Zara stood frozen by whatever magic the demon possessed as he pulled back from smelling her. The scowl never left his face as he once again observed her. As he held her there, Zara heard the shuffling of feet approaching behind her. She turned her head slightly to try and see what was going on.

A figure in a cloak stepped up beside her. The person’s face was completely hidden by the large hood of their dark black cloak and they wore black gloves on their hands. Zara strained to get a better look but couldn’t notice any features.

“Master,” the voice spoke in a clearly feminine lithe. “Is this the girl?”

At first the demon didn’t response but after a moment he nodded once.

“Can’t you tell,” he said sarcastically, deep gravely voice booming in the small room. It was so commanding that Zara swore she could feel it reverberating inside her chest. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

“Hmm,” came the cloaked woman’s response as she turned toward Zara. “Maybe in looks but not in courage.”

Zara tried to peer at the woman’s face inside the shadowy hood but saw only a tight lipped frown. She was surprised to see that it appeared the woman was human. At least, her skin was the right shade. Not like the vibrant blacks and reds and greens she had seen of the demons. Though it was hard to tell under the cloak.

Zara frowned at the woman’s words but was unable to say or do anything. Still, she felt her hands trembling even within the magic hold. She turned her eyes back at the demon holding her and noticed that was his eyes were looking at as well and his frown deepened.

“Yes,” the demon replied thoughtfully, “I must admit that I am… disappointed. I thought she would have at least retained some of fire her mother possessed but it appears that isn’t the case. Though… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The other was broken very easily.”

At this, his eyes flickered up to something behind Zara and then back to her face.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug,” our plans will continue unchanged.”

He looked into Zara’s eyes as he addressed her. “I believe you go by the name Zara?”

She struggled to nod her head yes. It took all her strength to dip it the tiniest bit. His terrifying eyes never left her, scowl ever in place.

“I’m sure you have many questions and they all will be answered in time,” he said, sitting back casually. “You are home now, daughter. That is the what matters.”

Zara gasped in a breath and eyes grew wide in horror at his words. Home? Daughter? It couldn’t be possible. They weren’t going to let her go. She struggled to control her breathing. She gasped again, wanting to ask the questions burning at the back of her tongue but barely even able to breath was causing her to not be able to speak. His hold on her was tight, like he was squeezing a hand around her ribs. She started to panic as she looked into his glowing red eyes.

“Master,” came the voice of the cloaked woman again. “You will squeeze the life out of her soon if you aren’t careful. Humans are delicate beings.”

The demon growling deeply but Zara felt his grip on her ease slightly and she panted as oxygen flooded her system again. If he wasn’t holding her so tightly she knew she would have collapsed to the ground by now. Her head spun and she sucked in air, willing herself to stay conscious and alert. Fear filled her and made limbs tremble harder.

“She is NOT human,” he growled in anger. “Any spawn of mine will learn to be strong. Or die.”

With the last word he leaned in toward her, pointed teeth bared in a grimace as he reached out toward her. She braced herself as one of his large pointer fingers touched her forehead.

For a second his skin just felt hot against her and then there was pain exploding behind her skull the likes of which she had never felt before. She let a scream rip out of her chest as her body started to convulse.

The demon gently laid her down on the ground in front of the others. Five more cloaked figures along with the one Zara had been able to see surrounded her. They began chanting in the strange language the demons used. Zara couldn’t focus on anything besides the pain. As they chanted, the pain grew ever more intense. She felt the flesh of her forehead ripping as something sprouted above both eyebrows. She convulsed violently on the ground but no one reached out to help.

“Do not touch her,” the demon warned, sitting back against his throne.

He watched only half interested as he called to one of the demonesses still kneeling before him. She sprang up, eager to serve her master. Zara’s screams filled the small room but nobody spared her a glance except the cloaked women chanting around her.

“She will either be strong enough to let the seal set and the transformation complete or she will die,” he said, tone nonchalant as he pulled the demoness he summoned into his lap. She purred as he stroked her back, leaning in to kiss him along his neck and right biceps.

Zara screamed again, louder than ever as the chanting continued on.

_____________________

Ta’Ga traveled his usual route to the Master’s quarters. They had dropped Yuli and Zara off at Master Desmond’s personal quarters three days prior. Each day he would return and Master Desmond would send a healer to the door with the news that the girls hadn’t woke and that he should try again the next day. The first day Grennt had gotten angry after a few hours of being shut out and had tried to push his way inside. That had not gone over well. He had been throw out by the Master as if he were flicking away an annoying bug. Grennt had gone crashing across the ground before tumbling to a stop. Master Desmond then came out and calmly told him there was no need for anger and assured him that Yuli would make a full recovery within a few days and was completely out of danger now. Grennt had been satisfied with that.

