Early Afternoon In Another World
They burst into an alien sky remarkably like his own. My own? No, I don’t suppose I belonged there.
If the air seemed a touch thinner, if the sun shone a shade darker, if his body felt a bit heavier, he could write it all off as altitude, time of day, and lack of sleep. Easier to believe they’d traveled hundreds of miles than hundreds of light-years. Rolling hills covered in lush grass surrounded them as far as the eye could see.
Cassandra swooped in low, pulled back to slow their descent, and reverted to her humanoid form an instant before impact. The massive bat shrunk and folded in on itself to form the features and clothes of the girl. Cassie landed softly like an open umbrella and wrapped herself in a ‘leather coat.’
The others dealt with inertia and gravity on their own. Wendi hit the ground with her free hand while lifting Daniel high in the other. She landed in a one-sided handstand, and her massive fingers tore five furrows to slow them. In an amazing show of strength and skill, Wendi controlled Daniel’s deceleration through the span of her reach to a gentle stop.
A black orb caught Kenta and Paul the candlestick in its gravitational pull and set them down. Meanwhile, Rana crouched atop another sphere as it touched the ground. She hopped off, an ancient balance scale in hand. Lea? he guessed from his experience with Paul and the Libra symbol he’d seen on the girl’s blouse. Paul shifted back to humanoid, though Lea remained an object for the moment.
Instead of releasing Daniel, Wendi leaped forward to sweep the other five kids into a group hug. “We’re out! We’re free! We’re together again!”
The others’ reactions varied. Paul emanated a reserved warmth while Kenta made a show of pulling away without much real effort. Cassandra half enjoyed herself, riding the high of her first flight in three years with a fanged grin. The bat girl didn’t mind being sandwiched between Rana and Wendi’s armpit but shot nervous glances at the three boys.
Then there was Rana. Though she didn’t attempt escape, he doubted she’d be a part of this if Wendi hadn’t grabbed her.
In a way, it was an awkward hug. Lea and Daniel participated by proxy. Paul couldn’t feel most things he touched.
But Daniel got it. Despite—or even because of—their squabbles and differences, these guys were family. Though part of the group, Daniel wasn’t family yet. He lacked the enduring affection the others freely exchanged.
This group had essentially been locked in a room for three years. They got on each other’s nerves, but they’d been there for one another. Both physically and emotionally, Daniel was held at arm’s length.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Kenta said, and Wendi let them go.
Except for Daniel. He waited for her to set him down, but she’d apparently forgotten. Daniel, on the other hand, was a cauldron of confusing emotions. Though he feared her dark side, the fact he could touch someone without harming them thrilled Daniel to no end. However, true physical contact felt foreign and overwhelming. Wendi seemed nice and friendly, and he wanted to reciprocate that, but she acted overfamiliar when they were barely a step above strangers.
He needed space to think, “You can put me down.”
“Oh, right,” Wendi said as she released him, embarrassed, “Sorry.” She was more self-conscious of her inattentive daydreaming than any boundaries she’d overstepped.
The portal behind them shrank to a small, glinting object that floated to Kenta. The boy caught it with his hair and tossed it to Daniel. Wait, this is my ring! Daniel put it on in wonder.
“A moment, please,” Lea shifted to human form and pointed at Cassie, the bat girl about to take off.
“I’m just stretching my wings.” She swiveled her ears. “There’s nothing around.”
“No one leaves the group,” Lea said, “No making plans or arguing over directions until we have the fundamentals addressed.”
“What are you talking about?” Kenta asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Lea shook her head in exasperation. “Have any of you considered what we are having for dinner?” From their expressions, no.
“We could scavenge,” Paul said.
“You think there’s any food out here Paul?” Cassie gestured at the endless expanse of featureless hills.
“Grass for dinner,” Wendi decided as she plucked and chewed a mouthful.
Ignoring the faun girl, Lea said, “Fortunately, we have a Claircognizant for times such as this.” Am I missing something here? Daniel wondered. Isn’t the term ‘clairvoyant’ or ‘precognizant?’ “Paul, where is the nearest source of easily obtainable food large enough to feed all of us?”
Paul’s arm shot up and pointed almost of its own volition. They followed his directions on foot as a unit, though Cassie flew overhead. After a few minutes of walking, Paul’s arm pointed down and they stopped.
“You caught a nap, Daniel,” Kenta prompted.
Daniel blanked. The others stared.
“Feeling well enough to use the ring?” Paul added after an uncomfortable second.
“Uh…” I need more of a hint than that, Paul! Daniel once again lamented his memory loss.
:Say yes, and I’ll give you a freebee,: Rana sent, :Next time, you’ll owe me one for info like this.:
He’d kept the amnesia quiet until now, but this was getting difficult. “Yes.” All eyes on him.
:Take the ring off.: He followed Rana’s directions. :Hold it high and focus like you’re using your power. Then pull on it with your mind.:
Daniel almost told her he couldn’t figure out the trick when a cork popped. Charging the ring was that simple, as natural as using his ability. The small metallic hoop flew forward, contracted to a point, and expanded into a window.
They sent Rana into the fenced-in backyard of a suburban house. Her camouflage and speed were the best tools for the job. Daniel noted that waiting on her made it easier to remember Rana in that state. She soon returned. Empty-handed.
“Where’s the food Rana?” Kenta asked.
“Lea,” she said, ignoring Kenta, “I’m not stealing from a single mother of four.”
“No! I never…” Paul realized what happened with dismay. “It’s all residential there, isn’t it?” Rana nodded.
“Way to go, Paul,” Cassie shook her head.
Daniel defended him, “How could he have known?”
Cassandra scoffed at the excuse, “That ability is Paul’s domain, he should understand it better than anybody.”
“There is no need to argue,” Lea stated. “All success requires is revision. Paul, where is the nearest sufficient source of food not already in someone’s possession?” His hand rose to lead the way again, and they followed. They stopped and opened a small portal for Rana to slip through.
When she came back empty-handed, the group gave a collective groan. “What is it this time?” Kenta said.
“Restaurants.” So, the food is the property of a company and not ‘someone’ as in ‘one person?’ “They’d notice if everything they prepared kept disappearing.”
Kenta rolled his eyes at the delay. “Then take the ingredients!”
