"We are not from this place. Not from this land, this world... this universe."
She Who Saw's words flowed over Sam, like a flood over drought parched crops. She leaned forward, body almost vibrating, little Jay held in her lap. Nothing else mattered. Nothing except this woman's words. They were the key to her lost love.
"We are Seekers. Seekers of Truth, of Truth beyond what is know, what is unknown. I Saw. Saw the Truth. Sought to spread that Truth. Sought to bridge the void between us... and the Gods."
That... sounded dangerous. Or stupid. It depended, in Sam's mind, on whether those gods existed. If they did, no one in their right mind would attract their attention.
"They came to me. Sisters. The Sisters you see around you, and oh so many more. Sisters who believed, believed in what I Saw. Believed we could achieve greatness." She paused, smiling at those gathered. They smiled back. "We built a temple. A temple, on an empty paradise world at the edge of reality. The universe was thin there. We could work in peace, away from all distractions..."
She Who Saw's expression clouded. Her head dropped.
"I failed. We failed. That is all I can think of, to explain what happened. The gods... rejected us."
"How?" Sam felt Heather's hand on hers, warm, reassuring. She tried to restrain the urge to yell for the woman to just get to the point, to tell them about the vision of Jack, and Polly. That's all she wanted. The mystery of these creatures was just a distraction...
The woman took a long drink of water.
"They removed us from reality."
****
The Holy Place was filled, overflowing with white clad sisters.
Gilala was pleased. From her place behind the central altar, the one who had taken the Holy Name 'She Who Saw' reveled in what they had done. What SHE had done. From nothing, she had built up this faith. From nothing, she had created this Temple, designed the machinery surrounding them. Created the tools that could bridge worlds, universes, realities. Women from all over had flocked to her, desiring what she desired, providing the hands, hearts, and minds that had made all this possible.
And today all that bore fruit.
Maybe. Gilala was a realist, when it came to experiments, and for all the others were saying everything was proven this was, in fact, still an experiment. Nothing might happen. Again. That would be embarrassing. You don't call every sister away from job and home lightly. But, none would want to miss being here if it did work, and they would need all their prayers and energy if it indeed was to have any chance of success. The risk was worth it.
The risks were always worth it.
A grey furred Sister shyly came up to Gilala, bowing low.
"We are ready, Lady."
There was a time when Gilala knew every sister in the Temple, by sight and name. Now, with them spread all over nearby systems, and even a far Temple on the verge of being completed, it was not possible. Such was the downside of success. Nodding her head, she smiled at the young woman.
"Thank you. Please ring the bell."
Gilala closed her eyes. Time. It was time. The bell rang, silence falling over the Temple instantly. In self imposed darkness, she raised her arms.
"Sisters! The machinery is complete!"
"Complete!" Half a thousand voices rang out in reply. Half a thousand souls encircled her, encircled the picnic table altar where the daemons would appear. Where... where...
"Sisters! The spells are cast!" She didn't even hear their answering chant. Time... it was time...
The bell rang again.
"NOW!"
Silence.
The whirl of invisible machinery. Of colliders, of Boson reactors and Quantum untangles. The chanting of spells, from the edges of the Temple chamber. Louder. Picking up speed.
Soon.
SOON.
*BRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW*
Sound exploded into the chamber.
****
A brown furred woman stood to the human's right, head bowed.
"I saw it. We," she gestured at those around her, who rose as well, "saw it. Saw..."
"I saw a tree," the woman next to her said, eyes firmly on Sam. "I saw a tree floating in space. I saw Humans, real humans, male and female, around the tree. I saw them. Saw them, and was afraid..."
"I saw it," came a voice from behind them. Sam turned, eyes wide, as another group of the creatures rose. "We saw it. Saw the walls dissolve. Saw letters. Huge, glowing red letters floating before us. Human letters. Five letters spelling out... BELLS."
"I saw it."
It was the young woman from before. Judit. She stood tall, surrounded by others edging her on. Her eyes focused fully on Sam.
"I saw them. Three humans, expressions startled, scared. Blood flowed from and around the pregnant woman. Then... then..." Her expression fell, tears coming to her eyes.
"Then we died."
****
It all happened at once.
Darkness exploded into the temple. The structure shuddered. The screams had barely started when half were suddenly silenced. Light burst into the chamber, through ornate ceiling windows.
A solid rock face now ran through what had been the central chamber.
****
"The Temple vanished from our world, appearing in yours. Appearing... half inside the mountain."
