SALAMANDER, n. Originally a reptile inhabiting fire; later, an anthropomorphous immortal, but still a pyrophile. Salamanders are now believed to be extinct, the last one of which we have an account having been seen in Carcassonne by the Abbe Belloc, who exorcised it with a bucket of holy water.
~ The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
Undesired Assertions
SALAMANDER, n. Originally a reptile inhabiting fire; later, an anthropomorphous immortal, but still a pyrophile. Salamanders are now believed to be extinct, the last one of which we have an account having been seen in Carcassonne by the Abbe Belloc, who exorcised it with a bucket of holy water.
~ The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
It’d been close today. Even wearing my suppression collar, I'd come close to unleashing my power. Most of the time the collar worked. Under extreme pressure and stress the collar sometimes fell short at doing the job it needed to. I dreaded the day it failed its purpose.
Tilting my head back I raised the collar as high as I could. Over the years calluses had built up in a few spots. In others only blisters would form and form again.
My neck always felt raw and irritated. I think I still had some aloe vera left. The stuff doesn't help. Not much does. It always chafed, no matter how I adjusted it.
I adjusted anyway.
"Well tomorrow's gonna be a brand new day, Daniel. Just let today go. You've had worse. Just let it go. It’s over.”
Did I really believe what I said? With how often I ended up saying this crap, one would think I did.
This morning I had let others get the best of me. They thought I'd knuckle under. I should have. I'd still have a job.
"Well, you can't stay out here all day. You might as well go inside while you have an inside to go to." I stayed another minute for that to sink in. No job. No money. No payments on the mortgage. No home.
“Fuck it all.”
I grabbed my backpack, and got out of the car. I’d have parked in the garage but the door failed to open upon my arrival home. The blasted thing probably broke again.
My front door, rarely used, had paint peeling up from the bottom. What was I kidding. The whole house needed repainting and seemed one windstorm from falling down.
Just one more thing I need to worry about.
I opened the door and stepped inside. It was dark. I could barely see anything with what light came through the entryway behind me.
Nothing happened when I reached to the switch and flipped it. Nothing at all. Maybe the garage works and power’s out. It worked this morning. I flicked the switch twice more rooted in thinking a miracle could occur in the few seconds between flicks. It was not forthcoming.
The door would remain open, providing a faint light source. Strange how the bright sun outside didn't seem to illuminate anything in here. Taking a few cautious steps forward to not hit anything, or misstep, I entered the living room feeling my way.
The door shut, cutting off all light, leaving me in pitch black darkness. Definitely strange. Light should be coming through the windows. I didn't have any window dressing that could block out all light.
A hand pressed the collar into my raw tender skin, pushing me forward. Whoever this was, kicked out my legs collapsing me. I went down to my knees and they shoved me face first into the carpeted floor.
Maybe the rug burn on my face wouldn't be too bad. My heart raced. I breathed fast. Eyes scrunched, both from the pain, and exertion of will.
Stay calm, Stay calm, Don't use your power, Don't use your power. Don't burn your house down. Relax. Relax and don't use your power. Don’t use your power. I ran that through my head a few times. My collar beeped away alerting me it worked right at this moment in suppressing my powers.
It was hard. My assailants manhandled me, roughly binding my arms behind my back, and my legs together. They were silent. Ninjas most likely.
Why would Ninjas want to do this? I wasn't expecting any.
Hopefully my collar had notified the local law enforcement that I was panicking and at risk of using my powers. If anyone could handle these assailants, it'd be them.
I didn't know what the threshold was for the collar to trigger its alarm. I'd asked and none with knowledge would give me the answer. The beeping slowed and stopped.
My willpower won out as I focused on calming myself.
Maybe I’d be rescued.
Maybe I wouldn't.
No one could be this quiet. They picked me up and carried me further into the house before setting me down on the ground.
I’m not a small guy at almost six feet tall and weighing in at just over two hundred pounds. However these people moved me, they had no problem. It’s as if I floated along in the blackness.
I rolled partly onto my back. There's no easy way to lay on the ground with your hands tied behind your back.
Still can’t see anything. They've covered the windows letting no light in, keeping the room in absolute darkness.
At least they haven't gagged me, but what would I say. Hi, I'm Daniel. Please don’t hurt me. You’re really good at sneaking around. Can I go now? Nope. I’m not going to say a thing.
Blinded by the sudden influx of light, I blinked and scrunched my eyes again. Light streamed in through the windows, everything illuminated in the sun's glow.
What the fuck? Magic playing with the light, or my senses maybe. I don't know.
Three women, no. two women and one girl stood next to each other a few feet away from me.
My assailants are not Ninjas. Not even close.
I've gone off the deep end. The three looked as if dressed for some sword & sorcery fantasy movie. I'd say one is an elf, one a dwarf, and the other I’m not sure but somewhere between and yet not human.
The elf girl had to be at least six feet tall. Double the height of the dwarf. Possibly even taller than me. I’m only five feet eleven inches. She had the cloak thing going for her. It hung open in the front revealing a suit of bright silver ring mail and leather pants. A sword hilt jutted out. Her hood was down, revealing her face. Ears pointed out more like a Lodoss Elf. Gold-brown hair done up high and tight to keep it out of the way.
I guess it was possible the dwarf could have been a gnome. She wore some heavy leather armor. It was well worn, patched in several places. Her face weathered, hair gray with age. Her forearms exposed looked well-muscled. A double bladed ax slung on her back with an head the size of her torso.
The girl looked way too young to be anything but. She was between the other two in height. Probably around four and a half to five feet tall. She wore a plain blue sleeveless dress, cut as if she had taken one of my shirts and cut the sleeves off. Her ears had a point. Instead of projecting out like the elf girls, they were more like ones you'd find on a Vulcan.
The other strange feature of the girls was the crown of her head. A bony ridge of some sort ran around it and her pail blue hair spilled out from it. For all I know she could have been old. It was hard to tell with her. I didn't recognize her race from any fiction or movie, but I knew she wasn't human.