“How are we going to carry a hundred raw chicken breasts?” Daniel asked, to looks of confusion. The others stared at him as if he’d said something profoundly stupid. :Of all things, that isn’t a problem?: he sent to Rana.
:Don’t worry about it,: she sent back.
“Guys, aren’t we going at the theft angle too hard?” Cassie said.
Daniel agreed. He didn’t like the idea of stealing despite their dire need for supplies. Helping themselves could hurt someone who needed it as much or more. Then he had an idea.
“Or not hard enough.” Daniel had their attention. “Hear me out. If we target small stores and houses we’re taking someone’s livelihood, but big stores have theft insurance.” Understanding dawned on the others. “They’ll make a claim if it looks like a robbery. Rana, I’m guessing you slip through doors as they’re opened.” She nodded. “Instead, if everyone’s on board, we wait till nightfall and break in.”
Rana made an addendum. “We should open the safe and take their cash for authenticity.”
“Not a problem,” Cassie said with confidence. Daniel supposed she would be an expert on cracking combination locks by sound.
“I suppose we can donate the money to charity and hope the karma balances,” Kenta shrugged and nodded. Daniel made a mental note to spread the money thin to make tracking more difficult.
Paul interrupted their train of thought. “Stealing is wrong—no matter the reason. Shouldn’t we try to get by on our own?”
“That’s easy for you to say, Paul.” Cassie pointed a finger with her leg-hand. “You and Daniel wouldn’t be giving much up, huh? But the rest of us will suffer without supplies. We could literally starve to death.”
She’s right. No, they’re both right, Daniel thought. Next time we won’t need to depend on crime for survival. I’ll make sure of it.
Kenta came down on Paul’s side. “Couldn’t we at least try? Self-sufficiency is the way of the Kaminoke, after all. It certainly sounds more heroic than burglars skulking around in the dark.”
“That may be good for food, but it’s going to get dark and cold,” Cassandra countered. “If you know how to hunt, skin animals, and tan their fur into blankets—I’ll be impressed.”
“Try to think of it as restitution for our unjust imprisonment,” Lea told Paul.
Paul, Rana, and Kenta looked doubtful. “It only counts for that if we take it from the people responsible,” Kenta grumbled.
“We shall put it to a vote. All in favor may raise your hands.” Lea lifted her arm and Cassie raised a wing. Daniel joined them after a second’s hesitation. Lea stared down Rana, Paul, and Kenta one at a time until they all put a hand up. She never called for those against. “Then it is unanimous,” she finished, satisfied.
“We’re gonna be pirates!” Wendi seemed oblivious to any moral quandaries and didn’t object to not getting a vote. With how little she’d participated in the discussion, Daniel felt certain she hadn’t been listening.
The late afternoon and night passed with hours of planning and multiple trips through several portals. They spaced the night’s string of robberies across multiple towns, hitting superstores for food and sporting goods stores for lighters, camp stoves, pans, sleeping bags, and miscellaneous equipment.
It took longer to get rid of the money than to steal it. Picking a charity everyone agreed on was complicated.
With Rana’s camouflage, they were undetectable. With Paul’s sense of direction, they always knew where to go.
The first time they used ‘Pwyll’s Pouch’ surprised Daniel. Kenta pulled a miniature sword strung on a necklace from his hair. Then the Kaminoke made a slashing motion that cut open a gash in space.
As the others began shoveling supplies inside, Rana explained to him privately, :It’s a hole in spacetime. Food won’t spoil inside.:
:You say that like it’s not a big deal.:
:It’s common. We’ll see where they’re made tomorrow. You owe me twice now, by the way.:
Daniel groaned inside.
As the night wore on, their casual use of the timeless pocket dimension almost grew mundane. Almost. Feelings of disbelief and wonderment circulated through Daniel’s mind all night.
When all their tasks and goals were accomplished, they set camp on a hill in that neighboring world. Meat and vegetables cooked over a propane stove; chips, soda, and candy bars—even Paul ate something if only to join in. Everyone had their fill except Daniel.
He didn’t mind. He laughed along with them. The smiling faces, the jokes, the goofing around, the feeling of ease and contentment—they celebrated. Even the sixth wheel in a party of five could learn to join in.
After dinner, Cassie produced a glass bauble filled with the roiling darkness of a starless night sky. He wondered about the crystal ball but got no answers. They had Daniel open a portal to a deserted stretch of forest. Cassie then cocked her ears and focused on the orb. Moving images—a hundred blended scenes—appeared before them hovering in the air like a projector on the mist.
The confusion resolved into a man at a desk talking into the camera. Sound snapped into clarity next with a chime in Daniel’s head. “We have satellite!” Cassie snapped her fingers with a flourish of her leg’s wrist.
“Awesome!” Paul said.
Lea smiled. “Thank you for the job well done.”
“Hey, can we watch cartoons?” Wend said as she pumped her arms in excitement.
“Cass, how much can you store?” Kenta asked.
She considered, “I’m getting over a hundred channels. If I keep at it for two hours, the Shew Stone will record two hundred hours.”
“More than adequate,” he replied, which was a compliment from Kenta. “It’ll have to do until we find another planet with television.”
“Please, no talk of business until tomorrow,” Lea announced. “Instead, we shall partake of the popped corn.”
The others had long since worked out a fair way of deciding what to watch despite their tastes varying wildly. They buzzed through a few comedies and some cartoons, finishing with an action movie. Not everyone made it through to the end. It was late after a long day, and more than one head began to nod off. Cassie stopped when she got tired, and the rest of them headed to bed.
Kenta, Lea, and Cassie had their sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets. “Isn’t this better than sleeping on smelly animal skins?” Cassandra asked Kenta, to his reluctant agreement.
Each of Wendi’s hands needed its own blanket, and she ended up burrowing into a whole nest of sheets. Paul slept as a candlestick. His face in the flame watched the campfire to the last soft embers as he drifted to sleep.
Choosing a place near the others, Daniel laid on the cold, hard ground. His touch withered the grass to dust and then eroded the soil beneath him. He slept in a depression that deepened through the night.
He slept light.
Unanswered questions and blurred memories spurred him awake in the dark of the night. He’d forgotten something important. His eyes opened on Kenta’s inverted face, giving Daniel a start. Thankfully, he didn’t sit up and bang their heads together. After a foggy moment, he realized Kenta wasn’t awake.
