Sorceress

by Phil Stern

  Groaning, the exhausted sorceress rubbed her face. “Look, that’s just a bug. There are lots of them here…”

  Quickly righting herself, the royal tiger brusquely shoved Caylee aside, staring up at the exact spot where the spider had disappeared in absolute, eye-twirling wonder. Where’d it go? Can we go get it?

  “No! Listen to me.” Physically throwing her arms around the precocious cub, Caylee somehow managed to keep her still. “Pend, I love you, and I really appreciate that you followed me here. But now you have to go back.”

  I do? Finally forgetting the spider, Pend squirmed her wistful gaze around onto her human. Are you coming back too?

  “Not yet.” Releasing her, Caylee stood tall again. “But soon, I promise.”

  With a feline sigh, the cub drew a light paw across the floor. But I want to stay with you.

  “Pend, it’s not safe for you here.” Sitting back on the cot, the Haven witch gave the tiger long, luxurious strokes down her head and back. “There are bad people who would hurt you if they could.”

  I know, I’ve seen them. Eyes downcast, Pend gave what amounted to a human pout. They’re really mean.

  “Look, I’ll see you again in a few days. I promise.” Pointedly withdrawing her hand, Caylee sat back. “But now you have to go.”

  First giving the sorceress a long, disapproving stare, Pend then looked away in obvious disapproval. Fine, if that’s the way you feel.

  “Hey, don’t be that way! This is for your own…”

  Pend suddenly rose again on all fours. Tail petulantly flicking up to the ceiling, she instantly disappeared.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  SOMETIME LATER CAYLEE was roused from a fitful sleep by three loud bangs on her door. Bolting up in the narrow cot, breathing heavily, it took her several moments to remember where she was.

  “Come on, girly girl, get a move on!” George’s raspy snarl from the outer passageway boomed throughout the enclosed room. “Peck is here, and it wouldn’t do to keep him waiting!” Adding another heavy blow for good measure, the Donlon bully could then be heard moving away on the creaking metalwork.

  Heart still beating almost out of control, the young enchantress had to forcefully remind herself that this was not a barn beset by monsters. Nor, for that matter, was she a helpless little girl. And even if George had wanted to burst in and attack her, there was no way the simpleton could have defeated the magically enhanced lock.

  Still, this was her first night in a strange world, and a bit of boundary shock was beginning to set in. Fully swinging her legs to the floor, Caylee took a deep breath. Then, she dispassionately reviewed everything that had happened since first entering Donlon, leading right up to being here in this old factory. Soon the sense of somehow slipping into a bad dream drifted off, leaving her rationally appraising her current position and next steps.

  This was a subtle, yet crucial skill for a Coven witch. Sallying about the universe, sometimes slipping from one dimension to the next in quick succession, often led to disorientation. Being able to reset yourself in a calm moment was essential. She’d even heard it whispered that some witches never fully adjusted to the rigors of being full-time operatives, requiring restorative stretches in Haven between trips. Caylee didn’t intend on limiting herself this way.

  Five menlars later she confidently walked down the rattling stairs to the ground floor, again in her local clothing from yesterday. Through the haphazardly broken upper level windows she could see it was still dark outside, though a hint of light on the horizon presaged the coming dawn.

  Waiting for her, by the now-glowing fire pit, was a tall youth. About twenty-one or so, he boldly watched Caylee descend the staircase, a bemused smile creeping over his hard features. Flanked by George and another girl, everyone else was crashed out on the floor against the walls, asleep.

  “So,” he began as Caylee approached, his low voice easily carrying over to her. “You’re the fire-breathing dander who killed two lids in Nellon Park, I take it? Nicely done.”

  Finally reaching ground level, she carefully walked up to him. “And you’re Peck, I take it?”

  “Indeed.” He studied her more closely, an eyebrow rising in approval. “At your service.”

  “Really?” Caylee made a point of stopping a few paces away. “And what service do you intend to provide?”

  “Careful, mate.” George’s bitter tone seemed to sour the very air. “She’s a snake, this one.”

