Coil of Worlds

The pitiful scream cut off with a suddenness that pleased his bloodthirstiness. The Malirran flicked the blood off his blade before bringing it up in front of his face; the splatters weren’t noticeable in the wash of red already covering the filthy, tiled floor. He waited for the energy, the power, to quicken within him. Although he had been particularly brutal, postponing the sacrifice’s final death throes for as long as possible, it didn’t come. He’d worked to preserve this one’s life longer than the others, so he should have felt Semnac’s power immediately flow into him after his prey’s death.

In indignation, he kicked the chair, wincing when his action jarred his healing body. Upon learning this land held no recognizable healer, he’d hunted down a woman who looked competent enough to handle his needs. He’d forced the woman to stitch his knife wounds before killing her, her pitiful whimpers irritating him. Her constant cringes would have satisfied his need for fear, but the pain and fever maddened him, causing him to react without thought.

He fell back against the rusted wall with a groan, gazing around the empty, decrepit room. Regret curled in his stomach. Though he could feel his wounds fester with each hour, it wasn’t enough to want the cowering woman’s presence. The objects left behind by its former owner still made no sense. The chair he understood, but there were tools on the table that he didn’t recognize. He stayed because he knew of no place else to go.

Why was the Goddess not answering his call? Had he not properly prepared the sacrifice? Alone in this place, he had no means of determining why.

He said aloud to the large, vacant room, “This time Semnac will have no choice but to hear me prayers. Once she hears me, I will triumph.”

He’d go hunting again once the sun fell. Perhaps the Goddess wanted him to kill more than one person at a time. He would give her what she wanted. Only with Semnac’s power could he return home.

¤¤¤

Without a doubt in her mind, Lara knew. Staring at the corner store’s darkened windows, Lara stopped Skye in the middle of the wood-planked sidewalk by yanking on his arm. One look at the store, and everything clicked into place. Skye asked her a question, but she was helpless to answer. It all flooded back.

Walking into the store. The kind, ancient woman. Her little excursion into the back of the shop. The coil.

It was the damned coil.

“Oh God, I’m an idiot. Such a goddamned idiot,” she growled under her breath, making sure no one else overheard her. On autopilot, her eyes never losing sight of the building, Lara maneuvered them off the busy path, away from the tourists.

Unbelievable.

She was close to finding the answers that had eluded her since her first trip to Aradun. The door to the store was across the street, only yards away.

How could she have been so stupid? How could she not have known? Lara never once suspected the coil on the numerous occasions she considered how she traveled to the other planet. Self-recrimination came to the fore, filling her with disgust at her own forgetfulness. Even as she shivered in the cold mountain air, she laughed in disbelief. All this time, and she had to walk by the place to figure it out.

For Skye’s sake, she gestured toward the store. She hissed, “That place, there, is what makes me travel to your planet. It all started there.”

Skye studied the storefront. “There are too many people here,” he murmured. “Let’s find a less crowded place to talk.”

While she stared at the store in disbelief, he scanned the immediate area and pulled her behind him. When she dug in her heels, he told her with impatience, “Come. You must tell me more.”

With untouched snow crunching beneath their shoes, they paused at the edge of the alleyway. Lara wrinkled her nose at the stench wafting from the large, blue trash bin sitting a couple yards away. Lara took a few steps back into the street. She thought the cold was supposed to keep food from spoiling.

With some effort, she dismissed the smell and tilted her head to peer into his serious eyes. “You were right about coming here. I visited that store on my last day here. I didn’t buy anything else but the package from that store. I wouldn’t have even bought anything at all, except the woman acted weird. She was ecstatic when I entered the store. She pushed this coil on me at an insane low price. I didn’t even have to bring her down. At the time, I thought she was hard up for a sale. I didn’t think too much of it at the time. Just looking at the design, you can tell it is worth far more than what I paid.” Lara shivered. “It was really old, too. I have no idea how old, but it felt old.”

“Where is this coil now?”

“That’s the awful part. As soon as I got home, I put it up over my bed. That was the first night I traveled to your planet.”

“Did the woman tell you anything about the coil?” Skye asked, a visible puff of air coming from his mouth.

“Just something about dreams.” Staring down at the ground, Lara frowned as she fought to remember. She waved her gloved hands in front of her. “Wait. I didn’t think anything of it, but the old woman did say something about hanging it above my bed. When I got home, I tried it in a few spots on the bedroom walls, but it looked the best above my bed, so I hung it there.”

