A Child of Two Worlds

by Mark Cole

  “Please,” Alex rasped, “Help her.”

  Unseen hands lifted Caitlyn from his back. Those same hands rolled him over. A million stars met his eyes. The sides of his vision began to darken.

  “It’s Caitlyn,” a distant voice said. “Get Silvia now!”

  Darkness overwhelmed him.

  Chapter Four - The Coming Storm

  Terra awoke to discover the ropes tying her down had been cut. A small hand covered her mouth before she could turn her head to look around. “Mistress,” A high pitched voice whispered. “You must be silent so we can escape.” Terra nodded her head, and the small hand disappeared from her mouth.

  A small man stood next to her head. She recognized the two foot tall Pixie with pointed ears and green hair and pants. “Kris?” she whispered. “It’s been a long time.”

  The Pixie nodded, his eyes darting about nervously. “Yes, Nexus, five years since you left us. We’ll have a reunion later. We should escape now, yes?”

  “Yes,” Terra whispered. She lifted her fingers to something tied around her neck she hadn’t felt before under the press of the ropes. A shard of obsidian hung from her neck on a golden chain. She felt nauseous as a feeling of pure, unadulterated evil emanating from the stone spread throughout her chest. She yanked the chain from her neck and hurled it to the ground.

  As soon as the obsidian shard broke contact with her hand, she felt her power return in a rush. She reveled in the warmth of it. She turned back to the Pixie. “How did you sneak in here, Kris?”

  He drew a pair of six inch knives he held like short swords. “The Halfmen are foolish. They left only one on guard. I slit his throat before he knew I was there.”

  Terra nodded. “We will need to kill the rest of them,” she whispered, “or else they will chase us.” Shimmering light coalesced around her hand as Terra used her power to materialize a knife. The razor sharp blade glowed with an unearthly light.

  The Pixie nodded his agreement, and they set to their grisly work. In only a few minutes, all of the Halfmen were dead except for the shaman.

  She told Kris to plant the obsidian shard on the shaman. Pixies were a naturally dexterous race, and Kris was an experienced thief. He didn’t wake the shaman as he gently laid the necklace on his forehead. She had to know if the shard affected just her or all magic users.

  Crackling lines of energy sprang to life around the remaining Halfman, binding him and the shard firmly in place. So tight were the shaman’s bonds that he couldn’t even flinch as Terra slammed the heel of her shoe into his chest, cracking a rib.

  Her own broken ribs burned in protest, but she refused to acknowledge the pain. “Problem?” she asked, a baleful glare on her face.

  “Just kill me and be done with it,” the shaman said. Terra heard the fear underneath the bravado.

  “Answer my questions, and I might let you live,” she said. “What is that shard? How did it block my power?”

  Hearing that it was going to live, the porcine beast smiled and tried to seem friendly. Terra slammed her heel into its chest again, hearing another rib crack. “And don’t even think of lying.”

  “It is a part of the master’s tower. I don’t know how it works,” the shaman said in a rush, trying to keep her from kicking again.

  “How did you find me?”

  “The master sent me, he knew.”

  Terra lifted her foot as if to slam it down again. “How did he know?”

  The Halfman’s eyes closed tightly in fear of the coming blow. “He didn’t tell me,” it cried plaintively.

  “Where were you taking me?”

  “To the master’s tower.”

  “Last question,” she said, setting her foot on its broken ribs. It squealed in pain as she pushed down. She lifted her foot. “What was he going to do to me?”

  The shaman was drenched in sweat from the pain. “The master was going to use machines to kill you and absorb the power of the Nexus.”

  That’s not possible. Terra leaned down and put her mouth next to the Halfman’s ear. She put her blade on the side of its neck, just below the jaw. “This is for Alex,” she whispered. She slit the hellspawn’s throat from ear to ear.

  She stood and surveyed the open plains around them. It was still some time before sunrise. In the darkness the only clue she had of where the land ended and the sky began was the canopy of stars, uninterrupted by a single cloud in the sky.

