Paragoy Dimension

  Chapter 2

  For two weeks, they traveled from portal to portal, and it wasn’t until running from a giant leech that she stumbled into a familiar dimension.

  The nicker looked up at her as she smiled. “I know this one. We’re close to Paramide.”

  With what she could only assume was Daemionis’ help, she was able to find portals easily and was soon in Paramide, looking out over the dark plateaus.

  “Here’s where we part,” Kyrin said, looking down at the nicker.

  He had his hands gripped tightly together and looked up at her.

  “What do you have?”

  The nicker stepped back and looked down at his hands.

  “Hand it over,” Kyrin told him. While they didn’t necessarily steal but instead borrowed, they still were master thieves and could pick anything from almost anyone.

  He finally swallowed and held up a golden chain that she’d taken from the thieves in Terrahaut.

  “Don’t steal from me!” she said, irritated.

  The nicker cowered before her, and then followed when she walked out to find Daemionis.

  Seeing the gray creature following her, Kyrin turned. “Go away! That was the deal. I promised to take you as far as Paramide, and you’re here, so go.”

  He reached up and grabbed onto her pant leg.

  “No, I said…”

  “What did you find?” Creteloc asked from the shadows.

  Kyrin looked up at her. “A nicker that won’t back off.”

  “Shall I kill it for you?”

  “No, no I don’t think he needs to die.”

  “Why not?” Creteloc asked, circling slowly.

  “Well, he brought me water and food. I hate to kill him.”

  “He’s ugly and insignificant.”

  “He’s harmless.”

  Creteloc finally nodded. “Daemionis is waiting. Did you get it?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t have come back without it.”

  “And did that useless king of yours impregnate you?”

  “No”

  “Good, let’s go then.”

  Kyrin followed Creteloc and tried to ignore the nicker trying to keep up with them. He wasn’t quiet though, and Creteloc often turned and glared at him. They approached Daemionis’ temple, and Creteloc motioned for Kyrin to go in alone.

  He was already waiting when she stepped in, so she dropped to her knees and lowered her eyes. “My Lord.”

  “Did you get it?” he asked.

  Kyrin dug in her bag and pulled out the coveted seal of Carathis.

  Daemionis took it from her and lifted it up to see closely. An evil grin crossed his face. “My young follower. You have pleased me.”

  “Thank you, my Lord,” Kyrin whispered.

  He lowered it and looked at her. “Are you with child?”

  “No, my Lord.”

  “Very well. Return to Paragoy.”

  She nodded and stood up.

  “You aren’t going to argue?” Daemionis asked her.

  “No, my Lord.”

  “So you want to go back?”

  Kyrin first thought about lying, but then just nodded.

  “Go, and take that thing from my land.”

  “Thing?” she asked, looking up at him.

  “Either take the nicker, or I will kill it.”

  “Oh, that thing. Yes, sir.” Kyrin quickly backed out of the temple.

  Creteloc was glaring at the tiny gray creature. “That thing needs to die.”

  “I’ll take him out of here. Maybe I’ll leave him in Kyrstalis.”

  “You are worse than you admit,” Creteloc said, impressed. “They would torture him.”

  Kyrin frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Take him to Paragoy. They’d love him.”

  “I don’t know what I’ll do with him, but I don’t really want him dead.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. Come on, nicker, let’s go,” Kyrin said, holding her hand out. The nicker ran and took her hand but kept a close eye on Creteloc.

  Just outside of the portal leading to Kyrstalis, Kyrin knelt down beside the nicker. “Now, I’m thinking you can understand me, even if you can’t talk, right?”

  He looked up at her and smiled, batting his eyelashes.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. We’re shifting over to Kyrstalis. If you get lost or the Consortiums pick you up, you’re on your own. Your best bet is not to steal.”

  The nicker took her hand and shook his head.

  “Sorry, your best bet is not to borrow things but to just keep up.”

  The second Kyrin set foot in Kyrstalis, she took off running for the portal across the city. She kept her cloak pulled over her face and her head down, avoiding any contact with the Consortiums. Once she got to the portal leading out of the dimension, the nicker was nowhere in sight.

  She looked once more for him and then stepped through the portal. She couldn’t risk being caught, just to make sure the little creature was okay.

  Kyrin was surprised when she got to the next portal and felt a tug on her backpack. She turned, ready to fight, but saw the nicker look up at her with his huge, sad eyes.

  “Oh, you made it. Well let’s go then. However, you can’t go into Paragoy, okay?”

  His lip quivered when he stepped through the portal and followed Kyrin as she walked quickly. She was anxious to get into Paragoy. Every second out shifting, she ran the risk of encountering the Shadowmere, and she would feel better when she was back in Valhara.

