Runaway by Pete Bertino - HTML preview

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"He's a good guy, I know you can see that!" Brea said, sounding upset.

 

"I'm not talking about that Brea, this is your home, you're free to let whoever you want live here. But what if someone finds out you've been to another world or the he's from one?"

 

"We've always had to keep secrets from certain people. What's one or two more to keep? We got back mostly unnoticed."

 

"Mostly?" asked Kickswitch.

 

"It's a long story involving Lady Lodack." said Brea with a sigh.

 

"Uh that woman is a disgusting hag." said Kickswitch with a grimace.

 

"And a powerful sorceress, I've faced Lodack before, she's as evil as she is skanky." said Galadriel with a head shake. "Brea it was stupid to go alone, why did you..."

 

"Because I wanted to help my friend remember who she was." Brea said quickly in exacerbation.

 

Lucky saw more colors around Brea, just a flash then gone. Brea continued talking but calmly.

 

"You're right but I was always careful and I didn't want to get your hopes up in case I was wrong about you and Lucky being from the same land. Besides, without me bringing Lucky over we'll never know for sure if you're from Philadelphia."

 

"Maybe she's right G," said the wizard. "I'm not much of a magic user but I've read a little about way stations, they sometimes need a key to open to specific places. Lucky is the key to opening the way station, so if mind sharing doesn't work he can take you there to look so you can see for yourself."

 

Lucky almost blurted out he wasn't a magic user but perhaps that would no longer be true or never was true. Galadriel shrugged her shoulders but agreed. The first thing they did was smother the burning corpses and checked the barn for damage and any stragglers, there were none and the damage to the barn was minimal, one dead goat, all the chickens were accounted for but Brea's one and only mule had run off. When the bodies were disposed of they went to the cottage.

 

"Why did they raid your farm?" asked Lucky as they walked back from the barn.

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"Looking for food but most of my crops have already been harvested so they didn't get much this time."

 

"This time?" asked Lucky.

 

"Yeah they're scavengers," said Kickswitch. "and they can be deadly but they're also dumb as rocks."

 

"Yeah, I saw the way you had them running in a circle like dumb asses." Lucky said admirably,

 

"Like I said, dumb as rocks." she replied easily.

 

The cottage was a cozy two story home with off white walls made of some material Lucky could not identify but appeared to sparkle in the sunlight. The window sills were lined with moss covered flower boxes that held daisies with rainbow petals. Lucky felt it was safe to say by now his dreams were giving him tiny glimpses into the future, he only wished he had known about this gift sooner. Perhaps he could have saved Joel from the cops or his mom from cancer.

 

They came inside to a room that was cool and cozy, Lucky thought it looked like a cross between a living room and a library. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were packed with many books with leather covers and fancy cursive letters on their spines, some had strange runes and symbols. Lucky saw one black bound book had a cypress tree glowing a deep red.

 

The floor was mostly covered by a large Persian looking rug with a low standing table made of shiny black stone sitting in front of a fireplace that was filled with glowing embers and a pair of burning logs. The heavy curtains on the windows were open but the day was getting late so Brea offered to make food but no one was hungry, they were all anxious to see if Lucky could help Galadriel. Brea gestured for Lucky and Galadriel to sit. Kickswitch sat on a nearby couch with Edda sitting at her feet.

 

"Lucky, sit on the left side of the altar, Galadriel, the right."

 

"Brea, what if I can't do it? I don't know..."

 

"Don't worry I'll talk you through it. I believe in you."

 

Lucky felt a little better hearing that, he only wished he could have had the same confidence. He trusted her though.

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"Do we need to use like a spell or a potion or something?" asked Lucky.

 

"No, just take each other's hands, now close your eyes and clear your minds. G, I want you to think about the tall glass towers you told me about from your dream, when it was sunset and the sky was pink. Lucky, keep your mind blank."

 

"What do you want me to think about then?"

 

"Nothing. Quiet your mind and open it. Don't open your eyes, don't speak, don't move."

 

Lucky waited for Brea to say more but she was silent so he remained silent and unmoved. He held firmly onto both of Galadriel's hands still hoping Brea might say something to help this along but the only sound was his heart beat and the white noise of silence. He tried to keep a blank mind but he kept thinking of the two towers sitting in the heart of the city, as they had been for the last eight or nine years.

 

He thought of the couple times he and Joel were walking downtown and passed by its lobby. Seeing all the men dressed in silk ties and Italian shoes wearing sharp suits, the color of charcoal, Navy Blue or off black, and women with power suits just as dark but with a splash of color in the blouse with long beautiful legs clad in black pantyhose. Lucky willed the memories away and they stayed away, he focused on taking slow deep breaths and nothing else. Lucky felt like at least ten minutes had passed and decided to speak.

 

"Brea how will we...."

 

Lucky's voice trailed off when he opened his eyes and saw he was alone and back home in South Philly. Or was he someplace else? He was on a street that looked like Broad street but it felt off to him. Not off like he put his shoes on the wrong feet but like the label on his shoes used to say Nike but now it says Reebok though the logo underneath is still a swoosh. It was black here, not night time but black, Lucky felt like he was standing in a Polaroid snapshot taken at night.

 

Lucky looked down a deserted Broad street with cars parked bumper to bumper, some he recognized and others he had never seen in his life. He stood on a sidewalk and looked at the row homes beside him and they are real but unfamiliar to him. There is a customary Philly street sign attached to a tall pole, trapezoidal, green with Broad street written in bold white letters. There was no sound, Lucky was creeped out by this unpopulated street with its blacked out sky.

 

Lucky saw a figure standing on a corner a few blocks away and walked over to it, briefly flashing back to his dream of chasing after Joel. But when he got closer the figure didn't runaway and Lucky realized it was a child looking away from him, maybe ten or twelve years old but it was hard to tell until he was closer. The child turned and Lucky felt his heartbreak in sadness when he saw it was a blue eyed little girl with dark hair who's left cheek was deformed by a large abscess that made her

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eye twitch. On her head was another abscess that appeared to have been cut and was seeping a fluid that was destroying her scalp leaving her somewhat bald on the top of her head.

 

"What is it?" asked the child.

 

Lucky only nodded his head. The child continued looking at him for a moment before walking out between the bumpers of two strange looking cars sitting curbside to stand out in the middle of Broad street and pointed north. Lucky followed and stood beside her looking north towards Center City where the Philadelphia skyline sat but Lucky got that feeling again like he had a British Flag stitched over the swoosh on his sneakers. In Philly the skyline had only two glass towers, one and two Liberty at Liberty Place, what he saw here were three glass towers, all three of them looked much taller than one and two Liberty. One of the towers, the tallest which sat in the center, had a large letter N at the very top that was electric and shining bright blue.

 

"Open your eyes." said Brea's voice from a nearby parked car.

 

Lucky turned to look but didn't see her.

 

"But my eyes are....open."

 

Lucky was back in Brea's living room on the floor, still holding Galadriel's hands. Brea was sitting between them looking back and forth between the two of them.

 

"Did you see the towers?" asked Kickswitch.

 

"Are they the same towers?" asked Brea.

 

"No." said Lucky.

 

Galadriel sighed tiredly as she let go of his hands.

 

"I guess it was too much to hope for." said Galadriel.

 

"I'm sorry." said Brea.

 

"You're sure they weren't the same Lucky?" asked Kickswitch hopefully.

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"Yeah, hundred percent." said Lucky though he was unsure about that kid.

 

Was that little girl Galadriel, he wondered. He thought there might have been a resemblance despite the kid having blue eyes but it was hard to be sure since her face was deformed. Perhaps Galadriel had a little sister back home. Lucky considered mentioning the kid to Galadriel but didn't, feeling it wasn't relevant to the question of whether G was from Philly.

 

And there was no question Philly only had two skyscrapers, Philly was one of the major cities in America that had originally eschewed having skyscrapers for some reason or another but that had changed about a decade ago, unless Galadriel was from a future Philadelphia that had three enormous glass towers in it's skyline but that didn't feel right to him. The defeat in the room was thick but after meeting Galadriel he felt pretty certain she was from Philly and tried to think of something, he had a sensation like a bug was nipping the back of his head. Something told him he had to figure this out for them and that he had the ability to do that, so he closed his eyes to think.

 

"Are you okay?" asked Brea.

 

"Yeah, I'm thinking...gimme a sec."

 

Lucky's head was blank, he didn't know what to say or do or even what he was supposed to think. He felt like the right thing to move along the question was there but he was lost. He opened his eyes and saw his backpack sitting near the front door, that cheap thing had accompanied him on many trips to and from school and all across Philly, now across worlds. It was this that brought the question to his lips.

 

"G, is there anything you had on you that you believe links you to Philly?" Lucky asked quickly.

 

Galadriel looked at him a moment before answering.

 

"I was carrying only a few things on me when I first woke up in Nyx...."

 

"You think you do though."

 

It wasn't a question and Lucky saw a brief halo of orange surround Galadriel when he said that. She put her hand in her pocket and handed him a thin strip of white cardboard that had a yellow and blue symbol on it. It was a well worn bookmark that had a short piece of blue ribbon tied through a hole at the top.

 

"I was carrying this in my pocket."

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Its corners looked dog eared and was creased so badly near the bottom it was tearing, Lucky turned it over to look at the symbol. It was a cartoonish drawing of a Yellow Jacket with an angry sneer on its face, it had a football in one hand and the other out ready to block, below the insect written in yellow against blue was Philadelphia Yellow Jackets. In very small black print below that was: Official NFL merchandise copyright 1991.

 

"Philadelphia Yellow Jackets." said Lucky.

 

"What does it mean?" asked Brea.

 

Lucky wasn't sure but he remembered Joel briefly telling him about a book he read, or maybe it was a whole series of books about an America where the south won the Civil War written by a guy named Harry Turtledove. He said it was a subgenre of science fiction, it had a specific name.

 

"Alternate History." he said to himself.

 

"What?" asked Galadriel.

 

"You're from Philly but not the same one as me."

 

"How do you know?" asked Galadriel.

 

"Are you sure?" asked Brea.

 

"I'm sure. I've uh...read...."

 

"Read what?" asked Kickswitch,

 

He read what, he stammered at himself. Science Fiction, emphasis on fiction but in a world like this maybe it's not so much fiction. Still, would they understand what he was talking about? Would he even be able to explain it, he doubted any of them had seen Back to the Future part 2. Then again perhaps Kickswitch had, the way her hoverboard moved and looked, it was a lot like the one in the film, he loved 80s Sci Fi movies but that didn't feel like the right way to explain.

 

"Well, I've only read one or two fantasy books about this kind of stuff but basically Galadriel is from Philly but it's a different Philly from the one I came from."

 

"Do you mean she's from a different time in your land?" asked Kickswitch.

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"No, I mean a different version. G's bookmark has the name of a football team that doesn't exist in my world. In my world, the Philadelphia I come from our football team is called the Eagles."

 

Lucky felt his heart stutter in his chest, alternate worlds on top whatever kind of world this was, he was feeling overwhelmed for a minute. It was quiet in the living room, twilight had come and the fire gave a soothing light to comfort their disappointment. Lucky felt exhausted and let out a big yawn. He put a hand over his red face, embarrassed despite the women laughing.

 

"Sorry, it's been a really long day. I can't remember the last time I slept."

 

"I'll take you back to the bedroom so you can lay down and get some sleep." said Brea.

 

Lucky protested for a moment, offering to help find her mule and anxious to see more of his new home but after sitting down and sharing his mind he was wiped out both physically and mentally and was excited to lay on a bed. It was a cozy room with sod colored walls , the comforter and pillows were earth colored and soft, his body sunk into the mattress like a dead weight, she gave him a kiss on the lips that was lovely, then she closed the door behind her.

 

Lucky thought back to being alone in that trailer, on the run, no food or water, freezing, almost looking forward to the bed the state was going to provide for him. But now here he was, safe and warm in a nice soft bed under a foot and a half of comforter with a gorgeous woman giving him a kiss goodnight. His mind dropped off quickly to sleep with a lazy smile on his face, he felt good.

 

Then he dreamed. Unpleasant dreams about the morning his mom died and how he wandered the neighborhood for hours and hours, lost, alone and confused but Joel had found him somehow and wandered around the neighborhood with him, not talking or saying some dumb shit like 'hey man, how you doin?' or 'are you gonna be okay?' he was just there and that was all, and for some reason it helped. The dream faded to black and Lucky was in the corner of a musty and dusty basement, the only light was a long white fluorescent bulb hanging on the opposite corner.

 

He could see a spider crawling on a web stuck to the chain holding the light to the ceiling, it's tiny and brown and fast. Lucky can hear Joel whimper then tell himself to knock it off as there is stomping overhead and then a shout, very angry and booming. Then another shout, it was closer, when the voice shouted again Lucky felt himself jump as dust sifted from the ceiling down onto him, Joel though unseen let out a scream that was fearful. The voice shouted again and the light went out, then Joel began to sob.

 

In movies Lucky always saw characters sit up screaming or crying after a nightmare of such proportions, Lucky's tear filled eyes simply opened while the terror of that shouting voice left him too afraid to move. He remembered Joel telling him once about what it was like when Marco would scream at him. He said it was like being buried in an avalanche of sound, sound that had weight, he couldn't move or speak or breath. That was how Lucky felt right now.

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He sat up and saw through the window night had come. He got out of bed and went to the living room where Brea sat alone on the floor reading by the fire. She smiled when he entered the room but it faded away when he got closer.

 

"I have to go home." he said.

 

He told her only for a short while and explained the dream he had and the guilt he was feeling.

 

"I have to get in touch with him."

 

"What if he's in jail?"

 

It was a good question, but Lucky didn't think he was in jail or juvie. But didn't Dax say he watched Joel get put in the back of a cop car? That God damn itch in the back of his head returned and he scratched it for a second.

