Winter 2045
Allison Fae-McCallum
Allison stood nervously outside the central tent area. She felt Felix’s presence and knew if she closed her eyes she could sense exactly where he was. Something about that seemed wrong, though. She didn’t want that for their first meeting in this long. She wanted—
She saw him across the street sitting on a bench. His eyes were closed and he was staring up at the sky. His arm was stretched out over the back of the bench. She saw a smirk on his face and instantly how old he looked came over her like a tidal wave. Many things were different in this world, but seeing him there froze everything in that moment and forced her to realize how much time had passed since they had last seen each other.
She started fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. For a moment she considered dropping everything and leaving—running as far as her legs would take her and let the emotions crash over her. Allison considered turning around and leaving. The thought entered her brain and before it could fall Felix lowered his head and their eyes locked.
She knew in that moment there was no turning back and this would have to be done. She took a deep breath and covered the distance between them—figuring that the best way to handle this was head on.
“Hello Felix...I’m sure you’re confused. Is there somewhere private we can speak?”
He stared at her with a curious look and she felt Jace appear by her side—and she knew that meant he was trying to probe her mind. She sighed and she looked back at him. “If you want answers I’m afraid you’re going to have to talk to me. I’m protected against those things.”
He was quiet and as he stared at her he realized he wasn’t going to succeed. He sighed and moved to stand. “Always the stubborn one…” he said. “I know a place we can talk.”
She noticed how deep his voice had sounded—it perhaps threw her for a loop more than anything else. They ended up in a café down the block—it was relatively empty and they had each sat down opposite of one another. There was a worker who came by to take their orders—Felix had chosen to abstain. Allison had ordered a tea—within moments the drink was in front of her—she looked to the side as the waiter had conjured the cup before her eyes, and he left to return back to the counter.
For a moment, there was an awkward silence between them as they tried to find their footing.
“What are you?” Felix asked. “Surely you’re not Allison.”
“Not your Allison, no.” She took a sip of the tea as she returned his look. She saw he was studying her closely. “Though...since I don’t see her with you I am hesitant to say your.” The look on his face filled her with an ominous feeling she didn’t so much like. She took in a deep breath and continued. “I’m originally from fourteen years ago. I’m twenty-one by my last count—and after…” images of her last meeting with Sakonna flashed behind her eyes. “...after a traumatic experience I found myself here, in this time. And after coming across my older self—”
Felix had looked neutral until this fact came to light. He leaned forward and placed his hand on the table. “You saw her?”
Allison chuckled, “One track mind.” She looked straight into his eyes. “That’s just like the boy I knew...yes. I saw her in Enforal.”
His eyes widened.
“I don’t know if she made it out. I did, so it’s not impossible, but she was at the epicenter.”
“I keep hearing stories of what happened down there, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard something I can reason as the truth.”
She eyed Jace to her side for the moment and he faded—and she showed him the scene as she had seen it. He accepted the information gracefully and she saw the memories playing out like a reflection over his eyes. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the older Allison.
“So...you speak the truth.”
Jace appeared by her side again, and she closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “We can keep trying this, but it’s going to end the same way each and every time.”
“People in this time are not the trusting kind.”
“You are what you put out into the world,” Allison rebuked. “I’m attempting to show you respect by not probing your mind. I would hope that you could do the same for me.”
He sighed. “I apologize.”
“Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here...I don’t think that anything between us as we are now would work—obviously the Allison you know and the Felix I knew are different people—I don’t want you to think that is the end result I’m desiring here.”
“Then why are you here?” He asked. “And...the child...our…” he had asked the question that had been sitting in the front of his mind. She closed her eyes and felt in some part she owed him an answer. It was a situation that still felt really raw, but she knew meeting him would include painful conversations.
“Her name is Arianna,” Allison said. “After we were separated from Home—when we had each met in the cathedral and you saw me speaking with Issachar.”
“The Golden Wolf...one of those creatures,” Felix answered.
