A Shuffling of Planets (The Chained Worlds Chronicles Book 3)

by Daniel Ruth

  "Are the stories of shapeshifters being trapped while in their tiny forms true?"

  Okay, so that expression wasn't awe. "If they were, they weren't dragons. First off, I can't get much smaller than a cat, second no matter what my size and shape I am about as tough and strong as I am in my true form. I may lack leverage sometimes but you can lean on your metaphysical self to burrow such things."

  "I don't understand," Karen admitted.

  "An example would be if I was in this fun-sized package," I gestured to my diminutive size. "And a troll or other large beast slapped me. Even though I weigh about forty pounds, I can borrow the concept of weighing several tons from my true form. It's not as effective as actually being in that form but you can trick the universe into believing it for a bit."

  "Sounds crazy," she said as she watched me smelt my materials in my crucible. Then her eyes widened as I brought it to my mouth and gargled with it. At least that’s what it appeared to the uninitiated eye.

  "What are you doing? Are you drinking that?"

  "Of course not, except for the silver content it tastes terrible," I snorted once I spit out the mixture back in the container. "Dragon saliva and blood have excellent magical properties. As an alchemist, I can take advantage of these characteristics to make up for my somewhat rudimentary circle skills."

  "And molten metal doesn't bother you?" Karen asked skeptically.

  "Not really. Most supernatural creatures would be resistant to simple low-level heat but dragons have an extremely high resistance to such things."

  "But not immune," she asked. I glanced at her. This may not have been an academic question. After being enslaved and tortured by the sidhe she seemed to be actively searching for each magical creature's weakness. Adorable if somewhat disturbing.

  "No. Not immune without a supplementary spell or psionic. Most creatures or gods aren't completely immune unless their nature leans to that facet. Like elementals."

  "Elementals are real?"

  My time under the arena's floor basically passed like this. One question after another. Since I wasn't doing research or testing my skills in any way, I didn't really mind the minor distraction. Her questions were usually simple and didn't take much agonizing thought to respond to. One might even call it pleasant.

  Halfway through the night, the pixie joined us. "Hey Tinkerbell," I called out as I etched a new line into the floor with my transformed finger claw.

  "Don't call me that," she responded in a shrill voice. She was very offended. "You may call me Eli Mistypebbles."

  "If you say so," I nodded absently as I poured my molten reagents into the groove.

  "I see you have a new human," she said. "Watch this." She blew a sparkling powder into the air, thoroughly covering Karen in glitter. Immediately she started to hiccup and frantically scratch herself.

  "Stop that," I snapped. This was actually the type of annoying behavior I had expected of the fae and been pleasantly surprised not to have experienced it. It was disappointing to know that it wasn't because their reputation wasn't undeserved but they reserved their misbehavior for hapless mortals.

  "She's just a human," Eli said as she fluttered her wings and slowly backed up. "I thought you were cool."

  "What does that have to do with anything," I answered grumpily as I reached out to get a fingerful of the glitter. "You're not a dragon but I don't go around popping your head like a pimple. She wasn't distracting me from my work, but now I have to pause and fix your crap."

  Putting a speck of dust in my mouth I closed my eyes and analyzed the stuff. "Damn, I don't have the materials to fully counteract this. A Dispel might take the edge off but a negation ward would be more effective."

  I took a couple of minutes to affix and empower a ward a dozen meters down the crawlspace. Meanwhile, Eli was buzzing us both, weaving in and out between our limbs. Finally, I got annoyed enough to imprison her in a telekinetic globe. The first few minutes of watching her bouncing off the inside were amusing enough to almost completely forgive her for wasting my time. After that, she sat at the bottom of the bubble and pouted at us.

  "Is that another spell," Karen asked as she had a glaring contest with the pixie. The Dispel and ward had taken care of most of the symptoms, so she only had the occasional itch and hiccup.

  "You're mean," the pixie sulked within her time out.

