I had never been to the Prime Material Plane before. It was different. It was too bright, the air was heavy and had a thick musty scent instead of the smell of fresh rain and lilacs I was used to. My eyes scanned the area as the guards released the glowing bands from my wrists and ankles. I turned to face the portal, I was standing about 30 feet from it, it was a clean shot to get back home. Now that my bands were off I could easily take the two guards and dash back through the portal, back to my home. But I pushed the thought away. Following my intrusive and impulsive thoughts are what got me here in the first place.
My mother stood on the other side of the rippling glass with a sad look on her face, the fur beneath her eyes was dark and wet stained with tears. “I am sorry it came to this, I wish I could have done more.”
“I know mum." I accepted my own fate and my own folly. "This is my own doing. I’m lucky they agreed to send me here and not just have me executed. Did they agree to provide me with supplies?” I asked as I rubbed my wrists and nodded to the guards as they backed away, their gazes fixed on me. Their weapons weren’t drawn but their hands didn’t leave the hilts of their sheathed swords.
“They did.” She paused. I guess it wasn’t everything she requested. “But it is just the basics. They are keeping your weapon.” There it is. I couldn’t keep the look of disappointment from my face. I forged that thing with my own two hands, improved it, enchanted it… hell I infused it with a sliver of my brother's soul. It was all I had left of him, that and my jacket.
“I did convince them to give you a few daggers and a short sword. Basic rations and a change of clothes.”
Another guard stepped through the portal, he kept his distance, watching me with a wary and trained eye. He carried a simple haversack and tossed it on the ground about 5 feet from me. I didn’t blame him. “What about my jacket? They took it when I turned myself in.” I had to pause to keep my voice from cracking. “There is nothing magical about it, you know that. I want it back.” Anger seeping into my tone.
“Cricket…It’s not your-”
I cut her off. “No mum. Give. Me. My. Jacket.” There was no wavering as I looked her in the eyes, mine filled with defiance and a warning. She sighed and snapped her fingers and the jacket appeared hovering in front of her. With a flick of her wrists the jacket flew through the portal and was gently placed in my hands.
I slipped my arms into its familiar sleeves and my anger immediately quelled. I sighed with relief “Thank you.” It’s sent familiar. Its oversized fit comforting. The rage simmering under the surface calmed. I moved to pick up the haversack and the guards took a ready stance. “Don’t move any further My Lady.”
Banished and they still called me My Lady. I rolled my eyes and put my hands up taking a step back. “My bad. I guess my supplies will be a surprise then.”
“They are just following orders dear.”
“I know. Preparation and precaution. How could I forget.”
My mother let out an irritated sigh and shook her head. “Can we not leave things like this… please?”
I gave a slight nod. “Um, please take care of Solis… remember he doesn’t like the cows, he prefers the sheep. And remind the guards that they shouldn’t try to make him go into the southlands, he is afraid of the forest there. Oh and whe-”
“Cricket.” She stopped me with her gentle tone. When I looked up her eyes were watery again. “We will take care of him. I promise.” Her voice cracking.
“Fuck it.” I breathed and then I burst forward. The guards, not knowing what happened until they saw me on the other side of the portal, my speed making me almost invisible to them. I had tears streaming down my face, my arms wrapped tightly around my mother. “Im sorry mum” I sobbed, “for everything.” Her arms held me tight. I heard the guards moving towards us, and I felt my mother wave them down. I choked on my own breath, “I am so sorry, its all my fault. Everything. I want to take it all back.”
“Shhhh I know my bug, I know.” she stroked my long dark hair, her voice gentle and soft. Like it was when she used to comfort me when I was small and I had fallen or Renny and I got into a fight. She pulled me away from her, taking my face between her hands.
“Look at me.” I drew my green eyes up to her golden ones and saw nothing but love.
“No matter what you have done I will always love you. Do you understand that? I will Always love you.”
I nodded, and sniffed, wiping the tears from my face and eyes.
“Now,” she paused composing herself, “go South West about 15 miles and you will find a small town where you can get your bearings and other supplies. Remember, I will always hear your prayers though I may not be allowed to answer you through them anymore but I will hear them. The council cannot stop that from happening and I expect to be updated on your life here. Be safe and remember you are the daughter of Ferrix.” She gave me one last tight hug. Holding my hand she walked me back to the portal. The Guards moved back as I passed through, tears still streaming down my face staining my tawny fur brown. Once I was clear the guards moved back through the portal.
I stood there “I love you mum.”
She waved her hand and winked. “I love you too bug” I could barely hear her as the portal began to shimmer out of existence. As the portal completely blinked out existence I heard something clank to the ground next to the haversack at my feet.
My rifle, Renny, was laying there in all of its wonder. I crouched down, my hands running over the smooth metal, the scent of black powder reached my nose and I took a deep breath. I reached down and gingerly lifted him, his weight familiar and comforting in this strange place. I hefted Renny over my shoulder and slid him around on my back until a click sounded, signaling he was locked into place. I bent down to pick up my haversack and checked what supplies I was provided.
