It’s soft and warm here, she thinks, rousing from her deep slumber. I feel better now, maybe the pain and all was just a bad effect of the morphine. I didn’t know you could have bad trips like that. I thought it was like falling asleep. Oh well, can’t get everything we want, she concludes.
She opens her eyes to see the firelight on the wooden rafters and hears people talking, but muffled, maybe through a wall?
She sits up, confused again.
How did I get here? She wonders. I don’t think this is how dying works.
Standing up she looks at herself, well, it seems the pain and all wasn’t a trip, her night gown is torn and dirty, and her head starts to hurt a bit with standing.
“Mam, she’s up!” a girl calls from the corner making Mallory jump and look at her.
“What?” she says. What is going on? She can’t breathe, why is it so hard to breathe?
“Mam! She fainted!” Moira calls again as Mallory crumples to the ground.
Koren leans over Mallory, waving smelling salts under her nose.
Mallory sneezes, thinking “Dead people don’t sneeze!”
“There we are dear, slowly now, what’s your name, dear?” Koren says softly as she helps Mallory into a sitting position.
“M-Mallory” she replies, surprised she can even speak, or move, or breathe for that matter.
“Aiden over there say you think you’re dead. May I inquire as to why?” She asks bluntly.
“Because I am dead. I am. I killed myself.” Mallory replies, looking curiously at this person, everything is so confusing. Maybe this is the afterlife, boy are the Christians gonna hate this.
“Well, I’m a healer held in pretty high regard, graduated top of my class at the university, so I consider myself qualified to judge and tell you that you are quite alive, dear.” She states.
“No, I don’t think you understand, I really can’t be. I took more than a lethal dose of morphine, and I don’t weigh all that much, so I’m very certainly dead.” She says. Maybe this is a test to see if you know what happened to you. Seems superfluous to me, Mallory thinks.
Koren looks to Aiden questioningly, he shrugs as if saying, “You’re the smart one, you should know.”
“Morphine?” Koren asks.
“It takes away pain, and when taken in high doses, you die. Hence the me being dead.” She says, starting to get impatient.
“Let’s say you’re dead, then. How do you usually tell if someone is dead?” Koren asks, seeing that Mallory honestly believes she is dead.
“You look for a pulse.”
“Yes, and love, you have one, see, feel it.” Koren puts two fingers to Mallory’s wrist and brings Mallory’s index and middle finger to her wrist. “See there, that’s your pulse. You’re not dead.”
Mallory looks at her in shock. “How can I not be dead, if I’m not dead, then why am I not in my bed, where am I? And who are all of you?” She cries, nothing makes sense! She thinks, desperately trying to bring some reason in to the recent events in her life.
“That, dear, is what we are trying to figure out. We know that you came from Earth and you somehow managed to transport here. How you did so, I don’t know, it takes a lot of power to safely teleport to another world, three mages worth roundabout. And that’s here, where magic does exist. In your world magic does not exist, so I honestly have no clue how you could have arrived here.” Koren explains.
“So you’re telling me that when I died- or didn’t die- I somehow popped up here on a completely different world.” Mallory summarizes, understanding but not comprehending. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Which is why we are confused. I’ve suggested that Aiden take you to the University, but it’s a long journey from here, and Aiden doesn’t have magic, and since you came from Earth, I’m pretty certain you have no idea how to use yours, you can’t transport yourselves. Not to mention, you won’t be able to teleport for a few weeks. That last one wasn’t very safe, so you’re a little damaged and shouldn’t risk another jump for a while.”
“Damaged, what do you mean, damaged?” Mallory exclaims.
“Well, you’re just a little wobbly. You’re here obviously, but you’ll be easily exhausted, and food won’t stay down as easily until you recover, another teleport may drive you insane or put you in a comatose state.” Koren says, trying to explain as simply as possible.
“I don’t like any of those optio- Wait! I killed myself because I’m sick! I have a tumor in my head! I only have about two months left! Argh! I should’ve just died!” As she started to think reasonably, she remembered why this even happened. She remembered her family, who had probably figured out she’s missing and found the documents by now. Mallory suddenly felt sick to her stomach, it would have been so much easier if she’d just died like she was supposed to.
“No, I healed you, and I didn’t sense anything else amiss, but I’ll take another look, if you allow me?” She ask, holding up her hands, as if to cup Mallory’s head.
