CHAPTER 1 - DAZED AND CONFUSED
The world slowly changed from black and silent, becoming hazy, hollow and echoing. Distant voices that couldn’t be made out seemed to be just on the edge of comprehension. Callie focused, trying to make sense of what was happening and only found everything becoming more confusing than before. She felt a jolt of movement, and everything became dark again as even that sliver of consciousness slipped away.
Time passed, Callie was sure of that, before eventually the muffled sounds of the world around her started to form again. She pushed, struggling to reach the surface of whatever darkness she was drowning in. Her world jolted again, and she groaned. Around her, a dozen, maybe more, voices carried on multiple idle conversations with each other, seeming to pay her no heed.
Struggling to move, Callie tried to get some kind of a bearing. She was lying on something hard and smelling of dirt and possibly wood, like old lumber that had seen several years in the sun. Her back was against something hard, maybe a wall, and there were people around her, she was sure of that. Sounds started to become more clear, now accompanied by random rattles and squeaks that also seemed to vibrate through whatever was underneath her.
Whatever she was lying on jolted again, and this time a series of groans replaced the voices for a moment.
“Quit your complaining,” a man’s voice said. “We’ll be there soon.”
“You said that an hour ago!”
“Yeah, and now we’re an hour closer!”
“Maybe another hour,” another voice called out, this one a woman, which seemed to elicit another round of angry groans.
Somehow, and she wasn’t sure exactly how, Callie managed to open her eyes. She was lying on her side, head resting on her arm and in front of her were multiple pairs of feet wearing strange boots or other simple moccasin-like shoes made of leather. Stripes of light streamed into the space from the direction of her feet, and the sudden scent of body odor washed over her. Then the headache hit.
To call it a migraine would be polite. Instead, it felt like dozens of needles were stabbing randomly at the back of Callie’s eyes with extra-evil intent, and she raised her hand to try fending off the light. It hardly helped and she squinted, wishing things weren’t so bright.
“Hey. Look. She’s finally awake,” a gruff voice said. There was an odd accent to the voice that Callie couldn’t place.
“Do ya think she’ll give me that kiss now?” another voice asked.
“Why didn’t you kiss her while she was asleep?” asked a third.
“Because I’m obviously a gentleman,” came the reply, quickly amended with, “mostly.”
There were some cheap laughs among the trio.
“I mean, I did pat her bum. It was nice.”
More laughs.
A face lowered itself into Callie’s view. It was a man, and he had dark eyes and a thick beard with beads braided into it. He reeked of body odor and bad breath. “Hey! You awake now?”
Callie groaned, working to get her bearings. “What?” she struggled to even whisper.
There was a snort of derision. “Drank too much last night, is that it? Your kind can’t hold their ale for anything. Hope you learned your lesson.”
“Hey! Dwarves! Is she awake?” a woman’s voice called out. “We told you to leave her alone. The last thing she needs is any trouble from you.”
Dwarves?
“What? We’re not doing anything. She’s just hungover and we’re giving her some grief.”
The woman seemed to grunt, like trying to get by something, before growling out, “I said, leave her alone.”
Callie groaned, but with struggle, managed to get into a sitting position, scanning to find the woman that had called out, as her eyes finally started to focus in the bright light. In front of her were a group of three more stocky men. Like the face she had just seen, they all had dark eyes and thick beards of black or dark brown, save one who had dull red hair. The beards were all braided with beads decorating them, with the style of each beard unique and obviously personal. Looking over his shoulder one of the men sneered back, “Or what!”
“Yeah, just giving her a hard time,” the bearded man in Callie’s face said, moving slightly towards her.
With a rush of panicked energy, Callie opened her eyes wide and scrambled backwards, away from the guy in her face. “Leave me alone!” she croaked. “Stay back!” She kept backing away until her back hit another wall, where the light was streaming in. She glanced, seeing that the stripes of light were coming in between vertical metal bars of some kind, beyond which there was bright sunshine and ground slowly moving past.