Cathy's hands flew to her mouth. She had read tales of magic. Tales of magical travel. The idea of vanishing and appearing half inside something else had haunted her childhood dreams. She Who Saw nodded, sadly.
"Yes. Half of our sisters were taken from us, never to be seen. They are up there, still, in the mountain." She sighed. "The Temple jutted out from the mountain like a knife thrown at a tree, but it was not built to exist as such. It only took a few moments for the walls to snap, for it to fall, with us inside, onto the mountain side, the Holy Place now open to the sky, our screams rising to Gods who had rejected us."
****
It took all of Heather's diplomatic skill to refuse the squirrel's offers of hospitality for the night. Something about their... enthusiasm disturbed her. In the end, she accepted use of the chairs, an ample supply of fire wood and drinking water, and a promise to attend another mass gathering the next day. Lil found a good clearing a ten minute ride from the village, and with torches blazing Heather set up camp.
Sam just sat on one of the chairs, leather armor discarded, Jay sleeping in her arms. Heather let her be. Her friend needed time. Time to digest, accept, what they had heard. Maybe not believe, but... accept. Ben and Cathy helped with the tent, holding the poles and ropes as needed. Once the fire was going, she set the two youngsters on vegetable peeling duty. There was much giggling, Ben's distracted mood gone, for now. As Heather stood off out of the firelight, leaning against a tree, Lil fluttered down onto her shoulder.
"Have you ever heard of a story this silly?"
"Not outside of a book," Heather sighed. "Poor Sam."
"I say we assume they lie, and go on. Keep following the arrow."
"And if it turns around and points back here as soon as we ride west of the village? What then?"
"We worry about it then. I don't want to stay here."
Heather turned her head, regarding the small creature. Her dark form was silhouetted against the firelight. So beautiful, although no the same way Sam was. Lil was getting fat, she noticed. Her formerly taut stomach now showed a slight bump.
"You're free to leave any time, my fairy friend."
Lil gave her a look, one that said more than words could. Heather acknowledged it, sighing again.
"I know, I know." With a grunt, she pushed herself off the tree. "Come on, let's get dinner going. I want to see how little potato is left after a blind boy uses a knife on it."
****
The ale wasn't helping Sam's mind blot out the singing.
The music was faint, coming from the village, through trees and down into a dell. Faint, yet it overwhelmed the night air., beat and melody combining to disturb all thought. And Sam had to think. Had to reason her way through this.
They were saying her love was... gone.
Not on this world.
That's what the story was hinting at. That, somehow, the Witch's spell and theirs... crossed? and both went wrong. And where did the flying tree come in? Or the word Bells?
Bells. Bells was the key. That was the word from the prophesy. 'From the ruins of the acorn of knowledge, the path to the bells of destiny shall grow.' The temple. That had to be the ruin. So, the path... was it Ben's bells? The ones in his head? But he no longer heard them. No. The path was TO the Bells, not the path itself.
Life was so much simpler, when she was just a father's daughter.
"Hey."
Heather's voice was soft, worried. Sam's eyes stayed on the fire, half empty mug dangling between her legs, as the sound of one of the metal chairs creaked as it was moved over next to her. A moment later a presence that could only be the long haired blonde settled next to her, shapely thigh pressing against hers.
It felt good. Comforting. Heather always felt comforting. Always made Sam feel welcome, happy. Content. Sam would have given up long ago if not for her. She... she was her rock.
"Don't think about it," Heather's voice said, soothingly. "Leave it for morning. The children are asleep. We should join them." Her hand, gentle, brushed some of Sam's hair aside. Raising the wooden mug, Sam took a long swig. The dead hunter's ale went down rough. She let her arm fall back down.
"A year, Heather. A year." She could feel tears coming. "A year gone... and for what? Why?"
"But we're close, Sam."
"Are we?"
There was a pause. Heather's arm moved, over and around Sam's shoulders. She felt herself pressed against Heather's body.
"You know we're close, Sam." Heather's voice had a strange catch in it. With a groan, Sam let her head fall over onto her friend's shoulder.
"It's just... maybe I should have settled down, somewhere. Raised little Jay in a little village. This..."
"You're doing good. You're a good mother. We can do this. I'll help you do this." Heather's hand began running up and down Sam's bare right arm. It felt good. Unthinking, she nuzzled her head against the comfortable shoulder. As her body shifted, Heather's hand moved to keep pace... finding itself touching the side of Sam's breast.