 

" Brea ....he's, he's my homie, he's like my brother I have to find him." Lucky said as a tear fell from his eye.

 

Brea put her arms around him and hugged him tight.

 

"What can I do?" she asked as they held each other at arms length.

 

Another good question. He'd have to find out for sure where Joel was first.

 

"Hopefully he's not in jail or some holding center."

 

But what if he was? Lucky didn't think Joel was but it was only a feeling and he didn't trust his luck enough to bet he was right. So if he was in jail then he was going to have to....what, break him out?

 

"Don't get frustrated." said Brea soothingly.

 

"Huh? Oh my aura is showing that, huh. I'm just....if he's locked up in some place in a cell with cops I can't do anything. I'm just some guy with a lot of luck."

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Brea rubbed his shoulders for a moment looking deep in thought before she went to a room down a hall and knocked on a door to another bedroom, Galadriel answered.

 

"Lucky needs your help."

 

Kickswitch sat in while Lucky explained.

 

"I don't know where Joel is but if he's locked up or in danger I need someone to...."

 

"Beat the shit outta any strapper in the way." Galadriel said curtly.

 

The silence was thick, Brea looked sad while Kickswitch appeared neutral.

 

"Yeah."

 

"I don't enjoy having to hurt people." said the witch.

 

"You could always hold their mind's instead." said Brea.

 

"I'd almost prefer violence." she replied.

 

"Do you mean mind control?" asked Lucky.

 

"Yes but it's difficult for me to maintain control for very long and the experience is pretty fucking horrible depending upon the person."

 

He nodded but began to second guess himself. It would be only him and G and they would be in the backwoods of a mountain town miles and miles away from Philly, they would have no ride and no money or the means to get one. Lucky deflated internally even more when he remembered getting to Joel was only half the trip.

 

"You have doubts." said Galadriel.

 

"Fuck, I just need to think."

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Think of what though? His eyes wandered the room and happened upon Kickswitch who was on the couch scratching Edda behind the ear.

 

"Kickswitch, didn't you say you read about way stations?"

 

"A little, yeah but I don't know a lot. There's not many of them and not many people have actually seen them to learn about them."

 

"What did you mean earlier about way stations needing a key?"

 

"Well way stations are like locked doors that need a key to be opened, anyone that can use physic magic can unlock them."

 

"Can you use them to go anyplace?"

 

Kickswitch furrowed her brow, she leaned forward thinking.

 

"Well not normally. From what I've learned one way station takes you to another but I read in the journal of a long dead wizard who served under an evil queen known as Cora The Bleak that if you use a token you can manipulate the way station to take you anywhere."

 

"A token?" he asked.

 

"Like if you wished to visit a library in a castle far away but there's no way station, if you had a book from that library and held it while going through, the way station would take you to that library."

 

"Shit," Lucky said in defeat. "I don't have anything on me from home. I don't even have my key's to Aunt Karen's apartment."

 

"You silly goose, you forgot about your backpack." said Brea which put a huge smile on his face.

 

"Holy shit you're right! Would that work Kickswitch?" he asked getting his back pack from near the front door and began rummaging through it.

 

"Maybe but the more personal the item the better." said Kickswitch.

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"Let's see what I have in here....Walkman....cassettes....Bic lighter....I think I found something. Doesn't get more personal than this, it's a picture of me, Joel and our friend Nat at a rec center in our neighborhood." he said holding it out to the others.

 

Lucky remembered it had been a sunny day and they were sitting on the steps that led up to the indoor basketball court that the rec center only let public school teams use. The dark red sign bolted to the yellow steel door that had said Guerin Rec Center was obscured by years of graffiti. He was sitting cross legged, smirking, his chin resting on his hand with Joel beside him giving the double bird and Nat on the end smiling, a hand up blocking the sun from her eyes.

 

"I think this should work." said the wizard.

 

The three of them decided to travel into Nyx to Mannerjay Meadow together, Brea and Kickswitch would stay and wait for them to return from Lucky's world.

 

"Are you sure it'll be safe with just the two of you waiting for us out in the open?" asked Lucky as they traveled on the autocart.

 

Edda was flying overhead while the three of them sat in the autocart with their heads out of the wind.

 

"No worries, " said Kickswitch, patting a back pack of her own. "I have a tent in here that's been soaked in potions to ward off most beasts."

 

"We can handle ourselves, don't you worry about us you worry about getting Joel." said Brea giving Lucky a peck on the tip of his nose.

 

Leaving Nyx had filled Lucky with a sense of hope, a feeling of joy, happiness, going through that band of smoky black into eternal night however was the total opposite. It was like entering pure evil, a place so dark light would be afraid to enter. Lucky was sure this what having sex with Lodack would have felt like.

 

Before long they passed through gray, rolling hills that flattened which eventually became a meadow. A half moon shined down blue light as the autocart began to slow down. When the autocart halted, Brea led them to the stone Lucky first arrived at. Galadriel and Kickswitch stepped away to give Brea and Lucky a moment to speak.

 

"I'm scared." he said.

 

She put her arms around him and gave him a kiss.

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"You'll get to Philly."

 

He smiled and kissed her back.

 

"I hope so but what if it doesn't work? I mean the first time you used it you asked it to take you to Philly and you wind up in the backwoods."

 

Brea laughed but Lucky saw a translucent yellow cloud form around her then fade out, her face looked slightly red as she looked down for a moment.

 

"Something's wrong?" asked Lucky.

 

"No," she said looking up at him with alarm as a pink halo briefly floated over her head. "I'm scared of losing you."

 

She kissed him firmly and held him tight, his heart was beating a mile a minute, he was shaking from fear of what laid ahead but also because he was pretty sure he was falling in love.

 

Lodack and her priest Nello stood on the roof of her castle where a few of the Marshals still laid passed out. Close by was a very fat Marshal who was snoring like a dragon with a sore throat. Lodack snarled and kicked the fat Marshal who let out a guffaw.

 

"Get up you fat sack of crap!" she yelled.

 

Another Marshal was laying in front of her, face down and ass up like an overtired toddler. Lodack gave him a swift kick between the legs making him yelp.

 

"You're as useless as a broken dildo, you drunkard!!"

 

"Nuh..." muttered another Marshal wearing a pie plate helmet who was slowly sitting up in a daze rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, he was young.

 

"What did he say?" asked Lodack.

 

"Answer her swine!" said Nello who pointed a wooden staff with a small oval red gem with black stripes at the Marshal.

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"I said no," the Marshal said, eyeing Nello warily. "no booze my lady. Not me anyway, I was walking to the tower minding my business and then I felt like I had to sneeze and then well.....next thing I remember is you hollering at us just now."

 

Lodack looked closely at the Marshal as he stood up, she gave him a small smile after giving him a brief once over.

 

"How old are you?" she asked.

 

"Twenty." he said, smiling dutifully.

 

Lodack licked her lips as she approached him, adjusting her gown.

 

"I bet all the girls chase after you, don't they?" Lodack asked coquettishly as she pressed her chest forward.

 

"Well," the young man said, laughing nervously. "I do sometimes have a problem with that."

 

"Doesn't sound like a problem to me." she replied playfully while she ran her hand slowly up her neck."

 

"Well it is for me because I prefer uh...men, my lady."

 

"You're queer?" she asked him flatly.

 

The young Marshal nodded. Lodack snarled then walked away, Nello followed behind.

 

"Oi, we still getting paid?"

 

Without looking back Lodack flicked a gloved hand, a bolt of lightning leapt from her palm landing at his feet in an explosion that sent the young Marshal up in the air screaming and on fire before falling back down onto the outer wall with a splat.

 

"Are you okay, my lady?" asked Nello.

 

"No you fool, I'm old and horny and somebody stole my medicine."

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"Then perhaps you should be kinder to the Marshals since..."

 

"Why? That one was a fag."

 

"Yes, of course my lady."

 

Most of the Marshals that woke up had left and the few still there were waking up were quietly departing. They were hired soldiers that hadn't been paid and were too afraid of Lodack and her magic to do more than quietly leave. Lodack would have cared yesterday but that was before she met Lucky.

 

"We must find him, Nello." she said slowly walking along the roof.

 

"Surely we could find another young man for you."

 

"Perhaps, Nello but you saw the clothes he was wearing."

 

"Yes, very odd. I wonder if he got them from a trader in Neon City."

 

"No he didn't. I was in his mind briefly, I saw many things, he's an other worlder."

 

"An other worlder?"

 

"Yes," Lodack said with the word ending in a hiss,"an other worlder. There are other worlds Nello, I've read of them just like you. There are worlds where the same lasers you use to create fire can bring back youth or make the blind see, worlds where the story of the all powerful and all knowing twin goddesses Alexa and Siri aren't myths but living, breathing creatures that have infinite knowledge and power.

 

"Worlds with great machines mass producing everything from the strange shoes that boy was wearing to weapons more powerful than any you've ever wielded Nello. Worlds filled with millions of people, half of them men, many of them young, living in a world of magical ease. Worlds for the debauching of the weak and magicless, a world with the kind of magic I need to sate my lust and to acquire the infinite youth and beauty not even the Dark Queen Lyssa could ever hope to have. Once I have that boy he'll tell me how he crossed over or I'll rape his mind."

 

Lodack was licking her lips, rubbing her breasts and breathing heavily, her eyes closed as a smile crossed her lips. Nello watched and felt his own breathing become heavy while his crotch felt too hot and the pants under his robe too tight. Nello could easily stomach sex with Lodack, not that she

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was always allowing him the privilege but she used a special potion to keep her pussy extra tight and that was much better than his right hand so he reached out and touched her breast.

 

She would either recoil and admonish him or moan and lean into his hand. She moaned so he buried his face greedily into her chest.

 

"Oh my lady, you've put a dark spell on my cock." Nello said in a muffled voice from being face deep in cleavage.

 

Lodack pressed his face closer enjoying his hairy lips on her breasts until she opened her eyes and saw pieces of broken glass near the edge of the wall. She scowled and pushed Nello away roughly, he fell to the ground with a whine. The shards of broken glass were lightly dusted with a blue film. Lodack kneeled down and touched one of the shards covered in film, she rubbed the tips of her finger tips and grimaced. Nello crouched beside her.

 

"Green Rose pollen." said Nello.

 

"Yes. Someone helped him escape."

 

"But who?"

 

Lodack was silent for a moment, then a smile curved her lips. Lodack went back down to the cell where Lucky had been held, she stood at the foot of the steps staring at a fur lined parka lying on the cell floor. She retrieved the coat and brought it to Zemy, her dragon.

 

The beast sat behind the castle, its eyes big, bright, and watchful glowed brightly when she approached. Its neck was long and girthy, its scent was beyond putrid but Lodack was unbothered by its scent, she actually enjoyed Zemy's scent. She loved Zemy more because of how repulsive its scent was, she understood what it was like to be unloved and unwanted.

 

Its beak nuzzled her face gently as it made a low hoot under its breath, Lodack caressed its beak and kissed it, she pressed and rubbed her cheek slowly, sententiously against the stone hard beak. The heat radiating off the dragon aroused her, she took a deep breath of Zemy's smell as she thought of Lucky and felt close to orgasm. She wiped her brow and brought the coat up to Zemy's beak, Nello was nearby feeling awkward watching Lodack and her dragon.

 

"Find the scent my sweet animal."

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Lucky and Galadriel held hands, both held the picture with their eyes closed. Lucky could hear the wind, then after a moment there was no wind but it was much colder. He opened his eyes at the same time as Galadriel.

 

"We're here." said Lucky.

 

"Who da fuck ya'll?!" said an elderly man with a dirty white beard wrapped in dingy blanket.

 

The old man had been sitting on the steps when he and Galadriel appeared out of thin air. He stood on the sidewalk with bloodshot eyes and a crooked sneer, on one of the steps was a forty ounce bottle of Colt 45. Lucky guessed it was a drunk homeless guy trying to stay out of the wind.

 

"Sorry dude." Lucky said.

 

The old man threw his hands at them and quickly scurried off down 16th street muttering swears.

 

"Do you know what day it is?" Lucky yelled.

 

"Fuck you." the old man yelled back then started scurrying away faster.

 

"Thank you," he said with a sigh. "the first thing we gotta do is..."

 

Lucky saw Galadriel was standing in the middle of 16th street looking north towards Center City, the tops of Liberty towers were in view. She stepped onto the sidewalk when cars started coming up the street, she looked at the houses and the nearby basketball court. She looked at the cars and the street sign at the nearest corner, then she looked at Lucky.

 

"I feel like I almost know this place but it feels like I'm...." she furrowed her brow, trying to find the right words. "like I'm trying to put a square peg into a round hole when I try to remember. I guess that doesn't make sense."

 

"Actually it makes perfect sense, G. You know I just realized that book marker of yours could be used as a token." Lucky said with sudden realization.

 

He wondered if he should mention the deformed little girl he saw but he waited for Galadriel to respond.

 

"Perhaps. We need to find your friend."

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"Right, uh we need to get to a pay phone."

 

Lucky had found seventy five cents in his backpack to take with him for the trip back. They walked to the 7-11 at Broad and Wolf street where a pair of pay phones stood near its front door. Beside the pay phones was a vending machine for The Daily News, the front page was identical to the one at the newsstand he and Joel robbed, 'Deadly Secrets Go To Grave'.

 

"Shit it's still Sunday." Lucky said putting a quarter in the phone.

 

He dialed Joel's number, Marco's place, but as usual the phone rang and rang with no answer. He pushed down the lever and retrieved his quarter. Now what? He could call Dax, would he be home, how late was it? He checked his watch but forgot the battery had died the other day. He put the quarter back in and dialed with fingers crossed, after five rings Dax picked up.

 

"Hey Lucky, what's up?"

 

"Hey you didn't hear from Joel did you?"

