The Severed Realm

by Michael G. Manning

  I could tell the house was empty of its residents well before we got close. That wasn’t to say it was empty of all life, though. My magesight detected a very large arachnid within, though it was radiating very little aythar. My previous experience in the forest had taught me to pay close attention, but it helped that this horror wasn’t underground.

  “Do you see it?” I asked the others when we were still fifty yards away.

  “Yeah,” answered Matthew with a look of distaste on his face.

  “See what?” asked Karen.

  “In the house,” I said, directing her attention by pointing. “In the front room, look closely.”

  Gram and Alyssa waited patiently, since neither of them had magesight. After a few seconds, Karen jerked and let out a gasp. “Ugh! Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “What is that? It can’t be a spider, it’s too big. Oh, the legs, blech…” Her face twisted. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “It’s different than the ones we encountered before,” observed my son. “Bigger, and it’s alone.”

  Grace growled, her throat issuing a deep rumble. “Let me get rid of it.”

  “The others had a nasty venom,” I reminded her. “I’d rather not risk you being bitten.”

  The dragon snorted, issuing a small blast of flame. “Who said anything about going in there?”

  “You’re not burning down my childhood home to get rid of a house spider, Grace,” I told her firmly.

  Karen spoke up in agreement, “It sounds like an excellent plan to me. I’m going to have nightmares for a week just thinking about that thing.”

  Gram spoke a soft command and two arming swords appeared, one in either hand. “I’ll take care of it.” Alyssa lifted her spear and moved to stand beside him.

  “Lure it outside and I can kill it without damaging the property,” I told them.

  “I doubt it can hurt us in our armor,” said Gram. “I’d feel better if you aren’t doing things I can’t see or predict. Hold off on the magic unless things get out of control.” A second later, as an after-thought, he added, “My lord.”

  “Fine,” I replied.

  The rest of us stood close to the road while they approached the house. Inside the house, I felt the spider move. It was right behind the door and it was clearly aware of them. It’s getting ready to pounce, I realized. Maybe it was related to trapdoor spiders, for the tactic seemed similar.

  The two warriors glanced at each other, communicating with a few hand gestures, and then Alyssa stepped off to one side while Gram walked directly toward the door. What happened next was so quick it was a moment before my brain caught up with what my eyes had registered.

  The door was pulled open and the massive brown body of the spider emerged, with seemingly countless legs reaching out to grab the young man who stood a few feet away. At nearly the same instant, Alyssa leapt forward from the side, driving her spear deep into the monster’s cephalothorax. The young woman didn’t have the mass necessary to stop its movement, but she threw it off balance and slowed it significantly.

  Meanwhile Gram’s swords were moving back and forth, systematically removing the creature’s forelegs and mandibles. It fell forward as he darted to one side and began removing the legs on the side opposite Alyssa, who had withdrawn her spear and was now using it to put large holes in the thing’s abdomen. The fight appeared to be over almost as soon as it started.

  That hadn’t stopped Karen from screaming bloody murder the moment she saw the beast spring out of the house. My right ear was still ringing from the force and volume of her yell.

  Only a few seconds had passed, and the spider was dying, its few remaining legs twitching. Alyssa thrust her spear into it once more, this time piercing a leathery-looking sac that was anchored underneath the abdomen. Unfortunately, that turned out to be an egg sac, one that was full not of eggs, but of newly hatched baby spiders, each around the size of a coin.

  The little spiders poured forth and scattered around their mother, running in every direction, including up the legs of the two warriors that had slain the giant arachnid. For Gram this wasn’t a problem—his armor was entirely sealed, only allowing air inside through a carefully controlled enchantment, but Alyssa’s armor was of a more traditional design. The joints of her armor were protected by chainmail, but if something ran up the inside of her greaves or vambraces far enough, it might possibly find an entrance through the padding and laces of her arming jacket.

  Alyssa reacted quickly, though, leaping ten feet straight up and back before more than a few of the little beasts could begin climbing. Sassy assisted by flying close and sending small bursts of flame to burn away the arachnids.

  Grace’s response was more thorough, however. As soon as the two warriors were clear of the front of the house, she sent massive gout of flame at the spider carcass and front door, and she didn’t relent for nearly ten seconds. The thatching on the roof caught almost immediately, turning the house into a bonfire. Torching my house wasn’t enough for her either—after the first gout, she turned her head and incinerated the ground to either side before working her way back to us.

  “Damn it, Grace! I told you I didn’t want to damage the house!” I yelled at her.

  If she was bothered by my rebuke, she didn’t show it. The massive dragon turned her head, bringing one reptilian eye around to stare at me. “It was infested. Build a new one.”

  “It wasn’t infested! We killed the spider. I could have dispatched the others without burning the whole house down!”

  Grace sat, resting her weight on her haunches as though she was some sort of giant dog. “Better safe than sorry,” she rumbled, unrepentant.

  I stared at her in disbelief, then stalked away, angrily muttering, “So much for my childhood.”

