A searing flash of light blinded Sellendria. She slipped to a stop with a hand across her eyes, breathing hard and blinking until her vision cleared.
Stifling her murderous rage, she stared in disbelief. The day had gone from morning to evening in a heartbeat. The war… It was too quiet – no swords clashing, no fire or smoke, no yelling or screaming.
“Where did everyone go?” she asked Longbow, but he was no longer with her.
The forest appeared and smelled different as well – a forest for a dry landscape with small scrappy trees and shrubs she didn’t recognise.
Dry leaves and twigs crunched underfoot, while fallen, long-dead branches littered the hard-packed dirt and rocks. Strips of dried bark hung from the forks of branches and littered the ground at the base of most trees.
It was a place of heat and little rainfall.
“Where are we?” Longbow asked as he staggered to a stop beside her, appearing just as bewildered. “Is this an illusion?”
Sellendria felt instant relief at his presence. She wasn’t alone, at least.
He stared at the trees as if he could make them change back to the rich green forest they were a moment before.
With the assurance of an ally, Sellendria’s anger and hatred returned in a rush, renewing her need for vengeance. The mystery could be solved later.
“If it’s an illusion, it won’t last for long without something or someone to maintain it,” she said.
“I’ve never seen an illusion this detailed-”
“There!” Sellendria said as she caught sight of the shapeshifter darting between trees.
The child-sized creature broke cover when he realised he’d been seen and sprinted through the smallish trees, few of which would be taller than sixty feet. Dry leaves scattered underfoot as Longbow changed his stance, aimed and released an arrow.
The shapeshifter dodged and the shaft slammed into a tree inches behind his head.
Sellendria drew magic, forming the illusion of a tiny ball of light. Putting all the energy she could into it, she gestured in pushing motion.
The ball shot away from her palms trailing stardust, flew past the boy and flashed as bright as burning magnesium.
The shapeshifter staggered and turned, squinting.
“Now!” Sellendria cried, her own eyes watering from the flash.
Longbow released another arrow. It punched into the shapeshifter’s chest, knocking him backwards. As the creature hit the ground green energy crackled around the wound.
Elated, Sellendria ran to the fallen creature, Longbow following with another arrow drawn and ready in case the other one came at them.
Bright red blood bloomed into the stolen shirt the shapeshifter wore.
“Where’s the other one?” Longbow asked, his eyes narrowed and another arrow nocked as he watched the forest.
“It has to be close,” Sellendria said. She couldn’t see any movement at all, however.
The dying creature moaned, staring fearfully at Sellendria from a face she knew well – one of a handful of children who’d been born this last half century. The real boy was dead now, killed days ago by the shapeshifter struggling to breathe before her. It was another reason to kill the creature.
“Hurry up and finish him,” Longbow said. “Make sure he doesn’t survive to kill again.”
Sellendria tried to harden herself to what she had to do next – kill in cold blood. She put a hand on her longsword’s pommel, but couldn’t bring herself to draw the blade. She’d never actually killed before – except when hunting, of course. Killing a person suddenly seemed like a daunting experience.
“Sellendria, now!” Longbow said, eyes still nervously scanning the trees. “It might survive if we leave it like this, and we need to disperse with this illusion before we walk into a trap.”
She examined the ground, but found no tracks from anyone but themselves and the shapshifter before them. The entire forest felt like a trap. The fallen leaves, bark and branches begged to be turned into a blaze to rival anything magic could produce.
“I’m not sure this is an illusion,” she said. “I’ve never heard of an illusion so immersive. The forest smells different. I think it’s a trap of some sort.”
“What?”
She turned in the direction they’d come, a new fear gripping her. No, it wasn’t a trap at all. It was an entirely different world. “This isn’t our world, Longbow. I think we crossed through the Veil. It may not even be our universe. The magic being used in the war must have torn the Veil open.”
