Chapter One: Creta

“This is a perpetual waste of time.” Meredith Lapsley looked down at her companion with a look of surprise on her young face.

“Really? But you used to love festival!” she said to him. “A time to get out and feel normal and like you belonged.”

“The charm sort of loses its edge when you’ve become a cat,” he responded, moving a paw up to start grooming. “What fun is festival if you can’t enjoy it?”

“Come down, Macon, its not like half these people know about you and our problem, and won’t do something to help you out. The kite-maker told me you could have whatever string he had available when you came by.”

Macon stopped his grooming to glare at his sister. “Pardon, but are you suggesting I enjoy such activities.”

She shrugged. “Looked like you enjoyed it back at the Academy,” she said, turning away from her companion to watch the people on the dance floor. Regardless of what he thought, Meredith loved festival, and all that it implied. The one day of the year where everyone was of equal standing, and one could enjoy themselves to the fullest extent without feel of whipping in the morning.

She smiled as she watched her Master Orion tip her giggling sister back in an elaborate dance, grinning like a fool. She had even seen the old man so loose before, fully getting into the spirit of the day. She was going to be graduating soon, so his freedom was at hand. One needed to enjoy himself every now and again, she thought o herself as she lifted her cup to her lips.

“Come now, Merry,” her oldest bother Burle said as he whirled over to her, “Surely you’re not planning on spending the entire dance on the bench with Macon, are you?” He grabbed both her hands and pulled her up, laughing, to join in the dancing.

The dances in her village were unlike any she had ever experienced. Those the Academy held were uptight and boring, consisting of ballroom dancing and still formal talk. Sure, she enjoyed those, to a point, as none would actually ask her to dance unless upon pain of death by one of the masters. Here, though, the dancing was freedom, and those around her never cared what she was or how much power she could wield. She grinned at that thought. She would certainly show them at the graduation ceremony who was powerful now.

The dance was quick and lively, and she had many partners as she was passed around. Laughing with her partners, she felt like a celebrity, the only person in the village to possess magic and to have ever been to the Great North Continent. She was born a simple slave girl, sure, but even then, everyone knew who she was.

As she whirled by the bench she has occupied earlier, she reached out, being without a partner, and grabbed an unsuspecting Macon. “Hey,” he said, unaware. Laughing at her older brother’s discomfort, she swung him about in circles in time with the music.

“No need for you to miss out on the fun, Macon, just because you are a cat!” she told him, her arms out stretched.

“I think I am going to be sick,” he told her back. Meredith just laughed some more, remembering Macon’s low tolerance for spinning.

The song wound down, and several people cheer for Meredith and Macon. Meredith put one arm across her chest to hold up Macon, and bowed. Macon jut made a long suffering sound to show his appreciation. The music started up, proving to be a slow song, and Meredith made her way over to the bench again.

“Poor, poor Macon,” Kaelyn, her sister, said as she walked over with Orion. She picked up her brother, and started rubbing his back. Despite himself, he started to purr.

Taking her seat, she wasn’t at all surprised at her father, Alden, came over with Burle and his family. “You’re not going to sit out now, are you?” her father asked, dragging her up once more.

Smiling, she allowed herself to be joined in with the rest of the couples dancing close to each other. She grinned at the other daughter/father couples active in the dance. Everyone looked so happy; the smallest children standing on their father’s shoes, the bigger ones marveling at their father’s ability to dance. It was a peaceful time in town, something she hadn’t experienced in ten years.

There was a lingering sadness in her father’s eyes that was masked by the joy of being around his youngest daughter, and Meredith knew he was thinking of her mother, and the other children he lost the same day. Meredith had six siblings, but half of them died the same day as her mother.

They say no man should outlive their children. Alden Lapsley was evidence of that, although she found that his depression had lifted in the decade since that incident.

He twirled her, bringing her back to the present, and she laughed as the world became a blur. This place was so different to the world she had gotten used to, it was odd to think it on the same planet.

The dance finished with more than one disappointed sigh, and Meredith was once again ushered to her family. “Are you having fun, Master,” she asked Orion, who had taken her spot and her duty to comfort Macon. Currently, Orion was absently stroking Macon’s underbelly while the cat lay upside down, half sleep.

