Another World

by D. C. Gomez

  “Oh, God.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

  “Madison,” Sageri called after me, but it was too late. I was already running in the opposite direction.

  I had no idea where I was going. Tears were streaming down my face. I was such a fool. I had been crushing over Julien while he had been dating Sageri. Why didn’t she tell me? The tears clouded my sight and I didn’t care. I needed to get away from this place as quickly as I could. The courtyard had a hallway on the far side, and I ran in that direction. After a sharp right, I slammed into something hard and landed on my butt.

  “Well, look who we have here.”

  My eyes moved up until they landed on knife guy. “Oh no.” I tried to crawl away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The gown restricted my movements and all of Sir Bertrant’s self-defense training went out the window. Before I could get up, I saw his fist flying at my face.

  The impact took my breath away and the pain made everything blurry. The world was going dark and I couldn’t stop it.

  Ouch! Why does everything hurt? Why can’t I move my arms?

  It took me a minute to regain full consciousness and remember what happened. I struggled to open my eyes, but I was only able to open my left one. My arms and legs were bound. I remembered getting punched in the face, and I feared my eye was swollen shut. On top of all that, my head wouldn’t stop pounding.

  I was in a dark place that smelled of mildew and laying on something moist. Glancing at my poor gown with my limited sight confirmed my fear. It was ruined. Mister P was going to kill me. I hoped dragons had a good dry-cleaning service or this baby was done. I wished I had asked Mister P for a place for my dagger in the gown. This was definitely a time for a dagger. Footsteps echoed around me, so I tried to crawl away.

  “There is no place to go, you are alone.” Knife Guy came into my line of sight. “What? Nothing to say this time?”

  “What do you want?” I growled at the man.

  “Temper, temper.” Knife Guy reached for my face.

  I pushed back as far as I could from him.

  “You and your little knight ruined everything. You cost us a fortune.” Knife Guy inched even closer.

  “You did that to yourself by showing up at the castle.”

  It hadn’t been my fault they’d gotten caught. That was all on them.

  “Oh, but you see, we had a deal with a knight of our own.” Knife Guy grabbed the hem of my gown, snickering at me while he played with it.

  I tucked my legs in, becoming as small as I possibly could, but he only got closer. “The moment that little girl showed up, he turned on us. We will teach all those knights a lesson.”

  “What are you going to do?” I feared the worst for Sir Bertrant.

  “Nothing that concerns you. Your fate will be just as bad. Since you made a deal with our dragon, we are planning to sell you to the one in the west. Rumor has it that he eats little girls,” Knife Guy told me, licking his lips.

  “What?” Sweat ran down my spine.

  “You are actually not a bad looking girl.” Knife Guy turned his predator-like gaze on me.

  I swallowed hard, but his eyes became more demented and diluted by the minute.

  “It would be such a waste not to taste you before the dragon devours you. Maybe I will let my colleagues have their way with you as well.”

  “You are nuts!” I screamed and started kicking as hard as I could with my legs tied together. I managed to nail a kick to his side but missed his groin.

  “I’m going to make you hurt for this.” Knife Guy pinned my legs to the ground.

  “Let go of me!” I thrashed around as hard as I could.

  I shoved my shoulder into his solar plexus. I’d rather die before letting this beast touch me. Knife Guy grabbed me by the shoulder and slammed by head against the ground. Stars were flashing in my eyes and tears were rolling down my cheeks. I would not go down without a fight. I tried to kick out again, but Knife Guy only slammed my head into the ground another time. The pain blinded me, and I thought I might pass out, something I couldn’t do. Not again. This wasn’t the way everything would end for me. It couldn’t be.

  “I’m going to enjoy hurting you,” Knife Guy said. “As you die slowly, you will remember me.”

  God help me! I tried to crawl back, but Knife Guy dragged me back by the legs, scraping the side of my arms and back.

  “You will suffer,” Knife Guy taunted.

  “No, she will not,” a voice boomed from behind Knife Guy.

  “What…” I saw a fist, or what resembled a fist from my angle, flying towards Knife Guy’s head.

  Knife Guy ducked out of the way and the fist barely grazed him. He tried to get up and face the mystery opponent, but I stuck my legs out. Knife Guy tripped over my feet and went flying to the ground, face first. I hoped he broke a few teeth when his face met the ground.

  “You are going to die, knight,” Knife Guy said, his voice like a rabid dog’s growl.

  “Not this time, you vandal.” The voice was muffled and distant.

  I had a hard time staying awake.

  “I made the mistake of showing you mercy the first time I met you. I won’t be committing the same mistake twice.”

  Was that Sir Bertrant?

  I didn’t want to get my hopes up. This night was not turning out like I had imagined. I was barely able to see now, and everything hurt so badly, but the sound of steel crashing against steel plastered my eyes open. The battle moved closer, and dirt flew in my face, but I couldn’t do anything to move out of the way. I faded in and out too much.