Allison nodded. She was curious as to how he learned of them, but he continued forward regardless. “I was alone...well, not really alone, I’m sure you’ve felt the other presence I have here with me.” She breathed deep and Jace faded in brighter, and Felix nodded. “He’s of my own creation. I was so sure I was going to die—and it was there...in this old decrepit library…”
“A library…” Felix said. He cocked his head, “I couldn’t think of a more fitting place you would have chosen…”
“I didn’t choose it. I was on my last legs. I was dying...and then another one of them came to me.
“The dragon.”
“I told you to stop,” Allison said, looking at him with a sense of hurt.
“Accident,” he raised his hands. “You’ll surely remember emotions tend to leak when they are so...raw.”
She exhaled through her nose and continued. “I didn’t have a choice. I wanted her to survive, but knew if I didn’t ask for help we both would have died. She offered to help...and I accepted.”
“You don’t know where she is…” Felix said, coming to the conclusion. “
“I don’t,” Allison shook her head. “I am running off of trust that she was placed somewhere safe. I don’t know anything more than that…” she said, and then she started to feel cold. “I didn’t have any choice...but I still feel awful about it. About not meeting up with you...the you from back then...about not being able to find her.” She shook her head and attempted to shake off some of the excess anxiety. “I’ve been falling and trying to catch hold of something secure to find something stable but…” she motioned toward their surroundings. “I keep finding myself deeper and deeper into the crazy.”
Felix was silent, he looked like he was thinking intensely on her words. “I am sorry you have been through so much alone. I know I haven’t been a friend since you’ve come here and if I’m going to be honest, I thought you were some sort of trick meant to latch onto sensitive topics. I was careful...you’ve deduced correctly I am currently not in contact with your older self. If you’ll allow me, I can explain some of my history to fill in some of those gaps, and then we can see what happens from there of what you plan on doing.”
Allison felt her breathing slow and she felt like crying. She steadied herself and a small sound escaped her—and she felt the tears start to break. She closed her eyes and rested her hands carefully down on the table. She stared into the blankness and kept her breathing measured until she was able to stabilize herself.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah, I’d like to hear what happened. I’m sorry...I don’t talk about...that as you might understand.”
“I am sorry, Ally,” he said. “I hope you understand I mean that sincerely.”
She nodded and closed her eyes again. She waited for him and then she opened her eyes. He began. In his eyes she saw a world long since passed.
Felix
2031
Felix slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a dimly lit room, with no memory of how he got there. As he blinked, the room slowly came into focus. The walls were made of old, worn bricks, and there were no windows to be seen. Dust hung in the air and the first thing he became conscious to was a ringing pain behind his ears that bounced all the way to the front of his head. The only source of light came from a flickering lamp hanging from the ceiling. Groggy was an understatement to how he had felt. The last thing he remembered...what was that, exactly?
He closed his eyes, there was a voice he couldn’t place and he tried to put a face...and then there it was. He had woken up—worried for Ally. She wasn’t in bed when he had awoken. He started to worry and he leapt out of bed. He had to find her, and fast. Something was wrong.
He finally found her when he burst through the door to the Cathedral. Inside, the first thing he was was Ally with her back turned toward him—it was clear she was speaking to someone. “There you are!” He called. Felix stepped in and he saw her turn around—as she did he saw the pastor. “Jesus Christ you scared me half to—what are you doing here with Father Grimsby?”
As he approached he noticed Father Grimsby’s eyes had a golden glow to them and he slowed to a stop. “Woah...that’s just like....” He froze and pulled his hands over his head. Screams escaped and echoed all around them.
His mind was flooded with thoughts and images he couldn’t make sense of—and suddenly it was like he were taken somewhere else entirely. He stood in a void of darkness opposing an aged man standing with his hands behind his back. The man’s pupils were fully blank—but he still looked like he was staring straight into his soul.
“Ormus...it seems we are not alone anymore,” the man turned his head and looked right at Felix. “Oh, it’s one of Sakonna’s kin.”