The older man turned to Meredith with an odd smile on his face. “I don’t believe I have ever seen this much companionship in quite some time. It is quite refreshing.”

“Yes, quite different from where you grew up,” she commented as she sat down, attempting to not disturb Macon. He was so far gone that it didn’t really matter.

“Yes,” he said absently,” my daughters would never be seen in public dancing with their old man.”

Meredith laughed. “I’m sure you are mistaken. All daughters long to test their fathers in the ‘skillz’ of dancing.”

Orion turned to her, orange eyes mirroring her own in color and amusement. “Is that so? I shall have to test that theory of yours, Meredith, once we return.”

She grinned, rubbing imaginary dirt from her skirt, flicking her knees above the hem as she tapped to the beat. Alden has taken his eldest daughter for her turn to dance, and Burle was coerced by his wife to dance with her, and they found themselves alone.

“I always find it amazing, Meredith, that someone of your talent and power came from such humble origins. It makes me question fate,” Orion said after a bit of silence.

Meredith looked at him quizzically. She had been caressing Macon’s head. “How so?”

“Well, think of it. A mere slave girl is found to posses a power that is seen in only two people at a time; a master and an apprentice only, if that many are seen. A mere slave girl when the history of our kind suggests that you should have been born in the Northern Continent, where you would be trained early, and sent off into the world ready.”

“I’m not ready to face the world?” she asked, a bit hurt.

“Not quite yet, Ardere, you have a few months to go before then,” he responding, giving her an oddly warm smile. “I simply question your destiny.”

“My destiny, Master?”

He nodded. “Clearly you are destined for great things. I just fear those things may be too great for one person to handle.”

Meredith blinked, then laughed. “This is not a night for serious things, Master!” she told him. “You should not worry yourself over such a trivial thing. I have no greater destiny other than being a Fire Mage, much like your own destiny, and the destinies of the hundreds of Fire Mages before me.” She paused. “No offense.”

“None taken. My destiny, what it’s been thus far, has been suitable for me. But the question is, is your’s suitable enough for you?”

Meredith looked out at the dance floor, the couples locked in an endless waltz of devotion towards each other, and she smiled. Yes, she was missing out on this part of destiny, but she was young, and she could wait. “I couldn’t ask for more, Master. I am happy with the way my life has turned out.”

Orion stood, carefully placing Macon, missing most of the conversation, into Meredith’s lap. “Then I wish you only the best,” he told her as he walked off in search of a dance partner. Meredith shook her head. That man was determined to dance every dance that night, despite not having his own wife with him.

“What did I miss?” Macon asked in a tired voice, the movement of the move awakening him. He yawned and stretched, his claws just inches from tearing a hole in her skirt.

“Not much…you missed Burle being rather affectionate to…”

Macon made a weird noise out of the back of his throat. “Say no more. Where did Master Orion get off to?”

She pointed in the direction he headed. “That way, although I have no clue why. I still haven’t had that dance he promised.”

Macon laughed. “Yes, he seems intent on making himself known to all the young pretty girls in Aduro.”

“Yes, although he did dance with Kaelyn,” she was interrupted by a smack to the back of her head. “Ow, what the…” She found Kaelyn glaring at her. “You’re not young!” she said.

Kaelyn placed her hands on her hips. “What does that mean?”

Meredith stared at her blankly. “You’re eleven years older, Kae, of course you’re old to Merry,” Macon pointed out. “And with almost three children, you’re off the market for available women.”

Kaelyn’s husband laughed at the expression on her face. Come on, you all know he had to dance with her because she’s the prettiest girl here.”

“And she’s his apprentices’ sister,” Macon pointed out.

“And that,” he agreed.

“Come on, Macon,” Kaelyn said, roughly taking her brother from Meredith’s lap, “I don’t think you’ve eaten yet, have you?”

And just like that, Meredith found herself alone on the bench, her siblings and in-laws going off together to find some dinner. She blinked. What the hell did she do this time that they didn’t invite her? One would think they would be all too eager to have a family dinner for once, but she figured not.