  "No, that was a psionic skill," I responded as I went back to the circles. I wasn't very familiar with the demon binding circle that Duke Ponzi had given me. Usually, I used wards to keep demons out or to hurt them if they entered an area. Keeping them in place and subduing their power was definitely a higher tier of complexity and also difficulty. "I'll need to concentrate on this for about an hour, so no more questions until I am done. You be quiet too," I said to the tiny fae.

  The new circle was a challenge compared to the others, but I also enjoyed working out the details. You never could master a new skill simply by reading and studying. There were dozens of minute things that weren't described in the tomes that needed to be worked through. Still, it was a fairly well-described process so these were mostly negligible.

  "Done," I said as I stretched. Due to my current size, I had the ability to do so despite the limited space. I loved being me. "I don't think I'll have to come back during the day."

  "What?" Karen said with incipient panic. "You have to come back! The Unseelie could turn on me at any time!"

  I looked at her in puzzlement. "Why would you care? I assumed you would want to go with me?"

  "You'd let me leave?" she asked in bewilderment.

  "Of course," I said with a shrug. "Why wouldn't I?"

  "What if I tell people?"

  "Tell people that dragons, elves, and magic is real?" I smiled at the irony. "There are heroes and villains flying the skies of New York," I paused for a moment. "Although I haven't seen any villains personally. They are having a meeting with aliens for a trade pact. There's a demon controlling the premiere hero group..."

  "What?"

  "Um, never mind that part. That's a work in progress," I waved my hand in embarrassment. "The point is, there's a lot going on out there. It's not worth kidnapping you. Although if you could delay going to the news for a few weeks I would appreciate it. I have a few plans in progress."

  Now that I was thinking about it, I suppose she could completely screw me over. Still, I would rather give her one of my crappy post-hypnotic suggestions or have the sidhe cast a geas. Well, maybe not a geas. That was a nuclear option. Even Beth's heavy-handed use of mind control didn't really compare.

  "It's been years," Karen said, sounding rather lost. "I used to be famous but I doubt I even have a place to stay."

  "Tell you what," I offered, an opportunity to deal with unintended consequences coming to my attention. "I am having the apartment building renovated and a ton of other things. How about you be my secretary for the next few weeks while you get comfortable being free. Once you see how the world has changed you can make decisions on the future."

  "I could do that," she said, gaining confidence. "Can you tell me more about magic?"

  "I could do that," I nodded congenially. "I could even unlock your psionic potential and train you in a few tricks if you decide to stay."

  "Really? Why are you being so nice? You seemed rather cold earlier. I mean, polite but distant."

  "I'm not warm and fuzzy to strangers," I said confused. "You were a stranger, why would I care that much?"

  "And now?"

  "You seem nice," I nodded with a smile. If she decided to stay maybe I could get a new human. I could teach her some neat spells and maybe trick her out with some superpowers. Well if I ever get my power potions to work without side effects. Man, I was really missing Beth and Jeremy. Though I guess it hadn't been too long. "Now you aren't a stranger."

  "Can I follow you home too?" Eli asked plaintively from the side.

  I stared at her sidelong. Pixies were little pills. If she hassled my humans there would be is
sues. Still, she was cute. Maybe Beth would like a Pixie pet?

  "You can't play your tricks on mortals..."

  "What about bad ones," she said eagerly. "There are lots of bad people in the world. Surely you don't care about them?" This sounded reasonable. I tentatively nodded.

  "Woohoo! Watch out world," the little fae shrieked in delight. "I am the pixie that flaps in the night! I've got a dragon and I'm not afraid to use him!"

  "Right. The first rule of dragon club is that there is no dragon," despite myself I found the little creature amusing. I would still crush it like a bug if it harassed my people but I'd give it a try.

  Another hour passed while I finished up the circles. A glance at my terminal showed it to be past three in the morning.

  "If I head back now, I can get a few hours of sleep before my meeting," I said, mostly to myself.

  "And I can go with you right now," Karen confirmed nervously.

