*****
The Boundary

Part IV

by Spade

Oliver tugged on the rope in his hands as hard as he could, 
watching as the lumber it was attached to rose up. A woman 
standing on a platform along the wall caught the top of the lumber 
and tied it off to stabilize it until someone could get the nails into it. 
Oliver and the others helping him tied off their end ot the rope as 
well. There was a great deal of hammering and banging from all 
directions, small noises making a static wall of sound.

Standing back a moment, he examined the work they had 
managed to accomplish. By the looks of it, the ruins of the castle 
were proving to be a decent base. By raising timbers and running 
planks on them along the walls, they could reach the battlements 
and repair some of the stones. He crossed his arms over his chest 
and scratched absently at his beard. By some great luck, the old 
well still had water. The walls were secure and stretched out in a 
massive square leaving more than enough room in the center for 
tents. The walls of a hall were left towards the west end. If they 
could fix a roof on it, it might provide some protection against sky-
born threats.

Its proximity to the Dark Forests was also a plus. Lairtes had a 
strong hold over his armies partly because of superstitions and 
outdated traditions. The Dark Forests' reputation for hauntings and 
monsters might prove helpful. And hopefully it wouldn't unnerve his 
own people too much.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Lear. She 
stood by the far wall, watching him with a meaningful expression. 
He made his way to her.

"Preparations are going well," Lear commented when he reached 
her.

"They are. Ya know, if this keeps up, I'd swear we might have a 
shot of getting Lairtes off the throne," Oliver said.

Lear gave a frustrated shake of her head. "There is no throne. The 
monarchy died out over a hundred years ago. Anyway, that's not 
what I want to talk to you about."

"What is?"

"Defense is slowly pulling together." Lear crossed her arms. "This 
place proves that but are we doing about offense? Running around 
through the mountains and along the rivers and villages is fine. But 
if you're planning on parking these people here for good, how are 
we going to fight back when Lairtes catches up?"

Oliver held in a sigh. He knew Lear was a fighter by nature and she 
wasn't used to hiding from an enemy. But he had others to think 
about as well. "We're putting defense first right now because that's 
what potential assistance is worried about. They want to know their 
families are going to be safe if they help. I would, too."

Lear uncrossed her arms and put them on her hips, then changed 
her mind and crossed them again. "Right, right. So what do you 
want me to do?"

"For now, I want you set up a night watch," Oliver said. "There 
shouldn't be any trouble tonight, but I want to make sure no one 
shows up who isn't supposed to. And when that's established, 
report to me. I have a job for you."

*****

It was dark when Lear came in to Oliver's tent. An oil lamp gave a  
glow that was just enough to see by. He motioned her her to come 
all the way and pulled a paper out of a leather satchel. Lear 
watched as he unrolled the paper along the ground, putting stones 
on the corners to keep it from curling back up. It was a map she 
had seen often enough, with Lairtes' present bases and captured 
cities marked. Others had been circled as possible next targets. 
She had helped choose some of those cities, based on previous 
battles through Fentry's history. But Oliver had done some revising 
since last time.

"Why were these changed?" she asked, motioning to the cities 
which he had unmarked. Others had been circled in their place.

Oliver grinned. "I think I may have figured out the pattern. But to be 
sure, I want you to go here." He pointed to the city about four hours 
distance from their base. "If nothing's happening, I'm wrong. But if 
there is something going on, we need to know about it."

"When do you want me to leave?"

"As soon as you can. Tonight, if it's possible." She nodded and 
headed out the tent flap when he reached for her arm. "I know you 
don't hide from enemies, Lear. But under no circumstance should 
you start an attack. Understood?"

Lear made a face, but agreed. "Understood."

*****

Moving through the portal was something like a roller coaster ride 
waiting at the top of its decent. You aren't sure when it began or 
when it'll end but you're pretty sure you're going to empty the 
contents of your stomach by the time the ride is through. That was 
something like the feeling Remy was experiencing. His body 
seemed to disappear, leaving only his mind, a semi-conscious 
state of being. Then just as quickly, he was whole again. Not only 
whole, but falling several feet onto the ground below.