“Awww, we’re not gonna hurt you,” the man said, scoffing. “Just havin’ some fun.”
“Enough!” a booming deep voice somewhere in the shadows said. “She is not for you.”
Callie snapped her head to the right, seeing a huge man, a giant, sitting in the corner. His legs were folded cross-legged, the sunlight playing in vertical stripes across his body and she realized that the bars lined the entire wall of the room. But it was the gigantic man that truly held her attention, so huge that even sitting, he had to bend his neck to fit under the ceiling of the room.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Pop head off like flower top,” came the reply, with a subtle growl infused into it. Whites of the giant’s teeth were revealed in the shadows as he smiled, seeming to be looking forward to that option.
“What? You wouldn’t!” said one of the bearded men, sudden worry in his voice.
“Enough. Not for you. This I have decided,” said the deep voice, an air of unarguable finality in the statement.
Two of the bearded ones visibly gulped, some color draining from their faces. The air was tense and thick. Everyone else in the room had gone dead silent and was awaiting what would happen.
Before any of the men could respond, a gigantic hand appeared between them and Callie. The hand made an inviting come-over-here motion. “Come, Little One. I protect.”
“What?” Callie said meekly.
“Okay boys, let the big guy have her,” the lead bearded man said dismissively, trying to save face. They all laughed nervously and turned around, looking for something else to focus their attention on.
“Come. I protect. Not hurt you,” the deep voice said again, a surprisingly comforting undertone to the statement.
“Thanks Tazrok,” the woman called from somewhere. Then apparently to Callie she added, “Little Gnome, stick close to Tazrok. He’ll keep you safe until we get there.”
The giant man grunted an agreement that seemed to rumble out like a wave.
“What?” was all Callie could weakly say.
Again the hand motioned her to come closer, “Yes. Stay close. None hurt.”
Swallowing, looking at the laughing men again, Callie slowly slid her butt towards the giant man. “Okay,” was all Callie could utter in a quiet, shaky squeak. She slid along the giant’s arm, keeping a wary eye on the bearded men, the … Dwarves, until her back touched his leg. She jumped with a start and squeaked out a short gasp. The world was swimming and so so confusing. Callie grabbed her knees and pulled them in tight, trying to be protected from what was going on around her. Nothing made sense.
“Safe. I protect.” was all the giant man said, relaxing and letting a heavy breath of air out.
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Callie wasn’t sure how long she sat like that. She had no concept of time. She simply counted numbers quietly to herself trying to still the panic in her brain. “Three point one four one five nine two six five three five…” she chanted in a low whisper, the rhythm working a little to calm the chaos and confusion. Her head was spinning in circles, and coupled with the headache and incredibly bright sunlight, she squeezed her eyes shut, putting her hands over them and trying to make sense of things. The woman in the red hat. Falling through the air. The train. The darkness. The pain. The bearded men. The woman. The giant.
Simply overwhelmed, a tiny trickle of a tear slipped down her cheek.
Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder and Callie jumped, snapping her head up to see a tall, slender woman. The woman squatted down next to her with a heavy sigh.
“Sorry. We’re packed in here tight and it took me a bit to get to you. Are you alright?” she asked. It was the same voice that had warned the men off initially.
The image of the woman was a shocking contrast to the dirt and grime around the room. Pale, flawless skin and long, golden hair tied up tightly. She had the deepest, emerald-green eyes Callie had ever seen and they just seemed to beckon for you to gaze into them. Little white beads were braided into that silky, golden hair, sparkling in the sunlight. Even the smudges of dirt on one cheek couldn’t begin to hide her natural beauty. And the ears! They were pointed!
Callie’s brain sparked and made a single, feeble, distant connection - Elf.
“Arwen?” was all Callie could say, remembering the Lord of the Rings movie.
“What? No, my name is Lena. Who’s Arwen? A friend of yours? Another Elf? Is she here?”
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Callie just stared at her. “Huh?”
Lena looked up at the giant man. “Is she hurt, Tazrok?”