 

"Dude I told ya I saw him this morning gettin put in the back of an undercover cop car."

 

"Undercover cop car?"

 

"Yeah it was a black Miami Vice lookin thing, I think it was an IROC-Z. I thought at first Joel was gettin mugged cause the dude smacked him around a little then threw him in the backseat and I saw he had a holstered gun under his sports jacket like the cops have."

 

Lucky felt weak in the knees.

 

"Did the cop have a black beard and a gold chain around his neck?"

 

"Yeah. How'd ya know?"

 

"I gotta go, Dax."

 

Lucky hung up the phone slowly.

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"What is it?" asked Galadriel.

 

"Joel's not in jail but I know where he is."

 

He's in the basement.

 

"God damn it," said Lucky. "he was never in jail. I knew it, he's in his basement on Tree street."

 

He dreamed about that basement and never understood why but now he did. Why was Marco keeping him in the basement unless he is or will be....

 

"I think Marco is gonna kill Joel."

 

"Then let's get to Tree street." said the witch.

 

It was cold, the January wind was sharp but Lucky was too worried to notice his ears and hands were going numb. It was a short six block walk to Tree street but Lucky kept recalling his dream of running, or trying to run to the house on Tree street, pumping his legs hard but not moving. Lucky felt unreality wash over him like he was in a deep sleep while having a lucid dream.

 

Galadriel followed him though her eyes were scanning anyone they saw, she watched people closely. Lucky could see her eyes sometimes flash like blinkers and for a moment Lucky thought he was dreaming. He wondered briefly what Galadriel really was and if her version of South Philly had any other wild shit like her walking around the neighborhood. When they reached the corner of Tree street Lucky froze as he gazed at the IROC-Z sitting in front of the house.

 

"I don't know what to do." said Joel.

 

"Stay here." she said then walked to the house.

 

Lucky watched fearfully as she went up the steps and knocked. After a moment the door opened but it was too dark to see who answered. Then she was inside the house and Lucky felt relief for a moment. He put up his hood and buried his hands into his pockets, distantly wishing he still had Brea's parka but too focused on getting Joel free to worry about the cold.

 

He had expected there to be at least a shouting match if not an all out brawl but Brea said Galadriel could control people's minds. Perhaps she'd be able to trick Marco into letting Joel leave. Lucky was feeling pretty confident until he heard gunfire come from inside the house.

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Joel sat in the far corner of the basement, the left side of his face was swollen. He was trying his best not to cry too much because he didn't want to look like a bitch, even though no one was down here with him. Ever since these guys in blue windbreakers with ATF written on the back showed up this morning Marco had locked him up in the basement for most of the day, coming down every so often to punch and slap him around.

 

Stealing those smokes had brought the Feds to Marco's door. True they were looking for Joel but Marco was sure his stepson would turn on him if the feds got him. So Marco and four of his homies sat in the living room, all armed and on edge about the prospect of some scrawny kid potentially getting them sent to Federal prison for trafficking cocaine. Joel had suspected Marco was into heavy shit and judging by his reaction to the ATF, Joel knew he was right.

 

Joel's left eye was red, swollen and irritated and it was hard to see through, the fluorescent light made his eye sting and tears fall whenever he tried to watch the little brown spider scurry across the long light bulb. He tried to rub the tears away and hurt his face. He growled under his breath which became a sob.

 

"Stop crying." he said to himself.

 

He was probably going to be buried in this basement, Marco said as much during his last trip down here. It was after he went upstairs that he remembered he had his switchblade in his pocket. The next time Marco came down, Joel decided he was gonna stick the blade into Marco's throat and hope he can run up the stairs and out the front door before his homies know what happened. That would require luck, the kind of luck he didn't have but his boy Lucky did.

 

"Shit man I hope you made out better than me." said Joel, leaning his head back as more tears fell.

 

It felt useless. He wasn't gonna ever get out of here, Marco was gonna shoot him and cut him up into pieces and bury those pieces next to the water heater. And you'll be sitting there waiting like a bitch.

 

"No I won't."

 

Joel took the knife from his pocket and went up the stairs with light steps, the door was closed but he could see light spilling through the door's old fashion keyhole. He could hear their voices, they were low but angry. All of Marco's guys were armed with pistols and bleary eyed from Marco's supply of coke, even the one who worked for the Letuzzi family was upstairs bragging about hitters. Looking through the keyhole Joel saw someone cutting a line on the glass coffee table, he saw Marco lean over the table and heard a long wet sniff followed by a hard cough.

 

In the living room Marco was rubbing his nose which was bright red. The air was thick with cigarette smoke, the windows were closed as were the heavy curtains. Standing opposite Marco was

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Jimmy Anastasia, a big, hairy guy that everyone in the family called Moose. He'd been selling for Marco as a side hustle unbeknownst to his 'family' and would pay the biggest penalty if Joel talked to the feds.

 

The three on the couch were a garden variety of what Nat might have called douchebags. Marco's dealers, neighborhood toughs from the Irish neighborhood in 2nd street, guys with arms covered in Gaelic symbols with either a gold four leaf clover or a gold crucifix hanging on a thin chain around their neck with heavy revolvers in the waistband's of their pants. Two of the three were fair haired with blue eyes.

 

"I'm gonna break his fuckin head wide open." Marco said in a stuffy, nasally voice.

 

"Youse think he'll talk." said the dark haired Irish dealer named Liam.

 

"What the fuck you think," shouted Moose after blowing his nose which was red. "I told ya I'm gonna take care of it, I know a guy he's a hitter for...."

 

"Shut yer fuckin mouth," Marco shouted. "fuckin Feds in the neighborhood and you're runnin your fuckin mouth like an old snatch at a beauty parlor."

 

Joel could only see Marco at the moment who was pacing the floor, starting from the living room window then walking towards the far end of the kitchen where the basement door was, each time he paced to the kitchen, he got closer and closer to the basement door. Joel would wait until Marco was within reach, wait for him to turn back then leap out and aim for the jugular. He understood he'd definitely be killed afterwards but that was more of a comforting thought than a scary one.

 

He only wished he wasn't alone, he missed his homie. Joel recalled joking with Lucky about running away to Mexico like in The Shawshank Redemption, it put a smile on his face that made him look handsome despite his injured face. But he wasn't gonna get a happy ending like Andy or Red did but a bloody one like Emilio Estevez did in Young Guns 2, he was going out in a blaze of glory. Marco was coming, Joel put his hand on the knob listening for the retreating footsteps, then he heard a knock.

 

"Who da fuck is that?" said Marco excitedly.

 

Everyone went quiet. Liam who was toking on a Newport 100 quickly stabbed it out and stood up, pulling his revolver out as did the two sitting beside him on the couch. There was another knock but no one moved.

 

"Moose, answer the door." said Marco.

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Moose nodded and entered the vestibule separating the living room from the front door. Marco stood out of view and heard the door open and what sounded like a woman speaking, then he heard Moose say 'no problem' in a nonchalant tone that Marco never heard before. Moose came in with a befuddled look on his face as a young woman with bright green eyes dressed in black stepped inside.

 

"Moose who the fuck is this?"

 

"I dunno. She said she needed to come in." Moose said simply though he looked unsure as he stepped away from the woman in black.

 

"And you....."

 

Marco stared at him for a moment before removing the nine millimeter he kept in his side holster and pointing it at the woman.

 

"Who the fuck are you?!" Marco shouted.

 

The woman looked into Marco's eyes for a moment before answering.

 

"I'm a friend of Joel's." she said easily.

 

"A friend? What the fuck you want with him?"

 

"It's probably his girlfriend," said Liam holding his gun on her but laughing. "she looks like one of them freaky bitches hangin out on South street."

 

"You his girlfriend," asked Marco, pulling the hammer back on his pistol. "what the fuck do you want him for?"

 

It was quiet, the woman stared at Marco without emotion, then she smiled but it unnerved Marco.

 

"I want to take him away."

 

"Who are you?"

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Again silence, she stared, her face a white mask. Marco felt dizzy looking into her eyes, she broke into a smile that never touched her eyes.

 

"The person that's going to kill you."

 

Marco fired and struck her directly in the face just below her left eye, she fell to the ground with a thud though the bang of the pistol muffled the sound as it did Joel's screaming charge from the basement. Joel had felt a glimmer of hope when he heard her voice and stepped out unnoticed and felt deep horror watching this woman get brutally murdered trying to get him out of here. He'd come running out fast with the blade up but one of the Irish guys caught him by the collar of his hoody and yanked him to the floor.

 

His head hit the floor with a thud and he saw stars as his head filled with a ringing sound that was persistent. When his eyes cleared Joel saw Marco standing over him, his eyes were beady, bloodshot, and furious. He gripped Joel up by the collar pulling him nose to nose, Joel could see a runner of snot on Marco's lip and wanted to vomit.

 

"Who the the fuck was that?!"

 

Though he was still hearing bells Joel heard him clearly but had only the strength at the moment to nod.

 

"WHO WAS SHE?!"

 

Marco's face was beat red, while Moose's was still cloudy and unsure. The three Irishmen watched with their guns out and ready but their white face's were pasty and sweaty.

 

"I don't know." Joel said in a whisper.

 

"WHAT?!"

 

"I don't know," Joel said louder as tears fell from his eyes. "I swear to God I don't know who the fuck...."

 

Joel's voice trailed off as he saw over Marco's shoulder the woman in black standing up, alive and well. The bullet hole was gone but Joel could see a snail trail of blood on her left cheek.

 

"Holy Mary Mother of God." said Liam as he and his Irish companions made the sign of the cross.

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Marco turned and his face went from red to white instantly as he let go of Joel, he picked up his pistol and aimed it at the woman in black.

 

"Whuh....." stuttered Marco.

 

The woman in black stared into Marco's eyes, Joel watched as the woman's green eyes started to glow like neon. Before he could fire one of her rope like bangs knocked the pistol from his hand with lightning speed. She simultaneously kicked Marco into the kitchen and throat chopped Moose with her forearm breaking his neck killing him instantly.

 

With her other bang she tossed the glass coffee table at the three Irishmen, killing the two fair haired ones immediately, Liam was partially blinded and fired off one wild shot before he passed out due to blood loss from the shard of glass in his neck. Joel sat on the floor of the living room watching, hoping this woman didn't kick his ass next but he was in too much pain still to get up let alone runaway. The woman in black walked by him and into the kitchen where Marco laid on the floor, unarmed.

 

She crawled over him like an animal, she pinned his arms down. Marco tried to free himself but her hands were like handcuffs, and her narrow body for some reason was too heavy for him to heave off, he screamed through clenched teeth, his head shaking back and forth.

 

"Look at me." said the woman in black.

 

Joel finally stood up, he grabbed his switchblade off the floor, heading for the front door ready to run, try and find Lucky and get themselves to Mexico but when he heard Marco whimper he stopped to watch. Marco was nodding his head in negation.

 

"Look at me." the woman in black said more firmly.

 

Marco opened his eyes that were blood red and glassy. The woman in black placed her hands over his temples and leaned forward much like Marco had over Joel moments earlier.

 

"You killed a man last week for touching your car. It was late at night the man was drunk and trying to lean over the curb as he vomited and had his hand on your back bumper. Some of the puke got on a rim which pissed you off even more."

 

Marco's eyes became wide and filled with terror.

 

"You told his mother it was cocaine she was snorting but it was heroin, that's why she overdosed. You did it on purpose because she was getting on your nerves."

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"Get outta my head you fuckin witch!" Marco screamed.

 

"Double double, toil and trouble." the woman in black replied before twisting his head.

 

The sound of his neck snapping made him jump, Joel watched the woman in black carefully as she stood up, she turned and looked at him and for a brief moment he fell in love. Joel felt his heart stir, her eyes blazed a fiery green set in a face that was flawless, looking as pure as the driven snow. He thought for a moment he was still in the basement and asleep, dreaming that Fairuza Balk playing her character from the movie The Craft had come to rescue him. Sure she was the bad guy in that flick but her character's similar background to his had him routing for her during the movie's final fight.

 

"You're Joel." she said.

 

He nodded and gulped which hurt his throat.

 

"Come on, we're leaving."

 

Joel was afraid but not enough to stay no to her so he followed her with a quick glimpse back at the carnage left behind. They came out to a cold sharp wind, Joel's sweaty face was stinging still from the pain and the wind made him whimper quietly.

 

"So who..."

 

Joel's voice trailed off as he saw Lucky walking towards him from across the street. Lucky was smiling but his smile faded into shock as he saw Joel's bruised face. Joel felt his eyes burn with tears he tried to fight it off and gave his homie the double bird.

 

"I know this tall mother fucker." Joel said looking away trying to sound like he just came back from a weekend down the shore.

 

Lucky put out his hand, Joel took it and then gave him a hug.

 

"Dude I can't believe you're here." said Joel in a hoarse whisper.

 

"I couldn't runaway from home without my boy watchin my back."

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"Alright enough of this pussy shit," Joel said, wiping a tear away from his good eye. "uhh what's next Mexico?"

 

"No, we gotta head up to Porter up in the woods where we party with Dax."

 

"Porter. Do you uh....I'm sorry uh....who are you?" asked Joel.

 

"Galadriel."

 

"Galad....you mean like the Elf Queen?" Joel asked wide eyed.

 

She nodded.

 

"Uhhh, are you an Elf?"

 

"No."

 

"Well, thank you for saving me. Did you guys drive here?"

 

"No, it's a long story. I'll explain later once we find a ride to Porter."

 

"Find a ride? Shit dude I can get us a ride." Joel said.

 

"How?" asked Lucky.

 

The IROC-Z roared to life as Joel worked the shaft, Galadriel sat beside him while Lucky sat in the minuscule backseat.

 

"Fuck I feel like a turd in a tiny leather asshole," said Lucky. "how come you're driving? Shouldn't the adult drive?"