  "That's what I said," I said with a nod. I walked back out of the arena with the little fae flitting around me. Karen was a full-sized human, albeit still a petite woman so she spent a lot of time crawling or doing an odd huddled, slouching walk.

  I didn't bother notifying the sidhe of my leaving. I certainly didn't trust them enough to come with me. They weren't demons, however, they did have a reputation for following their promises. Like demons, they also had a reputation of corrupting the intent of the agreement. I think that as long as they believed that I could crush them with raw strength they would behave.

  The tricky part was that they didn't really know my true strength. I also didn't know their power. All I knew was a few rumors, folk stories, and Stella's disdainful stories. They would behave until they thought they knew they didn't have to. I wasn't exactly afraid, but I was a bit worried about keeping people I liked around. What I might consider collateral damage they may think of as leverage.

  I reached the location I had come in. As before it was dark and foggy. "You know the way out," Eli asked.

  "Not yet," I said to her before turning to look back at the direction I had come. "Come out here and activate the return passage."

  Silence answered my command. Really? Did they seriously think that I didn't know they were there? Against me, illusions were far more effective than invisibility but there was someone definitely there. Simple logic, only idiots would let an unknown power roam their domain without a watch. Given time and research, I could probably destabilize the entire reality bubble.

  "Fine," I sighed in disgust. "Let's do it the hard way. I bind you by the oath you swore. Get your ass out here, drop your damn illusions and face me. Now."

  Almost immediately the fog boiled around us, rolling back thousands of feet. It was still completely dark, but now I saw a man standing at its edge.

  It was Cunobelinus. He still had his unearthly beauty and elegance but his modern suit was gone. In its place was a silver suit of armor. A mix of chain, scale, and plate that I had never seen before. Draped over it was a tattered overcoat.

  "There was no need for that, my liege," he said in a voice dripping in disapproval.

  "Then respond when I tell you to..."

  "You never said when..."

  "When then," I flatly responded. "You either need to learn telepathy or use an inkling of common sense. Neither you or I will be happy if I have to invoke your oath every time I say something. You won't enjoy it if you waste my time. I might become petty."

  "As you wish, my liege," he replied regally. He hid his anger and fear well. His aura was another story. It was full of rage and darkness. If he had the power, I absolutely would be burning in hellfire now.

  He walked up to the bare wall next to us and gestured. Immediately a ward became visible. It was a ward to manifest an illusion. Not of fae origin. I recognized Sulayman's signature. He tapped it and underneath us, a circle rippled into visibility. I frowned. Too many illusions.

  The circle was a variation of a teleportation circle. I had seen similar in Sulayman's circle rune and there were elements that were used in Vatapi's grand circle matrix. The tricky part were the sidhe elements. Now I knew they were the creators of this sub space domain it made sense that they had their hand in this as well. I couldn't replicate it but I could understand it. Now that I could see it, I could control it.

  It wasn't keyed for a specific controller. Sulayman had intended this to be the social hub of the city. He couldn't expect to activate if for every guest. By the looks of it the circle was intended to either be on or off. It may have had a section for a hard override. It had an inscription that might have been the creator's mark. Basically, his override control inscription. I was completely certain it hadn't been used based on what Karen had said.

  I glanced over at Karen and stepped back in surprise. She hadn't been dressed extravagantly, however, even the plain dress she had worn was gone. In its place was a set of revealing rags. It would be an exaggeration to say that it covered anything to any degree of modesty.

  "Petty," I looked over to the Unseelie as he stepped into the circle and raised his hands. He was activating the path out.

  "You commanded us to drop all our illusions," he stated with a sneer. I snorted. I was talking about dressing her in rags in the first place.

  Fog rushed back in. This time it was far more substantial as it twisted and formed a familiar funnel in front of us. I nodded in interest as I dug into my bag. I pulled out a student's cloak, which I tossed over to the shivering human. Then I reached in again and grabbed a spare buoy. I tossed it up into the air and its tiny engines engaged and floated it into the sky.

