by D. N. Leo
“Stay together and . . .” Lorcan trailed off as he saw the door of the convenience store in front of them swing open. The group gathered together, their backs to one another, their hands on their guns. They moved across the road toward a corner so as not to be too exposed. They waited. Nothing happened. The air seemed to grow heavy as the waiting continued. It was so quiet that they could hear their own breathing and the sound of dry leaves scraping on the ground in the light wind.
Lorcan broke the silence. “I’ll take a look in the shop.”
“Don’t be crazy. You walk in there, chance is you’ll take a bullet,” Roy objected.
“Agreed,” Orla said. “I prefer you alive, Lorcan.”
Orla glanced around. The wind had seemed to stop blowing. The lack of sound made the silence seem artificial, the type of vacuumed quietness often experienced in recording studios. “We’re getting out of here. Back to the water—then we’ll find another direction,” Orla said, wincing at the unpleasant squeaking noise in her head. She wondered if it was only her who felt the eerie silence. “You hear anything strange?” Orla asked.
“Not hearing things is stranger. It’s too quiet—not normal in the middle of the day,” Roy responded.
Orla could feel the presence of people very close by, and she heard the squeaking noise again. This time, there was something added to it. A sobbing sound.
“Watch out!” Lorcan yelled and dove at Orla, knocking her down as an arrow flew through the air and hit a cement pole.
Lorcan cursed and pulled his gun. Everyone else followed suit. They braced themselves against an attack, facing in the general direction of the arrow’s origination.
From around the corner, groups of people emerged, marching toward them with crossbows in hands.
“We’ve just arrived here. If we’re not welcome in your town, we’ll leave immediately. There’s no need for violence,” Lorcan told them.
The group of people continued to advance, crossbows raised high in combat position, eyes fierce and jaws clenched. When they came closer, Lorcan continued, “We don’t want to fight you.
“There’s no reason for this. But if you shoot at us again, our guns will do more damage than your crossbows.”
Five arrows flew in their direction. The group hit the ground fast enough to avoid the arrows. They pointed their guns, ready to fire, but before they did, the fire arrow shooters dropped dead, each of them with a knife in the head. The group turned to see a large group of menacing men approaching from the fence across the street. They were heavily armed with guns.
“Damnit, we’re in the middle of crossfire. Let’s take cover in one of the stores,” Lorcan said, heading toward an open door.
Orla, Roy, and Mori followed. Inside the convenience store, they hid behind the counter and kept watch out the window. On the street, groups of people poured from the buildings to join the fight—a fight between those with firearms on the one side and those with crossbows, knives, and anything that could be fashioned into a weapon on the other. From inside the store, the group could clearly see who had the advantage, but at the moment, they weren’t sure which side was friend and which foe. They couldn’t risk helping either side.
“Where are the cops? Where’s the authority?” Lorcan asked. “People weren’t allowed to fight like that on the streets even in the Wild West.
“Are you sure this is the right dimension? Are we on Earth? And currently in modern time?” Orla asked.
“Judging by the guns, yes. We’re in modern time, Orla,” Roy answered.
At a corner of the battlefield, they saw the boy they had encountered yesterday. Orla pulled her gun and charged to the back door of the building, Lorcan trailing behind her. They ran around the block so that they could approach the boy from behind. As they came closer, they could see that he was watching the fighting on the main street. Turning around and seeing Orla and the group, he darted through a gap between the two houses and ran into a small alley, disappearing among the crooked walls and ruins.
Chapter 6
They stood on an ancient-looking street lined with gothic-style houses. This was a world much different than the center of the town just a few blocks away. They no longer heard the fighting noises of the groups slaughtering one another.
“Do you hear anything?” Orla asked.
“Only the wind,” Roy answered.
“Nothing,” Mori added.
Lorcan approached Orla. He knew she’d heard something. He cupped her face in his hands. “Tell me what you heard.”
