Flash Fiction #612 -- Portal

 

Once upon a time, a woman rushed into a police station in LA and began yelling about Fae using magic in the city.

"Yeah, yeah," I replied. It wasn't illegal. I worked at the front desk because I was one of the few police officers who could deal with Fae without pulling my gun. "Tell me something I haven't heard."

"They created a portal!"

That was serious. I reached under my desk and activated a screaming alarm that could have waked the dead but mostly warned everyone in the building about serious fae trouble within our district.

One of the first to emerge from the back offices was Detective Halfae, our half-fae consultant. He did not look happy, and his scowl darkened when he heard the problem.

"You might as well wait," he told the others as he magically changed clothing from his suit and tie to fae robes and cape. "It is about time they figured this out. If I turn to dust, you are on your own."

It wasn't entirely a joke.

I keyed off my position and followed him out of the building. None of the others moved to do so, even though there were rules about Hal leaving alone on duty. I didn't always take that rule seriously, but this was the sort of trouble where you didn't want to make a mistake, like leaving your best hope of survival without someone to watch his back.

Portals are dangerous. A single one could get out of control and suck up anything it can reach. I feared for the destruction of the city, if not the world.

We didn't need directions to the trouble. Aside from the shouts of excited Fae, there was a growing sound of thunder in the air. Pressure grew, and I almost stumbled before we came around the last corner.

I don't know how Hal knew I was failing. He spun, caught my arm, and pushed me against the wall of the nearest building. I caught my breath and nodded thanks.

"We have one more turn, and you stay at the corner, Falcon," he told me. "No arguments on this one. Whatever is going on, it is more dangerous than just the portal. Be ready for trouble."

I nodded. I would never argue with a fae anyway, but I appreciated Halfae's abilities.

Hal went around the corner. I inched closer and peeked around the side.

Portals come in different sizes, shapes, colors and powers. They would be helpful if they were stable and if anyone, Fae or otherwise, might control where they led.

What I saw was not promising. The portal was a beautiful circle of gold covered in glyphs. Looking down the street—well, it was already changing the world. Skyscrapers were now towering peaks of stone. A wide street turned into a stone-paved path.

 The other side showed sharp-edged mountains and open grasslands, but there was an overlay of ghost buildings that belonged on this side.

Humans ran away in fear. Fae, on the other hand, gathered in groups and cheered. Hal marched straight toward the largest group of Fae, and I could tell he was unhappy.

"Are you crazy?" he demanded loud enough to shake the ground.

"We made it!" Janal shouted and all but danced. I had never seen him happy, and I didn't like it. "We found a nexus and can go home --"

"Then you had better go fast. I am going to close this portal down."

"You can't!" Janal shouted and then looked pensive. "You really can't. You are only half Fae."

"This is true. But all of you assumed the other half was human."

Janal looked confused and took a step back. A number of Fae were charging through the portal and down the trail on the far side. They didn't look back. Then, a few humans went as well. No one tried to stop them.

I was tempted to join them.

Janal finally took a step closer to Hal and looked into his face. "Tell me what you are."

"I'll do better than to say it. I'll show you."

And he changed -- taller, thinner, his hair longer and silver. When he glanced my way, he looked much as he had before, at least in his face. The bright smile he gave me was unexpected. It disappeared before he turned back to Janal. I crossed to stand by Hal, though. Fae and humans stared at him in shock.

"My father was one of the last of the Elder Race to stay behind and help the Fae settle into life without them. He fell in love with a fae woman, and they had a dozen children before they moved on to the new land with the rest of the Elder Race."

Janal stared. I was the one who spoke. "That means you are one of the Bridges, right?" 

"Nice to know someone understands Fae Lore. Yes, I am one of the Twelve Bridges to help the Fae adapt or move on. So that is your choice, Jana. You and the others. Go to that new realm that harbors all the magic you could want, or stay here and continue living with magic and humans."

Janal didn't like humans much. He turned and sprinted to the portal, with most of the remaining Fae following him.

Once they were beyond the portal, Hal snapped his fingers, and the magic disappeared. Parts of the view wavered momentarily and then returned to a modern view of tall buildings and shop-lined streets.

I regretted it.

