by D. N. Leo
“No, please don’t,” Lyla said. “I order you not to.”
The puma looked at Lyla and then turned around. In the distance, deep in the woods, they heard a howl and then a rumbling chant. Gale had no idea what it was, but he had heard his mother—a sorceress—describe that sound once. She said it was a yearning from the underworld.
Lyla darted in the direction of the sound. “No, Lyla, no!”
“I can’t let the puma handle this on her own. Ah, and you have a task.” She raced toward a small shrub and pushed the thick leaves and branches aside. On the ground sat two small cubs, looking up at her, tails wagging. “Please take care of them,” Lyla said. Then she stood and charged into the bush.
“Hey!” Gale said but then grabbed the cubs and tucked one under each arm as he watched Lyla charging into the woods. One of the cubs reached up and licked his face. “For your information,” he said, “I don’t speak cat. So stay still, and no monkey business—or puma business—when you’re under my supervision.” He raced into the woods, following Lyla.
Gale could see Lyla approaching a clearing where the puma was fighting a dragon-like creature. For a dragon, it was small. But for a bird, it was gigantic. The puma was clearly at a disadvantage.
The creature saw Lyla approaching and was distracted from its fight with the puma. Seizing the opportunity, the puma jumped up and bit the creature’s neck. The creature swung its neck and head, throwing the puma to the ground. The creature turned toward Lyla, but before it could move, the puma roared and jumped on its back. The two bodies tangled in the dirt and wind.
The creature slid away a couple of times, but the puma pulled it back. Gale could see that the puma had only enough energy to hold the creature to the ground for a time, but not for long. If he wasn’t mistaken, the puma still seemed to be communicating with Lyla.
He could see Lyla hesitating. But when the creature was about to get away for the third time, she raised her arms. The surrounding air stirred and was woven into a whirlwind—two balls of bright sparkling orange particles formed.
The creature saw what was happening. It left the puma and tried to flee, but the puma took advantage of the opportunity, jumping on the creature and pushing it to the ground. The puma turned and looked at Lyla one more time as the creature fought hard to get free of its control.
Lyla changed her stance, and she raised her arms higher. The two balls of particles turned into two gigantic fireballs hovering above Lyla’s hands. She hurled them at the creature. Two streams of fire followed the fireballs. The creature tried to get away, but the puma once more pinned it down. They both caught fire and burst into flames.
Lyla turned around and looked down at her still shaky hands. She saw Gale and the cubs. Tears streamed down her face.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sound of a fast-moving train shook Michael awake. He bolted upright and hit his head against a hard, cold surface. Not only was the hard, cold surface above him, but it surrounded him as well.
Am I in a coffin?
It wouldn’t have surprised him if he’d ended up dead after what had happened with the fight with Jaxper’s mother. What did surprise him was the fact that he was now alive in a stone coffin that seemed to be moving as if on a rollercoaster track. He didn’t feel pain from any injuries, so his body must have healed when he was out. He braced his arms against the two sides of the stone box for purchase, and when the movement of the box subsided, he pushed the lid up and out.
He sat up. He had indeed been on a rollercoaster. Except there wasn’t a track carrying the coffin. It was floating on air. A small group of women dressed in flowing white dresses controlled the flying coffin using ropes made of some kind of fabric. If he wasn’t mistaken, the women were running—or maybe sliding—on air as well. With one of their hands, they managed the fabric that kept the coffin afloat, and with the other hand, they fought a group of women dressed in long black cloaks.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Jaxper and her mother fighting the women in long black cloaks.
As he pushed the lid off the coffin, it fell to the ground. The women controlling the coffin were startled, and they looked up and stopped running. The coffin fell to the ground, making a loud thud and shooting out dirt and dried leaves in all directions.
The women in black saw Michael and stopped fighting.
Jaxper, her mother, and all the other women stopped as well. Michael didn’t need to have super intelligence or do some kind of sophisticated analysis to figure out the women were the witches. Maybe Jaxper and her mother were from a different clan from those in black.
“Shit!” he muttered. Michael stood up and stepped out of the coffin. “Sorry for the interruption. Keep going,” he said and darted away.
The next thing he knew, a strip of the fabric the women had been using to guide the coffin flew through the air and wrapped around his body, pulling him back.
He pulled against it but couldn’t disentangle himself. He tugged again. It was hopeless. It was as if they had wrapped him up, not only with unbelievably tough fabric, but also with their curses and a lot of evil magic. The women in white threw their fabric ropes at him, and he was now wrapped up like a mummy. Michael flexed his muscles, concentrated, and commanded his newfound talent. A sharp line of heat cut through the fabric and shredded it into hundreds of pieces. Michael walked away, free.
Seeing what he had done, the witches were stunned. The witches in black advanced toward him after only a moment of hesitation. All the witches in white, including Jaxper and her mother, formed a line around and in front of him.
Regardless of whether they were white witches or ordinary humans, there was no way Michael was going to let these women fight to protect him. He could take care of himself.
The ones in black advanced, and the white witches stood in defense. Jaxper and her mother withdrew so that they stood right in front of him. Michael concentrated and was about to send heatwaves toward the women in black. Jaxper’s mother looked at him as if she knew what he was about to do.
