“Shit, this went viral, fast.” Karl was looking at uploaded videos of the chaos. Thousands of hundred-forty-character messages proclaimed it the “merchpocalypse” at the MegaMall. Websites and blogs echoed online news making Anthony wonder if checking the Internet was the best use of their time. The trail was getting cold in the confusing array of too much information.
Worse, he’d not seen Castori in two hours. There was no telling what sort of trouble the troll had gotten himself into.
“I suppose we could see if the live TV reports have more details than—”
“Hey, look!” Karl had pulled up a report with video. Anthony peered closer as Karl hit “play”. In the grainy footage, subtitled “injured patrons carried from mall”, both the Minister and Queen Allasande were visible being hustled out of the building. Anthony felt a chill at the sight of the people with them. The text accompanying the video made reference to a Saint Paul gang.
“The Red Hoods,” Anthony read off the screen.
“You know them?”
Anthony shook his head. “Never heard of them. But either they have Allasande or saw her, last.”
“Great. How are we supposed to find them?”
Online articles elaborated on the gang and their crimes: alleged and otherwise. Anthony gradually got an idea. He’d been cutting back on pot, lately, but still had the number of his supplier. Reddy wasn’t dangerous—just an old hippy trying to spread peace, love, and weed—but he sold to anyone and had connections Anthony did not. It was a place to start.
With Karl drumming his fingers nervously, Anthony called. Reddy was only too eager to help and gave him another number. This led to another and, after that, another. Time ticked on as he tracked where they might find the Hoods. He felt increasingly nervous. This was far outside of his comfort zone. This was dealing with an actual gang. These were people who committed crimes for bragging rights. It was like dealing with goblins … if goblins carried guns.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Karl asked. “I mean, we could just leave an anonymous tip with the cops.”
“I plan on it,” he said. “I don’t want to be like one of those guys in a horror movie who doesn’t do the obvious, smart thing.” Despite having gone sword-to-fang with a dragon, Anthony was honestly afraid. “What does it say that I’m more nervous about crossing paths with the Red Hoods than I was the Therasy Pirates?”
“It says you have a good sense of self-preservation.”
Anthony’s third call after contacting Reddy went through. The voice on the other end sounded cracked and weathered; tired and suspicious. But once the chain of connections was explained, the stranger warily told Anthony what he’d hoped he wouldn’t hear. He hung up the phone, shaking his head.
“Word is that the Hoods have taken some tourists hostage; on Saint Paul’s West Side.”
Karl blew out a long, slow breath. “Well, that’s them, right?”
“Looks like.”
“You’re thinking of going, aren’t you?”
Anthony nodded. “She was one of my first friends in NeverEarth. After her father ascended the throne, she and I hung out during each visit.”
Karl just nodded. Anthony looked up the number for the Saint Paul police tip line and left a message about the kidnapping. Then he went to his closet and took out his camping gear. From it, he withdrew a pocket knife.“Wish I had my old sword,” he said as they left.
“What happened to it?”
“Eaten by a troll.”
It took them a half hour to get to their destination and it was obvious it was the right place. The police had cordoned off several city blocks. They parked a few blocks away in front of a liquor store. The police cordon was surrounded by onlookers while cops had taken up positions on the other side. Anthony and Karl joined the crowd.
“Excuse me, what’s going on?”
The question got the attention of the nearest police officer who was escorting an older man from behind the barriers. “Look, none of you people should be here; this is police business and there have been shots fired.”
Anthony could see an ambulance a dozen yards away. A prone form was laid out on a gurney in back. Anthony felt a pang of concern but could see it wasn’t Allasande.
As the cop went about his work, Karl said, “You did good.”
“Hunh?”
“Your anonymous tip, man.”
Anthony shook his head. “I doubt it. One tip wouldn’t produce this kind of response.” He scanned the crowd. “And I don’t see Allasande anywhere. You’d think with her clothes she’d stick out.”
“We could always ask.”
They walked along the sawhorse barricades, sometimes talking to local residents and sometimes talking to police. Anthony mentioned the Red Hoods explicitly while Karl was more circumspect, asking exclusively about the two NeverEarthers.
“I don’t know,” Karl said at last. “From what you’ve told me, Allasande’s no pushover. Maybe she got away from them.”
