"Come on! He's going to want more details than just that,” Jeremy's exasperated exclamation echoed faintly in my ears. I grunted in reply as I sat in my favorite reading chair and leafed through the next book. I was going a bit slower than usual for several reasons. The first was a very annoying detective that would not shut up and let me get into the proper frame of mind. I was trying to ignore him, but he was the embodiment of persistence.

The second reason was the nature of the reading material. In a way, I felt I was jumping into the deep end. These tomes I had snuck out of the mage's lair were not simple primers for novices. Nor were they intended to lead an initiate from lower-level examples to higher magics. Every text assumed a minimum competency in the subject and stated the methodology in the fewest words possible. My previous studies had given me a very shaky foundation in the subject as there seemed to be a dearth of subject matter experts in this world... or at least in the city.

This left me puzzling over the somewhat arcane symbols and directions, trying to fit them into my worldview. Often I paused, to let my rather instinctive understanding of magic fill in the gaps. Some of it was slowly drawing out ancestral memories as well, but it wasn't anywhere near as easy as my mostly-ignored alchemy skill sets.

Still, it was deeply satisfying, if much more painstaking than I was used to. I was making progress that I had almost given up hope for over the long year I had been here. It would have been going a little faster if I had been able to concentrate a bit more.

“Come on, Jeremy, there isn't anymore,” I almost whined. I kept enough control, so there was no overt begging. However, I was close. “There isn't any more to tell. I walked around the matrix a couple of times and then found the lab.”

Oh, wait, that was an exciting use of alchemical materials to draw the circles. I could see how that would reinforce the circle’s effect; perhaps the two differing magics even caused a reverberation effect, creating a synergy. That would partially explain the magnitude of the effects considering the relatively minor energy requirements.

“I can give this to him as a report, but he's just going to come back and ask for more detail,” he said, still pacing to and fro in front of my chair. As far as I was concerned, I was ahead of the game as long as Conrad left me alone for a day.

“Jeremy,” I sighed as I actually looked up from the book. “This is really important; these give me a new insight on Jin. I may be able to figure out what he has in mind.”

“Wait a minute. I thought you said Jin was a spell caster. Even I can see from the pictures that these books are about circles and wards.” Oh, crud, he was paying attention when I was going on about that—what a time to learn that he didn't just tune me out when I waxed philosophical.

“There are some circles here that should allow me to negate certain magics. I think I can adapt these to give us a bit of protection when we storm his lair.” While this was true, to some extent, I doubted I could master it in time to be helpful. It was a very useful circle; I think that if I activated it on a convergence of ley lines during the solstice or equinox, it might be powerful enough to temporarily suppress my runic curses. Again, not useful in the short term, but very much desirable in the long term.

“And there are a few books on spell magic that I haven't gotten to.” I wasn't very much in a hurry to get to it either, considering how long it would take to decipher anything from those books. At least with circles and wards, I had some clue how it worked, and I could build on my admittedly imperfect knowledge. Verbal spell magic was something I had only seen other people do at home. I would be entirely relying on my intuition to figure anything out. I wasn't ruling it out, but it was on the back burner for the moment until I had mined out my current cache of more easily accessible arcane secrets.

My friend glared at me. “Fine, I'll send the report. Don't do anything to blow up the communicator until I turn it off again.” I absently nodded, my attention already fixating back on the tomes. Wow, many of these compounds called out for dragon’s blood and powdered bone. Ugh, the blood was easily found, but bone sounded painful. I winced as I thought of the tooth I had recently lost. It grew back soon enough, but it hurt like a... wait a minute. Unicorn horn? Where the heck am I going to get that in this dimension? Did this writer actually kill a unicorn every few circles? I was pretty sure removing the horn killed it. I would either have to substitute another material or use the weakened circle version.

Time passed quickly for me as I mulled over these and similar issues. My exhaustion was forgotten as my supernatural stamina slowly filled my reserves. Not as fast as sleep or meditation, but I just couldn't put the books down. By the time I heard the knock at the door, it was dark once more. Looking around, I noted that Jeremy was gone, but Mei was in the living room watching the holovid. I had thought I had blown that up again. Wait, he fixed it yesterday.

I slowly stood up and stretched. I finally felt at home inside my skin after my misadventures in the astral realm. I was drained, but not like I was in someone else's body. I meandered towards the door as the second knock rang through the house. It was likely Conrad wanting more detail on the demon invasion thing. He had no concept of priorities. I was lining up several arguments in my head as I opened the door.

