Strange Medicine

by Jim Stein

  Rising to the setting sun,

  Continuing to move beyond,

  Sing our praises now and then,

  Forget not that we were once human,

  Riding at lightspeed.

  Anna held nothing back…never again!

  Raw power tore from her, threatening to rip away her soul. Spirit drove away at impossible speed; thunderous claps followed the spell as displaced air rushed in to fill the void. The front line of enemies sheered in half, startled eyes darting in confused horror as the life faded from them. A score of trolls and shamblers simply ceased to be in that instant of raw intensity.

  The world swam. Her companions materialized around her, only to spin away as she dropped to the floor. Lips moved, but no sound came. Piper and Melissa dragged her by the arms to the dining room.

  The men formed a defensive ring around the doorway as hulking shapes moved into the ruined sun room. She hadn’t gotten them all. Gunfire filtered through her muffled world like popcorn just getting started, but it wouldn’t help. Even with all their efforts, all her power, they’d lost.

  Screams ripped through the muted popping. The men stood with guns dangling in loose grips. Dark shadows and tangible dread fell over the room of attackers. Fear thrummed along the walls. Anna looked to Melissa’s gun, but couldn’t move, couldn’t think through the unreasoning terror gripping her throat.

  More screams, and the room beyond was suddenly only half full. A wall of green flashed into view, pausing long enough for golden cat eyes the size of headlights to blaze from the darkened room. Great horns swept up from the reptilian forehead.

  Only the front end of the dragon fit inside the house as it flattened trolls and shamblers. The last time she’d seen the horned serpent he was a massive snake. In dragon form, Uktena brought his full power to bear, crushing, skewering, and chomping the hapless attackers.

  “Look out!” Billy was the first to snap out of the dragon-fear Uktena projected.

  He swung to intercept movement on the stairs, slamming the butt of his rifle into the head of the first sinuous insect to flow down behind them. For all his power, Uktena’s sheer size prevented him from moving further into the house to help. Billy and Brent clubbed back the horrors, but others crawled down along the sloped ceiling. Hooked forelegs clicked across the crown molding, and both men dove away to let the others open fire. Unlike the trolls and shamblers, bullets made short work of the skulking nightmares.

  “Where’d the horned serpent go?” Anna levered herself up and managed a smile of thanks as Piper steadied her.

  “Back outside,” Piper said. “Sounds like a full-scale battle out there.”

  Melissa scooped up her shotgun and joined the others. Although the house was clear of attackers, shouts, roars, and other less easily categorized sounds shook the broken house. Billy and Melissa had everyone pile furniture along the missing wall.

  Gunfire rang out as they fired over the makeshift barricade. The sizzle and crack of magic joined the sound of battle. Bursts of energy and flame blossomed against the green expanse of vortex. If the enemy’s magic overwhelmed Uktena, the rest of them would be sitting ducks.

  Anna wished Ed was here. He was always so calm and collected in a fight. Her nerves were frayed to breaking and Piper—for all her comforting words—didn’t look much better.

  “We better see if they need more ammo,” Anna said.

  “You okay to walk?” Piper’s concern was touching, but walking was the least of her worries.

  “If I don’t move, I’ll probably drop into a stupor. But no magic for a while.”

  A massive explosion drove dust and plaster from the ceiling. They stepped around the mess and froze as three sharp raps sounded from the entryway. Piper closed her hand around a broken chair leg and hoisted it like a club. Three more precise reports echoed from the entry.

  “Monsters wouldn’t knock. Would they?” Anna asked.

  Piper shrugged, and they crept to the heavy front door to peer through the sidelight. A neatly dressed man with close-cropped hair scowled down at his watch, raised his arm, and tapped out three more knocks.

  “When did Charles leave?” Anna opened the door as she spoke, revealing the A-chords’ drummer flanked by Manny’s assistant Rhonda and a bent old man reminding her of Mr. Conti, though he wore a fur coat and rounded black hat with feathers sticking from its silk band.

