"Pull them close to me and line them up in a circle." Andrea commanded.

Rather than waste time questioning her, Cj and Grayson went ahead and quickly complied with her commands, dragging their mate's sleeping mats into a circle around Andrea.

"Are either of you hurt?" Andrea asked.

"No." They answered in unison.

"Then stand back." She insisted steadly, more of a suggestion than a command. They complied again taking several steps back.

Andrea dropped into a bow, her left leg crossing behind the right and bending at the waist. "Luna, your majesty. Goddess of the Night Sky. I call to you." She beckoned. A quiet moment passed beyond the usual night sounds.

"Is she talking to the moon?" Grayson whispered.

"I'm not sure, looks like it." Cj whispered an answer.

"She's a crazy person."

"Looks like it."

Andrea raised her head to face the moon "I ask that you heed my cries." Andrea continued. Cj and Grayson continued to look on in confusion until they noticed that the moon seemed to get brighter in the sky. "Greetings your majesty. Please bathe these injured souls in your glorious light and heal their wounds. The night is your dominion and it is through your honor and grace that we prosper."

Suddenly a spotlight fell upon Andrea and grew until it encompassed the group's circle. The light was originating directly from the moon and Cj could see small specks of light dancing around the group. Cj stuck her hand out to touch one of the specks. It felt warm and the scratches on her hand began to fade.Then the moonlight faded, leaving only the small specks until they disipated as well.

Andrea smiled up at the moon. "Thank you, your highness. We are truly not worthy of your kindness."

She regarded Cj and Grayson. "They should be fine now; she didn't heal them automatically, just sped up their own natural healing. Luckily hers is more powerful than my own. I'd have to reset any bones first if I healed them." They just stood there, mouths agape in a mixture of confusion and wonder. "What?" She asked, barely being able to maintain a straight face before breaking out into a fit of laughter.

"What the hell was that?" Cj shouted, finally finding her voice.

"I can tell you, but you actually won't believe me. Even though you've just it in with your own eyes three times already." Andrea answered matter of factly, "You guys never do."

"Try me." Cj shot back.

"It's magic." Andrea stated, her voice completely devoid of emotion, hoping to express how unjokingly she was saying it.

"Bullshit."

"Told you."

"Magic doesn't exist.

"You've been witness to magic three times already and you would still say that? Don't have to trust me but you wouldn't trust your own eyes?"

"I'm sure you're just using some kind of tech." Cj speculated.

"Yeah, alright. You can feel free to believe what you want. I'm not Santa Claus it doesn't really matter if you belive in magic." Andrea dismissed.

"I believe it." All three of the turned to find the voice it came from. Jacob attempted to bring himself to a seated position. "Also, could you just be a little quieter? My head is pounding."

A smile grew on Cj and Grayson's faces.

"Just your head huh?" Jackie said next to him. "Lucky. Everything in me hurts. Somebody come help me sit up." Grayson moved toward her and slowly helped her up.

"Am I dead? If not I'd really like to be." Ryan said across the circle from Jackie.

"Shut up Ryan. I'm in no way ready to die." Enid said next to him, pushing herself up and pulling the bandage off of her head. Grayson moved toward her and knelt down touching her head as he got close. "Hey doc, some personal space please?"

"The Gash in your head; it's closing." Grayson pointed out in disbelief.

"Magic, man. The girls got some serious hoodoo going on." Jacob wriggled his fingers mystically.

"Shut up idiot." Jackie said punching her twin brother in the arm.

"Ow, dude. You trying to rebreak my arm or something?" Jacob complained, holding his arm and sliding away from his twin.

"Where's Melissa?" Joey panicked from inbetween Jackie and Ryan in the circle. She turned her head and her eyes met Grayson's. "Is she ok?" Grayson went to the torn up wreckage of the humvee and searched through it pulling out a large gun. He hustled back over to Joey who had her arms opened wide beckoning him, eyes watering. He handed the gun over and she planted kiss after kiss on it. "Hey baby! I thought I lost you."

"Don't be jealous boo. You know me and Melissa have history. Got me through over 15 of these missions and never once Jammed. I keep her clean and she keeps me alive. Don't you darlin."

The group didn't realize Andrea had left them, but as the moonlight that illuminated them began to wein, she returned with a budle of firewood under one arm and carrying a large log on her other shoulder. More than a log, it seemed to be a complete downed tree. The group watched her approach in slight awe. It would take at least three of them to carry that log and she seemed to be carrying it with ease. She dropped the bundle on the ground and then stood the log up. An axe formed in midair as she waved her hand out and she grabbed it's handle. In three whacks the log was cleaved in half. Two more whacks to each half down the middle split them, then she shaved down the outside. She put the quarters down in a squarel; then, in the middle of the square, she prepared the firewood and lit them.