Felix took a step back—scared for what the man had looked to be. He turned to run and instead found an older woman now blocking his path—she was looking past him and to the aged man. “You called, Father?”
“Yes, it seems we’ve got an on-looker, right in front of you, in fact.”
This was his mother...and then standing behind them both was a younger man—still older than he was, but he had an authoritative presence. He had Short dirty blond hair and his arms were crossed. His focus returned to the woman, though. It was his mother—but before he could reach out he blinked and he was back in the cathedral. His mouth was dry and he felt a tremor and he looked in horror at Father Grimsby...although the person was no longer there, and in his place was an ethereal golden wolf.
“What kind of monster are you?” Felix looked up and yelled. “Who’s Ormus? What the hell…”
The wolf roared. He heard a screaming sound of anger bellowed out as a vicious wind screamed from the outside. Father Grimsby’s eyes return to their normal shade and he turned to the wolf behind him and screams.
“YOU STAY OUT OF THOSE THOUGHTS. THOSE ARE PRIVATE.” Felix heard in his head. The pain was enormous as dozens—no, thousands more thoughts flooded his brain as it became a struggle to keep his eyes open. The wind blew harder and a scream louder than any other pierced all of their minds.
Felix was back to himself. There were still so many questions running through his mind, but the most important would need to be tackled first before anything else...just where was he?
Felix sat up and looked around. He saw a dusty, wooden desk in the corner of the room, and an old bookshelf full of books that looked like they had been there for years. A small bed, covered in a thin, rough blanket, was against the opposite wall. The room was bare except for a single, locked door. What the fuck?
The pain localized itself to just behind his eyes and he stopped and held the butt of his palm against his eye to try to subdue the pain. It shot like a ringing force and he bent over as it finally started to fade. It took him a few minutes to get a hold of himself and return to his investigation.
As Felix tried to stand up, he noticed that his head was pounding and his body was sore. He searched his pockets for anything he could use to help his current situation, but he remembered that he had left Rickshaw’s workshop in a hurry—he had left everything he had owned—what little of it there was—back there. He cursed to himself and patted himself down to confirm that he truly had nothing on his person. He was completely alone, with no way to communicate with the outside world.
Felix took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He needed to figure out where he was and how to get out of this place. He carefully examined the room, looking for any clues. He noticed a piece of paper on the desk, and when he walked over to it, he saw that it was a journal that contained a note of some kind.
It was written in a language Felix didn't recognize, but he could tell from the handwriting that it was someone's personal journal. He tried to piece together the meaning of the words, hoping to find some answers. The writing itself seemed to fill out half of the journal—but then there was a sudden stop. He had looked through the rest of the journal to see if there was some sort of way he could transcribe the messages within, but they truly were blank.
He tossed the journal aside and moved next to searching for any other way out of the enclosed space. Felix looked around the room again, searching for any way out. He pushed on the walls, tried to force open the locked door, and examined every nook and cranny, but nothing seemed to work. He sat down on the bed, feeling defeated and alone.
He sat there for what seemed like hours until he brought the journal back with him. Looking through it again...he noticed some of these strange letters appeared more often than others. And...this looked like a three letter word that had been used quite a bit...was it possible this was meant to be “the”? If that were the case, this word could be…
He began the long work of translating each of the characters into English as he could manage. The process kept him up—it kept him motivated.
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After a few minutes of studying the journal, Felix realized that it was written by someone who had been trapped in this room before. The writer described their experiences, how they had tried to escape, and ultimately, how they had given up hope.
The final page he had translated was their suicide note. They had written of their kid brother they would never be able to see again...Felix felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that he could be in the same situation. No. I can’t let that happen. He looked up at his surroundings once more—desperate to find a way out.
He searched every nook and cranny until his exhaustion had overwhelmed him. He had no clue how much time had passed since he first awoke. He fell backward on the bed and let his vision land on a spot in the corner of the room—he had seen that in the dark there were some scraps on the floor he hadn’t noticed before. Curious he got back up and crawled over to the corner of the room—it looked like part of the wall had started to rot away. Just how long was this room used like a prison? And...for what purpose?
