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  The sense of adapting to things made Snitch feel more like her old self. While she didn't show it, a sense of calmness swept over her.

  “Who's following us?” she whispered.

  “I think I spotted three Warex enter this level.”

  “Three what?”

  “You hear that howling?” Glantham raised his eyebrows.

  “Uh, yeah. Not sure I want to meet one.”

  “Me neither. Now come on. Maybe this level has some tunnels we can hide in.” Glantham's shaking grew.

  She wasn't sure what that meant. Weren't they making good time while remaining hidden in the forest?

  The sound of trees being ripped and torn to shreds suddenly cut through her. Nothing the size of a wolf could do that. She strained to get a look.

  The Warex blazed a trail, throwing a wake of foliage into the air not far away. The speed at which things were being torn apart caused Snitch's stomach to drop to her feet.

  The Warex high ruler descended upon the tiny island of Mortus Landing with his royal court. Many pockets of his realm required little attention, and so he had not been here in a long time.

  He salivated at the thought of fresh prey. Hunting local creatures was fun, but never this exhilarating. The satisfaction of tracking a creature talented enough to open a portal provided more entertainment than the local vermin ever could.

  “I can smell them in that direction.” One of the others pointed its gnarled finger to the left. “There may be a pack of locals already here, my lord.”

  After descending to the lower level, the high ruler cried at the top of his lungs.

  The locals paused, glanced back, and kneeled.

  The leader grinned, and they coalesced behind him.

  Swinging his weapon, he carved out a path. He had forgotten the energy he drew while hunting in thickly wooded areas. Tracking anything in the open was just too easy.

  Some of the others ripped up trees and shrubs with their bony hands and elongated, black nails.

  As he proceeded, the smell of the mortals got stronger. What had been initial excitement was widening his eyes. He grinned, licking his teeth as he salivated.

  The others cried as they joined. His stomach growled at the thought of such fresh, petty fools.

  “We'll never make it sneaking along,” Glantham whispered. He stood and ran full speed across the scraggly prairie.

  Snitch followed in a heartbeat. Her feet hit the ground hard, but she heard nothing over her hard breathing.

  “Stop,” Glantham screamed, his arm stretched to catch her.

  She crashed into him, one foot off the edge of the island. Pulling back, she looked at him. Her eyes widened as she mouthed, thank you. Snitch wasn't sure what would have happened, but it couldn’t have been good.

  “Can we use our darklights to hide?”

  “I don't know.” Glantham licked his lips, eyes glancing back and forth. “I hadn't thought about that.”

  Snitch drew hers out and flipped the switch, enclosing her in a cloud of black. She switched it off and stared at Glantham biting his lip.

  “Not good enough. It isn't nighttime, and we aren't underground.”

  Grotesque roars echoed through the wood. Were they dumb beasts, or were they communicating with each other? They were getting closer for sure. Evasion wasn’t working.

  She looked back the way they’d come. No way forward or back. Snitch’s eyes locked onto Glantham, her arms shaking.

  “There's only one path.” He stared back, shaking his head. Glantham closed his eyes and mumbled strange words. Purple light coated him. Reaching out, he gripped Snitch's hand, and the light extended to her.

  His whole body lifted into the air, pulling her along. Up and away from the wooded island they flew.

  As they rose, she caught a glimpse of the Warex in pursuit. The wake of destruction was clear. They weren't far from their last position.

  “They somehow tracked our scent, but now there is no need. They can see us clear as day.”

  “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

  He pointed back.

  The Warex hunting party cloaked themselves in a similar purple light and flew after them.

  “They can fly?”

  Glantham twisted his lip. “We must find a place where they won't spot us. I do not know if they can follow our scent through the air.” He swept his face left and right.

  They approached a tiny speck of land that soon became larger than Kelmar. It was covered in hills and rocks but had little vegetation.

  The Warex shrunk in size, and Snitch’s mouth fell agape. “Looks like you fly quicker.”

  “Yes, but they will reach us. We need a plan when we land. Do you still have your darklight ready?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Because we'll need it the minute we land.” Glantham steered them toward the mouth of a giant cave. “Get ready.”

  Whump!

  Snitch hit the ground inside the cave hard as Glantham's flying stuttered out. Her brain flip-flopped at the same time. They had been flying up to this new location, but the moment they touched it, her sense of direction turned around. She was stunned, both from hitting the ground and from the correction in local orientation.

  “Now!”

  It wasn't the first time Snitch sprang into action without all her senses intact. She squeezed her darklight and switched on the envelope of darkness. These few seconds could be the difference between life or death.

  Snitch reached around, and dirt filled her hands. After her mind finally agreed on up versus down, she sat up. The click from Glantham's darklight granted an additional hint of comfort.

  As expected, the sunlight crawled in a bit before being stopped by their barrier. Or some kind of light. Seeing their path of flight from this new orientation would take some getting used to.

  “Can you see them?” Snitch always had an innate sense of direction, but that had been up for grabs since they’d entered this foreign place. All she could think about was hiding inside this damp cave.

