Feet started to come out of the hearth. They hit the dry ground with a sloshing sound, their webbed feet dripping with water despite the fact that they emerged from flames. There were two pairs of feet that Yunara could see from where she was laying under the bed. Her heart was pounding against the cold floor.
She heard the sound of wet nostrils sniffing at the air. "Your offering is satisfying. What's more is that royal blood was the one shed. Very... rich in taste" One of the creatures growled. Her stomach turned.
"What is your request?" the second one snarled. "By your enchantments, we are bound to your words, and your words alone until your request has been complete, if your terms are fair."
"From what my research says," the prince started. "You both have incredible power over oceanic waters."
The first one had a deeper voice, as if it was a male version of whatever these beasts were. But Yunara still couldn't tell which was Nexa or Pitrious. "Yes. The push and pulls of the tides and the fickleness of the sea winds is our playground."
"Good. We need navigation and protection over treacherous waters. Me and my men. We are transporting precious cargo."
One of them let out a shrill laugh. "Navigation? You don't summon the great Nexa and Pitrious in replacement for a compass," said the shriller voiced creature.
"You're right. What we need out of you is of grave importance. The cargo... is chosen of the Ancients."
The two creatures went silent for a moment. "Then where is Lord Francis Stretton?" said the female. "Or are you the protege he spoke of?"
"I am. My name is Prince Renen of Silcrest. Son of King Edward of Silcrest. This is Octavius Sherwood. Your kind is already familiar with him."
"Yes..." said the male. "We are very familiar with you, Octavius of Sherwood. And of how you like to trick Dark Ones in your summonings. You have stated your terms. And the payment for Nexa and I?" Pitrious was the male, it seemed like.
"You may take the lives of as many of our enemies as you'd like. But the most precious reward will be that you make the extract of the blood of Cadri yourself when the time comes. When we bring her before the Island With No Parallel."
The creatures paused again. "You lie," the female, Nexa accused. "From the beginning of the summoning there has been a hidden presence here."
The prince sounded confused. "What are you talking about? There is no one here but us and the dead king and queen."
Yunara's breath became short. They had sensed her.
"Nexa, have these men been lying to us?" Pitrious asked, his voice becoming enraged.
"My all seeing eye does not lie," Nexa responded. "They lie in wait there, under the bed."
One of the pairs of feet walked over to the bed. The creature bent down to look. A salamander-like head stared at her with empty eye sockets. It started sniffing at her with wet nostrils.
She screamed, rolling to the other side of the bed. Renen looked at her with wide, enraged eyes. The creature stood. "Treachery!" It shouted, pointing. It was Pitrious, by the sound of his voice.
The two creatures were like standing salamanders. Pitrious was a black slimy creature with huge arms and long claws at his fingers, his thick tail whipping around back and forth. But he had no eyes. Nexa was gray, with one, big, milky eye. But she had no arms. Her feet were webbed and thick with long claws, and her tail had barbs all along it.
Octavius, a bald man in a brown robe, stepped forward. "No! She is not one of us. Kill her!"
Prince Renen said, "Wait. This is my sister's maid. The one that got away with the necklace. Kill her, but get the necklace."
Nexa and Pitrious stepped towards her, hissing. Yunara was backing towards the balcony, with nowhere else to go. She had no options left here. There were no parallel points to escape to. Unless...
Paralleling with parallel points was like opening a door into the other realm. Using that point, that door, would always leave one at the same location, and the door went both ways. But paralleling without a parallel point was a different beast altogether. It was like tearing open a door between the two worlds. It took one to a random location, and the door that was torn open only stayed open for a few minutes, and then would close. After that, if anyone tried to parallel at that same location, they would end up at a totally different location.
The other downside was that this door one could tear open didn't work on both sides. It was impossible to return from where she came.
But Yunara didn't have many options. The only problem was she could be followed for the few minutes that the portal stayed open. She looked over the balcony. Unless...
Nexa's eye opened wide. "Stop her! She's going to jump!"
The handmaiden turned to climb the banister as Pitrious came for her, growling. She jumped and felt a searing pain in her back as Pitrious clawed at her in an attempt to grab her, but he was too late. In mid air, she called her senses to her, closed her eyes, and paralleled.
The motions of jumping, paralleling, and appearing on Earth pushed a wave of nausea over Yunara, but she managed to keep it down as she tried to take in her surroundings. She opened her eyes to a hot sun beating on her, made bearable by the breezy winds. She got up, then immediately remembered her injury as pain flared in her back. She looked around and found herself in a wheat field. Just where on Earth was she?
She shook at the thought of those two creatures following her, but she didn't think they'd be able to. There was no way they could jump and follow her through the portal. Besides, they had more important matters to worry about, didn't they?
Her heart was pounding in her ears and her temples were throbbing. Why was this happening? She came to Ecencia because she never wanted to see another Arac again in her life. The forbidden practices of summoning Dark Ones was not uncommon in Crila, nor the Elven countries. But in Ecencia, they were practically a myth. How did Lord Stretton get involved with them, and why would Renen allow him to convince him to do the same?
