Page 8

Lamia/Lanie

S he was already calling everyone together, even as she passed through the portal. Mary met her on the other side as she yanked Mac with her.

Mac gaped at Mary Worth before shoving Lamia behind him as Big Foot barrelled towards him.

“He has information!” Lamia cried, and Big Foot skidded to a halt. He didn’t stop in time and crashed into Mac and took them both down. Lamia shrieked as her tail was crushed and whipped it out of the way as she yanked Mac from under Big Foot.

“I can take him,” Mac called, gaining his balance and crouching. “Come on, you Wookie wannabe!”

“Stop it!” Lamia cried and grabbed Mac.

“I swore to protect you, woman, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Mac hissed as Big Foot got to his feet.

Yeti grabbed Mac from behind, and Mac swung around and pulled off a move a wrestler would love. Yeti went down as Mary and Lamia watched and sighed.

“You did come through screaming to get everybody together and about danger!” Mary chided Lamia.

“I didn’t expect this,” Lamia snapped and whipped her tail up to send Jase flying. He shifted into his Uber Merform as he did.

“Holy shit!” Mac exclaimed and grabbed a tentacle.

‘Stop,’ Mary blasted throughout the castle. ‘Proceed to the Great Hall. Lamia has brought someone, and everyone needs to stop attacking him.’

‘Him? Lamia has a man?’ Sela demanded.

‘Is it her soulmate?’ Liadun asked .

‘Is he cute?’ Lorelai inquired.

‘Busybodies! Everybody to the hall,’ Mary ordered. “Poseidon, shift back now and behave yourself. Yeti, you, and Big Foot do the same. And Lamia, collect your thoughts. You’re broadcasting rather loudly, and it’s distracting!” Mary scolded.

“Sorry,” Lamia apologised.

“Calm yourself because you’ll cause chaos at this rate. Human, I apologise, but for our sake, I must blind you to your surroundings,” Mary said and touched Mac’s brow.

Lamia sensed his instant panic as his eyes searched sightlessly in front of him.

“What did you do?” Mac demanded.

“Mac, it’s a security measure until we get to the Great Hall. Then Mary will lift the spell. Here, hold on to me, I won’t allow you to fall,” Lamia said, feeling guilty.

She should have let Mac explain before yanking him here. Lamia had overreacted and knew it.

“I trust you,” Mac replied.

Lamia felt a warmth in her stomach at those simple words. Mac, trusting her, even after seeing her as Lamia, meant a lot.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and allowed her to lead him down the maze of corridors to the Great Hall.

There, sitting on the dais, was the board, all changed into their monster form. Baba Yaga, Banshee, Dullahan, Lilith, Phantom, Poseidon, and Vampire all watched as Mary Worth took her place.

As Lamia looked around, she saw everyone else was in monster self.

Perversely, Lamia shifted into Lanie. She didn’t want Mac to be isolated. Emmaline, Willow, and the children were nowhere to be seen. That was expected.

“I’ll unblind you now,” Mary spoke from the dais.

Mac nodded but kept hold of Lanie’s shoulder.

As his eyes adjusted, Mac smiled at Lanie. “I guessed you had shifted. It was subtle, but I noticed.”

“I didn’t want you to feel isolated,” Lanie replied.

“If you two have finished. Someone better explain why we have a human in the castle,” Poseidon snapped, glaring at Lanie.

“Because Mac is a Saviour,” Lanie answered.

“Are we to bring all Saviour’s here?” Dullahan asked.

“No. I brought Mac because he knew what I was,” Lanie said.

Phantom and Vampire rose to their feet. “Kill him now!” Vampire demanded. Several of the shifters moved, but Lanie shifted, and Lamia hissed in their faces.

“You’ll not touch him!”

“Lamia, step down immediately!” Vampire ordered.

Lamia hissed at him, and he looked a little shocked.

“Everyone calm down. I sense nothing negative from Mac, is it?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Mac answered, turning to face Lilith.

“Why did you come with Lamia, Mac?” Lilith asked.

“Well, in truth, I wasn’t given a lot of choice. Lamia pulled me through the mirror before I knew what was happening,” Mac replied.

“Why would she do that?” Baba Yaga demanded.

“Because I offered her distressing news.” “For God’s sake, can we cut to the meat of this matter? What did you tell Lamia that was so upsetting?” Poseidon snapped.

“Your temper grows worse,” Mary Worth groaned at him.

