Ignoring her protests, Cat immediately shoved Pyrah into her pocket dimension where she could do no more harm. She rushed over to Daelen and managed to lay him on her bed while she forced herself to think her way through the panic. Poisons were something of a druid speciality. Most toxins, she could simply take into her own body, bit by bit, and then filter it out before absorbing a bit more and cleansing that, and so on until the poison was all gone. But Pyrah’s venom was no ordinary poison. If it could paralyse and kill an albeit split and weakened shadow warrior, what would it do to a mortal girl like her?
She searched her brain for anything she had learned that would help her. What use was all of her studying if it couldn’t help her when she needed it? For a moment, she couldn’t see past the irony that both Mandalee and Dreya had wanted to kill Daelen and she had stayed their hands. Yet she had almost done it once already and by the looks of it, the second time might be the charm.
“Wait!” she gasped out loud. “That’s it! That’s the answer!”
She quickly put the pieces together, threw her robes around herself and ran up on deck, yelling frantically for the captain with her voice at the same time as calling desperately for Mandalee with her mind.
The captain came running. “Lady Catriona! Master Daelen said, according to the plan, you can’t be on deck.”
“I know, it was my plan, but to hell with that now. There’s been an accident, and we need to rendezvous with the Dolphin as fast as possible. Faster, even.”
“But we don’t know where they are!” the captain protested. “It was part of the plan that we wouldn’t know.”
“I’m getting their co-ordinates now!” she snapped, “I just need to know ours.”
When she felt Mandalee in her mind, Cat projected ‘location’ ‘co-ordinates’ and ‘come here: emergency.’
There was a pause as Mandalee consulted with the Dolphin’s crew before sending over what Cat needed. Cat shared the co-ordinates with the captain and sent over theirs in return. Cat gave both verbal and sympathic orders for the two ships to come about to exact opposite headings as fast as possible.
Mandalee projected her intention to call for her giant albatross to give her a lift, but there was no guarantee that it would be any quicker than if she came by ship. There wasn’t anything they could do about the speed of the Dolphin, but Cat could certainly do something about the StormChaser.
“Captain, tell your crew to batten down the hatches or whatever it is they do in extreme weather,” she urged him.
“Why?”
“Because, well, you remember that storm Daelen just got rid of?”
“Yes?”
“Well, I’m about to bring it back again, and it’s going to push us to the Dolphin.”
Even as she spoke, the wind began to pick up, blowing harder and harder.
The captain’s eyes widened. “But Lady Catriona, if it’s too much, I don’t have a full crew, we may not be able to handle it. You could tear the ship apart.”
“Better Daelen’s ship than Daelen himself.” Cat was out of patience. She was beginning to see why Daelen acted the way he did. She rounded on the man, eyes blazing. “Look, Captain, when Daelen gives you an order, do you stand there arguing with him?”
“Well, no, of course not, but—”
“While he is incapacitated, I am in charge, and you will do as I say! If you have a constructive idea, I will listen, but question or debate with me one more time until this crisis is over, and there’s a life raft with your name on it. Alternatively, I may decide to do this.” She shifted to leopard form, advancing on the Captain, teeth and claws on full display. She changed back. “Now, will you comply?”
The terrified man declared, “Yes, Ma’am!” and with a salute, he ran to relay orders to the crew.
Cat may not have had her sea legs when she first boarded the ship, but she found them pretty quickly when it mattered. The red and white sails furled in the winds that battered the StormChaser. The crew were running around, trying desperately to hold the ship together under extreme pressure. It was difficult for Cat to keep the wind blowing consistently in the right direction, but one of the crew, she didn’t know his name, called out to her whenever they began to stray off course, so she could correct it.
At last, the lookout spotted another ship at extreme range. A quick sympathic communication with Mandalee confirmed it was the Dolphin. Communicating further, Mandalee told Cat her lift had arrived. In response, Cat allowed the high winds to move away and calm down, slowing their momentum to make it easier for the giant albatross to approach and land on the StormChaser, safely.
Mandalee vaulted off the bird onto the deck, and Cat took her below to her cabin where an unconscious Daelen lay still on her bed.
“What did you do to him this time?” the assassin wondered.
“I didn’t,” Cat answered. “Pyrah did. I have a plan, but it’s going to need all four of us.”
“Four?”
“You, me, Shyleen and Pyrah.” Seeing Mandalee hesitate, she demanded to know what was wrong. “We have to act fast.” she insisted. “Daelen’s nature will hold the venom back for a while, but not forever. He needs our help.”
“Maybe this is a sign,” Mandalee considered. “Remember my contract?”
Cat nodded, no idea why she’d bring that up now.