It wasn’t anything spectacular. Basic rations for 10 days, waterskin, rope, quill, parchment, a change of clothes, and a sword belt. It was a basic gear pack given to the Twilight scouts. When I looked down I saw the sword, 4 daggers and a small pouch. I placed the sword and daggers in my belt and checked the coin in the bag. I was told currency across the realms was the same exchange.
1 Platinum = 10 Gold
1 Gold = 10 Silver
1 Silver = 10 copper
It looked as though I was provided with a reasonable amount of coin to get me through for a while. I counted 2 Platinum, 50 gold, about 50 silver and some copper. With a general idea of my inventory I took a look around. “Where the hell did they leave me?”
I was in a forest somewhere. It wasn't like the forests in Ferrix’ territory of the Twilight filled with deciduous trees and bushes. This was a forest made up of mostly pine trees and other conifers like you would find near the mountains and Baladors territory. They were tall and skinny, needle filled trees. I reached into my haversack and rummaged through until I came out with a compass. Yup standard scouting gear. I quickly gauged my direction, slung my sack over my shoulder and began the trek.
* * *
I had been walking for about an hour or so when I felt eyes on me. I still hadn’t come across a path of any kind but the trees were thinning out. I listened closely without breaking stride. I was not familiar with the flora and fauna in this plane, guess I was about to get my first lesson. Listening carefully and casually looking around I spotted a four legged creature stalking me. It was a large hairy creature with shaggy and matted dark grey fur covering its wolf-like body. But it was not a wolf. It was about 3 times the size of a normal wolf, with a larger front body, red eyes and a nose that came to almost a point. “Oh goody a Worg. So they have those here too.” I mumbled and slowly moved to reach for my rifle on my back. It was as if it sensed that I was going for a weapon when it shot forward with lightning speed between the trees heading right for me. “Shit” the beast lunged off the inclined tree line right at me, mouth open with 2 rows of teeth dripping with a greyish slime. I dove to my left and pulled the short sword from my waist. I was not fantastic with a blade but I did know the basics. “Pointy end goes in” I heard my brother's words ring in my mind. I took a fighting stance and prepared for the creature's next charge. Worgs were fierce creatures but pretty predictable. They hunted in small groups, the leader taking the first attack, and the next worg attacking from the rear. I heard movement behind me and spun right swinging up as the worg leapt up going for my shoulder. The sword made contact with its left shoulder and a cry of pain came from the beast as it was thrown to the ground with the force of the hit. I lifted the sword in both hands and brought it down with a sickening wet crunch as I severed its head from its body.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The third worg came out of nowhere and tackled me to the ground, the short sword knocked out of my hands. Its claws scraping down my upper arm and tearing my jacket. Blood seeped from the open gashes as I held its head at arm's length. It snapped its long pointed mouth at me, grey goop dripping dangerously close to my mouth. “Oh fuck no! That's disgusting.” My gun was digging into my back and both hands were keeping my face from becoming a tasty snack. I brought my knee up as far as possible to my chest and managed to get my boot against the creature's ribs and I pushed as hard as I could. It flew up and back slamming into the first worg. I got up and drew the rifle from my back. I designed a quick release that attached and detached the gun from my jacket long ago, no straps, no ties, just a magical clip that released when I grabbed the grip of the rifle. With my hands on the trigger I focused my magic, infusing my shot with a thin line of gold to guide my shot. The world slowed, quiet surrounded me, a golden light seeped from my fingertips, I exhaled and pulled the trigger. A bullet with an almost imperceptible golden glow shot from the barrel. The bullet traveled the length of golden light straight to the worgs. The world snapped back into full speed just in time for the bullet to collide with the worg that attacked me, hitting his cheek and exploding out of the back of its neck. The bullet glowed again and pushed through into the first worg, hitting it in the shoulder. It did not exit from the second worg.
I watched as the first worg fell to the ground and the second worg yelped as the bullet struck its shoulder and it fell to the ground. I walked over, strapping the rifle to my back again and drawing a dagger from my belt. The worg was laying there breathing heavily and growling at me as I approached. I crouched down and put the creature out of its misery.
I spent a few minutes tending to my wounds. Since I didn’t have my tinctures and potions I was forced to use my mana. I removed my jacket, my face contorting as I pulled it off my left arm, wincing as I saw the damage to the jacket itself. I brought my hand up to my upper left arm. There were 4 claw marks about 8 inches long and at least a quarter inch wide each. Blood dripping down my tawny fur, I reached up holding my right hand above the wounds. “Ioc”. A golden light came from my hand as a shimmering thread sewed up the large gashes in my arm.
Healing Level 1 - Heals basic and superficial damage.
I moved my arm around, stretching and checking the movement. I could do some basic healing in a pinch on myself and others but I was not a healer. I picked up my jacket examining the left arm with the 4 slashes in it, my fingers poked through the slits. “Assholes.” Again my hand hovered over the torn leather, “Meinn”. The fabric shimmered and the fibers mended themselves back together.