Tapping the toes of her boots together, she watched as the crowd on the dance floor slowly dissipate until only a few couples were still entwined together. The musicians were replaced by fresh ones, and the music continued just for them. Meredith sighed at the scene before her. If only she were that lucky…

“Excuse me,” a light voice to her right said. She whipped around, and found herself staring into the eyes of the most handsome man she had ever seen. His eyes glowed an eerie red in the moonlight, his pointed teeth carefully hidden as he smiled at her, but she, with her magically enhanced eyes, could see clearly though his disguise.

“Yes?” she asked innocently, though she knew perfectly what he was.

“May I bother you for a dance?”

She blinked at him. A lesser girl would refuse with the knowledge she had on the man, terrified and gone running off screaming. She knew what her Master would say, anyway.

Which is why, without a second thought, she extended her hand, and accepted his offer. “Yes, of course.”

He pulled her effortlessly from her seat, her eyes never leaving his, despite the chill of his hand. Had she not known what he was, she would have been scared right then, but she kept herself calm, and allowed herself to be escorted to the dance floor. He was so tall, she thought to herself. The tallest male she had come in contact with thus far had been her Master Orion, and he was shorter by at least two inches.

He brought to an empty spot, which wasn’t that hard at this point in the night, and, turning her towards him and placing a hand at the small of her back, they began their dance.

Her eyes were locked onto his beaming face as they twirled and twisted about the other couples, obvious to their presence. Just as well, she thought as they swung past one couple. It would not do to see the famous Meredith Lapsley dancing with a person Aduro had never seen before.

His touch was like electricity within her soul, causing her energy level to rise to a dangerous level as her enjoyment of the dance increased. Never had she had a dance like this, something her father and older sibling mostly likely faced on a constant basis. His icy touch was warmed instantly on her hand by the fire burning inside her.

Far too quickly for her liking, the song winded down, and they were forced apart. Meredith knew she should join her family at dinner soon, and she shouldn’t accept any more dances. He was still grinning at her and leaned down. Meredith knew what was coming, and not just from the magic flowing though her veins. She closed her eyes, and accepted the gentle kiss he placed on her lips as well.

When she opened her eyes again, she wasn’t surprised to find him already gone.

“Merry,” a voice behind her said, and she turned to find Burle approaching her. “Don’t you want something to eat?”

Meredith nodded absently, deciding to keep what just happened to herself. She followed her brother to the table where her family and Master were currently swapping tales.

It didn’t really help that her former Master, her sister’s father-in-law, had joined them as well. Burle grinned as she moaned. “He sort of requested your presence,” he pointed out.

Meredith took in a deep breath, wondering if they were talking about her. Orion had never been in the presence of a slave owner, so she did have to wonder. Was he scolding him? Or was he acting like his normal objective self, and just swapping tales.

“Ah, Merry,” her master Galahad said,” I’ve been wondering where you had gotten to.”

“Master,” she said, bowing to him in the fashion slaves were required to. After all, she was still owned by him, although most people seemed for forget that.

Galahad beckoned her over to sit next to him, placing an arm around her shoulders. “I had always known our Merry was special, so it wasn’t as big a surprise to be for her to turn out a Mage. I just wasn’t expecting a Fire Mage,” he laughed, but Meredith could still see the suspicion in his eyes. It wasn’t a secret that most people on the farm thought her to be the cause of the fire ten years ago that claimed the life of her family, as well as the Master’s wife. But no one had evidence that it was true, since Meredith was no where near the house when it burned.

“Yes, she is full of surprises,” Orion remarked, the same look in his eyes. Meredith winced, and knew he was reusing to her many misadventures she dragged Orion on as his apprentice. He had many apprentices, he had told her once, none of which were ever Fire Mages, but none made his life as interesting as she did. If only she had been older, where he could have trained her when he was younger.

Galahad, smiling a sort of fake smile, moved a bowl of soup in front of her. “You are far too skinny, Merry. Is Master Orion not feeding you?” he asked, earning a glare from Orion.

“Of course not,” Meredith said as she took a sip, “I have a high metabolism.” Galahad looked at her blankly. Ah, right, no one knew what a metabolism was down here. “I can eat all I want, and still remain the same size,” she explained.

Galahad simply gave her a strange look before turning back to her father. “Strange man,” Orion said in her ear.

“Very,” Meredith agreed. “He wasn’t all that bad when I was eight and thought the world of him, of course.”

“Times and situations change, and the true nature of people are revealed,” Orion said, as if quoting something.