She took a seat on one of the log quarters warming herself near the fire. Nicholas hopped up on the log next to her and cuddled up beside her. Cj and Grayson looked at each other, then looked around the circle and found the others were looking at them too. Wordlessly, they all nooded to each other in agreement. Cj and Grayson helped the ones that couldn't walk on their own and those who could went and took a seat on the logs near the fire. Grayson got some provisions from the truck wreckage and passed them around. They sat quietly, uneasily; the air thick with tension, each finding it hard to eat with the uncomfortable knotss growing in their stomachs.

"You guys seem very close." Andrea commented, attempting to break the tension. "Have you all been a team for very long?"

"Most of us grew up together." Jackie said.

Cj started, "All we've ever known is this war, it has a way of bringing you together with people near you. Eventually Grayson, Joey, Jackie, Jacob and I were put in a unit together for stealth missions."

"Worst times of my life. Barely ever got to shoot Melissa." Joey interrupted.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Cj continued, "Then we teamed up with Sarah's team, the team that was in the other humvee, for a mission and we worked well together. That team merged with this one."

"Enid and I requested to join a couple years back, they had lost a few good people and there was an opening. We had heard a lot about their missions and how much good they were doing. We really wanted to be a part of it." Ryan elaborated.

"That's amazing. I apologize for the casualties you've had. I know how rough that is. I've seen my fair share of war and loss. It never gets easier to deal with; fighting and not sure you're helping at all." Andrea paused. " There always seems to be another battle." She continued barely able to mask the dejection in her voice before taking a swig of a flask she pulled out of her jacket.

"That brings up a question I've wanted to ask for a while." Cj spoke up.

"What's that? Andrea asked.

"What side are you on in this war? You fought the sentinel but you also say you helped build it. I sent a picture of you to command and they didn't find your information anywhere in the database. That means you're not an American soldier, or a soldier of any other known country. You're strong and somehow you survived fighting a sentinel with a sword when we've had trouble killing one with guns. Are you some kind of Canadian weapon?" Cj asked. She tried to make it as conversational as possible as not to seem like she was interrogating her but Andrea still felt Cj's eyes boring through her.

"That's a hard thing to explain."

Nicholas perked up at this and stared directly at Andrea, she met his gaze.

"Don't Anne." He communicated.

"I think it'd be ok to talk about it."

Andrea reached her hand into the fire pit and picked up some of the ashes, the rest of the group stared on in confusion. She picked up some of the sawdust on the ground and mixed it up with the ash in her hand. After shaking the mixture up in her hands, she blew the mixture into the fire. The mixture began to dance into the fire and then the ash took the shape of a small planet and slowly spun on its axis.

" My name is Andrea Woodfield, I was born in the Kingdom of Astoria, on a planet very similar but different than your own." Andrea spoke, as she spoke the the sawdust spelled out the word Astoria over the location of the country.

"You're an alien?" Ryan asked.

"Technically." Andrea answered concisely.

"From what planet?" Grayson asked.

"Earth. We call ourselves humans also. Our planet is shaped exactly like yours. We're just in a different dimension." Andrea answered.

"So not only are there other planets with life but there are other dimensions as well?" Enid inquired.

"I can confirm there are at least 2." Andrea answered with a small chuckle. The rest probably would laugh along if they weren't stuck in astonishment.

"But why are you here?" Cj finally spoke.

"That is a little more complicated. In order to answer that I'd need to start at the beginning." Andrea said, a sharp quiet growl escaped Nicholas and Andrea scratched behind the ear to pacify him.

"Also, what's with the dog?" Jackie asked.

Ignoring the question Andrea started, "Astoria is a matrilineal kingdom so the queen holds almost absolute power."

"Yeah, that's the stuff. Joey said in a satisfied tone.

"Queen Arabella Woodfield II is the current queen of Astoria." Andrea continued the ash taking the shape of a woman the sawdust making an intricate dress design. "30 years ago Astoria was at war with a neighboring country." The ash took the shape of soldiers and infantry fighting against each other with sawdust swords and bows. "I don't really remember the name of it, it was before I was born obviously, and anyway Astoria managed to win that war." The sawdust took the shape of a small hill; the ash took the shape of a man with a sawdust sword raised in the air. "William Mare was hailed as the most powerful warrior in all of Astoria. He was loved by all, which included the queen." The ash formed the woman in the sawdust dress coming up behind the man. "After her husband was mysteriously murdered she decided she would take William as her husband. There was only one problem though." The ash formed the man with another woman and a small child. "William was already married to Charlotte and had an adoptive son Nicholas. He had a family with whom he lived modestly as a simple farmer. He wasn't of noble birth and he didn't have any special training. He wouldn't have even fought in the war if he hadn't been drafted; but he was and he did. The queen being the queen decided to annul their marriage and take him as her king." The ash shaped into soldiers taking the man away from the mother and child and bringing him to the queen. He then had a sawdust crown placed on his head. “He became William Woodfield, but in his heart Charlotte was still his wife.” The ash took the form of the man and the mother and showed them lying together as man and wife. “Out of wedlock a baby girl was born.” The ash took the shape of the man and the mother as they looked down on a baby in a sawdust crib.

