by Phil Stern
“I know I need to prove myself, and now is as good a time as any,” she slowly replied. “Trust me, Tiff, I want to help your Coven in any way I can.”
“My Coven?” Bemused, Tiffany suddenly relaxed, deliberately studying her sister’s boots, jeans, and white shirt. “Don’t you mean our Coven?”
Drawing in her breath, Valensa said nothing, anxiously waiting.
A tear now running down her own face, Tiffany held her arms wide. “Come here.”
Rushing forward, the two embraced, Valensa sobbing on her sister’s shoulder. “I’m sorry!” she nearly bawled. “I’m so sorry! I took your stone, and...and wanted you dead...”
“I know,” Tiffany breathed. “But it’s over now. You’re finally who you should be.”
They stood that way for several minutes, Valensa’s immense relief washing over them both.
*****
Fifteen minutes later the two Smith sisters began walking back through the forest towards the inn. Both had a lightness to their step, Valensa even skipping ahead on occasion. With such potent magic rumbling out over the countryside, several deer tentatively stuck their heads out from behind large trees, their white tails waggling in greeting. Clearly, the animal world was drawn to Valensa’s burgeoning magical signature.
“I know a girl you need to meet,” Tiffany said, thinking of Caylee. “She really likes animals too. She can actually talk to most of them.”
“Really? That sounds nice.” Diffidently striding around a tree, Valensa looked back at her. “But business first. Tell me what you have in mind for my former coven.”
Tiffany quickly outlined her plan. “I’m assuming you know where Claire keeps the midate?” she concluded.
“Sure. In her Vanington office building. There’s a vault there.”
“A magical one, I take it?”
“Yeah, but I can open it.” An offhand wave dismissed that concern. “Getting in won’t be the problem. It’s getting out that could be tricky.”
“I know,” Tiffany said. “But that’s where our friends will come in handy.”
The two sisters continued wandering towards Blake, smoothing out various details as they went. By the time they reached the inn Tiffany felt much better about it all, not only concerning Valensa herself, but the odds of successfully averting an inter-dimensional war.
However, Tiffany’s relief was short-lived. For upon entering the kitchen they found only empty chairs and a sick, ruby residue. A quick search of the entire structure revealed nothing else.
“They’ve got him.” Sinking down at the kitchen table, panic fully set in. “By the stone, Valensa! One of those witches snuck over here and took Blake, then deliberately left her magical signature all over so we’d know who took him...”
“Hey!” Gently touching Tiffany’s arm, Valensa sat down beside her. “Calm down. We’ll find...”
“Calm down! How can you say that?” Feeling her world spinning out of control, Tiffany swept the empty lead box, which had so recently contained Valensa’s earth stone, from the table. “This is my fault! I should never have involved him...”
“Tiffany! Stop!” Reaching over, Valensa now fully shook her by the shoulders. “They won’t hurt him! They just want information. So there’s time.”
“Time? But...”
“I know where they’ll take him.” Trying to smile reassuringly, Valensa now stood. “Come on. We can get both the midate and Blake. No problem.”
Yet this last shock was just too much. “It’s all my fault.” Shrinking back in her seat, Tiffany could only shake her head. “By the stone!” she desperately mumbled. “How could I be so stupid?”
Five minutes later, unable to assuage her sister’s crippling despair, Valensa just grabbed her by the hand. Almost bodily dragging Tiffany out the back kitchen door, they were soon within the woods again, heading for the nearest direct contact point with Zarth.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE TRAIN WAS full of commuters, heading into the big city for a day of work. Packed to capacity, everyone awkwardly grabbed the nearest handhold as they rattled along a rough section of track. Those fortunate enough to have a seat were only marginally better off than those without, as even the most polite standees regularly banged into them with bags or elbows. Still, no one seemed to mind very much, as the rudimentary Zarth rail system was far better than driving or walking.