“What about Zara?” Ta’Ga had asked. Master Desmond had sighed and told him he wasn’t sure and to come back the next day for more information, gently closing the door on Ta’Ga as he headed back inside. Grennt had gone back to his usual routine, mostly sparring and training in the fields but Ta’Ga had waited around the Master’s quarters each day. Sometimes he would pace and other times he would whittle. He’d leave for meals and then come back, waiting for news. The various healers would come and go, all flashing him a quick, apologetic smile when they saw him still waiting around. Grennt asked him why he was wasting his time waiting around. Master Desmond had said Yuli would be fine. Ta’Ga just shrugged in response. He wasn’t really sure why but he needed to make sure Zara was OK. He was drawn to her somehow. It was almost like he felt responsible for her ever since he had injured her. He had felt bad doing it to begin with and even worse when he found out he had been tricked into it. He felt like he owed her somehow. Though, he’d be lying if he said that was the only reason. Something just drew him to her, like moth to a flame.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

They hadn’t been very far from base where they landed in the forest, only about ten minutes or so. They had trudged around until they found a familiar trail and practically ran the whole way back. They didn’t stop until they were banging on Master Desmond’s door. The guards had tried to stop them but they made it very clear how dire the situation could be. Once the guards saw Yuli, they immediately let them through. If one of the Ra’Mar were injured, something serious must have happened.

Master Desmond took one look at the girls in their arms and ushered them inside his private quarters. He instructed them to lay Yuli on the bed and Zara on the floor. They did as they were bid. He asked Grennt what happened and he had explained as Master Desmond took assessment of Yuli. When he got done with the story he turned to Ta’Ga for confirmation. Ta’Ga just nodded once and Master Desmond seemed satisfied with that. Then he told them to leave him while he worked and he would let them know when the girls were stable.

Master Desmond had not acted surprised or even perplexed by anything they had told him. Not even the strange things about Zara or about Raio disappearing. He had just worked on Yuli silently, expression calm and serious as usual. Ta’Ga wondered if he somehow knew this would happen. Though, he always wondered that about the Master. He always seemed to have more information about things than he should.

Just as he reached the Master’s door and raised his fist to knock, the door to Master Desmond’s quarters creaked open. Ta’Ga stepped back, surprised. Instead of the usual healer coming out, a small, stooped old man stood in the doorframe. The master.

“Come,” he said, gesturing for Ta’Ga to follow him back inside. He offered no smile or greeting.

He followed behind the Master and closed the door firmly behind them. They moved back toward the bedroom where they had laid the girls down previously. The bed was empty, much to Ta’Ga’s surprise.

“Our Yuli made a full recovery,” Master Desmond said, gesturing to the bed. “She pushed herself to her limit and used almost all of the power she had to bring you back here. She woke early this morning and I sent her on a short mission to gather some important items that I think will help young Zara here.”

Ta’Ga breathed a loud sigh of relief, letting his shoulders sag a little as some of the worry left him.

“And Zara?” He asked expectantly.

Master Desmond sighed, turning to face the dark haired girl still lying next to his bed. Her clothes had been removed and hung on the chair next to the bed. She was covered up with a blanket as well but her legs up to her knees were left exposed, likely to keep her cool he knew. Even from the far side of the room Ta’Ga could see her skin still shining with a thick layer of sweat.

“Unfortunately, there isn’t much to be done for Zara,” Master Desmond explained, stepping gingerly to the girl’s side and gesturing for Ta’Ga to come closer. As he did, Master Desmond carefully turned her head to one side and pushed her hair out of the way so they could see underneath her head. Ta’Ga’s eyebrows raised as he realized her hair had started turning white at the base of her neck.

“What does it mean?” Ta’Ga asked.

Master Desmond didn’t answer. Instead he reached under the blanket and gingerly pulled out one of her arms. It hung limp in his hands but Ta’Ga gasped at the strange black bruises covering her arms.

“What is that?” He asked, leaning in for a closer look.

Master Desmond gently placed Zara’s arm back under the blanket before standing up. He walked around the girl and toward a small sofa he had under the single window in the room. He sat down heavily with a sigh.

“I’m afraid the girl’s spirit has been trapped in another plane,” Master Desmond explained. “I have only witnessed it happen one other time in my lifetime. It is not something that can be easily fixed.”

Ta’Ga stared at the old man with a frown.

“Trapped?” He asked, confused. “In another… Plane? What does that mean?”

The master sighed, looking much older than Ta’Ga remembered. Even though he was indeed quite old, Master Desmond always had a twinkle in his eye and a pep in his step that made him seem a lot younger than he really was. Ta’Ga didn’t see that spark now.

“Ah,” Master Desmond said, head bobbing in agreement. “She is trapped in Osiris, one of the planes of life connected to our own. It is a hard thing to explain but basically there are layers of reality folded over each other like pages of a book.”

Master Desmond closed his hands, palms touching, right hand on top of left. He then turned his hands to the side so his thumbs were facing up and opened his hands so both palms were facing up, like one would open a book. Ta’Ga raised his eyebrows in question but didn’t interrupt.