  “Relax. We’re all friends here,” Peck replied, his tranquil gaze never leaving the undercover sorceress. “By the way, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Caylee.”

  “Caylee…” Drawing out the last syllable, he raised an expectant eyebrow.

  Folding her arms, she tried not to glower. “Nuxan.”

  “Nuxan?” George rolled his eyes. “What kind of name is that?”

  “It’s my name, you idiot,” she shot back. “What kind of name is George?”

  As usual, the high-strung youth became instantly enraged, but a firm hand to the chest from his leader had an immediate, calming effect. “She does have a point,” Peck allowed. “We all have names, some stranger than others.”

  While this was going on, the tall girl to Peck’s right made a point of studying their guest. “Seems a bit stuck up to me,” she finally observed. “Maybe thinks a bit too much of herself, I reckon.”

  “Now Molly, let’s have none of that.” Unlike his two companions, Peck possessed almost limitless amounts of self-assurance. “And maybe Caylee has reason to think highly of herself, taking out two bobbies and all.”

  “By the way, I didn’t kill them. Or shoot lightning bolts around.” The Coven operative pointedly looked at all three in turn. “That’s something the papers just made up.”

  “Oh no, luv.” Taking off his cap, Peck now brushed back short, curly hair. “Lighting bolts or not, those two lids have walked their last beat.”

  “No.” Impatiently, Caylee shook her head. “I only disabled the two bobbies. In a day or two they’ll be fine.”

  George let out a huge guffaw, looking away in disgust. “She’s crazy, this one,” he muttered. “Look mate, I say we…”

  Peck held up a hand, instantly cutting him off. “No luv, those men are dead.” Obviously a natural leader, his voice brooked no argument. “No doubt of it.”

  “They’ve already laid the bodies before the palace, they have.” Arms folded, Molly gave a tight smile. “Going to have a big funeral, they are. Only thing missing is you in jail, I’m thinking.”

  There was an awkward silence in the dingy factory, a gust of wind ratting against the outer wall. The three of them just stared at Caylee, awaiting her reaction. George and even Molly might joke about such things, but Peck definitely would not. Frowning, Caylee quickly pondered the implications.

  This wasn’t good news. Caylee had used only non-lethal force, but one couldn’t control every variable in those types of situations. Or perhaps someone else had decided the two men would be more useful dead than alive.

  But why? As far as the local authorities knew, Caylee herself was just another “dander” popping up in a city park. Why raise the stakes so high as frame her for capital murder? That would only make sense if a power broker here knew she wasn’t just another inter-dimensional drifter. And someone could only know that if they themselves…

  Trailing off mid-thought, Caylee regarded the three locals anew, a sinking feeling now forming in the pit of her stomach. “Tell me more about the people in charge here,” she began, trying to keep her voice light. “Do they have any kind of, uh, special abilities?”

  “I got a really big ability right here, girly girl!” Laughing, George now touched his own crotch. “You might find out one day yourself.”

  “Knock it off,” Peck commanded, quickly looking back at Caylee. “What do you mean by special ability?”

  “Are they just normal people? I know they’re rich and all, but nobody has any real power, right?”r />
  “They Lords got power enough, sweetie,” Molly replied. “And a mean streak, they do. A nasty lot all around.”

  “No! What I mean is…” Unduly frustrated, Caylee paused. How much should she tell them? “Can they do any advanced magic?” she carefully continued. “Things that make them special, almost super human?”

  This finally got their attention. Hesitantly breaking eye contact, Molly glanced down. “It’s not safe to talk about that,” she mumbled.

  “Talk about what?” Caylee demanded, her heart quickening a little more. “What are you saying here?”

  Even George looked a little less certain, pointedly looking at Peck. “I don’t trust her. We say something now, and then she goes off and tells them Lords all about…”

  “No. Caylee isn’t like that.” Peck let a moment pass, glancing up at the first rays of sunlight hitting the upper windows. “I think she needs to know.”

  “Then tell me,” she softly prompted, intently studying him.

