Start of Book 7 editing! So I decided to write this with a few flashbacks from the otherworlder POVs. I am going to do a flashback to explain how Yuetsen blew up and add a villain to the arc.Also of note, Patreon updated their software to make it worse. I no longer get ANY emails when you post comments. This happened before, and it took them 3 months to fix it.Soldier Seraphim - 581 - is about half done and working to finish that for you all after I post these two edited chapters.

Chapter 385: The Otherworlders Arrival

The two girls strained to look out the plane's window as it took off. Both were excited, as this was their first time on a plane, even though the flight would be less than 30 minutes.

Evie loosened her seatbelt so she could get closer to the window seat that Lexi occupied. Lexi moved as much as she could to give her best friend a view out the window. Their auburn and golden hair mingled as their ears touched. “Everything looks so small,” Evie whispered.

Lexi finally relaxed in her seat as they now had just water below them. Soon, they would be landing in Dublin and going to a hotel outside the city. The Irish Step competition they were competing in was in the city, but her aunt had found a much cheaper hotel on the outskirts. 

Evie was finally forced back into her seat when an unhappy flight attendant walked by and tightened her seatbelt. The blonde girl smiled brightly and innocently at the flight attendant to avoid getting into trouble and Lexi giggled next to her. The middle-aged woman’s frown morphed into a smile, “You need to keep it on, dear. It is a short flight, and for your safety.” Evie just beamed at her and nodded, a ball of excitement.

The Dublin airport was not as chaotic as the Liverpool airport, and Ms. O’Neill, their dance teacher and Lexi’s aunt, guided them to the baggage claim. Ms. O’Neill was mumbling to herself about ironing their outfits as they found a taxi to take them to the inn. “The Wandering Druid, outside of the city,” she told the wrinkled old driver.

He nodded. “Be about forty minutes with traffic,” he replied in an Irish accent. After the grey taxi started moving, the driver started talking. “Interesting choice for your stay. The olde Druid is mostly a watering hole for locals. My cousin has been in a few scraps when he drinks there. Why are you visiting our fair land?”

Ms. O’Neill paled a little. “Is it dangerous? The girls are dancing in a show competition tomorrow in the city.”

“Dangerous? To folk like you? Nah? Sometimes a man just needs to blow off some steam,” the driver replied casually and rubbed his jaw.

When they arrived at the inn, the building looked ancient. Large foundation stones had script scratched into them with people's names and dates. Lexi ran her hand across one and gasped, “Amelia Morgan, 1562! Is this building really that old?”

“Older,” the taxi driver said, depositing their bags. “Rumor has it that those names are of people who disappeared in the area over the centuries. The names are put there to help draw them home. So be careful,” he said with a wink.

“Did it work?” Lexi asked, enthralled with the story.

“Aye, once. But the man who came back said it was the fairies and was locked away. Died in the asylum some forty years ago, but stuck to his story the entire time,” the driver said seriously. Ms. O’Neill frowned at him for scaring the children and paid his fee before ushering the girls inside.

It was still early, and they had dinner in the large tavern on the first floor. The tavern had an odd smell of alcohol and citrus. All the timbers were well-worn, and the décor made it feel like they had traveled back a hundred years. Both Evie and Lexi were too nervous about the competition to eat. “Girls, you need your energy,” Ms. O’Neill chided. “Don’t worry, there will only be a few hundred people in the theater, and no matter how you do, they will cheer for you.”

“My dad said the more mistakes we make, the more they will cheer to encourage us,” Lexi said with a smirk and elbowed Evie playfully.

Ms. O’Neill frowned. “That is true, but please do your best and remember you represent me and yourselves.”

The local patrons began to fill the common room, and Evie couldn’t understand half of what was being said because of the accent and slurring coming with intoxication. Others were coming to claim rooms and looked as if they regretted their decision to stay here.

As it started to grow raucous, they retreated to their rooms, which were just on the second floor. “This place certainly has a lot of character,” Ms. O’Neill said as they climbed the squeaky, narrow stairs. 