The girl stepped over to me. She held a some device out. I couldn't see much of what it was. Looked to be the size of a cell phone. The only distinguishing feature I could see was it glowed red the closer she brought it to me.
"See, it's her. I mean him. The guide stone doesn't lie.”
They spoke English so maybe this was less weird, but maybe more weird. What am I kidding the situation was just weird.
The elf moved over. She grabbed the red glowing thing out of the girls hands. The girl appeared disturbed by the invasion of her space.
"It does appear you are correct." The elf didn't seem happy about this. She moved the device closer letting the glow get brighter, then farther away letting it dim.
"It appears we found her… him." She pocketed the red glowing thing, and moved out of sight.
"Why isn't he a she? Didn't your vision show a girl?" The dwarf asked.
The girl said, "It did, but the artifact doesn't lie. I'm not wrong. The vision showed a girl needed rescuing. I don't think he ate her. Maybe he's really a she."
"You can check to make sure." The dwarf laughed.
"Ew, gross. You check, it's your idea."
"It's your vision that's wrong."
"But the artifact."
"Excuse me ladies.” I interrupted. “Um. Might I ask why you think I should be a girl? Because I'm not. Never felt like I wanted to be one. Oh and by the way, my name is Daniel, what’s your name? Nice sneaking by the way. You really caught me by surprise.”
Oh crap. I opened my mouth. Both glared at me. I had that nervous smile on my face. Anyone looking would know it was forced. Maybe.
“Uh. Don’t hurt me.”
The girl spoke first, “My name is Juliva. This is Sah'rona." She indicated the dwarf, "and our other friend is Larathia. I saw it in my vision. And let's see, there’s also the Starfan Prophecies which speak of this and the Inlow Tablets of Destiny and The Fate spoken by the Desert Gramlorsh tribal shamans."
"Okay, I get it," I cut in "What does any of this have to do with me?"
The girl looked to the dwarf. The dwarf shrugged. The girl nodded. She stepped over and placed her hand on my head.
The world went away and a new one took it's place. No break in my perception of reality could I perceive.
A battlefield between two groups of people. One side consisted of humans, dwarves, elves, and those similar to the girl. They slowly lost ground leaving the dead under the feat of the other army. A wide variety of creatures composed the other side, none of which looked familiar. Leading the side of unfamiliar creatures was a humanoid figure, resplendent in glowing archaic armor.
It seemed No one could stand against him.
The view changed to one of a girl bound in a straight jacket wearing a collar similar to the one I wore now. Her features looked to be of a pacific islander. Small and slight of stature, her black hair disheveled. She huddled as far into the corner of her padded room as she could. The door to the room opened, and two orderlies stepped in. She panicked and appeared to not want to have anything to do with them. She tried to resist but they drugged her with an injection making it easier to move her.
My perception shifted back from this vision, to Juliva standing over me. She removed her hand from my head.
"This vision, along with the Starfan Prophecy speaks of a time our world is in a state of unbalance. The elements are disrupted. Outsiders from other planes of existence attempt to bring ruin to the established order. The Fire of life will be held captive and only by sending her to meet the outsiders will our world be saved.”
“That’s nice, but If I’m this whatever the prophecy speaks of, I’m right here. I haven’t disappeared? Earth is safe. I'm pretty sure that the government knows where I'm at. They have the military in case anything goes wrong such as an alien invasion. I feel that we’re pretty safe."
"No, not this world. It's our world, Jord. This world you call Earth, is nothing but a reflection of Jord."
"I don't want to burst your bubble but the same could be said for Jar, Jurt, or whatever it's name is being a reflection of Earth. Um. Look that’s nice and all. Can you help me sit up? This laying down while tied up is kind of uncomfortable."
Sah’rona picked me up. She was stronger than she looked. She could have been the one who carried me while there was no light. Yet her hands felt rough, nothing like the gentle touch I experienced before. Maybe it was the elf who carried me. Maybe it was magic. She set me down so I sat on my couch facing them.
"Can you create fire?" Juliva asked.
"Yes." I could create fire. It is the basis and entirety of my power.
"Could you demonstrate your power for us. I wish to see it.”
"No.” Some would say you should give into your captors demands. Maybe they’d be nicer to you. Maybe they’d be more lenient and let you go. A concession on this wasn't worth any of that.
"Why not?"
"Two reasons. I don't want to hurt you, and the collar suppresses my power."
"Ha, you think you could hurt us. We’re tougher than you think.” Sah’rona seemed skeptical. At this point, I’m positive the dwarf did not like me. She climbed up on the couch next to me and inspected the collar. I wore my collar for a reason. I didn't like others messing with it.
“Don’t be a baby.” She said after I involuntarily jerked away. How could she not see how raw and tender my neck was.
After several minutes, she gave up. I can’t do anything. We need someone who can pick locks. I can break it, but I’d probably kill him. We should wait. till we get back to Jord and have Nolla take care of it.” The dwarf got off the couch and walked out of the room.
Juliva appeared upset. ”This is barbaric how they’d collar you to stop your powers.”
“I collared myself. It was that or kill and probably die."
"What, why would you do that."
"I killed several people when I gained my powers. The authorities weren't too happy, but those people attacked me. Lucky for me the judge saw my power activation was a stress induced reaction so the blame was laid at their feet. I don’t ever want to have to explain why my collar is off and why there are dead people, and why my house is burned down. The collar does what it’s supposed to and I’m fine with it. So are you going to kidnap me?"
"Why would you think that? We're here to free you and you can come help save our world."
"So why did you tie me up?" I extended my bound legs out.
"We thought you were someone else, and not who we're looking for."
"Uh, could you untie me then." I turned as well as I could to allow access to my bound arms."
"Sure I can do that." Juliva drew a knife from her belt and cut my leg bindings, and then my arm bindings.
Free, I rubbed feeling back into my limbs.
"Thank you, but I'm not interested. It's nice you think I'm this chosen one, but I really don't have any interest in this." I stood up and limped towards the kitchen.
"What? But I untied you. You're coming with us." Juliva said
"Sorry but no. I'm fine where I'm at. I don’t have any interest in traveling to your world."