Mend - Can mend or repair minor damage of 1 foot or less of a single item, fabric, or object. Item cannot be in more than 4 pieces and this spell cannot mend living creatures.
This was one of my favorite spells. I used it all the time when I was working on my experiments. It came in so handy.
Once everything was patched up I checked my heading and started moving again. After about another hour or so I came to a dirt road. It was winding but it was going either South West or North East. I decided to stay on the road coming to a swift realization that there were not many folk that looked like me even a little bit. A few wagons and carts passed by headed in the opposite direction, and I got more than one curious look from the drivers and passengers as well. Eventually I came across a large wagon filled with all sorts of goods; fabrics, paintings, wears of all kinds and I saw a small halfling struggling with a wheel almost as big as he was.
“Pardon but could I offer my assistance?” I asked as I approached the small man.
He turned and his eyes went wide when he saw my massive form walking towards him. “Uh… well…” he shook his head and it was like he shook the surprise and shock out of him. He was no more than four and a half feet tall and looked to be in his early 50’s. He was wearing a pair of brown traveling pants with a cream tunic and a dark red vest. He had shaggy brown hair that bounced around his blue eyes when he nodded his head.
“Why yes that would be very much appreciated.” I walked over and bent down to get a better look at what was going on. There was a large break in the main portion of the wooden wheel and 3 of the spokes were also cracked or broken completely. “Do you have a spare?” I inquired.
“Ey, I do, I just haven't been able to get the damn thing off the bottom of the wagon. The screw holding it on won't budge.” I bent further down and tipped my head to look under the wagon.
“I don’t have any of my tools with me but if you have some I can use I will see what I can do.”
The halfling got a tool box off the back of his wagon and brought it to me. I released my rifle, laying it carefully on the ground next to me and layed my jacket on top of it. I pulled a few of the tools out of the wooden tool box and slid under the wagon. “Is there a reason that you keep the spare under the wagon instead of on the back?”
“I used to keep it just on the back of the wagon but then I began carrying so many wears that I needed more space. This was the only place I could get it mounted without taking up more space.”
“Hmmm. It looks like the bolt holding it in place is dented, probably from a rock or something on the road. No wonder you couldn’t get it to loosen.” I let out a deep grunt as I finally got the bolt to release, bringing the wheel down and laying on the ground next to me. “I have a thought but, I would need to get into a workshop. I should be able to get you set up so that this won't happen again.” I slid out from under the wagon and rolled onto my stomach as I reached for the wheel to drag it out. “The bolt holding it on was rusted and partially stripped from the weather and mud too.” I placed the bolt in the small mans hands before I dropped the tools back into the wooden box. I dusted myself off and stood to my full 6’5” height, bending slightly back with my arms over my head stretching. The halfling craned his neck all the way back to look at me and had to shield his eyes from the bright overhead sun. “I appreciate the help.” He held out his right hand. “The names Moss, Moss Teawillow.”
I reached my own hand out to shake Moss’s, my hand completely encapsulated the mans. “The names Cricket… Just Cricket.”
The man chuckled “Like the bug?”
I released the mans hand and sighed dragging my palm down my face “Oh for fucks sakes it follows me everywhere. Yes, like the damn bug.”
The man chuckled again “Well just Cricket, I am headed into Fernsworth. Can I give you a lift?”
“I don't want to cause you any trouble Moss. And to be honest I am not really sure where exactly I am.” I sheepishly admitted. “I ran into some trouble a while back with some monsters and somehow got portaled here… and I have no idea where here… is.” stretching the truth.
“No troubles at all. You helped me now I get to repay the favor. Hop on up and we will get you into town. It's the least I can do for ya. Worgs have been moving their hunting grounds further out to the road as of late and I was a sitting duck out here.” He exclaimed as he hoisted himself onto the drivers bench and patted the seat next to him. I grabbed my jacket and rifle and stepped up with ease, my size and weight rocking the wagon slightly. “We don’t see many of your kind in these parts. Gosh I haven't seen a Catfolk this far west in some time.”
“Yeah, I'm a long way from home.” I guess my Cat-like features were going to get me noticed here as well as my size. My mom used to joke with me that my brother and I were giants even among our kind. We stood at least a head above most of the werecats in the Twilight. She blamed it on my dad’s side but I hadn’t seen him since I was a cub so I don’t remember him too well. My tawny fur and green eyes signaled me as Ferrix’ daughter. I looked just like the Goddess except the dark brown mane. At least no one here would recognize me.
“Well, wherever it is ya came from ya landed in a good spot. Prettiest part of Mythstearia if ya ask me. Fernsworth is small but the folk are friendly. And they got Berklow Forest to the North East, Amware Slopes the the South West and Riverstand is only a few days travel to the South East. And the fishing at Mirror Lake.” He pinched all his fingers together and brought them to his lips kissing them and drawing them back “the best. Other than the worgs in the forest this is my favorite place to travel.” he said with a contagious smile as we rode on.