“Excuse me, but are you looking for a blond woman, about five-eleven; blue eyes? Wearing an embroidered, blue blouse?”
The dark-haired woman who spoke was on the other side of the barrier. She wore a bulletproof vest over street clothes and had a Saint Paul Police lanyard around her neck bearing the name “Lieutenant K. Zolastroya”. Anthony nodded, feeling nervous.
“Allasande: is she all right?” He felt Karl take his hand.
The officer nodded. “Last I saw her. Allasande, hunh? Northern European or something?”
“Norwegian,” Karl lied.
“What’s her story?” The police lieutenant put both hands on the barricade, looking the two men over, carefully. “She’s not going to complicate matters, is she?”
“Why? Is she … doing something wrong?”
Anthony wished he could say she wouldn’t, but he knew Allasande. She’d always been more than a little self reliant. She’d gotten embroiled in several of his adventures and had been the terror of the palace when a little girl. Seeing her grow up faster than him during his years shuttling between Earth and NeverEarth only served to heighten his assessment. She loved adventure; her coming to Earth spoke to the fact the trait was still strong.
“Not yet,” Katya admitted. “But I want to know where I stand. She’s being awful calm for a rich lady grabbed by gang members.”
Anthony felt concern steal into his thoughts. Allasande always had a trick up her sleeve and was definitely the smartest person in the room. He could only hope she wouldn’t cause trouble and let the authorities deal with things. Then again, when had she ever let someone else do something for her? She was a princess when he’d first met her and, now, she was a queen.
“She and her friend are in there.” She gestured to a window in the four-story brick building. More than half the windows were covered with boards. “Just sit tight; we’re working to get them out.” Katya sighed. “Now, she also said something about a ‘bodyguard’. Can you tell us about—”
“Thank you,” rumbled a stony voice. “That’s all I needed to know.”
Castori could be amazingly quiet for such a large creature. He also knew how not to draw attention when necessary. The large, cloaked troll had approached from behind Anthony and Karl and now proceeded to push through the barricade. Katya’s eyes went wide with surprise and took several steps back. Her hand went to her gun. From where she stood, despite the poor light, she could see Castori’s inhuman face.
“Mother-fu—”
She only had time to get half her expletive out before the troll crouched low and charged the cordoned building.
“Stop! Damn it, stop or I’ll shoot!”
Her shouts got the attention of the other police. Most of them drew their guns. Scattered shouts ran through the crowd.
“Castori! Wait! Let the police handle this!”
The troll actually stopped. He threw back the hood of his cloak and turned to glower at Anthony. Shouts and a few screams erupted from the crowd at the sight.
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“I will not abandon her!” he roared. “When did you become so soft … so weak? It’s a wonder you ever bested me at all!”
Every officer now had his or her gun drawn and aimed at the troll.
“You aren’t in Kellen any more,” Anthony shouted. “You’re out of your element and these people will kill you!”
“Hah! These mortals—these humans—have nothing! No strength … no character! I am the strongest thing in this entire world! There is nothing to fear!”
A warning shot echoed from Katya’s gun. She quickly lowered her weapon from where it had fired into the sky back to Castori’s chest. “Oh, you’ve got something to fear all right. Now get on your knees and put your hands behind your head!”
To Anthony she seemed to be handling the situation remarkably well despite never having seen a troll before. She was keeping her cool and trying to wrangle a bad situation before it grew any worse. But he could see in her eyes that Castori’s inhuman appearance rattled her. What she thought he was, he didn’t know. A side-show freak out for a midnight stroll? A guy with really big teeth and body mods? He hoped that whatever she thought, she’d continue to take Castori seriously. He didn’t know if trolls were bullet-proof but their skin was as hard as stone and broke most blades.
Castori didn’t take the order well. He glared at Katya with disdain before turning, again, to face Anthony. In his eyes was a fire and anger he’d not seen in the troll since they’d first met so many years ago.
The towering kennel master gave a piercingly shrill whistle.