  There was no portal key into Valhara, so Kyrin sat down to wait beside the remains of the Shadowmere. When night fell, the nicker curled up next to her and shivered in the cool air. She sighed and tried to ignore him as she kept an eye out for anyone coming.

  Footsteps approaching sounded early the next morning, just as the first sun rose over the horizon. She stood up with her flail in her hand, and then watched the nicker slide under the dead Shadowmere’s breastplate to hide.

  Four Shadowmere rounded the corner and stopped when they saw Kyrin, flail ready.

  “What have we here?” one of them said, eyeing her closely while he drew his sword.

  “That’s Kyrin,” another said, smiling. “Mika will promote us for sure if we bring her in.”

  “You’re not going to bring me in,” Kyrin said, glaring at them.

  “You gonna fight all four of us off, baby?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Two of the Shadowmere headed for her while the other two watched to make sure they didn’t get interrupted. Rumors of her killings were all over the dimensions, and they wanted to teach her a lesson about messing with the Shadowmere before she reached Mika.

  The first slashed at her, but she dodged and swung her flail at the hilt of his weapon. One of the chains wrapped around the handle, and she yanked, pulling it away from the Shadowmere’s grasp. It didn’t go far though, and he lunged for it angrily. Being disarmed was a dishonor he wasn’t willing to put up with.

  The second Shadowmere knocked her to the ground with a hard hit to her back. The shadow elf vest kept the blade from penetrating, but the force knocked her down. She saw the golden ring out of the corner of her eye and grabbed it just as the second man hit her in the back.

  Kyrin dove through the door and scrambled to her feet once she landed in Valhara. All four Shadowmere followed her through the portal, and she was shocked when two of the Valharan knights jumped into the fight.

  With the help of the knights, the four Shadowmere were soon dead, and Kyrin sunk down to the ground, clutching her side.

  “Are you injured?” one of the knights asked, kneeling down beside her.

  She shook her head. “Thank you for the help.”

  He smiled. “No, thank you for the fight! We knew this new post would be a good one.”

  “You’re posted here?”

  “Yes, by orders of King Alric.”

&nbs
p; “What is this?” the other knight asked. He turned around and had the nicker held up in front of him by its ears.

  Kyrin sighed. “He’s something that was supposed to stay out of Valhara.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a nicker.”

  She leaned back against the grass, waiting out the pain in her back. She knew they didn’t do a lot of damage, thanks to the vest, but she was still going to have a deep bruise.

  “You are hurt,” the knight closest to her said.

  “Just give me a second.”

  “No, we’re to take you back to King Alric immediately.”

  “What am I to do with this thing?” the knight holding the nicker asked.

  Kyrin thought that over. He was liable to steal anything shiny he found in the castle, but she didn’t want him dead. She wasn’t sure why, but he’d grown on her, and she felt protective of him.

  “Just let him down. He’ll follow us,” she said, finally getting to her feet.

  “We should stop at the priests and have you looked over,” the knight said, watching her try to walk.

  “There’s no use getting everyone riled up over this. I’ll be fine once I get to Valhara.”

  “Okay, but we’ll have to tell King Alric.”

  “Be my guest,” she said, and started down the sheer cliff toward Boriana ruins.

  The knight let the nicker go, and the little gray creature caught up with Kyrin and stuck closely to her side. She noticed he was carrying one of Sithias’ crosses that each of the knights wore, but she decided not to point that out to the knights. Stealing one of their crosses was grounds for a long prison sentence.

  She reached down and took the cross from the nicker, who tried to grab it back, but she had it held high above his head. “Did one of you drop this?”

  Both knights grabbed at their neck, and the closest one gasped. “I must have! Thank you for finding that.”

  She just nodded and handed it over, slapping the hand of the nicker when he tried to take it back.

  The knight’s eyes narrowed. “You said I dropped it?”

  “I assume you dropped it. It was on the ground.”

  “They don’t break and it was secured around my neck.”

  “I don’t know then,” she said, and took the nicker’s hand as she started for Valhara.

  The knights watched the nicker carefully while they made their way to Valhara. No one spoke, and the tiny gray creature kept a death grip on Kyrin’s hand.

  When they arrived at the castle, Finn ran out and pulled Kyrin into a hug. “Where have you been, kid?”

  She smiled up at him. “Around. Is Alric inside?”

  “He’s out on a raid.”

  “Qualsax?”

  “Who else?” he said, and eyed the gray nicker.

  “What?”

  “First off, what’s that?”

  “He’s a nicker.”

  “Why do you have him?”

  “He’s not that easy to get rid of.”

  “What’s he do?”

  She smiled. “Not much, just collects things.”

  “Such as?”

  “Stuff”

  “Fine, so…”

  Kyrin crossed her arms. “What?”

  “Are you pregnant?” Finn asked finally.

  “Do I look pregnant?”

  “It’s pretty hard to tell this early.”

