The sun had just peeked over the foothills in Yellow Point when Boomer decided he should at least try to make himself useful. His car wasn’t going to fare well on the logging roads, and with the gas station locked up there was nothing for him to do there. So, when he’d heard that the ambulance was busy in town dealing with the numerous injuries caused by the earthquake, he opted to make use of his First Aid certificate and made his way down to Kamper’s Korner. If people were hurt, maybe he could be of use there. He just hated not being useful.
The turnoff to the trailer park was just as the south edge of the cut in the landscape everyone had been talking about. A mound of dirt and soil spilled out over the highway, leaving the sign for the park half-buried. Only a portion of the park seemed to have made it across.
Was it across? He still wasn’t certain what was going on, but the image of a forest that for all intents and purposes should not be there made him consider the options. Had Ladysmith moved somewhere? How? Why? Why Ladysmith? Was it a random event, or something done by a conscious decision? What kind of being could even make such a decision and follow through with it?
The forest looked normal enough, of course. But what kind of animals lurked within? Were there others there as well? Perhaps Nanaimo or other towns and cities had made the shift as well, but were dealing with problems of their own.
At that point, it was all speculation. The severity of the situation wasn’t lost on him, and at normal times he’d put speculation aside and focus on what he knew, but the reality was that he didn’t actually know enough to focus on that. Speculation was the only thing he had in his intellectual arsenal. He thought back through his readings in history. There were, of course, stories of people vanishing without a trace. The passengers and crew of the Mary Celeste. Malaysian Airlines flight 370. The lost colony of Roanoke. Atlantis? He shook his head at that one. He didn’t know what to make of the stories of Atlantis, but at that point he was willing to believe. Even with Roanoke, the colony itself remained; it was the people that vanished.
He pulled into the park and took stock of what he saw, just as Andy pulled in from behind him and parked in front of one of the few remaining trailers.
Boomer had been there once before a few years prior; it was a fairly big residential trailer park that rented pads out to the occasional camper. He seemed to remember a few rows of trailers, each with twelve or so pads.
What remained was five intact trailers, and three partially buried under slopes of dirt and soil. Obviously the other side of the cut’s ground level was thirty or so feet higher in altitude than the park itself, making the whole place look like they’d chosen to settle in an old quarry.
He stepped out of the car just as an old man approached it.
“You ain’t an ambulance,” the old man said. He cocked his head to one side as he looked Boomer up and down. “You’re the kid from the Gas ‘n Dash, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m Boomer. The ambulance has their hands full, but they’ll be here when they can. I’ve got OFA Level Three, I should be able to help if anyone’s hurt.”
The old man pointed to the woman sitting down in front of the trailer where Andy had parked. “She don’t look hurt, but she’s in shock,” he said. “I’m Amos. Boomer don’t sound like the sort of name your mom gave you.”
“It’s not,” Boomer replied. “She named me Cecil. I didn’t like it.”
Amos laughed. “I don’t blame you.”
“Jesus Christ, Amos. Did you fish this out?” Andy exclaimed from nearby.
“No,” came a woman’s voice from nearby. “I did.”
Boomer looked over to see a middle-aged woman walking up toward Andy, then he spotted what they were pointing at.
It was someone’s leg. Once he’s caught sight of it and realised what it was, Boomer felt a stab of dread, but immediately put it out of his mind while Andy and the woman argued. He walked up to the woman sitting beside the trailer.
“Hey, I’m Boomer,” he said. “Are you okay? What’s your name?”
The woman looked up at him. She was maybe in her early thirties, but was as pale as a ghost, and had the skin of someone who’d been abusing drugs or alcohol for a long time. Her eyes were wide and fearful, but also defeated.
“Julia,” she said.
“Julia, are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No, but… Barry.” She looked in the direction of the leg.
“What happened?”
She remained silent for a moment. “We saw the light when the earthquake came. He walked outside of it. Then… when it happened he had one leg inside, the rest outside. I was too scared to move.”
“So he was standing with one leg inside the light?”
She nodded.
Boomer furrowed his brow. If that was the case, everything inside the light was affected. Everything inside the light crossed over. Including, he thought as he once again looked toward the limb now being covered in a tarp, Barry’s leg.