"What is he doing up?" It was the elf girl. I don't know where she came from, but then again she's an elf so I should have expected her. If ninja was a race, it would probably be Elves.
"Oh? Hello, you must be Larathia. I'm getting something to eat from the kitchen. You're welcome to join me. It's the least I can do for this quite wonderful and entertaining time we've had together." I shrugged.
"Juliva," The Larathia yelled, "Why is he unbound?"
Something struck me in the lower back. The closest approximation to how I felt would be someone had rubbed every fiber of muscle in my body with sandpaper. I fell forward to the ground, or I would have. Fate conspired for the kitchen door to intervene itself between my meeting with the floor. I didn’t know for sure until now but a kitchen door is stronger than my head. I'd have pondered more on the meaning of this event except I had blacked out.
Less Than Thrilled
SALAMANDER, n. Originally a reptile inhabiting fire; later, an anthropomorphous immortal, but still a pyrophile. Salamanders are now believed to be extinct, the last one of which we have an account having been seen in Carcassonne by the Abbe Belloc, who exorcised it with a bucket of holy water.
~ The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
I think I dreamed an infinite number of people crushed in on me, trampling me down to the ground, while blind and helpless. Stuck on the ground, I could not move my arms and legs and my body ached from the pressure.
My skull echoed with a sound hammering its way in. A voice screamed for Daniel over and over again, pleading for entrance.
"Go away. Daniel isn't here." I don't think the voice heard me over the crush of others.
Light flooded through reality. Three woman towered over me. The tallest one drew her sword.
Everything snapped into place. I was hog-tied on the ground. The three women were my supposed kidnappers. Someone outside, pounded on the door, screaming my name, asking me to let them in.
Maybe that someone would rescue me. Oh man, did my head hurt.
"What do we do? He would have answered it by now." Juliva asked Larathia.
"I sense something dark about this." Larathia moved to the entrance, taking a stance with her sword, ready to face anything on the other side of the door.
"Um, excuse me everyone, could you please untie me." I croaked out. I could definitely use something to drink.
"No," Sah’rona said, "We're not doing that."
"Why not? I'm not going to run off somewhere."
That was the truth. I was going to stay here at home, take some painkillers, and sleep for as long as it would take for the headache to go away. It's not like I had anywhere to be. The job search could wait a bit.
"Who's at the door? Tell them to stop pounding. I feel it in my head." I groaned. My collar remained silent. I felt a bit sick and exhausted from whatever they did to me. Still, my emotions and stress weren't riding high at the moment so I’ve got that going for me.
None of the three made a move to answer. The door pounding ceased. Whoever it was, slammed the door. I craned my head around as best I could to watch whatever would come through.
The loud thud happened again. The door jamb creaked from the stress.
A thud followed by more cracking.
Thud, and more cracks.
Thud and the door burst open. The door jamb had splintered apart.
"Oh, my precious Daniel are you alright?"
I made eye contact with what had entered and I wish I had not. My next door neighbor, Mrs. Harrison, stood there, or at least I think it was her, or maybe what's left of her. I cringed at her smile.
Mrs Harrison turned to face Larathia, she shrilled out, "You thought you could steal Ignis Vitae from us."
I didn't know her to well, but she was nice, and always ready to help. Some would probably say she was a bit nosy with the business of others. I didn't mind. People these days were for the most part afraid of each other. She wasn't, and I found her to be a pleasant neighbor.
What I saw scared me and I don't scare easily.
Her form was no longer the elderly gray haired woman, but something grotesque out of one of the horror novels I've read.
She was large, hunched over. A tattered sundress hung off her. Sections of her skin were bare revealing patches of normal color skin mixed with decaying and desiccated flesh. Long muscular arms ended with claws. Her face had a crazed look, almost unhinged.
What the hell am I in the middle of? It was kind of surreal. Maybe I was still dreaming.
Larathia stepped forward to meet Mrs. Harrison, her sword held out. The air shimmered around, her cloak billowing out behind. Mrs. Harrison lashed out and Larathia parried, then slashed Mrs. Harrison's arm in response. Bright orange blood splattered out, smelling like a putrid rotting corpse. The blow didn't stop the monster as she struck again with her other arm sending Larathia through a wall further into the house.
My collar beeped.
"We've got to go," Screamed Sah'Rona. "Juliva, get him out." The dwarf jumped through the hole in the wall after Mrs. Harrison and Larathia.
"I will." Juliva cut off what view I had.
"Untie me."
"No. I'll get in trouble like last time."
"But how are you going to carry me?"
"Magic of course." She moved her hands, and whispered something. I floated up.
"Get my backpack. Please, I need it."
"You're what?"
"The bag I had when I came in. Please. I need what's in it. Just get it."
"All right."
I was already moving out the back door on a cushion of air. The sounds of breaking and smashing emanated from my house.
Outside would have seemed normal if it wasn't for the other neighbors coming out of their houses, many of them in the same condition as Mrs. Harrison.
"You know, we can't take them." I screamed. We need to hide. Run away."
Juliva ignored me and moved us across the street.
"Where are you taking us? We're going to die if you try and fight them."
"Shut up, I got this."
Juliva reached out her hand. A black SUV appeared. She pulled open a door. The magic moved me into the back seat. My backpack hit me right after.
Yes, she got my backpack.
I couldn't see anything other than the interior. My bindings prevented me from moving high enough to see out a window. The door slammed shut behind me. I heard another door open and slam shut. The engine started.
The SUV lurched forward and turned, before slamming to a stop. Juliva was driving. She honked the horn. I almost fell between the seats, but contorted myself so I didn't. It was taking my exertion to keep me suspended there.
Juliva screamed, "Come on, they're everywhere.
Two more doors opened. One of my kidnappers crashed on top of me. I grunted, the air knocked out of me. I gave up, and fell between the seats. The SUV moved out, jumping the curb and hitting what I think was another car on the way.
Something pinged off the car, then again, then more. Crap, someone's shooting at us now.