  Scanning the horizon, she asked, “How did you find me, Kris?” Her eyes settled on the forest they had left the day before.

  “I was returning to Starfall from Highwind Point. I saw the fire from across the plains. We need to be away from here, more soldiers are afield.”

  “Where is the resistance being led from?” she asked as she dug through some of the extra supplies the Halfmen had brought along. She found a few large cloaks and slipped one on. This thing smells terrible, but I would rather stink than freeze to death.

  “Starfall,” Kris said. “Silvia leads the council from there, but her grasp on the other races is tentative at best. The other races and tribes bicker on what should be done.”

  Terra started walking toward the tree line. “Good, her mother would be proud. What happened to the Arcane City?”

  Kris closed his eyes, a grimace on his face. “After it was captured by Azreal, he destroyed it. Completely,” he said. “The Obsidian Tower stands over its ruins.”

  Terra spun to him and winced in pain. “What happened?”

  Kris saw the eastern sky begin to lighten with the coming dawn. The stars were beginning to fade as the sky took on the look of a fresh bruise. He continued to walk, and she followed close behind. “Azreal’s attack on the Inner Realms was more or less successful. He wasn’t able to gain a foothold on Life, but he did here and on the other two. He erected an Obsidian Tower here on Dae and on the Realms of Order and Good.

  “The tower emits an insidious miasma that sucks the very life out of anything that comes too close. Had you continued another day, you would have entered the place where everything is dead, grass, animals, even the insects. Nothing lives there now.”

  “They said Azreal wanted me alive,” Terra said. She heard distant thunder but continued walking.

  “It takes longer to affect larger life forms, Nexus. You could survive a few days, maybe a week, after you enter the area. At first, when Azreal began to withdraw his army from the Arcane City, we thought we may be able to retake it. Silvia was opposed to the idea, but the other leaders pushed for it.”

  “He allowed us to move a force of several thousand into the city, but it was a trap. A massive explosion destroyed our force and what remained of the city. The obsidian tower appeared with the explosion.”

  “I know they would likely ignore it, but why hasn’t the resistance called for aid from the Realm of Life?”

  “The Obsidian Tower somehow inhibits inter-planar travel. Everyone but Azreal and his forces are unable to leave. At first some travelers still came, but eventually the flow stopped. We have had no news from the other planes in almost four years. We are stuck here with no way to enlist aid. Tell me, Mistress, were you able to find the Guardian?”

  Kris looked toward her when she didn’t answer. She had been sent to Earth to find the Guardian of Balance, the Paragon of the Realm of Balance. The stories said a Guardian born when the equilibrium of the Nine Realms was disturbed.

  It was the purpose of the Guardian to restore balance to the Realms. The Guardian’s Blade was the tool to help the Guardian accomplish that feat.

  Terra had almost given up searching for the Guardian before she found Alex. When he saved her in the alley, she thought he could be the one she sought, but she wasn’t sure.

  Although she hoped Alex might be the Guardian, doubts crept into her mind, especially when the Guardian’s Blade never reacted to him. Years had passed, but she knew bringing the wrong person back would be worse than bringing back no one.

  “It sounds like a storm is coming,” Kris
said, doing his best to act as if he hadn’t noticed the tears running down her face.

  Something in the back of her mind chimed warning, but she ignored it. She hadn’t expected to fall in love with Alex, and it had been tearing her up inside that he wasn’t the Guardian. She cursed herself for not leaving him earlier. If I had, she thought, maybe he would still be alive.

  Dim stars blurred in her vision as she looked skyward. The sound of thunder was drawing closer still. Terra spun to face the direction the sound was coming from. The north, from the Obsidian Tower. There aren’t any clouds. That’s not thunder! “Stay behind me,” she shouted to Kris.

  She threw her arms up in front of her. Her ribs screamed in pain, but she refused to succumb to it. A massive pillar of stone erupted from the ground blocking the cavalry from trampling her beneath thundering hooves. She leaned against the stone and faced them.