The rooms were right next to each other and Lexi and Evi’s beds were adjacent to each other. Unfortunately, the common room was under them and the sounds conducted very well through the floor. The inn had been crowded, and the common tavern on the first floor had been lively late into the night until Ms. O’Neill finally got frustrated and stormed downstairs and yelled at the locals, “You all can get drunk any other night! I have two ten-year-old girls upstairs who need their rest to dance tomorrow!” The two girls looked nervously at each other, expecting backlash from the drunks below.

Evie had thought the Irishmen would shout down or berate Ms. O’Neill, but the room fell silent instantly, and a gruff male voice shouted, “Oul fellas! You heard her! Stop acting the maggot! Drink your fill, you langers! But if any of you raise your voice again, you can step outside with me, and I will break yer jaw so it can be wired shut!” The silence was deafening, and the man addressed Ms O’Neill. “Good nough, mi lady?”

Evie couldn’t hear Ms. O’Neill broken thank you just before she climbed the stairs. After that, only hushed whispers drifted up to their room. After that bit of excitement, Lexi and Evie fell asleep in their beds.

They woke to a yell and goosebumps on their skin in cold air. Their nightclothes were gone, and Evie screamed. Ms. O’Neill yelled back in a panic, “Girls! Where are you?” There was a cacophony of men and women suddenly yelling in the dark. Lexi, always level-headed, grabbed Evie’s hand and dragged her toward Ms. O’Neill’s voice.

They tripped over someone on the ground and tumbled to the dirt. Then someone screamed, a high, shrill, pained cry. Evie covered her ears and crouched as the scream told her there was danger. Frenzied shadows danced around the two on the ground as people panicked.

Ms. O’Neill suddenly knelt beside them. “Girls, are you alright?” She checked their bodies like she could see perfectly well in the dark—no, it was not completely dark. The moon was huge—too huge—and blue tonight.

“What is happening?” Evie squeaked out.

“I think we’ve been kidnapped,” Ms. O’Neill said, glancing around. “Maybe thirty of us. Some ran off, and one…” Suddenly, a gust of wind swept Ms. Oneill back, and she vanished into the night sky, her scream fading quickly. Evie began to shake with shock and fright. Another scream sounded and faded away into the night. The two girls huddled together and pushed themselves into the ground, crying into each other’s arms as the night terrors continued.

That was their first night in this world—crying themselves to sleep, hoping they would wake from the nightmare. When morning came, a raven-haired woman found them. “Bloody children, too! I am going to break the bastards that did this to us.” She softened her tone, “Girls, I am Karina. I saw you eating when I checked in last night. I talked to your aunt briefly. Do you remember me? I was on the third floor. Where is your aunt?”

Evie was too terrified to reply. Lexi squeaked out, “She was yanked into the sky.”

“Damn, she was one of the ones taken in the night?” Karina shook her head. “Stay with me. I will protect you from whoever did this.”

An older woman came over with a lean build and dark brown hair. “Christ! Kids, too!?”

Lexi got braver and spoke, “Where are our clothes?”

The new woman growled, “I don’t know, but this seems like some sick game.”

“It’s not a game,” a young woman said as she joined them. “Those things that scooped up people last night were massive bats. Someone managed to kill one over there.” She pointed in the distance.

Karina looked off in that direction, “Stay with the kids. I will go check it out.” Karina stormed off, and Evie could see others standing in small groups—some men, some women—all naked. Most were trying to conceal themselves. Evie thought she recognized a few from the inn, but not everyone.

The young woman smiled down at them, but it was obviously forced. “I am Teresa. I was on my way back to London and missed my flight. The Wandering Druid was a cheap inn outside of Dublin.”

The older woman, lean with muscle, turned to them but remained vigilant, her eyes scanning. “I am Anika Strauss. I was meeting a client in the boonies and thought I’d see if I could find some young buck in the tavern who...” She stopped speaking, realizing she was addressing children. “Damn it. We need some damn clothes. I’ll see if I can find something.” The frustrated woman started to jog away.