It was Sah'Rona in the back with me. "Hey, can you help me get upright." The dwarf stared back the way we had come from. "Please, Help me up. I get car sick. I could throw up any moment."
Breakfast was long digested by now and I had yet to have lunch so I probably wouldn't.
"No, okay, I'll just stay here then if that's alright with you." Sah’rona didn’t say anything.
The SUV swerved over the road. A bump here, an impact and scraping noise there. The nausea built up, and so did the collar’s beeping.
"Look, um, could you please sit me up. I don't feel so good."
Too late. I puked. Apparently there was something in my stomach. After the first mass of vomit, I dry heaved two times before my stomach gave up. The world swam about me while beeping away.
"Oh god that's nasty, worse than the Pomort's blood." I think that was Sah'Rona.
"Check on him." Make sure he isn't hurt."
Sah'Rona pulled me up, eliciting a series of dry heaves from me. She cut my leg bindings from those on my arms and sat me upright. Julia drove. Larathia rode in the front passenger seat.
My nausea subsided allowing the anxiety to take the lead. We must have been going sixty, maybe seventy miles per hour, weaving through traffic.
The collar beeped away. I'd like to think it was possible for someone to adapt to stress at hand. The SUV swerved to the left, throwing me against the dwarf.
"Can you stop driving like a madman, You're drawing attention to us."
"Magic," Juliva yelled, "It's a glamour effect, tells people not to notice us."
"Do you even know how to drive?" She sideswiped another car. "Your trail of destruction is going to lead them right to us."
"I saw how to drive in a vision while meditating, and I watched a few videos online. It's not hard at all."
"I didn't ask if you knew how to operate the vehicle, do you know how to drive on the road with everyone else."
She didn't respond.
"Look, you're going to kill us. I take it that none of you know how to drive. I don't want to die. Stop, let me drive. I promise you, I will go with you wherever you want me to go. Just let me drive."
"No," Juliva yelled. "My driving is fine."
I looked back at the path of destruction we had wrought behind us then noticed something as we passed through an intersection.
Cameras up on the stoplight pole.
"That's nice you think your driving is fine, but does your glamour work through a camera?"
"What? uh no. We're only dealing with organic life. It's a different glamour for tech."
"Super. There's a camera and there's a another one. There's also numerous security cameras in places that can see out to the street. Everything in this day and age is networked. If whoever wants me besides you, can access that, then they can see us."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. What the hell is this? Amateur hour? I get kidnapped by a bunch of ren-fair fanatics, and you guys suck. I was fine until you came and did this. I don't know who Mrs. Harrison really is or what, but she was fine before you guys showed up. The neighborhood was. People were shooting at us back there."
Juliva maneuvered the SUV onto the freeway. Thank god it was the on-ramp rather than an off-ramp.
"Get off the freeway." I ordered.
I don't think any of them were paying attention to me now, but I kept at it.
"Are you fucking stupid? Get off the freeway. Get off now." I yelled the last.
"Sah'Rona, shut her up." Larathia yelled.
"Why should I get off?" Juliva asked.
"Because we're stuck on it, if they can see through the glamour then it's easy now. Like shooting fish in a barrel." Anyone could ambush us now.
Juliva didn't get off. We zipped by one exit, then another, then another, barely missing the light afternoon traffic. Sah'Rona attempted to gag me. I squirmed and wormed as best I could.
"God damn it, are you trying to kill us, because I know you're making it easy for whoever wants you and me to get it done."
My collars incessant beeping stopped, giving way to a small light flashing red.
"Is my collar flashing red?"
"Yes," Sah'Rona had so far failed to gag me. She was strong, but between Juliva's driving and my refusal to stay still she hadn't succeeded.
"Fuck! Now the authorities know where we're at."
"Huh, how would they know?"
"My collar has GPS tracker, which activates if there's a problem. It's made to notify emergency services. I'm a big giant beacon broadcasting our location. I don't give a fuck what you do now, but they definitely know where we're at."
I gave up, and Sah'Rona gagged me.
I don't know how Juliva missed seeing the semi-truck changing lanes into ours, but she did. Juliva almost made it clear ahead of it, but didn’t. The SUV wedged at a near forty-five degree angle against the front left quarter of the semi. The driver of the truck realized what happened and moved back to his own lane. We didn't go back to ours. Instead, we rolled over onto the roof and slid quite a ways down the road.
Thank god I wasn't tossed out and only ended upon the vehicle's roof. Once the SUV came to a rest, I saw Juliva lying partly on the roof and the cracked windshield. The elf and the dwarf were already out.
"Fuck you guys." I mumbled through the gag.
"They're here." Larathia yelled.
The ground erupted on one side of the SUV forming a wall. Someone grabbed hold of me by my shirt and pulled. My backpack had fallen between my legs. I clamped down on it as best I could, not wanting to lose it.
I was dragged clear of the SUV onto the hot asphalt. It was Larathia who had pulled me out. She didn't appear harmed and quickly moved out of sight.
Gunfire erupted.
Juliva appeared dazed and confused crawling out of the overturned SUV.
"Juliva, Juliva," She was out of it, but moved towards me. "Untie me."
She crawled over, "Huh, what?" She was out of it. Blood streamed down her face from a head wound.
"Untie me, Juliva, You need help."
She crawled to me. Her skirt was gone leaving her knees red and raw from the asphalt. Losing consciousness, her body collapsed on me. I shifted as best I could and managed to grab her knife out of its sheath. It was quick work to cut my bonds.
A monster like Mrs. Harrison came over the wall, only to meet Sah'Rona's ax. Orange blood splattered everywhere and it went down. I put my backpack on.
"Can one of you remove my collar," I yelled to the elf and dwarf.
"No, we need tools, or a thief to pick the lock," Sah'Rona yelled back, before lobbing a stone up and over the wall. An explosion soon followed along with screaming.
Bullets whizzed by.
I checked Juliva. No major wounds or damage beyond the head injury. She was light enough I could easily carry her even if it risked more damage to her I couldn't see. We definitely couldn't stick around.