"I feared I would have to put up a neon sign saying 'Nexus Here' before they found it," Hal said. He changed back to normal, which was a bit better. "I'll give them a couple weeks and go check. They should have checked the new realm before rushing in. Want to come along? How do you feel about dragons?"

Flash Fiction #611-- Do Not Waken/6

 

I now had a good idea of where to start.

I stood still for a moment and gathered what power I could. Then I formed the ball, tossed it into the air, and shouted a single word.

"Gaia!"

"It is about time you called on me." The woman stood beside me. She came with three other men and must have been the seer with the other group. "Lovely tree and nice dragon."

"Tell me how to keep them alive."

"I don't know the answer, or I wouldn't need you. I can tell you a few things you might not know, and together, we'll all come up with an answer, combine our powers, and deal with it. Here is a clue. Whatever is doing this is not alive as we understand it. And since it is not a part of nature, I have trouble tracking it."

"You made the glass balls."

Gaia looked at me as though I were an idiot. "Of course. And they were not evil, just insistent. If someone with magic arrived, I wanted to know as soon as possible to get them off this realm before it killed them. Sorry about the arrow and your leg. They were trying to scare you away."

"What do we do to find the enemy?" Rose asked. I was not surprised that she was ready for the fight, even though she did not know how to win.

"Oh, you've done quite enough -- for the enemy to come to you," Gaia said, nodding toward the tree and the dragon.

When had that breeze sprung up? And why were the birds calling out in shock and fear? Golden leaves rattle with a frantic tune as clouds spread across the sky. The world went almost night-dark, and we didn't have enough magic to give ourselves light.

Gaia provided one large circle of illumination that showed us the area around us and the base of the clouds.

"Well, this can't be good," Rose said.

"Inside my shirt!" Silver ordered and didn't wait for her answer. He grabbed the Pixie and shoved her beneath the cloth. I had the feeling he had practice at grabbing her out of danger.

I thought she might have said something impolite. We all ignored her. Not that it mattered. The wind came with such a force that even the tree bowed, and I saw many of the gold leaves torn free. The dragon caught hold of the tree and did his best to keep it safe. Fellet worked with him.

Gaia dragged all of us into a tight circle and roped us together with her power. It was akin to our magic but not the same. Still, I could tell even it wavered.

Something moved in the lower level of the clouds. First triangular and then circular, it moved against the wind with no lessening of speed. Appendages that looked like ropes of smoke reached downward.

A few were going to take the tree and the dragon. I threw magic at it, but it was as if nothing was there for my power to touch. I saw the others trying, too.

Then Rose screamed something I could barely hear about the wind. "It is not here! Portal!"

Then, despite Silver trying to grab her again, she got loose and headed straight towards those clouds. I could see some of the magic she was trying to make along the way -- and I finally understood.

"Portal!" I shouted. "Make portals!"

We did. Any of us with magic threw portals into the air, and even if they died quickly, I could tell they were causing problems for whatever was up there. My only genuine worry was that Rose was up there somewhere, too. She was so small that I couldn't see her. I did occasionally see a flash of her magic, though. I thought that might be all that kept Silver from turning into a wolf and howling.

I had a little magic left. The clouds dispersed, showing the black object spinning from one shape to another, sometimes breaking apart and crashing back together with an almost deafening crash.

Dragon rushed toward me and did something odd. He shoved a broken branch into my hands.

It had come from the tree. Even torn free, I could still feel the surge of power and I grabbed it and shot a spear of lightning straight up at the thing above us.

It cracked into a thousand pieces and fell.

I panicked, but there was no danger. The thing had never been fully here, and the pieces disappeared before they reached the ground. We all stood in silence, except for Silver, who paced much like a two-legged wolf. 

Rose fluttered down and would have missed Silver's shoulder if he hadn't plucked her out of the air. She collapsed into his hand, looking bruised and unsettled. It was some time before she could tell us what she'd seen and done.

"I am glad you understood what we needed," she said. "Nearly every portal broke off some of the black and sent it to random space. Very few will have made it to other worlds. But … I don't think it is dead since it didn't feel alive as we know it."

"We will find signs of it again," Gaia agreed. "But for now, the tree and dragon are safe. I suggest you all monitor this realm."

Then Gaia disappeared before we could thank her. Our combined magic had defeated the black- at least for now.