At least the rest of Barry was on the other side. He might yet survive. But then again, he would have been left immobile, presumably with a thirty foot wall of sediment of his own to deal with, assuming whatever used to occupy the space they were now in suddenly found itself where Ladysmith used to be. People on the other side were also dealing with issues of their own.
“Hey kid,” Andy called over to Boomer. “She okay?”
Boomer stood up and walked over to Andy and the woman. “She’s in shock,” he said. “She saw it all go down. The light… the field, whatever it was, ended here. Right there.” He pointed at the dirt slope running the length of the park. “Barry had a leg inside of it when… well, when whatever happened happened. All we can really do is make her comfortable until the ambulance shows up. They’ll probably take her up to the hospital and check on her.”
“I should get her warmed up,” said the middle-aged woman. Boomer looked at her and nodded, and she flashed him a smile. “Samantha,” she said, offering her hand.
Boomer nodded and shook her hand. “That’s probably for the best. They’ll get here when they get here, but they’ve got their hands full in town.”
With that, Samantha wandered back toward Julia, leaving Boomer, Andy and Amos staring at the wall.
“Any idea what happened?” Amos asked.
“No,” Boomer said. “Nobody seems to know what happened. Only that we’re here now. Wherever here is.”
“What do you mean by that?” Amos asked.
“Amos, there’s nothing right about this” Andy offered. “When I drove up there, I saw… I dunno how else to explain it. You couldn’t see it from here because of the tree cover, but there was a goddamn planet up there instead of a moon.”
Amos stared blankly at Andy. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”
“He’s right,” Boomer said. “The moon’s gone. It should have been full tonight, but instead of a full moon, there’s a full… I don’t know how else to describe it other than an earth-like planet in the sky.”
Amos crossed his arms. “Don’t take me for an idiot, you two. The moon doesn’t just disappear, and neither do planets appear.”
“Yeah well,” Andy started. “Forests don’t just drop out of the sky either, Amos. Where’s Billy at?”
Amos pointed up the slope. “He wanted to poke around up there, see what the hell was going on.”
Boomer wasn’t sure that was the smartest idea. They still didn’t know what to expect out there. They still didn’t know what to expect inside the region.
“Ah hell,” Andy swore. “We need to get him back.”
“He’s fine,” Amos argued. “Ain’t nothing out there gonna hurt him.”
“We can’t be sure of that,” Boomer said. “We don't even know what out there is.” He approached the edge of the dirt slope. “How long ago did he leave?”
“Musta been about ten minutes now,” Amos said, shrugging. “He’ll be fine.”
As if to completely disregard Amos’ assertion, the sound of a massive branch breaking came from the woods. It caused all three of them to take a step back, then it happened again.
Boomer could suddenly hear the faint sound of yelling. It was a fearful yell, and it came accompanied by a loud roar.
“The hell was that?” Amos asked.
Boomer took another instinctive step backward just as the fearful yelling became louder and more clear, then jumped as a man appeared on the ridge of the slope, leaping off of it and rolling violently down the hill.
“Jesus,” Andy yelled. “Billy!”
“Fucking run!” Billy yelled as he bounced to his feet at the bottom of the slope. He shot past the three of them and ran directly into Andy’s trailer.
An ear-splitting screech came from the forest above them, and Boomer felt the ground shake. Something was coming, and it was big.
“I think maybe we should… uhh… listen to him,” Boomer offered.
There was silent agreement as the three of them started to back up and follow Billy to the trailer. Boomer kept his eyes trained on the top of the ridge. The sun was high enough now that he could make out the details of things under the canopy.
Then a head appeared above the ridge. A massive head. Boomer’s blood ran cold when he realised what it looked like.
It looked like a bloody dinosaur.
As the body appeared and stood at the edge of the ridge, and Boomer got a full view of the creature, he fell backwards in shock. The creature looked down at him and made eye contact.
No. The creature wasn’t a dinosaur.
He was staring an honest-to-God dragon right in the face.
It was big, and it was fast. How Billy had managed to outrun it as much as he had was a mystery. Thankfully, the creature paused at the top of the ridge. It tested the slope with a powerful winged forearm, then pulled back as the loose soil slid further down. It raised its head and smelled the air around them, looking toward Boomer, and then off to his side. The body was at least the size of a rhino, and the head looked like that of an iguana, save for the clearly sharp teeth jutting from its lower jaw. It roared again, and then Boomer caught sight of a dark shadow through the canopy of the trees.