  "A human mechanism," the sidhe asked. "Why bother? It won't last the day."

  I looked at the city around us. While it was true that Sulayman hadn't integrated any advanced technology, I was sure that he had guarded what he had here against damage for his own arcane energies.

  "It should be durable to last a bit. In case it isn't obvious, don't destroy it, limit its function or cause it to be destroyed in any way. I have more and if I have to replace it, I may ask you to treat it like your own child including tucking it in and telling it bedtime stories."

  Then the human, fae and I walked through the portal. It may have been more intimidating if Karen wasb't shivering in fear and gripping my arm like some amorous anaconda.

  Chapter 26

  I would have flown back to the apartment but I was trying to keep a low profile, even though it was only an alter ego that was compromised. I was also a very poor flyer and carrying another person wasn't something I felt confident in.

  Therefore, we took a taxi. It took a while to get to a more inhabited area and even more time to flag down a vehicle. It seemed I simply didn't have the right talents to hail taxis or carriages. When one did stop it took a hypnotic suggestion to get him to go to my building. It seemed the area had a poor reputation. The pixie disappeared along the way. I suppose being locked inside a metal cage didn't appeal to her.

  None the less, we finally got back. The building looked bad but nothing like it had two days ago. Likewise, the little furniture in the place was old and faded but clean.

  "Take the couch," I gestured to the relevant piece as I walked over the stuffed chair. I would just meditate until morning. It was restful enough in the short term. "Tomorrow you can get a terminal. I mean an iWatch and get busy coordinating with the renovators. We may need a hotel. Or we can stay in Purgatory, there is a huge amount of property there that’s in excellent..."

  "Let’s stay in a hotel," her shrill voice replied, even I noticed she was on the edge of a full-blown panic attack.

  "Sure, a hotel is fine," I gestured to her soothingly. I wasn't sure if her fear was a full-fledged phobia or not. On the bright side, if it was, I could temporarily cure her. Honestly, I thought it was simply common sense. The sidhe culture seemed toxic to the weaker mortal races.

  Hours later I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "He's in here."

  "This place seems a bit... run down," an unknown
voice replied. "Your aunt gave you our cost structure, right?"

  "You have the deposit," Jim replied. "You know you keep that if we can't pay."

  "Welcome," I said as I stood up to greet the visitors. Joe was there, along with two men. A middle-aged skinny man and a portlier fellow. They were both nicely dressed but no more than most businessmen I had seen. "This is Karen. She's had a long night, so she may sleep through some of this. The beginning introduction she already knows anyway."

  Joe cast me an admiring look. The two men approached me. "Cameron Sterling and my brother Edgar Sterling. Joe mentioned that you need a large PR project but wouldn't get into details."

  We shook hands. "Yes. It's pretty big. I can't imagine anything larger happening in the next few decades." The looked skeptical. Then again since there was a possible demon invasion and alien trade talks in the works, they may have a point. "First of all, the supernatural exists. Shifters of all kinds live and work among us."

  "Boss are you sure you want to just go in like this?" Joe interrupted.

  "Mr. Brentwood," Cameron said in a grave tone. "If you're not prepared to be serious, you're simply going to lose your deposit."

  At this point, I heard a tapping at the window. There was the pixie knocking on the window and gesturing to the latch and pointing to her mouth.

  "One minute. Eli wants to come in," I held up my hand as I crossed to the window. They obligingly stayed silent. "I don't have any dew or nectar."

  "This is the city," she snorted in her high-pitched tone. "I'd starve if I ate that. Do you have Cheerios or granola? With raisins preferably."

  "I have some leftover pizza..."

  "I'll take it!"

  I turned back to the visitors to find them staring slack-jawed at the fae. I looked back and forth between the two and continued. "Anyway, the supernatural exists. One group of them want to emerge from hiding and accompany the human race into the future!"

  "Fairies are real?" Edgar asked in a shaking voice. Off to the side, Joe wasn't looking much calmer.