Stejan, Rose, and Silver planned to head back to their headquarters immediately so that they might track some of the non-living creatures. Fellet and I returned to my temple, but only long enough to gather manuscripts I thought might help. I would miss this place, but I felt a lure to helping others again.

Life would be interesting.

Flash Fiction #610 -- Do not Waken/5

 

"Wise," the dragon said.  "But they cannot all be that smart."

"Ten glass balls," Fellet said, looking at the one I now held.  "Two chosen priests purposely broke theirs, saying the evil was too strong and could not be trusted.  The last eight of us broke into two groups and began tracking magic -- like yours -- that we could now sense."

"There were two groups?" Silver asked and looked worried.

Fellet nodded. "They went north, and we went south. I don't really know what was pulling them to that area. It couldn't be another Dragon, could it?  We were always told to stay clear of the northern mountains and the nearby plains.  The Temple of Gaia said there were monsters in that area.  And it is true that anyone who went looking never came back. I lost three cousins that way."

So, our work was not done.  Even now, this ball of power wanted to lead me to a point of power somewhere in the north.  I was about to ask Fellet what they thought might be there when Rose and my good friend Stejan arrived.

No, I had not mentioned that I knew their leader.  That knowledge might have changed attitudes and answers, even in subtle ways.  That was over now, though.  Stejan saw me, let out an uncharacteristic whoop of pleasure, and darted straight my way.

I believe Silver thought he had gone mad.

"Kazir!  My friend!  I never expected to see you leave your temple!"  Then he stopped and frowned.  "This trouble is far more serious than I thought, isn't it?"

"It is more serious than I thought when I left the temple," I replied, and everyone looked worried for the first time. "Something is trying hard to destroy the magic, not just in this realm. I do not know what it might be. However, something is going on."

Fellet looked startled, and I wondered if he considered that getting the magic might be what he wanted. Then he glanced back at the dragon, and something changed in his face again.  I could both sense and see his attitude change from fear to wonder.  The dragon had laid down by the tree and looked like an overgrown puppy, tired from a day of fun.  I had to assume that the dragon, already growing stronger, would be safe from Fellet's former companions.  He was growing in power, although it would be years before he reached his full potential.  Lucky for their large friend, no one would attack him with magic.

The tree was prettier than I had remembered the original. I tried to think back to that time and remember the differences. Instead, I remembered something that made them very much alike.

"I saved the seeds from a dying tree -- on a world where the magic had suddenly disappeared for no reason we could find. It had been a sudden loss, and those of us who happened upon it were busy trying to save what we could. That world is now nothing but dust, and I fear we may have stumbled upon the same thing here."

"You came here because you knew something was wrong," Stejan said.

"I sensed something," I admitted. It was a problem that needed to be fixed. Let me think this out."

We found a place to eat. I made a cake of magic for the dragon, and he looked pleased.

Then arrows rained down around us.  Rose had seen them first and put up a shell that knocked the projectiles back toward the archers. Then, just as fast as they had appeared and fired, they disappeared again. We all waited for more trouble, but nothing more appeared.

"They were not part of my group," I said with a wave to where they had been. "And I did not feel any magic in that attack."

The others looked at each other, waiting for another to say something about the magic. However, I had figured out our problem, which would not make things easier.

"There's obviously something powerful working here," I said, looking around at the others.  "I believe we are dealing with at least one God."

They all looked at each other momentarily, and then Rose landed on Silver's shoulder.

"I think I want to return to the clan tree now," Rose said. Her wings fluttered slightly. "I have had enough adventure."

"You can't go back," Silver said with a shake of his head. "We are both outcasts. We need to stay here and help as we can."

"That's the problem, Silver," Rose replied. "You always bring up the problems to my easy answers."

I already knew they were going to remain and help.

"The Commission to which Fellet belonged had sensed my magic," I said.  "Did that come from the glass balls?"

"No," Fellet replied, and we all turned to him in surprise.  "The seer came from the temple and told us where to go. She said not to wake the dragon, but she was the one who led us straight here."

"Seer," Rose said.  "From the Temple of Gaia."

"She's new. We had gone for more than a generation without a seer in the temple. She arrived a little over a year ago. Everyone said it meant trouble."