Sleepwalking? Daniel slid away and turned to see a canopy of hair with strands waving in the gentle breeze like seaweed in the current. While Kenta’s body nestled in his sleeping bag, his head roamed the campsite following dreams—tethered by a sinuous snaking neck.
We are so weird.
An empty sleeping bag caught his attention. Cassie’s bag. Maybe she’s nocturnal? He frowned. Would it be rude to ask? He shook the thought from his head.
Daniel decided to go for a walk. When he left the shadow of Kenta’s hair ceiling he shivered in the cold air. He’s not bad at all, Daniel thought, Protecting the group even as he sleeps.
The alien moon hung large in the heavens, eerily similar to Eastwood’s. He made his way over a hill, stirring the smell of fresh grass and leaving a trail of dust. Daniel didn’t expect to find anyone. He simply wanted space.
All at once, thoughts dancing on the periphery of awareness came into focus. He turned around and she stood behind him. She’d skipped the party without a word and come back unannounced. The girl who’d saved his life at risk of hers. The girl who’d made him believe her, and everything she’d done, beneath notice.
He didn’t get mad.
That wouldn’t help him solve the puzzle. Instead, Daniel asked in a calm voice, “Why?”
Rana stared at him, inscrutable. “I’m not much of one for parties.”
“Won’t the others notice?”
“No.” She came near, passing him to stand a few inches from brushing his shoulder. He faced the moon over their camp, and she faced the silver landscape of hills and shadows. “It’s not exactly out of character.”
She’s done this before. Probably gone incommunicado for hours or days to keep the others from sending to her. All to not be pestered by friends he’d give anything to have. He let some anger into his voice. “Why now? Why come see me?”
Daniel turned as she sat by his feet. She patted the grass with one hand. “To answer all your questions.”
That surprised him. “For free?”
Rana shrugged. “Until we get you caught up, you’re a liability. I can afford a few more freebies.”
Her frank assessment irritated Daniel. Without walls to bust through, he realized, Will I be useful? He stayed on his feet, “You know more than the others, don’t you? Why?”
She replied with a quote, “‘Life in the Wilderness can depend on a mere scrap of information.’”
“What’s that?”
“An old saying.”
That’s not an answer. “Aren’t we all the same age?”
An awkward pause. “I listen when I’m told things.”
“Yeah? Well, as far as I’m aware, nobody in the group is deaf. In fact, I think Listening is Cassie’s thing.”
Silence. He began to sweat. Did I say something offensive? Kenta said far worse, and she talked back to him. She’s not fragile. More nerve-wracking seconds passed. Did I screw this up?
Finally, she said in a neutral tone, “When I said I’d answer questions, I meant about what’s going on.”
Thinking on it, this was none of his business. “Sorry for being rude.”
He got the silent treatment again. She stared straight ahead, never meeting his eyes. A habit from talking telepathically for three years?—If so, Paul had good reason to use the busts. “Why do you want to know?”
Yes, he’d overstepped. The anger drained away. Daniel sat next to her. “You’re right, I’m a liability. You saved my life with trivia. If our lives depend on facts, I want to know as much as I can.”
She waited again before answering, then said, “Tell me something embarrassing.” Daniel blinked at her, surprised. “I’ll use one of the favors you owe me.”
He scrambled to think of something and turn it into a coherent thought. “Most people are scared of creepy-crawly animals. You know, girls scream whenever they see mice or bugs or spiders or lizards or... bats and frogs. Except, I’ve always liked the nature shows about them, and I think they’re kind of neat or… well, cool. If animal people exist and have all kinds of different abilities, I bet learning about magic is going to be even more fun.”
“I have a big brother.” She said it fast but controlled her tone.
The non sequitur threw Daniel until he realized she’d answered his first question. Why so reluctant? Is she embarrassed? Or is it about trust? “I don’t see how that explains it.”
“He’s three hundred years old.”
“Oh. I suppose he’d be knowledgeable. I hesitate to ask, but is that unusual?”
“It’s not unheard of. A normal married couple might want another kid after a few centuries.” Not exactly what I was asking, but wow. Immortal? Or nearly so? At least she wasn’t embarrassed by her brother’s age. “I’ve never met someone who liked magic trivia as much as me. The races, history, the way things and people work, all that stuff.”
Daniel smiled. Maybe they could see eye to eye. “And if some of us look like creatures out of myths and legends, I shouldn’t read too much into that?”
“You realize human mythology is our history, distorted by time and the telling?”
He laughed for a second, but she didn’t laugh with him. She’s serious. “So, how did you save me? I remember you talking about life-force, but something else happened.”
Rana nodded. “Imagine humans have ‘one’ unit of vitality on average. With good sleep and good food, it takes about a hundred hours to heal a scratch completely. Cassie’s vitality is ‘less than one.’ Even healthy, she needs to borrow someone else’s vitality to be ‘normal.’ Theoretically, ‘Zero’ wouldn’t heal at all and negatives would actively deteriorate.”
“What’s my vitality?” Daniel asked.
“‘Greater than one,’ but the extra vitality is spent keeping you alive without food or water.”
He could accept that. “What’s yours?”
“Around ten thousand times human. I can heal a scratch in about six minutes.” She must have caught the surprise and awe on Daniel’s face, “That level isn’t useful in a battle, though. Wendi’s is around a hundred thousand. She heals scratches and worse in under six seconds. She’s tougher too, harder to hurt. There’s plenty races with regeneration on her level and higher, without mentioning Seraphim.”
He thought ‘ten thousand’ plenty impressive. “What does this have to do with my question? And didn’t you heal instantly before?”
“You don’t think I use all that vitality every day?”
“I guess not?”
“My body takes the extra and compresses it into a little ball. Over time, this grows layer by layer into a Toadstone—a type of bezoar.”
Daniel’s mind worked over the concept. “Like a pearl.”
She turned her head to lock eyes with him. “Don’t be dumb. It’s gross and weird and so am I. Don’t try to make it seem pretty.”
He didn’t understand why his comment bothered her. “Well, ‘gross and weird’ saved my life. I’m grateful.”
She stared at the horizon. “Your butt got saved by eating a frog’s gut rock. Deal with it.”
He chuckled to himself. “Hey, is it alright if I ask what you are?”
Rana cocked her head and glanced at him. “I’m Batrachian.”