  “No. They might have gone past us. I was hoping we gained enough distance that they’d miss us landing, but I can't be sure.” He looked toward her, brows raised and lips thinned.

  She shook her head, running her hands through her hair.

  He shrugged his shoulders and walked closer.

  “The darklights at the mouth of the cave should afford us some cover. Perhaps we can seek refuge deeper in?” Snitch tried to make the best of the situation. Switching on her pocket bulb and seeing it work made her cheer inside.

  “Agreed.” Glantham adjusted the position of the darklights to get maximum coverage of the mouth of the cave. All set up, he moved further inside and found a place to sit.

  “Not exactly my favorite place.” Snitch stared at the surroundings. “But it feels more like the tunnels than anything else we’ve encountered.” She winked at Glantham.

  “You've endured much. I'm impressed you haven't gone literally insane from the shock of another dimension.”

  Snitch grinned at those words.

  “I've often prided myself on being adaptable. I happen to need as much of that here as possible.”

  “Good. I was hoping that would be the case. This wasn't quite the plan I had in mind, but I'm afraid you're going to have to adapt to more than just the purple dimension.” Glantham spoke with a calm voice.

  Snitch squinted at him. What did that mean?

  Chapter Ten

  The Truth

  Sweat rolled off the Warex high leader’s hairless shoulders and back. He licked his large fangs, savoring the thought of tearing through the forests in pursuit.

  It was only a minor setback when the foolish mortals took flight. Their game was more exciting than any recent hunts. His hands tightened around the cold metal of his weapon as his eyes tracked them in the sky.

  The hunting pack took flight, and excitement grew as their quarry acquired more distance, becoming tiny specks. A true hunt after all.

/>   “If they continue this path, they’ll surely reach Final Down,” the Warex high leader called out.

  The others howled.

  Upon landing, the high ruler sniffed along with the others. Having not seen their landing, this would take time.

  A few hours later, one of them whistled. “My lord, I can smell them. This way.”

  “Good.” His mouth spread wide. “We shall take a break. Let them think they have an advantage.”

  One of the younger lads grunted, its eyebrows scrunched together. “But my lord, we can—”

  “What?” cried the high leader.

  The others moved away from the fledgling, staring between the two.

  “Why delay what we have hungered so long for?”

  The high leader closed the distance to him. “Because you can’t truly savor a hunt that is too easy.” He hefted his blade between hands.

  The newcomer, an aide to one of the high leader’s courtiers, shrank as his eyes widened.

  “You have spoken out in the past, and I have encouraged your sponsor, a true friend of mine, to teach you respect. Now, there appears to be but one way.”

  The leader raised his blade high and swooped it down, severing the frail Warex in two. Swinging around, he lopped off the veritable peasant’s head before slumping to the ground. Having purged his court of disrespect, he howled.

  Grinning wide, the howling spread like wildfire.

  “My lord, I never knew him to be so—”

  A single icy glance created silence.

  The sponsor looked down. He’d offer no more courtly apprentices for a long time, not if he valued his own life.

  The high leader sat, and the rest joined him in a circle. Tipping his head at each member, he relished the adventure they shared, and little time passed before they began gloating.

  “Where are these mortals from?” asked one Warex as he picked his teeth with bone fragments.

  “I'm not sure, but something about their scent reminds me of the Great Hunt.”

  Several howled with widened eyes at those words.

  “Is it possible there could be another event so grand?” asked another as he checked his weapon.

  “That was a glorious festival,” said the high ruler’s right-hand courtier. “We hunted so many and feasted for centuries. I wondered if we would ever have another opportunity.”

  Others growled at the excitement of that.

  “These feasts are but once-in-a-lifetime. Not to be shared by those fallen in righteous battle, like your father.” The leader stared at his right-hand noble.

  The creature tipped his head as the high leader placed a hand on his shoulder. “A great beast he was, my lord. I can only hope to honor him.”

  “And such a feast cannot be shared by those destroyed by their own insolence.” The leader glanced at the remains of the one he’d just disciplined. “In the past, many have been excommunicated to other worlds, but I witness a new era of disrespect forming. More and more, these fledglings require stricter discipline.”

  “Here here.” The others growled.

  “The thought of these mortals being from the same world where thousands embraced our glorious magic centuries ago is exhilarating.”

  “My lord, no one can deny your ingenious plot to bury tomes of enticing magic across the many dimensions. I would follow you to the gates of Triachon.” The beast crossed his pair of swords and bowed his head.

  The high leader squinted as he lifted jis jaw. Drinking in the glory yielded by his underlings, his mind traced out new plots. Another feast yielded by his conniving plans could only boister his political position.“All who continue to flock to me will be rewarded with the glory of razing another world!”

  “Here here!”

  Sensing the passion among his minions, he growled. “And all who honor my throne will share in the power of my court.”

  Soon, other members of his troop shared stories of past hunts, discussed weapons, and argued many things.

  A true hunt indeed.