A tear rolled her face. “I hear crying . . . sobbing . . . moaning. Someone is saying something about the stone,” she said as more tears ran down her face.
“Can you block that from your mind?” Lorcan asked. A stream of blood ran from Orla’s nose, and she grabbed at her ears, breathing heavily. “Oh no, don’t do this to me! Block the noise . . . we can find the stone ourselves. I don’t need you to do this. Please!” Lorcan begged.
Orla concentrated and closed her eyes. Then she suddenly opened them, and they were blank.
Lorcan said nothing. He’d been through this before, and despite the pain he felt seeing her like this, he didn’t stop her. He merely followed Orla as she walked, his hand resting on his gun.
Soon they stood before an imposing medieval house decorated by many bird sculptures. “The Raven House,” Roy whispered.
“They’re here,” Orla said.
“Who?” Lorcan asked.
“The talking people . . . the stone.”
Lorcan shook Orla’s shoulders. “Wake up, Orla. Honey, we can’t do anything if you’re not with us. Come back to me.”
Orla gasped as she came back to reality, blinking her eyes and falling into Lorcan’s arms. He held her for a while, kissing her forehead, waiting for her to settle. Once she seemed to be back to normal, he asked, “The stone is in this house?”
Orla shook her head. “The voice said something about ‘stone’ and ‘seeking’…”
“What if it’s a trap?” Mori asked.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Lorcan aimed his gun high and approached the house. Orla and Roy followed. Mori hesitated, but then followed. Lorcan pushed open a heavy oak door. As it squeaked open, a swarm of ravens and hawks flew out from the inside. Some of the birds were similar to those that had attacked them at Roy’s place, the Yakuz’s hawks. But these birds didn’t seem to be aggressive—they simply fled the house.
“What did we just open?” Lorcan mumbled to himself.
In response to his questions, bullets rained down on them. Roy grabbed Mori and dove behind a column. Lorcan covered Orla, running toward the other side. “Are you hit?” Orla asked. Lorcan shook his head. He scanned her up and down and was pleased she wasn’t injured.
Five men emerged from a dark corner of the room with guns in their hands. Under the dim light from a torch on the wall, their scaled skin glowed, and their lizard eyes sparkled with excitement in anticipation of a fight. Lorcan made eye contact with Roy, who was taking cover behind the column across the corridor. They nodded at each other in agreement. Lorcan slid across the floor from left to right, and Roy did the same from right to left. The five lizard men were sluggish in reaction and were gunned down by two rounds of laser beams from Lorcan and Roy.
Their bodies dropped on the floor and began to disintegrate, ultimately evaporating into thin air. Roy and Lorcan approached their remains as the last of their body parts vanished, and all that remained on the floor were black puddles full of swimming worms.
“Xiilok creatures. I haven’t seen them before, but I’ve heard of them.”
“Say again?” Roy asked.
“They came from a universe called Xiilok. Ciaran told me it’s full of multiversal outlaws. When the Xiilok creatures die, their bodies evaporate into puddles of maggots and worms.
They searched for other reptiles, but found none alive. Orla followed the sound in her mind, entering a small door which led down to a basement. As the
door opened, the crying sound stopped. On the wall, they saw sixteen people, shackled. Orla searched for the locks to pick, but she found none. The steel chains were cemented into the wall. All sixteen people were still alive. A man in his late thirties looked at Roy, snarling and saying something in a language that made no sense. Roy didn’t understand, but he could guess as to the meaning. He spoke to the man in English. “I am not who you think I am. We have just arrived, and we have nothing to do with why you are chained up here.”
The man didn’t seem to understand what Roy was saying and continued his verbal assault. A woman from the right corner uttered something to the man that calmed him down. They thought she had translated what Roy had said to the man because she turned toward Roy and spoke in English, saying, “One of the men who captured us and brought us here looks like you.”
“I don’t see any resemblance between me and the reptile men we just killed upstairs.”