Tiffany Smith, in a 1950-ish business suit and dark sunglasses, stood near the end of one car. Having outwardly recovered her composure soon after reaching Earth’s alternate dimension, the anguished sorceress now stoically stared out a window. What a fool she’d been to have involved Blake in all this in the first place! If it turned out for the worst, Tiffany had no idea how she could ever forgive herself. The toxic guilt bored deeper and deeper, almost as if physically pounded down into her soul by the monotonous thumping of the clattering train.
Out of pure professional habit, she began a thorough analysis of this new environment. Tiffany was reasonably sure this was a subway car somehow smuggled into Vanington from Earth. It made her wonder if there was actually some type of inter-dimensional black market, with the castoffs from Earth’s more advanced technological society used to jump start things in Zarth.
It was even possible to imagine how such an arrangement might begin. Some unsuspecting railway engineer on Earth builds a spur of track heading to a minor loading dock or storage depot. But sometimes the trains sent down that way just...disappeared. Then the crews come back with astounding tales of another world, looking exactly like Earth, but actually much different.
Once the shock wears off, they see an opportunity. Indeed, supplies routinely disappear from Earth warehouses all the time, with only a small fraction ever recovered. Why not sell some to Zarth? And who’s to say that scrapping facilities actually destroyed all the old cars, trains, and countless other vehicles sent there for disposal? Perhaps some of it simply gets shuttled off between dimensions, with no one the wiser.
For that matter, there were plenty of remarkably successful businesspeople on Earth that no one could figure out. Sure, they were obviously wealthy, but how? Despite everyone’s best efforts, the details of their business remained murky. The more she thought about it, regular commerce between Earth and Zarth would explain much.
Still, Tiffany wished the inter-dimensional smugglers had stolen an actual passenger coach for her to ride in this day. Subway cars were designed for short hops around a city. Swaying about for an extended rumble in from the suburbs was getting rather tedious.
Catching Valensa’s eye over a shoulder and around a lady’s astounding beehive hairdo, Tiffany gave a tired frown. Smiling, her younger sister just looked away. They’d arrive in the ruby coven’s capital city soon enough, obviously. The only real question was once safely assembled, would the Haven raiding party be able to successfully locate and extract their now various targets.
Luckily, Valensa had known of a direct contact point in northern Pennsylvania that went directly to the nation of Vanington, not far from the capital of Varley itself. Apparently such a conduit was quite unusual, with the vast majority of the contact points shifting between dimensions only, rather than geography. Tiffany had even held out hope that the witch who’d taken Blake might have used the same route home, with the two sisters possibly catching up and taking her by surprise.
Yet the isolated gully into which they’d been dumped two hours before was depressing devoid of human life. If Blake and his captor had indeed passed through the lonely, wooded area, there was no sign of it now.
“I wouldn’t expect a Leven girl to be that sloppy anyway,” Valensa had philosophically observed while magically fabricating local identification for them both. “But don’t worry, Claire won’t be expecting us this soon. We’ll still have the advantage of surprise.”
Still, every moment Blake remained captive seemed interminable. Snatching him back to safety early on, before the real fireworks began, would have been a huge relief.
Hiking into the nearest village, they’d easily found a commuter station. Soon thereafter the two Smith sisters were whisking towards Varley and a confrontation with the ruby coven on their home turf.
Now, once more grimly watching the Zarth landscape flash by their train, Tiffany finally let out a soft sigh. Perhaps there was one silver lining to all this. After all, Blake had wanted to get out of Earth and see a bit of the universe.
Well, darling, here it was.
*****
Sitting stiffly behind her desk, Claire contemplated the two sorceresses.
Adrina was a mess, her face bruised and cut up, with one arm hanging loosely in a sling. The poignant stench of failure was punctuated by wild wisps of blonde hair flying about her furious, frustrated gaze.
By contrast, Bly was her cool, collected self, pointedly standing a few feet from her disheveled colleague. It wasn’t hard to figure out who’d had the better time of it on their recent mission to Earth.
