by Martha Carr
“This is the last stretch of regular territory. Once we turn the corner we’ll be heading toward the dark market, so I want you to keep your eyes open.”
Leira clenched her fists, feeling a small bit of energy running through her like it was with her all the time. Things seemed a lot stronger on Oriceran than they did on Earth. As they passed the last house on the right, a mother elf pulled her two children closer to her and swiped her hand across the yard. A stream of white magic blew out and covered the grass, creating two small swimming pools connected by a long slip-and-slide. Leira giggled as the children screamed in excitement.
They turned the corner and headed through the main part of town where people were milling about, but nobody paid attention to her or Louie. She guessed that to them she was perfectly normal, unlike the way the elves, shifters, and other magical beings who walked around on Earth were to the humans. They had to put on glamours to fit in. Up ahead to the right was the castle, and the queen’s words fluttered through Leira’s mind. While she was there, she figured she’d better get some more information on what the queen was talking about.
Leira turned toward Louie. “Have things changed since Earth and Oriceran started trading seeds and tech and magic came out of the closet, so to speak?”
Louie scoffed. “Completely. Elves and wizards are pushing the boundaries and testing the limits. They see the opportunity to be part of something new or bigger, and that’s not something you get on Oriceran very often.”
Leira nodded in understanding, feeling like she could relate that to the people on Earth. It was a constant struggle for people who were born into poverty to be anything more than poor themselves. It was hard for the middle class to become upper class. Everyone kind of stayed in the social and economic level they’d been born into. Their only chance to improve those levels came from being able to go to college, which not everyone could afford. It was a cycle she’d thought was only an issue on Earth, but it sounded like maybe it was something that spanned the universe. Different or not, technologically advanced or not, Oriceran had a lot of similarities to Earth, and hopefully, she could use that to help bond the magicals and non-magicals together.
Clamoring voices up ahead brought Leira’s attention back to the road in front of them. They were closing in on the market, and she could hear it just over the hill. Things had drastically changed since the last time she had been there. The dark market used to be secretive and quiet. It seemed she’d found another similarity between humans and magical beings—when things were tough, boundaries got crossed.
12
“Get your new wands here. Some are even equipped with new technologies we brought back from Earth. Think GPS with magic,” a vendor yelled, trying to get the attention of passersby.
There were ten times as many stalls at the dark market as there were the last time Leira had been there. People were selling everything from stones and jewelry to cell phones, iPads, and MacBooks. Everything that the dark market had been striving for, it had become. The government had shared technology with Oriceran, and the residents had taken full advantage of being able to cross back and forth. There was even a stall shoved in a back corner selling human weapons that included bows and arrows, guns, and even pepper spray.
“Is that a popular stand?” Leira asked Louie.
Louie looked at where she’d indicated. “No, not at all, actually. Magical beings tried the Earth weapons in the beginning and realized that their magic was much more useful than anything humans could produce. Believe it or not, most Oricerans don’t like the idea of killing someone else, and human weapons are made just for that. Sometimes, I think the power scares them.”
Louie walked up to the stall where Ronnie was standing with a grumpy look. “Still stuck out front?”
Ronnie narrowed his eyes. “We wouldn’t be if you would tone it down.”
Louie shrugged. “Whatever. Some people cannot let go of a grudge. Despite whatever else she did, Rhazdon was fair about who got what. It wasn’t about playing favorites. It wasn’t about what she could get from the people in the stalls, it was about making a living. She understood that we all had to make a living, and this was our job. The more business you did, the better the spot you got. It was that simple. This new guy, he operates off the kickback system, and from the location of stall you can probably tell I don’t like giving kickbacks.”
Ronnie scoffed, shifting some of the items on the table. “You don’t even like to pay people for their work.”
Louie walked behind the table and put his arm around Ronnie. “Don’t be that way! I’m here, right? We went through a little bit of a dry spell, but that’s okay. It was a transition time, and we all had to get used to the new guy. It’s obvious he’s a scoundrel who doesn’t care about us. He’s only in it for himself, but nonetheless, it is what it is. We play by his rules, and we get to be where we want. We decide not to play by his rules, and we get the front seat. Then again, I like the front because I like to talk to people.”
Ronnie snarled. “I’d rather put a curse on them.”
Leira chuckled at Ronnie’s grumpy attitude and looked at the stalls around them. She wondered if the new guy was her target, and if he was, how she could get close to him.
Louie nudged Leira. “Want to take a walk around the market?”
“Sure. Let’s do this.”
As they strolled, Leira surveyed the area while Louie gawked at all the different cool stuff up for sale. He stopped at one of the tables, picked up what looked like a Blackberry, and showed it to Leira. “Look. It’s a magical cell phone. They took your technology and added our magic. You can actually use this as a transportation device. You enter the coordinates, and it creates a portal for you and pulls you right through—though, I must admit, I don’t know if I’d use it. I’ve heard a couple of people were pulled into the place none of us want to go to. It’s a cool idea, though.”