  “The cavalry has arrived.” Charles gestured the other two in with a haughty flourish.

  “Weren’t you helping upstairs?” Piper leveled her question at the drummer.

  “I was.” Charles gave a casual little shrug at odds with his rigid demeanor. “But someone had to welcome the reinforcements.”

  “So good to meet you.” The old man shuffled forward and grasped Anna’s right hand in both of his. “You are the image of your mother, especially your hair.”

  “You know my mom?”

  Warmth radiated from his calloused fingers, sending a pleasant tingling up her arm and easing the aching hole from which she’d pulled too much power. He must be confusing her with someone else because Mom wore her raven-black hair short—very different from Anna’s long blond curls.

  “Vanessa was always a delight. You certainly must have her lovely voice as well.”

  Impossible! Vanessa Forbes was her birth mother, a fact Mom and Dad proudly explained to anyone who asked where Anna got her singing voice. The woman was a bit of a legend up in Oregon and was one of the few child-bearing women who felt no compulsion to be tied down with family. That she’d been given up for adoption had never bothered Anna; she was a free spirit herself. The sparkle in the old man’s eye, his hawk nose, and the way he smiled encouragingly as the wheels in her head ground away…

  “You’re him…Kokopelli!” The warmth of his hands—the power flowing from them—had her gasping and wanting to pull away, but she stood frozen by that beady gaze.

  “You may call me Koko.” He beamed, dropped her hand, and stepped back. “Edan seems to have made the nickname stick, and I find it rather fitting. You of course know Rhonda and Charles.”

  He raised his palms to encompass the tall black woman and the A-Chords’ drummer. Anna hadn’t spoken to Manny’s assistant in months. Neat, professional Rhonda had forgone her typical business attire for a tight black body-suit that hugged her lean figure. Her cheeks looked more angular and her eyes more slanted than Anna remembered. She strode over to the kitchen table with catlike grace and peered out at the defenders.

  “So much noise and so little benefit,” she said to Koko. “Give them another task. You’ve brought ample help.”

  “They have more right than we to fight for their land,” Koko said with a tilt of his head. “Unless your own forces are ready to contribute?”

  “We have our own problems.” She waved away the old god’s suggestion.

  Old god. Anna knew it to be true from Ed’s stories. Yet it was hard to accept she stood here with an ancient spirit, with the Native American god of dance, healing, and fertility. Heat rose to her face with that last thought. Not that she planned on testing it out any time soon, but she and the other Brights were able to bear children, which wasn’t a very lady-like thought to dwell on, especially in the presence of the others and…her father. She pushed the thought away to focus on the here and now.

  “Uktena helped clear the house, then headed toward the vortex.” At least, she thought that was the direction he’d gone. “Is he a warrior for the Light now?”

  “That great lummox?” Rhonda scoffed, but bit back any further words when Koko glared.

  The old man—god—might look frail, but the look he leveled at the woman could peel paint and held a threat of barely contained power. For all her brashness, Anna liked Rhonda. She’d never gotten involved in the cross-country feud that always got Ed and Max assigned to crappy rooms. Rhonda might be outspoken and opinionated, but you always knew where you stood with her. Fast as thought, Koko’s smile returned.

  “We have hel
p from those aligned with the Light, the Neutral Council, and a few stragglers like Uktena who owe allegiance to neither.” He pointed to the far side of the room.

  Anna crossed to the one window that had miraculously survived. A sea of creatures moved across the sand stretching from house to swollen vortex, which now was easily seen even from the side yard.

  Trolls and shamblers pulled into a tight knot to repel what could only be Koko’s companions. Beings large and small swarmed over the trolls trying to get past their swinging clubs and meaty fists. Magic sparkled and took down two, but the battle was a sea of confusion with many fronts. A herd of gangly, furry-legged creatures separated a shambler from the group and rammed it with horned heads. It stumbled back to the vortex, fell into the green energy, and was swept up to disappear within.

  A trio of tall beings dressed in dark rags appeared behind the goat-people. They each formed a tan ball between their bony hands and tossed it overhead. Arrows of sand speared down, dropping the goats before they could mount a defense.