One of the men from the other group called after her, but she just gave them a finger and kept going. Teresa knelt, “Stay away from those blokes. They are bad news,” She indicated to the group of men. “That other group,” she pointed at eight men and women huddled together, “Are still scared shitless and cannot move. If this is some sick hunt, we’ve got to leave them behind.”

Evie started to hyperventilate, and the woman put her hand on her shoulder. “You girls are strong, though. We will not leave you.” She tried to smile at them, but it was forced. Lexi observed Teresa was having trouble hiding he own stress about their situation.

Karina came back. “That was not a bat. It looked more like a gargoyle come to life. I think whoever it grabbed last night forced it to crash. He is dead, and so is the creature.” She suddenly realized something. “Bloody fuck! Where is Anika?”

“She went to look for clothes,” Teresa said warily. Karina didn’t look happy but nodded at the sense of it.

“Which direction?” Karina asked resignedly. After Teresa pointed, Karina started moving their small group in that direction. The adults flanked the two girls as they walked.

The men Teresa had told them to avoid were yelling at them to come over. “Crazy woman, we are safer in a group!”

Evie thought they made sense, but Karina shook her head at the girls. Karina whispered, “Don’t trust that one. His name is Jacob, and there is something very odd about him. He speaks, and others do what he says without question. But only if he is close to them. He might be one of the ones responsible for all this.”

“Are we leaving the others too?” Teresa asked, indicating the third group of shell-shocked adults.

“Yes,” Karina said coolly. “Whatever is happening, we need to find food, shelter, and a way to defend ourselves. Taking care of these two will be difficult enough.”

“We can fight!” Lexi said weakly, squeezing Evie’s hand. It sounded more like fear of being left behind than genuine commitment.

Karina rubbed her hair and offered a matronly smile of reassurance. “I know, dear. But I will protect you like you were my own.”

They soon spotted Anika near what appeared to be a dirt road. She was studying it closely. She glanced up briefly as they came closer. “Definitely wagon tracks made by shod horses. Most tracks are heading this way.”

That was how they started down the road. There was only knee-high grass on either side, so there was nowhere to hide. Relief flooded Evie when she saw a house, but Anika and Karina pulled them off into the grass. “Girls, we need to make sure it is safe.” She looked to Anika, who nodded, and the athletic woman crouched and moved off in the grass.

After she left, Karina spoke to the girls. “She will be alright. Anika was a soldier before she became a lawyer. She even competed in the Olympics in epee after college. That is a type of sword.”

“Did she win?” Evie asked, starting to feel better.

“No, I don’t think so, but she said she still practices,” Karina said while watching the building in the distance. All four of them relaxed out of view.

It wasn’t long before Anika returned wearing an oversized shirt and carrying a bundle of off-white and dark clothes. “I think they’re all working in the distant fields. I took what we needed.” She handed smaller shirts to Evie and Lexi. Teresa got a dark blue dress and complained about the smell. “I did the best I could. I think it was all dirty laundry to be washed.” Karina got a large shirt and trousers, both very worn. Evie noted that Anika had also procured a large kitchen knife for herself.

“We shouldn’t be stealing,” Evie said morosely, holding the sour-smelling shirt.

“It’s not stealing, dear,” Karina said with conviction. “We need it more than they do right now, and we can’t be sure that asking them is a good idea. They might take advantage of us or attack us since we are naked.”

Anika then handed a hard biscuit to everyone. Evie suddenly realized she was famished, but the biscuit was so hard that she had to nibble off small pieces and soften it with her saliva before swallowing.

“I am thirsty,” Lexi complained after eating her biscuit. Evie suddenly realized she was thirsty after the biscuit, too.

“It looks like there’s a river on the other side of the farm. We can circle wide and avoid the fields,” Anika advised. That’s precisely what they did. When they reached the river, they all drank. The adults talked about how some plants didn’t look familiar and how strange the moon looked last night. It all made Evie increasingly worried that they were not going home soon.