“Where did you hear that?” she asked, curious.

“No where, it was merely an observation I had made a long time ago.”

Meredith grinned, knowing Orion had made many observations in his lifetime, and started attacking her soup. While Master Orion didn’t neglect her appetite, nothing was quite like the homemade food of her town.

She ate everything that was placed in front or her, earning raised eyebrows from Galahad. Kaelyn had only eaten the soup and half of the main course, and she was eating for two now. Orion laughed, and remarked on the enthusiasm of Meredith and her food. Never had he seen her use the restraint other girls her age had when it came to mealtime. Meredith just ignored them, and enjoyed her meal.

As the last of the dishes was cleared from the table, Galahad turned to her. “You know what this village has never seen before?” She knew what was coming before he asked, as several other villages had never seen it as well.

“A Fire Mage performing?” she answered, flicking fire from her fingertips as a sort of demonstration. “All you need to do is ask.”

All eyes turned to her as she stood and made her way to the empty dance floor. They all had been waiting for this, she could tell.

She took her pose, remembering the first time she had to do this. After the first time in was requested, and she had to decline because she didn’t know what they were talking about, Orion took her to a special dance instructor who choreographed a routine for her to use. She had done in dozens of times now, and it was engrained into her mind, but she was still nervous.

It had once been difficult to actually do this dance with the fire, and, in the beginning, she could only make fire once or twice, which was enough to placate the people. Now, though, she let the energy flow in control bursts as she moved through the motions, keeping a constant flow through her arms.

Actually, and she’ll never admit this to anyone, it was rather embarrassing to know Orion was watching; Orion was a much more controlled and powerful Fire Mage. But he chose never to say anything, remarking that this was her time to shine and showoff, and, as long as she didn’t hurt anyone, he would never criticize her on it.

She had done it once in front of her old classmates, and they had laughed at her. That was just stupid, they had said. Then Orion, in one of his rare displays of protectiveness, asked them to do something to show off their powers, and they stammered and stuttered, and had nothing to show. Afterward, Orion told her they had been jealous of the fact she had grown powerful, and they could still barely cast spells.

It still hurt, Meredith thought, but she never said anything about it.

Now, though, she pushed that out of her head, and focused only on impressing those who knew her since childhood, those that would be impressed even if all she did was create a small flicker of fire.

She set her finishing pose with a flourish, watching the last remaining flames flicker into nothing. The audience she had gathered stood in stunned silence, and she wondered if she really impresses them or not. That had happened before, when she and Orion had entered a town of critics, who found nothing they did to be worth anything. They were Fire Mages, the rarest of Elemental Mages, and that’s all they could do? They scoffed at them, and Orion couldn’t get her out fast enough.

But really, it was only stunned silence, Meredith noted as the clapping began, starting somewhere in the back, continuing until it was thunderous, and shouts of praise started to fill the night air. Meredith grinned as she stood straight, and took the praise. These people mattered.

Her family was the first to intercept her, beaming proudly. “Amazing,” Alden said. “I knew it was the right choice to send you off. I knew you were meant for greatness.”

“And kept it hidden for six years,” Kaelyn pointed out, her youngest balanced on her hip. She had wide eyes only for her aunt, and reached out to her when she got close enough. Meredith had little experience with children, but she accepted her niece as best she could.

Alden shrugged. “Wasn’t important at the time.”

Burle, who was holding Macon, patted his younger brother on the head. “Now don’t you wish you had power like that?”

Macon gave him an irritated look. “No, not really. Fire powers aren’t much use for a cat, you know.”

Burle laughed at his brother’s discomfort, while little Kimberly reached out to him, saying, “Kitty,” in her usual two year old fashion. Meredith struggled to keep the little girl upright. Her sister would have her head if she dropped her.

“Marvelous, simply marvelous!” Galahad declared as he reached them through the crowd. He patted his granddaughter on the head absently. “I knew you were destined for great things!”

Meredith’s smile faltered. That’s what Master Orion had told her, she noted. Was there a meaning behind that? No, she told herself, just the babbling of two older men.