We were in the left most lane of traffic and there was no cover between us and the shoulder.
I yelled, "I'm getting out of here." I carried Juliva's limp form in my arms. I made eye contact with Larathia, " We can't stay here forever."
More gunfire erupted. Rounds were penetrating the wall
"We need to run for it." I pointed to the forested area beyond the highway shoulder.
Larathia nodded. She pulled out a number of small objects from somewhere inside her cloak, and threw them over the wall. I didn't watch anymore as I took off across the freeway with Juliva. It sounded like the 4th of July. If anyone shot at me, they missed. I reached the shoulder, then slid down the embankment and made it to the tree line.
I stopped to look back, and both the elf and dwarf were there with me. Larathia pushed me around to keep going into the forest.
We went for another half hour into the forest till Sah'Rona called for a break. Larathia used some magic on Juliva, healing her wounds, allowing her to regain consciousness.
Sitting down on a fallen tree trunk, I asked Sah'Rona, "Is my collar still flashing a red light?"
"No. The light is gone."
"Wait, what do you mean? It's got a battery that should last a few hours at least."
I felt the collar and realized what happened. The spot for the GPS transponder was deformed and partly broken. At some point something had struck it, cracking it off and I hadn’t even noticed. What luck for them.
"At least we don't need to worry about them tracking me by my collar. Now can you guys tell me what's going on? Who were those monsters, and why were they shooting at us?"
Larathia spoke, "Those monsters we faced are Pomorts. They appear to have been your jailers, or at the least, those who kept you hidden. They disguise themselves as humans to get close to their prey and feed off their life energy. Their true forms are the hulking cadaverous brutes you saw today. As for who was shooting, they could have been allies of those Pomorts or ones still fully in their human disguise. You are the fire of life. They've most likely been feeding off you the whole time and you didn't know it."
"Feeding off me? Wouldn't I be dead?"
Sah'Rona spoke, "A normal person would be dead, but not you. You're the Ignis Vitae as they called you. The Fire of Life. You don't run out of energy."
I'd like to think I gave them the best skeptical look of my life. "That's cute, but my fire doesn't seem to give life to anything. It only kills and destroys."
This time it was Juliva. She stepped in front of me and pointed, "It seems, you've forgotten who you are. My visions, the prophecies, and the artifact say you are the Fire of life, even if your body and mind do not recognize it. I have seen your fires in my visions. " Juliva tapped her head. "I do admit that they seem terrifying. But I have also seen your power give hope to others, strengthening them, and making the world a better place. You are the one who doubts."
I didn't believe them. Then again, I'd seen some fairly intense magic use today, a monster I've never heard of before, and met three women who seemed resolute in their belief I'm the chosen one or some crap like that. None of it may be the truth, but I did know that even the most convoluted lies and deceptions have a kernel of truth somewhere in their foundation. Also my house was probably destroyed, and I had no job so maybe this would be interesting.
"So what do we do, if I'm this Fire of Life?"
Juliva spoke, "We're returning you to Jord. You will take your place at the head of the Fire Temple. Then in concert with the Water, Air, and Earth temples, we restore balance to Jord."
"Well ladies, you're in luck. It looks like my calendar is clear for the foreseeable future. I'll go with you to this Jarn, Jork, Jirl, or whatever the place is. I've got nothing better to do."
Neither Sah'Rona or Larathia seemed amused at my words, while Juliva seemed pleased.
We're in this
SALAMANDER, n. Originally a reptile inhabiting fire; later, an anthropomorphous immortal, but still a pyrophile. Salamanders are now believed to be extinct, the last one of which we have an account having been seen in Carcassonne by the Abbe Belloc, who exorcised it with a bucket of holy water.
~ The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
Larathia was in the lead guiding us to wherever we were going. All I could tell was that we were going north. A few times Sah'rona and Juliva provided food. Sah'rona's was a bland trail ration, hardly palatable. Juliva’s contribution were blackberries and a few mushrooms.
I still don’t know who was trying to get me other than a few monsters. The police didn't seem to be in on the search, or if they were, no one had thought to send a helicopter out at night to find us. Each time we came across property, we skirted around, skulking in the shadows to remain unseen. We only crossed roads when no cars were in sight.
None of us spoke much. I had questions, but I felt the three women seemed upset. It might have been at me, or at the situation. I couldn't tell and didn't want to push my luck which seemed in short supply of late.
We finally reached a town that had a freeway running through it.
Larathia stopped us so we could observe for a bit.
"I know where we're at," I gave the tidbit of information.
No one said anything until Juliva said, "We steal another car and head straight for the portal."
"No, we'll just draw more attention to ourselves.” I wasn’t going to let a repeat of our previous escape happen again. “Someone will file a police report. Where do we need to go? Come on, tell me. I've lived in this world longer than you have, so tell me and I'll tell you what will work."
The three girls looked at each other then turned to face me. "It's a city this world calls Detroit."
"Really, Detroit.” The place was always in the news as being one of the worst places in the country to live. I did the math in my head. We were in the middle of Ohio. It's going to take us days to walk at our rate, but we'd prefer to get there as fast as possible. With a car, I think it will take about four hours. Walking will take probably a week and a half if we push ourselves. “We could just rent a car and drive. There’s a rental place up that street.” I pointed into town. Renting might cause a problem but I'm sure with your magic, we can make something work. Also by the time someone tracks us, we’ll be long gone through the portal."
"Stealing would be quicker," Juliva stated.
"And also not a nice thing. If we rent, we don’t involve anything more than a faceless company.” I quickly said. “We're not stealing anything if we don't have to, or we're going to steal something not missed. It's the evening. Most rental places aren't even open this late. We need a place to stay the night."
"That will draw attention to us. We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves like you said." Juliva quipped back.
"Oh don't worry about that. There's a motel down by the freeway. No one will think twice about us there if we play it right."
“What do you mean play it right?”
I put a big grin on my face. “Well you see, Larathia and I will need to go in first,” Larathia already didn’t seem pleased, “arm in arm.”