Skye nodded, mirroring her frown as she thought through the dilemma it presented. In order to return to Aradun, they had to drive back to Dallas. It was the last place they should go; the police were looking for her. The make and model of her car was on file, and the police had ready access to her license plate number. She figured the chances of making it through Texas and into Dallas were slim at best.

Lara didn’t have the funds to buy another car, and she recognized her limitations in finding one without providing her personal information. They were stuck with her car. If they did somehow make it that far, she’d have to develop a strategy for entering her dorm room. Too many people knew her on campus, and they were actively searching for her.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Lara contemplated the story the woman told her about the coil. She had been manipulated. Lara was positive the woman knew it held magical properties, but had the woman known what would happen to Lara if she slept beneath the coil? It bothered her the woman would give it to her without weighing the consequences. If the woman had known, she must not have cared that it completely upended her entire life.

With a shake, she said with a grimace, “We need to go talk to that lady and find out what she knows.”

They left the safety of the alley, making their way to the corner store. When Skye had refused to enter the small tourist town without her as a guide, she’d had no choice but to mingle with people. Her current outfit was put together with Skye’s help after pestering him with questions. It was the least he could do for being so stubborn. A new pair of earmuffs completed the ensemble. After half an hour of fussing over her clothes and how to hide her features, she felt more secure about entering a populated area.

In his usual thoughtful manner, he disclosed, “You have lost weight since I first saw you. Your hair is also longer. If you wear the hat, your appearance no longer resembles you, but someone else.”

To hide his bonding mark, Lara gave Skye her black bandana. The combination of the black bandana wrapped around his thick, blond braid and the man’s balanced and smooth carriage created the impression of vigilance with a small taste of menace. Men and women alike took a second look at him before they averted their eyes.

The wooden sidewalk in front of the store creaked beneath their weight, making the darkened windows appear ominous. A single, white paper taped above the wrought-iron door handle caught her attention. Lara scanned the short paragraphs with increasing foreboding while she zipped her coat a little higher, trying to keep her body warmth in the crisp morning wind.

The business was closed until further notice. An auction was scheduled in a month’s time. Where was the woman? She placed her hand against one of the square window panes.

She bought the coil, and the store closed soon after. This was no coincidence. She scuttled closer to Skye and said, “This can’t be good. We need to find out what happened.”

She took a step back and looked both directions. Attached to the same building, she saw an old-fashioned, coffee shop. An inkling of an idea formed. Lara warned Skye, “Play along,” before she grabbed his hand with her own and led him toward the other business. Despite the seriousness of their situation, Skye’s stiff composure almost made her giggle. It made it easier to engage the aging clerk in conversation.

“Oh my dear, did you know Adria?”

Seeing the old-time articles hanging on every available wall space, Lara urged Skye to look around the place. She used it as an excuse to give her time to corral her thoughts.

“Not personally, no. My family visits here at least twice a year, and I always liked the things she displayed in her store. After a few years of visiting, she began recognizing me, always calling me by name. Do you know what happened? Did she move somewhere?”

The woman’s eyes teared at her questions, making her feel like a heartless imposter. “Honey, she passed away a week ago on Sunday. When Adria didn’t open her doors on Monday, I called down to the police station to have them check on her. Paul found her in her bed. She died in her sleep sometime the night before.” The clerk dried her tears on her flowered apron. Her voice wavered the slightest bit when she added, “Her funeral was last Wednesday.”

Lara gave the woman a brief hug. “I’m so sorry. Thank you for telling me, though.” Keeping up with the charade, she murmured, “I’ll have to call my parents to let them know.”

She shared a look with Skye across the room. The woman died on the same night she bought the coil from her, but why had the woman died as soon as the coil changed hands? The coil had to have come from somewhere. Where had the old woman gotten the coil? What did it mean that it sent Lara to the other planet? Maybe the coil originated from Aradun, but it didn’t explain how it got to Earth in the first place.

Her frustration was difficult to hide from the older woman. As soon as they learned one important fact, other questions stole its place. Lara grasped that the coil was magical, allowing her to travel to the other planet. But magic wasn’t possible on Earth.

Or maybe it was, she conceded. It was possible all the mythical legends had some semblance of truth. She felt a chill slide down her spine at the thought. It didn’t matter; in the grand scheme of things, magic on Earth—or the possibility of magic, wasn’t the issue. The most pressing question was that if the lady purposefully chose her, why her? Someone else more capable, with more strength, would have made a better choice.