There was a sound that could have been a gasp. Sam paid it no mind. She just wanted her arm rubbed some more. After a few long moments, the hand began slowly running its fingers along the side of Sam's breast. They traced where the mound met her chest, the thin material of her shirt offering little resistance. Tentatively, that up and down path began to move up the side of her breast, short nailed fingertips lightly massaging as they traveled. Sam let out a relaxed moan.
"I like that..."
"...do you?"
Silly question. Of course she did. It had been so long. So long since...
"...Jack..."
The fingers stopped. Slowly, they retreated to her arm.
"W-we'll find him, Sam. We'll find him..."
****
"Oh, that was a brilliant seduction there. Is that how humans do it?"
"I should squash you like a bug."
"Try it, lover girl."
Heather sat on one of the chairs by the fire, a tired Lil on her shoulder. Kik lay on a nearby branch, either asleep or not wanting to get involved. He tired easily now, it seemed. Heather glanced over at him, speaking softly.
"He holding up, Lil?"
"Yeah." Her voice didn't sound that confident. "The mating tired him out, then that stupid arrow... bad timing, that's what it was."
"Mating?" Heather's eyes went to the female fairy's figure again, eyes widening. "Oh! That's fast! How long?"
"Depends," Lil groused. "Day or three. Depends on how many eggs are in there. He's strong, so I could easily push out a few dozen."
Heather blinked.
"So the thing about you starting a new clan..."
"Yup. Baby machine." Lil yawned. "One reason I don't want to stay here. It doesn't feel right. I don't want to set down roots here."
Heather nodded.
"Agree with you there. Hmm... Assuming you need some sort of nest, is it something we can put on the extra horse? Hang off the side?"
Lil looked at her, startled.
"You'd... do that?"
"Naturally. Stay with us as long as want. You're one of us."
****
It was the middle of Heather's watch when the noise came.
She rose quietly from her chair, outside the circle of firelight. She always kept her sword unsheathed, having had a nightmare about being unable to draw it in time to save Sam. Slowly, as the rustling increased, she grabbed the weapon from against the tree. It could just be an animal, or...
Three of the squirrels entered the small clearing. Seeing the low burning fire, they stopped, looking around. The middle one, Heather thought, was the one with "visions" of Jack and Polly. Deciding there was nothing to be gained by just leaving them be, she walked noisily into the light.
"We were told we would not be bothered."
The intruders did not scream, although from their expressions it was a close thing. They did jump back a few feet, the middle one holding her ground the best. Heather rested the flat of her blade against her right shoulder, eyeing them coldly.
"Well? Judit, wasn't it? What do you want?"
Judit bowed her head low.
"We are sorry to bother you, Lady. Truly sorry. But, this... this would not wait until the morning." She raised her head. "You did not tell She Who Saw how you came to this place, what lit the path you travel. Might... might we see it?"
Heather frowned.
"Why?"
"Yes, why?"
Lil landed on Heather's shoulder, small, but deadly, blade drawn. Glancing over, Heather saw Kik behind them. He made a circular flying motion, showing no others were behind them. Behind her, she sensed Ben awake in his blanket near the fire, although not moving. The squirrels, too, seemed to sense Ben. Judit's eyes went to him, then focused squarely on Heather.
"We think we can show the Lady Sam the way to her Love."
The last word had barely been uttered when the tent flap shot open. Sam appeared, as sober and awake as Heather had ever seen her.
****
"Yes... yes..."
The three creatures fussed over the compass. Heather would not let them touch it, naturally. She kept a firm grip on their most treasured possession. Indeed, the squirrels did not seem to want to touch it. They held strange objects in their claws, rectangular and circular items with glass that glowed, reflecting things that were not there. They waved these strange things, looked at them, touched them, waving them some more. Sam looked on, impatient. Heather, sword now sheathed, reached over and touched her shoulder, stroking it. Sam took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
"OK, Ladies. What's going on?"
Judit looked at them excitedly.
"We were right! Well, we think we're right. It's hard to tell, magic not being real and all, but..."
"Excuse me?"
"...but we can do it. We think. But only if we go now. NOW."
"Do WHAT?" Sam let out an exasperated sigh.