  “Good,” Kyrin answered, and then started up the stairs.

  “So it’s a secret?” Finn asked, following her.

  “Yup”

  “Why?”

  “Because it serves you all right,” she said, turning on him. “You should have told me!”

  “It wasn’t my place to tell you.”

  “Well someone should have instead of needlessly risking that.”

  “It’s what married couples do.”

  “Not this married couple.”

  Kyrin veered off of the stairs and started for the Lady’s chambers.

  “Why are you going in there?” Finn asked, still following her.

  “Because I’m not staying with him,” she replied, stressing the word ‘him’.

  “He’ll be back tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll have something to say about that.”

  “Well he won’t have a choice in the matter.”

  The nicker let go of Kyrin’s hand and started to look around the Lady’s chambers as she headed in to unpack and get cleaned up.

  “So do you talk?” Finn asked the nicker.

  The little gray animal looked at him and then ran his finger along a shiny railing.

  “I’ll take that as a no.” Finn shook his head and walked over to the bedroom. It wasn’t proper for him to leave the sitting area, so he waited at the door and watched Kyrin unload gold onto the bed. “Where’d you get that?”

  “From a bunch of thieves.”

  “So you stole stolen gold?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Why? Alric has more than that.”

  Kyrin slipped a thick crown onto her head and sat down on the bed. “Now I have my own.”

  “You have a crown, remember?”

  “Yeah, I know.” She pulled it off and tossed it over onto the pile of gold.

  “Where were you?”

  “I had a mission for Daemionis.”

  “A dangerous one?”

  “Yes”

  “Knowing you might be pregnant.”

  “Yes,” she said, starting to get irritated at the questions.

  “That’s not very smart.”

  Kyrin frowned at him. “Why are you here irritating me?”

  “I’m trying to figure out if you’re pregnant and need looked at by the priests.”

  “I don’t need to see the priests.”

  “You may if you’ve done any physical exertion.”

  “Go away!” Kyrin shouted.

  Finn grinned. “Moodiness is a sign of pregnancy.”

  “Make yourself useful and get the nicker and I some food and water, will you?”

  “Hint taken,” Finn said, and then walked out.

  An hour later, Kyrin heard someone bring in dinner, so she went out and sat at the table. The servant gave the nicker an odd glance and then bowed and left quickly.

  “Eat up,” Kyrin said, grabbing the glass of cold water.

  The nicker was already lapping at the water in his glass. When done, he dove into the food, shoveling it into his mouth with both hands. Kyrin watched him and wondered if she’d looked the same when she first arrived in Valhara.

  Grabbing a spoon, she began to eat, and watched the nicker as he enjoyed probably the first full meal he’d ever had. She was starving and ate in silence as the nicker devoured his plate.

  “Pregnancy causes hunger,” Finn said from the doorway.

  Kyrin looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “So does not eating. What’s your excuse?”

  “I eat because I work hard.”

  “You eat because you can.”

  “That too,” he said, and patted his washboard abs.

  “Have a seat,” Kyrin told him as she dug into a mound of mashed potatoes.

  Finn watched the nicker eat. “I’m afraid I may lose a finger.”

  “He’s harmless.”

  “So you say.” Finn walked over and sat down next to her. “My guess is you don’t even know if you’re pregnant and are afraid the priests would tell you.”

  “Keep thinking that.”

  “Oh, I will. When Alric gets back tomorrow, he’ll want to know though.”

  “Yeah, well I’m getting pretty tired of what Alric wants.”

  “So tell me. What do you want?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know yet.”

  Finn leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “You came back though, so you at least want Alric.”

  “I was ordered to come back.”

  “Sure you were.”

  “Are the Qualsax being a pain again?”
>
  “Always,” Finn said, watching as the nicker wiped his hands on the pristinely white tablecloth before belching.

  Kyrin reached over and wiped the nicker’s face with her napkin, and then went back to her meal.

  Finn grinned. “Never wanted to be a mom?”

  “Never”

  “Interesting”

  Finally done eating, Kyrin sat back in her chair and looked at Finn. “Nothing else happened while I was away?”

  “Not really. Qualsax attacks are about it. That and you being gone drives Alric crazy.”

  “How so?”

  “It just does. He’s moody, grouchy, and looks for you everywhere. We’ve all noticed it.”

  “Alric is never grouchy.”

  Finn frowned at the nicker. “What does he have?”

  Kyrin looked over and shrugged, but it was obvious the nicker had acquired one of the city crests off of the napkins at the table. She stood, and when he put his hands up, she picked him up, and he looked over at Finn.

  “We’re going to sleep.”

  He nodded. “Sleep well. The king should be back around noon tomorrow.”

  She nodded and then disappeared into the bedroom. Finn just laughed and walked out, shutting the door behind him.