He winced when his elbow scraped across a stone, tearing the 
sleeve of his coat and sending a sharp pang up to his shoulder. 
Pulling himself into a sitting position, he looked around, mildly 
dizzy. He wasn't in the park anymore.

Trees still surrounded him and it was still dark. But none of these 
trees grew in that park. Vines with round leaves spiraled around 
them, pale trunks with high root ridges digging into the earth. It 
looked like a rain forest but the branches were too low and thick, 
the colors not nearly as bright and the ground too dry.

He caught movement in the shadows and followed it. It wasn't a 
human form. It hunched close to ground, scratching the dirt and 
making hissing noises. There were more of them, moving in circles 
around his position. The build suggested large dogs. Reflexively, 
Remy reached for the playing cards in his pocket. Angrily, he drew 
his hand back, making a fist so hard his knuckles went white. 
Playing cards wouldn't be any use without his kinetic charge. 

Remy saw one of the things in through the dark and drew in a 
sharp breath. It wasn't like any animal he'd ever seen. Its body was 
shaped like a wolf's but it was composed of tightly wound branches 
and grass. The skull was capped with a large rounded stone and 
the eyes were empty pits that glowed red. The branches creaked 
as the thing pulled its lips back in a snarl, revealing long sharp 
teeth that covered the entire roof of its mouth.

"Oh boy..."

It lunged and Remy kicked out hard, rolling away at the same time. 
He made contact and heard a satisfying snap. He'd cracked the 
thing's leg practically in half but watched in dismay as branches 
and thick grass slithered like snakes around the two piece to make 
it whole again. The thing growled, unfazed, and was joined by 
others.

A great swooping and snapping sound came from the tree behind 
him then, followed by a gust of wind as something large and heavy 
landed behind him. Remy felt more than saw the presence that 
was suddenly casting its shadow over him. 

"Get down," a deep voice ordered. A roaring filled his ears and 
Remy dropped to his knees just in time to avoid being scorched by 
a blast of of blue tinged fire that raged over his head. The burst of 
heat made his skin crawl under his trenchcoat. The flame cut a line 
through the creatures, catching some and frightening the others 
away. Remy shut his eyes and flinched involuntarily at the 
screeching they made.

The presence was now directly over top of him and Remy opened 
his eyes. There were two huge scaly hands, both easily the size of 
Remy's head, positioned on either side of him. He turned to see 
what was standing over him and found himself nose to muzzle with 
a new problem.

A dragon was staring down at him with equal parts curiosity and 
menace. The face before him was equine, attached to a long thick 
neck. The entirety of him was plated in golden scales that 
darkened along his nose and over the wings that sprouted from his 
shoulders. Reddish spikes flared from his forehead and went down 
the ridge of his neck. But it was the eyes that held Remy's 
attention. The irises were a gold that matched his body and were 
surrounded by red. There was a combination of feline and human 
intelligence in those eyes, a look that said these eyes saw 
everything and never forgot.

And then there was the small, rough patch of exposed skin on the 
dragon's chest. He was missing a scale. Remy could bet the plate 
in his pocket would fit perfectly. "You de welcome wagon?"

The dragon didn't answer immediately, then asked, "Why are you 
here?"

"Tell me where here is an' I might be able t'come up with an 
answer," Remy shot back.

One thick tanned eyebrow arched and then the dragon started 
circling him. Remy stood, intensely uncomfortable with the way the 
dragon was stalking around him. It moved like a cat but was as big 
as horse and would have no trouble holding on to Remy with those 
clawed hands.

"You smell strange," the dragon remarked.

"Sorry. I get some better deodorant next time." The dragon 
stopped, confused. "Been a strange day," Remy added.

"You're bleeding." The dragon brought his nose close to Remy's 
arm. Sure enough, the torn elbow of Remy's coat was darkening 
with blood. He'd ripped the skin open on that rock.