“I meant… you’re a frog person, right? Do you know what species of frog, or is that not a thing?”
“Hydrophylax bahuvistara.”
“Oh. That sounds like binomial nomenclature.”
“To you it does,” Rana said. “Humans love naming things. They’ve invented many languages for the purpose through myriad years and worlds. Rosetta Stones translate the true name to what you’ll best understand.”
Daniel nodded. “Are Toadstones something only you can do? Is it because you’re a H-hydro—”
“—A fungoid frog. No. Unique forms have special abilities, but Toadstones are a generic ability like my slime. There are limits to how fast I make them and how many I can store. For the record, one Toadstone delivers enough raw vitality to heal a single lethal wound.”
“Does Wendi also make… bezoars?”
“No, I think she burns her surplus vitality as super strength. I’m not an expert on Caprids, though.”
They’d driven off-topic from his original question. Daniel felt awkward, but he needed to know if there was something between them in the past he didn’t remember. “We also shared life-force…”
“You know why it had to be the lips, right?” The casual way she said it made him feel dense. Daniel shook his head with a wince. “Toadstones are bound to their creator. By connecting our life-forces, we tricked the bezoar into thinking your body was an extension of mine—that’s the cheat. It had to be the lips so I could pass on the bezoar while maintaining our link.” She made it sound technical.
“And the emotional connection…”
“It’s more difficult for some than others.” Rana paused again to think. “I could have done that for any of you—even Kenta,” then hurried to add, “If you tell him I said that I will hurt you.”
Was that a joke? With ‘kill’ he’d know she wasn’t serious, but ‘hurt?’ He decided not to risk it. “Alright, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. The big question. What are we? What are these abilities?
“Magic.”
“We keep saying magic, but there’s a scientific explanation for everything.”
“What do you think we are?”
“Aliens?” He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Rana tilted her head to the side. “You’re not wrong, just confused. What comes to mind—with aliens?”
“They’re from another world and travel the stars.”
“We’re each from a different race and each race has a ‘Home World.’ We use portals to get around.”
“They can look human, except for a few differences, but their evolutionary histories aren’t connected.”
“That’s so.” She nodded.
“And they speak in a weird language but have a translation device.”
She jingled her Rosetta Stone on its chain.
“So, we’re aliens.”
“Magic aliens.”
“There’s no such thing as magic.”
Rana locked eyes with him again. “You can blast through a brick wall with a funny look—what do you think that is?”
“Alien psychic powers?”
She raised an eyebrow as if to say, ‘Is that easier to believe than magic?’
He sighed in surrender. “I guess I always thought I was a mutant or something.”
“There’s no such thing as mutants.”
Daniel smirked. “You understand how I got that impression, right? There’s nobody else like me. If I’m part of a whole species, where are they?”
“It’s a big universe, Daniel. They’re hiding. They locked themselves away.”
“Why are they hiding?”
She took a deep breath. “In the beginning, there were Ninety-Nine Aspects of Reality—”
Any explanation starting with ‘in the beginning’ set off alarm bells in Daniel’s head. “—Can we skip ahead a bit? Maybe summarize the relevant history?”
“Fine. We’ll skip over that and the One Hundred Ninety-Eight Progenitors, though most of them are still around. A big war ruined a bunch of stuff a while back and now everybody’s afraid of the winners—but mostly they’re hiding from each other. There’s something like a war going on, but it’s too far away to have anything to do with us. Now there’s us, and our enemies.”
That gave Daniel pause. “Enemies, huh?” He’d been too optimistic to think they’d left all their enemies behind. “Who are our enemies?”
“First, you have to understand what the seven of us share. We’re all orphans.”
“We are?”
“For accidental, personal, or political reasons, our parents left the safety of their Home Worlds and either died or abandoned us.”
Neither possibility appealed to Daniel when he thought of his parentage. “How did seven orphans find each other in a big universe?”
“The Traveling Orphanage.”
The questions kept coming. “Why does it travel?”
“It depends on the type of magic available,” the frog girl reasoned. “Builders build. Seekers travel. The T.O. had Paul’s uncle. With an experienced Pathfinder, their ability to avoid danger exceeded their power to defend a settlement.”
“Then why aren’t we with them?”
“We were, three years ago.” The day I lost my memories. Rana closed her eyes, “All luck failed us. A chance encounter with something we’d never try to fight, given the choice.”
“What happened?”
“A Demon happened.” Not just the word itself, but the whisper of fear in her voice, struck him like a punch to the gut.
Both Daniel and Wendi willfully forgot that day. And now, he realized, the Caprid continued to follow that path—ignoring the truth and the consequences of her actions in favor of an incomplete reality easier to accept. If he shut out the truth, the same could happen to him. He didn’t want to hear this, but he needed to know.
“What is a Demon?”
Rana’s pause felt agonizing. Her voice became colder, plodding forward to a dreaded and inevitable conclusion. “We don’t know where they came from. We do know this… Demons are an amalgam of lost souls, barred from death, that torment the living. They don’t feel pain, they don’t know fear, and they can’t be killed. Destroying their body completely returns them to the timeless expanse between life and death. Decades or centuries later, they reform.”
The implications didn’t chill Daniel, they enraged him—the mere idea of an undefeatable enemy rankled his spirit. She went on. “If that were all, they could be dealt with. None of that is what makes them so feared.
“Nobody, not even gods, is immune to the Demons’ Whisper. They are liars and deceivers. Demons tear at their victim’s minds until the defenses crumble. It is said being taken by a demon is a fate worse than death. Forever denied its release, you become one more lost soul in the legion.”
Daniel clenched his fist. Could it get any worse?
“Demons absorb all their victim’s knowledge, power, and abilities.”
Of course.
“To resist the Whisper, you must understand yourself down to the core and hold your convictions tight. That’s why children are so vulnerable. My brother said understanding yourself is the most difficult thing in the universe. We all lie to ourselves, ignore things, and close our eyes to the truth. Demons prey on those flaws and use them to destroy us.”
Daniel cried, and he didn’t know why. He unclenched his teeth long enough to ask, “What do they look like?”
“Their skin is perfectly white, no matter whose face they wear.” He rubbed at his face, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Images, feelings, and memories resurfaced. “But their flesh, blood, and eyes are always utterly black.”