“There is us, the middle page, of Earth, sun, sky and life as we know it. Then on the page before and the page after there are other planes of existence. They share some similarities with our world but also vast differences. For simplicity sake, that it how it had always been and how it always will be.”

“If that’s true why haven’t I ever heard about this before?” Ta’Ga asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Master Desmond smiled a small smile. “Not many people know about such things with the certainty that I do. And those who do want to believe it isn’t the truth because it’s easier than accepting that places like this can exist.”

Ta’Ga frowned at the old man but still said nothing.

“There are conduits through which these worlds can be breeched,” Master Desmond continued on. “The conduits are individuals who naturally possess the gift of being able to transverse time and space in order to communicate and, in rare occasion, travel to these planes through projection and separation of their body and spirit. Some possess the ability to willing be able to split their physical self from their spiritual self to cross the wall into the other planes. I believe Zara must be one of those rare people.”

Ta’Ga glanced over at the unconscious girl, his frown growing in concern.

“You mean that her spirit is separated from her body and that’s why she is unconscious?” Ta’Ga asked.

“Yes,” Master Desmond confirmed, “I believe that is precisely what has happened. From what Grennt told me, it seems this happened in her sleep. Conduits, or Spirit Walkers as they’re referred to, usually find it easier to access their powers when they’re sleeping. That is the time when the mind is more aware and connected to the spirit. It is believed dreams are memories of your spirits adventures while you sleep. Though those are just children’s stories.”

“Why would her spirit become trapped?” Ta’Ga asked. “Why wouldn’t it find it’s way back to her body so she could wake?”

“Now,” Master Desmond said, getting back to his feet, ”that is the troubling part. Zara should have control over her spirit but it doesn’t sound like she was aware she had this ability at all. It seems like something powerful, likely some kind of magic, is keeping her from reconnecting with her physical form. She wouldn’t know how to try and do it on her own but the soul naturally wants to be reconnected with its physical form after a time. It would seek out this plane almost automatically. I assume someone or something is trapping her for a purpose and not a good one. The creatures in the other planes are not born with a soul, you see. They have many reasons to covet those who do. Especially those who can travel to their plane from another. It is very useful to those who wish to travel themselves.”

“I see,” Ta’Ga said, rubbing his creased brow in thought. There was a lot to take in and he was starting to get a headache. Normally he took Master Desmond’s word without question but now he was starting to wonder if the old man was actually as crazy as he looked. “How do we help her?”

“Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do,” Master Desmond explained. “Dealing with the soul is an extremely tricky and dangerous thing to attempt. It can be done but it requires enormous stores of magic, usually from multiple people and you risk permanently serving the connection between host and spirit. If that happens the host will die and the spirit will be trapped, unable to make it back to their physical body.”

“So, what?” Ta’Ga asked. “We just wait around and hope her spirit will return? What happens if it doesn’t?”

“Well I showed you the back of her head,” the Master said, “the hair turning white is the first indication that she is fading. If her soul doesn’t return soon, her entire body will grow pale and then will start to become translucent. Once that happens she will be gone in minutes. Then, her spirit will begin to turn into her physical form wherever it currently is. There will be no way to get Zara back once that happens. There are no other known Spirit Walkers alive who could search for her.”

Ta’Ga’s mouth had fallen open at Master Desmond’s explanation. Disappear? Now he was sure the old man had gone crazy. He was about to retort when movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Master Desmond caught the movement too and then both stepped closer to Zara.

As they watched, her head slowly fell to one side and then rolled to the other.

“Ahh!” Master Desmond exclaimed while clapping his hands together. “It appears she must have found her way back!”

Just as the Master finished his sentence, Zara’s mouth flew open in a blood curdling scream. She started convulsing wildly, body flailing and eyes wide open. Ta’Ga scrambled to hold her down while Master Desmond stared at her in horror for a few seconds. Zara’s unseeing eyes were blood red. The irises and whites were completely red with a tiny, almost invisible, black pupil in the center. Ta’Ga grabbed her arms as she continued to scream and thrash.

“Zara!” He screamed, trying to bring her out of whatever this episode was. It was was like what happened in the forest but much worse. He had never heard a more tormented scream in his life. As he looked at her face his eyes widened as he noticed the skin splitting on both sides of her forehead by her hairline. Blood trickled from the freshly split skin and ran down the sides of her face in waves.

“Master!” Ta’Ga yelled, trying to keep his grip on her, “do something! Help her!”

Master Desmond was there at his side then, pressing his palms flat against Zara’s chest, in between her breasts.

“Keep holding her steady,” he told Ta’Ga as his hands began to glow with magic. Ta’Ga didn’t answer as more and more blood started to pour down the sides of her face. As he watched, horrorstruck, something started to grow out of the split skin of her forehead.

“Hurry,” he muttered, feeling bile rise in the back of his throat. What was happening to her?

________________________