It took a while, but slowly the people of her village started to lose interest in her, and started to drift back to their houses. It was fairy late, and only those die-hard celebrators remained, too drunk to realize how obnoxious they were. Pretty soon, they would be the only ones left, Meredith smile as she followed her family and her Master back to the manner, yelling obscurities at each other, to be found the next day passed out with but a sip left in their bottles. It used to scare her when she was younger to see those people, but now she just found it funny.

She climbed into her cot, the one she had slept in eight years of her life until it was discovered she was special, knowing Master Orion was held up in the manner with her sister and her family. Galahad had offered her a room there as well, but Meredith refused. This was her bed, and she wanted to be reminded of her life before she was a Mage.

It was funny, though, how confused Master Orion was to discover her father and brothers were still enslaved here. It was their way of life, and, although they wish for something greater, it was all they had ever known. It was all Meredith would have ever known, truth be told, if she hadn’t gone searching for a way to turn Macon back to normal.

She lay her head down, feeling the comfortable woven mattress on her back, feeling different than it did ten years ago when she was last home. The events of the day floated through her mind, and she came back to the stranger she had danced with.

She found she couldn’t take her mind off him, not matter how hard she tried. His mysterious air, the way he only had eyes for her. Yes, he was a vampire, she told herself, but there was something different about him. Who was he, and what was his interest in her. She should be concerned, she knew, but instead, she was flattered. Here was this ancient being, Gods knew how ancient, and his interest was on her.

She decided it was best not to bring with up with Orion, and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep filled with vampire men.

“Come on, Macon,” she said to her brother several days later. “Master Galahad wants me to pick up something, so you really need to get off my feet!”

Macon can be a rather heavy cat. Orion had explained it once to her, saying that because he was under a spell, he could fluctuate his weight for any given circumstance. Meaning she currently had the weight of a twenty year old male on her feet, and she found she couldn’t move.

“No, you couldn’t have to do anything for that man,” Macon said, glaring up at her. “You’re a freewoman, and look at you!”

“No, according to the papers, I still belong to Master Galahad,” she responded as she pulled her hair back with a handkerchief. “He only agreed to allow me to go as long as he still owned me. And, as such, I’m required to do his bidding.”

Macon snorted. “You are required to do no such thing. According to the law of the Mages, no mage is owned by another man. A slave can never be a mage.”

“Yes, and I’m not technically a mage yet. I still have two months to go before I graduate, remember. Therefore, I’m still property, and I will be whipped again if you don’t move!”

Macon reluctantly moved at that threat. He followed her, however, as she limped out the door. She kept her head down, avoiding people as she knew she would be stopped along the way if anyone recognized her. It really was dangerous to be a Fire Mage, she learned the day after she arrived. The result was fresh wounds stripped from her back when she arrived late from a messenger mission, even after Macon told them she had been stopped several times by the townspeople.

This was actually the reason Meredith was dressed so humbly today. Her Academy uniform stood out too much, and this way, she looked like just another slave girl heading out to do her Master’s bidding. Macon couldn’t argue with that.

Running through streets that she hadn’t visited in years, the familiarly of the task warmed her heart. She remembered as a child, Galahad would send her out, and she’d recklessly run through these streets to get her job done as fast as possible to avoid another lashing. She may have been Galahad’s favorite, but that didn’t mean she was excused from punishment.

She ducked quickly into the shop, and pulled the handkerchief from her hair, letting loose the curls that were trapped there. That was certainly one thing different about her now. The Northern air had quickly turned the straight mass on her head into barely manageable tight curls. It was really amazing people recognized her, but, than again, how many people actually left this damned place?

The shop keeper looked up at her with a bored expression. “Yes?”

“Oh, um, my master Galahad sent me over to pick up something?” she responded, going to her pocket to retrieve the money he has entrusted with her. Galahad learned quickly that she was very good with money, never taking any for herself secretly on the journey over. He tended to give his slaves extra to see if it all comes back to him, and she would always come back, telling him he accidentally gave her too much.

She caught onto this a bit late, but now, though, she fully intended to short hand him this once. Her Master never had a strawberry before, she had learned early on, because strawberries were only grown in the south. Southern grown things were taboo in the North, and Meredith knew Orion had to have one. She’d make it up to Galahad later.

The shop keeper gave her a blank look. You’re not who he usually sends,” he said suspiciously.

“He used to,” she commented., a bit taken back.