Early Afternoon In Another World
They burst into an alien sky remarkably like his own. My own? No, I don’t suppose I belonged there.
If the air seemed a touch thinner, if the sun shone a shade darker, if his body felt a bit heavier, he could write it all off as altitude, time of day, and lack of sleep. Easier to believe they’d traveled hundreds of miles than hundreds of light-years. Rolling hills covered in lush grass surrounded them as far as the eye could see.
Cassandra swooped in low, pulled back to slow their descent, and reverted to her humanoid form an instant before impact. The massive bat shrunk and folded in on itself to form the features and clothes of the girl. Cassie landed softly like an open umbrella and wrapped herself in a ‘leather coat.’
The others dealt with inertia and gravity on their own. Wendi hit the ground with her free hand while lifting Daniel high in the other. She landed in a one-sided handstand, and her massive fingers tore five furrows to slow them. In an amazing show of strength and skill, Wendi controlled Daniel’s deceleration through the span of her reach to a gentle stop.
A black orb caught Kenta and Paul the candlestick in its gravitational pull and set them down. Meanwhile, Rana crouched atop another sphere as it touched the ground. She hopped off, an ancient balance scale in hand. Lea? he guessed from his experience with Paul and the Libra symbol he’d seen on the girl’s blouse. Paul shifted back to humanoid, though Lea remained an object for the moment.
Instead of releasing Daniel, Wendi leaped forward to sweep the other five kids into a group hug. “We’re out! We’re free! We’re together again!”
The others’ reactions varied. Paul emanated a reserved warmth while Kenta made a show of pulling away without much real effort. Cassandra half enjoyed herself, riding the high of her first flight in three years with a fanged grin. The bat girl didn’t mind being sandwiched between Rana and Wendi’s armpit but shot nervous glances at the three boys.
Then there was Rana. Though she didn’t attempt escape, he doubted she’d be a part of this if Wendi hadn’t grabbed her.
In a way, it was an awkward hug. Lea and Daniel participated by proxy. Paul couldn’t feel most things he touched.
But Daniel got it. Despite—or even because of—their squabbles and differences, these guys were family. Though part of the group, Daniel wasn’t family yet. He lacked the enduring affection the others freely exchanged.
This group had essentially been locked in a room for three years. They got on each other’s nerves, but they’d been there for one another. Both physically and emotionally, Daniel was held at arm’s length.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Kenta said, and Wendi let them go.
Except for Daniel. He waited for her to set him down, but she’d apparently forgotten. Daniel, on the other hand, was a cauldron of confusing emotions. Though he feared her dark side, the fact he could touch someone without harming them thrilled Daniel to no end. However, true physical contact felt foreign and overwhelming. Wendi seemed nice and friendly, and he wanted to reciprocate that, but she acted overfamiliar when they were barely a step above strangers.
He needed space to think, “You can put me down.”
“Oh, right,” Wendi said as she released him, embarrassed, “Sorry.” She was more self-conscious of her inattentive daydreaming than any boundaries she’d overstepped.
The portal behind them shrank to a small, glinting object that floated to Kenta. The boy caught it with his hair and tossed it to Daniel. Wait, this is my ring! Daniel put it on in wonder.
“A moment, please,” Lea shifted to human form and pointed at Cassie, the bat girl about to take off.
“I’m just stretching my wings.” She swiveled her ears. “There’s nothing around.”
“No one leaves the group,” Lea said, “No making plans or arguing over directions until we have the fundamentals addressed.”
“What are you talking about?” Kenta asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Lea shook her head in exasperation. “Have any of you considered what we are having for dinner?” From their expressions, no.
“We could scavenge,” Paul said.
“You think there’s any food out here Paul?” Cassie gestured at the endless expanse of featureless hills.
“Grass for dinner,” Wendi decided as she plucked and chewed a mouthful.
Ignoring the faun girl, Lea said, “Fortunately, we have a Claircognizant for times such as this.” Am I missing something here? Daniel wondered. Isn’t the term ‘clairvoyant’ or ‘precognizant?’ “Paul, where is the nearest source of easily obtainable food large enough to feed all of us?”
Paul’s arm shot up and pointed almost of its own volition. They followed his directions on foot as a unit, though Cassie flew overhead. After a few minutes of walking, Paul’s arm pointed down and they stopped.
“You caught a nap, Daniel,” Kenta prompted.
Daniel blanked. The others stared.
“Feeling well enough to use the ring?” Paul added after an uncomfortable second.
“Uh…” I need more of a hint than that, Paul! Daniel once again lamented his memory loss.
:Say yes, and I’ll give you a freebee,: Rana sent, :Next time, you’ll owe me one for info like this.:
He’d kept the amnesia quiet until now, but this was getting difficult. “Yes.” All eyes on him.
:Take the ring off.: He followed Rana’s directions. :Hold it high and focus like you’re using your power. Then pull on it with your mind.:
Daniel almost told her he couldn’t figure out the trick when a cork popped. Charging the ring was that simple, as natural as using his ability. The small metallic hoop flew forward, contracted to a point, and expanded into a window.
They sent Rana into the fenced-in backyard of a suburban house. Her camouflage and speed were the best tools for the job. Daniel noted that waiting on her made it easier to remember Rana in that state. She soon returned. Empty-handed.
“Where’s the food Rana?” Kenta asked.
“Lea,” she said, ignoring Kenta, “I’m not stealing from a single mother of four.”
“No! I never…” Paul realized what happened with dismay. “It’s all residential there, isn’t it?” Rana nodded.
“Way to go, Paul,” Cassie shook her head.
Daniel defended him, “How could he have known?”
Cassandra scoffed at the excuse, “That ability is Paul’s domain, he should understand it better than anybody.”
“There is no need to argue,” Lea stated. “All success requires is revision. Paul, where is the nearest sufficient source of food not already in someone’s possession?” His hand rose to lead the way again, and they followed. They stopped and opened a small portal for Rana to slip through.
When she came back empty-handed, the group gave a collective groan. “What is it this time?” Kenta said.
“Restaurants.” So, the food is the property of a company and not ‘someone’ as in ‘one person?’ “They’d notice if everything they prepared kept disappearing.”
Kenta rolled his eyes at the delay. “Then take the ingredients!”