  “They’re a different sort, luv, that’s for sure.” Peck’s voice was firm and confident. “Some say that certain lords and ladies never really die, jumping from one body to the next. They have great strength, and can easily survive injuries that would put anyone else in the morgue.”

  Caylee considered this a moment, unconsciously biting a lip. “Go on. Please.”

  “They can burn people, they can!” George gave a knowing nod. “Everybody knows that, anyway. Once they take off them red gloves and the eyes go silver, watch out.”

  “My friend says they have rings and statues and such that turn into snakes, and serpents, and other nasties!” Molly added. “She’s seen them, she has.”

  “And they kill with wild abandon.” Peck grimly nodded. “Anyone who gets in their way. Or for no reason at all.”

  The three of them paused, trying to gauge her reaction to all of this. Pointedly maintaining a neutral expression, Caylee silently turned and wandered over towards one wall, her back now to the three locals.

  What a fool she’d been. Blithely assuming this was just a naturally cruel, generally mundane dimension, she’d missed the obvious. There were powerful beings here, running the show from the very top. Apparently ruling through fear and violence, they’d already identified Caylee as a threat.

  Even now, they were surely making every effort to find her. The lack of advanced technology in this world made that difficult, leaving them little choice but to manually sweep the city. Assuming that effort didn’t fully rev up until yesterday afternoon, at the earliest…

  “Tell me something,” Caylee firmly called out. Still facing away from the other three, the sorceress didn’t care if she woke up two sleeping figures by her feet. “Was there any unusual police activity last night?”

  “What? Why, yeah, the lids were all over the city!” Molly’s urgent cry easily carried over the entire area. “Breaking down doors, they were! We didn’t think much of it, you know, but now…”

  “Looking for her, they is!” She could easily imagine George’s finger shooting out, pointing at her back. “That’s who they want!”

  “Is that the way of it, Caylee?” Unlike the other two, Peck’s soft voice was totally devoid of panic. “We did see scores of bobbies on the move tonight. Are the Lords that desperate to bring you in?”

  But as urgent a question as that actually was, the various descriptions of the Lords and their abilities began tugging at her subconscious. Silver eyes, great strength, ability to wield fire, body hopping. Staring idly at a dirty, broken tile on the wall, Caylee was suddenly brought back to a specific training day in Haven.

  An image easily formed of a dozen candidate sorceresses sitting atop a sunny, flat crest. A bright blue sky stretched out to the horizon, a field of sunflowers washing up against the bottom of the hill below. Lolling about on the sparkling green grass, earth stones swaying gently in the light breeze, they listened to an instructor vaguely describing various “hostile entities” the Coven had encountered in the past. The details of one such type matched the descriptions of Donlon’s current rulers quite closely.

  “These demons were quite viscous, and undeniably cruel,” the older witch had sternly intoned. “A few hundred years ago we had to root them out of several worlds, where they were abusing and killing at whim. After a long battle, and several fatalities among the Coven, we were victorious.”

  The girls had tried to look interested, but yet more tales of daring-do from the ancient past hardly seemed relevant that particular afternoon. Stifling a yawn herself, Caylee had begun studying a particularly large bee meandering among the sunflowers below.

  “We don’t know if any of these demons survived, or where they might be now,” she faintly remembers the woman continuing. “But if you ever come across them in your various travels, run! One sorceress alone could never hope to vanquish them! Report back immediately, and the Coven Council will take appropriate action.”

  Her eyes drifting closed in the Donlon factory, Caylee’s hidden earth stone began surging with nervous energy. There could be little doubt. Somehow, against all odds, she’d stumbled upon a nest of powerful demons defeated by the Coven centuries before. She needed to evacuate the dimension immediately, returning to Haven with all dispatch.

  Which was far easier said than done. During her impromptu tour of the city yesterday afternoon, there hadn’t been the slightest hint whatsoever of any inter-dimensional portals. Until proved otherwise, she had to assume the entire dimension was devoid of Boundary access. Thus, the risky underwater rifts connecting Donlon, Lysandy, and other unknown worlds was the only way out.