“I told Lamia I knew where Tisiphone is,” Mac said, and silence fell.

“Is this a cruel joke?” Wendigo demanded, rising to his full height.

“Not at all. Tisiphone is alive,” Mac insisted. “Perhaps I may start from the beginning?”

“By all means. It’s been a long time since I had a bedtime story,” Poseidon sniped.

Mac ignored him. “Around five hundred years ago, Hunters found it harder to find you. There weren’t as many of you, and the world had become a much bigger place. Instead, they turned their attention to the families who had aided you. They began wiping out what you call Saviour families, those who’d helped you in the past and would do so again in the future. We had several population bursts and so the Saviour families had grown immense.”

“Yes,” Mary said when Mac paused.

“The Hunters focused on finding and killing us all, even down to a newborn babe. My two-day-old sister was a victim of theirs. They didn’t care how old you were, if you had Saviour blood, you had to die. Several families in our community realised what was happening and banded together. In doing so, they saved the life of Tisiphone. She was captive and dying, and the Saviours raided a den of Hunters.

“They freed Tisiphone but were too late to save Alecto and Megaera. The older of the Erinyes are both dead. The Saviours spirited Tisiphone away and looked after her. In return, they informed Tisiphone of what was happening. And she created the Refuge for us. She sought out Saviour families that still existed and brought them to Refuge, and we grew up there.

“In time, further Legends joined us. I am not free to share their names, only Tisiphone. Nor can I inform you where Refuge is. I will die before that knowledge leaves my lips. My family was one of the last out in the world. We knew little of our heritage and, therefore, didn’t see the need to hide. My mother and her sister’s cousins were the last of their line. They’d been smuggled out and adopted. But Hunters still found and slaughtered them.

“Mine and Ranson’s fathers were also from a Saviour family, which had been decimated. But unlike our mothers, our dads knew what they were. They accepted Refuge and took Ranson and I there to grow in safety. We learned to fight from them. Since then, we have tried to aid those we’ve discovered. And we’ve saved two further Legends. We thought Lamia was alone. We didn’t know about this. Tisiphone knew you’d all disappeared but assumed you were dead,” Mac exclaimed.

Silence reigned.

“Who are the other three Legends?” Vampire demanded.

“I’ll not betray them,” Mac stated.

Vampire flew across the room and bent Mac backwards, his teeth at his neck. “I shall tear your throat out, boy. Who are they?”

“I shall not betray them!” Mac repeated.

“Let him go!” Lamia shrieked and her tail wrapped around Vampire and yanked him away. Lamia wound herself on Mac.

“Lamia?” Poseidon exclaimed gently, noting her eyes flashing.

“Mac is under my protection,” she hissed. “Ask him why he won’t betray them!”

“Mac, please tell us,” Banshee asked.

“Because a shifter deceived the Erinyes. And he double-crossed others,” Mac replied.

“That’s a lie!” Poseidon roared, leaping over the table and heading for Mac. The tip of Lamia’s tail knocked him back.

“Ask Mac who!”

“Who,” Dullahan gritted out.

“Tezcatlipoca,” Mac answered.

Gasps echoed around the room, and Baba Yaga banged for silence.

“Do you have proof?” she demanded.

“Tisi told us, and I’ve no reason to disbelieve her,” Mac retorted. “Tisi doesn’t lie!”

“You call her Tisi?” Banshee questioned, amused.

“It is what she told us to call her,” Mac said defensively.

“We need to speak to her,” Vampire stated.

“I will pass your request on,” Mac responded.

“I beg your pardon?” Phantom stated.

“Dude, it’s my job to protect you. If that means keeping your location secret from the rest of you, that’s what I’ll do,” Mac replied.

“You dare deny us?” Wendigo demanded.

“Yes,” Mac answered.

“Lock him up. Let Tisi come for her own,” Wendigo sneered.

“If it is Tisiphone,” Rumpelstiltskin mumbled

“I can assure you it is,” Mac said.

“And your word means nothing,” Phantom added. “We don’t know anything about you. And, in fact, you won’t be returning home anytime soon.”

“You think to make me a prisoner?” Mac asked, sounding amused.

“Let’s say you’re a guest in confined quarters,” Vampire stated.

“Yeah, that doesn’t work for me. Lamia, shift back, honey,” Mac said, patting her tail.

Lamia looked down at where he touched and blinked. “You touched me?”