Leira tried to look interested, but she really wasn’t. She was preoccupied with finding the guy. “Cool. Good to know all this trouble has been for magical cell phones.”
“Oh, oh! Look at this.”
Leira looked at the large item on the table in front of Louie. “Yeah, it looks like a microwave.”
Louie put his hand out like a presenter. “It’s not just a microwave. You put anything you want inside of it, say the magic words, and it turns into exactly what you want. So, say you want a fully-cooked turkey. You take a grain of rice and put it inside, press the Start button, and say the words. When it’s done, you have a fully cooked Thanksgiving turkey. I need one of these at the apartment so I can stop eating so much Chinese food.”
Leira chuckled, finding some merit in that magical creation. “I have to admit that’s pretty cool. With as much food as Correk and Yumfuck eat, I could teach them how to use it and then walk away. The only problem with that is that they’d constantly be turning grains of rice into ice cream sundaes and Cheetos.”
Louie snickered. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Leira’s eyes shifted to the wall behind Louie, and she realized quickly that she had been made. Bruno, the elf she had followed to the market, was standing there pointing and whispering in her direction. As soon as their eyes met, he took a defensive stance and sent a fireball hurtling toward her.
“Watch out!” Leira pushed Louie out of the way, knocking him to the ground.
She lifted an eyebrow and cleared her throat. “Aggressive move…”
Leira leaned back and centered herself, and her heart rate slowed down as she pulled energy. The energy pulsing through her was stronger than ever before. She set an intention, and never noticed as the fireball passed close by her face. She opened her eyes, her pupils shining brightly toward Bruno and the others standing in the back.
All around her she heard gasps and whispers from the onlookers, but she ignored them. She had to keep her connection with the magic or the fireball would surely take her, and she wasn’t planning on going down in the middle
of the dark market on Oriceran. The fireball made a loud whooshing sound as it curved around her. She could feel its heat on her face as it passed, barely missing her skin.
“Oh, shit,” Louie grumbled as he scrambled to his feet, pulling his sword from the sheath on his back.
It was obvious that there was going to be a battle, and everyone around them knew it. People ran as fast as they could to get out of the way. Some of the people, however, took advantage of the panic and slipped a little something-something into their pockets as they passed the vacant booths. It didn’t surprise anyone. They were thugs and bad magical beings, and if they could get something for free, they were all for it.
To the left and beyond the tables was the large tent where Rhazdon used to hold court disguised as a gnome. The front flaps flew open, and magical creatures spilled out and surrounded the tent. They all had either their magic or their wands at the ready. Leira quickly realized that they were there to protect whoever was in that tent, allowing themselves to be targets to try to lure her and Louie away from what she was looking for.
“That’s gotta be him. Whoever they’re protecting in that tent, it’s gotta be my target. The guy that threw the fireball was one of his thugs, and if he’s here, then Marcel is here,” Leira said, looking at Louie.
“You’re probably right, although I don’t know the new guy’s name. Whoever is in that tent is always protected. If you say the guy with the fireball is one of your suspects, then, yeah, most likely it is your guy in the tent. They tend to stick together as much as possible, not wanting to cause a scene. That’s one thing about this place—the criminals are loyal to each other even if they’re loyal to no one else.”
Leira watched the men in front of the tent and was slightly confused. “He’s not willing to portal out of here. That’s interesting. So, they’re protecting him, and they’re possibly protecting something that can’t easily be moved.”
Louie felt the energy pulsing through his sword. “Maybe a big-ass gadget?”
He raised his sword high, listening to the voice in his head. Stay alert. Louie wasn’t planning on not staying alert, especially with everything that was suddenly going on. When Leira told him she needed help on the case, he didn’t think he would take her to the dark market and end up in a full-on battle. Then again, with the way his life and the way the battles went on Earth, he wasn’t sure why he was surprised.
Leira cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath, feeling a strong tug in her chest. She ran her hand over her stomach. The scar was warming up quickly. That was her universal sign that something was wrong, a sign she had learned not to ignore.
“Well, I haven’t seen that in a while,” Louie said, staring at the tent with wide eyes.
Leira wrinkled her forehead and followed his gaze. Coming out of the tent was a tall, strong wizard. It was obvious that he was leading the others, his team, but he was definitely not her target. As she watched him move, she felt a sense of déja vu. When he turned toward her the light shone across his face, and a twist of nervousness shot through her. The wizard’s eyes were completely black, something that had happened many times in the past.
“Shit, man. That wizard looks like he’s been overtaken by the dark mist from the World in Between,” Louie pointed out.
Leira let her head droop slightly, frustrated by the thought. The dark mist had caused her many different problems, including getting some of her friends killed and others badly injured. It had started battles and wars on the Earth, and it had searched her out over and over. It was the whole reason she never took her bracelet off. The dark mist needed her light, and her light needed the dark mist. It wasn’t a good thing, though, and anger slowly filled her at the sight of her old nemesis.
She held her hands out in front of her. “Fuck me! Well, don’t hesitate. Just bring it.”