“Save your energy,” she said.
"I can’t let you fight for me,” Michael protested.
"Why not?” Jaxper’s mother asked.
"I am the commander in chief of border security in Iilos. It’s my responsibility to protect civilians. I don’t let civilians fight for me.”
Jaxper’s mother shook her head. "We’re not civilians. We are Mountain witches.” She pointed her chin at the women in black. “They are Dark Water witches. They’re nasty.”
“I won’t take sides in your war.”
“You shouldn’t have to. This isn’t your war. You are the One. You’re too important to us to be part of this fight.”
“Stop calling me the One. I don’t know what that is, and I don’t want to know.”
The Mountain witches in white were outnumbered, and they were starting to take critical strikes from the Dark Water witches. Magical war was as nasty as any other kind of war Michael had seen. Bodies, blood, and gore were the ingredients of this slaughter. There was no sign here and now of the glamor often associated with magic.
He didn’t want to take sides, but he wanted to protect Jaxper. When the last Mountain witch dropped dead, the remaining Dark Water witches glared at Michael, Jaxper, and her mother. Michael concentrated and sent out his heatwave.
When he had used it against Jaxper’s mother, he got a rebound effect that almost burned him to death. His theory was that he couldn’t go against those with strong magical power. He was sure the remaining Dark Water witches were strong. But he didn’t have any choice.
Indeed, his heatwave hit resistance. He could feel the impact. Michael knees buckled, and he staggered back as the energy was vacuumed out of him. He waited for the blast to head his way as it had before. His vision blurred.
He saw the shadow of Jaxper’s mother darting in front of him into the cross-zone between his heatwave and whatever was coming from the Dark Water witches. Jaxper followed her mo
ther.
“Don’t …” Michael was so drained he couldn’t even finish his sentence.
He saw some blinding white flashes. Jaxper was pushed back, teetering toward him. More blinding blasts exploded. Jaxper tried to run back in, and Michael summoned whatever strength he had left to pin her down. When the light subsided, the bodies of all the witches lay scattered on the ground. The majority were dead. A couple were gasping for air.
Jaxper scrambled toward her mother. “Please don’t leave me. I’ll take you to the cave. Your flowers … flowers of darkness … they’ll heal you. Mother, please don’t leave me...” She cried and cradled her mother.
“It’s too late, Jaxper. Promise me you’ll protect the One. Promise me you’ll liberate our souls.”
“I’ll do my best, Mother. But I have so much more to learn. I need you …”
She choked with tears as she realized her mother was gone.
Michael held Jaxper’s shoulders gently. “I’ll help you bury them.”
She lay her mother on the ground, and she wiped her tears away. “No, they belong to the forest.”
As Michael watched in astonishment, the bodies of all the witches dissolved and melted into their surroundings as if they were, as Jaxper had said, a part of the forest.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kan stared at the images of the two small pumas on his screen. The dark fur of the earthly animals reflected his own image.
As an immortal in the multiverse, he could have chosen any form. He had tried several and had settled with the looks of a male human. He had been so close to choosing the form of a dynamic Xiilok shapeshifter, but then fate had led him to see the teenager Lyla, a Eudaizian sneaking into Xiilok for an adventure.
She was beautiful, young, and vicious in the hologame. He was obsessed with her, so much so that he had cheated and stolen information from the system and the hologame council so he could trace her real identity. He was well-connected in the multiverse, and that was the payoff he liked the most.
She was Eudaizian, but she was also royal. And if he played his cards right, when she belonged to him, he would have the Eudaizian monarchy under his control. He had nothing against the LeBlancs, but given their reputation in the multiverse, being able to control them or being a part of them was the biggest achievement he could have ever dreamed of in his immortal life.
He had planned this for a lifetime. How could things have gone so wrong? he wondered.
“Guard!” he called.
From outside, two creatures in robotic suits walked in. He was sure that under their suits were many different kinds of creatures, possibly from different universes. But he referred to them only by the numbers on their helmets. Why should he be bothered with what exactly was inside their helmets?
“You called for us, sir?” 105x said.
216YT made a throaty rumbling noise. Kan rolled his eyes as he looked at 216YT. “That’s the result of disobedience and uselessness.” Kan gestured toward the dead body of a space mercenary on the floor then waved his hand absently. “Normally, I wouldn’t kill a messenger. But this one was an exception.”
“We’ll clean this up, sir,” 105x said and scurried toward the dead body.
“I don’t need two of you to do that.”
“I’m sorry, sir. He’s not a Xiilok or a Black Rock creature. Otherwise, he would have evaporated. I thought you wanted us to clean up this mess,” said 105x.
Kan leaned back in his chair. “Ah, you should know better what I expect. Come here, 105x.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Look at the screen. What do you see?”
“Two creatures, possibly from Earth, sir.”
“Aha, I saw that, too. And I thought I was crazy. Come here, 216YT. What do you see?”
“The same, sir. Two creatures from Earth. From my experience, they’re called cats.”
“So you’re both saying these are not Michael and Lyla?”
“Certainly not, sir,” 105x said.