The last thing I expected to see on my doorstep was a hulking giant of a man in shining armor, his bulging arm raised to my face. Considering the last time I had seen that arm held in a like position, I had lost several seconds of my memory, a set of clothes, and tooth; I think I can be forgiven if the immediate adrenaline rush evoked a sound that perhaps, just maybe, resembled a high pitched startled yelp. I still say it was a manly war cry, but eyewitness accounts may differ.

After trumpeting my war cry, I kicked my leg forward with all the force I could muster, backed with a surge of psionic energy I couldn't yet afford. I was rewarded by seeing the force of nature known as Faramond catapult backward across the street and through the house there. The bell-like tone of the armor as it was stuck reverberated in the air. A split second later, I heard the crashing of the entire front of the house collapsing around the flying figure, and a moment later, the sound of the inner walls giving way, then a final crash of the rear outer wall exploding outward. Straining my eyes to see through the expanding dust cloud, I believed I could see entirely through the building. A momentary feeling of satisfaction quickly gave way to alarm. I owned this entire block of houses. Which meant I was destroying my own property. Oh man, did my insurance cover this?

I was about to march, or stagger, over to the damaged building when I noticed the screaming. I paused to look to my left and noticed a familiar-looking elf shrieking like a banshee. I started to get a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach as I looked from the cavern Faramond had left in my building to the upset elf and back again. It suddenly registered that perhaps the armored maniac hadn't had his arm raised to hit me. It would certainly explain the lack of danger I had sensed and the fact that I had time to react to the 'attack' at all.

“Oh crap,” was my first statement. The elf was now pawing my arm and asking me to calm down and wait for a moment. This was better than the wailing but was feeling somewhat invasive. Not to mention that Faramond was likely to come barreling back through the remains of the house any second, and I didn't feel like re-growing another tooth. “I assume he wasn't about to attack me?”

“No, of course not,” hiccupped the distressed lady. She was dressed in a frilly red gown that looked like the doily fairy had gifted her with a dress for a ballroom party. “We came to ask your aid for...”

She was interrupted as the remains of the damaged house gave up the ghost and almost imploded as an armored figure ran through it. He didn't even use the same holes he created but just bulled through the walls that were left as he ran back to us like a runaway locomotive. What an idiot.

I was gathering my somewhat limited reservoir of energy for a defense when the lady held up her hand and shouted, “By your oath of fealty, I command you to halt and allow parley.”

Faramond stopped not more than ten feet away from us. From this distance, I could see the enraged expression on his face gradually give way to frustrated dismay through his open helm. We stood staring at each other for a few seconds.

“I guess you all know each other,” Mei's dry voice came from behind us. She stood in her nightgown, her rune sword out but lowered in a more casual stance than I thought perhaps was warranted.

“I accept your request for parley,” I finally stated and stepped to one side of the door. “Come in and be welcome.” It sounded a bit formal but was apparently enough to diffuse the situation as the elf woman and her human tank strolled through the door. As I warily followed behind them, I noted the woman’s eyes roamed curiously around the living room as if she was expecting something different. Faramond walked alertly and stiffly as if he assumed we would transform into ravening beasts and fall on his mistress.

“Mei, this is the elf Estella and her champion Faramond.” I gestured to the two and then waved them to the couch as I took my own seat. I was a little bit claustrophobic in the room with four people—one of them almost the size of an ogre.

“Álfar,” she corrected me.

I turned to Mei and interpreted. “Magical elves that originally came from Norway.”

“We really aren’t elves, and we only visited Norway briefly several centuries ago,” she corrected again. Faramond maintained a grim silence, though his eyebrow occasionally twitched presumably because I was too familiar with his elf. “We haven't had any reason to be back since then, though.”

“So are you the source of the tales of the Sidhe,” Mei asked with an arched eyebrow.

The álfar gave a vague look of contempt. The first non-vapid expression I had seen on her face so far. “No. Those barbarians have nothing to do with our people any more than elves do.” I made a mental note that the various races likely parted ways enough millennia ago that they considered one another to be not related. “They were a most treacherous people then and most likely remain unchanged and unrepentant today.”

“What did they do to get on your bad side?” I wondered aloud. She took the question in earnest as she answered it in all seriousness.

“They tended to invite guests to their world under the mound and then torment them if they crossed their arbitrary rules of hospitality. The mortals have had to put up with their whims, but we went to war with them and schooled them in true hospitality.”

“Ah, so they revised their laws?”