  Mammoth creatures waded through the smaller ones. Uktena appeared around the edge of the farmhouse, locked in battle with a monstrous armadillo crossed with giant boar. The fight was short-lived as the dragon clamped his jaws on the back of the monster’s neck and twisted its head out at a sharp angle.

  Dozens of skirmishes raged under the scorching sun. A wave of scorpions—or perhaps they were the giant spiders—flowed from the vortex and disappeared around the back of the house. A flash of crimson light painted the sand, and several of the bugs flew back into view—or at least pieces of them did.

  “I think we’re winning,” Piper said cautiously. “But to be honest, the bad guys look more organized.”

  Like Uktena, most of their force fought alone or in small groups. If there was a coherent effort underway, it was lost on Anna. Adding to the confusion were grey-robed figures who strolled through the melee, metering out punishment or skirting the fighting as they saw fit.

  “My contemporaries don’t—how would you humans put it?” Koko grasped the air as if physically reaching for words. “Don’t play well together. This level of physical opposition was not expected. Once we have control, the real work starts.”

  “What work is that?” Anna asked.

  “The veil between worlds is failing. Even with the Neutral Council’s gray-robes help, we’ve been unable to constrain the growing vortex.”

  “When Ed and Quinn destroy that shield on the other side, this all goes back to normal. Right?” Anna needed to hear good news.

  “The pipsqueak’s running out of time,” Rhonda said in her flippant, direct way, which suddenly didn’t seem at all endearing. “If they don’t get the job done soon, things go kablooey.” The explosion she made with her hands helpfully illustrated her meaning.

  “Why are you even here?” Piper rounded on the woman. “Last we knew you were heading out with the others to Baltimore.”

  “The Company had urgent business requiring my attention,” she said in a dangerous purr.

  “Sure, the ‘company.’”

  Ed and his sister figured the band’s promotor, Double-M Records, had something more in mind than advocating live rock shows. They’d been at the center of all the nastiness on tour. Although Manny turned out to be okay, some disagreement clearly festered between Rhonda and Piper.

  “Ladies, please. The veil teeters on the cusp of failing completely. Working from my realm we’ve been holding it together, which in turn holds this world apart from the third world. But the process is accelerating. We have come here, where our magic can directly oppose the vortex’s growth.

  “We will buy young Edan a few more days. But if the veil fails before they find the shield, the gateway will expand to encompass all the Earth. Once that happens, no force in the cosmos can reverse it. Chaos will be visited upon your world and all of our realms. This must not come to pass.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Charles said as he traded a guarded look with Rhonda.

  Koko ignored the comment and turned to Anna. She blinked. The old Indian now wore leather regalia consisting of a white breechcloth, jerkin, and laced boots. His fedora from a moment ago transformed into a simple leather band with a line of beads and three feathers standing proudly over the knot of sandy copper hair pulled tight at the crown of his head.

  “Your people’s help is welcome,” he said with a wave to the porch barricade. “Not all of us are immune to human weapons. Please let your friends know we have arrived and urge them to choose their targets with care.”

  “Sure thing.” Anna pulled Piper toward the others. “Can you believe this?”

  “That’s what I love about magic.” Piper spoke in a dreamy whisper. “Everything is connected. Everything’s for a reason.”

  “I don’t think we’ve shot at any good guys,” Melissa said after they outlined the situation. “Our main focus is keeping things out of the house. We sent two rifles upstairs to watch the sides, but all the action’s out back, mostly shamblers and insects. Everything else is busy with skirmishes by the vortex.”

  “Does anyone else find it odd that Charles and Rhonda are walking around with Koko?” Brent asked. “I mean, Ed’s the only one the old guy spends any time with, unless you count Pina.”

  “Rhonda’s certainly being bossy,” Piper said. “There’s something going on between her and Charles. They keep making eyes at each other, but haven’t exchanged a dozen words before.”

  “War makes strange bedfellows?” He didn’t sound convinced.