Kan laughed. “You see, I was sitting here thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me, or my brain was having trouble processing information. But no, I have a picture of two cats, but I paid good money for Lyla and her guard.”
“Her guard?” 216YT asked.
Kan was about to fire an insult at 216YT, but 105x chimed in. “He meant Michael. I saw them when they went to Xiilok.”
216YT stood still, saying nothing.
“105x, you said this mercenary isn’t Xiilok or a Black Rock creature, so you know a bit beyond your rank. Tell me, who could kill a similar kind of creature and transmit this cat picture back to me?”
“I assume you sent these mercenaries to track Michael and Lyla, and they’re the ones who gave you the cats’ picture?” 105x said.
“Not exactly. But I can live with that.”
105x nodded. “I have a theory, but I can’t be sure about it until I put the person in front of you to verify.”
Kan smiled. “Now I’m intrigued. Tell me.”
“There are many who could kill this kind of mercenary. But in your case, I think that person is Gale Brody.”
Kan chuckled. “It couldn’t possibly be Gale. But let’s say it was … are you offering to go get him for me?”
“Yes, sir,” 105x said solemnly.
Kan glanced back at the picture of the cats. “All right, let’s say I buy into your speculation. Why do you want to hunt Gale for me? Wouldn’t it be easier to be a guard here, doing a job such as … cleaning up this dead body? Earth is dangerous. You know that, right? And I don’t pay much for work at your level.”
“It’s personal, sir.”
“Ah, I understand. A personal vendetta.” Kan leaned back in his chair again, tapping a finger on the chair arm. “Take off your helmet.”
“Sir!”
“Is that a refusal?”
105x said nothing else but slowly took off his helmet. In front of Kan was a young human male who looked to be in his early thirties. He had pale skin, sandy hair, and eyes with irises that were swimming with worms.
“Your eyes tell me you’re a Xiilok creature. What else can you tell me about yourself?”
“I work as a guard here. I knew Gale, and I don’t like him.”
Kan raised a finger to stop his speech. “I’m not interested in your personal issues with Gale. If I were to send you to Earth, I need to be sure you can complete the mission.” He pointed at the dead body on the floor. “These guys are top-level mercenaries. I hired them to bring me Lyla, intact. They didn’t pay attention to Michael, and he blew the head off one of their spies right inside the Daimon Gate. So then I paid more to capture both Lyla and Michael, and I got a picture of two cats. I don’t think these mercenaries are that useless. They must have outsourced the job. That also means the Earth mission is far more dangerous than I expected.”
“I understand, sir.”
Kan nodded. “What’s your name?”
“105x works for me, sir.”
“All right. What are you?”
“I’m a shapeshifter, sir. A werefox to be precise.”
“Interesting. Now, for this mission, I want you to bring me Lyla in one piece and alive. I don’t care if Michael is dead.”
“Understood, sir.”
“If your speculation is right, Gale is with them. I want you to bring me Gale alive as well. After I’m done with Gale, you can do whatever it is that you want with him.”
“Understood, sir.”
“These top-grade mercenaries failed the mission you just accepted. So, apart from being able to change into a fox, what advantage do you have over Gale and the other two?”
“They don’t know I exist.”
Kan nodded. “Good answer. That’s a significant advantage.” He pulled a small gun from under his work station, pointed it at 216YT, and pulled the trigger. It was too fast for 216YT. His head was blown off so quickly that his body stood on its own for a brief moment, confused. Then he flopped to the ground.
&nb
sp; Kan put the gun away. “That’s what happens to those who go beyond their rank and don’t work for me. As long as you complete your mission and remain loyal to me, I’ll promote you.”
“Understood, sir.”
“I paid outsiders to work on this mission for reasons you don’t need to know—if you want to stay alive. So I’ll give you all the resources you need to go to Earth. But this mission cannot lead back to me. Once you’re on Earth, you’re on your own.”
105x nodded.
“Any questions?”
105x shook his head.
“Now go.”
Kan looked at the shadow of the shapeshifter as it hurried out the door. Then he returned to the picture of the two pumas on the screen. His private communication channel flashed a call from Master. He sighed, cleared his throat, and picked up the call.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Lyla,” Michael muttered under his breath and darted toward the path that exited the forest. A sickening panic attack hit him like a tidal wave. He and Lyla weren’t soulmates. They hadn’t even been friends before this mission. In addition to living in different times and different universes, they didn’t think alike and had never crossed paths. No matter how smart Lyla was, she would never have the knowledge a street kid like him had. No matter what authority or rank Michael achieved in Iilos, he would never be royal and could never see himself as part of Ciaran’s family.
He should have considered more carefully when, despite having the best army and commanders in the multiverse on call, Ciaran summoned him from a different time and sent him to a yet another time after Lyla. Not that he would ever say no to Ciaran. But he should have known the weight of the mission.
“You just trampled a snake to death, Michael,” Jaxper grumbled, trailing behind him.
“It was about to bite me.”
“But it might not have. It might have been more scared of you than you were scared of it.”
“I don’t speak snake—I can’t ask it about its intentions. And I certainly don’t want to entertain the chance of being bitten by the most venomous snake in the forest.”