 

"I never drove before, not that I can recall anyway." said Galadriel.

 

"There ya go, besides I passed my test for a learner's permit unlike you you dopey bastard so I'm technically street legal."

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"And technically you're five four just don't get pulled over for speeding you short fuck."

 

"Not a problem."

 

After a moment of silence Joel spoke.

 

"You're magical." he said looking at Galadriel.

 

"Yes."

 

Joel nodded a little.

 

"Did you read his mind? Is that why you kept staring at him?" he asked.

 

"Yes but I couldn't get inside until he was on the floor and afraid."

 

"Did Marco really do that to my mom? Trick her into thinking she was snorting coke instead of heroin?" he asked Galadriel, looking at her closely.

 

"Yes. You didn't know about that?"

 

"No."

 

"Of course you couldn't know that, it was deep in his mind, I'm a fuckin idiot. I'm sorry I ran my mouth," Galadriel said, reaching out to touch his arm which made his eyes light up momentarily though it was painful. "I did that to frighten him, I guess I wasn't thinking. I get angry sometimes."

 

"It's okay, you're definitely a South Philly girl," Joel said with a smile which made him grimace from pain again. "you got in his head, he was always playing head games with my mom so eye for an eye I guess."

 

"I've only done it to defend myself and sometimes it's like walking into a madhouse. When I saw in his head," Galadriel hesitated and briefly looked out at the stores that were dark and closed for the night. "...I only killed him and his friends because...."

 

"I already figured he was gonna kill me. He was worried I was gonna turn him into the feds."

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Joel quickly told them about the federal agents showing up early on a Sunday morning.

 

"ATF agents?! That's friggin crazy man. Shit you shoulda seen the foot race I had with the cops."

 

"Sorry about that dude. One of those guys at Marco's tonight found out the guy that runs the newsstand had a camcorder sitting on a stool behind that mirror. I guess I shoulda brought us some masks."

 

"Yeah well don't worry about it I didn't think about masks either but once we're back in Brea's world I'll give you shit about it then."

 

Joel nodded and kept his eyes on the street as they turned off Broad on their way to Porter via the Schuylkill Expressway. Lucky told him a condensed story of the last 24 hours, with Joel speaking up every so often.

 

"Legend, that's the name of the movie."

 

"Aw, shit I knew it was a one word title."

 

"And we're going to a way station which works by magic and you can do magic and shit."

 

"Yeah."

 

"Magic, like psychic magic."

 

"Yeah, right." said Lucky.

 

"Right..."

 

"Right. What? I'm serious, it's..."

 

"No dude, I know but I'm not physic," Joel said looking at Lucky through the rear view. "how am I going through."

 

"Well you just have to stand between us."

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"And we're all holding hands." said Galadriel.

 

"And then what we sing Kum Ba Yah? How do you know I'll go through if I'm not physic or magical?"

 

"That's why we're all holding hands," said Lucky. "I asked Kickswitch cause I was worried about the same thing."

 

"That's the wizard right? What did she say?" asked Joel.

 

"She said if I was able to go through with something as unremarkable and unimportant as a backpack just by carrying it then we should be able to get you through."

 

"Yeah well you ain't fuckin carrying me." said Joel which made Galadriel laugh.

 

Kickswitch had set up a tent for her and Brea in a band of forest that was within walking distance of Mannerjay Meadow. They were surrounded by mammoth trees that were thick with vegetation and shadows. Edda laid outside napping warmly from her own heat despite it being a chilly night. Though the tent was soaked in potions to keep beasts like Zemy away, it didn't stop the dragon from observing them at a distance.

 

On the edge of the forest Nello and Lodack stood in the shadows, Zemy was growling quietly beside her as it gazed at the smaller dragon. Lodack soothed her beast with a pet as she watched one of the women step out of the tent briefly. She'd seen that face in his head, Lodack began to growl under her own throat.

 

"I know that bitch and her magic." she said.

 

"She's traveling with a wizard," said Nello excitedly. "her name escapes me but I've seen her in the old kingdoms trading wares and potions. Shall we take them both?"

 

"I don't care about some behatted cunt with a book fetish, I want the sorceress, Nello. Now put them to sleep."

 

"But...I don't have any sleeping spells."

 

Lodack was silent for a moment though Nello could hear her grinding her teeth.

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"Then go to the castle garden and pick some green Roses, your artificial sun device is still working, right?" she asked, giving him a quick glare.

 

"Yes, my lady." Nello replied with a gulp.

 

"Good, then we'll take a page out of Brea's spell book."

 

Brea and Kickswitch had been reading quietly when Brea felt uneasy but it was only for a moment. They didn't make a fire so they wore thick sweaters and Kickswitch had an immensely bright electric lantern that gave them plenty of light. Brea sat quietly for a moment wishing she and her friends could be at home, sitting by a fire getting warmth from the flames and the familiar faces. Brea felt uneasy again but chalked it up to her worrying about Lucky and Galadriel and camping in an unfamiliar place.

 

Brea suddenly missed Lucky more and felt guilty for not telling him how she found his world. So stupid, to not tell him but she didn't want to scare him. He'll be running away frightened of her if she opened her heart to him, if he doesn't hate her for not telling the truth to begin with.

 

"Are you okay?" asked Kickswitch.

 

"What?"

 

"You look so sad. G will keep him safe."

 

"Yes, I know. I just need to stretch my legs."

 

The tent muffled most of the light, when the flap closed behind her it was nearly pitch black again. The only light was a faint pink glowing steam coming off Edda's body. Brea smiled at her precious animal and petted her slightly fuzzy head. Even in a deep sleep Edda always purred and reacted to her touch, sometimes even leaning her head into her hand as she snored.

 

"Edda," she said, petting her head. "you asleep?"

 

Her snores were deep and quiet. Brea scratched the side of Edda's belly which always woke her up but Edda was unresponsive. Brea quickly went to Edda's snout and saw a smudge of something blue on the tip of her nose. It was green Rose pollen. Brea stood up, turned and was suddenly face to face with Nello. His palm, covered in pollen, was at his lips, he blew the pollen into her face.

 

"Your breath stinks." Brea told him before falling to the ground fast asleep.

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Kickswitch heard Brea and looked at the tent flap. She cupped her palm to check her breath but felt it wasn't that bad but she had drank coffee earlier.

 

"Hey I'm sorry Brea. I have mints, you can come back inside."

 

Kickswitch stepped out of the tent to let it air out when Nello appeared from beside the tent. He blew pollen into her face as she turned towards him.

 

"Uh, your breath." said Kickswitch before falling to the ground sleeping.

 

Lodack came from behind a large tree, scowling down at Brea.

 

"Can we take the wizard at least? She has trinkets." asked Nello.

 

"No this is about me you selfish prick! Get the special prison ready for Brea and do something about your breath!"

 

"It only stinks because I've been licking a pussy covered in darkleberry jam all day." he mumbled.

 

"What?!"

 

"Nothing my lady."

 

Brea might have slept for days from the amount of pollen she inhaled, a sleep that would have been deep and peaceful and she wouldn't be susceptible to Lodack's ability to mind read. But something was shaking her awake, not physically but psychically. Not like someone was trying to invade her mind but like someone was trying to cloud it or muffle it. She could feel her heartbeat start to rise while the heaviness of her eyelids lessened.

 

In her ears there was a distant warbling sound that was tiny but constant and made her head hurt a little. She was lying on a cold hard floor that smelled dusty. She opened her eyes and saw she was in a similar cell that Lucky had been kept in, but judging by the smell Lodack wised up and put her in one not connected to a sewer.

 

She sat up and realized her vision was a little blurry, she closed her eyes to try and sense if anyone was close by, her charm or what Lucky had called her magic knucklers were gone but she didn't need them for this kind of magic. The warbling in her head suddenly grew louder and there was a

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stabbing pain deep inside her head. She tried again but the pain returned, she let out a grunt and opened her eyes and the blurriness was worse for a moment until she stopped.

 

"Having trouble concentrating?" said Lodack, coming down a spiral staircase.

 

The colors of her tight sequin gown changed from gold to silver to purple to white then repeated with each step she took, holding her breasts out. Her lips were red and glossy, her smile was toothy and large. Lodack stood at the foot of the cell glaring down at Brea.

 

"Well, well if it isn't the sorceress with the heart of gold and a chubby ass."

 

Lodack tittered but Brea didn't respond. Lodack's smile turned to a sneer, she let out a pleasant sounding sigh, she smiled again before continuing.

 

"Are you enjoying your special accommodations? Nello received a special device from an associate that makes your magic powerless and your body weak."

 

"What do you want?"

 

"What do you think I want you stupid bitch? You stole him from me and until I get him back I am going to torture you for your thievery."

 

"He didn't want you."

 

"And when has that ever stopped me before, my dear?" she said with another titter.

 

Brea wanted to stand up kick her in the twat, there was enough space for her legs to do it but the effects of the pollen still left her groggy....uh oh....one of the side effects of green Rose pollen was it made people tell the truth but she was feeling a little more with it and not quite so wishy washy in the head.

 

"I wonder if you might tell me if you fucked him yet?" Lodack asked, watching Brea closely, hopefully.

 

"How about you sit on a bed post you disgusting hog."

 

Lodack sneered and growled, she reached up to put her hands through the bars but flinched, then stopped and screamed.

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"Lodack why don't you find another guy it's not like he's the only one in Nyx?" Brea asked, rubbing her temples and trying to ignore the warble in her ears.

 

"Don't act like you don't know that he's special, I've seen his clothes and I've seen his thoughts."

 

"You're evil." said Brea.

 

"And you're fat and Lucky is an other worlder."

 

Brea looked up sharply at Lodack whose smile was large and pointy.

 

"I'm right, I see. And either you're going to tell me where he crossed over and how or when I find him I'm going to fuck him right in front of you then kill you slowly."

 

Brea's anger was through the roof and again wished she had the strength to stand up and kick her in her twat so instead she used her mouth to strike back.

 

"No man in their right mind would want to touch that cursed and smelly old cooze of yours."

 

Lodack's eyes went wide, they were brown but changed into crimson, her hands clenched into fists. Brea waited for her to strike her with a bolt of lightning from her hand or fire from her eyes.

 

"I'll rip your tits off." Lodack said through her teeth with such vehemence she was drooling and a little turned on.

 

It was then that Nello came down the spiral staircase.

 

"My lady."

 

"WHAT NELLO!?" she screamed, making him yelp.

 

"Someone is approaching the castle."

 

Without a word she rushed towards the staircase, Nello jumped out of her way and waited until she was a half dozen steps ahead before following her. When Brea was alone she stretched out her legs and rubbed her calves to wake them up but the magical device was indeed affecting her physically

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too, she felt like a great weight was on her shoulders. At least it was stopping Lodack from using her magic while she was locked in here, a bittersweet comfort, what Lodack said to her made her want to cry but she wouldn't. She suddenly wondered if Lucky was who was coming to the castle to give himself up, it was then Brea finally started to cry.

 

Joel parked Marco's car in a parking lot near the walking trail which actually had a few vehicles there, two pickups and one medium sized Winnebago. They parked beside the RV and walked up the rest of the way.

 

"I knew this place had some weird vibes man." Joel said when they reached the trio of boulders.

 

Lucky found the rock and the alcove he and Brea stood in to get back to her world.

 

"Uh, G and I will stand face to face and Joel you stand between us."

 

"Dude, you serious?" asked Joel.

 

"Yeah, what? We can all fit."

 

"Do I need to be touching the rock?" asked Joel.

 

"Uh, no."

 

"Uh. uh? What uh? Don't you know?" Joel asked worriedly.

 

"Dude, take a chill pill. No you don't need to be touching it, just me and Galadriel do."

 

"It is a bit small for three to stand and hold hands." said Galadriel.

 

"Um, we hug I guess." said Lucky.

 

Lucky and Galadriel put their arms around each other with Joel between. From a distance it looked like two adults hugging a child.

 

"Christ, we probably look like weirdos." said Lucky.

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"It's not that bad." said Joel who was looking up at Galadriel worshipfully.

 

And like before it was instantaneous and undramatic. The air went from being arctic and windy to cold and slightly breezy.

 

"Holy shit," said Joel who walked a few feet and did a quick three sixty. "holy fuckin shit. It's...it's real, I mean I knew, I knew you were serious but I....dude holy fuckin shit!"

 

"Come on, Brea and Kickswitch made a camp to wait for us." said Lucky.

 

"Fuckin a, man. I'm glad you finally grew some balls and learned how to talk to girls."

 

"Aw fuck you."

 

They laughed on the way and Lucky was excited when he saw Edda snoozing away in a faint pink steam but then he saw Kickswitch laying on the ground snoring loudly.

 

"Brea!" shouted Lucky who ran.

 

Galadriel was there in a flash before he ran a foot, by the time he and Joel got there she had checked the tent and found it empty and was kneeling beside Kickswitch.

 

"What happened?" asked Joel who was wincing in pain.

 

Galadriel opened the flap of the tent to let out light and saw that her lips and nose were coated in a blue film.

 

"She was drugged with green Rose pollen." said Galadriel.

 

She went into the tent and found Kickswitch's backpack and began to rummage through it, tossing out random items. An Allen wrench, a jar filled with marijuana, a jar filled with a teal liquid labeled mermaid tears, a pair of brass knuckles, a wireless mini keyboard, a hunting knife, a handheld gaming console.

 

"Fuck I never saw a Game Boy like that before," said Joel who picked it up and read the label on the back. "Nintendo 3DS. Must be from an alternate universe."

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"I found it."

 

In her hand was a pencil length stick that was a bright neon red.

 

"What is that?"

 

"Petrified dragon tongue."