“Babe, you ain’t the scariest thing I’ve seen,” Mac replied as Lanie shifted. “Hold on tight.”

“What?” Lanie asked, puzzled.

Mac wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“Let her go!” Poseidon bellowed, lunging over the table.

Mac grinned at him. A portal opened, and a serpentine head appeared and swept them up.

“Lanie!” Poseidon roared.

“Hydra!” Banshee shrieked.

“Let them go!” Vampire ordered.

Hydra ducked back into the portal, and it snapped shut.

“We won’t blind you because you’d never identify where we are,” Mac said to Lanie as she looked around, bemused. “Hello! Thanks for the rescue.”

“You take too many chances, Mac,” Hydra hissed.

“I can’t believe it’s you. We thought you were gone!” Lanie exclaimed.

Hydra’s seven heads peered at Lanie. “Am not dead.”

“No. Clearly not. Where are we?” Lanie asked.

“Refuge,” Hydra replied.

In the sky, a shadow flew towards them, gradually turning into a female shape with wings. The figure landed, and Lanie’s eyes widened. Standing in front of her with bat wings outstretched with claws on the tips and snakes hissing in her hair stood Tisiphone, the last living fury. Blood-red eyes stared at Lanie.

“It is you!” Lanie exclaimed. She rushed forward to hug Tisiphone and then Hydra.

“Welcome, sister,” Tisiphone said.

“I am sorry about Alecto and Megaera,” Lanie replied.

“We three were born together. It was a harsh loss. I survive, though, thanks to the Saviours. Now they survive and thrive thanks to me,” Tisiphone responded.

“You need to come home,” Lanie urged, and Tisiphone shook her head.

“We are,” she said and motioned Lanie forward.

Lanie stepped towards the edge of the platform they stood upon. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “What is this?”

“Refuge,” Hydra explained.

Below, Lanie swept an amazing sight. An old Greek citadel, fully functioning and preserved, bustled with everyday life. Lanie saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people hurrying about. The designs of the buildings reminded Lanie of Ancient Greece, a time Hydra and the Erinyes had loved.

“It’s like looking at Ancient Greece,” Lanie spoke her thoughts.

“Indeed. Our home is designed on an era we enjoyed,” Hydra agreed.

Homes were dotted onto plateaus and hills. They rose above a central plateau that seemed to have the governing buildings on. Lanie saw large practice areas where men and women trained in various forms of fighting. There was a huge temple, an arena, shops, two markets, and many other buildings. Lanie noticed farms far and wide and turned to Tisiphone.

“This is like a whole country. How does this exist?” she asked, stunned.

“It exists because we need it to,” Tisiphone answered.

“Are we on Earth?” Lanie questioned, feeling dumbstruck.

“Sure as hell hope so,” Mac replied with a laugh.

“This is where you grew up?” Lanie inquired.

“Yup. My father was abusive after my mother died. But he trained me well until he went too far one day. Justice was served, and I was brought up with Ranson. Once, Dad had been a good guy, but Mum’s death soured him. I was lucky, though, to survive. My sister didn’t,” Mac said, and sadness touched his eyes.

“I am sorry to hear that,” she murmured.

“Come. Ranson is in the healing hall, and he will be fine thanks to you, Lamia,” Tisiphone stated.

“When in their human-shifted forms, they go by their human names. Lamia’s is Lanie,” Mac announced, and Tisi inclined her head.

“We developed different practices,” she admitted.

“Indeed, we did. But we can learn one another’s etiquettes,” Lanie replied.

“Come, Lanie, it has been a busy day. We shall go to the food hall, and then Mac can visit Ranson. Although only an hour or so has passed for you,” Hydra ordered.

“Yes, hard to believe I’ve only been awake three hours, and so much has happened. Damn,” Lanie said, amused.

Mac smiled as Lanie’s head appeared to be on a swivel as they made their way off the platform.

“Stand here and wait a second and watch,” Mac asked, and Lanie did as she was told.

To her surprise, the steps moved like escalators, and Lanie grinned. That was great, as she hadn’t fancied the steep climb down. Once they reached the bottom, Mac held a hand out again.

“Watch the road,” he exclaimed, and Lanie’s eyes went wide. The roads moved like a treadmill, and you stepped on, and it moved for you. “We don’t use vehicles here. The roads move for us, and you step on and off as you wish. But if you want to walk or run, that is what the pavements are for.”

“This is amazing,” Lanie exclaimed. As the road moved them towards the city centre, Lanie noted each street had a name, and every so often, there was a street map denoting where they were.