  One of the men screamed.

  “Madison. Madison, can you hear me?” A pair of hands were holding me. “Wake up, dear.”

  I struggled but managed to open my semi-good eye to find Sir Bertrant’s bloody face.

  “You are hurt,” I was able to say.

  “Not my blood, but you are bleeding.” Sir Bertrant moved my hair from my face.

  “His friends at the castle…” I wasn’t able to make complete sentences.

  “Shhh, save your energy. Drink this.” He pulled a bottle from his coat and opened my mouth, trying to pour it in.

  “What?” Words were becoming limited now.

  “A little bit of pain potion. Madison, please trust me. I need you to take it so I can move you.” Sir Bertrant made to pour the potion in my mouth, but I turned my head away. My pride was going to get me killed, but I didn’t want anything that came from Sageri. The pain was so bad I couldn’t think straight. Then, I noticed tears falling from Sir Bertrant’s eyes, and that woke my stupid, stubborn brain up. I parted my lips and Sir Bertrant poured in a several drops of the potion.

  “Swallow Madison, don’t fight it,” he told me softly.

  Sir Bertrant laid me carefully on my side again. I felt the bonds on my legs release, and then the ones on my arms. With the bonds removed, blood rushed to those muscles and the pain crashed into me. I was going to vomit.

  “Breathe Madison,” Sir Bertrant picked me up again, wiping my face with his shirt.

  I took a deep breath and the pain slowly receded.

  “Ouch,” I said softly.

  “That’s a little better. Can you walk?” Sir Bertrant helped me up but I crumbled back down.

  “That’s a no.”

  Sir Bertrant picked me up like I was a small kid.

  “You came for me,” I mumbled.

  “Of course. You are not alone Madison, not anymore.” Sir Bertrant covered my face. “Don’t look at him.”

  The warning came too late. I saw Knife Guy laying in a puddle of his own blood. I closed my eyes, but the image was imprinted in my mind.

  “His friends?” I started saying.

  “Relax, the master cook found them trying to poison his roast. It didn’t end well for them.” Sir Bertrant squeezed me a little tighter.

  “How did you find me?” I asked, fighting sleep.

  “I had help,” Sir Bertrant told me. “No
w save your energy. We are going home.”

  Home. I loved the sound of that word. Everything was blurry, but at least I was safe. I leaned my head against Sir Bertrant’s chest and focused my energy on breathing. That was all I could handle now.

  Sunlight streamed through my window when I opened my eyes. I laid in my room and Sir Bertrant slept in a chair next to me. He seemed so uncomfortable. I tried to get up without making a sound, but I failed.

  “Madison.” Sir Bertrant jumped up from his chair.

  “Hey,” I said a little sheepishly.

  “You are awake.” Sir Bertrant rushed to my side.

  “Shouldn’t I be awake?” I asked Sir Bertrant, who had dark circles under his eyes.

  “It has been three days since I brought you home,” he told me, taking a seat in his chair again.

  “Three days? How?” Did the pain medicine knock me out?

  “You were hurt a lot worse than we thought.” I dropped back on the bed as his words hit me. “You lost a lot of blood and Sageri had to do several spells to keep you in this world.”

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “It wasn’t your fault, but Sageri said you would need to eat as soon as you woke up, so food now.” Sir Bertrant was out of the door before I could stop him.

  It took me a few long minutes to climb out of bed. Everything was sore, like I’d been running a marathon. I made my way towards my washing station and brushed my teeth. It felt like I moved in slow motion. Fast movements made everything spin, so I stepped cautiously around the room. By the time I made it to the living area, Sir Bertrant had fried eggs, bread, cheese, and fruit on the table for me.

  “You cook?” I couldn’t believe it.

  “Just because I don’t do it often doesn’t mean I can’t do it at all,” Sir Bertrant replied, placing a large glass of milk next to me. “Now you must eat everything on your plate.”

  “I’m not sure if I’m hungry,” I told him. I took a bite of the bread and my appetite came back with a vengeance, so I sat down and ate my food.

  “Well it was a good thing you were not hungry, or the table would be gone by now,” Sir Bertrant joked, handing me a large bowl of porridge. “Madison, Sageri needs to talk to you.”

  “I have nothing to talk to Sageri about,” I said with my mouth full of food. “It is none of my business her relationship with Julien.”

  “What relationship? That girl is committed to her Goddess. If that boy tries anything, Egina will turn him into a rat.” Sir Bertrant laughed.

  “But I saw them,” I said, laying my spoon down on the table.

  “I don’t know what you saw, but there will never be anything between those two unless little boy wants to die a horrible death.” Sir Bertrant grabbed an apple from the table and took a bite. “It sounds like you and Sageri need to have a long conversation.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to be leaving in a few days,” I replied, shoveling porridge into my mouth.

  “About that.” Sir Bertrant stopped chewing. “That’s what Sageri needs to talk to you about.”