“My client appeared to me again on the Dolphin and told me I would soon have another chance to stop Daelen destroying the world. Maybe this is how: we let him die.”
“But if he dies, what about Kullos and his army?” Cat challenged her. “I’m not saying Daelen’s a hero – to be fair, neither does he – but I honestly think if he dies, we all die. If Daelen lives, with your help, we can stop him from doing anything too rash. We can’t do anything about Kullos. Only he can. Plus, as I told you before, you’re forgetting who and what you are. You’re not just an assassin or a hunter, you’re a cleric, and right now, that’s what I need. Forget past contracts, forget future visitors. This is the present, and it’s your choice: kill or cure?”
“This is what Shyleen was trying to tell me,” Mandalee realised. “She said I needed to reclaim the parts of me that I left behind two years ago.” After a moment, she made her decision. “I’m with you, Cat. No matter what’s happened in the past, no matter what happens in the future, I’m with you. How do I help?”
Cat took Pyrah out of her pocket dimension and explained what she’d put together: Clerical magic had a temporal element. Clerics healed by returning the body to its pre-injured state. Trouble was, Mandalee didn’t know enough about Daelen’s physiology to do that. But thanks to her link with Shyleen, she understood well enough how a mortal body worked. Including that of a half-Faery. Through their shared sympathic link, Pyrah could provide exact details of her venom. Therefore, as Cat extracted venom from Daelen and took it into herself, Mandalee would have to simultaneously counteract the toxin and reverse the damage to Cat’s body.
The whole procedure took about an hour, after which time both young women were drained with the effort, but the venom was gone, and there was nothing to do now but wait.
Cat decided her original plan was well and truly scuppered now. If Kullos or her Monster were indeed watching the StormChaser for signs of unusual activity, they had just waved and shouted, and held up a big sign that read, ‘Hi, we’re here, look at us!’ So there seemed no harm in allowing the two ships to pull alongside each other so Shyleen could come over and rejoin Mandalee. At the same time, Pyrah, seeing that her services were no longer required, chose to remain aboard the StormChaser in the cargo hold, out of harm’s way.
Cat decided they should travel directly to Daelen’s secret island. “There might be…” she searched her mind for the unfamiliar words, “technology there that can help him recharge.”
“There might be what there that can help him do what?” her friend asked, confused.
“Best as I understand, a kind of magic-that-isn’t that will help him regain energy.”
Mandalee considered that and offered a weak, mischievous smile, even as her eyelids drooped over her eyes.
“That explanation made a surprising amount of sense…by your standards.”
With that, she passed out.
Cat could feel herself going, too, but fought it off long enough to call for the captain who she knew was hovering nervously outside the door.
“Best speed to StormClaw,” she ordered. “Forget us. Help Daelen, understood?”
The druidess barely saw the salute or heard the, “Yes, Ma’am,” before she was out. The last thing she did hear was that eerie voice again:
White faction second attempt gone. One attempt remains.
*****
Morning came much like any other day, and Catriona noticed that she and Mandalee had been moved to adjacent beds in a strange room filled with more of this technology that seemed to always consist of tiny lights that flashed, sounds that bleeped and screens that displayed incomprehensible information that somehow meant something to somebody. Beside the bed, there hung small, transparent bags of a colourless fluid that dripped into a clear, flexible tube that alarmingly seemed to be stuck in her arm.
Beside her, Mandalee stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and began to assess her surroundings as Cat had done a moment ago.
“Don’t panic, Mandalee,” Cat called out gently.
Mandalee turned her head to face her. “Why is it that whenever someone says, ‘don’t panic,’ it just makes me want to panic? What’s all this…stuff? What’s it doing to us?”
“Well, this ‘stuff’ is technology. Beyond that, I’m not sure,” Cat admitted, “but I don’t think it intends us any harm.”
“Really? Because I have to say, from what I’ve seen of this ‘technology’ so far,” the cleric looked pointedly at the tube in her arm, “I’m not a fan.”
“Well, you’re attuned to nature at least as much as I am,” Cat pointed out, “so you tell me: what do you think is in these bags?”
Mandalee sent out her magical senses and replied. “Water, mostly, with a bit of salt dissolved in it.”
“There, you see? Harmless,” Cat reassured her. “You know how, when we’re healing, sometimes we have to rebalance the patient’s body fluids?”
Her friend nodded. “You think it’s like that?”
“It makes sense. Given what we went through, I’m sure we needed it.”
“True,” Mandalee agreed, “but I like our way better.”
“So do I.” Catriona nodded.
“Sorry, ladies, but I don’t have your magic,” came Daelen’s voice from the doorway. He stepped between their beds. “Welcome to StormClaw Island. Not the first impression I would have liked to give you, but under the circumstances…” he shrugged.
