Lily stared at the map in disbelieve. Was it really possible that she wasn’t even in England anymore? But then, where was she? She didn’t recognise any of the landmarks on the map Ryon had shown her. The largest city was located in the north-west and was titled ?Ilinar’. To the north-east there was a drawing of a black castle. The region it was located in was titled ?Night‘, and farther north from there was a white castle in a region that was titled ?Mountain‘. Along the coast from east to south a mountain-range stretched and one entire region was simply titled ?Winter’. The inner part of the country was dominated by a vast forest, of which one part was titled ominously enough ?Blood‘. The whole of the forest was only interrupted by a few towns, and in the south between the forest and the mountains a meadow stretched out. What country was so bare of civilization? Where were all the people?

  Tiadar… She had certainly never heard of such a place. And how could she be in a different country when she had just stumbled a few miles through the woods behind the mansion?

  The world circulated quickly before her eyes and she had to close them before she got dizzy. Tiadar… It was impossible. But there she was: Standing in the middle of an unfamiliar forest, holding a map of a world that was unheard of, next to a creature… she still wasn’t sure what her partner in crime actually was.

  ?I don’t believe it“, she muttered. And: ?How is all of this possible?“ Her voice was so quiet that Ryon barely heard it. He waited patiently for her to regain mental stability, then he said as casual as possible: ?Well, I don’t know if this has anything to do with you but I did sense some kind of gateway in the general direction of where you came from.“

  ?A… A gateway? Like a magical one?“, she asked slowly.

  ?Yes“, he replied. ?Although it could have been a glitch in the magical barrier, too, allowing you to trespass into this world.“

  She suddenly remembered the sensation of being pulled forward. Could that have been the gateway?, she wondered. And then she remembered something else. ?There was a voice…“, she said.

  ?A voice?“, Ryon asked.

  ?Yes…“, she said thinkingly. ?A voice that called my name… And then I felt like I’m being pulled forward.“

  After a moment, Ryon nodded. ?Sounds to me like someone from this world helped you over.“

  Lilys eyes widened for a moment. ?You think so? But who would help me? And why? And how would they know me?“

  ?I don’t know“, Ryon replied. ?I’m as surprised as you are.“

  Somehow Lily doubted that, but then again, there was no reading this guy. She sighed. Great… Now I’m in a different dimension, or what?

  That thought annoyed her at first, but then made her hesitate. Was it possible, that…?

  ?Hey, Ryon?“, she asked.

  ?Yes?“

  ?Do you think… Other people could have managed to ?trespass‘ too?“, she asked hesitantly.

  ?Well… I don’t know…“, he said thoughtfully, but then he seemed to remember something and added: ?But I did see some more people in the general direction of the gateway.“

  That made her think. Were those the soldiers of Lord Duncan? Had he known about this place?

  One thing was for sure. She couldn’t get careless now.

  ?Let’s go. I don’t want to leave that to chance“, she said to Ryon.

  The Ookubi tilted his head sideways. ?Wait, why is it important if other people crossed, too?“

  Lily remained silent for a moment. Did he really know nothing about her pursuers? Surely, he would, if they had the same employer.

  She took a deep breath. If he knew the answer and was just asking to fake innocence, then it didn’t matter if she told him. And if he didn’t know, then maybe he really wasn’t on a mission for her father. But, then, who else had sent him?

  ?There had been people trailing me. They don’t want me to be out here. They rather want me in their house, so they are out to catch me“, she said and watched Ryon intently.

  ?Why is that?“, he asked.

  ?Revenge, I guess.“

  ?Revenge for what?“

  He really seemed clueless. So maybe there was hope.

  ?My existence“, she replied grimly.

  That was all she would say about it. Enemy or not, he was still a stranger, and she wouldn’t just throw her painful and embarrassing past at him, so for now she continued her way through the forest.

  Ryon followed behind her.