 

Galadriel put the stick under the wizard's nose and snapped a piece off. Lucky saw a wisp of red smoke get inhaled and Kickswitch's eyes opened wide while she took a deep gasp of breath like she had run a mile. Her body kicked up and Galadriel had to keep her running off from the rush. She let herself be held as she took big, whooping breaths between coughing fits.

 

".....Lo.....Ne...."

 

"Take your time," said Galadriel. "catch your breath first."

 

"There's something written on that tree." said Joel pointing at a towering Oak tree.

 

On its bark was a short message scrawled in a glowing red ink which said 'come to me Lucky or she dies.'

 

"Oh shit." Lucky said quietly.

 

"That bitch," said Galadriel. "that mother fucking skank ass bitch."

 

"G..." said the wizard who was still catching her breath.

 

"I kill her," Galadriel said, clenching her fists. "I'll fuckin kill her."

 

Joel and Lucky saw Galadriel's eyes start to glow.

 

"Okay G...," she replied coughing and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "we'll get..."

 

"It's not okay, I told that god damn CUNT, I would kill her if she ever FUCKED with any of my friends AGAIN, so now I have to go and KILL this dirty WHORE!"

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"G, just wait..."

 

But she was gone in an instant.

 

"Lucky get my staff and backpack, they're in the tent unless Nello robbed me, he has sticky fingers. See if you can wake up Edda."

 

"I guess he was only interested in getting Brea." said Lucky, sadly handing her her stuff.

 

Lucky picked up the petrified dragon tongue, keeping it far away from his face.

 

"Will Galadriel be okay?" asked Joel.

 

"I don't know....oh goodness are you okay?" asked Kickswitch.

 

"Huh, oh yeah I fell out of bed this morning." Joel said, trying to smile but wincing painfully instead.

 

"Oh, Joel, this is Kickswitch."

 

"Hi, I'm glad to meet you. I'm sorry I don't have any potions or I would give you something for your face."

 

"Am I that ugly?" Joel asked with a laugh.

 

"Of course not." Kickswitch said horrified.

 

"Chill out I was just breaking your uh...chops but seriously I'm cool."

 

She nodded, then Edda was awake. She was agitated and Joel ran when she roared but Kickswitch fed her some treats she had in her backpack which helped calm her down.

 

"Here," she said, handing Joel some little brown and red balls that looked like gummies. "don't be scared. Edda loves treats and scratches on the side of her belly."

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Edda gobbled them up and wagged her tail as Joel gently scratched her tummy.

 

"Good girl," Joel said chuckling at the strange fuzzy feel of her tummy. "dude how bad ass would it be to take Edda for a walk in Marconi Park?"

 

Kickswitch stuck her staff into the ground, it was a little taller than her and black in color and had grooves where her hand held it, on top of the staff was a small black metallic looking wheel with a spoke in the middle that had a glass stone sitting at the center. Kickswitch took out of her backpack a handheld device that was the size of a candy bar and shiny on one side.

 

"What is that?" asked Joel.

 

"It's a remote control for the wheel within the wheel."

 

"What's the wheel within a wheel?"

 

"Remote control?" said Joel.

 

"It's a touch screen." replied the wizard.

 

Kickswitch touched the shiny side of the device and Joel gasped as he saw the three of them on the remote control. At the bottom of the screen were a pair of translucent blue circles that she placed her thumbs on.

 

"Holy shit it's a little TV screen." said Lucky waving his hand at the staff as he looked down at the remote control, getting deja vu from the two way mirror at the newsstand.

 

"Oh shit and that gem is like a camera." said Joel who was also waving at the staff and watching himself on the remote control screen.

 

Kickswitch moved a thumb and inside the wheel was another wheel that was slightly smaller which turned to its side, sitting just below the glass gem. Thin blades sprung out, then the wheel quickly but quietly began to spin and noiselessly lift off the staff heading in the direction Galadriel had run.

 

"Maybe we should just follow her." said Joel.

 

"If I could run as fast as her I would try and stop her."

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"Is Lodack really that dangerous?" asked Lucky.

 

"Galadriel's more powerful than most magic users but Lodack is cunning and Nello calls himself a priest which means he steals magic and magical items and uses them as his own declaring it a divine right."

 

"So he's an asshole." said Joel.

 

"Exactly but a dangerous one."

 

Galadriel entered the canyon with Lodack's castle in sight and saw a half dozen Goblins come charging for her. She had been hoping for Marshals who would be more emotionally invested, and tougher opponents, Goblins were dumb and hungry animals that she on occasion, rare occasions, felt sorry for. At this moment she was craving a fight for anything that was pissed off like she was.

 

As she reached them she swung her fists with rapid fire punches that knocked them back several feet a few would come running back squealing and wailing pitifully, she pulverized their faces and went running towards the outer walls of the castle where more Goblins came running from either side of the castle. Galadriel met them swinging, as many as two dozen came charging, some of them clustered her but she began ripping them off her limb by limb. Blood and body parts flew as did their wails and squeals.

 

"Holy shit she's tearing through them ugly fuckin jawns," said Joel as the three of them huddled over the remote control screen. "are those the Goblins you were talking about?"

 

"Yeah," said Kickswitch. "she can handle them though."

 

"I haven't seen any Marshals yet." said Lucky.

 

"Shit she'll kick all their asses," said Joel. "she took a bullet in the face, man."

 

Galadriel was closing in on the outer walls, more Goblins came but most of them were wailing at her and not getting close. She let out roar and most of them ran back and stayed back.

 

"Lodack! Come out and face me you bitch ass trick!"

 

The gray stone walls were a hundred feet high with parapets behind which the Marshals would do sentry duty but there was no one atop them.

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"Lodack!!"

 

Finally a figure appeared standing atop the wall.

 

"Well I'm running into all kinds of familiar faces today. Have I ever told you how beautiful your hair is, Galadriel?"

 

"Let Brea go or I'll break you in half!" Galadriel roared as green light blazed from her eyes like spotlights.

 

"Oh what I wouldn't give for a young man to do that to me," Lodack said with a throaty laugh, her face bathed in green light. "how about you use those bright, pretty eyes of yours to tell the boy..."

 

Galadriel's rage was burning, she crouched down, then leapt, screaming a mighty war cry as she jumped higher than she had ever attempted before. As she reached the top with a foot to spare she saw standing next to Lodack was that priest who had something in his hand that was rectangular, yellow with black stripes and had a pair of red lights on the front. Suddenly a pair of projectiles shot out from the device, connected to the projectiles were wires that were shooting out blue and yellow sparks, the projectiles pierced her chest, Galadriel fell at their feet convulsing.

 

Sparks briefly flew out of her finger tips and from the soles of her boots, there was a pop sound then she went still. The lights on the front blinked off, Nello squeezed the trigger but there was only a click.

 

"It's broke." said Nello sadly.

 

"I'm glad I told you to check the wizard's pack."

 

Nello rolled his eyes, remembering full well she told him no then called him a selfish prick at the request.

 

"The witch's body is already healed," said Nello tossing the taser aside. "but the shock to her heart has left her unconscious. At least for the moment."

 

"Then let's see what's inside her mind." Lodack said devilishly.

 

She knelt beside Galadriel and placed her hands over her temples, her eyes were closed and began to move back and forth under her lids. She saw blackness at first, then she saw motes of green light.

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There was crying, a child crying, not just one but many, it's a cry filled with pain and anguish and they pierced Lodack's ears making her wince.

 

"My lady?" said Nello.

 

"I'm fine." she said shakily.

 

Lodack tries to cast the darkness back but it only causes more motes of green light to appear, and the crying was getting louder, turning into wailing. The crying of the children became screams, raucous and unbearable, the motes of green started to swirl and twirl around her in a cyclone. The motes began to whine and whistle like wind through a keyhole, Lodack was about to scream from all the noise when there was silence, sudden and eternal.

 

There was darkness again and she sighed with relief but it was short lived as there was a faint green fog coming at her from a distance, rolling like a great wave. Then there was a throaty growl, Lodack saw something come charging at her from the depths of the fog. It was a creature she did not recognize, it ran on four short legs and had two heads, the larger head was furry with large fangs while the smaller, eyeless head had a mouth filled with hundreds of needle like teeth. The creature leapt for Lodack, she opened her eyes and fell on her rear with a thud.

 

"Damn it!"

 

Nello lent her a hand but she snarled and swatted it away.

 

"Her mind is like a trap, even unconscious!"

 

"Let's get her in the prison, my lady." Nello said subserviently.

 

"No!" shouted Joel.

 

"What the fuck was that," said Lucky. "was that a taser?"

 

"Yeah it was mine, it's modified to take down big, strong creatures like dragons, fairies, Draugwolves. Nello must have stolen it from my bag."

 

They watched Lodack order a pair of Goblins to carry an unconscious Galadriel down inside the outer wall through a trap door, Lodack went down with the priest following. Kickswitch tried to follow with the wheel within a wheel but the priest closed the trapdoor behind him.

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"Is she gonna be okay?" Joel asked.

 

"I don't know but she's hurt, I know that. I was afraid this was gonna happen, G let's her anger get the best of her."

 

"Well what do we do? We're gonna go get her right?" Joel asked as a tear came out of his swollen eye, making him wince.

 

"Of course we are," said the wizard, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "but we'll need a hand getting inside. Let's go."

 

"Wait where are we going?" said Lucky.

 

"To see my mentor, Marcus The Truu. If anyone can help us get into the castle, he can. Come on his cottage is only a short distance from here."

 

Thanks to a powerful liminal space spell the cottage looked small, homey, and unremarkable on the outside with its silvery lawn and white washed porch and windows with shutters closed, sitting on the porch steps was a Mason jar filled with a clear liquid with three glowing amber balls floating inside that gave off a bright yellow electric light. Inside the cottage it was bigger, three floors though two of the floors were filled with mostly books and totes upon totes filled with electronic items of all kinds acquired through trade in Nyx and the old kingdoms, and a few (very few unfortunately) from other worlds. The bottom floor, Marcus's living/study/work space, had wall to wall shelves as well filled with books, totes, electronics and jars upon jars of various potions and sundries, at the center was a long, wooden table in the middle covered with an assortment of items.

 

There were three dozen or so books taking up one end. Books about cats, books about the old kingdoms, spell books, cookbooks for potions and food, manuals for tools, manuals for how to cultivate magic mushrooms, manuals on how to brew beer, manuals for spell casting, a fancy leather bound tome about magical runes, countless essays written by fellow wizards both good and evil and what have you. The rest of the table was covered by a number of electronics that had been or are in the process of being repaired and modified.

 

In the corner of the room was a large bed where a middle aged man with long reddish blond hair and a five o'clock shadow slept soundly under a thick comforter. Beside him laying on its back, up to its neck under the comforter was a five year old tabby cat. When there was a knock at the door of the cottage Marcus snorted while the tabby cat, named Chumley, opened his yellow eyes and blinked owlishly as his fuzzy mouth opened wide from a yawn.

 

Chumley rolled over, crawling out from under the comforter to stretch, then stopped mid stretch as there was another knock at the door. The cat walked over to his human master and swatted his

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forehead with his paw. Marcus snorted again but didn't wake, another knock and a voice called out, one that Chumley recognized.

 

"MAOW!" cried the tabby as it gave Marcus a double swat on the forehead.

 

"Buh, plastics!" said Marcus who finally awoke after another double tap from Chumley.

 

"Meow." Chumley cried.

 

"The door?" said Marcus.

 

"Maow!" Chumley cried, sounding annoyed.

 

"Well you were the one who insisted on a nap."

 

Another knock at the door.

 

"Hold on."

 

"Maow, meow, moaaaw, meoooow!"

 

"No, no I didn't drink too much, I took too many mushrooms. Now where's my hat and hoody and glasses?"

 

Chumley jumped off the bed and began clawing at the bedpost.

 

"Hey quit....oh."

 

His hoody, hat and glasses had tumbled to the floor next to the bedpost because instead of putting them on the work table he put it on the end of the bed. Chumley looked at his master the way a mother might look at a lazy child. There was another knock at the door, Chumley raced to the door while he put on his black top hat with a blue cat print in the band above the left ear, his Navy blue hoody that had a magical pouch pocket that could make heavy items you carried in it lighter and lightly smelling of potpourri and a pair of black framed glasses that weren't magical but did help him to see small print.

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"Ah, Kickswitch The Electric, it's good to see you. I always enjoy a visit from a former student and you've brought company. Come in and have libations with me.

 

"Marcus, this is Lucky and Joel."

 

"Well it's...my dear boy are you okay?" said Marcus adjusting his glasses.

 

"Yeah I'm fine," said Joel with a nervous laugh. "I cut myself shaving."

 

"Oh, uh well that can be a problem....does your eye hurt as well?" Marcus asked as he rummaged through a shelf filled with jars of colorful substances.

 

"I guess, it's just hard to see cause of the swelling."

 

"Uh-huh.....here we are." said Marcus who held a jar filled with a copper liquid that had tiny blue specks.

 

"What is that?" asked Joel.

 

"It's a potion." Marcus said easily.

 

"Potion," Joel said with a grimace. "it looks like moldy peanut butter. What's in it?"

 

Marcus furrowed his brow to think.

 

"It's one part Plasa liver which is good for bruising, two parts minced mermaid tail with extra Wampus bone marrow to help with healing with a Mithril paste base to help with bone repair and improve bone density. A very good potion."

 

Marcus unscrewed the jar and held it out to Joel.

 

"Just dip two fingers in there and rub it where it hurts the most."

 

Joel took a dab gingerly, he stared at the strange jelly like substance for a moment. He brought it up to his nostrils and sniffed, he looked at Marcus who smiled and nodded for him to use it. Joel shrugged and carefully rubbed it on the spot were it was the reddest, he winced but smeared it around.

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"There you go." Marcus said screwing the lid back on and putting the jar away.

 

"It burns a little."

 

"It'll stop in a few moments, so Kickswitch.....oh Chumley leave the door alone."