There was more than one.
The second dragon dropped out of the sky with a speed Boomer could barely fathom, and he felt a rush of wind and dirt blow over him as it landed not fifteen feet away from him.
Boomer was frozen in place. There was no way he could get up and to safety before the creature got him. Was that it for him? He’d often imagined the circumstances of his death, picturing everything from peacefully in his sleep to mangled in a horrifying accident. Not once had he considered he’d be eaten by a dragon.
But the beast didn’t seem interested in him; rather, it was more interested in the tarp that had been laid over Barry’s leg.
He risked a glance over his shoulder. From Andy’s trailer he could see three faces staring at him through the window, all speechless.
The dragon sniffed at the tarp, and used its forelimb to pull it to one side, revealing the leg underneath. It wasted no time in scooping up the leg with its lower jaw, then reared its head back, swallowing the leg whole.
The dragon then turned its attention to Boomer.
Boomer closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see it coming. He could hear the creature grunting, could feel its breath wash over him.
Then he heard something unexpected.
“Get outta here!” he heard from behind him. It was the voice of Samantha, accompanied by the sharp clanging of pots. “Go on! Get!”
Boomer opened his eyes and looked up to the dragon. Its attention was placed firmly behind him.
What the hell was she thinking? That was a dragon, not a bear. There was no way it would scare it off.
And yet, the dragon seemed to be reacting nervously, as if it wasn’t sure what to make of the sight of Samantha running toward it, or the sound of the pots banging together.
It took a step away from Boomer. As the sound of Samatha grew nearer, it started to turn, and then leaped into the air, blasting even more dirt and debris all over him, taking off into the sky above.
The other dragon acted in kind, and both took to the air, flying off to the southeast.
Samantha got right up next to Boomer and helped him to his feet.
“Jesus, Sam,” Andy yelled, coming to his door and inspecting the air above him. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking our new friend here would have been lizard food if nobody did anything,” she replied.
“That was a dragon,” Boomer said.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“Dragons have six limbs,” Sam corrected. “Those things had four. Wyverns, more likely.”
“What, you’re a dragon expert now?” Andy asked.
“I have a lot of books on fairies, okay?” Sam shot back. “I took a chance, and it worked. Now maybe the lot of us should get out of here before those things come back.”
Boomer was still shaking from the experience, but at least he was alive. He looked silently down at his hands, then back up to the sky. “Well,” he said. “At least it’s safe to say whatever’s out there isn’t Earth.”
As he’d spoken, he could hear the sound of an approaching siren. The ambulance was on its way. At least nobody had been hurt, but the news that dragons were a thing would probably be something that’d be useful to warn everyone else about.
“Yeah,” Andy said. “Maybe we should get everyone closer to town.”
----------------------------------------
Nalya and her men had been travelling for hours, making their way through the forest ridges above Stone's Mouth. Their path had been blocked several times by fallen trees or rocky outcroppings that proved much too difficult to climb. After an hour or so of stumbling through the bush, they came across a worn-down pathway through the woods up the side of the Aegel mountains. She assumed the path was used by the local villagers, perhaps a route to a favoured fishing spot.
The sun was now beginning to rise over the top of the strange new mountain that took the place where the Aegel Coast once stood. The path led toward it, winding up the side of the mountain.
“Ach,” Bayne grumbled. “We been marching all mornin', Lass. I don't much see the purpose in running ourselves ragged.” He yawned and stretched in the morning light. “I could do with another wink or two.”
“I'm sure you could,” Nalya said. She was clearly tired as well, but ever since she had witnessed the light earlier that morning, she'd been moving with single-minded purpose.
“I have to agree with Bayne,” Keltz offered. “I'm sure whatever stands up there will still be there whether we sleep or not. What's the hurry?”
“It's hard to explain,” Nalya said. She turned back towards Keltz. “It's something my uncle told me.”
“Your uncle?” Bayne asked. His voice turned serious. “Mika spoke of this?”
“Not exactly,” she said. “But he said there was something I needed to see in the Disputed Lands, and that I would know it when I saw it.”
Bayne wore a grim look. “I wish you’d have told me, lass,” he said.