After checking what he called ‘readings’ on the ‘instruments,’ he asked how they were feeling.
“Don’t your ‘instruments’ tell you that?” Mandalee asked, still not sure she liked or trusted him and his ‘technology.’
“They do, but it’s always good to see if they match up with what the patient says.”
Mandalee had to admit she felt better, other than a slight discomfort where the tube went into her arm. Cat echoed the sentiments, so Daelen declared them fit to be ‘discharged.’
“Wait!” Mandalee cried, “You’re going to take our energy? We only just got it back!”
Daelen didn’t understand, but Cat felt she was getting a better handle on the language and explained that ‘discharged’ in this sense wasn’t the opposite of how she’d described ‘recharged’ earlier. Daelen confirmed he just meant to release them from their treatment.
The two friends got up, and Daelen turned his back while they dressed. He apologised for stripping them down to their underclothes while they were unconscious, but it had been necessary to examine them properly and put in the drip.
Mandalee reassured him that she understood, and he could turn around now.
He did so, explaining, “Your arms might be a bit sore for a while.”
The cleric snorted. “I think you’re forgetting you’re talking to a pair of magic healers, Daelen.”
Cat nodded. “We already took care of that.”
“Or you could do that,” Daelen agreed.
He also apologised to Catriona for bursting in on her when she came out of the shower.
Mandalee took the opportunity to remind Daelen how dismissive he had been when they first met, and point out that the shadow warrior had, in fact, needed healing from a mere mortal, after all.
“Lesson learned, I trust?”
Looking suitably admonished, Daelen replied, “Believe me, you two are making me revise my opinions on many things. I was rude and obnoxious to you, and I can only apologise.”
“Well, I think being bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in the cosmos is probably punishment enough,” the assassin allowed.
“Congratulations, by the way,” Cat added, “you have the honour of being the first person in history ever to survive a bite from one of Pyrah’s species. But unless you want to try for the record of surviving a second bite, I suggest you apologise to her, too, the next time you see her.”
“Me? Apologise to her? She was the one who nearly killed me, remember?”
Catriona shrugged. “How would you react if a giant stepped on you the way you stepped on my poor snake?”
“I see your point – I don’t think the giant would be so lucky as to survive. How is she, anyway? I’m surprised my power didn’t fry her.”
Cat shook her head, and told him, “As you know, Pyrah’s Ysirian. She absorbs power from anyone she bites. You gave her the mother of all headaches, but she’ll be even more dangerous than she was before.”
Daelen’s eyes widened. “In that case, I’ll definitely have to apologise.”
Cat smiled, and in a conspiratorial whisper, confided, “Actually, she wants to ask a favour, that you don’t tell a soul about what happened. She’s got a reputation to maintain, you see – she’d be the laughingstock of the nest if word got out that she’d attacked someone, and they still lived.”
Given this new perspective, Daelen agreed, “I can relate to that. Her secret is safe.”
“In that case, she’s willing to call it quits. On the plus side, I’m willing to bet that if her venom is so effective on you, with her increased power, she could be a serious threat to Kullos. We have gained knowledge and survived. By my reckoning, the balance comes down on our side.”
“Easy for you to say,” Daelen grumbled, “after you nearly killed me…again.”
On sudden impulse, Cat hugged Daelen and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I know. Let’s make a pact to have no more accidents, shall we? I’m glad you’re OK.”
“So am I,” Mandalee agreed, though she wasn’t going to kiss him.
“First you try to kill me, then you save me,” he remarked.
“What can I say?” Mandalee shrugged. “I’m fickle like that.”
“Then I’ll try and keep on your good side from now on!” Daelen chuckled. “I’m glad to have you with us. It’s obvious that you two are going to make a formidable team.”
Mandalee smiled, remembering the old days when they went demon hunting together and factored in how much both their powers had advanced since then. “You have no idea,” she declared.
Daelen led them out of the medical wing of his facility, to his training centre, where he practised and honed his fighting skills. Next to that was a dining area where he invited them to sit while he brought them meals that cooked in just a few minutes in something he called a ‘microwave.’
“OK, now this is technology I can get behind,” Mandalee approved as she sampled her meal. Catriona was in full agreement and bombarded Daelen with questions about how it could cook so fast. She quickly lost interest, however, when she learned it had nothing to do with temporal magic.
Getting them both a drink, he left them to it while he resumed his training routines. As they watched him through the window, the shadow warrior stripped down to the waist, showing a toned, muscular body. He began doing flips, twists, and other well-timed stunts. Catching Catriona’s eye, he winked at her.
She just smiled and shook her head. “I didn’t realise Daelen had such a playful side,” she remarked, momentarily forgetting she wasn’t alone.