"Use this to open the path." The humans, and fairies, regarded her with incomprehension. She quickly went on. "You see, She Who Saw doesn't care about the old machines, apart from the Mate Bait." Judit's eyes flicked to Ben before quickly looking back. "We, though, have played with the systems. Gotten some of it back online. And, we THINK we can open a door, just for a handful of seconds you understand. We have no desire to stay here. But, we have no way to decide WHERE that door leads! But, if we can somehow use this compass, pointing straight to your friends..."
"We can go to him." Sam's voice was a whisper. There was such longing on her face. Such hope, yet fear that once again it would be dashed. Cathy, sitting at their feet, had almost the same expression. Her hands clutched at Heather's legs.
"We have to go, Heather. Have to!"
Heather's eyes went to Lil. The fairy nodded.
"Break camp. Let's go."
****
Dawn found them slowly leading the horses up the base of the mountain. The going was rocky, but not that bad. The horses had no problem picking a safe trail. Lil kept her eyes on the squirrels. She didn't trust them, naturally. It was way too soon for that, and with luck they would never be around long enough for it to even become an issue. However...
"Ok, Squirrel," she told one of them, facing her as she flew backwards in front of the creature's face. "Why the hell do you girls keep looking at Ben?"
The furry woman was one of a second group of squirrels they had hooked up with. One of the original three had stayed at camp, keeping the fire going, with orders to douse it come morning. More squirrels were already at the temple, getting things ready. A large group, not sanctioned by the high priestess. Something was up.
The woman didn't answer. Instead, her eyes went to Judit, as if pleading for help. Lil was about to get serious with the bitch when Ben suddenly let out a cry of pain. Both hands shot to his head, his small body wobbling unstably on the horse. Cathy reined in immediately, moving her mount back next to his.
"Ben! What's wrong?"
The boy grimaced.
"Don't know. It just hit."
"It's the Male Bait." Judit appeared next to him, one hand stroking his pant leg. She looked up with sad, understanding eyes. "You heard something, yes? Something drawing you here?"
"Bells," he said, nodding, as another bolt of pain went through him. "And there was this weird feeling the closer we got to the village. What's happening?"
Judit shook her head.
"It's She Who Saw's great idea. It's too dangerous for us to go out and find males, so this machine was suppose to draw a young virgin to us. You're just younger than she planned for. Younger than can accept. The pain is to keep you from leaving."
"WHY?" Cathy, hand protectively holding Ben's arm, just stared at her in disbelief. Judit shrugged.
"We have no males. We need to mate. If Ben here stayed, he would be treated like a God. Our women would fawn over him, please him in every way, and have hundreds of children with him."
Pain left Ben's face. As his unseeing eyes turned to her, he looked down with an expression of... disgust.
"Ugg. Who'd want that?"
"Exactly," Sam said, moving up next to Judit and speaking quickly. "One reason we have to get out of here. I assume," she asked Judit, right hand resting idly on her sword pommel as her right touched Ben's leg, "the pain will go away once we're far enough away?"
"Yes. It will be gone once you're through the portal. It's a sound, and he won't hear it there."
"Good." Her hand slapped his leg as she turned. "Let's get going."
Heather moved up on the other side of Cathy, motioning her head down close.
"You have two," she whispered, "maybe three years to wrap Ben around your finger before he realizes what he just passed on. Work fast."
****
It wasn't until they came before the temple that Lil believed.
They had tried to camouflage it, that was obvious. There were large swaths of paint or dye over what must have been a brilliant white outer wall. From ground level, it was hard to see until you were a few hundred yards away. But, once seen, the sheer... otherworldliness of the structure overwhelmed you. It had been oval, at least in part. A massive dome, towering up into the sky. Now it was collapsed, laid out at a severe angle down the mountainside. Smaller domes jutted out from it, in somewhat better shape. Up above, in the rock face itself, un-natural shapes jutted out. She could almost imagine it formed the outline of the original majesty of the temple.
Kik dropped down beside her, on Cathy's head.
"I must say, I'm impressed."
"It is something." Lil suddenly frowned. "Um... by what was probably the main gate. Are those giant..."
"Dicks," Cathy said, giggling. "Giant dicks!"
"Cool," Ben said. "It'd almost be worth this pain to see those!"
Lil's hand went to Kik's member for a moment, rubbing it. He chuckled, then frowned.
"Um... I'm no human, but I don't think the horses will be able to walk on smooth floors at that angle."
"No need," Judit said. She motioned them to stop. From the structure, three more squirrels were swiftly moving towards them. Looking behind Ben's horse, back down the mountain, Lil saw the female left back at the camp swiftly moving up towards them. She pushed off to fly over to Sam, landing on her right shoulder. Her hand gripped the teen's ear.