He picked at it with his fingers, and instantly knew his survival was going to be a long and arduous process. He knew he had to escape, and that escape meant he would have to pick at this rotting wood long enough that he could get enough of a hold to begin tearing. It was either that...or hope that whoever locked him in here would come back for him. If it was that wolf, he was as good as dead when that happened.
He held his hand up to his head—remembering the events that caused his exile from his previous tribe had still been a painful wound—but he aimed to seal those thoughts away as deep as he could muster. He gritted his teeth together as he continued picking at the soft, spongy texture. The smell down here was starting to make him nauseous—bit by bit he felt like he wanted to turn to the side and hurl.
He continued picking apart the wood until he was able to create a small enough hole that he could insert his fingers into—attempting to rip it off more. He widened it and instantly felt a drafty breeze on his fingers as they made it through to the other side. This encouraged him and he was now working to rip the wall off.
He saw that it opened to a crawl space. Without hesitation, Felix crawled through the hole and into the tunnel. The air was damp and musty, and he could hear the sound of trickling water in the distance. He crawled further into the tunnel until it opened up into a small chamber.
The chamber was dimly lit, with water dripping from the ceiling into a small pool at the center of the room. Felix approached the pool and peered into the clear water. It was deeper than he had expected, and he could see that there was another tunnel in the depths.
Felix knew he had to find a way to swim down to the tunnel and see where it led. He took a deep breath and removed his shirt, tossing it to the side. The chill was definitely getting to him—he steeled his nerves and undid the button to his pants and shed those as well. He took a deep breath before diving into the pool. The water was frozen to the touch and his muscles tensed up, but he had to push past the initial shock. The depths were murky, but he could see well enough to navigate to the bottom of the pool.
He pushed himself down toward the bottom of the tunnel he swam towards the tunnel, he felt a sense of dread wash over him. What if this was a dead end? What if he was swimming towards his own demise? Would anyone even find him down here? But he pushed the thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. He reached the bottom and was able to use his hands to pull himself through the tunnel—it looked to be just open enough for him to slip through. It was a tight squeeze, and he had to hold his breath for as long as he could, but he kept going. After what felt like an eternity, he emerged on the other side, gasping for air. It was a sweet relief that his blind faith had been rewarded.
He found himself in another underground chamber, but this one was different—the walls had a crystalline shine to them that reflected his face back around on each side of the cavern. On the far edge of the cave there was another outlet of water that led out to what looked to be the open sea. There was a small wooden boat at the edge of the water, it was tied to a post that was driven into the earth. What are the odds that a boat was left here for me…
As much as it could have been a trap, he had no other choice. The only other option was for him to sit and await death in that locked room. He lifted himself out of the pool and felt the cold air against his skin. His teeth were chattering as he worked to undo the knot keeping the boat still. He was fumbling with the rope and was cursing to himself as his shivering was messing with his focus.
When he got the knot undone he let loose a sigh of relief and held it with him as he climbed into the boat, pushing off of the edge of the water with his foot. There wasn’t much of an oar to work with—the only other thing in the boat was a stick—it wasn’t going to be optimal but it was thick enough he could help use it to steer, even if it wouldn’t get him anywhere fast.
Felix paddled his wooden boat through the dark, underground waters, his arms straining with each pull of the stick. But then, he heard a strange noise—a low rumbling sound that echoed through the chamber. He looked around, but couldn't see anything in the murky water. Suddenly, the boat lurched to the side, nearly throwing him overboard. He clung to the side of the boat as it righted itself and he let loose a stray breath. Felix quickly realized that the water was full of hidden currents and obstacles that he couldn't see. He had to be careful and stay alert if he wanted to make it out alive. He gripped the stick tightly and tried to steer the boat through the treacherous waters.