She pulled a fireball into her palm and twisted it around until it was ready to be thrown, then reared back and launched it as hard as she could toward his men. It wasn’t like the ones she normally threw. Following her set intention, it flew exactly where it was supposed to, and she knew it would be more useful than a single fireball.
The fireball splintered at the last possible moment. Each piece hit several of the targets, setting fire to the front of their tunics and knocking them flat on their backs.
Louie slowly looked at Leira. “That was pretty badass.”
13
“Incoming!” Louie grabbed Leira by the back of the shirt and pulled her down as a streak of magic flew right over them.
They looked at each other, then crawled to the tables in front of them. Louie upended one of them, and they pressed their backs against it.
Breathing heavily, Leira nodded at Louie. “Thanks for that.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Those bastards are on a roll.”
Leira smirked. “Well, let’s give them hell, then.”
Louie clutched his sword and nodded frantically. “And make our way back to the Dark Forest?”
Leira chuckled as she turned and peeked over the table. “And make our way back to the Dark Forest, yes.”
“Sweet! I got this, then.”
Leira pulled the energy through her body again, this time letting it swirl up into her chest. Louie watched as she pulled a rope of magic from her breast. She pulled the last bit of sparkling energy out and snapped it in her hand, sending sparks to the ground. She stood up as the fireballs flew by her and twirled her rope above her head before cracking it like a bullwhip at her opponents.
As they began to topple, Leira looked at Louie and nodded. “Let’s make a run for it.”
They bolted in the opposite direction, running as fast as they could toward the Dark Forest. Leira looked back over her shoulder, and sure enough, the thugs were following them. The man with the black eyes walked quickly and stared directly at her as he threw another fireball. She ducked and it hit a tree limb ahead, cracking it in half. Louie was running ahead of her, and she slashed her hands, using magic to grab the branch before it fell on him. He breathed heavily and looked back at Leira thankfully.
Louie slowed down so that Leira could catch up and looked at her. “You have to be careful. Going to take us a minute to get out of this area, and there are a lot of people here who support the dark wizards and witches no matter who they’re fighting. We are the enemy now, and they have a huge army that gives zero fucks about who you are or who I am. Keep your eyes peeled.”
Leira and Louie dodged and wove through tables as she threw fireballs over her shoulder, then ducked away from their retaliation. As they rounded the corner, they found themselves back on the main thoroughfare of the dark market. Although people had run when the fight broke out, there were still tons of people, enough so Louie and Leira struggled to get through the crowds.
They all knew what was going on, but none of them seemed fearful, and that alone gave Leira pause. Suddenly a flash of light came from her right, and she created a shield just before a massive fireball slammed into her. The shield protected her from the blow, but she was still tossed backward into a table. She looked at the culprit but didn’t recognize him from her dossier or anything else she’d received before she went to Oriceran.
“What the hell? Who the fuck are you?”
Louie ran over and grabbed her by the arm, lifting her to her feet. He looked at the guy then started to tug her. “He’s nobody. He’s just some customer. They’re getting involved for the fun of it. They see an elf running from the bad guy, and they know that if they get you, they’ll be rewarded. Keep moving.”
Leira shot the guy a nasty look and followed Louie toward the exit. “I guess nobody ever taught them manners.”
All around them, people got involved. They shot fireballs, tried to trick them, and yelled for the thugs who were following them. Leira did her best to defend, sending out pulses of energy to push them back. When the people realized that their magic wasn’t doing any good against her, they began to get physical. They pushed her and pulled
on her arms and tried to trip her.
Leira was at her wits’ end. She didn’t want any more of it, and she knew that if she didn’t stop them soon, she wasn’t going to get out of there in one piece. She halted and turned to face all the dark wizards and witches surrounding them. She pulled the energy through her body, and this time let it build. The bright glow of her skin and the speed of the symbols on her arms made everyone step back, unsure what she was doing. Before they could start creeping forward again, she let the energy explode from her chest. It radiated in a circle around her.
The waves pummeled the people and knocked them down like dominoes. Louie tugged on her arm, pulling her from her trance. “Good job, but you gotta keep moving.”
Leira nodded. “Right, keep moving.”
When they reached the edge of the dark market, they skidded to a stop. Thugs were closing in from in front and behind them, trapping them in the center. Leira pressed her back against Louie, and they turned in a circle as they stared at everyone, waiting for them to make a move.
Leira leaned her head back and whispered to Louie, “So, you got any new ideas?”
Louie scoffed. “I was kinda hoping you did.”
When a stream of magical arrows flew at them, Leira pushed Louie to the side and knocked the arrows out of the air. “I think right now our best bet is just to survive and get the hell out of here.”
Louie whimpered nervously. “I like the plan. Surviving is a good plan.”
The tall man with the blacked-out eyes shouldered his way through the group and stopped just in front of them, laughing at Leira and Louie. He put his hand in the air and held it there for a moment before lowering it to his side. Immediately, everyone began to fire at them and streams of magic shot from every direction.