The keeper studied her. “Little Meredith Lapsley, I’ll be damned. Hardly recognized you.”

“Then you weren’t as Festival,” she pointed out.

“Good heavens, no. Such a noisy celebration,” he said as he moved to collect the things. “I did hear about what you did, don’t worry about that.”

She grinned, because she knew it was still the talk of the town. “I’m not worried,” she responded, paying and taking the goods.

She exited the shop quickly, and began looking for her real mission. “What the hell are you doing?” Macon asked as he started to follow from the door.

“Looking for something,” she said distracted.

Macon bounded after her, asking exactly what she was looking for, but receiving no answer back.

A strawberry stand, she thought to herself. Was it too late in the year? No, it was harvest time here in the south, the perfect time…wait, what was that?

She skidded to a halt, looking confused. Macon ran into her calves, yelping. “Now why did you stop like that?”

“I saw something…” It was odd, she thought, she had never seen anything like that before.

“You saw something that made you stop? That’s…wait,” he paused, catching onto her tone. “What did you see?”

“A man…a man not of this world,” she responded, but didn’t know why she knew that. “I have to see again,” she said before taking off the direction he had headed.

Weaving through the crowd of people shopping in the morning sun, not worried of Macon was behind her or not, Meredith was certain she lost the man. He was so obviously not from the North or the South, but she couldn’t place him. Who was he? What purpose did he have?

She stopped suddenly again, for there he was…in front of a strawberry stand, inspecting the fruit.

She approached cautiously. Macon had evidentially caught up with her; she wasn’t surprised, he ran fast. “What do you see?”

“That man, right there. The one dressed in blue. I see a shadowy set of wings on him,” she told him, confused. Why did he have wings?

Still, she had found both of what she was looking for. She reached the stand, acting like all she was interested in was the fruit, while glancing out of the corner of her eye at the man.

“I’ve never seen such perfect strawberries in all my travels. But I expect nothing better from Aduros,” the man said, his voice almost hypnotizing.

“Yes,” Meredith said, feeling this statement directed at her. “I enjoy them.”

“Lady Meredith Lapsley,” he said to her, bowing. His wings, she watched, actually went thought the awning of the cart, as though they didn’t exist. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

She took a step back. “You must be mistaken, I am no Lady.”

“But you are in fact Meredith Lapsley, Apprentice Fire Mage, more powerful than her master?”

Still, she took a step back. “Hardly more powerful, but yes, I am.”

“Excellent, I’ve been searching for you.” He smiled, and she felt her knees go weak. “I am Cedric Morrison.”

She cocked her head. “What are you, may I ask, Master Morrison?”

He blinked, revealing to her steel blue eyes rimmed around the pupil in red, but around the edges in yellow. “I am a Joudai, dear child,” he said, smiling again.

“A Gatekeeper, huh? I’ve heard of you, but I never expected to actually meet one,” she said, shifting her weight. Macon began to growl a bit, but Meredith kicked him into silence.

“Ah, your knowledge will make things much easier. Please, let us go something private to talk.”

“Why would you want to talk to me? My Master is in town as well, perhaps you’d like to speak with him instead?”

Cedric placed an arm around her shoulders, handing her a package of strawberries and leading her away from the cart. “No, Lady Lapsley, it is you I wish to speak.”

Meredith looked at the strawberries, wondering how he knew she wanted them. She felt Macon behind them as he kept rubbing against her legs when he was close enough. She was a bit dazed, and her mind told her this wasn’t a good idea. But he seemed friendly enough, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t defend herself if he tried anything.

He pulled her into one of the more luxurious lodge rooms in Aduro, and she looked up at him. “I see you accommodate yourself well, Master Morrison.”

“Yes, I seek out only the best. Which is why I sought you out, Lady Lapsley.”

She privately wondered if he was mocking her with the whole ‘Lady’ business. They seemed to be playing a game with titles, and she wondering if Cedric had caught on to that.

“Really now,” she said, taking to proffered seat before leaning down to pick up her brother. “Why is that?”

“I have a proposition for you.” He turned toward her, smiling, he oddly colored eyes sparkling. Whenever he looked at her, she felt he could do no wrong, and would agree instantly to whatever he said.

“A proposition?” she asked, unsure. “Why on Creta would you want to do that?”