As he paddled, he felt the bottom of the boat scrape sharp rocks that were sticking up from the depths below. He also noticed the sudden drops in the water level that threatened to capsize him, and powerful currents that pushed him off course and he fought against each new crest. Each time, he had to adjust his strategy and find a way to navigate around the obstacles. He felt a rising confidence with each paddle and he gripped the stick tightly.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he saw a glimmer of sunlight above. He paddled harder, using every last bit of his strength to propel the boat towards the surface. With a burst of energy, he broke through the water and emerged into the bright light of day. Felix had breached the cave and he felt the sun on his skin as he entered open waters. Out of the frying pan and right into the oven. He had to find someplace to dock—the last thing that he needed was to get out lost at sea. He focused all of his energy on paddling and steering, ignoring the aches and pains in his arms and back.
He blinked in the sudden brightness, disoriented and exhausted. But he was free—free from the underground maze, free from the darkness and the danger. He had made it out alive, and he knew that he would never forget the experience, no matter how hard he tried.
Allison Fae-McCallum
Winter 2045
“I assume you made it to land…?”
Felix nodded. “I did. Spent the next half a day drifting until the boat landed coast side. With the strength of the current out in open waters my puny stick wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I gave up exerting that energy and kept all my focus on not capsizing.” He explained. “When I finally landed I was exhausted—I passed out as soon as I hit the sands. From there I crawled my way to the nearest human settlement—I was on death’s door by the time someone found me. It was so long...I don’t even remember all of it. I honestly feel like my memory of that time is in patches.” He took in a deep breath.
“I understand the challenges of surviving in this world,” Allison nodded. “We have to kick and scrape for basic survival through the most horrible things.”
“Such is life,” Felix said. “And now I’m here. I’ve found others who had abilities like my own—and since working here I’ve been working toward...well, I guess I don’t quite have a grand life goal at the moment. I was trying to meet with the older you...and that has been fraught with difficulty.”
“What has been difficult?” Allison asked.
Felix sighed. “I’m going to ask for your forgiveness on this matter. I understand you are the younger version of her, but it is concerning events between us that are past your time. I’d rather not go into the depths of the matter.”
“Would it help if I said that I have my own concerns about her?”
This piqued his curiosity. His eyebrow was arched and she offered a nervous look. “I admit I was a bit harsh in my initial reading of the situation--” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But I saw an out of context vision of her working together with...with one of them. Sakonna, the dragon. It was when I first came to this time. My emotions were so rattled—and I initially set out to stop her and the whole lot of them by any means necessary.”
“You say as if your plans have changed.” Felix asked.
“There’s something about them...the Creatures of the Night, I mean. I don’t think they should have free reign to have such control over other people and cause such strife in others’ lives...I mean, I understand that.”
“But…?”
“But…” she echoed. “Issachar helped me learn the truth about a very traumatic situation in my youth. Sakonna helped save my...our child, and from what I now understand, my father...my father is one of them.”
This threw Felix for a loop—the look of surprise on his face was not a surprise to her.
“Your…”
Allison nodded. “I think I found out the same way my older self did.”
“Your...so she knows as well.”
“I couldn’t tell when she found out—I just found out in there,” Allison motioned toward the center of town. “Those pods they register you in that runs you through your memories and such.”
He looked inquisitive, “Those machines should only run through with memories you have access too...how would you have been able to…”
Allison nodded, “Ah, right. I have not mentioned one very important part.”
He cocked his head, waiting for the answer. “Go on.”
“I have also discovered recently the existence of beings who exist in tandem with the Creatures of the Night. They are like...their other halves. Beings split from the original whole,” she made a motion with her hands to represent one becoming two. “My father was a man named Gavin Daniels—those Creatures of the Night all used to be people in a world before ours.”
Felix moved to speak, but she held up her hand as if to continue. “For ease of explaining, I’m going to continue. It took me a long time to come to terms with everything—please let me finish before I end up getting confused and sending us down a very twisted rabbit hole.”