  “What is going on?” I dropped the spoon to face Sir Bertrant.

  “Egina is delayed.” Sir Bertrant stared at the fireplace when he told me.

  “Delayed, how?” I asked.

  “Flooding along the country-side requires her to stay a month longer,” Sir Bertrant explained. “A messenger came in last night.” I was silent for a minute, letting his words sink in before he continued. “I am so sorry Madison. I know you’ve been looking forward to going home.”

  “She is delayed, not dead, right?” I faced Sir Bertrant when I asked.

  “She is not dead,” he confirmed.

  “Then we are good,” I said and went back to eating.

  “That’s it?” Sir Bertrant leaned closer.

  “I’m sore and bruised all over.” I pointed at the marks left behind from the kidnapping. “The last thing I need is to show up in New York City and have to explain all that on top of being missing for a month. I don’t want to tell my aunt I was almost molested, sold to a dragon, and almost died. Not my best idea of a conversation.”

  “When you put it that way…” Sir Bertrant said as he went back to eating his apple.

  “Are you okay with me staying?” I asked, playing with my porridge.

  “Absolutely, we have lots of training to do before you go,” Sir Bertrant said, propping his legs on the table. “You are going to be the toughest girl in your city.”

  “I like that,” I replied, imagining myself taking on the evil pack of cheerleaders on my own. “When do we start?”

  “You need a few more days to recover. Besides, the horses want to see you. They refused to let me take care of them. You have spoiled them.” Sir Bertrant angled his head at me.

  “Oh, they love me,” I told Sir Bertrant, twirling my spoon around.

  I never believed I would be so happy to get back to manual labor, but I looked forward to spending a day with the horses.

  “Glad you are excited,” Sir Bertrant told me. “By the way, your dragon wants his gown back.

  I stopped chewing. “Is he mad?”

  “Mad? No. Maybe concerned, if dragons have those kinds of feelings,” Sir Bertrant said in a dismissive tone.

  “You don’t look very worried about this,” I told him.

  “We have five days to report, so why worry now?” Sir Bertrant grabbed another apple from the fruit bowl.

  “I guess you have a point.” I was too sore to care.

  “We have other things to worry about now. Like when are you planning to talk to Sageri?”

  “Do I have to?” That was not a conversation I wanted to have.

  “If you are planning to ask her mistress for help, then yes, you do.”

  “Soon. I have time, right?” I hoped he wasn’t planning to push the issue.

  “Yes, you do,” Sir Bertrant confirmed.

  With that, we fell into a comfortable rhythm. I continued to eat my breakfast while Sir Bertrant filled me in on the happenings at the house and the nearby village. It seemed the tailor was upset for missing his opportunity to create my dress and be admired by all the ladies in the kingdom. The local taverns were upset that Sir Bertrant had stopped visiting them. Sir Bertrant, for his part, had started trading our produce to the castle’s chefs for pastries. If this love affair continued, Sir Bertrant was going to gain fifty pounds. I knew I should be upset that I wasn’t going home, but I was giddy to have another month in Somnium. I couldn’t wait to see what the next day would bring us.

  Don’t miss the next installment of Madison’s adventures in Another World: Tophet, Book 2 in the Another World Trilogy.

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  I would like to start by thanking YOU, for opening your hearts to Madison. Thank you for reading this book and taking this wild journey with me. You are the reason to wake up each day, to create stories that will delight you. May you always find the beauty and blessings in the world around you.

  A huge thanks goes to my incredible support system, who continue to cheer me on each day. Thank you to my family: my parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, and my better half for supporting me even when my dreams are all over the place. Thanks to my Texarkana/ Red River community, who continue to support me beyond all my dreams. To my community in Salem for all their love throughout the decades, and for embracing this journey with me.

  Many thanks goes to a very special angel that continues to blow my mind with her talent and passion, the talented Cassandra Fear. Thank you for being the most supportive editor and an amazing cover designer. Madison is
amazing. Thank you to the fabulous and talented Ms. Courtney Shockey, formatter extraordinaire. Thank you for putting all the pieces together and giving me a product ready to publish. Thank you to the fabulous Ms. Kimberly Griffith for providing amazing inputs to this manuscript.

  Absolutely, it takes a village to get this done. I’m so grateful for all everyone I meet that makes this journey so exciting each day. Happy Reading.

  D. C. Gomez was born in the Dominican Republic and at the age of ten moved with her family to Salem, Massachusetts. After eight years in the magical “Witch City,” she moved to New York City to attend college. D. C. enrolled at New York University to study film and television. In her junior year of college, she had an epiphany. She was young, naive, and knew nothing about the world or people. In an effort to expand her horizons and be able to create stories about humanity, she joined the US Army. She proudly served for four years. Those experiences shaped her life. Her quirky, and sometimes morbid, sense of humor was developed. She has a love for those who served and the families that support them. She currently lives in the quaint city of Wake Village, Texas, with her furry roommate, Chincha.