  Black horned Daemen, the cursed spawn of human women and male demons, surrounded her atop skeletal horses. One stepped its horse closer. Dead, black eyes stared at her from a body encased in black plate mail. Spikes jutted out at angles from its armor.

  “My Lord respectfully requests your presence at his tower, Nexus,” the one that had stepped its horse closer said with a voice smoother than silk.

  She began to seethe with anger. The heat of her rage was a palpable thing. The grass at her feet withered under the barely restrained magical energy. “Tell your master that if he wants me, he should come and get me. His lackeys won’t accomplish the task.”

  The Daemon gave her a superior look. “I think you can tell him yourself. You are coming with us.”

  Alex is dead because of him, Terra thought. Azreal is the reason he died. The reason so many have died. “On second thought,” she said, her balled fists shaking at her sides, “I think I’ll just send him a message.”

  A tornado of fire reached hundreds of yards into the sky enveloping the Daemen. She fed her rage, hatred, and anguish into the flames. The grass was vaporized instantly, and the dirt turned to glass under the inferno. When she could bear the heat’s pain no longer, she cut off the flames.

  The Daemen surrounded her still. “Lord Azreal gave us protection from your magic. You are defenseless, Nexus. You are coming with us.”

  Terra floated a stone up to her eyes. She used a small amount of magic to throw the stone at the Daemon that was talking. She heard it ping off of its armor and smiled.

  The Daemon laughed at her. “What are you going to do, woman?” it sneered. “Throw stones at us?”

  Terra narrowed her eyes in a glare. “Not exactly.” She slammed her foot on the ground making it ripple like a storm tossed ocean, shattering the glass on the ground that had been formed by the inferno. She drew the shards to her, encasing her and Kris in a glass cocoon. With a powerful pulse of energy, she sent the glass out with the force of a shotgun blast.

  Black blood poured in torrents from hundreds of wounds on each of the Daemen. Terra checked the bodies, none survived. “Let’s get out of here,” she said.

  Kris, shocked to silence by the display of raw power, nodded as they set out toward the Forest of Souls, toward Starfall.

  Something wet and cool covered Alex’s forehead and eyes. Someone dabbed his lips with a wet cloth. Alex lifted his hand, and the dabbing stopped.

  “Good, you are awake,” A woman’s voice said. “You may sit up, but I advise against standing. Your feet are injured.”

  Alex pulled the cloth from his eyes. Bright light filtering through lacey curtains made them hurt. After they adjusted, Alex saw he was in a room of polished wooden paneling. The white sheets on the soft bed were pristine. “Caitlyn?” he asked.

  The woman smiled. “No, I am Caitlyn’s sister, Silvia Shadowpaw. I am the Fanglady, the leader of the Changelings of the Fang. And you are?” Alex sat up and examined her. Her hair was coarser and her eyes more pale yellow than gold. The dress she wore looked to have been made from spun silver.

  “Alex Zane. Is Caitlyn all right?”

  Silvia nodded. Alex noted an almost regal bearing to the woman. “She is still unconscious, but my sister will survive. The healers have been with her for the last day and a half.”

  “I’ve been asleep for a day and a half!” he shouted throwing the blankets from his legs. “I have to get to Terra!”

  Silvia held a restraining hand against his chest. “I have already sent some of my people in search of her. And yes, you had nearly run yourself to death. You were also very dehydrated. Tell me what happened.”

  Alex filled her in on everything that happened. Terra’s kidnapping took her back a step, and her eyebrows shot up when he mentioned the sword changing. She smiled when he told her about the spirits helping him when he was carrying Caitlyn.

  “The Forest of Souls, the forest in which Starfall resides, is home to some very interesting creatures. Most only show themselves to those with a noble spirit. They must have deemed you as such, risking your life to save another.”

  Silvia motioned to his sword. Alex saw the wooden blade leaning against the polished wall. Sunlight from the window bathed the sword in golden light. “Did Terra give you that?” Alex nodded. “Did she tell you what it is?”

  “No, she didn’t,” he said softly. I should have done something to save her. There must be something I could have done.