Still, the details in their hurried, written report were hardly enlightening. “So Adrina,” Claire peremptorily began. “I’m to understand that you had overwhelmed Tiffany magically, only to be denied a complete victory by the sudden appearance of Valensa. Then, even though the odds were even, you were somehow forced to retreat. Is that correct?”
“Not quite,” Adrina corrected through clenched teeth. “At that point Colleen was nowhere to be seen. She must have let Valensa take her by surprise!”
“And where is Colleen now?”
“Unknown.” Almost irritably, Adrina shrugged. “Dead, presumably.”
“I presume nothing, especially when confronted with such a ridiculous story!” Now rising, Claire walked out in front of her desk. “Adrina, don’t lie to me. Tiffany beat the crap out of you! She’s still out there, with her sister!”
Nearly smirking, Bly looked straight ahead.
“And you!” Turning on the second girl, Claire slowly shook her head. “Did it ever occur to you to regroup with your two comrades before crossing back into Zarth? After all, they might have needed your help!”
Bly’s expression tightened once more. “But I had this Blake fellow, who could explain...”
“Explain what? How incompetent you all are?” Throwing up her arms, Claire’s stone began glowing an angry red. “There’s nothing that idiot can tell us! And really, what else do we need to know? Valensa is now a member of the other coven, which means she’s more dangerous than ever! In fact, she can now scare off my top girls without breaking a sweat!”
Adrina tried to rally. “I don’t think...”
“Really? That’s pretty obvious!” Claire snarled. “This is rank incompetence, plain and simple!”
Idly grinding a heel into the floor, Adrina said nothing.
“Okay, here’s the deal.” Calming down slightly, Claire went over to stare out over Vanington, her back to the two Leven operatives. “I will talk to this Blake person myself, assuming his head has finally cleared. But I don’t expect much.”
“Very well,” Bly replied, still staring straight ahead. “What are your instructions for us?”
“Call the Leven here, every one of them.” Almost sensuously, Claire laid her palm on the cold glass. “If nothing else, we know where the Smith sisters will be coming next! Tiffany won’t rest until she has her boyfriend back, trust me.”
“Really?” Distastefully, Adrina shook her head. “But I thought the other Coven didn’t value individual men...”
“Damn it, I’m not interested in your analysis!” Whipping about, Claire bestowed the sorry looking blonde with a withering glare. “It’s obviously not your strong point. Now get out, both of you!”
The two top operatives crossed out of the office without another word, Claire thoughtfully turning back to her glorious view of the city below.
*****
After exiting the train in Vanington’s main underground terminal, Tiffany and Valensa made their way along the platform, up some stairs, and into an enormous, enclosed rotunda. The bustling space was decorated in a hodgepodge of styles, with psedu-classical columns in the corners and by the doors, modern-ish marble floors and lights, and steampunk-like brass clocks and hand rails.
It wasn’t unlike Grand Central Station, Tiffany thought, though different in many small ways. In fact, it almost seemed as if someone had ideas of turning Vanington into the alternate, West Coast version of New York City.
But the last thing an inter-dimensional visitor wanted to do, especially in a hostile situation, was gawk about like some tourist. Keeping her head down and pace steady, Tiffany followed her sister down a hall off the main terminal area to a large coffee shop.
Relieved, she sensed four earth stones in the extended café. Barbara was moodily sitting at a center table by herself, sipping coffee. Off in one corner Keri chatted with Marissa, though both sorceresses were keeping a wary eye out for ruby operatives. To Tiffany’s surprise, Rayna was positioned a few tables away from Barbara, facing the other way. No longer wearing her arm sling, the enchantress seemed to have recovered from all the mayhem in Rasten nearly three weeks before. Of course, everyone was dressed in local garb, their overall sheen and body language toned down so as not to draw undue attention.
