if it is possible to go home!” Alec shook his head. “I don’t want to think about it, but this could be a different world – a different universe – than mine. There might be no way home!” Erin looked at him blankly.
“Were you a great warrior at home?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“I am not a warrior at all,” replied Alec. “I am a scientist. I know nothing about fighting or warcraft.”
“But you saved me twice from the nomads. That is what great warriors do.” With that statement, Erin became preoccupied trying to sort out Alec in her mind.
Alec grabbed his medallion from his pile of clothes, hung it around his neck, and shook out his clothes. No vermin. As he dressed, he thought about the two women, both attractive to him, but very different from one another. Sarah was more petite than Erin, prettier, in a way, with her snub nose and short styled hair, and trendy clothes, and always nestled closely in his arms when they slept together. Would he ever see Sarah again – or did that matter anymore? Erin had ignited a spark in him that he had never felt before – even if he found Sarah would he still feel the same about her?