 

"Edda's outside, she's been depressed since she woke up." said Kickswitch.

 

"Has she? Go cheer up Edda," said Marcus when he let Chumley out. "so Kickswitch is it Edda's depression that brings you all here? I thought Brea would have come along."

 

"Marcus, we're here about Brea, her and Galadriel, they've been taken by Lady Lodack."

 

Marcus's eyes went wide, then narrowed.

 

"The whore of darkness!" Marcus said.

 

Kickswitch told him as quickly as possible everything that had happened. At every mention of Lodack Marcus did an over the top grimace like he was sucking a lemon or licking nine volt batteries.

 

"You know her too?" asked Lucky.

 

Marcus did another grimace followed by an overly dramatic shiver then began searching the shelves for a moment. He found a tall can colored in a red and yellow camo like design with the name Four Loko written on the side. Marcus opened the can which popped then fizzed, he took a long deep gulp, belched, then put the can down before speaking.

 

"Yes, I know her.....would you like a drink? I have some more Four Loko, I have Trail Ale or I have some Voodoo Ranger IPAs if that's your thing?"

 

"I don't know what any of those things are." said Lucky.

 

"Please Marcus," Kickswitch said with a sigh. "I know you have a past with Lodack..."

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"A past! Not hardly my dear friend and former pupil, I don't call having my person molested as a past!"

 

"You weren't molested, you were engaged." said Kickswitch.

 

"You were gonna marry her? You didn't notice she looked almost eighty?" Lucky asked with a look of shock.

 

"Yes but in my defense she was using a potion on her skin that made her look closer to my age during a waxing moon. It was that cucking holy man of hers' idea to bed me, wed me, then steal all my magic and devices...and my cat Chumley!"

 

Marcus said the last part with the greatest vehemence before continuing.

 

"And she may look eighty but she only wishes she was that young."

 

"That young, how old is she?" asked Lucky.

 

"Two hundred and fifty eight years old." said Marcus.

 

"Shit." said Lucky worriedly.

 

"Don't worry my friend," said Marcus, giving him a slap on the shoulder. "ever since mine and Chumley's escape from that woman I've been keeping watch unbeknownst to her and now is the perfect time to strike at Lodack."

 

"Why?" asked Kickswitch.

 

"She's having another pay dispute with the Marshals. Earlier today one of the Marshals who's a regular that buys a lot of fairy juice and weed said they were all on strike until further notice. She's stuck using Goblins for castle defense." Marcus said easily.

 

"You forgot her dragon." said Kickswitch.

 

"I didn't forget about her dragon." replied Marcus.

 

"Maybe Edda could run interference like she did when Brea broke me out." said Lucky.

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"Lodack's too smart to let that happen again." said Kickswitch.

 

"Can you build or mod another one of them tasers Kickswitch?" asked Lucky.

 

"It would take days." she said.

 

He turned to Marcus.

 

"That's faster than I could ever do it, my friend. I'm sorry." Marcus replied.

 

"What about if we drug it with that green Rose stuff?" said Joel.

 

"Would that....holy shit Joel....your face!" said Lucky.

 

Joel who was sitting on the corner of the work table stood up.

 

"What," he said, putting a hand to his face. "what about my face?!"

 

The shiny, redness was gone, the swelling was nonexistent. Joel rubbed his cheek and smiled the biggest smile Lucky had ever seen. Marcus had rummaged in a shelf and handed Joel a hand mirror, he held it up and smiled at his reflection.

 

"I...I..I can't believe it....my face it's back to normal dude. I thought I was gonna look all messed up for months. Dude, thank you."

 

"I told you it would stop in a few moments. I guess I should have clarified that I meant the pain would."

 

Marcus held his hand out to shake but Joel gave him a brief hug instead.

 

"Dude don't worry about Lodack tryin to fuck with you or your cat," Joel said taking his switchblade out and flicking it open, "I got your back."

 

"Ah, a warrior of the blade I see. Perhaps I have a blade that is equal in size to your courage." said Marcus who got on all fours and crawled under his worktable.

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There was a few bumps, the sound of a head hitting the table, Marcus saying ouch, then he arose a moment later holding a four foot long sword with a black iron hilt.

 

"This was once the sword of the Barbarian King Nicholas The Wild, he ruled the Wildhouse kingdom hundreds of years ago...."

 

"Hundreds of years ago?" asked Joel wide eyed.

 

"Or perhaps it was months ago, I keep misremembering, the mushrooms and what have you." said Marcus who handed Joel the sword.

 

Joel expected it to be heavy but it was light and he felt bad ass holding it aloft.

 

"Fuckin a, man I feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan." said Joel.

 

"An odd name but I've never heard of him," said Marcus. "was he a Barbarian king like Nicholas The Wild?"

 

"Yeah he rules the box office kingdom back in my world," said Joel. "so will that green Rose stuff knock out her dragon?"

 

"Not by itself but if we mix it with a hefty amount of Torgo mushrooms and a pint of fairy saliva, both of which I have, we can put it to sleep." said Marcus

 

"Great but the outer walls of the castle...." said Lucky.

 

"Are an obstacle for only the flightless my dear boy" said Marcus who paused for a moment to drink from the red and yellow can and to eat a handful of magic mushrooms sitting in a jar on his worktable. "do people fly in your world?"

 

"Yeah but they need an airplane to do it."

 

"An airplane?"

 

"Yeah it's like a device or a machine with wings and a motor to push it into the sky. No magic involved." said Lucky.

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"Well in our world magic can be used for short bursts of flight but we rely on machines here as well for longer flights."

 

Marcus pushed aside a large CRT monitor with an attached keyboard, on the screen was what appeared to Joel to be a purple and a rabid looking Sonic The Hedgehog breakdancing on the bloody corpse of a camouflaged soldier. Joel leaned closer to look at the metallic label on the side.

 

"I never heard of the Commodore 20XX." he said to himself.

 

Marcus took from behind the computer a metallic shoe box sized device that had a pair of straps on either side. One end of the device had a turbine fan.

 

"What's that?" asked Lucky.

 

"A jet pack, it's fueled by ground up pixie wings and a haste potion of my own design. It's as quiet as a stealth dragon and moves twice as fast. I can fly over the wall unobserved, put the dragon to sleep, I know from briefly living with Lodack that Goblins disgust her and she'd never let them wander the inside of her castle even to guard it, so I'll be able to search for Brea and Galadriel quickly and unobstructed."

 

"Shit man, that place looked big to me when I was in Lodack's jail. What if you don't find them or they're hidden in a magic room or jail cell or something?" Lucky asked with a frustrated sigh.

 

"Lucky my boy that's of no consequence, and we have many advantages," said Marcus as he adjusted his glasses.

 

"Advantages?" said Lucky.

 

"She may be anticipating your arrival but not my arrival, the arrival of I Marcus The Truu, Marcus The Waesucks, Marcus The Cat Shepard, Marcus the Blue..."

 

"Marcus The Bombastic." said Kickswitch.

 

"Yes, I remember her pet name for me," said Marcus dryly. "where was I? Oh yes, advantages, I've never been in Lodack's castle but I've read its history, it's not very big and more of a prison than a home for royalty, and that holy man of hers doesn't know any liminal space spells or incantations to confuse anybody wandering around. However there must be dank sorcery afoot if Lodack and the holy man are able to contain both Brea and Galadriel."

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"Will Galadriel be okay?" asked Joel who was gripping the handle of sword so tight his hands ached.

 

"She's a very powerful witch my boy," said Marcus tenderly. "how much danger she and Brea are in I can't say. Do you think Lodack knows you're an other worlder, Lucky?"

 

"I dunno, I think so. She was asking about my clothes."

 

"Hmm," Marcus said, stroking his chin after chewing up another handful of mushrooms. "she suspects at the very least. We better get moving and hope Brea and Galadriel can keep Lodack out of their heads."

 

Brea sat weakly on the cell floor, the warbling in her ears was still constant and made her eyes blur but still she kept an eye on the grapefruit sized ball on the floor. The ball was a crystal but instead of it being clear it was filled with a gray and black and white material that moved in a dizzying, undulating manner. When she stared at it the warbling in her ear was replaced by a grating roar of white noise that would grow in volume the longer she stared. She tried only once to move it with her mind and thought she had gone blind and deaf for a moment.

 

Brea looked away from the crystal ball when she heard Goblins coming down the spiral staircase, the scrape of their hooves was unmistakable. There were two of them and they were carrying someone.

 

"Galadriel!" Brea said woefully.

 

The Goblins grubbled and grabbled under their breath as they unceremoniously carried Galadriel's unconscious body towards the cell door. A third Goblin followed behind with a prancing step and hurriedly went to the cell door. It reached out with a clawed hand and when it touched there a yellow spark shot out, the Goblin fell down screaming and wailing while waving its charred hand around.

 

"Stupid beast." said Lodack.

 

She came down the stairs and gave the injured Goblin a kick in it's ribs. It squealed in pain but stood up on its hooves.

 

"I told you not to touch the door." she shouted then followed it up with a smack in the back of its head. "go above ground and watch the outer walls."

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Lodack scowled at the retreating Goblin, when it was gone she looked at Brea and the scowl became sneer as she approached the cell to open its door. She opened the door but did not enter, she only glared at Brea until the Goblins stepped out and the door was locked again.

 

"I think when I'm done milking Lucky in front of you I'll make the witch stare into a mirror while I shave her head, then I'll cut it off. In the meantime I've got a hot date to get ready for."

 

The door closed and locked itself once the Goblins stepped out. Once they were all up the steps and out of sight Brea went to Galadriel's side. She held her hand and gently slapped her cheek, she groaned.

 

"G, are you alright?"

 

Her head went back and forth, her eyes opened then closed as her hands went to her ears.

 

"That noise." she said groggily.

 

"It's one of Nello's devices. Are you okay? Are you alone?"

 

When Galadriel was sitting up she told Brea of her return with Lucky and Joel ending the story at her hasty attack.

 

"I don't know what they did or what they were planning after I left. I could sense Kickswitch didn't want me to go but I was too pissed off and Lodack has fucked with us too many times. Fuck my head hurts," Galadriel said rubbing her temples gingerly with the tips of her finger. "I was supposed to beat her ass and rescue you, I'm sorry Brea."

 

"No, G I should be apologizing. This is all my fault."

 

"No it's not."

 

"But it is, G. I lied to you and to Lucky. When I found the way station and realized what it was I didn't ask it to take me to Philadelphia, I asked it to take me to the man I would fall in love with," Brea said as she began to sob. "it was a coincidence that it took me to Philadelphia, though it was the wrong version."

 

When she said that her sobbing redoubled and her body trembled, Galadriel's heart was hurting for her friend.

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"I'm so sorry I lied to you, please Galadriel don't be mad at me." she said, weeping into her hands.

 

Galadriel sat up and held her in her arms, shushing her and giving her a sisterly kiss on the forehead. Brea leaned her head on her friend's shoulder, her face hot and wet and her head ringing.

 

"You forgive me?"

 

"There's nothing to forgive Brea. You acted out of love. Does Lucky know?"

 

"No, I'm scared to tell him I was in love with him before I knew him. It would frighten him for sure. It's the kind of thing a crazy woman like Lodack would say."

 

"You're not Lodack, Brea and coincidence or not, a wish brought you to Lucky. My fairy friend Willa Waterfox once told me a wish made out of love is the purest kind of magic, a magic so powerful it can heal. You're not crazy to want to love or to be loved and Lucky won't think you're crazy."

 

They hugged again and Brea felt a little better despite their current situation.

 

"I hope you fall in love some day, G."

 

"I think I might have, before the amnesia I mean."

 

"Tell me what you remember." Brea asked.

 

"I see glimpses of a man with a chubby face, glasses and dark hair. I see that face and my tummy gets a bubbly and...." Galadriel smiled trying to think of the right word.

 

"Fuzzy feeling, like warm socks on a cold morning." Brea said knowing exactly what she meant.

 

"Yes," Galadriel said softly. "in my home I have a device called a compact disc player I bought from a magician in the old kingdoms and every night I play a song that gives me the same feeling."

 

"What's it called?"

 

"'Got You Where I Want You'."

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"Is it from your world?"

 

"I don't know. I know it's lovely, I have a dream sometimes of him kissing me while that song plays," Galadriel said looking both happy and sad with far away eyes. "I hope we get out of here so I can hear it again and you can hear it for the first time."

 

"If we get out of here, you can use the way station and your bookmark to travel home."

 

Galadriel gave a slight nod.

 

"Lucky said the same thing when we were in his world. It was night but as we walked there were people out walking. I could see their auras and many of them were bleak and dirty like storm clouds. We passed people filled with such anger I could hear their thoughts without much effort."

 

"Maybe your version of Philadelphia will be different." said Brea hopefully.

 

"I know it won't be, Brea because when I went there I just started looking for danger at every person we passed on our way to get Joel. Doing it felt familiar to me the way walking certain streets in Lucky's world did. I never felt that kind of danger except in the darkest lands of Nyx. I don't think I want to go back to that ever again, in the meantime let's find a way out of here."

 

"Before you got here I noticed there's a crystal ball in the far corner, it's what's smothering our powers. I don't have my charm so I've been trying to telepathically roll it into the wall to break it but it's too painful to concentrate for very long."

 

"I'll try."

 

Brea knew Galadriel was a stronger magic user than her, though Galadriel's worked differently than hers and didn't require a charm Brea still crossed her fingers as Galadriel gazed at the crystal ball with its ghostly glow and garbled white roar. Brea could see her eyes flare and glow, the iris' looked like boiling liquid as Galadriel began breathing heavily and tears started to roll from her unblinking eyes. She started to gasp for breath, her face went red from suffocation until she turned away. Brea was now holding her as she gasped for breath.