Pulling herself together, the clerk turned away and moved behind the counter. She gestured toward the bar stools along the side of the counter. In a brisk tone, she said, “Both of you have a seat. I’ll make us some drinks to share. Before you ask, drinks are on the house. Just tell me what you’d like. My hot chocolate is superb, but this is a coffee house after all, so my coffee is also excellent.”

Lara grinned when Skye startled the old woman by bowing to her before sitting down on a cracked, red vinyl stool. Skye’s words echoed around the room, “Please. I have never had this hot chocolate you speak of.”

The woman stopped in the middle of wiping the counter and glanced up at the tall man. Her mouth gaped for a second, before exclaiming, “My heavens, young man. Hot chocolate is definitely in order. You are in for a real treat.”

After Lara ordered a second chocolate, the woman busied herself making their drinks. The lady asked, “If you don’t mind me saying, I have never heard an accent like yours. Wherever are you from?”

With the clerk’s back to them, Lara glared at Skye, warning him to stay quiet. He raised both his eyebrows, daring her to invent a story. While he crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, Lara’s voice filled the expectant hush. “Skye’s from the southern part of Africa. We met a couple of years ago while backpacking in Europe.”

Lara breathed a silent sigh of relief when the woman hummed, letting them know she was listening. As she placed two, big mugs in front of them, she said, “Your age is the best time to travel. You’re both young. You don’t have to worry about mortgages and babies.”

Lara almost choked on her sip of the sweet, hot drink. Then Skye groaned in pleasure, and she grabbed a napkin and shoved it against her mouth, afraid she’d spew her drink all over the counter. The woman laughed in delight at the look of ecstasy on his face.

Skye dipped his head without taking his hand from the mug. “This drink is delicious, thank you.”

While Skye devoured his first cup of hot chocolate, Lara kept the lady chattering about the news. The woman was a regular fount of gossip, updating her on the last several days.

During a comfortable lull in the conversation, she asked, “Do you know a place where I can pick up today’s paper?”

“Oh honey, a customer just this morning left a paper on the table. Let me go grab it, and you can take that instead of spending your money on a new one.”

The woman was in the back room when the front door opened, letting in a cold draft of air. Lara glanced over and tried to shrink herself enough to hide from the newcomer. Before she could stop him, the Pyranni stood and moved behind her, shielding her from the new patron. A middle-aged police officer came up to the counter, giving them both a friendly smile. He looked away, then shifted his eyes back for a more careful perusal of her face.

The officer asked her, “You look vaguely familiar, have we met before?”

Oh God, he recognized her. She didn’t know what to do. Feeling Skye shift his weight to the left motivated her to respond. She replied with a tight smile, “Um, no. I don’t think so. Maybe you’ve seen me before, though. My parents and I come here often to snow ski.”

The officer immediately dismissed them with a small smile and nod. He reached over the wooden counter, hitting it a few times with a heavy hand. He bellowed toward the back, “Joann. I know you’re in here.”

Almost becoming a puddle on the floor at escaping the officer’s regard, Lara did everything possible not to draw the officer’s attention again.

The woman came bustling out, shushing the man with her finger. “Let me give this nice couple the newspaper, so they can be on their way.”

Too focused on the impatient officer standing a couple feet away, Lara couldn’t give the woman the return smile she deserved. She grabbed ahold of the folded paper with her left hand and jumped up from the stool. “Thank you for the hot chocolate. It was wonderful.”

As they both beat a hasty retreat to the door, she heard the woman call out, “Be sure to come back in when you are in town.”

Lara and Skye glanced at each other when they hit the outside of the building. Without a word, they cut through the people, retracing their steps back to her car on the outskirts of town.

Once the crowds thinned, Skye asked, “Who was the person who entered the shop? Did you know him?”

“Of course not. I told you people would recognize me, even with the weight loss. He’s a police officer. He recognized me because of my picture plastered all over the news. He bought my story about being a tourist, but I didn’t want to risk him remembering where he last saw me.”

“One of the city warriors you spoke of.” Although it wasn’t a question, she nodded anyway. Pointing at what she held in her hand, he asked, “Why did you request this?”

She lifted the paper so he could get a better look. “I’m hoping it will give us more information on what the police are saying about me and you. Who knows? Maybe the Malirran was found and arrested by the police. In any case, we have to return to Dallas so we can send you home. Let’s get out of here first before we read it. After the police officer recognized me, I can’t leave this town fast enough.”

“I agree. There is no further information to gain by staying. We must devise a strategy,” Skye said.

“I’d run to the car if it wouldn’t bring attention to us.” Despite the possibility, they both picked up their pace, almost racing to the car in their haste.