“They’re not the ones who captured us. They’re just guarding us. They have been locked in here with us for quite some time.”
“How long have you been here?” Orla asked.
“A few days . . . or maybe a week . . . we lost track of time.” The woman yanked at her chains.
“They’re buried into the wall, just like the gatekeeper at Gate 313.” Lorcan clenched his jaw and searched for something he could use to free the people. Veering off to a different wing, he noticed the handle of a small compartment. He touched it. There was no movement. The rusty handle looked as if it hadn’t been opened for a long time. He jiggled it and pulled.
All Lorcan remembered was a sudden and unstoppable suction into the darkness.
The soothing voice of his mother echoed in his ears, making him smile. “Lorcan, you went to the river bank again. You know your father won’t be happy about this.”
“Then please don’t tell him, Mother,” answered six-year-old Lorcan as he blinked his innocent blue eyes at his mother. She smiled and pulled him in for an embrace.
“All right, I won’t tell him this time, but only because it’ll upset him. Not because you’re fluttering those blue eyes at me again.”
“What’s wrong with the river, Mother?” Lorcan asked, nuzzling in his mother arms.
“There’s nothing wrong with the river. It’s just the people who use it. They’re bad for you.”
“She can’t be . . .”
His mother looked into his eyes. “Who did you see, Lorcan?” Her voice shook.
“Just a little girl playing in the sand, Mother. She’s very little . . . very pretty. I didn’t talk to her . . . I just looked. Please don’t be mad at me.” Lorcan started to pout, and tears gleamed in his eyes. His mother smiled. “Oh, my little boy! She’s your first crush! How could I be mad at you? Whoever that little girl is, her parents shouldn’t let her wander to that river.”
“Her mother was with her. They built sand castles on the riverbank.”
His mother kissed his forehead. “I can take you to any river you want, but not that one. We can build a castle on the sand, and one day, you’ll be able to give your princess a real castle.”
Lorcan smiled. “Would you really help me do that? Would you help me build a castle for my princess? Can I find a princess? I mean, one who would like me? Will I be able to find a princess like the girl at the river?”
“You ask too many questions, my son. I don’t have the answers for most of them. But I’m sure you’ll find your princess, and I’ll help you build your castle.” She embraced him again and kissed his forehead. A tear found its way down his face.
Lorcan opened his eyes to find himself in Orla’s arms. He sprang to his feet and asked, “Orla, honey, why are you crying?” He glanced around. He was still in that dark wing of the basement where he had been searching for a way to free those shackled people. Orla stared at him and burst out in tears. He pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, darling. I just passed out for a bit . . .”
Roy and Mori approached. Mori pulled Orla from Lorcan’s arms. “Come on, we should go. People are waiting,” Mori said.
“What’s going on?” Lorcan asked Roy. “I just checked that door . . .” He pointed to the compartment door and found a solid wall instead. Lorcan exhaled and collected himself. “Okay, I might have passed out for a bit.”
“You didn’t just pass out. You didn’t have any pulse when we found you, Lorcan. No heartbeat, no breathing, no response whatsoever.”
Chapter 7
Lorcan stepped outside the door of the house with Roy. The sixteen people who had been shackled in the basement were waiting.
“How did you guys free them?” Lorcan asked.
Roy shrugged. “Not rocket science. I found a few shovels.”
Lorcan nodded. “All right then, you proved me useless.”
“No big deal. You scared Orla to death when you passed out. More earth-shattering to her than my digging out a few loose bricks.”
Lorcan nodded. He went to Orla, but she looked away and walked toward the woman who had spoken English.
“What’s your name?”
“Rose.”
“I’m Orla. And they’re Lorcan, Roy, and Mori. Anyone else in your group speak English?”
Rose shook her head.
“What language do you speak here?” Lorcan asked.
“A forgotten one.”