“How are we going to carry a hundred raw chicken breasts?” Daniel asked, to looks of confusion. The others stared at him as if he’d said something profoundly stupid. :Of all things, that isn’t a problem?: he sent to Rana.
:Don’t worry about it,: she sent back.
“Guys, aren’t we going at the theft angle too hard?” Cassie said.
Daniel agreed. He didn’t like the idea of stealing despite their dire need for supplies. Helping themselves could hurt someone who needed it as much or more. Then he had an idea.
“Or not hard enough.” Daniel had their attention. “Hear me out. If we target small stores and houses we’re taking someone’s livelihood, but big stores have theft insurance.” Understanding dawned on the others. “They’ll make a claim if it looks like a robbery. Rana, I’m guessing you slip through doors as they’re opened.” She nodded. “Instead, if everyone’s on board, we wait till nightfall and break in.”
Rana made an addendum. “We should open the safe and take their cash for authenticity.”
“Not a problem,” Cassie said with confidence. Daniel supposed she would be an expert on cracking combination locks by sound.
“I suppose we can donate the money to charity and hope the karma balances,” Kenta shrugged and nodded. Daniel made a mental note to spread the money thin to make tracking more difficult.
Paul interrupted their train of thought. “Stealing is wrong—no matter the reason. Shouldn’t we try to get by on our own?”
“That’s easy for you to say, Paul.” Cassie pointed a finger with her leg-hand. “You and Daniel wouldn’t be giving much up, huh? But the rest of us will suffer without supplies. We could literally starve to death.”
She’s right. No, they’re both right, Daniel thought. Next time we won’t need to depend on crime for survival. I’ll make sure of it.
Kenta came down on Paul’s side. “Couldn’t we at least try? Self-sufficiency is the way of the Kaminoke, after all. It certainly sounds more heroic than burglars skulking around in the dark.”
“That may be good for food, but it’s going to get dark and cold,” Cassandra countered. “If you know how to hunt, skin animals, and tan their fur into blankets—I’ll be impressed.”
“Try to think of it as restitution for our unjust imprisonment,” Lea told Paul.
Paul, Rana, and Kenta looked doubtful. “It only counts for that if we take it from the people responsible,” Kenta grumbled.
“We shall put it to a vote. All in favor may raise your hands.” Lea lifted her arm and Cassie raised a wing. Daniel joined them after a second’s hesitation. Lea stared down Rana, Paul, and Kenta one at a time until they all put a hand up. She never called for those against. “Then it is unanimous,” she finished, satisfied.
“We’re gonna be pirates!” Wendi seemed oblivious to any moral quandaries and didn’t object to not getting a vote. With how little she’d participated in the discussion, Daniel felt certain she hadn’t been listening.
The late afternoon and night passed with hours of planning and multiple trips through several portals. They spaced the night’s string of robberies across multiple towns, hitting superstores for food and sporting goods stores for lighters, camp stoves, pans, sleeping bags, and miscellaneous equipment.
It took longer to get rid of the money than to steal it. Picking a charity everyone agreed on was complicated.
With Rana’s camouflage, they were undetectable. With Paul’s sense of direction, they always knew where to go.
The first time they used ‘Pwyll’s Pouch’ surprised Daniel. Kenta pulled a miniature sword strung on a necklace from his hair. Then the Kaminoke made a slashing motion that cut open a gash in space.
As the others began shoveling supplies inside, Rana explained to him privately, :It’s a hole in spacetime. Food won’t spoil inside.:
:You say that like it’s not a big deal.:
:It’s common. We’ll see where they’re made tomorrow. You owe me twice now, by the way.:
Daniel groaned inside.
As the night wore on, their casual use of the timeless pocket dimension almost grew mundane. Almost. Feelings of disbelief and wonderment circulated through Daniel’s mind all night.
When all their tasks and goals were accomplished, they set camp on a hill in that neighboring world. Meat and vegetables cooked over a propane stove; chips, soda, and candy bars—even Paul ate something if only to join in. Everyone had their fill except Daniel.
He didn’t mind. He laughed along with them. The smiling faces, the jokes, the goofing around, the feeling of ease and contentment—they celebrated. Even the sixth wheel in a party of five could learn to join in.
After dinner, Cassie produced a glass bauble filled with the roiling darkness of a starless night sky. He wondered about the crystal ball but got no answers. They had Daniel open a portal to a deserted stretch of forest. Cassie then cocked her ears and focused on the orb. Moving images—a hundred blended scenes—appeared before them hovering in the air like a projector on the mist.
The confusion resolved into a man at a desk talking into the camera. Sound snapped into clarity next with a chime in Daniel’s head. “We have satellite!” Cassie snapped her fingers with a flourish of her leg’s wrist.
“Awesome!” Paul said.
Lea smiled. “Thank you for the job well done.”
“Hey, can we watch cartoons?” Wend said as she pumped her arms in excitement.
“Cass, how much can you store?” Kenta asked.
She considered, “I’m getting over a hundred channels. If I keep at it for two hours, the Shew Stone will record two hundred hours.”
“More than adequate,” he replied, which was a compliment from Kenta. “It’ll have to do until we find another planet with television.”
“Please, no talk of business until tomorrow,” Lea announced. “Instead, we shall partake of the popped corn.”
The others had long since worked out a fair way of deciding what to watch despite their tastes varying wildly. They buzzed through a few comedies and some cartoons, finishing with an action movie. Not everyone made it through to the end. It was late after a long day, and more than one head began to nod off. Cassie stopped when she got tired, and the rest of them headed to bed.
Kenta, Lea, and Cassie had their sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets. “Isn’t this better than sleeping on smelly animal skins?” Cassandra asked Kenta, to his reluctant agreement.
Each of Wendi’s hands needed its own blanket, and she ended up burrowing into a whole nest of sheets. Paul slept as a candlestick. His face in the flame watched the campfire to the last soft embers as he drifted to sleep.
Choosing a place near the others, Daniel laid on the cold, hard ground. His touch withered the grass to dust and then eroded the soil beneath him. He slept in a depression that deepened through the night.
He slept light.
Unanswered questions and blurred memories spurred him awake in the dark of the night. He’d forgotten something important. His eyes opened on Kenta’s inverted face, giving Daniel a start. Thankfully, he didn’t sit up and bang their heads together. After a foggy moment, he realized Kenta wasn’t awake.