  She folded the map back together and let it disappear into thin air - or rather into her own private magical void where she kept all her belongings. That was the trick behind this magic. The object was not really disappearing, it was just sent to a magical void where it remained until the owner of the void called it forth again when it was needed. Very practical really.

  Ryon didn’t object to her taking his map. Lily suspected that he knew this region better than he admitted. He probably had no need of a map anyway.

  Lily regarded her environment with a newly won attention. Now the colours around her seemed more intense, the sounds were sharp to her ears, and she thought she could feel some kind of strange energy vibrating through the earth beneath her feet. But also, this could all be due to an overly active imagination. Lily glanced at Ryon to see if he noticed any changes in their surroundings, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Or maybe he already lived here for so long, that he was used to it… Or maybe she just failed to read him properly. In any case, they had to go somewhere, and if this town Reskal truly was the only thing around they would head there. Even if it was just a small town there was a still a small chance, she could gather further information there. Maybe someone had heard about a bunch of guards searching the forest for a girl or something like that.

  Also, they needed a place that would shelter them from the cold autumn nights. She didn’t know about Ryon, but she did know that she for one did not care to freeze in her sleep if she could help it.

  So Reskal it was.

  She estimated that they would arrive there three days from now.

  Reskal… Tiadar… Portals… There were so many questions swirling inside her head, she had to organize them somehow or else she would go mad.

  So she decided to begin with the question she had wanted to ask before the Ookubi had shaken her understanding of the world she had lived in until yesterday.

  Lily thought about how to start the conversation anew. Then she decided to keep it casual.

  ?Ryon“, she said. ?What is it actually that Ookubi do?“

  The Ookubi had been scanning the treetops for some reason, but he must have heard her for he turned his attention towards her as soon as she stopped talking.

  ?Ookubi seek out the people that are close to dying“, he explained. ?The reasons can be various. It can be a sickness that they already carried for a while, or it can be an accident they never see coming. We Ookubi seek them out to guide their freshly departed spirits to the Neitherrealm, a place beyond life…“, he looked like he wanted to say more, but then thought otherwise. ?Yeah, that’s basically it“, he finished inelegantly.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  ?Huh…“, Lily mused. Then a thought occurred to her that made her stomach churn. ?Ryon… You did seek me out, didn’t you? Do you mean to tell me that I’m close to dying?“

  The notion seemed to surprise him. ?What? No, no. Heavens no. You’re fine!“

  ?Honest?“

  ?Honest!“

  She thought about that for a minute, then asked: ?How do you know who is close to dying?“

  ?We can see the remaining life span of a person. With that we can calculate the date of departure.“

  ?One could almost think you’re talking about a train’s time schedule“, Lily commented cynically.

  ?What’s a train?“, Ryon asked.

  ?A mode of transportation“, Lily replied. ?They only drive at set times. The conductors drive them from place to place with only little delay, for the most part.“ At least, that’s what she’d heard about trains. She, herself, had never been allowed to actually travel with one.

  ?Then to us, there’s little difference, really“, Ryon replied genially.

  ?… So are you a creature of this world or of the ?world beyond life‘?“, she continued.

  Apparently, Ryon found it difficult to find an answer to that question, so it took a while for him to respond. ?Since my kind calls its home literally ?Realm Between’, I think I’m neither.“

  ?Huh“, Lily made again. ?So I guess you’re also neither from this world nor the world I’ve come from, is that right?“

  ? …I don’t really know“, Ryon said thoughtfully. ?I’ve never felt contained by anything, but I’ve never thought about visiting other worlds. There’s enough work here as it is! And a world full of denisons with short life spans that seem to take every possibility to shorten them even further. No, thank you!“, he exclaimed at last.

  ?What is a denison?“, Lily asked.

  ?Denisons are the main people of this land“, Ryon answered a little befuddled.