The following two days were the hardest of Evie’s life. She did learn a little about their protectors. Karina was the mother of twin daughters, Alexandra and Melanie, who were a year younger than Evie. She also had a son, Daniel, who was turning thirteen this year. Karina had been visiting her mother in Dublin when they had an argument, and Karina checked into the inn.

Teresa was a college student in London, while her fiancé worked in Ireland. They planned to marry as soon as she graduated and intended to move to Ireland afterward. Teresa’s older sister was helping her plan the wedding.

Then there was Anika, who outwardly seemed to handle their predicament the best. Both Lexi and Evie were intimidated by the woman at first. Anika spoke a dozen languages, attended a prestigious college, fenced in the Olympics, joined the army after college, and then pursued law school after her military service. She acknowledged that her shortcoming was being terrible in social settings and that she tended to be more of a follower than a leader.

The long, hard walks and frequent hiding were not the worst part. The hunger was the worst part of their journey through the plains and light forests. They even spotted a small, twisted green man who shadowed them for a while. At first, the adults thought it was a diseased person, but Anika hissed, “It has to be a goblin. We are in some twisted Tolkien world.”

“Is there magic then?” Lexi asked hopefully. “I saw the movies. Gandolf had magic.”

Karina rubbed her head. “I don’t think there is any such thing as magic.”

“But I can do this,” Lexi said proudly. A tiny light formed at the tip of her finger. “I was going to pee last night, and I wanted a light so badly—I can change how bright it is, too.” She looked desperately for approval as the light slowly increased in luminosity.

The adults’ jaws were slack as they looked at each other, waiting for someone to say something as the light pulsed slightly on Lexi’s fingertip. The three older women bombarded Lexi with a thousand questions about how she did it, but no matter how hard they tried, none could replicate the light Lexi radiated from her finger. Evie wished she had her own magic, but she couldn’t replicate the light either.

They finally reached sporadic buildings along the road, which had a strong stream and a mill. The people they saw from a distance looked human, but Karina still wanted them to be cautious after the gargoyles. Lexi knew her aunt was likely dead, but was too numb from shock to grieve.

Anika left the group in the woodlands to approach the humans. When she returned, she had a weak smile. “They speak something like bastardized German, but I was able to communicate. There is a city not far away. A half-day’s walk along the road. She told me to be wary of giant badgers.” Anika shrugged, amused.

“Should we tell them we are not from here?” Teresa asked. “If they were friendly…”

“No,” Karina snapped. “If this is some medieval society with magic, women will be pawns.” Karina calmed down. “We just need more information to be sure we will not be taken advantage of.” Anika nodded in agreement, but Teresa looked less certain. Evie didn’t understand anything that was going on. She knew the world had bad people, but not everyone was bad. Why couldn’t they just find the good people?

They made their way through the thin woodlands along the road to the city. In just a few hours, they discovered why they had been warned about the badger. “That is not a fucking badger! It’s a goddamn bear masquerading as a badger,” Teresa lamented. The badger was already waddling their way.

“Maybe it's friendly?” Evie asked, but her question got a growling snarl from the beast.

They started to back up, but the badger charged, sensing their fear, its fur rippling with each stride. It was fast, and there was no way they would outrun it. Instead of running away, Karina charged at it, yelling, “Get the girls to the safety of the city!” Evie knew Karina was sacrificing her life at that moment. She didn’t want to leave her, but Anika grabbed her wrist and pulled her away—dragging her.

There was a hissing attack from behind, then a loud thud and a crack. Evie strained to look back even though she knew she wouldn’t like what she saw. It took her mind a moment to process what she saw, and she planted her feet, ripping her sweaty hand from Anika’s grasp. Anika stopped, intending to pick her up, but then saw what Evie had seen. Anika yelled for Teresa, who had been carrying Lexi, to stop running.