  Silvia saw the dejected look on Alex’s face and put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry yourself, Guard-” she hesitated, changing her mind on what she was going to say, “Alex. As I said, I sent a large party after her. They will find Terra and bring her back.”

  Alex nodded and lifted his feet. The soles were covered in bloody blisters and sores that had closed as he slept. His work shoes weren’t designed for running long distances on flat ground, much less through a forest. Just one more stupid thing I’ve done in the last few days.

  “Where did you carry Caitlyn from?” Silvia asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  “The clearing I killed the hellhound in. The one with the rock that sticks up at an angle.”

  Silvia frowned, “That’s almost seventy miles from where the sentries found you. And you were carrying my sister. That would be quite the feat for one of my race, even more so for a human.”

  Alex shrugged. “I just did what I could. My shoes are useless in the wilderness. Do you have a pair of boots I could borrow?” he asked as he put his legs over the side of the bed. He braced himself for the pain of his feet touching the wooden floor, but a hand to his chest stopped him.

  “I had to know your intentions before I let you roam around my town freely. I will heal your feet for you.” She knelt and took his feet in her hands. Her fingers were cool on his injured feet. He felt a light tingling sensation move slowly up his legs. The tingling sensation moved back down his legs and began to build at the soles of his feet. The tingling grew warm, then hot, until it felt like his feet were on fire.

  Alex clenched his jaw. The anguish of skin closing quickly was staggering. Nerves screamed in protest from being pulled with the forming skin.

  As suddenly as it started, it stopped. Alex let out a slow breath. Silvia rose on shaking legs. He stood and helped her sit on the bed. The healing had left him feeling revitalized.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. Her face was ashen, and she was shaking.

  A look of pained confusion was in the Fanglady’s eyes. “I’ll be fine,” she answered. “I have little magical power, but it is still more than others of my kind. I just need to rest. Feel free to explore the village, I only ask that you not leave until you have spoken with me in the morning. We have much to discuss.”

  “Will do,” Alex said, lifting his sword from where it rested.

  “Timothy will get some boots for you and answer any other questions you may have.” She stood on shaky legs and walked him to the bedroom door. “Timothy,” she called.

  A man with a shaved head walked down the hallway toward them. His slow, sure movements seemed to come from a pra
cticed grace. A scimitar swayed in time with his movements.

  “Yes, Silvia?” he asked in a deep baritone. His ebony skin was tight across well-toned muscle. A red vest was open above his baggy trousers. His open toed sandals looked to be made of woven rope. Alex saw that his ears were pointed. An elf? Alex thought.

  “Please get Mister Zane some boots, and show him around the village for me. I need to rest.”

  “I will.” He turned to Alex. “Please follow me.”

  “Thank you, Silvia,” Alex said as Timothy started down the hall.

  “No thanks necessary, Alex. You saved my sister’s life. Thank you.”

  Alex smiled at her and walked quickly to catch up to the elf. The waxed wooden floors were cold under his bare feet. “Do you work for Silvia?” Alex asked when he fell in step beside Timothy.

  “I do. I am the leader of Fanglady Shadowpaw’s elite guard.” He stopped by a door and opened it. There were a number of boots and shoes in various colors and styles. Timothy handed a pair of simple brown leather boots to Alex. “Try these,” he said.

  Alex pulled the boots on, they came up mid-shin. “Same as military issue,” he said with a smirk. “Thank you.”

  “Would you like me to show you around the village now?”

  “Yes, please.”

  The elf closed the closet and continued down the hallway again. They came to a junction of three halls with large double doors on the fourth wall. Timothy swung one inward.

  Sunlight temporarily blinded Alex as he looked outside. He gasped at the massive gemstone only a few hundred yards from the entrance to the manor. He followed Timothy down the steps to the monolithic crystalline gemstone.

  “Before you stands the stone that is the town’s namesake. Stories of Starfall’s founding say that the Changelings of the Fang saw a star fall from the sky. When they came to see what happened, they found a clearing created by hundreds of felled trees, with this stone in the center.