"Trouble," I repeated and heard the word echoed in my thoughts but not in my voice.  I lifted my hand toward the tree, but my magic wavered as though pulled elsewhere. The others tried their own magic, but very little came of it. I realized we all knew we didn't have enough power to make a portal back out of this world, and the longer we stayed, the more power we lost.

We had to fix this trouble and do it quickly, or none of us would survive.

Flash Fiction #609-- Do not Waken/4

 

The other said nothing, including the Dragon. Peralin, though, put a hand on my shoulder. Being fae meant I could feel his emotions. That surprised me since he was a Godling. Of course, I wasn't just a normal Fae, but I wasn't anywhere on his level.

The golden leaves made bell-like sounds in the breeze. I heard birds call out in various areas and then Rose landed on my shoulder.

"This is the myth of the one tree, home to all the pixies before we split into Clans. How could you do such a thing to bring something so beautiful into the world just with a wave of your hand?"

"Yes," Peralin agreed.  "I could not have done it."

"I am ancient," I admitted, something that was not obvious by sight, being an eternal fae.  I had also done my best not to let my attitude betray me.  "For thousands of years, I have lived in a mountain temple, forgotten by everyone but me. When I knew that there would be no others, I memorized everything they had written. And then I went looking for their hidden and sacred treasures."

"The Temple was older than you," Rose realized. It took most people a lot longer to put that part together.

"Much older than me. Older than all the rest of us. And you know what I found?"

"Seeds," Peralin replied. "You didn't just send out a wave of magic, you also put a seed into this world."

"The roots of that tree will soon spread magic throughout the world," I told the dragon.  He had a hard time looking from the tree to me. "This world will be better for it.  You and this fine young priest will have to deal with those who want to destroy the tree, though. Nor can you allow anyone to be killed within sight of the tree. In a few years, others may come to take your place once the people have accepted the return of magic in this world."

The priest gave several nods of nervous agreement.  Neither the Wolf nor the Pixie made any comment about my setting this up without discussing it with them. Of course, they might come back and settle things of their own accord later. But for someone who had not dealt with any other creatures except those in the wild for longer than this world existed, well, I thought I was doing better than expected.

"Stejan felt a portal open on this world where there was no magic," Rose said with a quick nod. "Then he found your two companions, and they were frantic to get you back. So, he sent us in, but you were the one who made the first portal, right?"

"They were fae from the nearest village, which was still days away from where I had been living. Once they understood I was the eldest among the eldest, and they wanted nothing more than to serve me. I soon realized that I would need others with me because I lost contact with the real world. Besides, what I had sensed in this strange realm was a trouble that might take more than even me to fix. And that brings us to the question of the Commission."

We turned to the priest, who now at least looked steady, although he was keeping his distance from the Dragon. I didn't blame him, even though the creature had shown nothing but calm and understanding.

"We woke up one morning to find an odd altar sitting in a village square. From it came a voice saying that these were gifts to help us fight against the magic that was coming for us. On the altar were several pieces of glass shaped into perfect balls."

He reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out something wrapped in cloth. The cloth unfolded and showed a glass ball that fit nicely in his palm. It glittered from within in swirls of color moves through the glass. Rose was the one who came closest to it and hovered over this gift that none of the rest of us trusted.

"No," Rose said with a shake of her head. "That's not something you want loose on this world. Silver, I'm going to go get Prince Stajan.  I think we've found a key to what has been happening n other places."

Silver nodded.  He took one step closer to see the ball, but he did not want to touch it.

Rose had called up the smallest portal I had ever seen, and she darted in through it.

"Maybe I should put this down," the priest said and began to kneel.

I saw disaster in that move, so I leapt forward and grabbed the ball as it started the fall out of his hand. I startled and worried everyone with that move and I feared Silver was going to turn into a wolf on me and I didn't know what I would do to reason with him.

"If that glass had hit the ground, we would have been hunting it down for the rest of our very long lives. I can hold on to it for a while longer before I start feeling any of the effects. I really don't know how these humans have managed not to succumb to all whispers from it. You heard them, right Fellet?"

That I knew his name startled the man, who gave a quick nod. "Before any of us could pick up the glass, our priest devised tests to make sure we would not fall under its influence.   I could hear the voice telling me fate had destined me for greater things. It was the wrong approach. My father was an area governor, and they assassinated him when I was ten. They killed my grandfather before that, and they took away my mother and my sisters. I only escaped because I was already in the temple. Should I want more?"                