Out of the shadows sprang a darker patch of night with a mournful howl. Black fog coiled from its shaggy pelt and snaked through the crowd. The umbral mastiff roared and snapped its jaws as it charged, scattering the crowd as it ran to Castori. Screams erupted in its wake and the shots began to fly. Every officer except for Lieutenant Zolastroya turned their guns on the beast. Castori ran at Katya as she squeezed off a shot. Anthony felt himself pulled down by Karl’s strong hands even as he shouted a warning. A window shattered in the building, above. Bullets rained down into the street. Castori had started a war.
Anthony struggled with Karl. Normally he’d run. Any sane person would. But tonight, “normally” didn’t exist. He tried to get up; to get to Castori and the lieutenant and the cops. Karl held him tightly.
“What the hell are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?”
“I have to stop him!”
Karl glanced at the troll, now wading through the mastiff’s conjured shadows. He was a dark shadow in the deeper darkness. “I think it’s the cops you have to worry about.”
Anthony shook his head. “You don’t understand: Castori could get Allasande killed!”
He broke free and ducked past the barriers. Almost none of the crowd remained. They’d fled for cover. A man’s scream erupted from the coiling darkness and was cut off by a savage growl. The mastiff was doing what it had been trained to do.
Castori was a warrior. He’d been on the fields of battle since childhood. His charges, the animals of the royal hunt, were—likewise—all business. Anthony would never dissuade him from his course. Before being completely swallowed in darkness, Anthony saw the troll wading into the cops rather than charging the building. He was clearing the enemies to his rear, first. It left only one course of action.
Anthony sprinted towards the building. Behind him, he heard Karl shouting to come back. He also thought he heard the lieutenant's voice, but didn’t slow down.
Any door could lead into the World Labyrinth that snaked its way through NeverEarth. Kellen and all the kingdoms of that magical realm lay along its contours. But not every door led into NeverEarth. Anthony had learned that, years ago, during his adventure with the dwarven Door Warden. But if you knew about the Labyrinth, if you could follow your heart strings and really feel the need to open one, you could forge such a passage.
He dashed onto the curb and towards the building’s front door. Anthony began to let his emotions flow into his memories of Allasande: of her chasing after him on his quest to Therasy Bay, of her demands of her father that he allow her to follow Anthony when he faced the pirate king, of her tiny face looking up at him from where she hid with a shrunken legion of palace guards during the Underbrush Wars, of her imperious demands during their shared adventure facing down the deadly curses of the Sorcerer of Burning Rock. He ran up the stone stairs at the base of the door, reached out—
Pain erupted from his hip a full heartbeat before he heard the gunshot. He crumpled to the ground as Karl called out.
He slumped against the door, unsure of exactly who had filled his leg with fire and tried not to scream.
Karl closed the gap between them in seconds. The street was now full of darkness; gunshots and shouts filled the air. Karl knelt over him.
“Anthony! Damn it; stay down!” He sheltered Anthony as best as he could with his body and tried to lift him.
Anthony winced and gasped. “No; Karl! Please: you can’t move me.” He leaned back and weakly rapped four times on the door to the building. He focused on his emotions and memories of NeverEarth with each knock. Then, he reached up and turned the door handle counter-clockwise. He poured his heart strings into the action and, in seconds, the door opened onto the foggy edge of a winter forest: a broad river, beyond.
“Go through,” he said. “Follow your heart strings the same way you … you once tracked me,” he gasped. “Find a passage through into the apartment, above; where Allasande is. You’ll have time, but not much. Three times as much as you have … here on Earth...” He slumped back, gasping in pain. Blood pooled on the stairs beneath him.
“You need a hospital!”
“She’s more important,” he said. “Please. If she’s saved, Castori will stop; all this will end...”
Karl looked down into Anthony’s face, concern lining every feature. Karl had never been to NeverEarth as a child but his few visits as an adult had given him experiences in traversing the World Labyrinth. Anthony didn’t know if he had the raw emotional strength to force open a doorway the way he’d just done, but he hoped he could. “Just … go...”
Karl’s look of uncertainty melted into determination. He rose, looking at the windows, overhead. Gunshots still erupted from behind their shattered panes. He nodded grimly.
“I’ll go,” he said. “But I’m coming back for you.”
“Wouldn’t have it … any other … way...” Anthony managed.
Karl kissed him gently. He put his hand on the knob of the half-opened door. Then, with the cold winter air from NeverEarth making his breath rise in a fog, he stepped through.