“William and Charlotte decided to try to hide the child but they weren’t so lucky.” The ash took the form of guards taking the man and the child away from the mother on her knees crying. “When the child turned 9 she was discovered by Queen Arabella and she was quickly adopted by the queen as a princess candidate and Charlotte was forced to become a servant in Woodfield castle. Nicholas, 17 at the time was enlisted in the army. Queen Arabella worked Charlotte to the bone, making her pay for her transgression while never allowing her to see her daughter.” Andrea’s voice cracked, her eyes welled but she fought back the pain to continue, Nicholas whined softly out of a mixture of concern and sadness. Out of respect none of the others looked away and watched as the story continued. The ash formed the mother cleaning with a sawdust broom, then carrying saw dust linen, as she passed by the young girl. “But Charlotte endured just to be able to see her daughter in passing every once in a while. She would leave small handmade gifts in her daughter’s room on her birthday."

"She kept surviving for her daughter and there was nothing William could do to stop her hardships. Finally she was pushed past the point of exhaustion and took ill, her illness eventually claimed her life. Her daughter wasn’t even allowed to see her before she was buried.” The ash took the form of the mother sick in a sawdust bed. “The queen had finally won, but that wasn’t enough for her. She ordered Charlottes heirs killed so all memory of the woman would be erased. However, William had heard her decree and decided to do save his daughter and son, the two 16 and 24 respectively. He decided to send them to away, but he knew there was no place on Earth they’d be safe, not on their Earth at least. The only way he could save them was to send them to another Earth with a one way ticket.”

The ash took the form of princesses fighting each other with sawdust weapons. “Astoria has an important tradition, upon the queen’s decline in health or sudden death, the daughters of the queen will be sent to a far away land to do battle for the right to rule Astoria as the next queen. Upon becoming a princess candidate each princess is given a piece of the queen’s medallion, the princesses will fight and bring together all the pieces of the medallion then they will win the ability to return home.” The ash took the form of the daughter and son huddled together while the father has his arms raised high in the arm. “Your Earth doesn’t naturally have magical reservoirs like mine so anyone who was sent here would have no way to get back, it would essentially be a kamikaze mission. William used a complicated dimensional magic spell to send his children to the one place no one could follow them, this Earth in the year 1920.”

“1920?” Grayson asked.

“That’s over 200 years ago.” Jackie added.

“Indeed.” Andrea answered.

“But how are you still alive?” Enid asked hesitantly.

Andrea pulled up her sleeve and showed them a watch. “You may have noticed when you checked me that this watch has the wrong time and date. Well this watch is synched with time in Astoria. Only 10 years has passed in Astoria, but I’ve lived in your world for over 200 of your years. My medallion piece not only allows me to continue using the magic from Astoria but keeps my body tethered to that dimension so I don’t age the same way you do. It works so that Astoria doesn’t have to go too long without a ruler.”

“So your brother then, he must have passed away by now.” Enid said solemnly.

“Nope. He’s always right beside me.” Andrea said cheerfully rubbing Nicholas’ belly.

“The dog?” Cj asked skeptically.

“Oh God, she is crazy.” Ryan whispered to Grayson.

“Charlotte, our mother was a part of a race of subhumans called beastmen. It’s like animals that have evolved in a different direction than humans. Where we came from primates they came from lions or bears. Charlotte was of a lower race, a mutt by most standards. A mixture of feral cats, wolves and other animals had diluted her bloodline, and then she was half human as well. She didn’t even have a last name. Nicholas’ father was a pureblood noble, while my father was purely human, so while I’m only 25% and have to deal with a little extra body hair sometimes, he is 75% and stuck as a dog.”

“Wow. That explains the magic then.” Grayson said in awe.

“But if you need your medallion piece to use magic then why can he even though he doesn’t have one?” Cj asked.

"He does have a medallion piece. Our father split my medallion piece into two. I got the sword and he has the claw. It's part of why we're linked to each other. "

"That's insane." Jacob said. "So, he's a dog."

"Yeah, well he can transform obviously, but only in different sizes and breeds of dog."

"But why a dog?"

"Our magic is limited in your dimension. The magic here is extremely weakened. I had to contact Queen Luna just to heal you all."

"I'm still curious, what side are you on?" Cj interrogated again.

Andrea breathed out a sigh. "Honestly, neither side. I don't really care how this war ends. I've seen a lot of wars and this one is especially problematic. You're two adjoining nations attempting to fight. It's nothing short of chaos and it's also not my problem. I'm here to do three things." She said holding up one finger. "Find my sisters." She ticked off the finger and made a fist as she continued, "Kill my sisters." Then opened her hand. "Then we go home."

Andrea stood up, Cj just watched with her jaw clenched tightly. "Sorry if that's not the answer you're looking for but that's the only answer I've got for you. Tomorrow, we get you guys back to your base and then we go our seperate ways."