“I suppose it won’t hurt.” She is starting to feel really sick now.
Koren puts her hands on Mallory’s head, palms over temples and closes her eyes. She chants softly. Mallory feels a small tingle and a fuzzy sensation come over her as Koren ends the chant, opens her eyes, and lowers her hands. “No, no tumor. You’re actually very healthy, except for the portal sickness.”
“Cancer doesn’t just vanish!”
“There are cases of certain types of teleports healing the one teleporting, but those portals are even harder to make than the one that would have brought you here, that’s why we don’t just throw sick people through portals.” She pauses, fiddling with the smelling salts in her lap, turning it over and over again in her hands. “The mages at the university will be quite intrigued to hear about this. Moira, will you bring me one of the spare amulets? I’d like to test Mallory’s powers.”
She looks at Mallory. “I am an extension of the university, I check the children of the area for power, and teach them control until they can be sent on to the university. The amulet serves as a window to look into your power until you can access it yourself. It also lets me look and see the amount of power and your soundness of mind. The way magic works, you need both the ability to imagine and mold your magic into what you want it to be, and the will power to bring it into existence. Many mages have the ability to mold great things, but cannot take the weight of the universe pushing back against them. It breaks their mind and leaves them only able to do the simplest things, and unable to care for themselves. Take that as a precaution as you learn to use your magic, young lady.” Koren says, trying to help Mallory understand how everything works.
“How do you know I have magic at all?”
“I can sense it, if I couldn’t I wouldn’t be much good at my job, now would I?” Koren counters.
“Here.” Moira says as she hands the amulet to Koren.
“Good, thank you. Now you take your brother and go to sleep, I’ve already let you stay awake far too long.”
Moira sighs as her shoulders drop. “Yes mam.” She says dejectedly.
“Now, if you’ll just put this on. Are you hungry? The amulet needs some time to get to know you, and then we can take a look. Aiden brought me a rabbit, so I made it into some pie, and the children said it was quite good. I also have tea and ale if you’d like any. I’d suggest tea, it’ll be easier to keep down. I also have a tonic that might help with the keeping things down. Follow me we’ll get you set up.” Koren rises from the floor, much more gracefully than one of her girth should be able to move.
Mallory rises more slowly and Aiden comes over to help when he sees her wobble a bit. “How are you feeling?” He asks.
“Confused, hungry, and I really miss my mom right now. I appreciate you staying and helping and all.” She says weakly. A lot has happened in a very short amount of time. She looks around, thinking that it doesn’t look all that different from her world. Some of the herbs hanging from the ceiling look odd, but everything has a feel of familiarity.
They follow Koren through the door on the wall of bookcases. It opens onto a sizable kitchen with a large heavy wooden table. Stair lead upwards to the left of the door, and a wooden trapdoor is on the right. Mallory thinks it looks very charming, very much like an old timey kitchen you would find in castles, but somehow better. Much like the Weasleys’ kitchen in Harry Potter, she thinks.
Aiden leads her to one of the stools at the table as Koren puts a small pie in front of her. It’s an adorable pastry with a small rabbit on the crust on top. She also sets down a green glazed mug with the most delicious smelling tea. “Before you eat, take a nice swig of this.” She says, handing Mallory a small cup with a not so delicious concoction in it. “It’ll help with the portal sickness.” She scolds as Mallory looks at her with a ‘do you really expect me to put this in my mouth’ look.
Mallory quickly tosses the liquid back, much like she would a shot of tequila. “Blech! At least it doesn’t burn.” She pouts as she drinks some of the tea to wash away the foul taste of the goo Koren made her drink. She ate quickly and quietly, and when she was finished she let out a big yawn. Aiden put down the tea he’d been drinking. “I’m with you there. Koren, I hope you won’t mind me imposing on your hospitality for another night, I’d like to make sure I’m close, and we’ll probably leave sometime tomorrow in any case.”
“Aiden, you know you’re always welcome here as long as you help me wash up!” She replies from the sink. “Mallory dear, why don’t you go lay down, and get some rest. We’ll see if you’re well enough to travel tomorrow.”