  Karen, on the other hand peeked out from her hiding place behind Matthew. “Thank you, Grace. I don’t know if I would have ever been able to sleep again if you hadn’t done that.”

  “You’re welcome,” said the dragon.

  “Come on,” I called out. “We might as well see if Roland has a need for a pyromaniac dragon.”

  Several of them laughed, but they followed and we were on our way again. We didn’t approach any more of the small houses that dotted the countryside. I figured we had done enough damage for one day. Our purpose was to rescue Lancaster, if there was anyone left, not to sterilize the outskirts.

  Half an hour later, we could see the towers of the castle peeking above the trees, so I called a halt. “Sassy, why don’t you do a quick flyover? You’re small enough you could be mistaken for a hawk if someone or something hostile spots you.”

  “Your wish is my command, o’ wise and grumpy one,” responded the small dragon as she leapt into the air.

  I glared daggers at the reptile’s back as she flew away, then turned to Karen. “While we wait, I have a question for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Can you teleport from here back to Washbrook, or any other places beyond the boundary we crossed to come here?”

  Her answer was immediate. “No,” said Karen.

  “That was quick,” I responded. “You know without even trying?”

  She nodded. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like a map in my head, but I feel it more than see it. Whenever I go somewhere, it gets larger, but as soon as we crossed the boundary, it vanished. The map I have of this place is entirely separate.”

  I glanced at my son. “But this place is technically still in the same dimension. It’s just divided up by artificial boundaries. Shouldn’t her teleportation still work?”

  Matthew shrugged. “I don’t pretend to understand how her gift works, but you’re right. That’s why I have to make a portal at the boundaries instead of just shifting anywhere like I did when I went to Karen’s world. I can open the boundaries, but I can’t shift between here and home because they’re rea
lly still in the same world.”

  That made sense to me. “I wonder why the animals are so different here than what we’re used to.”

  “How long has your world been split like this?” asked Karen.

  Matthew and I glanced at each other. Doing a quick bit of math, I answered, “Close to ten thousand years, probably.”

  She shrugged. “That’s not that long, but if the selection pressures were high enough, it could be enough time for evolution to be responsible.”

  “Evolution?” I said, frowning.

  Matthew patted my shoulder. “I’ll explain later. If you search through the knowledge the She’Har preserved from the ancient humans, there’s some explanation of it there. The She’Har also had an even more detailed explanation, but it’s harder to find since they had a completely different perspective. Basically, it’s the idea that living things change over time to better survive.”

  “The kionthara may have intervened,” added Matthew. “They were isolated here for thousands of years, and they were given much of the knowledge the She’Har possessed.”

  For me, that was easier to wrap my head around. The Dark Gods had become unbelievably cruel during their eons of existence. It would be just like them to tamper with the plants and animals of their home. They had probably done it just for the fun of tormenting the humans that lived here. Sanger’s people, the Ungol, had survived living in this environment, and it had obviously made them extremely tough.

  Sassy returned while I was still thinking about it. “There’s a castle ahead with a large lake beside it,” she reported.

  “Did you see any people in the castle?” I asked.

  “Isn’t that what castles are for, people to live in?” said the small dragon acerbically.

  I ground my teeth. “Unless the people were all eaten by giant spiders. Did you see anyone or not?”

  Sassy turned her head slightly to one side in a gesture that was oddly reminiscent of my dog, Humphrey, when he was deep in thought. “I suppose your question wasn’t so dumb after all. I did see a few men walking atop the walls.”

  “Thank you, Sassy. I’m glad to know you don’t think I’m entirely ignorant,” I said, sourly. Off to one side I could see Karen covering her mouth as she stifled her laughter. “Did you notice any other significant details while you were scouting?”

  “It’s much prettier than that black blob you call Castle Cameron. You could learn from whoever built it,” remarked Sassy. “At the very least, consider getting a lake and a moat. It’s quite scenic.”

  Gram snorted, but I silenced him with a cold stare. “How about the gates, Sassy, were they open or closed? Did it look like the castle was in a defensive posture?”

  “They were closed,” said the dragon. “But you should know, buildings don’t take postures. They can’t move.”

  Ignoring her comment, I addressed the others, “Let’s proceed. We’ll approach the gates and see if they’ll let us in.”

  We continued our march down the road, and soon enough the woods on either side fell away as we entered the cleared land that surrounded Castle Lancaster. It was a common-sense matter of defense to keep the area outside the walls clear of trees or large buildings in the event of a war or siege, and Lancaster was no different. In fact, there were usually sheep to be found grazing the area, but I spotted none today. I suspected they had been eaten, either by the castle inhabitants or whatever it was that had forced them to close their gates.

  No one hailed us as we stopped in front of the great oaken doors, which I took to be a bad sign. “Hello the gate!” I yelled, using a little magic to amplify my voice.

  A voice answered from one of the arrow slits in the gatehouse that overlooked the gate. “Who goes there?”

  “I am Lord Cameron, cousin to your lord, Duke Roland. I have come to offer assistance if it is needed.”