“I don’t understand,” Keltz commented. “You’ve not spoken of your uncle before. Who is he?”
Nalya paused, then sighed. “He resides in the Crossed Tower at Arronay,” she admitted.
Keltz reacted as though he’d been struck. “Wait,” he said. “Your uncle is Mika Sephalon? The mad seer? The keeper of the Blue Sight?”
“Aye,” Bayne added. “Among other names I’d care not to repeat. Cheats at cards, he does.”
“He is my mother’s brother,” she said.
“I never knew,” Keltz said. “For as long as we’ve known each other, you’ve never told me.”
Nalya only looked at him sourly. “For good reason,” she said. “He is something of a sore subject with my family. Madness took him long ago, but all know there is truth in what he sees and says. That he is my uncle means little.”
“Did he give you any indication as to what we’re to find here?”
She shook her head. “None. I needed answers, so I saw him. He only told me I must first know the questions, and that I would know the beacon once I saw it.” She looked at him gravely. “How else would you describe the sight we saw this morning, if not as a beacon?” She turned back to the path. “Come, I think it’s just over the next rise.”
She was tired. Bayne and Keltz were tired. Even her men, who were used to being run ragged, were tired. But she needed to see what the light brought for herself if she was to ever know peace of mind. Finally, they rounded a corner in the path and Nalya signalled for her men to stop.
Ahead of them on the path stood a lone figure, dressed in a filthy shawl. A villager who had lost her way? A transient perhaps? The figure stood, staring over the edge of the pathway as it seemed to simply stop. Beyond it, she could see the tops of trees, suggesting a great drop before them.
“You there!” Keltz exclaimed. He caught the figure's attention, who immediately stiffened and turned to face them.
Nalya watched in surprise as she realised that the figure that stood before them was a lone girl, fresh-faced and young, perhaps no older than nineteen. Dirt and mud caked her shoulder-length hair and thick robes. Whoever the girl was, she'd been living in the wild for some time.
The girl looked suddenly frightened to see she was not alone, and stood silently watching them, uncertain. She wore the look of a deer uncertain of a hunter’s bow.
“Stay there!” she exclaimed. “Don't come any closer!”
Nalya took a step forward. “My name is Nalya,” she said. “I hail from Rasza, here on behalf of the King of Halen.”
“Hillbreaker?” the girl asked. “What business does the King have this far south of his border?” She put her hands on her hips.
“I would watch your tongue, girl. Show some respect,” Bayne ordered.
The girl regarded him for a moment. “These are the Free Lands. Halish titles and ranks mean little here.”
“Bayne, that’s enough,” Nalya warned. She looked back to the girl. “You saw it too, didn’t you? The light?”
The girl raised an eyebrow, then looked back beyond the edge of the path. “I heard the earth cry out in pain,” she said. “Never before have I heard the earth so clearly. I came out of my tent, and saw the light. Then… this.”
“You’re an Earth Mage?” he asked.
She looked back to him, then furrowed her brow. “What business is it of Halen what I am?” She gripped a pendant hanging from her neck tightly.
“I assure you,” Nalya said. “We mean no harm to you. We only wish to investigate the light.”
The girl kept her eyes trained on her for a moment, then relaxed her posture. “I’m… sorry. I did not mean to offend. It’s been a hard few months.” She turned back to the edge of the path. “I witnessed a miracle this morning,” she explained. “Perhaps we all did. When the earth stopped screaming, it let me here.” She turned back to the others. “This earth is not of the Free Lands. These trees not of this forest.”
Nalya stepped closer, signalling for Bayne and the others to remain back. “May I see?”
The girl nodded, and made room on the path for Nalya to join her.
She stepped to the edge of the path to a sheer drop, perhaps four lengths down of hard stone. Below lay a forest floor not too dissimilar from the one they stood on, the trees were of a more dull shade than the ones above.
“I was considering the best way down. The earth beyond has… strange vibrations. I was contemplating moving on, but I found I was too curious.”
Nalya looked to the girl, who was still clutching a pendant at her chest. At her side was a stone knife. “You are not a Free Man, are you?” she asked.
The girl locked eyes with her, then sighed. “I am not.”
“Your accent sounds Shavian,” she continued. “What brings you so far east?”
“Circumstance,” she replied.