“You see, Meredith, as you know, I am a Joudai, a gatekeeper of dimensions. I can travel though them…”

“Yes, I know,” she interrupted, “you can travel through dimensions like you’re walking from one room to another. I may be a slave girl here, but I’m still a Mage apprentice, and I have studied your people quite extensively. What does that have to do with me?”

Cedric looked taken back. He had made a face at the mention of ‘slave girl’, and he sort of lost his charm after that, but she was still curious. “You didn’t let my finish, dear child. I noticed in my travels a general unrest in the universe. It is out of balance. Many worlds have circum to great evils, and there is no one capable to destroy these monsters in those worlds. I need special people, those most powerful from another dimension, to come and destroy the evils for me.”

Meredith looked confused. “Wouldn’t that destroy the balance in that universe?”

He shook his head. “Of course not, dear child. You see, the evil is more powerful than the good in that dimension. Once we destroy the evil, a new evil would emerge, yes, but one that the good can handle, and thus, bringing the world into balance.”

“But what about Creta? Wouldn’t it be out of balance with me gone?” She thought of the vampire tribes, and how they would gain the power gap she would leave behind in this world, if she were to go.

He looked thoughtful. “Yes, the power might temporarily slip in your absence, but there is enough balance in this world that the scale would go unnoticed. I am only going to worlds that can support themselves in the absence of one powerful being.”

She thought for a moment. This seemed like a good thing, really, helping out other dimensions. She knew that if those dimensions were allowed to stay out of balance, it would effect the entire universe eventually, and would most likely screw something up in her world as well. Creta relied heavily on magic, which could feel the effects of unbalance rather dramatically.

So, really, she wasn’t only helping out those worlds, but her own as well.

She looked back up at him. “Ok, what do you want me to do?” She missed a bit, her eyebrow going up in pain, as Macon showed his displeasure using his claws in her thigh. But she ignored him, or ignored him best she could be with new holes in her skin.

Cedric grinned. He stood, an imposing figured to be sure, but he had a friendliness to him that made her want to trust him. “Excellent, I knew you would. In three days time, met me by the well, and we shall proceed from there.” He helped her to her feet, and helped her gather up her packages, taking special care with the strawberries. “I look forward to finding you there,” he said as he shooed her out the door.

Excited, Meredith ignored the hasty dismissal, and all by ran back to the manor. She was late, true, but she was quick enough that the tardy could just be seen as slow walking on her part. After all, she hadn’t many opportunities to see the town she was born in. Yes, that made a perfect excuse.

Apparently not as perfect an excuse as she thought, Meredith mused to herself as she lay stretched out on Kaelyn’s bed a few hours later, whimpering over the pain. Macon regarded her solemnly. “I knew that guy was trouble,” he said to her.

“Trouble?” she asked, hissing a bit as she turned to look at him on the night stand. “This is hardly his fault.” She thought it was, at first, when it was discovered she didn’t bring home all the money she was supposed to. That earned her half the lashings she was given, but the money was than discovered at the bottom on the shop’s bag, and Galahad had given her the day to recover in apology.

“He made you late,” he pointed out. “Even if you were able to present the money to Master Galahad, you would have still been beaten.”

Meredith sighed. “True, but my tardy was not his fault, nor was the lashings I received. Just a part of slave life, or so I’m told.”

It had been so easy at the Academy. Her old scars had all but disappeared in ten years, and now she was gaining fresh ones. Meanwhile, Master Orion still didn’t understand how she thought her life was hard.

“I don’t trust him, Merry, and neither should you. I can’t believe you accepted his offer!”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be helping other people, May, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal?” Macon exploded, his fur standing on end in fury. “You don’t know anything about this guy, and you agree to go off dimension to help him!”

“He’s a Joudai! We were taught at the Academy that you can trust Joudai, as they are the peacekeepers of the universe. It would have been wrong of me to decline.”

“You have two months before you graduate, have you thought of that? You can’t go off on adventures now. You must remain with Master Orion until that time, or else any time spent away from him is null and void. You’d have to spend another year with that Canities.”

“Who are you calling a Canities?” Orion asked from the doorway. Meredith gaped, but Macon flat out fell off the night stand at the sound.

“It was Macon, not me, Master,” Meredith pointed out. She could see the smile in her Master’s eyes, though, so she grinned as well.