Behind them, Karina’s arm was buried in the giant badger's skull. From a distance, she offered a small smile, and yelled, “I have magic, too.”

The group returned and circled Karina as she pulled her hand out. Bloody scraps from the bone bled on her arm, but her fist was unharmed. A discussion among the adults followed, and Karina repeated the feat, shattering a small tree trunk. “I just focus my mind on my hand, thinking, ‘Nothing will stop my fist.’” Karina said, amazed. “I feel a flow of power from my chest into my hand, and my hand just keeps going.”

“Maybe everyone’s magic is different?” Evie offered. “Maybe I can fly!” She closed her eyes, trying to remember how Wendy from Peter Pan did it. She believed with all her might, but nothing happened. Her feet were still planted firmly on the ground. She thought she might be able to fly home if this were Neverland. She wanted to fly home, but her magic didn’t cooperate.

The adults decided to skin the badger and attempt to sell the pelt in the city. The blood disgusted Lexi and Teresa, but Evie felt drawn to it, captivated by the creature that had once been alive. Maybe her magic could bring it back to life again. No, she shouldn’t try doing that. It was a dangerous beast, and Karina kept saying how lucky she had been to kill it once.

Karina had wrapped her arm and asked Anika, who had skinned the beast with her knife, “Should we try cooking the meat?” Evie’s stomach echoed the question, and she was not the only one who felt that way.

Anika sighed, “No. We don’t have a fire, but we can wrap some of the better cuts in the hide for when we do.” Already bloody, Anika cut off some of the muscle in a practiced manner. While Lexi found it gross, Evie watched, fascinated.

When they reached the city, it looked more like a large town with wooden walls to Evie. They were on a small hill a distance away, standing between two farms. “Teresa, watch the girls. We will try to sell the badger's meat and pelt in the city.”

As Anika and Karina left them, Teresa turned on the girls and sighed at babysitting duties, “So tell me why you were at the inn?”

Lexi spoke for both of them, “We were going to dance in a pairs competition in Dublin.”

“Ms. O’Neill thought it would be fun to dance in front of a crowd since we practice so much,” Evie added.

“I hope to see you dance then,” Teresa smiled. “I slept in with my fiancé, and I missed my flight, but I think I already told you that.”

“Are we going home?” Evie asked hopefully. The adults had talked a lot in whispers over the last two days, and Evie was getting worried.

“If anyone can get us home, it’s Karina. She is a tough woman and smart. Anika is a great fighter and a survivalist. We all will keep you safe,” Teresa smiled reassuringly, but it looked forced to Evie.

It was hours before Anika and Karina returned. They had a bundle of clothes and, more importantly, steaming loaves of bread. Karina smiled, “We had to wait while they cooked the badger for us. There is seasoned meat baked inside the loaf. I managed to exchange the pelt for some used clothes that should fit better, too.”

Evie only cared about the warm bread. She burned her tongue on the greasy sausage inside, but it didn’t stop her from eating the entire loaf with the meat, her belly finally feeling full, bloated and satisfied. She turned back to the conversation the adults were having.

“We got a few handfuls of copper coins and a reward of three silvers for killing the badger. They look like pennies, but I don’t recognize the worn writing or portrait,” Anika told Teresa.

With some hope, Teresa asked, “Are we going to stay in the city tonight?” She had finished her loaf as well.

Karina looked at Anika. Anika shook her head, and Karina sighed. “Anika didn’t like the way some people looked at us. If we follow the road north, we can reach a much larger city called Yuetsen. It will be a hard walk, but from what the baker told us, there are opportunities for outsiders there.”

“My feet hurt,” Evie bemoaned. “How far is it?”

Karina smirked at the girl. “We spent the three silver reward on some clothes and stylish footwear. Try these on.” She handed Evie a simple pair of wooden sandals. Everyone received the same pair of simple sandals, and once the food was gone, they continued walking north on the road, this time more out in the open since they didn’t look like vagabonds in their new, used clothes.

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