  ?I see“, Lily said and had to grin a little. ?And so they curse us demons for being mischievous evildoers and scheming creatures of hell, when it is really them who teach us and who keep the pit fires down below lit day and night.“

  It was only when she looked at him directly to see whether he found the irony as funny as she did, that she noted a look in his eyes she had never seen before. ? …What is it?“, she asked soberly and not quite sure what to make of this.

  ?I’ve never seen you grin before, is all“, Ryon said softly.

  Taken off guard, Lily blushed. She had expected… well, anything but that.

  ?I…“, she began.

  ?I like it“, Ryon added with a chuckle which made her blush even more.

  Not sure how to react to that she stared down at her feet and watched them walk with great concentration. What was wrong with him? Or rather… what was wrong with her? She had never cared about flattery. Not that she experienced much of it, but even when a gentleman decided to drop a compliment meant for her at the occasional spring-or winter ball back at the mansion, she never reacted to it with more than a courtesy nod. They never really meant what they said, anyway. No one complimented a demon knowingly from his heart. So why would this guy care? And why did she care about it? Ugh… Today it’s really one confusion chasing the other…, she thought and hastened her pace to cover her insecurity. She would get to the bottom of this. She just had to make sure that the Ookubi next to her didn’t take notice what impact his words had on her.

  She was thinking about a way to change the subject quickly, or else the stretch of silence would become too long to not be embarrassing. Suddenly, there was the sound of bones breaking coming from behind a bush a few paces away from her. She stopped, startled, and looked over to the bush but couldn’t see anything. After a moment of hesitation, she motioned Ryon to stop and snuck towards the sound. She felt Ryon’s eyes on her when she glanced around the bush to see what the source of those sounds was. When she saw what it was, she stopped in her tracks.

  ?…Ryon?“, she asked quietly. ?What is that?“

  He walked over to her and peered over her shoulder.

  ?Oh“, he said. ?Lucky you!“

  In front of them sat a fox, but unlike any Lily had ever seen before. Black stripes streaked its brown fur that had already begun to turn white in preparation for the winter ahead. But that was not the most unusual about it. From its head sprouted two translucent horns and equally translucent spikes ran along its spine. It raised its blood-sullied snout when it heard them coming and both horns and spikes turned red when the fox saw Lily and Ryon standing there.

  ?What is that?“, Lily repeated. ?I’ve never seen anything like it.“

  ?That’s because you’re in Tiadar now“, Ryon replied.

  ?So you keep saying“, Lily mumbled.

  ?It’s a diamond horn fox“, he said as if that explained everything.

  ?Why are its horns glowing so red?“, she asked.

  ?When it’s aggravated its blood-pressure rises, turning the translucent parts of its body red“, Ryon finally explained.

  ?How do you know all that?“, Lily asked, a little astonished. Looking at him, she wouldn’t have thought that he had detailed knowledge about anything.

  ?In my line of duty I used to watch a lot of denisons and many of them keep these as pets. They are very popular because of this blood trick, cute faces and their soft fur. Much to the demise of the wild population, I must say. Since not many people breed them, most of them are taken from the wild, so that they’ve become a rare sight in the forest. You’re a very lucky tourist, indeed“, he said.

  Lily’s face hardened. ?I’m not a tourist“, she said. ?Because that would mean that I’m going to go back to where I came from, eventually. But I’m not.“

  ?Right“, Ryon said. ?Because that’s not your destination. Do you know what is then?“

  Lily shook her head. ?I don’t even know where I am. But first we go to Reskal. I need to see that it really exists. Then… I don’t know. Maybe, if it’s true that this is another dimension entirely, and if it’s true that someone from this place helped me come here, then maybe I can find this person and ask them what the big idea was.“

  ?That’s a lot of ifs and maybes“, Ryon observed.

  ?It’s all I have right now“, she said and sighed. ?And also it’s still likely that I am being hunted by my father’s men. So maybe I’ll have to deal with them, too.“

  ?Alright, then let’s waste no more time“, Ryon said, but Lily looked down at the fox.

  Then she asked: ?And what’s that?“

  She pointed to the creature the fox was currently munching.