That is, until Orion realized that Meredith shouldn’t be in her sister’s room at this hour, much less on her stomach. “What happened?” he asked.

Macon pulled himself indignantly onto the bed. “She was late from a pick up job.”

Concern filled Orion’s face as he sat down on the bed, carefully lifting her shirt for a closer inspection. “Oh Merry,” he breathed, “I’m sorry.”

“Yes, well, it was my fault anyway. Master Galahad gave me the day to recover once he found his money, though,” she pointed out in false cheerfulness.

“Why don’t you just heal it?” he asked, confused.

Meredith just snorted. “My healing abilities never really included my back. For some odd reason, nothing works back there, probably from all the old scaring,” she said. “One gets used to it after a while.”

He shook his head. “No one can get used to that,” he remarked, looking at her old scars before pulling her shirt back down. He remembered seeing them whenever she wore a swimsuit, but had never given thought to where they had come from until then. “But why were you late? From the way Galahad had been talking, you were the fastest and most reliable messenger girl he had.”

This caused Meredith to sit up. “I met a Joudai,” she said excitedly.

“A Joudai…here?” Orion asked, surprised. “I never heard of an Joudai encounter in the Southern Continent before. They usually come before the Council.”

“Yes, a Joudai, and he wanted to see me!”

“Ah, now, this is interesting,” Orion said, looking concerned again. “Why did he want to see you?”

“He asked me to join him in helping bring balance back to the universe. He said that there are some dimensions that have evil greater than the good, and they need help from us to get rid of it,” she responded, grinning.

“And you agreed, correct?”

“Yes,” she said, bobbing her head.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Macon piped in. Orion just looked at him while Meredith stuck her tongue out.

“I think it’s excellent. As a Mage, Merry’s required to help out any in need of her talents, and to refuse a Joudai is the greatest dishonor a mage can face,” Orion said.

Macon’s mouth fell open, giving him a weird look about him. “You’re accepting this? But she has to remain with you until she graduates!”

Orion shook his head. “As long as I give permission, any mission she does outside my care can count towards her credit. She may miss the actual ceremony, but she will, in fact, become a full fledged Mage at the appointed time.”

“Really?” Meredith asked, hardly believing her luck. “Oh, Master, thank you!” she exclaimed as she launched into her arm, hardly heeding her sore back.

“Now, when do you leave?”

Three days later found Meredith alone at dawn by the well. The brisk morning air ate though her uniform, and she didn’t know how long she was actually going to wait. She figured she’d wait all day, enduring the strange looks of her townsfolk, if she had to. Her things were packed, and she was ready to go.

“How the hell did I get dragged into this?” Macon demanded from his carrier. “I do not want to go!”

She leaned down and stuck her finger through the grate to pat him on the nose. “Hush, Macon, you’re the one who was so against this. Master Orion agreed that I needed someone to watch over me, and who more perfect than my big brother?”

“I never said I wanted to go! Let me out!” Meredith grinned at him, and stood up. “You’re not nice!”

“You can keep an eye on Master Morrison this way. I don’t think he knows what you are.”

Macon was silent for a moment. “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Good thing I’m going then.”

Meredith shook her head, and took a seat on the worn stone of the well.

She jumped when she heard the sound of something ripping apart, and found Cedric standing on the other side of the well. “Excellent, you came.”

“Of course I did, Master Morrison, how could I not?”

He closed the distance between them, and ignored the snarl from Macon. “Do you have an amplifier of some kind?” he asked randomly. “I believe your kind carry them?”

“Er, yes, of course,” she responded, pulling out her necklace.

“May I see it?”

Unsure now, she slowly handed it to him. He didn’t take it, but rather just touched it. She looked at it, but it looked the same. “What did you do?”

“That is now you’re anchorage item. It will allow you to remain in my dimension, otherwise you would be pulled back here the moment you touched ground,” he said.

“Oh,” she said, blinking.

“Are you ready to start your adventure, Lady Lapsley?” he asked, extending an arm to her.

Grinning, she gathered up her belongings, although Cedric hastily picked up a few she couldn’t handle with one arm, and took his proffered arm.

“Yes, I am,” she responded as he guided her through the portal, and into the next chapter of her life.