“It’s something,” Mac said proudly.

Lanie noted how much he was loving seeing her reaction to his home. Even though he’d grown up here, Mac obviously thought it was stunningly beautiful.

“No wonder the castle did not impress you,” Lanie stated with a laugh.

“I probably would have been if I’d seen it,” Mac teased, and Lanie blushed.

“Yeah, that too,” Lanie agreed. “What’s the plan, Hydra?” Lanie asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you bring me here?” Lanie questioned.

“We didn’t. We were after Mac. Mac is a leader here, Lanie, a high-ranking leader. His importance can’t be underestimated,” Tisiphone said.

“So, you never served in the SBS?” Lanie sought, slightly confused.

“Yes. I did. But time moves differently here. I’m actually older than I look,” Mac admitted.

“How old are you?” Lanie asked with her eyes narrowed.

“Two hundred and thirty-three.”

“Get the hell out!” Lanie exclaimed.

“Sorry, but it’s true. If we returned you right now, only a mere few seconds would have passed,” Tisiphone explained.

“Wow.”

“We needed time to grow this,” Hydra added.

“What is this?” Lanie inquired again as they stepped off the road, and Hydra shifted into her human form.

“This is Refuge. And also, where we’re building an army,” a male voice said from behind them.

Lanie turned around and gaped.

“Does nobody stay dead?” Lanie asked, embracing the leg of the huge creature in front of her.

“No,” Griffin answered.

“Not in my case,” Chimera added.

“Damn!” Lanie exclaimed. “All four of you were thought dead.”

“Refuge blocks our thoughts and presence from the outside world. Try to mind speak to your people. You won’t be able to,” Chimera replied.

Lanie reached out and found a perturbing lack of noise. There was silence in her head.

“How did you know Mac was at the castle?” Lanie demanded.

“Because he is tracked. As soon as Mac teleported from one place to another in a blink of an eye, we locked on to him. Mac is valuable to us and much loved. Him being a prisoner was not on the cards,” Griffin responded. He lifted a heavy paw and cuffed Mac on the back of his head.

Mac grinned.

“The Board wasn’t sure of Mac’s intentions. Alainen has raised his ugly self again,” Lanie stated.

“You have our sympathy, sister, but your Board does not control us,” Chimera replied. “And we weren’t prepared to allow Mac to become a prisoner.”

“Welcome, sister,” another voice said, and Lanie’s eyes grew wide as she took in the three-headed dog heading towards her.

“Cerberus!” she exclaimed and hugged the creature.

“Indeed, it is I,” he responded.

“Are there any others?” Lanie asked.

“No, this is all of us. We do have a loose lock on Gargoyle, and we believe he is with another shifter. But we are having a hard time pinning them down,” Hydra added.

“Nobody has heard from him for centuries,” Lanie replied.

“No, we think he’s locked his form down. But we’re getting random thoughts every so often,” Hydra admitted.

“How? If mind speak does not work here,” Lanie asked.

“It doesn’t work for you, sister, it works for us. We can hear the thoughts of the others, but they can’t hear us. Ask Tisiphone, it’s her magic,” Chimera replied.

Tisiphone smiled. “You’ve always had an inquisitive mind, Lanie. Come, you can’t have eaten yet, and it is lunch time here.”

“Do you trade with the outside world?” Lanie asked as they entered the building. A smile broke across Lanie’s face as she recognised the buffet-style setup.

“Yes. However, we grow most fruit and vegetables ourselves, and we also farm our own meat. We are quite self-sufficient. We have perfect weather for what we need to grow,” Hydra replied.

Lanie waited as the other three shifted to human forms and headed for the long buffet-style table. Plates of food were put out for people to help themselves and then you’d sit on cushions in gatherings and eat.

“This is amazing,” Lanie said as she picked up cheese and meats with some fruits.

“We worked hard to create this. It began five hundred years ago in your time, but for us here, it’s been much longer,” Griffin replied.

Lanie felt a little awkward. They were in human shape, but she didn’t know their human names.

“How many people live here?” Lanie asked.

“Four hundred thousand. And out of those, three hundred thousand are warrior-ready,” Chimera answered.

Lanie choked on a bit of apple.

“What?” she exclaimed.

“Lanie, this is an army. We are preparing to take the Hunters on and wipe them out,” Mac said with a serious look on his face.

Lanie stared at him mutely.