It was clear the girl still didn’t trust her, but Nalya felt it best not to continue prying. “We all have our secrets,” she said. “I won’t pry into them,but I think we might be able to help each other. Will you work with us, at least for now?”
The girl seemed to consider her words. “Trust is hard-gained,” she replied. “Answer me this, why is Halen so interested in what happens in the Free Lands?”
Nalya sighed. “Vector,” she replied.
The girl looked back. “Vector? I had heard they made a claim upon the Free Lands, seeking to lay a claim. That was months ago.”
Nalya nodded. “They continue to press it. I come at the behest of the House of Hillbreaker to observe and report. That the Council supported their claims is of great concern to all the Pactlands.”
“The Council supported their claim?” the girl exclaimed. She seemed incensed at the news. “The Free Lands have always been free!” She spoke a curse under her breath. “What good does it do them to support Vector?”
“That is what we seek to discover.”
The girl sighed. “My… name is Arie,” she said. “And if you move without the Council’s blessing, then we have something in common. They are why I am here. The Free Lands are the only place in the Pactlands they cannot touch. But if Vector’s claim is supported, that may not be true for long. I may have to seek passage to Caede.”
“You are hiding from the Council?”
“In a fashion,” she said. She released her grasp on her pendant, and Nalya understood the moment she saw it. Around Arie’s neck was a Widow’s Tear. A drop-shaped piece of obsidian with a Summoner’s sigil on it. It glowed brightly.
“It’s been soul-bound,” Nalya commented.
Arie nodded. “My brother,” she said. “He was… accused. Of murder. Put to the stone. But Tam is no killer. His heart is good. I stole him back from the Tear. We had no choice but to run. Across Rasza and through the Demon’s Spine to the Free Lands.”
“You broke into the Tear?” Nalya asked, amazed.
“I had help,” she said. “But Tam and I have been running since. We had hoped we could find peace here.”
Nalya remained quiet. For a lone girl her age to break into the Tear with an army would have been a feat. The Shavian authorities would likely have given up searching for her once she had left their shores, but to come as far as the Disputed Lands was something else entirely.
She placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Arie, your past is your own and we have no stakes in seeing you return to Shavi.” She pointed to the forest below. “But I do have stakes down there. Your magic would help us to that end. In return, we can provide you with some food and supplies, and leave you as friends. Will you help us?”
Arie sighed. “If you speak the truth, then I will,” she said. “But know that I can call my brother forth at any moment, and an elemental will make short work of such a small force.”
At any other time, her words may have come across as a threat. Others may have called her bluff. But Nalya had no intention of harming the girl, no interest in her past.
“Then we have an agreement.”
Arie nodded. “Step back, I’ll need some space.”
Nalya moved back and rejoined Bayne, Keltz and her men while Arie kneeled to the ground and placed her hands upon it.
“It’s solid stone,” she said. “I must be careful not to shift it too much or the entire ridge could fall apart from under us. It’s already weak from the trauma caused by the light. My magic can’t keep everyone safe if something were to go wrong.”
“Then I suggest ye take yer time, lass,” Bayne added.
Nalya shot him a look.
He shrugged.
Slowly, the packed dirt at the edge off the path started to ripple and bubble as the ground loosened, spilling down to the forest floor below. Rocks small and large loosened themselves from the soil and fell over, making a steep slope. Eventually Nalya could feel the ground beneath her start to sway, and she grasped Keltz’s shoulder for balance. The process lasted for some time, but eventually Arie stood up, wiped the sweat from her brow, and looked to the others.
“It’s steep, but at least if we fall we’ll only scrape our knees and not break our bones,” she announced.
Nalya stepped to the top edge of the slope and looked down. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work. She clasped Arie by the shoulder and smiled at her. “Thank you,” she said. “Shall we?”
It was easy for a person to get lost up the mountains and logging roads behind Ladysmith if they weren't used to them, but Ryan had felt quite at home there, even if it had been nearly two years since he last attended any bush or pit parties. Back when Ryan still drank, he spent quite a lot of time up there. Police were less likely to break up parties that deep in the bush, and over the years he'd gotten to know them quite well. Those roads were as familiar to him as his living room.