Mallory didn’t need to be told twice, she went back into the other room, and laid down on the cot and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
“Wake up, dear, it’s mid-morning and we’ve got things to do.” Gently, Koren rubs Mallory’s back, allowing her to slowly surface from a deep sleep. “Shh, you’re safe here, remember me, I’m Koren, and Aiden is right here. You’re alive and safe, there we go.” She croons and Mallory opens her eyes, casting them around the room confused and frightened. Calming down with Koren’s words she looks up at her.
“May I have a drink please? I’m very thirsty, and maybe some breakfast?” Mallory croaks, her voice waking up a bit slower than she is.
“Of course, dear why don’t you come into the kitchen?”
Mallory follows Koren back into the kitchen and sits on the same stool she had last night.
“Now, we’ve managed to acquire a few sets of clothing for you, only three, but that should do you quite well. Aiden thinks you should leave right after midday, so that gives us a few hours to check you out, clean you up, and look at your magic before you head out. How does that sound to you?” Koren is busily preparing some left over breakfast all while continuing to talk.
“I suppose that is well. I don’t really have an opinion, yet, I’m still in a bit of a state of shock. I assume you and Aiden are great at this type of thing, so I’m just going to coast along with you for the moment.” Mallory replies airily.
“I don’t know how great we are, people don’t just pop up from random worlds on the regular, but we do handle some weird cases for the university. All good practice for when something truly odd comes along.” She says tapping the handle of the spoon on her chin as she seems to reflect on some of the weird cases she mentioned. “In any case, here is some food, I’ll go fetch your clothes and put them in the bathing room for you. Tell me when you’re finished and I’ll show you to it.”
Mallory dived gladly into the food, grateful to have ended up with such nice people. How knows, she could have been found by a serial killer, or a guard. Aiden had mentioned that the Duke didn’t like trespassing. ‘I wonder what would have happened if I’d been found by one of the Duke’s guards, definitely not healing, delicious food, and a trip to find out what is going on.’ She thought. ‘Maybe I would’ve just died in the forest. Not like it would have made a difference at the time. With the cancer gone, maybe I’ll just try to make a new life here. The people seem nice. Well, the small number of people I’ve met. The world could be full of vagrants for all I know.’
She finished the last of her tea and set the dishes in the sink, noticing that it looked like a normal, modern sink. ‘Koren did say bathing room, maybe the technology isn’t all that different.’ She thinks. “Koren? I’m finished, can I ask you a question?” Mallory calls.
“Sure thing, what would you like to ask?” Koren asks popping her plump face over the bannister of the staircase.
“Well, in my world we have a good bit of luxury, and to me this place looks moderately old fashioned. Basically, about what kind of things are we looking at here? Running water? Internet?”
“It’s a bit different, you see, science and magic clash quite terribly, so in worlds with science, magic dies out, in worlds with magic, science becomes obsolete. We have the majority of what you would, just done differently, with magic instead of technology.” Koren tells her.
“How do you know so much about my world?” Mallory inquires.
“I visited once, when I was a student of the university. It was quite an interesting place. I do like the internet, we don’t really have anything quite like it here, and teleporting ended up being more common than people talking through means within their homes.” She says.
“Oh, so you do have running water and the like, for bathing?” She continues.
“Of course, dear. We are still at the same amount of time and advancement, just on two different branches. We have running water, and value hygiene. So, come take your bath and get dressed.” She says in a soft but commanding manner.
Mallory walks upstairs to join Koren, who leads her to a small room with a square pool, much like a jacuzzi, a sink, and a sectioned off area where she assumed the equivalent to a toilet would be. All in all, it looked very much like a bathroom she would see back home, just more rustic. She wonders if this is because that’s what they all look like or if it’s because Koren likes the rustic look.
Koren left her to herself, pointing out the clothing sitting on a stool near the sink. She sank into the water in the tub, enjoying the feel of grime being gently rinsed away. A small bar of soap sat in a dish to her right. A small note said ‘Use on your hair as well, it works just the same.’ Mallory obeyed and washed herself thoroughly, marveling in the clean feeling she never knew she would experience again.
‘It’s amazing how good living feels with the problem you killed yourself over is gone.’ She mused. She laughed a little of the thought that she’d died and all of her problems had been fixed and she still got to live some more. It seemed too good to be true. Like she had a fairy godmother to save her and fix everything. Then she remembered that this is a different world, with different people, and that she probably couldn’t go back, and even if she did, how do you explain leaving documents explaining your suicide and how to deal with funeral arrangements when you return after going missing for several days. How do you inflict even more pain on the ones you love, and who’s to say that the cancer doesn’t return upon travelling back to Earth. No one. That’s who.