She shrugged, “I have no idea. They were forced to pay wergild, and then we left this world as our business took us elsewhere. We take vows of hospitality seriously, but we can't watch over every barbarous race to ensure reasonable behavior.”

“Interesting,” I mumbled. I wondered if the Sidhe were still around. If their world was another dimension rather than merely a pocket dimension attached to this one, then it may have a similar effect as crossing a portal I hoped would have on my anchor rune. Of course, if they only lived in Ireland, it didn't help me at all. I couldn't even leave the damn city. “So, what brings you here?”

“Well, we traveled home through the World Tree and...” she began.

“Wait a minute! You said the portal wouldn't open for five years!”

“Well, that one won't, so we used a different one. The Tree has many roots.” She pronounced this as if it was a truism retold many times. I massaged my temples. Maybe I shouldn't have dismissed her as a useless flake and walked off. I reviewed what little information I had on her culture in my head. There wasn't much there, but her culture took host's and guest rights very seriously.

“Would you like something to eat and drink?” I offered. Mei looked at me suspiciously, as did Faramond. I sent a challenging glare in their direction. I could be polite; I just usually had other things on my mind. Things more important than guests.

“Are you offering us guest right,” the álfar asked formally. I had hit on something in her culture.

“I do,” I offered hesitantly. I wasn't sure if I would regret this any less than those ancient Sidhe had.

“I thank, and we accept.” There was a slight shimmer in the air, and I felt a weak geas take hold. Great, a magically binding contract. It was not strong; likely, it just alerted to the breaking of an agreement rather than enforcing it. Mei shivered slightly as if she felt it in the room.

I got up and went to the kitchen, and started preparing some appetizers. I think I mentioned I am a decent cook, and I had the fixings of a decent meal going before I went back to the living room with tea and lemonade. Mei and Estella were gaily chatting while the knight glowered. I stood in the doorway blinking at the pair of women. Apparently, Mei was more high-spirited with other supernatural females than men. I coughed lightly and set down the tray and glasses.

“When is the next gate due to open?” I asked as I filled the cups up.

“Oh, they open all the time. I feel them when they open and just go through.” She waved her hand.

“Can you take other people with you?” I casually asked.

“Only if you are oath sworn to my people or our liege.” She sipped from the cup with a nod of thanks. “The pact we have with Heimdall is all that allows safe passage through the World Tree.”

“The god Heimdall,” I asked flatly.

“Oh, you've heard of him,” she asked merrily. I gave a sickly grin. I knew the gods existed and wanted nothing to do with them.

“Wait a minute, a god? Like the one at Moscow,” Mei interjected forcefully. Estella and I just looked at her blankly.

“Yes. Like that,” Faramond responded in a pleasant baritone voice. I had somehow expected it to be guttural, more brutal. More like Mr. Evil's.

“You lost me. What does Moscow have to do with anything?” I was puzzled by the seemingly irrelevant comment. Mei looked at me sideways as if I had grown an extra head, but Faramond just looked at me and nodded as if I had confirmed his suspicions.

“Decades ago, a huge glowing opening in the air appeared in Moscow...”

“Central Square,” added Faramond. He was overcoming whatever shyness he had earlier.

“Yes. A huge being claiming to be the Egyptian god Set came out of it. The details aren't known; however, apparently, there was an altercation between the god's emissaries and the government that escalated.”

“Most likely, the government attacked or was rude and impertinent to the entity,” the knight stated quietly. I noted the irony and ignored it.

“After most of the military forces had been killed by one mysterious means after another, the government finally just nuked the entire city. Afterward, the only thing that still stood was Set and his minions... though I suppose the older vampires were around too if they had stayed that long. The entity was completely unaffected by the attack. We think he retaliated because several cities just vanished immediately after...”

“Define vanished,” I prompted.

“Bare stone where they used to be. The entity left a day later. Went away and took the portal with him.”

“And no one started to look into the supernatural at this point?” I asked, caught between surprise and disbelief. I had been under the impression that until shifters and vampires came out of the closet, the world hadn't a clue about the other side of reality.

“As I recall, there was a ton of questions but no answers. The world’s mages were kept busy with hypnotic spells and geases to keep the inquiries from getting anywhere. I think it was the first time and last time they ever agreed on something. There are rumors they cast a huge spell to make people ignore anything that smacks of magic.”

“Until the vampires outed everyone.”