After Ryan had volunteered to drive up the roads, Terra insisted she come along, while Lily went off with Justin to help find the various members of the emergency committee. They got to the roads just as the sun was rising, and in the hour or so since, they’d found several of the unnatural blockades. They were either smooth, sheer cliff faces going up a few dozen feet, and in one instance it led to a drop of over a hundred. It definitely made Ryan a more careful driver. The last thing he wanted was to take a blind corner and fly into the void.
“Stills?” Ryan's radio suddenly crackled. “Stills, respond.” It was Boone's voice.
“Yeah,” he said, picking up the radio. “We're here.”
“Good,” Boone replied. “You sitting down?”
“I'm driving,” Ryan replied. “It'd be kind of hard to do if I was standing up.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Boone replied. “Smartass. Look, we've had a situation down at the south end. Could be bullshit, but I want you to keep your eyes peeled and your heads up.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want people panicking, but I’m told your pal Boomer encountered goddamn dragons down at Kamper’s Korner.”
Ryan jerked his head back in surprise. Had he heard that right? He looked at Terra, who was giving him the same look of confusion that was plainly worn on Ryan's face.
“Stills?”
“Yeah,” Ryan replied. “Yeah, sorry. I just got confused there for a second. I thought you said dragons.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Boone replied.
“You're serious, aren't you?” Ryan asked.
“Unfortunately,” he said. “So stay frosty up there. Keep your eyes on the skies. You see anything bigger than an eagle out there, I want you back here ASAP, read me?”
“Yeah,” Ryan replied. “Deal.” He put the radio back down on the dashboard.
“He can't be serious,” Terra remarked.
“With everything else that's happened?” he asked. “I'm not counting out dragons just yet. Or aliens for that matter.”
“You think we went back in time?” she asked. “Like, maybe dragons actually used to exist.”
“I don't think that would explain the planet,” he said, then peered out his window to try to watch the sky. The sun was fully exposed now, and the sky was blue. The strange planet still hung in the sky, but it was quickly disappearing over the horizon. No signs of dragons, though. “But you never—”
“Ryan, look out!” Terra exclaimed. Ryan whipped his head back to the road. In front of him, some woman had just jumped out of the bushes in front of him. Ryan laid into the horn, then jerked the wheel, trying to swerve. The truck's wheels, however, were not meant for off-roading and they quickly lost their grip, sending the truck spinning wildly, kicking up dust in its wake.
The truck finally came to a stop. Ryan and Terra sat there silently for a moment, breathing heavily.
“You okay?” he asked Terra.
Terra nodded. “I think so. Who was--”
Ryan violently pushed open the door of the truck and climbed out, turning back towards the woman who had nearly caused them to crash.
“What the hell do you think you're doing just jumping into the middle of the fucking road?!” he exclaimed. “Couldn't you see me coming? Don't you have enough fucking sense to-- to--” He paused and actually took a moment to look. It hadn't just been a single woman to emerge from the bush, but four people.
Worse, yet… they were armed.
There was a grey-haired older man standing next to her, holding a sword up pointing toward them. He was dressed in a thick leather vest and loose-fitting pants. Another man was wearing an armoured vest while he knelt next to the blond woman he'd nearly hit, helping her up from the ground. She was wearing a matching vest, with a large colored mantle riding on her shoulders. She looked up at Ryan in confusion. Another woman stood nearby, dressed in dirty old robes, with her hair and face caked in dirt.
“Jesus,” Ryan said. He began to inch his way back to the truck.
“Wait!” the blond woman exclaimed.
Ryan continued to back up slowly until his back met with the side of his truck. “Hey, hey. Listen,” he started. “Put down the… uhh.. The sword.” He looked back at the truck and met eyes with Terra, who was staring wide-eyed at the visitors.
“Please, we won't harm you,” the blonde woman said. “Bayne, sheath your weapon!”
“I don’t like the look of it. Him, nor tha’ beast,” Bayne said. He didn’t budge.
Ryan wasn’t sure what to make of the whole situation. Either they’d randomly come across a group of LARPers lost in the woods, or… Boone’s words rang in his head. Dragons.
“Bayne!” the blonde woman exclaimed. “Sheath it now!”
The older man she called Bayne let his gaze linger on Ryan for a moment. “Ah, blast it!” he said, then put his sword back into its sheath angrily.
Ryan gave himself a moment to catch his breath. “What the hell is going on? Who are you people?” he asked.