He nodded and motioned for her to continue.
“I don’t know exactly who all the Creatures of the Night are, nor who they used to be. But I know my father was one of them—and he lives in this world now as a being called Ormus.”
Felix’s eyes shot open wide at hearing the name, and he moved to speak again, but he remembered how that went last time and he closed his mouth just as fast, but she could see he was retreating into his mind to think on the possibilities.
“Go ahead, say what’s on your mind,” Allison said. “No point if you’re going to get lost in your thoughts.”
“I heard that name…” Felix said, not picking up the subtler points of her tone. “Back on that day we lost each other.”
This interested her, so she dropped the tone and sat forward, “What do you mean?”
“I told you I accidentally read that creature’s mind, yeah?”
“Issachar, yeah...who, by the way, wasn’t looking to harm me that day,” Allison said, stressing the point.
“Yeah yeah,” he motioned with his hands. “I was...like thrown into his mind. I saw...well…” he said, remembering the details of the memory, and then sighing. “I saw my mom...and your dad was there.”
“Wait a second…” she held her hand up, “You saw…” her eyes squared in on him as she noticed a guilty look on his face. “Okay...side tangent successfully achieved if that was your purpose,” she said, now sitting back up. “Explain.”
“I didn’t intend to hide it from you for this long…” Felix said. “I was intending on telling you—of course then what happened happened. It’s not so easy a thing to bring up without thought—especially since I hadn’t known the full context of your situation.”
“Enough preamble,” Allison said, making a motion with her hands.
“Right.” Felix said. “My mother is Sakonna. At least, one of the human faces she has taken—it has had an overall detrimental effect on my life. Something like that isn’t something you ever fully reason with, and is how…” he motioned to his head, “this all started happening.” He bit his lip. “I wasn’t ever at home—home wasn’t ever really a place pre-Collapse. It was a way of being—the restaurant work I told you about became my life because it was the one thing that was keeping me afloat. Then the Collapse happened and who else would scoop me back up but her.”
“You were with Sakonna?” Allison asked.
Felix nodded. “She wanted to keep tabs on me. Something about keeping track of her mistake.”
Allison heard a level of venom she was familiar with when he said the word ‘mistake’. “That was the tribe you were with before you were dumped on our doorstep?”
“Yes, quite so. If my mother had known she would have razed the village.” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t say she had love for me—I don’t necessarily think that was the feeling. It was a control thing, I think. But the others…” he shook his head. “There was this group—Duscrans that now live out in the mountains to the northeast of here—far up in the old Adirondacks. They had enough of me, beat me and tossed me aside until you all had found me.”
Allison took in a deep breath and tapped her fingers along the table. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Felix echoed.
“I understand your situation and why you didn’t bring it up. I’m not mad—we’re in similar situations it seems...Did you tell the older me this?”
“I...did not get the chance to,” Felix admitted. “Other things took precedence…”
She noticed his reply was dodgy, and so she continued, “I understand why my older self would have felt the way she did toward you at the same time.”
Felix was silent for a few moments. “I am sorry. I don’t have anything to derail your explanation further.
“Remind me where I left off,” Allison said.
“Ormus—your father—is a Creature of the Night. You’re unsure how many of them there are in total.”
“Right,” Allison said. “So, through my travels I’ve recently come into contact with a being of immense interest—it’s called an Elemantic. I met it in my dreams--” she motioned to address his look because she knew the reaction it’d bring. “I mean in the sense of the creature existing in some level of existence outside of our physical world. I think I connected with it...because of my father.”
“You said these were half of the Creatures of the Night...so you think it’s half your dad?”
Allison nodded. “It was called Leptous. Looked like this giant dragon with butterfly wings. It wanted one thing from me in exchange for use of its power.”
“Like a bond or something?”
“Exactly so.” Allison said.
“What was it that it wanted? I hope you didn’t sign your soul away or anything like that.”
“It wanted me to kill Ormus—put an end to his schemes and put to rest that side of him.”