His stance shifted , betraying nervousness and tension. “You might be right. Is the tear still open? See if you can find it.” Longbow’s ears turned back and forth as he listened for danger. “Unless we get back quickly, we’ll be trapped.”
Sellendria called magic and teased out a spider’s web of resonant energy, casting it in the direction they’d come.
The forest rippled outward, a vertical tear in the fabric of reality illuminating with her spell.
The edges were already beginning to bind themselves back together, tiny arcs of energy resonating across her magic as they jumped between the two halves of the tear, stitching the top and bottom back together and slowly drawing the middle closer. Once the two sides touched, the tear would vanish completely. “It’s healing fast. I doubt we have more than a few minutes.”
“We must go. This shapeshifter won’t survive now.” He released the tension on his bow. “Even if it does, it’ll be trapped.”
Sellendria hesitated, but nodded as she turned back to stare at the dying creature. If the other shapeshifter had come though it would be trapped here too. Better to leave them.
She hated doing so – she wanted revenge so badly, but leaving the foul creatures stranded on another world was close enough. The magic that created them wouldn’t sustain them for more than a few months at best.
A footstep scuffed the ground a few yards behind Sellendria. A thrill of fear jolted through her, but she was experienced enough not to react and give herself away.
Longbow’s ears turned in her direction as he put tension on his bowstring again, an arrow already nocked. Sellendria swallowed, letting her hand stray to her hilt.
The other shapeshifter was trying to sneak up on her.
She gave longbow a slight nod. If the creature moved, she would be ready.
Longbow turned, arrow aimed as Sellendria pulled strength and speed from the magic she’d invested in her pommel’s embedded crystal.
She spun, her body enhanced by magic as she drew and swung her blade with blinding speed.
The shapeshifter, now in the guise of a small human woman with long dark hair tied back in a ponytail, didn’t even flinch as the blade flashed toward her neck.
Time seemed to slow.
Sellendria fought against whatever magic slowed her blade, but it was as if she were swinging through sap. Her mind remained sharp, but her body, the entire world it seemed, slowed to nothing. Even Longbow seemed to be standing still.
The shapeshifter, completely unaffected by whatever spell it had done, casually grasped the blade and pulled the hilt from Sellendria’s hand like an adult taking a child’s toy.
Sellendra stared in surprise, but couldn’t move as the woman turned the blade and swung back at an impossible speed.
The spell vanished and Sellendria tried to react, but instead of swing at her the shapeshifter merely slapped Longbow’s just-released arrow from the air.
The woman swung once more – the edge stopping against Sellendria’s neck without breaking her skin.
Sellendria stiffened and held still, her heart pounding in fear. Her own blade was a twitch away from severing an artery.
The stored magic coursing through Sellendria’s sword suddenly re-attuned itself to the shapeshifter – something that should have taken weeks, possibly months of constant use.
“How…?” Sellendria asked, in awe of the woman’s power. The shapeshifter shouldn’t be able to access Sellendria’s magic so easily.
The human-looking shapeshifter spoke. “Were you planning to-”
Sellendria sprang backward and rolled to her feet as Longbow took her cue and drew and released another arrow.
Time seemed to slow again, slowing her movements while her mind remained sharp.
The woman raised her hand and the arrow flashed into dust.
Longbow’s expression didn’t change, suggesting he was completely caught by the spell, but this time the shapeshifter ‘s eyes narrowed when she saw Sellendria’s mind wasn’t caught like her body.
“Interesting,” the shapeshifter said, openly curious. “Who are you?”
Sellendria felt the constraints of the spell vanish as the last of the arrow’s dust fell to the ground.
“What are you?” Sellendria whispered from a half crouch. Could a shapeshifter even command magic – and such powerful magic at that?
It had to come from a pre-prepared device. She’d have felt it otherwise.
Unwilling to give up, Sellendria drew magic and threw another ball of light in the hope the distraction would give Longbow one last chance with an arrow.