“Don’t think hurt. Confused. Scared,” the giant named Tazrok said.
“Hey, nobody is going to harm you,” Lena said, looking Callie confidently in the eye. She gestured vaguely to the bearded men huddled on the other side of the room. “Don’t worry about them. Some Dwarves come on like tough guys, but they are just talk.” Raising her voice so the men could overhear her, Lena continued, “Dwarves actually become quite honorable when they grow up and stop behaving like delinquents.” One of the men scowled in return.
“Dwarves?” Callie squeaked.
Lena looked again at Tazrok, who could only shrug. With growing concern, Lena looked Callie in the eyes and asked, “Do you know where you are? Are you just hung over? Were you out drinking all night before leaving?”
Hung over? She hadn’t had so much as a glass of wine for weeks. “N-n-no,” Callie whispered.
Lena snarled with a spark of anger. “Is she even supposed to be here?”
“Don’t know.” Tazrok grumbled.
Lena scrunched up her face, as if trying to run events through her head. “I saw her for the first time when we all got back onboard this morning. I assumed she was dumped on here by one of the soldiers, just sleeping off getting drunk for her last night, like some of the others had been.”
The big giant simply shrugged.
“Damn, I should have stayed by her the whole time,” Lena said harshly to herself. “I didn’t think she’d wake up until we got there.” She shifted her weight, knelt down next to Callie and with a soothing voice asked, “What’s your name? Again, my name is Lena. The big Ogre behind you is Tazrok.”
“Ogre?” Callie squeaked out. Aren’t Ogres supposed to be green and live in swamps and have a pet donkey?
“Your name?”
“C-C-Callie.”
“Hello, Callie. Do you know where you are?”
Callie looked around the room. There were over a dozen people, but Callie could only see their bodies. not their faces, from her angle on the floor. Except for the Dwarves, that was. She could see the Dwarves’ faces as they huddled in a corner, probably plotting something. She looked out between the metal bars of the room and saw a green, rolling plain in front of her, dotted with a few trees, with what looked like a forest beyond. Slowly the ground moved past. She finally recognized that she was in a moving vehicle! Wait … Metal bars? Was she a captive? Callie’s eyes snapped open in panic as she raced forward and grabbed them.
“Hey, hey,” Lena said in a calm tone, putting a hand on Callie’s shoulder. “Calm down. It’s okay.”
“Where am I?” Callie croaked in fear, shrugging out of Lena’s hand. “Who are you? What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you figure this out,” Lena cooed, trying to be comforting.
“Just … just stay back,” Callie snapped, pointing at the Elf.
“Sure,” Lena said, using her hands to help slide back a couple of feet, giving Callie some space. “Just know you’re safe. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
Callie turned, putting her hands on the metal bars again, and looking off into the distance. A tiny part of her brain had to admit It was actually a pretty sight. Lush, green grasses on gently-rolling hills waving in the wind. Occasional dots of colors, presumably flowers appeared here and there, and overhead the sky was the most-perfect of blues, with a few wispy clouds drifting lazily. The far-off forest was slowly growing closer as they moved steadily, and seemed to exude a feeling of serenity. Wherever she was, there was no sign of Chicago or any city or civilization.
“Do you need some water?” Lena asked, jerking Callie’s attention back to her immediate surroundings. “Hey! Someone out there,” she yelled, projecting her voice to the outside world. “Can we get some water here?”
“What’s that?” came a vaguely feminine, scratchy voice.
““Some water please. This Little One just woke up lost and confused. She doesn’t know where she is.”
“Yes, I do have water. A Little One, you say?” A silhouette appeared before the bars, walking along and peering inside. “I did not think we had any with us, but I see that indeed we do have one. Here…” The woman reached her arm through the bars, passing off a leather pouch to Lena, who had reached forward to take it. The new woman’s arm was dark-green, scaled and her fingers ended in dangerous-looking claws.
Green? Scaled? Claws!