“Why did I have to leave my sword behind?” Larathia grumbled as we approached the entrance to the motel. I had her hand in mine, although I could tell she was reluctant, ready to pull away at a moment's notice.
“Because it’s illegal to open carry a blade that large, and would draw attention even in a place like this. You still have how many weapons secreted on you?” I squeezed her hand tighter. “Now smile my dear. Just follow my lead.”
We entered the front room of the motel and approached the front desk. The air conditioner's cool air felt wonderful.
There was a young man behind the counter. Probably working nights to get through college. His attention was on his cell phone. He didn’t even look up, and asked, “How many hours?”
I did the math. It’s 8:00pm, probably leave early but maybe not. Twelve hours just in case. “Twelve Hours.”
He looked up, curious at the length of time I specified, “You’re one of Stavros’ new girls.” he asked?
Larathia didn’t respond. I squeezed her hand.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t know he was having you girls offer the dungeons and dragons thing. Come payday I might make a visit. That will be 180$.”
I’d put what cash I had in my pocket before we got here. Digging it out, I counted out the money and handed it over. He counted it and put it in a lock box. Then grabbed a key and put it on the counter before going back to his cell phone.
I grabbed the key and pulled Larathia behind me. Room 28. 2nd floor. We went up and entered the room. It looked exactly like the other rooms I’d rented when I was here the last time.
Larathia inspected the room, looking for any others who might ambush us. She asked, “How do you know this place?”
I reached up and tapped my collar. “When you're lonely and no one wants anything to do with you, you find a way to have a little fun every so often. Societal outcast due to hard to control powers I may be, but virgin I am not.”
She didn’t look any more or less disgusted as she went back out the door and signaled for the others to come over. It wasn’t two minutes and we were all gathered there in the room. Sah’Rona crashed immediately, dropping her gear before taking up the top portion of the bed. Her snoring started immediately. Juliva went into the bathroom first thing. Larathia waited near the door, having moved the only chair, the blinds slightly propped open for her to see anyone out. I counted out how much cash I had left. Enough ones and fives to hit the vending machine. I went to leave.
Larathia barred the way. I can’t let you leave.”
I’m only going to the vending machine for food.” She didn’t respond. It’s three doors down. I’m not running if that’s what you’re afraid of. I’m just hungry, and I’m sure the rest of you will be as well. No offense but Sah’Rona’s rations suck.”
She appeared to mull it over in her head for a bit. “Fine, but if you’re gone longer than five minutes, I’m coming after you. And remember, we can find you.”
“I guessed that. You can be my knight in shining armor come to rescue me if I’m in trouble,” that had no effect on her. Larathia didn’t even crack a smile.
It took longer than five minutes. I emptied the machine of almost everything chocolate and peanut butter. Then made it halfway through the chips before I ran out of money. When I returned, Larathia was waiting outside, watching me. She didn’t say a thing. Not that I cared. It was apparent she was a hard ass about something. Maybe everything. I dumped the food on the counter. I’d deal with it later. Bathroom first.
“I’m going to take a shower if that’s alright.” I didn’t even bother waiting for Larathia to acknowledge it. I don’t think she did.
It was quiet from within, the light was left on. I entered, a blast of hot humid air. Juliva was in the tub undressed, the curtain open. Instead of legs, the bottom half of her body ended with a mermaid tail. I stared for a few seconds, turned around and walked out, shutting the door behind me. Bathroom would have to wait. How I didn’t notice she wasn’t in the main room, I don’t know.
I took a spot on the bed next to Sah’rona. “So how do you know I am who you think I am”
Larathia stared out the window and I stared at her.
“We have a compass.”
“A compass then. And it points to me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure you have the right compass?”
“Yes.”
“How? What if someone sold you the wrong compass?”
“No one sold us anything,” Juliva spoke. She had come out of the bathroom, walking on legs, dressed in her makeshift skirt.
“It's an artifact that each element is attuned to. There is one for each element, Earth Fire, Water, and Air.”
“But still, how do you know it’s working right. I was born to a poor destitute woman, who died in a fire that I miraculously survived.” I paused for a moment, “A fire that I was the only survivor of.” That had seemed unique and remarkable, but in the context of recent events. gears had started turning in my head.
“See, born of fire. The fire avatar is always born of fire.
“I don't understand really what's going on, other than I believe you somewhat that I'm special.” Not the kind of special your parents tell you, but people are out to get me and kill me special.
“I understand how overwhelmed you must feel. I’ll explain what I understand.”
“Uh sure then. I’m listening. And who are the other avatars?”
“You’re looking at them,” Juliva smiled. “I’m water. Larathia is air, and Sah’Rona is Earth.”
“So each of us represent an element?”
“These aren’t true geological elements. Not like gold or iron. They’re more rooted mythological symbolism. Elves, Dwarves, Nereid.”
“Mermaids?” I interrupted
Juliva frowned, “I guess so but we don’t like to be called that. It’s kind of an insult. Nereid is the proper name of my race.”
“Okay. I didn’t know. Sorry. I take it that humans are the last race for fire?”
“Yes.”
"Each of the races are tied to an element, or associated, or one of those words works.”
As general a description as anything.
“You could say that. We four avatars don’t hold any true political power. But we do help maintain societal order and structure in the world with respect to those who fall under our influence. Many look up to us and hold us in high regard, some even see us as almost deific in nature.”
“So you’re saying I have people who I’m supposed to take care of but not take care of?”
“You could put it that way.”
“And each of us Avatars can use magic?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean not exactly?”
“Magic is kind of a vague nondescript word. There’s science behind it, but it’s mainly technique. Think of technology. You must be a master of technology for having a car, a cell phone, a computer, but you’re not. There are many who spend their whole lives studying the sciences, looking for ways to increase their knowledge. There are many types of magics in the world, even this one. Technology is a magic of sorts. It all depends on what standards you go by.
“Okay, so do I have any of this power to use.”
“I’m not exactly sure. The records from the last time you were on Jord weren’t well kept. You definitely do have power.”