"So, furry ones, what exactly is going on?"
"One moment." Judit scampered over to the newcomers, as did the other squirrels. They conferred, with frequent glances back at the travelers. Lil frowned.
"I sense a trap."
"Hmm." Sam motioned Heather over. "Take Jay and put him on Cathy's mount. Make sure everything's ready for quick action." Turning her back to the squirrels, she tightened her saddle straps, before taking her bow from its protective sleeve and stringing it. Lil turned to continue watching the others as Sam slung both bow and quiver over shoulders. Heather rejoined them a few moments later, her own bow ready.
"I really hope we're over reacting," she told Sam. The dark haired girl nodded in agreement.
"Better safe than dead."
****
It was almost five minutes later when yet another group of women came towards them from the temple. They pushed a large contraption, all black, and silver, and white, with colored lights and strange shapes all over it. It wasn't on wheels, that the humans could see. It... no, it couldn't be floating. There was just something under there they couldn't see. It trailed behind it long black ropes, reaching all the way back into the temple entrance. They brought it to a stop at what appeared to be the extent of the ropes. It settled to the ground, a strange hum coming from the object. Judit came over to them once again.
"OK!" Her eyes were wide, excited. "This will work, I think! We'll take your compass, bring it to the quantum controller, and let the two systems interface! With luck, a portal will open near us! Now, we will only have a few moments to go through it! It will close in half a minute or so, and there's no going back or trying again! The system will destroy itself in the attempt! So..."
"WHAT!?!"
Cathy almost fell off her horse. Her head felt like all blood had drained from it.
One way.
The trip was one way.
Her father. Mother. Her city. Home.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was going back. That was the plan. She would get the necklace, walk, and go walk into her father's throne room. Walk, walk up to her parents, and... and...
She felt something on her dead legs. A hand. Heather's hand. Cathy looked down at her companion. Her knight. Her... friend. Heather looked back with understanding that brought even more tears to her eyes.
"If... if you want, Cathy, I'll go home with you. We can go home."
Home.
Home...
Home was where you were loved. Home was where you were with friends. Home was where you were with...
With family.
This... this was her family. Sniffling, she shook her head.
"N-no. No. Thank you, but..." Her hand quickly wiped her eyes. "I'm going. I'm with my family."
Heather nodded.
"That you are, Cathy. That you are. OK," she said, loudly, turning back to Sam and Judit. "Let's do this!"
She went back to her horse. As everyone hustled around them, Cathy turned, fussing with little Jay. He was awake in his basket, smiling. She smiled back. No. No, she belonged here. She'd miss her parents, would think about them, hope they were well. But...
They had their chance.
****
Heather handed the compass to Sam, who handed it to Judit. The squirrel's eyes lit up. Her clawed hands caressed the wooden box for a moment. Slowly, she turned towards the others...
The box leapt from her hands.
Blue lightning shot from the compass. One streak connected with the strange Squirrel contraption, which let off an almost deafening hum. Another shot away from it, at a point five feet in front of Sam. The compass itself floated in the air, spinning.
Sam forgot to breath. There... in front of her, something....
It was a sphere. A sphere of... space. Ten feet tall. Through it... through it, she saw...
Sam's eyes widened. In one fluid motion she leapt onto her horse, bow instantly in her hand.
"Heather! Take the Right! Cathy to safety! GO!" With a jab of her foot, Cathy sent her mount forward even as she grabbed an arrow from her quiver. She vanished through the portal. Heather wasn't even a moment behind, Cathy urging her horse after her. In seconds, the humans and fairies were gone.
****
None of the squirrels moved. They watched the scene through the portal. It stayed open almost a full minute, the compass spinning wildly. Finally, the blue light vanished. The inter-dimensional rift maker powered down, as smoke began emanating from various seams. Still the women stood there, silent.
Judit blinked.
"Well."
"Yes," Bitya said, shivering. "That was..."
"I," Jezebel said, "am so glad nobody else went through there. I mean, did you see...?"
"So, what do we do now?" All eyes went to Judit. She bit her lip.
"Hmm... Bitya, since we now know the Male Bait actually works... can you rig up a portable one that can double as a locator that will lead us TO the virgin male? I think it's time for us to go start our own colony."
"And fuck."
"Oh yeah. We're going to find a male and fuck till we can't stand."