  There was no response, but I could easily detect several men huddled together in the room above the gate, whispering to one another. Eventually one of them replied, “We will have to report this to His Grace. Please wait there.”

  “Can’t you recognize me? I have been here many times,” I protested.

  “These are dangerous times, milord. I have been ordered not to open the gates without Lord Lancaster’s express permission,” said the guard.

  “Look, I could just fly over the walls if I wanted,” I began, but Gram put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Just be patient, milord. They are right to be wary. You’ll only alarm them if you press the issue or try flying over,” he advised me.

  Gram was right, of course. So I held my tongue. We waited an eternity, or perhaps ten minutes as a more impartial timekeeper may have observed. Then I detected the original speaker returning with several other men, one of whom I recognized by his aythar. It was Roland.

  Relief flooded through me. Until then, I hadn’t realized how worried I had really been. If Roland had died, it would have been a terrible blow to the Queen, not to mention me. When he glanced through the arrow slit and saw me, I could see a similar relief in his own features.

  “Mort? Is it really you?” asked Roland, calling down to us.

  “I’m pretty sure it is,” I replied, somewhat sarcastically.

  Roland gave the order, and a moment later the drawbridge came down while my ears could detect the heavy grinding of the gears that raised the portcullis operating behind it. As usual, I was momentarily jealous. Castle Cameron had never had a moat, and hence no drawbridge. It seemed unfair. Secretly, I thought perhaps Sassy was right. Maybe I should create a lake and a moat.

  It was a silly idea, of course. We didn’t have a river close by to feed it, so I would have to do some rather unusual engineering to make it happen, and that was aside from the fact that the outer walls and other structures would have to be moved to make room for such an addition. And that was before even considering Washbrook. Would I want to try and enclose the town walls with my moat? The entire thing was impractical. I sighed and discarded the notion.

  Once the drawbridge was down, Roland strode across, clad in mail and wearing a steel cap. He stopped in front of me, studying me warily a moment before opening his arms wide and catching me in a giant bear hug. “It really is you! What’s happening out there? We’ve had no contact with anyone for more than two months now. Is Ari safe? What of the kingdom?”

  “Everything is fine,” I told him. “We’ve been more worried about you.” My words were spoken over his shoulder with a bare minimum of air, for he was squeezing me too tightly for me to breathe normally.

  Roland released me and stepped back, casting his eyes at the road behind us. “Let’s get inside. It isn’t safe out here.”

  After we were inside, the outer portcullis was again lowered and the drawbridge raised. “So what has happened here these past two months?” I asked.

  “I’d rather know what’s been happening out there,” said Roland. “Why has no one come? The message boxes aren’t working either. It’s almost as though Lancaster has become an island unto itself.”

  That was when I realized that Roland had no idea that Lancaster had shifted into what might as well be another world. “It’s complicated,” I told him. “Why don’t you catch me up first?”

  My cousin frowned. “You must be hungry. Come inside. You can have the finest dried mutton and salt porridge that Lancaster has to offer.” As we walked, he continued, “And as your host, I insist. Guests first, what has been happening?”

  Mutton? I shuddered involuntarily. While I could eat it, it was fairly prominent on the list of foods I usually avoided, and being nobility, that meant I never ate it. Unless Penny made it—I knew better than to refuse her offerings, and she had a way of making it more palatable. Once again, I felt a pang of grief as I remembered she was gone.

  We sat at the high table in the great hall and drank small beer while the food was broug
ht out. Acquiescing to Roland’s demand, I filled him in on everything that had happened over the past two months. The only difficult part was describing what had happened to Penny. Every time I told the story, it felt as though my heart had been torn open again.

  When I had finished Roland placed his hand on my arm sympathetically, his eyes damp. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mort. We all loved her. I wish I had been there for you.”

  I nodded, keeping my eyes on the cup in front of me. If I had met his eyes, I wasn’t certain I wouldn’t break down. Hearing the soft words of others always made it worse.

  Roland called his steward over and sent the man to fetch a bottle of wine, so we could toast to the late Countess. Then began to relate his own tale. “We had no idea we were cut off, trapped in some foreign realm. Not until hearing what you just told me,” he said. “Sometime last month, I knew something was off. The farmers and freeholders stopped coming to the castle. The traders never made their scheduled shipments.

  “I sent a detachment of men to your estate to inquire if all was well, but none of them returned. A week after that, some of the farmers that live close appeared and asked for sanctuary, claiming that large beasts were devouring their flocks and destroying their fields. I took them in and sent more men to investigate. They also vanished,” he explained.

  “The message boxes also failed. My letters remained within them, unread, so I sent three more messengers. None of them returned. As you can imagine, I was beginning to become seriously concerned, but it wasn’t until the ogre appeared that we closed up the castle and began to treat our situation like a siege.”

  I leaned forward. “What did it do?”

  Roland looked at me curiously. “You’ve seen it, then? I expected you to react with disbelief when I mentioned it.”

  I nodded. “In the strange forest I mentioned earlier, the one that appeared where we expected to find Lancaster.”