  “Forget them. Where is Pina?” Anna missed the sprite. Of all her friends, Pina had risked the most to help Anna.

  “Tell you what”– Piper pushed Melissa and Brent back toward the defenders—“let everyone know the deal. The gray-robes and Uktena are easy to pick out, but put anything that fights the shamblers, trolls, and the like on our do-not-shoot list. Anna, let’s go get the rest of the story.”

  Anna followed as Piper stormed back in to the living room, certain she was going to give Koko hell. But before she could open her mouth, the front door burst open to admit a frantic man dressed in black.

  The newcomer was lean and handsome with wavy dark hair and stormy gray eyes. He bore a startling resemblance to Manny, except she’d never seen the mixed look of terror and anger on the road manager.

  He pushed past Koko and fell to his knees in front of Rhonda. The woman—so brash and confident a moment before—turned fearful eyes on the man.

  “The home realm has…fallen!” He sagged as if the statement took the last of his energy.

  “Explain!” Rhonda’s cocoa skin turned ashen and her lips pressed into a tight line.

  “Energy spikes from the failing veil have the realms in chaos. Power from the vortex sent our world on a collision path with another. Both lands obliterated each other. Shadowhame is no more!”

  “Our other realms?”

  “Unaffected, for now. Court members who were not on the home world have declared war. Your presence is required. I arrived just ahead of our warriors.”

  A massive explosion shook the house as if to emphasize his words. They rushed to the windows. A new force joined the battle. Though as diverse as Koko’s legion, these moved in unison. Dark and twisted shapes marched from a massive crater, sweeping the field with weapons and magic. They were none too careful about targeting. What looked like a tree elf and a vaguely reptilian biped scurried away from the sand demon they fought to keep from getting blasted.

  In short order, the battle that had slowly been drawing to a conclusion ceased. The last of the invaders were pushed back through the vortex and guards took up position around the swirling energy.

  “I must leave you now.” Koko had his wooden flute clasped in his right hand and his carved staff in the left. “You should make ready to depart in case we fail.”

  “Why?” Anna asked. “You said the vortex would encompass the world. There will be nowhere to go.”

  Koko gave her a sad smi
le. “It’s something to do.”

  Ed’s father—her father and father to all the Brights—turned and strode out the front door with Rhonda close on his heels. Without constant gunfire, the room grew deathly quiet. Piper’s hand slipped into Anna’s with reassuring warmth. Could they really be that close to the end of all they knew and loved?

  “Ed will make things right, won’t he?” Anna gazed out the broken rear wall to where trails of energy streamed from the hands of many casters to splash against the pulsing green wall.

  “Little brother is nothing if not headstrong,” Piper said. “He’ll get it done.”

  After all they’d been through her simple words took the edge off the worry. Ed had overcome obstacles the rest of them hadn’t even known existed. Not only was he powerful in elemental magic, he was kind. Sure, he got confused sometimes—didn’t they all? But in the end he would do what was right. Plus, Ed inspired the people around him. Quinn and the others would be there to back him up.

  “Sure he will.” Charles had stayed behind and looked none too pleased.

  “He’s got lots of help and a piece of Koko’s staff to guide them.” Anna nodded with conviction.

  “Think this through. Let’s say they find the cursed shield, mange to destroy it, and everything returns to ‘normal.’” He put air quotes around the last word. “He’s being duped. They’re just using him to make their own worlds safe.”

  “You’re being a douche,” Piper said. “That portal needs to be shut down for all our sakes.”

  “And how long do you figure that will take, once the shield is destroyed?”

  “Once the shield is gone, there’ll be nothing to sustain it. That’s the nexus of all the changes.” Piper launched into professor mode. “The desert expanded over the course of several months, but it needed to feed off Earth magic while gaining momentum. Things should reverse much quicker. Nobody knows if the sand itself will vanish back to where it came from. If it has to naturally dissipate, we’re probably talking years for it all to be absorbed into the soil. But the climate should revert as soon as the portal collapses.”