Sleepwalking? Daniel slid away and turned to see a canopy of hair with strands waving in the gentle breeze like seaweed in the current. While Kenta’s body nestled in his sleeping bag, his head roamed the campsite following dreams—tethered by a sinuous snaking neck.
We are so weird.
An empty sleeping bag caught his attention. Cassie’s bag. Maybe she’s nocturnal? He frowned. Would it be rude to ask? He shook the thought from his head.
Daniel decided to go for a walk. When he left the shadow of Kenta’s hair ceiling he shivered in the cold air. He’s not bad at all, Daniel thought, Protecting the group even as he sleeps.
The alien moon hung large in the heavens, eerily similar to Eastwood’s. He made his way over a hill, stirring the smell of fresh grass and leaving a trail of dust. Daniel didn’t expect to find anyone. He simply wanted space.
All at once, thoughts dancing on the periphery of awareness came into focus. He turned around and she stood behind him. She’d skipped the party without a word and come back unannounced. The girl who’d saved his life at risk of hers. The girl who’d made him believe her, and everything she’d done, beneath notice.
He didn’t get mad.
That wouldn’t help him solve the puzzle. Instead, Daniel asked in a calm voice, “Why?”
Rana stared at him, inscrutable. “I’m not much of one for parties.”
“Won’t the others notice?”
“No.” She came near, passing him to stand a few inches from brushing his shoulder. He faced the moon over their camp, and she faced the silver landscape of hills and shadows. “It’s not exactly out of character.”
She’s done this before. Probably gone incommunicado for hours or days to keep the others from sending to her. All to not be pestered by friends he’d give anything to have. He let some anger into his voice. “Why now? Why come see me?”
Daniel turned as she sat by his feet. She patted the grass with one hand. “To answer all your questions.”
That surprised him. “For free?”
Rana shrugged. “Until we get you caught up, you’re a liability. I can afford a few more freebies.”
Her frank assessment irritated Daniel. Without walls to bust through, he realized, Will I be useful? He stayed on his feet, “You know more than the others, don’t you? Why?”
She replied with a quote, “‘Life in the Wilderness can depend on a mere scrap of information.’”
“What’s that?”
“An old saying.”
That’s not an answer. “Aren’t we all the same age?”
An awkward pause. “I listen when I’m told things.”
“Yeah? Well, as far as I’m aware, nobody in the group is deaf. In fact, I think Listening is Cassie’s thing.”
Silence. He began to sweat. Did I say something offensive? Kenta said far worse, and she talked back to him. She’s not fragile. More nerve-wracking seconds passed. Did I screw this up?
Finally, she said in a neutral tone, “When I said I’d answer questions, I meant about what’s going on.”
Thinking on it, this was none of his business. “Sorry for being rude.”
He got the silent treatment again. She stared straight ahead, never meeting his eyes. A habit from talking telepathically for three years?—If so, Paul had good reason to use the busts. “Why do you want to know?”
Yes, he’d overstepped. The anger drained away. Daniel sat next to her. “You’re right, I’m a liability. You saved my life with trivia. If our lives depend on facts, I want to know as much as I can.”
She waited again before answering, then said, “Tell me something embarrassing.” Daniel blinked at her, surprised. “I’ll use one of the favors you owe me.”
He scrambled to think of something and turn it into a coherent thought. “Most people are scared of creepy-crawly animals. You know, girls scream whenever they see mice or bugs or spiders or lizards or... bats and frogs. Except, I’ve always liked the nature shows about them, and I think they’re kind of neat or… well, cool. If animal people exist and have all kinds of different abilities, I bet learning about magic is going to be even more fun.”
“I have a big brother.” She said it fast but controlled her tone.
The non sequitur threw Daniel until he realized she’d answered his first question. Why so reluctant? Is she embarrassed? Or is it about trust? “I don’t see how that explains it.”
“He’s three hundred years old.”
“Oh. I suppose he’d be knowledgeable. I hesitate to ask, but is that unusual?”
“It’s not unheard of. A normal married couple might want another kid after a few centuries.” Not exactly what I was asking, but wow. Immortal? Or nearly so? At least she wasn’t embarrassed by her brother’s age. “I’ve never met someone who liked magic trivia as much as me. The races, history, the way things and people work, all that stuff.”
Daniel smiled. Maybe they could see eye to eye. “And if some of us look like creatures out of myths and legends, I shouldn’t read too much into that?”
“You realize human mythology is our history, distorted by time and the telling?”
He laughed for a second, but she didn’t laugh with him. She’s serious. “So, how did you save me? I remember you talking about life-force, but something else happened.”
Rana nodded. “Imagine humans have ‘one’ unit of vitality on average. With good sleep and good food, it takes about a hundred hours to heal a scratch completely. Cassie’s vitality is ‘less than one.’ Even healthy, she needs to borrow someone else’s vitality to be ‘normal.’ Theoretically, ‘Zero’ wouldn’t heal at all and negatives would actively deteriorate.”
“What’s my vitality?” Daniel asked.
“‘Greater than one,’ but the extra vitality is spent keeping you alive without food or water.”
He could accept that. “What’s yours?”
“Around ten thousand times human. I can heal a scratch in about six minutes.” She must have caught the surprise and awe on Daniel’s face, “That level isn’t useful in a battle, though. Wendi’s is around a hundred thousand. She heals scratches and worse in under six seconds. She’s tougher too, harder to hurt. There’s plenty races with regeneration on her level and higher, without mentioning Seraphim.”
He thought ‘ten thousand’ plenty impressive. “What does this have to do with my question? And didn’t you heal instantly before?”
“You don’t think I use all that vitality every day?”
“I guess not?”
“My body takes the extra and compresses it into a little ball. Over time, this grows layer by layer into a Toadstone—a type of bezoar.”
Daniel’s mind worked over the concept. “Like a pearl.”
She turned her head to lock eyes with him. “Don’t be dumb. It’s gross and weird and so am I. Don’t try to make it seem pretty.”
He didn’t understand why his comment bothered her. “Well, ‘gross and weird’ saved my life. I’m grateful.”
She stared at the horizon. “Your butt got saved by eating a frog’s gut rock. Deal with it.”
He chuckled to himself. “Hey, is it alright if I ask what you are?”
Rana cocked her head and glanced at him. “I’m Batrachian.”