Flash Fiction #608 -- Do not waken/3

 

"Run!" Rose yelled.

I barely heard the word over the strange rumbling roar that came from the ground.  Everything trembled.  I'd never been in an earthquake before, and I did not like it.  Then I wondered why we were running.  We didn't want to be around those trees that kept swaying --

"Dragon!" Rose yelled as she reached me.

I ran.

My leg was not up to this sort of workout, though.  I was slowing down within a yard and desperately trying not to fall. Four people -- the Commission -- charged past me in pure panic. I almost stumbled.

And that angered me. I grabbed hold of the next member of the Commission who went past me. He looked like he was about 30 and dressed in a long white toga that probably melted some high standing in the temple or something. I didn't care. I began shaking him, and he made incoherent noises.

"How in the name of all the gods can you have a dragon on a world without magic?" I demanded.

That question didn't reach the person I was holding, but it had Rose and Silvers's attention. When Rose landed on the man's shoulder, he almost fainted, and the ground shook even more.

"We're going to stay here until you give me some answers," I told the man. He focused back on me and took a couple of deep breaths.

"The Dragon was from the far past, back when we still had magic everywhere," he had a singsong voice that made me think I was right about him being a priest. "The Dragon was the last, and he went to sleep saying he'd return when magic came back. And the three of you came straight over him with your magic --"

"A couple of points to consider," Silver said as he took hold of the man this time. The ground wasn't shaking so much at the moment. I had the odd feeling that something was listening to us. "First, we didn't go over the Dragon; you did. I don't know where you got your magic, but it is much louder than what we use. You do not know what you're doing, do you?"

"And second," Rose added, as though she knew precisely what Silver would say. "If instead of chasing after us and getting us straight to this place, you could have told us there's a dragon in this area. We wouldn't have come running straight to it."

The priest gave several quick nods, but I suspected he heard nothing we'd said. Then, the ground convulsed, sending boulders and dirt everywhere. The three of us went straight to our knees while Rose leaped into the air.

When everything settled, I could see a shape not far away—a big shape still shaking some of the dirt off of him.

"Dragon," the priest said, waving toward the creature. Then he fainted and fell face down in the mud. I turned him over. I still had more questions.

Silver was the first of us to get back to his feet. I did the same, though I wasn't sure I would stay there for long. The priest's eyes fluttered open for a moment and then closed again. I looked around for the others, but they must have returned to the forest and disappeared.

"What do we have?" Silver asked as Rose circled back to us again.

"Something I've never seen before," she said. "It's a green Dragon, but I thought those were gone eons ago. I don't remember the stories about them."

"We may have to contact Prince Stejan for help. This might be more than a wolf and a pixie can handle."

"Perhaps you should ask me my intentions first," the Dragon said. He had moved until he was barely a yard away. None of us had heard him make a sound to get there. "You know what I was doing in the dirt?" he asked.

"I assume you fell into a trap," Silver said.

"I was there because I made an ancient promise not to return until the magic grows again.  It has been a long time … but you three are not from this world, and this one's magic isn't his own.  I think I made a mistake waking up now."

He sounded despondent.  I looked at Rose.  There had to be an answer for him.

"There was magic, but it disappeared?" Rose asked.

The Dragon looked at where she hovered and looked surprised and pleased.  "I have seen nothing like you!  And so much magic in so small a body.  What a wonder you are!"

"I am a Pixie," she explained, landing on Silver's shoulder. "There are many of us in my realm."

"I shall dream of you for many eons," he said.  I saw he was digging a hole with one paw.

"No, wait.  There has to be a better answer!"

"I promised," he said.  "Dragons never break a promise."

I looked around as though I had missed an obvious answer.  "All you need is for magic to return, right?"

"All," he repeated with a shake of his gigantic head.  "As if you could call magic up at a wave of your hand."

"But I can," I said and did so, Although it wasn't easy.

I remembered a story, though. More than a story, it was a fae myth—something so old that even we couldn't tell if it was true or not. But I could make it true in this realm.

I made a tree.

Not a normal tree, of course.  This one sprang from the ground with silver bark and golden leaves and towered over even the Dragon in a few heartbeats.  It was the embodiment of magic.

I wasn't done.