Page 17 of Bizarre Bonds
There’s no forest nearby and no city buildings either. We’re standing in a small cove on a rocky beach, low craggy rocks surrounding us in a semi-circle and ocean waves hissing rhythmically behind us. The air tingles against my cheeks with the dampness of the salty spray.
Jonah looks a little weary after the unexpected plane ride Rollick summoned us onto last night. Unlike the rest of us, his body requires sleep. But he shakes himself to sharper alertness and glances at our headmaster.
I catch a twinge of apprehension before he speaks. “This is three of these rifts now. And it’s been less than a week since you discovered the second one.”
Rollick’s mouth twists. “There are four, actually. My contacts in Algeria have encountered one there—I heard about it in the early hours of the morning when you were already on your way here. That one is even more out of the way than this one or the one in northern Canada, though, so there’s no telling how long it’s been around. It could be even older than the first.”
“Four,” Raze repeats with a solemn expression.
Mirage pipes up in a teasing tone. “Three’s a crowd, four’s a horde!”
The basilisk shifter shoots our companion a chiding look before focusing on Rollick. “There could be even more that we haven’t noticed, then, couldn’t there?”
“Warped rifts and demented creatures all over the world,” Hail mutters, shifting restlessly on his feet. “Wonderful.”
The demon inclines his head. “It’s possible. Although they seem to have appeared somewhat at random, and three of them are shifting position close enough to human settlements that we heard reports relatively early on. I’ve had my associates seeking out stories of ‘monster’ attacks much more avidly, so if there are others we haven’t identified yet, we should find them soon.”
I open my mouth to ask a question of my own, but at the same moment, the rift’s surface ripples. A furry frog-shaped creature with a rat-like tail hops out of the shadow realm and drops onto the rocks with a thump.
It peers around the cove, blinking blearily as if it tumbled out of bed into another world. Who could blame it for being confused?
All of us back up a few steps to give the creature space. It appears to be content with simply gazing around and stretching its legs one by one. Not much of a sprinter.
I dart a glance at Rollick. “Are you still catching them?”
His crooked smile slants even more. “I already have quite a collection at this point. I’m in the process of deciding the best way to handle their continued arrival. A few colleagues of mine who’ve been helping create a barricade around the city-side rift should be arriving soon to stem the tide here as well.”
The creature rolls its eyes toward the sky, and a sharp kick of pain races from it into me. The sensation is followed by a dribble of discomfort that’s sour as vinegar.
“The sun hurts its eyes,” I say. “I’m not sure this one likes it here in the mortal world all that much. Maybe we could convince it to go back to the shadow realm?”
Rollick raises his eyebrows. “If that’s true, it might decide to stay on the other side now that it knows what’s waiting for it here. Let’s give it a try. Just give it a little nudge, Jonah, so the effect will wear off quickly and we’ll know whether it’s inclined to return.”
Jonah squares his shoulders and focuses his attention on the furry frog. His conflicted emotions about using his sorcery—strawberry-sweet pride that the powerful demon can count on him, cabbage-bitter shame that his magic depends on bending another being’s free will—waft through our connection.
The indecipherable sorcerous words that slip from his mouth make me shiver even though they’re not directed at me. I’m not sure the sound will ever not remind me of the years I spent tormented by a sorcerer who’s the exact opposite of Jonah’s kind, respectful self.
If David Blaver really were a bowl of rancid broth, I’d like to flip it over and stomp all over it.
The shadowkind creature twitches but otherwise doesn’t move. Jonah frowns. “I’ll try again with more oomph. The other creatures like this have seemed a little resistant to sorcery.”
He tried pitching his magic at the first rift we found too, but it didn’t affect the portal at all. But then, Rollick said sorcery doesn’t usually affect regular rifts either.
Jonah repeats the unnerving syllables in a more forceful tone, and the creature finally spins around. It hops over and heaves itself up toward the rift, vanishing into the shadows at the same time.
Jonah’s posture relaxes. “Even with the extra push I added, considering the way it resisted, I don’t think the effect should last more than a few minutes. We’ll see if it comes back.”
Mirage has swiveled toward the water. He walks to the ocean’s edge, not seeming to care when the waves wash over his sneakers. Of course, if he wants he can simply duck into the shadows and pop out again with them perfectly dry.
He cocks his head. “I saw something jump in the water.”
Hail ambles over to join him, careful to stay out of range of the waves. He studies the ocean with a typical casual stance, but I taste a tang of worry from him. “There are some fish that’ll leap out into the air now and then. If it was farther out, it could have been a dolphin or a porpoise.”
“Yes, they like to have their fun. This was different—I caught a bit of scent in the spray. I think it was shadowkind.”
Could another of the warped beings have emerged without Rollick realizing and slipped into the ocean?
I squint at the rippling water, dark gray under the cloudy sky. It’s hard to search for currents of emotion out there when there are so many sensations flowing into me so strongly from nearby.