I realized I’d been absentmindedly fingering my collar. “Yeah. I know I've got power. But this magic thing. Do I know it or can I learn it?” I know from the internet that there are a few magicians here on Earth, but they’re few and far between. Magic seemed cool and all, but I don’t know. “What type of magic does each avatar have? Is it all the same?”
“It is and it isn’t. There’s a lot of it that ends up with the same effect. For instance, we can all heal using various techniques. But we can each manipulate our own element. I do water. Larathia does air, and Sah’Rona does earth. You should be able to do fire.”
“Oh yeah. I can do fire all right.” I pursed my lips and looked away from Juliva.
“And some of it is instinctive, while other techniques take years of refinement. I’m only 14 and I know that there’s magic I’ve yet to figure out. Larathia is the oldest and she’s figured out a lot. Your average magician or sorcerer can spend years of study to even gain the smallest amount of power. Juliva yawned. “Hey, I’m really tired. We can talk more tomorrow. If you don’t mind.” Juliva crawled onto the bed past me and next to Sah’Rona.
There went the bed.
I really needed to go to the bathroom. With all the girls in sight, I felt pretty safe in not seeing anything I did not want to. The shower was quick and I had a change of clothes in my backpack. Chance favors the prepared.
Larathia still sat and watched the door. Juliva and Sah’rona, despite their small size, both took up the bed. That left me with the floor. Thank god I didn’t have a black light. I dug my sleep meds out of my backpack and took my regular dose. 400mg of trazodone and a 10mg pill of ambien. Then I worked on making sure I had everything packed and ready to go in my bag for a quick exit if needed.
It took about 45 minutes for the traz to kick in before sleep took me. While waiting for the sleep I tried to not think of the past few days events, and failed thinking of nothing but.
Escape
SALAMANDER, n. Originally a reptile inhabiting fire; later, an anthropomorphous immortal, but still a pyrophile. Salamanders are now believed to be extinct, the last one of which we have an account having been seen in Carcassonne by the Abbe Belloc, who exorcised it with a bucket of holy water.
~ The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
“Be quiet.” She whispered.
I shook my head with agreement and she removed her hand. Juliva and Sah’Rona were already up, moving stealthily about, gathering their few belongings.
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up then stretched. I was in for a surprise when I checked my phone. Holy crap, I got eight hours of sleep. That was almost unheard of for me. Rarely my sleep lasted more than four hours even with my sleep meds.
Larathia motioned me over to the curtains. She pulled them slightly back and directed my attention down to the parking lot.
Out of all the vehicles, I could see in the parking lot, three of them stood out, two SUVs and a sedan. I could see nine men and women standing around the vehicles talking with each other. There could be more for all I knew. None of them appeared out of the ordinary. Certainly not like a Pomort, or a Dwarf. They’d occasionally glance up at us.
I whispered,“ I take it they’re not friendly. What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to jump over the balcony as soon as they come up the stairs,” Larathia whispered back.
“Magic?” We were on the second floor of this motel. I had no desire to jump from anywhere onto anything.
“Yes.”
I moved away from the door and sat on the bed. Opening my bag I found my pistol was still there.
You’d think that someone with powers like mine wouldn’t need a firearm. But you’d be wrong. A gun won’t fire if you don’t pull the trigger. My powers, on the other hand, were wild and from my experience, ultimately uncontrollable. I wore a collar to lock my powers down so I didn’t hurt anyone including myself, and that didn’t even work all the time.
There’d been the rare occasion, I needed to defend myself. Situations where it was easier to use a gun over my powers and deal with the law and the resulting consequences. Getting my concealed carry permit had been one of the best investments I’d ever made. But when you think it about, a man who could incinerate a person and melt the strongest of armor just by being near them, relying on a gun to protect himself, is a sick joke. The magazine came out. Still full. Putting the magazine back in, I chambered a round.
Larathia said to all, “We’re under observation. A group of eleven people is down there. One of them is scrying us, but I’ve fooled them with my magic. When I break my cover spell we need to bait them up with a conversation that would make it seem we’re vulnerable. Once they’re on the stairs is when we go out. Sah’rona, you know what to do.”
Sah’rona nodded a yes. I nodded an affirmative as well and grinned. “I’ll lead the conversation. Just go with it.”
Larathia held her hand up, then brought it down signaling the end of her spell.
“A wonderful morning ladies.” I scowled. “Are we really going to Chicago of all places? I hate Chicago.”
Juliva responded, “Yes. That is where we catch our ride back home.”
“Oh please. You have no idea who you’ve messed with. You may think that your pitiful pleas for help charmed their way into my heart and fanned the flames of righteousness I believed, but you’re wrong. It was only your enchantingly beautiful appearances igniting a raging inferno within my loins that distracted me. Know this witch. I will not be fooled the same way twice. It was your own actions that dispelled the illusions you sought to trick me with. A blaze of anger and rage now burns within my soul at the injustice you’ve, uh, um, vexed me with.” I almost didn’t have it there at the end.
Sah’rona, normally dour and taciturn broke into a smile. A tiny smile. Okay, for a second her resting bitch face was gone. No change in Larathia.
Juliva smirked, “Oh Please, fire mage, more like a broken matchstick. What’s the worst you can do? Heat my bathwater? A boy scout has an easier time lighting a campfire than you do. You’re helpless as our prisoner. You’re going with us to Chicago whether you like it or not.” Oooh, she was good.
Larathia signaled the unknown people were heading towards the stairwell. She held up six fingers and pointed to the right of the door and then five fingers and pointed to the left side.
“Hey, I’m hungry ladies, how about you conjure me up some breakfast. Some hot food. Can’t you just wave your hands, go abracadabra, and get me some food already?”
“Just tape his mouth shut. I’ll go get something out of the vending machine.” Juliva said.
“You’re going to regret this, you will, I’ll send all of you to your fiery demise in hell,” At that point, I faked having been gagged, by trying to talk through my own hand over my mouth.
Larathia whispered, “Go when I say.” She already had a hand on the door, holding the handle already turned so she could pull it open in one smooth motion. “Go,” she ordered. The door slammed open and we were all out. Larathia went first to the left, then Sah’Rona exited the room to the right.