This time, instead of her own reactions slowing, it was Sellendria’s magic that slowed. Almost casually, the woman reached out and took the ball of energy from the air and showed her contempt by displaying it above her palm.
“That’s not possible,” Longbow whispered as the ball winked out of existence. He backed a step, a hand on his quiver but not drawing an arrow.
Sellendria agreed. “A God,” She said as she stood, certain now. It had to be an avatar of one of the twelve Gods.
The woman raised her eyebrows in surprise at the comment. “I’m not a God,” she said. “My name is Patience. Still, I’d like to know why the Gods of your universe have contrived to send a Guardian here.”
Sellendria backed another step, not sure what to make of the comment. She was one of only two remaining Guardians, certainly, but she didn’t quite understand the woman’s comment about Gods conspiring. “Are you going to kill us?” she asked.
The blade didn’t waver. “You didn’t answer my question, Sellendria.”
Sellendria caught her breath with newfound fear. “How do you know my name?”
Patience sighed. “Answer this then. Will you leave the shapeshifters here to kill? I believe your Gods expect more from you.”
The woman might have been able to glean some details about Sellendria’s life from her aura, but not that much. She had to be an avatar of some sort.
Longbow slowly drew another arrow and nocked it. “Princess, get through the Veil to safety.”
The woman warned Longbow with a glance. He hesitated, but aimed the arrow anyway.
Uncertain, Sellendria backed a step, but only one. Patience was between her and the Veil. Even if she ran, she doubted she could get around the woman holding her sword – or the magic which seemed to slow everything.
“I won’t leave you,” she said to Longbow.
Patience ignored Longbow’s threat, focusing on Sellendria instead. “Magic doesn’t prevail here, Princess, and little but magic can kill a shapeshifter.” She moved forward, sword in hand, and used the pointed tip to lift Sellendria’s chin. Longbow drew the arrow back another inch, hands shaking slightly.
“But-” Sellendria began. The pointed steel was cool under her chin, coursing with her own subverted magic. “It’s not my responsibility.”
“Your war released it here, Princess. If not your responsibility, then whose?”
Taking a risk, Sellendria grasped the double-edged blade. The woman, or whatever she was, didn’t release the hilt.
“It’s not my war,” Sellendria said, more hatred in her voice than she wanted to hear. “It’s theirs.” She pointed at the dying shapeshifter without looking at him. “His creators started it, and they perpetuate it. Not us.”
“Your Highness. The Veil,” Longbow said, his voice taking on a desperate edge. He kept his weapon drawn and trained on Patience. “We can’t have much longer. You need to go.”
The woman released Sellendria’s blade and moved past the princess to the dying shapeshifter. Longbow’s arrow followed her, fully drawn and ready to release.
Sellendria almost took the opportunity to run for tear in the Veil, but hesitated when she saw the compassion in the woman’s face as she took the boy’s limp hand. What was she doing?
“Go,” Longbow hissed at Sellendria. “Run!”
Sellendria took a step back, but only a step. She had to see.
“Such a pity,” the woman said. “His flesh is distorted, his mind horribly warped.” She touched his face. “You’ve no idea how much he suffers.”
Sellendria forced herself to watch. Fear dominated the shapeshifter’s child-like face, his breathing shallow and laboured with flecks of blood on his lips, a dribble of blood running from the corner of his mouth. His jerkin was covered in more blood than she thought a person could lose and remain alive.
“Can you speak?” the woman asked. “My name’s Patience.” She cupped his cheek.
The shapeshifter tried to say something, but only produced a bubble of blood, almost choking on it.
Patience turned to Sellendria. “The Gods punished his ancestors, did they not?”
Again, the woman had knowledge she shouldn’t have.
“Yes, and my kind suffer for their rebellion,” Sellendria said.