Callie let out a soft scream, scrambling backwards towards the big Ogre, and pulling her knees in tight for protection again. Claws!
“How very strange,” the scaled woman said. “It is almost as if she is afraid of me. It is a ‘she’, right? A female? I sometimes can not tell.”
“Yes, she is a female,” Lena replied with a chuckle.
“Oh good, I got it right. I have never seen one of her kind before, only heard of them, and I did not wish to offend. Little One, you have nothing to fear from me.”
“Claws!” Callie whispered.
“Of course,” Lena said, her face making a perplexed look. “She is a Lizardkin, so would naturally have claws.” The Elf saw Callie’s confused face. “Have you never seen a Lizardkin before?”
Not sure what else to do, Callie simply shook her head rapidly .
“Again, you have nothing to fear, Little One,” the woman outside … the Lizardkin … said quite happily to Callie. “I am Xin, Spearmaster and volunteer.”
“You aren’t Conscript?” Lena asked, surprised.
“No, I chose to volunteer, although I was then placed under Conscript by choice. I am a recruit, like all of you.”
“Why are you walking?”
Xin shrugged. “It is a beautiful, warm day, and the wagon is very full. It is a long walk, but pleasant, and I did not wish my tail to get stepped on. I am told we will arrive soon.”
“It is lovely, at that. I am Lena, and this Little One is Callie, and behind us is Tazrok.” Lena gestured towards the Ogre. “We’re both Conscript, but the Little One is confused, so we are still trying to determine what has happened.”
“Conscript is very sad, but necessary to defeat the enemy. And whether we volunteer or not, we are all together.”
“True. Thank you again for the water. I will return your waterskin as soon as I am able.”
“Very good to meet you Lena Elf. I will find you later. I hope the Little One feels better soon.” Xin walked away from the wagon, disappearing from the narrow view that was provided.
Callie looked to Lena, who was holding the water out to her and just shook her head, before burying it in her chest again. What the hell was a Lizardkin? And why did it have scales and green skin? And why was a woman that looked like Arwen here? Nothing was making sense!
“Sure,” Lena said with a slightly worried tone, pulling the waterskin back. “The water is here when you need it.” Gingerly, the Elf reached forward, placing a comforting hand on Callie’s arm. “Do you know what’s happening?”
Callie peeked up over her knees into Lena’s concerned eyes.
“It’s alright. Where are you from, Callie?”
Callie took a shuddering breath and looked at Lena again. “Chicago?” she finally said with a question in her voice.
“Hmm. I’ve never heard of She-cog-oh before,” Lena said, drawing out each syllable of the name, as if it was unfamiliar. “Is that west of the capitals? I’ve never been that far, so I’ll admit my knowledge may be limited. How did you come to be this far east?”
Callie didn’t say anything; just looked blankly at the floor. Lena wasn’t making any sense. Think Callie! Figure this out!
“Are … Are you even Conscript?” Lena asked, a tone of concern rising in her voice.
Callie continued to say nothing.
“Dammit,” Lena said with a huff, glaring with anger out the wagon’s steel bars, before glaring up at Tazrok. “Some bounty hunter must have grabbed her. She must have a really rare class for someone to do that. Callie, what class are you?”
“Huh?” What would that have to do with anything?
“Yes, what class are you?”
“Um, lower-middle I guess,” Callie mumbled quietly, shrugging slightly.
Lena frowned. “No, I mean your … you know … class. I’m a Bladedancer.”
“Bladedancer?”
“Yes. And Tazrok is a … well … he’s an Ogre.”
“I … don’t know, I guess.”
“You don’t? That makes no sense. The only people that should be here would be hybrids and specialists, and to determine that someone would have had to do a scry. You really don’t know your class?”
Callie shook her head.
“Curious. Someone must have scryed you, realized you're special, and then grabbed you. What’s the last thing you remember?”
The woman in the dress. The red hat. The train.
“I was pushed.”
“Pushed?” Lena said quizzically.
Callie nodded slowly. “Into a train.”