“That...is a lot heavier than I was expecting,” Felix said. “But I guess if it’s coming from your dad...that’s not the worst thing? I still don’t know how I’d feel if I was given the same sort of mission.”
“It’s something I accepted because that Ormus...he isn’t my father. Leptous isn’t my father either—they used to belong to a being that was, but that was a world ago. This world needs to be able to live by itself and not under their control.”
Felix smiled at her determination. “I think that sort of attitude is exactly what we need here.”
“So you’re up for going against them?” Allison asked. “Even if your mother is apart of them?”
“I am if you are,” Felix said. “That’s always been my goal—erase the negative impact they have on this world. I am curious to know if you would have what it takes to stand against those that you felt a yearning toward—Sakonna isn’t fully an enemy to you like she is to me, and of course that wolf seemed even less so to you.”
“I have spent a lot of time since I last saw you with those questions balanced in my mind. While I was searching for Issachar for the longest time—the truth was I was searching for Lilly...and with that I was mainly searching for closure. I can finally say I have what I need from that situation—so I have what I need from that search. If Issachar or Sakonna have allied themselves with Ormus, then I will have to inevitably try and stop them.”
Felix nodded. “I understand you completely, I had a feeling that was what you were going to say, I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“That’s not all,” Allison said. “Nor is it, I think, my only important goal. I hadn’t mentioned it because I feel like they’re so separated because of the association, but upon closer looking they really aren’t so separate.”
“…?” Felix looked a confused stare at her.
“After we got split up—when I first came to this time, I met up with a small group of people. They were actually aligned with me against the Creatures of the Night. Of course, they were aligned against the older version of me too because of that vision I saw with Sakonna and her. That’s a misunderstanding I can clear up, but I still believe in their ideals against the Creatures of the Night.”
“Oh, well that is excellent. If this is something we’re going to seriously work toward, the more will absolutely be the merrier.”
“Therein lies the rub,” She said.
Felix smiled, and now it was Allison’s turn to be confused.
“What’s up?” she asked.
He chuckled and looked to the floor. “That used to be your favorite saying. Said you read it in a book and you just stuck with it.”
Allison looked at him with a look of incredulity and in a moment she saw an echo of the boy she had loved. “Hamlet, yeah,” she smiled. “Unfortunately, you’ll not find this situation anywhere in Shakespeare’s dramas.”
“Lay it on me, they dead? Lost?”
“More of the latter,” she said. “It seems they are in the Underworld.”
Felix had made a face and she could tell the situation was more dire than she believed. Especially if he could have been joking a minute ago and then have this level of seriousness.
“The underworld...I see. That isn’t my exact area of expertise, but I have been hearing quite a lot of talk about the groups that have been forming to investigate the tears—that’s what they’ve called the entrances by which people from our world end up in there.”
“Tears...I guess that’s as good a descriptor as any.”
“So you’re asking for my help in investigating these tears—that the brunt of it?”
“Well, if it’s not your area of expertise…” Allison trailed off.
Felix shook his head and motioned with his hands. “Just because I haven’t dived deep into it up to this point doesn’t mean I’m not capable of doing so. I’ve got no immediate things on my plate—I’ve just come back from an expedition into Swarren territory anyway—had some Bogloths that were causing quite a storm.”
Allison looked at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. When he noticed he corrected, “Ah, sorry. Swampy marsh territory to the west here a bit. Real nasty piece of land that smells ten times as worse as anything in the old world. Bogloths are giant crab-frog hybrids with all these nasty...well, I guess you don’t need to know that part. They’re territorial beings and we like to try to build goodwill with neighboring areas by cleaning out pests like them when they present themselves. And since my job is done, I’ve earned myself some time off while other guild members go off on their own missions. Basically, I’m fully available to help you find your friends.”
She looked up to him and smiled, nodding her head and feeling a warmth she had yearned for—the kind of feeling she desired for so long.
“Thank you, Felix.”