A silver knife appeared in the woman’s hand as if by magic, but Sellendria sensed no resonance at all. Patience placed the hilt in the boy’s palm, wrapping his fingers around it before helping him position it over his heart. With her free hand she touched his forehead.
“Remember,” she whispered.
The energies binding the shapeshifter’s flesh shattered, green energy breaking over and through his flesh like lightning. The shapeshifter stiffened, his body returning to the form of an adult.
“I remember!” he whispered, eyes wide with pain.
Patience smiled. “May your rebirth be swift, and may your soul find immortality in your next life.”
Patience helped him drive the blade home, bowing her head as he died. A few loose strands of her hair fell across her face as she stared at Sellendria as if gauging her reaction. “Do you know how the faspane make shapeshifters, Princess?”
“No.” She didn’t want to know.
“They begin with a dissenter.” Patience stood, looking up as she was still considerably shorter than Sellendria. “His crime was to speak out against the war. The other shapeshifter is his wife. Her crime was to love him. They could have been your allies.”
“What?” It didn’t make any sense. She’d assumed… She didn’t know what she’d assumed.
“His wife will continue acting in accordance with the magic binding her body and mind. She will kill someone, masquerade as them, and continue looking for you. They burned magic into her body, Sellendria. Do you know what that means?”
“Burned?” Sellendria whispered, shocked. “The magic won’t dissipate naturally. She won’t die until her task is complete or her body is damaged beyond repair.”
Patience inclined her head. “It’s possible she could live for hundreds of thousands of years, constantly seeking to get back through the veil and kill you and your brother. Is that a risk you want to leave behind you?”
Sellendria glanced at Longbow. He nodded.
“Go,” he whispered. “Go now. I’ll hunt the other shapeshifter.”
Sellendria stared at Patience. “I know what you’re asking, but I have duties and responsibilities to my people. My race depends on my brother’s survival, or mine. We’re all that intercede between our people and the Gods.”
“Your brother is safe, is he not?”
“He was alive when I left him, but he could be dead now, for all I know.”
Patience’s expression took on a distant look. “He’s safe, which means your duty is now here – to this world, at least until the shapeshifter has been dealt with.”
Sellendria glanced at Longbow to seek his counsel. He gave a slight shake of his head. No.
Her heart sinking, she couldn’t agree with him this time. Their war had released what could only be considered evil, and it was her responsibility to stop it.
Devastation filled her soul as Longbow recognised her intent, the denial on his face heartbreaking.
They’d probably never see their home again. She’d be unlikely to ever see her brother again.
“We may never find another gap in the Veil!” he hissed, desperation in his voice. “You can’t risk your life any more than you already have.”
She shook her head. “I can’t leave, but you can! Go home Longbow! Tell my brother what happened to me. Tell him I love him.”
“No! I swore I’d protect you. You have to return.” He seemed both angry and confused. Her magic still highlighted the tear in the veil, but the damage was maybe a third the size it had been – a fading scar growing smaller with every moment.
Sellendria touched the blood on her dress. “My father’s gone, Longbow. Nothing holds you to your promise. Renew your vow to my brother.”
“Your brother has no heir but you! You must return!”
Sellendria glanced longingly at the tear through the barrier between universes, the Veil from which the Gods made all things. It was her only way home – and she didn’t intend to take it.
“The shapeshifter is my responsibility now,” she whispered. “I can’t let it walk free on an unsuspecting world. I’m sorry Longbow. Your duty is to my brother now.”
Longbow stared at her with disbelief clear in his expression, but rather than run for the tear in the Veil, he spoke bitterly. “He’d kill me if I returned without you.”
“No. Never!”
“Please Sellendria, go home!”
Blinking tears, Sellendria ignored his pleas. Instead stood stiff and faced the Veil, her heart breaking as she watched it slowly reform into a single curtain dividing the universes.
The forest rippled outward as damage healed and the tear disappeared, trapping her on a strange world forever.
If you liked this, check out where it all started: Prophecy of Power: Quarry.