“Not really, I am not sure if you've noticed it, but the mages are still mostly in hiding except for a few mystics,” I gave Mei a flat stare. I had noticed this. “Since the people who were in power are still mostly in power, most of them still ignore the magical world unless it's shoved in their faces,” she continued her explanation.

“As the vampires did,” I clarified.

“Yes, like that,” she said, disgruntled. When the vampires acted unilaterally for the mystic races, they didn't make too many friends. “It's unlikely that the magical community will ever get its act together enough to do that kind of cover-up again, and considering that the vampire’s plan actually seems to be working, I suppose there's no reason. Eventually, the magic will wear off, and the government will address these things faster. Until then, the response is going to be sluggish.”

“I see. That’s why the mayor's special division isn't getting any support from the federal level.”

“I suppose. I would guess that the mayor wasn't holding office during the Moscow Event, or they still wouldn't have it.” Mei finished telling me this with a grim expression. I didn't know how to take this. It explained a lot of the denial I had been seeing, but the average person still seemed a bit complacent.

I heard some sniffling off to the side and turned to see Estella blowing her nose as tears poured down her face. She saw me looking at her and burst out. “That's so sad! I had heard a few things that some meaner gods did, but I never knew it happened here. It's practically next door. Heimdall said there was an agreement in place among the gods to make this world neutral ground.”

“Well, I guess if you attack a god, you take your fate into your own hands,” I offered lamely. If I was standing near an open portal in a confluence of magical energies, I could likely be able to walk away from a nuclear attack too. I suppose a god would barely need the additional power. Anyway, that sort of nixed the idea of using the World Tree’s gates to travel. There was no way I was swearing to serve an elf or get near a god if I could help it. “So, what brought you here?”

“As I said previously, I went back home. The oracles were all up in arms. Something about horrible visions of doom and danger to the Tree's roots.” She seemed to gather herself and finally put away the hanky. “They determined it was a danger coming from this world and sent me to look into it since I was familiar with the world and my vassal, Sir Faramond, is a native.”

“Ah, I see. So what brought you here,” I stressed the word 'here' once more.

“Oh, you left something at the place we last met, and I used it to track you here. You seem to be a power here in this world, and I was hoping that if you were friendly, I would be able to stay with you while I search for the problems. The oracles 'saw' you involved, so it only made sense. I am so glad you offered to let us stay.”

“What did I leave behind?” I asked before switching gears again. “Wait. Offered to let you stay?”

“You left this behind.” The álfar took out a small satchel that I had not noticed previously and opened the drawstrings. She then stuck her entire arm into the small container and started to feel around. I had seen such containers before at home, but I heard a gasp from Mei at the unusual sight. After a moment, she came out holding a broken tooth the size of her forearm. My tooth. I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully as she held it out to me. Apparently, body parts that left my presence long enough reverted to their original form. Great. If I could survive my head being detached from my torso, it would revert to my proper shape. How utterly useless.

There were some marks carved into the surface. I reached for the tooth so I could read it better. As soon as I touched it, a fat spark of pure energy passed from the tooth to my hand, accompanied by a loud snap. Instantly afterward, I clutched my chest as I felt the 'Human' rune burn with fire. I felt more than heard a disturbing crack, as what I could only guess was a rib gave way. Groaning, I fell back in my chair.

Mei was at my side in a moment, forcing me to look into her eyes with one hand and holding out a finger in the other. I was confused for a moment before I heard her say, “Can you track my finger? Look, Derek.” Oh, how sweet, she was concerned. Me too. The good thing was that I don’t think she was paying attention to Estella as she went on about the tooth. That might be difficult to explain.

“I'm fine,” I grunted. “What the hell was that?”

“I have no idea,” Estella said haltingly. “The tooth just has some runes of finding and truth carved into it. It seemed a shame to have a perfectly fine dragon's tooth lying around without anything on it, so I asked the priests to put something useful on it that would let me find you.”

“You know runes?” I labored out, fixating on the most interesting part.

“No. Of course not. Do I look like a priest of Odin or a dvergar?” Oh crud, doesn't her society have anything useful that's not connected to a god? “Do you want me to take it back?”

“No!” I almost shouted, causing the subsiding burning pain to peak again for a moment. “I'll take it; the effect just startled me.” They were all looking at them oddly. This didn't stop me from lifting the tooth telekinetically and floating it back to my room for later study.

“So, this house seems a bit small for us plus your wife. Is there another area?” Estella began, changing what she may have noticed was an awkward subject.