Uncertainly wandering into the coffee shop, Valensa looked back to her sister for direction. Curtly nodding at an unoccupied chair in the corner of the eatery, Tiffany herself then lightly sat at Barbara’s table.
“Tiffany!” Warmly greeting her, the Deputy Coven Leader then leaned in close to whisper. “By the stone, girl! Have you gone completely mad?”
“I assume you’re referring to Valensa?” she wearily replied, giving an equally stunned Marissa a reassuring nod.
“So she really does have an earth stone?” the older woman hissed. “Eleanor hinted as much, but I couldn’t believe it!”
“Well, believe it. Actually, she’s doing quite well.” Pointedly holding Barbara’s gaze, Tiffany sighed. “We’re going to need her for this.”
“Oh yeah?” Waiting for two harried commuters to rise and rush off from the next table over, Barbara softly continued. “Valensa is projecting over half the city! She’s going to bring Claire’s people down on our heads!”
“I know. But as you can tell, Valensa is immensely strong.” Idly playing with a salt shaker, Tiffany did her best to appear relaxed. “We didn’t have time to work on muffling her magical emanations.”
“What about her hatred of you? Did you have time to work on that?”
“Look, I’m surprised you brought Rayna.” Nodding her head to one side, Tiffany indicated the chestnut-haired witch. “She was pretty beat up when Claire smashed her way out of our castle.”
“Yeah. But she feels really bad about Pam’s death. This is her chance to fight back.” Bemused, Barbara eyed her younger companion. “You know all about that, don’t you Tiff? Needing to assert yourself after an ass kicking?”
“Someone introduced me to the concept once,” Tiffany stiffly acknowledged. Hesitating, she realized this just wasn’t the time to bring up Blake. “But we need to keep moving. You know the plan?”
“Yes. I have considered your suggested course of action.” Deliberately, Barbara let a moment go by. “You have my permission to proceed.”
“Of course,” Tiffany purred. “That’s what I meant.”
“But you’ve given us the easy part. Maybe I should go with...”
“Just be there.” Suddenly standing, Tiffany caught Valensa’s eye, jerking her head towards the entranceway. Hesitantly, she also rose and began making her way out. “We can handle Claire ourselves.”
“The Smith sisters, gallivanting off to save the universe.” Laughing, Bar
bara leaned back. “This should be interesting.”
Rolling her eyes, Tiffany then traipsed after Valensa, quickly catching up in the busy, midday crowd.
*****
Shuffling through Claire’s office door, Blake was brusquely shoved from behind by his escorting witch.
“Move!” she demanded, following close on his heels. “We don’t have all day here.”
“Now is that any way to treat our guest?” Smiling, the ruby coven leader was leaning back against the front of her desk, arms crossed. “Why don’t you untie his hands as well? Surely, there’s no need for all that.”
Professionally slicing off his bonds, the ruby sorceress then led Blake over to a chair positioned before Claire. Roughly shoving him down, the witch then turned and left, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
“Ah, alone at last.” Laughing, the attractive young woman shook her head. “You’re in quite a pickle here. Blake, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.” Gingerly rubbing his wrists, Blake took in his surroundings. A plush, executive-type office, with large glass windows overlooking an alien city. But was “alien” even the right word for all this? “Where exactly am I?”
“In Zarth, an alternate dimension to your own.”
“But that means...”
“It means you need to shut up and listen.” Leaning forward, Claire now peered down at him through her rimless, delicate glasses, almost like a lab assistant studying a mildly distasteful sample. “Tell me what you know of Tiffany, and Valensa, and her conversion to the other coven’s magic.”
“What I know? Are you kidding me?” Laughing out loud, Blake found himself unconsciously straightening up. “All I know is that I was getting stoned or something just sitting around there.”
“You were getting saturated with raw magic. From Valensa, apparently, as I would assume Tiffany doesn’t spray green energy about like some alley cat in heat.”
“Um, I guess not.” Trying to appear naive, Blake gave a lopsided grin. “Not that I’ve noticed, anyway.”