“I meant… you’re a frog person, right? Do you know what species of frog, or is that not a thing?”
“Hydrophylax bahuvistara.”
“Oh. That sounds like binomial nomenclature.”
“To you it does,” Rana said. “Humans love naming things. They’ve invented many languages for the purpose through myriad years and worlds. Rosetta Stones translate the true name to what you’ll best understand.”
Daniel nodded. “Are Toadstones something only you can do? Is it because you’re a H-hydro—”
“—A fungoid frog. No. Unique forms have special abilities, but Toadstones are a generic ability like my slime. There are limits to how fast I make them and how many I can store. For the record, one Toadstone delivers enough raw vitality to heal a single lethal wound.”
“Does Wendi also make… bezoars?”
“No, I think she burns her surplus vitality as super strength. I’m not an expert on Caprids, though.”
They’d driven off-topic from his original question. Daniel felt awkward, but he needed to know if there was something between them in the past he didn’t remember. “We also shared life-force…”
“You know why it had to be the lips, right?” The casual way she said it made him feel dense. Daniel shook his head with a wince. “Toadstones are bound to their creator. By connecting our life-forces, we tricked the bezoar into thinking your body was an extension of mine—that’s the cheat. It had to be the lips so I could pass on the bezoar while maintaining our link.” She made it sound technical.
“And the emotional connection…”
“It’s more difficult for some than others.” Rana paused again to think. “I could have done that for any of you—even Kenta,” then hurried to add, “If you tell him I said that I will hurt you.”
Was that a joke? With ‘kill’ he’d know she wasn’t serious, but ‘hurt?’ He decided not to risk it. “Alright, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. The big question. What are we? What are these abilities?
“Magic.”
“We keep saying magic, but there’s a scientific explanation for everything.”
“What do you think we are?”
“Aliens?” He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Rana tilted her head to the side. “You’re not wrong, just confused. What comes to mind—with aliens?”
“They’re from another world and travel the stars.”
“We’re each from a different race and each race has a ‘Home World.’ We use portals to get around.”
“They can look human, except for a few differences, but their evolutionary histories aren’t connected.”
“That’s so.” She nodded.
“And they speak in a weird language but have a translation device.”
She jingled her Rosetta Stone on its chain.
“So, we’re aliens.”
“Magic aliens.”
“There’s no such thing as magic.”
Rana locked eyes with him again. “You can blast through a brick wall with a funny look—what do you think that is?”
“Alien psychic powers?”
She raised an eyebrow as if to say, ‘Is that easier to believe than magic?’
He sighed in surrender. “I guess I always thought I was a mutant or something.”
“There’s no such thing as mutants.”
Daniel smirked. “You understand how I got that impression, right? There’s nobody else like me. If I’m part of a whole species, where are they?”
“It’s a big universe, Daniel. They’re hiding. They locked themselves away.”
“Why are they hiding?”
She took a deep breath. “In the beginning, there were Ninety-Nine Aspects of Reality—”
Any explanation starting with ‘in the beginning’ set off alarm bells in Daniel’s head. “—Can we skip ahead a bit? Maybe summarize the relevant history?”
“Fine. We’ll skip over that and the One Hundred Ninety-Eight Progenitors, though most of them are still around. A big war ruined a bunch of stuff a while back and now everybody’s afraid of the winners—but mostly they’re hiding from each other. There’s something like a war going on, but it’s too far away to have anything to do with us. Now there’s us, and our enemies.”
That gave Daniel pause. “Enemies, huh?” He’d been too optimistic to think they’d left all their enemies behind. “Who are our enemies?”
“First, you have to understand what the seven of us share. We’re all orphans.”
“We are?”
“For accidental, personal, or political reasons, our parents left the safety of their Home Worlds and either died or abandoned us.”
Neither possibility appealed to Daniel when he thought of his parentage. “How did seven orphans find each other in a big universe?”
“The Traveling Orphanage.”
The questions kept coming. “Why does it travel?”
“It depends on the type of magic available,” the frog girl reasoned. “Builders build. Seekers travel. The T.O. had Paul’s uncle. With an experienced Pathfinder, their ability to avoid danger exceeded their power to defend a settlement.”
“Then why aren’t we with them?”
“We were, three years ago.” The day I lost my memories. Rana closed her eyes, “All luck failed us. A chance encounter with something we’d never try to fight, given the choice.”
“What happened?”
“A Demon happened.” Not just the word itself, but the whisper of fear in her voice, struck him like a punch to the gut.
Both Daniel and Wendi willfully forgot that day. And now, he realized, the Caprid continued to follow that path—ignoring the truth and the consequences of her actions in favor of an incomplete reality easier to accept. If he shut out the truth, the same could happen to him. He didn’t want to hear this, but he needed to know.
“What is a Demon?”
Rana’s pause felt agonizing. Her voice became colder, plodding forward to a dreaded and inevitable conclusion. “We don’t know where they came from. We do know this… Demons are an amalgam of lost souls, barred from death, that torment the living. They don’t feel pain, they don’t know fear, and they can’t be killed. Destroying their body completely returns them to the timeless expanse between life and death. Decades or centuries later, they reform.”
The implications didn’t chill Daniel, they enraged him—the mere idea of an undefeatable enemy rankled his spirit. She went on. “If that were all, they could be dealt with. None of that is what makes them so feared.
“Nobody, not even gods, is immune to the Demons’ Whisper. They are liars and deceivers. Demons tear at their victim’s minds until the defenses crumble. It is said being taken by a demon is a fate worse than death. Forever denied its release, you become one more lost soul in the legion.”
Daniel clenched his fist. Could it get any worse?
“Demons absorb all their victim’s knowledge, power, and abilities.”
Of course.
“To resist the Whisper, you must understand yourself down to the core and hold your convictions tight. That’s why children are so vulnerable. My brother said understanding yourself is the most difficult thing in the universe. We all lie to ourselves, ignore things, and close our eyes to the truth. Demons prey on those flaws and use them to destroy us.”
Daniel cried, and he didn’t know why. He unclenched his teeth long enough to ask, “What do they look like?”
“Their skin is perfectly white, no matter whose face they wear.” He rubbed at his face, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Images, feelings, and memories resurfaced. “But their flesh, blood, and eyes are always utterly black.”