  After a few hours, the high leader stood. “These mortals have been given enough of a head start.” He hefted his giant blade as he flashed his teeth. “Now it is time to seek them out and rip them limb from limb.”

  Shadows cast by her pocket bulb morphed into scary shapes on the walls. Snitch squinted her eyes at Glantham.

  “Are you going to explain any of this?” Of course he wouldn’t. He was well known for only having bits and pieces compared to her own sources.

  “Yes.”

  Snitch blinked twice. Was this for real?

  Glantham continued. “As you have witnessed, I possess some strange abilities. I am a mentalist.”

  “A what?” She wasn’t asking so much as doubting.

  “A mentalist. According to ancient writings, a form of energy was discovered on Earth long ago.”

  “Earth?” Snitch quirked an eyebrow.

  “It is the name of our world. Not a common fact.”

  Snitch squinted. “You’re talking about the land around Kelmar?”

  “The realm of Kelmar, the region to the north where Melicose is waging war, all the territories in the far east, and some none of us have ever seen. The land we inhabit is much older than you can imagine.”

  Snitch’s mouth hung open. Her whole life, all she’d known were the streets of Kelmar. There was never a thought beyond her tough life.

  Glantham’s eyes glistened. “I’ve seen journals which are almost a thousand years old. They mention devices containing the knowledge of vast libraries, carried in your hand.”

  “What?” Snitch grinned at that. “That’s ridiculous. You must have read a fairy tale.”

  “No. It was true. Our world suffered something terrible. Based on the events of today, I fear the purple dimension may have had something to do with it.”

  Snitch stared, unsure what to say. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. “You’ve wanted to share that for a long time, haven’t you?”

  Glantham nodded. “Back then, this energy was described as magic, but it doesn’t respond to awkward rhymes and ceremonial stones. It is manipulated by the mind. So instead of using an archaic word like wizard, we say mentalist.”

  “Sounds like the stuff found in bedtime stories. You're telling me that you have been—casting spells?” He had done some amazing things since their arrival, but to assign it to stories she heard as a child was absurd.

  “More or less. As I said, this isn’t fluffy magic. Instead, it is the art of summoning and wielding extra-dimensional energy with your mind. In my case, I learned to extract energy from the purple dimension. It's the reason I radiate different forms of purple.”

  Snitch tried to take it all in. Despite what she had already seen, it was hard to believe.

  “I have practiced for several years, but our world has known about mental energy for centuries. At least, as far back as known records indicate.”

  “Known records?”

  “There are writings from mentalists written long ago. That's what my predecessor told me. Some of it is history, some of it instructional. One thing that stands out are certain dangers when you wield it.”

  “Like what?” Snitch leaned forward, tilting her head. Glantham muttering ‘dangers’ had caught her attention, and she feared the answer wouldn’t be pretty.

  “Mentalism requires focus to exercise it, to mold it. You are only limited by what your mind can accomplish, but the energy comes from somewhere. Draw too much, and the consequences can be severe.” Glantham showed a downcast face.

  “You mean, what happened to us?” Her eyes locked onto Glantham’s face.

  His eyes met hers. “I subdued the soldiers who attacked us, but in fear, I transported us to another part of the tunnels. It drew the attention of the Warex, and they pulled us into the purple dimension to extract payback.”

  “Those beasts that have been chasing us?”

  “The Warex are of a magical nature. It’s possible to siphon away tiny bits
of their energy without them noticing. But as I said, if I draw too much—well let's say they don't like it. During the short span when the link was open after teleportation, they created a portal and pulled me in. You were too close. Again, I'm sorry.”

  “Why didn't you tell me this before? Why didn't you tell any of us?” Snitch’s voice rose as her eyes looked past him instead of at him. She pinched her mouth.

  “Gavin is aware, but the truth is, the fewer people that know of the purple dimension, the better.”

  “Why?”

  “Mentalism is not hard once you’re introduced to it. Imagine if a handful of people learned the basics and began practicing.”

  “You mean, if several people started casting spells, the Warex would notice, in a bad way.” Snitch’s hands turned clammy as she licked her lips.

  Glantham raised his eyebrows. “It might not take such a big spell to draw their attention. I have done my best to keep my talents hidden. I needed Gavin to know, but I decided no one else.”

  He had been staring at the ground, but his gaze locked onto her. “And most of all, I could not share it with you.”

  “What do you mean?'” Snitch rose to her feet. Glantham explaining anything was a first. What was next?

  “Have you ever noticed how good you are at slipping in and out of situations unnoticed?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Think about the speed you charted the tunnels. How long does it take you to find a new route?”

  A knot formed in her stomach. “What are you saying?”

  “Remember the time you robbed that pawn shop but didn’t know they had hired a second night watchman?”

  “How can you possibly know about that?” Snitch’s hands balled up into fists as her arms stiffened. “That was long before I met you, and I never shared it with anyone.”

  “Your accomplice knocked out the first watchman, but the second one surprised you, so you dove behind the counter. He should have heard you but didn’t, and you somehow escaped.” Glantham’s eyes locked onto hers.