From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 3

The transit through the Shadowland and into another world was brief and almost random in nature as I felt the need for us to land in a place that I had never before been and to which it could not be predicted that we would retire to.

I had to reject two worlds because they presented survivability problems for my friends, and third world was rejected because the portal would have taken us to a strange looking city teeming with inhabitants of unknown dispositions.

The fourth attempt finally resulted in place that was less than ideal but seemed to meet our immediate needs for safety and privacy.

I closed the portal immediately.

As soon as she regained her bearings, Ravyn knelt down next to Jim. “Are you all right Jim?”

Jim groaned once and retched onto the ground away from her. His let go of the bat and grabbed his temples. “Ugh. I don’t think trans-dimensional travel is going to help my concussion any, but it was probably better than another punch in head from Papa Locks.”

The Frau gave the cold air a sniff and started circling the small, barren valley that we found ourselves in.

I turned to Ravyn and Jim. “I don’t think anyone could have followed us here, so we’re probably safe for the time being. We need to come up with a plan.”

Ravyn stood back up. “Well, we need to see if we can find a way to rescue Alexa, Naomi and Cerrydwen. We can’t leave them to El Diablito. Then we need to find out how our safe houses are being discovered and attacked.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Everything we’ve worked so hard to build over the last ten years is being taken from us. Worse yet, our friends are getting hurt and killed!”

I held up my hands. “Hey, I agree. We can’t let those monsters have any of our people, if we can prevent it. Especially if El Diablito is foolish enough to think that he is pulling a fast one over the An’girasii. I don’t think that he has the first clue about dangerous and powerful these creatures are.”

Jim sat up, picked his bat back up and used it to help him get to his knees before he stopped to recover. He fought off another bout of nausea before looking up at us. “I don’t think I’m in any condition to be of much help in any rescue attempt.”

Ravyn reached down and gave him a hug. “You gave as good as you got, Jim. I don’t think El Diablito will be doing any dancing in the near future, not with the way I heard his knee crack when you pasted him!”

Jim smiled at the thought of landing those blows. “That did feel good.”

The Frau came shambling down the nearest slope before parking herself next to Jim. Her voice came through telepathically. “Rusty, do you remember the memory orb that you watched from Nick’s encounter with Rose?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Do you think that you can take us to that place where Nick was held? I have a feeling that we will find at least some of our friends there.”

I nodded again. “I was able to get enough of a feeling for that place. I do think that I can find it again. But wouldn’t that be right in the middle of El Diablito’s organization? We’d probably have to fight our way through.”

She grunted. “We might. But the best defense is often a good offense. I think they’re going to need some time to recover from Ravyn’s fireball. I doubt that they are going to be expecting us to strike back immediately. If we wait, they might realize that we can get to their stronghold and move their prisoners somewhere else. We might also be able to gather some much needed intelligence on who their source on organization is.”

Ravyn nodded. “I agree. I’m tired of being a damn victim. Let’s hit them for a change!”

Jim stood up, groaning as he did so. He wobbled as he spoke. “I’m game, I think. Just point me in the general direction and stay out of my way.”

Seeing how green he looked around the gills, I wasn’t too sure this plan had any chance of success. Then an idea came with a flash. I reached up to the hilt of the blade on my back and projected my thoughts into it.

With more than a little surprise, I felt an acknowledgement from the blade and grudging acceptance to my request.

I drew the blade and held it out towards Jim. “Jim, I think Excalibur will serve you better than that bat of yours.”

Jim looked shocked. “I’ve never used a sword…I wouldn’t know how…”

“Hey buddy, in case you hadn’t noticed, I never used a sword before either. That’s the beauty of this blade-it will pretty much wield itself. Hopefully, we can get in and back out without you having to really wield it in battle, but I will feel much better if you have this thing in your hands than if you are trying use baseball bat against people who can throw magick around. This thing will protect you from most of what anyone can throw at you.”

Jim reached out tentatively to take the hilt of the blade in shaking hands. He flinched as his fingers touched the hilt.

I let go as Excalibur settled into his grip. Color returned to his face as if healing energy flowed from the blade through his arms and into his body. He blinked as he stared at his reflection in the glowing blade of the sword.

“Whoa. I never would have guessed that this sword could be so light.” He looked back to me, nodding. “I feel much better now! I’m ready to go!”