And what's more, what was the purpose of taking his sister to the Island With No Parallel? It would have been simpler just to kill her. Everyone knew that this island was a death wish. It was an island on Earth, Yunara wasn't sure where, but it was the only place on Earth that couldn't be paralleled to from Caorfi. No such place existed on Caorfi, where one couldn't parallel to it somehow. Not even through paralleling randomly could one by chance end up there. It was impossible. Whatever great beings that created the parallel points must not have wanted anyone to end up there. But because of the great exclusivity of this location, the darkest and most vile Dark Ones made their home there, and went to great lengths to secure its secrecy. The Dark Ones were always scheming. About what, no one knew, because the Dark Ones made sure of it.
So what would Renen need to send his sister there for? And more importantly, how did Cadri know thisi was going to happen?
Yunara took off the necklace on her neck and examined it. It was gorgeous, but was it so important that the Prince and all those awful creatures wanted it so badly? She shook her head. Nothing made sense, and wondering about everything now wasn't going to do anything. She had to take action.
She looked around. Where would she go now? She had no idea where she could be. The country of Ecencia was paralleled with a country on Earth called Spain. And most of the parallel points in Ecencia's capital, Cathrill, led to a city in Spain called Málaga or surrounding small towns. But Yunara could be anywhere on Earth.
Yunara looked behind herself and saw a huge country home that seemed like a Lord could have lived there. She could ask someone there for help, at the very least. It seemed like a good five minute walk from where she was at the moment.
Yunara made her way out of the wheat field and stepped onto the dirt road and started towards the house. As she walked her back seared in complaint. It felt like two scratch marks in her back. She'd have to figure out a way to treat it before it got infected.
The house was a beautiful one. Nearing the house, she could appreciate how elegant it truly was. It was of a typical spanish style, with spanish roofs and stone walls. There was a horses stable in front of her, as she was nearing the house from behind. An orange tree grew next to the house, it's brightly colored produce probably reachable right from the house's windows.
Yunara was starting to get dizzy. The sun was beating down on her relentlessly. She hoped she would find someone to help her soon. Going around the home, she knocked on the huge wooden doors. She leaned on the wall for strength as she waited. Minutes passed, and being in the sun without shade was quickly depleting her. No one answered. She went around again, hoping to find someone at work in the field.
Her vision was getting blurry. She looked at the horses stables. There was a nice, soft pile of hay inside, in the shade. Maybe she could rest for a few moments, then look for someone to help her.
Yunara laid down in the hay, the horses greeting her with gentle nays, as if they welcomed her to rest there. Not soon after she rested her eyes, the exhaustion of everything she had been through that day caught up with her immediately and she fell asleep.
"¡Levántate!" a voice shouted, startling Yunara awake. Night had fallen already. The last glimpses of sunlight were disappearing behind the horizon. A man stood at the door of the stables with his horse.
"¿Quien es y de donde viene usted?" The man demanded in Spanish.
The people of Caorfi generally spoke English, as well as whatever language belonged to their paralleled equivalent on Earth. Though there were many native dialects throughout the world of Caorfi, like the Fairy language, or the Naiad language, the common language was English, since it was a language that most cultures on Caorfi found easy to learn, and it was fairly useful whenever they paralleled to Earth in certain places. However, Yunara's Spanish was terrible, and at the moment she couldn't bring herself to speak a word of it.
"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I don't speak Spanish, I don't understand you."
He rolled his eyes in impatience. "Who are you and where did you come from?" he translated for her, his words laced with a thick accent. He didn't look like a typical Spanish lord. He was of a brown skin color, like Africans, except somewhat lighter, like he might have been mixed. But the way Yunara understood Spanish society, it was unlikely that an African man could somehow be a Lord. He was handsome, with deep brown eyes and beautiful curls in his hair.
"My name is Yunara. I'm so sorry, I only meant to rest here a moment and I fell asleep." As she got up, his eyes went to the pile of hay and his eyes went soft. She didn't understand his reaction until she looked back at the hay and saw where she left blood.
"How did you get hurt?" He asked, coming to her side to look at her wound. He drew a sharp breath when he saw it. "And where did you get a cut like this?"
She tried to think of an explanation quickly. She knew he couldn't see her pointed ears, webbed fingers, or gills along her neck, but there was no way he'd believe her actual story, and she needed him to trust her enough to help her. She decided to stick as close to the truth as possible. "My mistress and her family were slaughtered. I got away, but not unscathed, good sir."
"You speak with an English accent. Surely you haven't been running since England."
"I speak very little Spanish, but my masters took me in nonetheless. They live some miles from here."
"I see..." The man paused in thought as he continued to examine her wound. "This needs to be treated, very soon. I believe the filthy hay has infected it." He took a deep breath. "Come with me."