Juliva held onto my hand. “Come on,” She yelled as we both went out, and over the railing. Two stories up was still a long way to fall. True to Larathia’s word, we didn’t fall, so much as float down.
A tearing cracking noise of stone and metal twisting apart came from behind me. Glancing back saw that both stairwells this side of the motel had collapsed along with those on them.
When I touched down on the ground, I pulled Juliva with me. I brought us to the three cars the unknowns had arrived in. All were unlocked. The sedan was still running with its keys in the ignition. Jackpot. Leaving Juliva, I went to the other two cars and with two shots per car from my pistol, I flattened a tire on each one. The smell of gunpowder filled my nostrils.
Juliva had followed me, curious to what I would do. She clutched her ears with each report of the gun and went to her knees. Unlike me, she probably couldn’t hear anything other than ringing. Loud noises never really seemed to bother me. I picked her up and managed her into the back seat of the remaining car. Getting into the car, I could see the gas tank half full. We could get gas later if we needed to.
Sah’rona and Larathia were at the car. Sah’rona piled into the back with Juliva while Larathia took the passenger seat.
None of them had their belts on, not that I think they realized they should. They certainly didn’t care about that in the SUV we escaped in before. Time to leave. I dropped the car into gear and put the gas on, peeling the tires out and slamming everyone back into their seats as I ripped out of the parking lot.
Lucky for me no other car or pedestrian was in the way of our hurried escape.
It was several minutes before Larathia spoke. “They have tracked you somehow. Maybe a curse or some uncommon or rare magic that is even hard for us to detect.”
“I didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary, “ Sah’rona spoke.
“Me too,” Juliva added. Looking in the rear view mirror, she appeared to have recovered from the shock of the gunshot noise.
“I’m going to make another check.” Larathia turned to me and began doing her magic. It felt like small tendrils of force plucked at my body in places. Kind of unnerving.
“Nothing. We’ll have to do a more thorough check later. Just make haste.”
“Uh okay.” I kept us at the same speed. I’d only stop when we needed gas.
“I mean go faster.”
“No.”
“No?” Larathia looked incredulous at my refusal.
“I’m already going the speed limit. I’m not going to draw any attention to us. The last thing we need is a state trooper pulling us over for speeding.”
The elf wasn’t happy with my refusal. Oh well.
“You’re an expert with air magic right?”
Larathia didn’t respond. I glanced over and she was staring ahead down the road, her jaw clenched. I didn’t have to look hard to see she didn’t like me.
“Can you do your magic thing and give us a tail wind. At least cut our gas mileage. The less we have to stop, the better.”
She said nothing, but she did do her magic thing with her hands and a few words.
“Won’t they know where we’re going? I mean mentioning Chicago won’t fool them since it was obvious we knew they were there, and they knew I was there.
Juliva spoke, “Yeah, I guess they would follow us.”
“You found me with the tracking device right? Maybe they’ve got something similar.”
“No, there’s no way they could build the tracking device. This one’s ancient and we have it.”
“Well someone built it for you to have. If it was built once, it can be built again,” I suggested. Magic never made sense to me whether it was this world or any other.
None of them said a word to challenge me. At least the drive didn’t need to be silent. I turned the radio on. Seeking through the frequencies, I tuned into the country station I usually listened to. Near everyone I’ve ever met can’t stand the genre of music. I don’t care about the lyrics all that much. The instrumentation, on the other hand, I love. Give me folk and country style music any day of the week.
“Ugh, will you turn that cat wailing garbage off?” Sah’Rona said.
It seems we have our first complaint.
“No.”
“Larathia, turn it off,” Sah’Rona ordered
Larathia reached over, and I slapped her hand away. If looks could kill I’d be dead. I didn’t wilt under her gaze.
“I’m driving. I control the music.” If she wasn’t going to personable, I was going to be blunt with her.
“I kind of like it,” Juliva whispered. No one else said a thing. I did turn the volume down a notch or two. Sah’Rona grumbled something under her breath. It was over an hour before Larathia even looked in my direction.
The rest of the drive was uneventful. I watched in the rearview mirror, and it didn’t appear that anyone was following us. For all I knew, they are. They did find us this morning.
Once we entered into Detroit, Larathia navigated us to a small nondescript park with a small playground and a baseball diamond. I parked the car in the parking lot. Getting out I stretched.
“So where’s this portal.”
“It’s there in the middle of the field.” Larathia pointed.
“I don’t see anything. Are you sure?” There are no stupid questions, but with Larathia there seem to be annoying ones.
“Yes. Come on and don’t waste any more time.” The elf ordered.
I grabbed my stuff from the car and we walked over. A short homeless man shuffled out from one of the bleachers. I stopped walking and pulled the pistol out of my bag. Sah’rona from behind prodded me forcing me to take a few steps.
“Did you find the avatar?” The man asked.
“Aye Garn, we found it.”
Wow, Sah’Rona sounded so happy to have acquired me. At least Juliva was nice.
“Where is she,” he asked further.
“I think you mean him. I’m the avatar. At least they think I am.” I spoke up.
He gave me an appraising look, then looked to Larathia, “Are you sure you found the avatar. Isn't she supposed to be a she? She’s ugly for a lass.”
If my life hadn’t been turned upside down over the last few days and this Garn wasn’t talking about me, I’d be rolling on the ground with laughter.
Juliva answered, “It’s him. We triple checked the compass. It’s him.”
Two large black SUV's decided to show up at that moment. Both sped down the road and slam on their brakes in front of the park. A number men in unmarked tactical gear, toting assault weapons piled out. They started moving toward us with their weapons up.
“Shit,” I said.”We got to go. These don’t look friendly.” I looked down at the .45 in my hand. I tried to assume a firing stance, but someone pulled me from behind.
“We are going. Come on.” Larathia yelled. She pulled me back, practically dragging me into a tight grouping with the others. Juliva was screaming a stream of nonsense.
The world faded away to static.