She dried herself off with the towel left with the clothing and look at what was left for her. Standard underwear, good thing that wasn’t different. Some soft grey breeches, a navy vest/doublet with a skirt that landed near the back of her knees in back and mid-thigh in front, cream, full sleeved undershirt, and some soft black leather boots. ‘Very cute, kinda steam punky or renaissance festival type wear, but I like it.’ She thinks as she puts it on.
There is a small brush and some powder that she assumes is good for brushing her teeth and she finishes quickly as she sees the amulet in the mirror and remembers that she has magic. Curiosity starts to get the better of her and she wonders if she is any good at magic, or if she has some rare kind of magic, that happened a lot in the fantasy books she read when she was in the hospital.
She finished brushing her teeth and braids her hair, holding the end as she goes down the stairs in search of Koren and something to tie her hair with, not to mention some answers about magic.
“Hey, Koren, do you have a hairband, or some string, ribbon, anything I could use?” She calls as she reaches the kitchen.
“Mam went out for a second, said she needed to grab something, but I have plenty, I’ll get one you can use.” Moira answers from the other room, walking past Mallory and up the stairs. She comes back shortly and hands Mallory a small black ribbon, and walks back into the main room without another word. Mallory ties off her braid and follows Moira. She sees Aiden and Moira sitting in some chair in front of the fire where her cot used to be. She sits in one of the two remaining chairs. “So where did Koren go?” She asks, more to break the silence than to actually find out, even though she gets more and more and more curious about her magic as the moments pass.
“It’s Moon’s day, so she’s leaving an offering at the temple of the Twin Mothers. They are the two moons of the world, they look over healers and women.” Moira responds. “She’ll be back soon, it’s close.”
As if asking about her whereabouts has summoned her, Koren walked through the door with a basket on her arm, but something was off, she looked spooked. “Aiden, did you see anything off in the forest other than our surprise guest?” She asks, closing the door and setting the basket on the table.
“No, seemed just the same as always, I did have a near miss with a guard when I was in the glen looking for herbs, but that’s all.” He says, his attention well and truly caught.
“Well, it seems that something has happened. Half of the forest has been engulfed by and impenetrable darkness. When one nears the darkness, a ghastly fear grips them. They sent in a group of guards to check it out, they were in for about five minutes, but three of them returned, stark raving mad. All they could tell us about the other two in their group was that they were dead, but it was very hard to get that out of them, apparently. I’ve been asked to go check it out, but I’ll get you two on your way first. I’m pretty positive the darkness isn’t going to leave if I wait about half an hour.” She goes on, slightly distracted. “Come here dear, let’s take a look at that amulet.” She beckons to Mallory.
Mallory goes over to her, trying not to bounce with joy because that would be bad form given the news they just received, no matter how excited she may be.
Koren slides her thumb over the amulet muttering a phrase and cups it in the palm of her hand. The crystal glows for a brief moment and Mallory feels a tingle in her limbs as Koren gazes deeply into the amulet. “You have an extremely well developed imagination given your age and lack of training. You also show a great amount of discipline. I think you could be a very good mage given time and training. I think your true worth as a mage, however, will come from your experience in another world and your death. I feel a strange fey aura around your powers, but it’s undeveloped, so only time will tell.” She states matter-of-factly. “Aiden while on your journey, she seems to be in control for the most part, she shouldn’t be a danger, but I would suggest going ahead and teaching her the beginning steps of control.”
“Of course, Koren.” He replies with a small bow. “I think we should stay in touch with the development in the woods, may I bother you for a direct line?” He asks.
“Oh, oh, brilliant idea!” She exclaims as she walks over to the table swiftly and searches around for a moment, then grabs a small purple bag and gives it to Aiden.
“I’ve packed some bags with essentials in them, Leon, my brother,” she adds looking at me, “has some horses for you and the saddle bags have food and water for the trip. You’ll have to stock up before you get on the ship, we put in a bit of money, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” Moira hands them two leather knapsacks.
“To infinity and beyond” Mallory mutters, heading to the door.
“What does that mean?” Aiden asks as they walk out.
“It’s a fancy way of saying ‘onwards’, I guess. I never really thought about it.” She replies sheepishly.