Her friend leaned close and asked, “Do you want me to leave, so you can stare at his body in peace?”
Cat whirled her head around to face Mandalee’s crooked grin. “What are you talking about? I’m just…looking, that’s all!”
“Yes, looking intently – also known as staring,” she teased. “Or if you don’t like that word, how about this one: flirting?”
Cat, blushing deeply, protested, “I am not! I’m just…getting into character, you know, for when we go to Calin’s Tower.”
Her friend nodded knowingly. “Right,” she deadpanned, making it clear she didn’t believe a word of it. “Getting into character. Got it.”
*****
When he saw they were done eating, Daelen rejoined them and announced that he wanted to show them ‘something special’ before they left for Esca and Calin’s Tower.
Mandalee whispered in Catriona’s ear, “If his ‘something special’ is what I think it is, I’m leaving you to your perverted desires.”
“I do not have desires,” she whispered back. “Perverted or otherwise.”
“Come off it, Cat, he probably wants to put part of himself inside you again.”
“How do you know about that?”
“Sympathic link, remember. When you called for help, a few things leaked out. Hey, is that what happened? Did his essence just sort of ‘leak out’?
The druidess was turning an ever-deepening shade of red. “Are you going to be like this all the time from now on?”
“Oh, yes,” Mandalee replied nodding. “All the time.”
“What are you two conspiring about?” Daelen wondered.
“Nothing!” Cat replied too quickly.
“Just speculating on what your ‘something special’ might look like.”
“Shut up!” Cat hissed.
“Make me!” Mandalee shot back.
Daelen led them to what he called his portal room. Upon opening the door, all banter momentarily ceased as they saw half a dozen shimmering blue Prismatic Spheres, identical to what he typically used to transport himself across the face of Tempestria.
“These are my doorways to other worlds,” he declared, dropping the concept into the conversation as casually as he might have introduced his wine cellar.
“Other worlds?” the two women gasped.
“Oh, have I impressed you two at last?”
Cat gave him a playful shove for his trouble.
‘Flirting!’ Mandalee sent, sympathically.
“So, there are other worlds,” a distracted Catriona mused, more to herself than anyone else, pointedly ignoring her friend. “She’s been right all along.” Dreya would be extremely interested, she knew. “I can’t wait to tell her about this.”
“Who’s that?” Daelen wondered.
It was an innocent question, but Catriona’s expression was one of shock and anger at herself, for giving away free information she hadn’t intended to. With the magically backed promise, such a mistake shouldn’t even have been possible. Unless the effects of these other worlds were disrupting the magic, somehow. She recovered quickly, though and dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. “Oh, just someone I’m acquainted with.”
“All part of your million research projects, Cat?” Mandalee suggested, inadvertently coming to her rescue. “Or part of your project to impress your new shadow warrior boyfriend, perhaps?” she added under her breath.
Rolling her eyes, Cat nevertheless grabbed the lifeline and agreed, “Yeah, that’s it. You got me.”
Daelen explained that this was where he disappeared to for long periods in between battles with Kullos and ‘Aden.’
On the other side of each portal, lay a similar facility on a different world. One was a world ruled by dragons, while in another world of high technology, the dragons were themselves hunted down. Another portal led to a world filled with a myriad of strange sentient creatures, where the essence of magic itself was dangerous. One world was mostly aquatic, while another was home to a sentient forest. But the one in which he spent most of his time was a world without magic called Earth. The latter was where he intended to take them so they could train for just under a month, before returning to complete their voyage.
“We don’t have time for that,” Cat pointed out. “We’d be late for our rendezvous with Michael.”
Daelen shook his head. “That’s the beauty of it. Time doesn’t work the same there,” he explained. “We can spend nearly a month on Earth, and that’s only about seven days here.”
“Why is their time so different?” Cat wanted to know.
Again, Daelen shook his head. “You don’t understand. Earth isn’t weird – Time there is just the same as everywhere else on the mortal plane, as far as I can tell," he clarified. "It’s Tempestria that’s different.”
“What?” his two guests demanded.
Daelen shrugged. “I’ve no idea why, but your world is out of sync with the rest of the universe.”
Before Mandalee and Cat had a chance to come to terms with Daelen’s revelation, he portalled them all to the Dolphin, which was now moored on StormClaw. The shadow warrior thought the combination of the unremarkable vessel and his perception filter was the best way to visit Calin’s Tower. Their cover may have been blown in terms of their voyage across the ocean, but that was no reason to cause a stir on Esca by turning up aboard the StormChaser.
Catriona rewarded his clear thinking with a hug. She was excited at the prospect of finally getting to see the place and thanked him for taking her with another kiss on the cheek, which prompted another round of teasing from Mandalee.