 

"I....I..." she said, panting with her hands to her temples.

 

"You can't."

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"I can.....just not telepathically. I can move it." Galadriel said, rubbing the wetness from her cheeks.

 

"How?"

 

"My bangs."

 

"Your bangs? I thought telepathy was how you controlled them."

 

"No. I can't explain it but it's like how some people can wiggle their ears or roll their tongue, I can just sort of do it, ya know. It takes physical effort though, I wanna get closer, help me walk."

 

Marcus's plan was to sneak inside the castle unobserved, and get Brea and Galadriel out while Lucky made pretend he was giving up. When he was alone with her and got close enough, kissing close, he could give her a dose of Marcus's special knockout potion made for Zemy. However Marcus's potion was on the tip of a arrow on a wrist mounted crossbow he had never used before whereas Lucky would deliver his potion to Lodack courtesy of a pin prick. Kickswitch and Joel were armed for a fight with Goblins while Edda, with Chumley following at her heels, stayed on the ground and walked alongside them into the canyon where Lodack's castle lay.

 

Joel looked at the high, gray, rough looking canyon walls and felt a chill. They passed a boulder that had runes etched on it that looked faded. Another boulder had a pair of crude drawings with red paint one showed a large man holding a sword facing something or some person with two heads, in the drawing below that the large man was holding his sword aloft, at his feet was the two headed something, hacked to pieces. Joel stared at the drawing for a moment until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

 

"You okay my boy," asked Marcus holding a tall black staff with a sapphire stone shaped like a cat paw on its top. "you're white as a ghost."

 

"Yeah, it's just that...I've been in fights before but never with blades and swords...I'm......afraid of getting cut."

 

He said the last part quickly, too afraid to say he was afraid to die. He thought the wizard would scold him or make fun of him.

 

"You're worried about dying," he said kindly. "there's no shame in that."

 

"How'd you know that?"

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"I can see auras and to be afraid is natural but that doesn't mean we can't take caution in battle. Hold on a second."

 

Marcus unshouldered a large side pack and took out a gauntlet.

 

"Is that a Power Glove?" asked Joel.

 

It looked like one to him, it was mostly black with gray and white but there were dissimilarities to the one he'd played with growing up. The material surrounding the glove was longer, thicker and felt heavy duty, there was the plastic box above the knuckles but it said Forrester Mods on it instead of Power Glove, the NES controller looking part was there but it was hard wired to a miniature keyboard. Between the keyboard and controller was a solar panel similar to the ones on the calculators he used when he was still in school.

 

"Put this on."

 

"Okay," Joel said with a shrug. "what are these little glass beads here under the keyboard?"

 

"You'll see, make a fist." said Marcus.

 

He did and his ears were greeted by a brief whirring noise and his eyes by a flash of green light. Out of the glass beads formed a perfect circle of translucent green that covered Joel nearly completely.

 

"Holy shit man this thing is awesome!" Joel said excitedly.

 

"Hey man I don't remember your Power Glove doing that when we were kids." Lucky said with a laugh.

 

"I'm glad you like it," said Marcus who was clearly pleased. "however I did not modify this device, it was done seventeen hundred years ago by Forrester The Green, a great wizard he mass produced them for a royal army. This shield will protect you from magic and blade and bow and poor financial decisions should those decisions result in being physically assailed by another person."

 

"Hey man," said Joel who opened his hand making the shield vanish. "some of that stuff back at your place. Did you go to another world and find that stuff?"

 

"Me personally no, and besides you gentleman and Galadriel I've never known someone or known someone that's known someone that's honestly been to another world. The few things I do have

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were passed onto me, perhaps later after the battle has hopefully been won we can discuss our respective worlds further."

 

"Fuckin a, man." Joel said excitedly.

 

They continued for Lodack's castle, the sky overhead was black, a breeze whistled through the canyon. They kept an eye in the sky for Zemy.

 

"What will you do if her dragon is up and flying, Marcus?" asked Kickswitch.

 

"It won't be, this is its feeding time and even if that beast is flying around that doesn't change the plan exactly just the order of things to be accomplished. Just be glad there's no Marshals around and keep your staff at the ready, when the castle is in view I'll ascend."

 

They came around a cluster of fallen boulders and heard rambling and saw firelight. Edda made brief, angry huff through her nose, Kickswitch petted her head while shushing her.

 

"Judging by Edda's snorting and Chumley's beady eyes I'd say Goblins are on the other side, I'll have to take flight now. Remember to wait until you and Lodack are alone. When she's under wait for me to come get you, who knows where Nello will be wandering around, I wish I had something more to give you than a thimbleful of my special potion but she'll be probing your mind for any tricks."

 

"Yeah man you're right, that bitch is like a fuckin cockroach." said Lucky sadly.

 

"Just remember the incantation I told you about," said Marcus. "it may sound foolish but it works."

 

"Repeat the words brick wall over and over."

 

"Correct and not out loud, just repeat it in your head. All right I'm off."

 

Marcus pressed a small red button on the side of the jet pack. The turbine fan began to spin quickly and quietly the only sound was Joel and Lucky's gasp as Marcus's easy ascent.

 

"Okay, uh I guess now I go. I hope those fuckin Goblins don't fuck me up." said Lucky.

 

"I don't think they will, not if Lodack wants to sleep with you. She's very superficial." said Kickswitch

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"Yeah I kind of got that feeling." said Lucky.

 

"Just be careful dude," said Joel shaking his hand. "we'll be close."

 

Marcus rose easily and calmly to the dark sky with staff in hand. Below Goblins scurried about unaware of his magnificent flight.

 

"Ignorant beasts, I will piss on you from a great height." he said sarcastically.

 

Ah the wind felt glorious, he was glad he remembered to cast his hat spell to keep his hat from flying off. As he came over the castle he looked towards the rear where Zemy normally slept and ate but the spot was empty.

 

"Hmm." said Marcus who began to look at the sky around him but saw nothing though there was a faint scent of a dragon not far away.

 

Marcus used a free hand to go into a pocket of his midnight blue robe and pulled out the red and yellow Four Loko can he had been drinking. It was half full but was still ice cold thanks to magic, the can was cold and covered with beads of moisture. It was covered in so much moisture that when Marcus rose the can to his lips it slid out of his hand.

 

He had a knee jerk reaction and raised the bottom of his staff hitting the can at the bottom which made a stream of alcoholic liquid shoot out of the mouth and hit Marcus in the face as well as get sucked into the turbine. There was a brief jerk and shriek and Marcus was beginning to slowly descend as the turbine began to slow as well.

 

"Uh oh."

 

Marcus flicked the switch off and on repeatedly making his descent in jerks. The turbine barked and protested, there was a wisp of smoke coming out."

 

"Damn it, why didn't I just drink at home?"

 

He powered down and his descent was a little quicker than he liked he but didn't break anything when he hit the ground though he had no idea where he landed. He quickly cleaned his glasses and tapped a concave button on his staff, the sapphire cat paw on his staff emitted a blue light.

 

"Now where am I?"

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Marcus took a step forward and saw he was next to the castle, the rear of it was the wizard's guess. The wall was covered in soot and claw marks. It was then that Marcus turned and saw Zemy who was standing twenty feet away staring back at him. Marcus raised his wrist mounted crossbow, aimed, fired and missed by some distance.

 

"I need new glasses."

 

Zemy began to growl and ran forward. Marcus pressed the button on his jet pack, it wheezed noisily but he rose as Zemy charged. The dragon went to the air and Marcus shot a beam of blue light from the sapphire paw, it missed but caused Zemy to bank and dive under him, suddenly catching Marcus in an updraft. The wizard did a large loop that was far from smooth.

 

"Bastard dragon!"

 

The jet pack emitted more smoke as Marcus finished the loop and descend once more, this time over the roof of the main castle. Zemy was close behind and agitated.

 

Lucky froze in terror when the Goblins finally noticed him. They squealed and screamed and wailed, raising their claws at him. One of them, a larger one with a bulbous head carrying a black sword gestured at him with the weapon. It screamed and held the blade over its head, greenish black spittle dripped from its angry mouth.

 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah say it don't spray it mother fucker, I surrender." Lucky said, raising his arms up.

 

It took him roughly by the arm but Lucky kept up while it led him across the courtyard then to a door on the far side of the castle. The door was wood with iron bands, carved on the door was a heart with a snake wrapped around it. It opened the door and shoved him through and closed it with a slam. Lucky saw he had landed on top of what he thought was a bear skin rug, but the head on the rug was not a bear but a wolf's head that looked very big.

 

He got up feeling a chill and saw he was in a master bedroom that was shimmering with candlelight but Lucky didn't see any candles. There was a fireplace burning yellow green flames that was possibly making the room slightly stink. Opposite the fireplace was a very large princess bed that had dozens of white stain pillows of various sizes with ornate designs sewn into them.

 

On the left side of the bed was a stone table or altar that had a book and a couple of jars sitting on it, on the walls and the ceiling directly above the bed were mirrors, some of which had runes drawn on them. Lucky approached one of the mirrors on the wall and stopped when he saw his reflection, he was smiling. His reflection was anyway, Lucky put a hand to his face to make sure he really wasn't smiling and felt his lips sitting thin and even on his face. Lucky shook his head in disbelief as did his reflection though it was smiling handsomely while it did so.

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"It's a smiling mirror." said Lodack from behind him.

 

Lucky felt his skin go cold from her gaze and her quiet entrance through the same door he entered. She walked towards him with a pert smile, breasts thrust forward in her tight gown of changing colors.

 

"No matter how much you frown at it, your reflection will always smile back."

 

Her steps slowed as she got closer, Lucky didn't feel her trying to pry into his head, not yet anyway. He fingered the case holding the needle in his back pocket before setting his hands in front of him.

 

"Magic mirror, huh? Wh-when I was a kid my mom took me to a carnival at Johnson field and there was a fun house with a magic mirror." Lucky said feeling horrified talking about his mom with this skank.

 

"So you have magic in your world do you?"

 

In his head he saw himself suddenly surrounded by a pile of bricks, he quickly began to stack them like Lego's.

 

"Does your mother know what a handsome boy you are? Perhaps I could meet her." she said, rubbing his shoulder.

 

He stacked the bricks higher, screaming brick wall in his head over and over while her long fingers traced his back before finding their way to her cleavage.

 

"I guess." Lucky said awkwardly.

 

Lodack eyed him, her eyes traced him up and down as she tried to see his thoughts but they were blocked out. She kept seeing walls that were slowly getting higher. Lodack was more frustrated than suspicious because of her desire to mount him and find out how he crossed over.

 

"Such a shy and innocent boy. But I've seen your thoughts when we first met, sometimes you think about Brea when you touch yourself." Lodack said with a titter.

 

"I uh...."

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Lucky kept building the brick wall but Lodack was on the other side, her thoughts slowly getting through.

 

"Mmm," Lodack said, licking her lips. "you want to fuck me. You need to fuck me, when you do you'll feel things no man has ever felt."

 

Lucky saw glimpses of a woman, not Brea but an attractive woman, young and nubile. Her face was fresh and her body unclothed. Lucky felt himself grow hot, his heart began to triphammer as the face winked at him. The face was blowing him kisses, Lucky shook the face away and redoubled his brick stacking. Lodack snarled.

 

"Oh, is it love" Lodack asked. "is that what you desire?"

 

"So what if I do? Didn't you ever want to be loved?" Lucky asked, feeling angry suddenly.

 

"Of course not, I can cast a lusting spell on any man or woman I meet and they will fuck me harder and better than anyone they've ever loved or dreamed of loving. What's love compared to that, I can cast a spell on anyone I choose and they will do whatever I say."

 

"Except love you."

 

As the words left his mouth he instantly regretted them. Lodack smiled but her eyes went wide as she stepped forward and gave him a knee to the groin, Lucky fell to the floor with a guffaw of pain, it was a hit just hard enough to knock him down. He fell to his side with tears coming out from the pain, he looked up at Lodack who was smiling still.

 

"This is what's going to happen. You're gonna stick your hogger in me and fuck me until one of us screams, then you're gonna take me to the way station and show me how you crossed over and maybe I'll let you keep a testicle."

 

Before Lucky could do or say anything there was a distant explosion and the sound of Goblins screaming. Lodack scowled and stormed towards the door which opened itself and closed itself after she left, despite the noise and the castle literally shaking all around him, Lucky heard the click of a lock. Though he was in pain, he got up after a minute or two and walked shakily to the door.

 

He grabbed at its bulbous brass knob but it wouldn't budge. He was still cradling his balls but the ache was fading, his fear though was growing. He had to get Brea, she was in trouble and it was his fault. It sounded stupid but he believed that because he was willing to admit he'd fallen in love with Brea the first time he laid eyes on her. If he hadn't he never would have gone up with all those times to party in the woods and he would have never fallen down that hill right into Lodack's Marshals.

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"I'm in love with her."

 

It sounded pathetic when he said it out loud. He felt he was no different then Lodack, but it was love instead of lust that got him in trouble and would probably cost Brea her life.

 

"She'll probably get freaked out and call me a creep when I tell her I loved her since we first met."

 

He shrugged.

 

"Then I'm a creep." he said standing up determined to get out of this bedroom.

 

Suddenly the door broke down and Goblins began running in, squealing and wailing followed by glowing blue cats that were meowing angrily.

 

"What in the blue fuck?!" said Lucky who was more confused than terrified at the bizarre arrival but quickly ran out the door.

 

Galadriel walked to the edge of the cell on wobbly legs aided by Brea, the warbling felt like it was coming out of their ears. When they reached the far side they dropped to the floor with groans of exhaustion and discomfort. Brea had a jarring headache, tears were squirting from her tightly closed eyes while she held hands with Galadriel whose eyes were open and swirling like green hurricanes.