  Yet those avenues were surely blocked off. Perhaps magically-resistant nets were stretched across the lakes. Or maybe they had special weaponry waiting in Nellon Park, developed just in case the Coven ever came calling. Whatever the case, the demons undoubtedly didn’t want her escaping their new home and reporting back to Haven.

  In short, she was trapped within a backwards dimension dominated by the Coven’s bitter enemies. A door somewhere deep in the factory languidly swung shut with a soft bang, an almost mocking sound in the otherwise silent, cavernous space.

  “Caylee?” From behind, Peck’s soft tone almost caressed her cheek. “Do we need to go? Now, before they come?”

  Finally turning about, she gave a definite nod. “You don’t have to go.” Touching her earth stone, the enchantress was briefly consumed in bright earth fire. When it receded, she was dressed in the Coven’s jet-black tactical outfit, earth stone firmly enmeshed in a pouch at her waist. “But I do.”

  George and Molly drew back in alarm, a sleeping girl waking with a cry of fright.

  For his part, a delighted smile now covered Peck’s hardened features. “Now that’s more like it.” The young rebel thoughtfully contemplated her new look. “Gonna give them lids a thing or two to think about, are you?”

  “Not if I can help it.” Blonde hair quickly tied back in a tight pony tail, Caylee’s black boots crunched loudly on the dirty cement floor as she walked forward. “But it would be inadvisable for anyone to get in my way.”

  “Luv, like I said, we’re all friends here.” Holding up his hands, Peck pointedly stepped back. “Just tell us what you need.”

  “I need you all to forget you even met me, but it’s a little late for that.” Striding around the three of them, Caylee made her way towards the door. “It’s been real, though.”

  “So that’s it, then, you witch?” George’s loud voice boomed off the dilapidated walls. By now everyone was pretty much awake, twenty pairs of sleepy eyes intently watching from the ground. “You bring down the lids on our heads, and then just skip out before the party starts? Rubbish, I say.”

  “Hey, asshole, you want my advice?” Spinning on her heels, the inter-dimensional traveler pointed a finger straight at him, eyes now starting to pulse a faint green. “Get everyone up and out of here. Tell them to scatter for a few days, at least, until things quiet down.”

  “L
ook at that, now!” George yelled, pointing at her face. “That’s some kind of freak, that is!”

  “No, she’s a skilled sorceress, that’s what.” Without fear, Peck studied her enhanced gaze with great interest. “From a great world, I’m betting. A far better place than this one, at least.”

  “Don’t listen to her, Peck.” Unimpressed by either Caylee’s magical manifestations or George’s vitrol, Molly stood firm, arms sullenly folded. “She just wants us to run about and keep the bobbies busy, while she skips out and leaves us in the lurch.”

  “I don’t want any of you to get hurt!” the sorceress snapped. “It’s me they want, not you!”

  “Don’t be so full of yourself.” With practiced disgust, Molly flipped a hand in Caylee’s general direction. “Goodbye, Caylee. For good, I hope.”

  “Hear, hear,” George mumbled. “Good riddance, I say.”

  “Well I, for one, wish you luck.” Gliding forward, Peck now held out his hand, Earth-style. “But I also regret that we didn’t get to know one another better, I really do.” And so saying, he firmly shook Caylee’s hand, looking right into her glowing eyes. “Maybe our paths will cross again someday.”

  Momentarily captivated by his hard, chiseled features, the sorceress realized Peck wasn’t at all intimidated by her now-obvious powers. “I doubt that,” she tersely replied, almost reluctantly breaking his grip. “But thank you.”

  By now nearly everyone was swiftly rising, pulling on old shoes and gathering what few things they had. Clearly, this generally itinerant group was used to hasty exits.

  Suddenly the young sorceress wished she could do more for them. With Peck still standing there Caylee glanced up, contemplating the morning light now cascading down through the windows. But there was little one operative could accomplish on her own. If only she had a Coven Stick, or maybe even…

  “Well goodbye, then.” Breaking her mini-reverie, Peck gave a slight bow. “Again, good luck.” Spinning about with brisk hand claps, he pointedly urged a few laggards to get up and out as quickly as possible.