“Mei is not my wife. I am far too young to get married,” I slowly stood up. The pain gradually subsided, and now that Mei knew I wasn't having a seizure, she was snickering at the question. I hobbled over the front door, gesturing for them to follow.

“Normally, I would have guests stay over there,” I said, pointing at the now destroyed house. “However it seems to have suffered an accident.” Mei began snorting again. I was glad to be amusing someone. Faramond just looked on impassively, and the elf was yawning. “That house will be your new residence,” I said, pointing at the next building over. “Wait a minute. That one has vampire juice all over the basement. Use that one.” I pointed one more building over. There should be linens in the closet, and we can get your cooler stocked in the morning. Assuming the vid terminal still works.” Mei was giving me a nasty look. I guess her wrist terminal wasn't quite the same since she got here.

“I thought you had a place in the Blight. Although you’re welcome here, why do you need a place to stay?”

“Vampires, shifter rogues, and outcasts are congregating in the Blight in response to some kind of rebuilding project,” Faramond stated in response. “For the vampires, I suppose they like the free food laying around and lack of police. The place is full of the mentally unstable and rebels. Ironically this migration will make the Blight a better place as each group makes its little niche. I hear they are already starting to renovate buildings, and the vampires are going to set up a club.”

“A club for who? No one will dare set foot in the Blight.”

“The vamps and shifters will. A few hours out from under the thumb of the Council and control of the registered packs. I can see it getting a bit too popular,” Mei chimed in. “Assuming they don’t kill each other. It will likely be divided into new territories eventually once they rediscover they can’t live with each other.”

“How does this affect you? You are in no danger from a dozen packs of shifters and vampires,” I asked Faramond. He was suddenly very chatty. I admit it was different than what I had imagined a conversation with him would go—a lot less grunting.

“Agreed, but while milady sends me on an errand, she may be vulnerable to trash like that. She can usually handle humans, but supernaturals are an unacceptable danger.”

As they hurried off, I turned back into the house and took a notepad to the counter. I started to list the various things I needed Jeremy to do tomorrow, including having a contracting company fix the house across the way, maybe a few barrels of holy water, and stock up some generic food for our surprise guests. Or at least it was a surprise to me.

I looked up, and Mei was still glaring at me. “I am sure I mentioned the issue with communicators and other electronics around here,” I stated defensively.

“Do I look like I care about some stupid terminals?” I didn't reply because it looked like she was caring deeply about something, and if it wasn't the wrist terminal, I didn't know what it was. “How come I am staying in this house if you own half the block?”

I did, in fact, own the entire block, but I didn't feel like this was the proper time to share this. “I just thought we could work better to deal with Jin if you were here. There's also the issue of him having already sent his minions after you. If you’re here, then we should have an easier time dealing with additional issues.”

“So it's not because you want me?” she snarked. She sure had loosened up a lot. I paused to look her over. She was an extremely attractive Asian woman. Maybe in a few years, I may be interested in a fling. Most of the multi-species shapeshifters were open to interspecies relationships. I wouldn't be ready to mate and have children for a few centuries yet truly, but maybe a little recreation would be acceptable. But not now. I was about to explain some of this when she continued.

“Gotcha!” I was beginning to think I would miss the stiff and unfriendly Mei Ling I had first met.

“Bah. Whatever. Why don't you tell our guests about Jin and his connection with the circle guy in the morning? Since they are enjoying my hospitality, they may feel obligated to help out.”

“Wouldn't that be taking advantage of them?”

“It's up to them, and there's a good chance that it’s all connected. Jin wants to open a portal to a demon dimension, and the others communicate with him. Sounds like a recipe for possible Armageddon to me.”

“Will they be any use? Estella seems a bit... too nice to be of any use in a fight.”

I thought back to how hard I had been hit in the Blight. “I don't know about the álfar, but Faramond is the strongest thing I have ever seen in purely physical terms. Not too swift, but strong. If he is willing to help out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. As long as we don't ask him to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

She gave me a skeptical look. Maybe I was still bitter about our first meeting, but he definitely wasn't a rocket scientist.

I heard a cooking alarm faintly chime in the kitchen. “Oh, crud! The food is finally ready, and our guests left. I better get a care package ready. Want to walk it over to our friends?” Wouldn't want to break that odd hospitality oath I had been suckered into the first night. I suppose I had better have Jeremy research what was expected in ancient Norway. “You girls can gossip about your favorite gowns.” Mei glared at me. I held up my arms defensively. “Or favorite methods to kill wizards...”