Orla glanced at Lorcan, and then turned again toward Rose. “We should go back into town. Do you think you can find your people there?”
Rose nodded, glancing back at Lorcan, and walked away with Orla. Mori hurried along with them, leaving Lorcan standing alone. Roy approached.
“Give Orla some time. It was a shock.” He patted Lorcan’s shoulder, and they both trailed behind the group of people heading back into town.
The main streets where the fighting had occurred before seemed quiet. The group of sixteen strode through the main streets, followed by Orla, Lorcan, Roy, and Mori. In front of them, bodies and body parts were strewn across the street. Blood pooled on the ground in places. It was dead silent. The people ran to the bodies, too shocked to even cry.
“That’s my brother,” Rose said as she ran toward the body of a young man in his twenties, lying half-on, half-off a sidewalk. He’d been shot in the chest. Rose sobbed and gathered his body into her arms. Orla crouched next to her.
“There was a big fight here this morning. Do you know who killed your brother? Are they likely to come back?”
Rose shook her head. “I know who they are. But I don’t know if they’ll come back.”
They heard a door slamming and then footsteps around the corner. Lorcan, Roy, Mori, and Orla gathered quickly, their backs to one another, weapons drawn.
From a side street, a group of people charged at them.
“Don’t shoot!” Rose shouted at the attacking people. The man leading the attacking group lowered his crossbow and looked at Rose.
“Rose? Rose! Thank God, you’re all okay!” He said, surveying everyone and pulling Rose into his arms for an embrace. She hugged him back tightly. Then the whole group of people hugged one another and cried with joy. The man turned to explain to the group about the fight—and the bodies. They talked, shouted, and cried. Some started to gather the dead bodies, and others just stood dazed, unsure of what to do.
“How long will this reunion be?” Orla mumbled to herself. “We need to find the stone so we can go home.”
“So the Daimon Gate is home now?” Lorcan looked at Orla. She looked at him, and then to the ground, saying nothing.
Before Lorcan could say anything further, the man and the group of people approached them. The man extended his hand to Lorcan. Lorcan shook hands. “I am Jay,” the man said. “I help organize things around here.” Jay lowered his heavy American accented voice when he glanced back at the dead bodies.
“By organizing, I take it that you’re the leader of this group, and you might be responsible for the bloodbath this morning?” Lorcan accused.
Jay n
odded. “Yes, I’m responsible. But it was necessary. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my people.”
“Does that include the sixteen we found shackled in the house a few blocks from here?” Lorcan nodded at the group people.
Jay snarled, “You’re in no position to judge us. You’re strangers here.”
Rose approached. “They saved us, Jay.”
Jay nodded. “And I very much appreciate it.”
Lorcan looked up and saw that the sun was starting to set for the day. He looked at Jay. “We need a place to stay tonight. Could you point us in the direction of a hotel?”
“We’re on lock down. No business can be conducted in town.”
“Lock down? If I’m not mistaken, your authority is enforced by a group of men with crossbows and butcher knives. Your adversaries are armed with machine guns. If it’s your town, and you’re locking down to prevent them from attacking, I think you’ve got a very slim chance,” Lorcan said.
Jay smirked. “We chased them off.” He gestured widely.
“At the cost of how many casualties?” Lorcan nodded toward the dead bodies.
“What do you want?” Jay growled.
“Let us know where we are, and where to find the next town, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Why don’t you stay here for the night? I’m sure your people need a rest,” Rose interjected.
Lorcan looked at Orla. “We sure need a rest, but we don’t want to be in the crossfire again.”
“Especially when you think we have no chance?”
“Rose!” Jay called out.
Rose swung around and snarled at Jay. “Come on Jay, there’s no room for your ego. We need their help.”
“We didn’t say we were going to stay to help. We don’t even know you. We’ve got things we need to do that require us staying alive,” Roy said.
“Then you should leave. We can take care of our own,” Jay said. “Follow the coastal line until you reach Japan.”