“A … train? What is a train?” Lena looked up again at Tazrok. “Is it maybe a Gnome artifact of some kind? How did that ‘train’ get you here? Is it a portal of some kind?”
Callie made another mental spark of connection. Being hit by that train should have killed her. Or at minimum, injured her grievously. “No,” she said. “She pushed me and the train should have hit me and killed me.”
“Hit you?”
“And it went dark and I woke up here.”
“I don’t unders…” Lena trailed off. “She who?”
“The woman with the red hat. That’s the last thing I remember.”
Lena had a deeply confused look on her face. “Red … hat?”
Callie nodded quickly three times.
Lena frowned. “And do you know where you are now?” she asked again, this time more firmly.
Callie looked around her and saw the steel bars again. “In jail?”
Lena gave a light chuckle. “No, not in jail; not really.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess.” It still felt like jail, in a way, with those bars there and everything being so confusing. But Lena’s smile was warm and comforting, despite everything, and Callie couldn’t help but feel a little protected. The grunt from Tazrok behind her only served to increase that feeling. The Ogre was huge, and she should be terrified of him, but for some reason those eyes offered nothing but comfort. Still, nothing was making any sense. Where the hell was she? Was she maybe just dreaming? In a coma maybe? If the train hit her, that might explain everything, even if it did all feel so real. Or maybe it wouldn’t.
The wagon lurched slightly and Lena grabbed the steel bars with one hand to steady herself. “I hope we’re there soon, this is getting old.” The grumbling from others around them indicated the feeling was shared.
Lena stood, groaning slightly as the blood got flowing in her legs again. “Oof, good to stand again,” Lena said, extending a hand to Callie. “We’ll figure this out. For now, get up. You’ll feel better.” She took Callie’s hand, pulling her to her feet. “There, that’s better.”
Now standing, Callie looked around, still in a daze. She did have to admit, she was feeling slightly better, or at least slightly safer. While nothing made sense, there didn’t seem to be any imminent danger. More importantly, there didn’t seem to be any homicidal ladies in strange hats. With a jolt, the floor bucked underneath, and Callie fell gracelessly backwards, face-first into Tazrok’s lap. Lena let out a short snort of laughter and covered her face with her hand.
“Are you alright?” Lena asked, peeking between her fingers.
“I think so,” came Callie’s muffled voice as she squirmed and tried to right herself. It was a little intimidating to be face deep in Ogre lap. “This is really awkward, though.”
“No, don’t help, Tazrok! Your big hands will squish her,” Lena cried out.
“Have dainty fingers!” the Ogre protested, a mocking hurt tone in his voice.
“All the same,” Lena said, still continuing to laugh. Then to Callie she said, “Here, I’ve got you.”
Lena bent over and, one-handed, grabbed the back of Callie’s shirt, lifting her out. Callie let out a brief, startled yelp but was soon back on her feet.
“Are you alright?” Lena asked.
“Whatever you do,” Callie began with a slight chuckle, “Do not fall into an Ogre’s crotch! It’ll haunt you!” That chuckle quickly became a giggle and then a full on laugh. Lena laugh-snorted and hid her face in embarrassment, while Tazrok let loose a laughing grunt of his own, and soon the two women were gasping for breath.
“I don’t know why that was so funny,“ Callie gasped. She wasn’t sure what it was or why, but at this particular moment, that kind of belly laugh was what she needed to get out of the paralyzed state she was in. She mentally took a deep, centering breath, holding it for just a couple seconds as she focused her brain together. What had her grandfather once told her? ‘When all else fails, focus on what’s in front of you. Becoming paralyzed by analysis will just make things worse.’
Looking up at Lena, who was still at least twice her height, made Callie realize something. “You're strong! You picked me up with one arm.”
“Eh,” Lena said dismissively, while gesturing at Callie, “you’re really not very big.”
Callie instinctively looked down at herself and had a sudden, horrifying realization.
“Hey! Where the hell are my boobs!”