  It was a large rodent that looked like a rat the size of a muskrat and it, too, had tiny horns sprouting from its head. However, its forelimbs had evolved into bat-like wings instead of arms.

  ?A rat-bat“, Ryon said. ?They are more common. In rural areas they are considered vermin“.

  ?Huh“, Lily made and shook her head.

  She turned around and walked away without another word. Ryon followed her.

  A while later Lily cast a glance at the gray sky and squinted her eyes to estimate the location of the sun behind the clouds. She didn’t want to be surprised by an early dusk because she dismissed the fading light as a consequence of dark clouds. Right now, the sun was above them, so it had to be about noon. Good… Five more hours of daylight, she thought and nodded slightly. Time could really slip away unnoticed around this time of the year.

  And just as if some higher entity had called for it, an icy gust of wind came blowing from behind, chilling her bare arms and feet, and sending shivers over her skin. Ryon looked at her pitiful. ?You must be really cold. Didn’t you think to take your coat with you before you ran away?“

  A impatient growl rose in her throat - and then died. She looked up at him, blinking against the wind. ?You know what, Ryon? You just said something very smart.“

  ?I did?“, he asked confused and looked at her askance.

  Lily nodded and made a coat appear out of thin air. She had completely forgotten about this old winter coat! She hadn’t exactly ?packed‘ it in advance, for the escape hadn’t been planned, but had been due to the opportunity to end her misery once and for all, and the tendency of humans to hunt murderers down.

  The coat had been in her private void for some winters now, but it still fitted perfectly when she tried it on. ?Ah… much better!“, Lily exclaimed.

  Ryon only shook his head. ?I’m just glad I thought of that before you collapsed on me. It would have been a nuisance to wait for you to die.“

  Lily looked at him and raised an eyebrow. ?Or to wake up?“

  Ryon shrugged. ?Or that. Sure.“

  Lily snorted. ?You’re a fine friend, aren’t you?“

  The Ookubi didn’t reply to that, but simply looked at her, once again with a strange glimmer in his eyes. Lily raised her head to look up to him. She didn’t understand what his problem was. She had just meant that he was a fine… Oh…

  ? … Don’t read too much into my choice of words. It’s just a figure of speech“, she said, careful to put the edge back into her voice.

  After a second, Ryon looked away. ?Sure. I knew that.“

  Lily bit her lip. She needed another distraction. And just as the wind picked up again she took nature’s hint. ? …Aren’t you cold, Ryon? I’m sure I’ve got spare blanket somewhere in here. It was never designed for ten feet tall people so it might be a bit short, mind you…“.

  She was still groping for words, when Ryon responded. ?I don’t feel the cold.“

  That stunned her a little. ?Really?“

  She earned a nod. ?It’s true. Neither do I feel cold nor heat. My heart stands still and there is nothing that could move it.“ The formality in his voice stung her.

  She sensed his defenses going up and she guessed that she would better drop the topic… Or better still to end any attempts to converse with him. For now, at least… She knew this from herself. In this mood there was no talking to her. And she reckoned that it would be the same with him. After all, he had been moody this morning, too, and after some time where no words were exchanged, he had cooled down.

  So she sighed quietly and simply said: ?I see.“

  After that she didn’t say anything anymore and neither did Ryon. No matter what he claimed, she would not believe that he was not sulking right now. But that was his problem to deal with. He couldn’t really expect them to be friends after only two days!

  Still, as often as she repeated that in her head there was still a sting in her heart that would remain there no matter how much she rubbed her chest. It annoyed her, but at the same time she couldn’t feel any real aggression inside her. It was a strange experience for her, for she never had had such unfocused anger inside her. There had always been a cause and a target that had provoked her. Now it was just the useless remains of something bigger. She almost felt as if one of her arms or legs had turned into a stump. It was so irritating!

  When she heard herself growl again, she thought that it had probably been the right choice to keep to herself. Who knows what she would have said unthinkingly?