"Bad landing, I guess."

"Yes. I saw." The dragon sat on his haunches, wrapping his tail 
around his front legs. The wings folded and the spikes along his 
neck relaxed and raised. "You made quite an entrance through that 
portal . Come with me."

Just as soon as the dragon had settled, he was up again and 
moving swiftly into the darkness. Remy huffed, blowing loose 
strands of hair out of his face, and followed.

*****

"Ow... man, this sucks."

Warren squirmed, trying to find a hand or foot hold to help him get 
out of the tree he was presently stuck in. While there was enough 
room for him to climb down, he didn't have the space needed to 
spread his wings. It was giving him a nasty case of claustrophobia 
as well as having twigs poking him in several uncomfortable places. 
He finally managed to grab a stable branch and swing down, 
keeping his wings pressed tightly against him so they didn't get in 
the way.

The strange portal had dropped him in the edge of this forest. It got 
ominously dark the deeper the forest went, so Warren followed the 
sounds of voices that were coming from the light. He hid in the 
soft shadows at the tree line to watch a moment before making his 
presence known.

Two teenage boys were in some sort of training fight with swords. 
A crumbling castle set their backdrop with people climbing around 
in the battlements. What have I gotten myself into? Time portal? he 
wondered. There were no castles like that in New York, never had 
been. This setting looked almost medieval. He focused on the 
voices of the boys, hoping he might learn something. It was 
english, but there was a twist in it that he couldn't place. An accent 
that wasn't quite Irish, Scottish, or English really; more like a 
muddled combination of all three.

One of them, a tall, strong-looking blonde, darted in and knocked 
the sword out of the other boy's hand. "Come on, Oswin, parry 
already."

The other boy raked his hand through his dark curly hair and 
picked the sword up quickly. He managed to deflect the other's 
swings fairly well this time, but tripped on his own cloak and fell 
back. He huffed and pulled his cloak off. "Don't say it, Nic."

Nic stabbed his sword into the ground and rested his hand on the 
hilt. "I wouldn't dream of tellin' you that you got clumsy. Watch 
your steps, too, not just mine."

"Why are we doin' this?" Oswin asked and Angel got the 
impression that it was a question he asked often and never heard 
the answer to.

Nic hunched down so he could look Oswin in the eyes. "I'm not 
going to watch Lairtes skewer you when this war really gets into it. 
So, come on, get up."

It reminded Warren strongly of fencing lessons he'd had in private 
school. Only these didn't look like fake swords. His suspicions 
were proven when Oswin caught Nic's hand and drew blood.

"Sorry!" Oswin blanched.

Nic looked at his hand in surprise, then grinned. "You're gettin' 
better."

They continued this routine and Warren became distracted. He 
glance behind him, searching the darkness. He wondered if it was 
just paranoia or if there was actually something lurking in the trees.

When he looked back, Oswin was the only one standing their. 
Angel blinked. The boy stood facing the castle as though he was 
looking for something. Warren craned his neck to see if the other 
boy had gone in that direction. Hearing the twig snap behind him, 
Warren turned and dropped to fighting stance, wings unfurling. Nic 
took an unnerved jump back but raised the sword towards Warren 
with a posture that said he would be quite capable of using it.

"Thought I saw someone back here," Nic said. The end of the 
sword wavered gently. "We don't like spies."

"Spies?" Warren echoed. "No, no, that's not it at all. I was just 
trying to figure out where I am."

Angel tried to relax so he looked less like he was about to pounce 
on the boy. Nic pursed his lips and didn't lower the blade. If they 
were in a war, Warren figured he could understand, but it still 
didn't make him any more comfortable with the fact that the sword 
was pointed at his adam's apple. Oswin had edged his way closer 
and eyed Warren uneasily.

"He doesn't look like one of Lairtes' spies," he ventured.

"When have you ever met one his spies?" Nic asked incredulously. 
Oswin shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright," Warren said reasonably, "why don't we skip the fighting 
and go straight to the 'take me to your leader' part?"

End Part IV