 

The roaring white noise grew in volume as soon as her bangs went through the bars. The bass intensified, pounding their ears with nonrhythmic never ending crashes. Crashes that were oncoming and growing into a tsunami wave of discordant cacophony. Brea could hear Galadriel let out a gasp that was wracked with pain, she opened her eyes and saw Galadriel's bangs were slowly extending towards the crystal ball.

 

Galadriel's eyes were partially shut, thin beams of light were coming out of her teary eyes. She was grimacing and her body wobbled back and forth, Brea put an arm around her to hold her still. Brea could feel Galadriel vibrating under her arm, she tried to will her some of her strength telepathically but it made her start to wobble and feel nauseous.

 

"It's.....so.....painful...my.....head...." Galadriel gasped.

 

Brea put her other arm around Galadriel and began reciting a short magical incantation to increase strength.

 

"Mote of light, ray of sun, Goddess Starbrite, increase our strength by one!"

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Galadriel groaned painfully through her teeth as her bangs reached closer, Brea could feel her own hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. She was holding on tight to Galadriel who was still vibrating, repeating the incantation with the deafening white roar in her head that she didn't hear the oncoming roar of Zemy or of Marcus's repeated incantations of damn it. Marcus was running down the spiral staircase with a staff in one hand and a metallic device on his back that was smoking and slightly blackened.

 

"Oh thank the stars I found you! That dragon of hers is hot on my ass.....say what are you doing with your hair Galadriel?"

 

"Crys.....ba.....crys....ball...." Galadriel stuttered.

 

"Chris Ball? Who's he?"

 

"Crystal ball jackass!" said Brea pointing at glowing orb.

 

Marcus quickly understood and raced over to the crystal ball, lifted it over his head and smashed it to pieces.

 

"Well now that that's settled we...."

 

There was a terrific crash on the far wall, Zemy broke the wall down with its heavily armored head shoving the remaining wall aside with its large, muscular shoulders. It saw Marcus and let out a roar when Goblins began pouring in through the broken wall heading straight for Marcus.

 

"Marcus, Brea run!" said Galadriel.

 

The witch quickly rose to her feet bursting through the cell door not feeling the electric shock of the spell cast on it as she went straight for Zemy who's mouth was about to evaporate them all in fire. She crashed into the dragon with great force sending them both back outside as fire erupted from its mouth.

 

"Brea, this way up the stairs shield your eyes!" Marcus said and he struck the floor with the bottom of his staff.

 

There was a silent explosion of blue light and the dozen Goblins screamed and went momentarily blind. Brea ran around the stunned Goblins and followed Marcus up the stairs.

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"Here, I've brought you a spare charm. I've given it an extra charge, I figured Lodack took yours." said Marcus handing her a hand chain bracelet, it shined blackly despite its velvety texture.

 

"She did, thank you, Marcus" she replied excitedly as she put the bracelet on. "what's happening? Are the others here?! Where's Lucky?!"

 

Before Marcus could speak they could hear the scrape of Goblin hooves coming up the stairs behind them.

 

"Let's just get to the roof of the castle and I'll fill you in on the way."

 

They were both on their backs Galadriel was up first but Zemy shot fire and caught Galadriel's hoody, flames burned her left shoulder and chest. Despite the fire she began to pummel and strike the dragon in a frenzied rage.

 

Galadriel delivered an over the head double fisted punch down on its armored beak which cracked like an egg shell. Zemy roared and swung its tail with lightning speed striking Galadriel and sending her backwards into the castle wall so hard she left a small crater. The witch fell to the ground face first, the fire was smothered but she could hardly move from the force of the hit. Zemy scurried towards Galadriel with smoke coming from the sides of its mouth, inhaling deeply to exhale more fire, its mouth opened wide.

 

"For Lothlorien you cock sucka!" screamed Joel who had jumped up and came down holding the sword with both hands, bringing the blade down on the neck of Zemy, the blade cut deeply into its neck.

 

The dragon wailed as boiling brown blood shot out of the gaping neck wound. Joel tried to pull the blade out but before he could it shook him off the sword was still lodged into its flesh. It tried to bite at the sword before it could get it out, Kickswitch came through on her hoverboard along the castle wall, with a line of Goblins following, most of the Goblins toppled over and collided into the dragon which panicked it even more than the injury had.

 

Edda then came from out of the sky and began biting at Zemy's injured neck while hovering, the dragon was still being overrun by Goblins, unable to breath fire because of blood loss and snapping weakly. Even Chumley had joined the fight as he leapt on to the dragon's head, his back claws dug in while attempting to swat its eyes with his front paws. The Goblins steered far away from Chumley, Goblins feared cats more than they did dragons for some reason.

 

Goblins began running over Galadriel, Joel screamed and ran towards them swinging his sword.

 

"Get the FUCK off her!!!

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And just like Kickswitch told him before they charged, that Goblins are stupid and very fearful creatures and if someone is armed and loud they will more often than not runaway which most did. One stood its ground and squealed menacingly at him.

 

"What the fuck did you say to me you fuckin bitch!?" Joel said swinging the sword and hitting its outstretched claw, it stood screaming but not fighting.

 

"Come on you dumb fuckin bitch, FIGHT ME!!"

 

Joel bared his teeth and swung the sword like a baseball bat and struck the Goblin in the face. It fell dead with a low bloody moan.

 

"Yeah fuck you you fuckin strapper!" he screamed as he chased away more Goblins that were squealing at him.

 

Kickswitch began whipping at the straggling Goblins while Marcus arrived jerkily thanks to the jet pack which was sending a thin plume of black smoke, Brea had her arms around his waist, white faced and eyes closed tight. Her face broke into relief at their safe landing.

 

"Watch out!" said Kickswitch as Goblins began to break from her and head towards the blue wizard.

 

"Away with you bastard Goblins I have commanded it!" said Marcus.

 

Marcus made a tube with his hand and held it over the sapphire paw and brought his lips to his hand.

 

"Catus blue feline attakus." he said.

 

The sapphire paw started glowing and out of it tea cup sized feral blue kittens began popping out, meowing angrily and growing into full sized cats as they chased after the Goblins who began to wail and squeal fearfully running away.

 

"Marcus The Truu!" shouted Nello with a large sneer on his face and his staff in hand as he came from the castle's main door.

 

"Ah, the false wizard. I see Lodack has untied her leash, eh holy man." said Marcus with narrow eyes.

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They stood ten feet apart watching each other, watching each other's auras, listening for fearful thoughts but there were none that could be heard by either of them.

 

"I've waited a long time for this cat shepherd." said Nello in a mocking tone.

 

"Of course you have, cuck boy." said Marcus in an easy tone.

 

"What did you call me!?"

 

"Come now holy man, enough talk, it's time to fight."

 

"A wizard's duel." replied Nello. "my choice of weapon."

 

"Alright." Marcus said with a shrug.

 

"Staffs!"

 

Nello pressed a recess in his staff and out of the red gem a long sword protruded from it with a blade that was on fire. On either side of the hand guard of the sword were large fire breathing dragon heads, they were roaring and snarling at Marcus.

 

"Poor choice holy man."

 

With preternatural speed Marcus brought his staff to eye level aimed and shot a laser from the bottom of his staff. It was a modified pen laser Marcus used to try and get Chumley to chase after but he never took to it so he turned it into a weapon and embedded it in the bottom of his staff. Before Nello could react the red ball of light hit his head making it explode, his brains were on the ground before his body was.

 

"BASTARD!!!!" screamed Lodack.

 

A beam of ocher light struck Marcus's staff which broke in half and knocked him to the ground, he let out a cry of pain that was breathless. Lodack stood before them, her face was the color of ash, her gown was turning from dark silver to bloody red as her eyes glowed with fiery amber light. She raised her gloved hands as Kickswitch charged her on the hoverboard, she struck out with her staff turned whip.

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Lodack grabbed the tail of the whip, sparks shot out from her hands but she ignored the pain and pulled the whip with preternatural strength. Kickswitch was ripped from her hoverboard and thrown to the ground with great force, Lodack took the staff and broke it over her leg.

 

"Lodack!" cried Brea who shot a fuchsia colored fire ball at Lodack.

 

It struck her hair which began to burn.

 

"YOU DIRTY FAT CUNT!!!" Lodack screamed as flames climbed up her hair.

 

Lodack raised her hands as bolts of yellow lightning struck Brea knocking her to the ground and covering her like a net. Lodack laughed as her head smoldered, Kickswitch finally rose and charged with a knife but a lightning bolt leapt from Brea and knocked her down.

 

"I'll fry you bitches for the next thousand years!"

 

"Lodack stop!"

 

Lucky stepped out from behind Lodack, she lowered her hands but Brea and Kickswitch were still covered. He saw Galadriel was still on the ground and barely moving while Joel was standing over Galadriel striking at a trio of Goblins, one of them armed with a sword, that were caught between him, the castle wall and the dragon Zemy who was bleeding to death but still tussling with Edda and Chumley. Lodack smiled but her eyes were still wild and burning.

 

"Such a naughty boy, you were supposed to wait for me in the bedroom. Why do you desire a fat pig?"

 

The skin on her face was blackened and cracking, her hair was charred, kinky and cropped to the skull which was blistered. Her eyes were bright and glowed in her darkened face. Lucky felt his stomach turn when her tongue, bloody red and festering with burn blisters, licked her brown lips. She didn't walk but glided over to him like a cloud on a breeze. Lucky fingered his pocket but he was shakily hanging on to the stack of bricks in his mind, Lodack's horrible burned face and very bright, very alert eyes were turning his stomach and reeling his mind.

 

"I, I uh, I luh-love her." he stuttered.

 

"Love, love" Lodack said with a hysterical titter. "love, love! Take me then if you love her, for if you don't I will kill her."

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"I...."

 

"Take me or I'll rip her head off." she said with a lunatic smile.

 

Lodack rubbed her exposed breasts which were browned and glistening from the fire that it reminded Lucky of dark turkey meat. He did everything in his power not to gag as her arms went around his neck, Lucky held his breath as the bricks began to topple over in his mind, leaned in to kiss then she grabbed his wrist which held the special needle.

 

"Stupid boy!" she said throwing him down with preternatural strength.

 

Lodack raised a gloved hand, a large, yellow battle ax rose from her hand. She brought it down hard, Lucky closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable.

 

"NO!" screamed Lodack.

 

Lucky opened his eyes and saw that Galadriel's bangs had caught the ax and was holding it fast.

 

"Suck it bitch!" shouted Joel who suddenly charged with sword in hand and impaled Lodack.

 

The sorceress let out a shriek that was demonic as Joel tried to force the blade deeper into her torso. She struck out and knocked Joel down but before Lodack could do anything else Marcus threw a glass jar filled with tiny brown insects that had silvery wings. The glass broke at her feet and the tiny ant sized creatures began to swarm her like locusts.

 

"Pixie fleas courtesy of Chumley's last flea bath!" said Marcus who learned during his brief engagement to Lodack that she was deathly allergic to pixie flea bites if she sustained too many.

 

Her screams redoubled as the prehistoric looking pests began to crawl on her feet and up her legs, taking little bites along the way. Lodack began beating at her legs with panic, sparks of tiny yellow lightning bolts shot out of her fingers every time she struck her dress. She screamed and tore the hem of her gown as they crawled up her thigh and towards her nether region munching all along the way.

 

More sparks flew, so many that her gown began to catch fire. Lucky saw blood start coming down her leg as the fire on her gown grew. She screamed when she fell to the ground and fleas began to crawl across her breasts leaving tiny bloody bites as her screams prolonged and the rest of her gown caught fire. Lodack began thrashing and her screaming became hoarse wails with licks of flames shot out of her mouth when some of the pixies fleas crawled into her eyes and under her eyelids.

134 RUNAWAY

It was then that Galadriel removed the sword from Lodack's torso and brought it across her neck, killing her instantly, the pixie fleas feasted and paid the others no mind. The net of lightning that had been holding down Brea and Kickswitch vanished. Galadriel sighed then gasped when she noticed the fire had burned away part of her hoody, one of her breasts were slightly exposed. Joel with his head down quickly took off his own hoody and handed it to the witch.

 

"Thank you," she said. "and thank you for saving me from Zemy."

 

"Yeah um well." Joel said trying to sound cool though his face was cherry red. "anything for a fellow Lord of the Rings fan."

 

Galadriel leaned over and gave Joel a kiss on the cheek which made him smile brightly. All of the Goblins were either dead or had runaway, Zemy had bled out, its corpse was letting out noxious, smokey farts, Edda and Chumley were at the sides of their respective masters, safe and happy. Marcus lent a hand to Kickswitch. She stood up and brushed herself off with a deep sigh.

 

"You really need to stop drinking while you fly, Marcus."

 

"Storming a castle is thirsty a business, my friend but I agree. When we get back to my home we'll get to work on new staffs, in the meantime I saw some night shrooms growing in the castle garden during my flight, excuse me for a moment."

 

Lucky ran to Brea, hoping she didn't hear what he said. He kneeled beside her and their arms were around each other before either of them knew it. Lucky was shaking like a leaf from terror and excitement. Brea held him at arm's length and looked at him closely.

 

"I have to tell you something...." they said in unison.

 

They laughed.

 

"You first." he said.

 

"Did you mean what you said to Lodack?" she asked him.

 

"Yeah, I think I've loved you from the moment I first met you and I know that sounds crazy, ya know. Love at first sight it sounds like some crazy bull shit Lodack might say to someone she's trying to screw."

135 RUNAWAY

"Love at first sight sounds like magic to me." said Brea who put a hand on his shoulder.

 

"It does?" Lucky asked with a smile.

 

"When I found the way station I didn't ask it to take me to Philadelphia."

 

"Where did you ask it to take you?"

 

"To the man I would fall in love with."

 

Lucky felt a deep relief and a joy fill his heart.

 

"You're right. It's magic." he said, then kissed her.