Introduction to the World of SHAMROCK

Prologue: Summer 2001

Ragged breathing reached my ears; whoever was standing beside me was exhausted and wounded. Our brethren surrounded us, brown fur covered in dried blood and dirt. Our claws were worn with use in the continual battles; our eyes, straining to stay open. I looked down at my own torso, where a large gash had just days before made its home; from time to time it still bled a bit, icy blue blood spurting out whenever I moved suddenly only to quickly coagulate once more. My pointed ears perked up; the others heard it too. A battle howl had been sounded and our ancient enemies would soon arrive. In my bones I felt a rush of primal energy, driving me forward as I dropped onto all fours...

And then I awoke, kicking wildly in my bed and looking around into the darkness of my bedroom. It was just another dream. Reaching over to check the time on my alarm clock, I noted it was 6:06 a.m. Close enough; I wasn't going to risk sleeping again till tomorrow. Besides, I had a very important appointment that morning.

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Chapter 1: Meeting at a Pancake House

Looks like it’s going to rain... I thought as I looked into the cloudy sky through the window. Checking my watch, it was about a quarter after 7 o’clock in the morning. I wonder why she advised that I eat before we meet? Seems like a strange thing to do, considering we agreed to meet at--

"Good morning, I’ll be your waiter Stan, are you ready to order?" my waiter said in a friendly yet tired voice.

I grinned, recognizing this guy from High School. God, it feels like so long ago, I can’t believe I graduated just last year. "Um yeah, give me one Bacon & Eggs, scrambled."

"Okay, what beverage do you want with that?"

"Um, water?"

"Water doesn’t count as a beverage and the meal comes with a beverage. But I’ll be sure to fetch you a glass of water right away. So, what beverage do you want with your meal?"

"...uh...can’t I just have the water?"

"Your meal comes with a beverage."

I quietly groaned. "All right, give me some orange juice."

"Very good, coming right up!" he said as he turned around and went off in a rush to do whatever waiters do.

I looked out the large glass window again, this time at the nigh-abandoned parking lot. It may have been morning but for most people around here it was much too early, both in terms of time of day and of the week, to sit down to a lengthy breakfast.

***

I was still holding my glass of orange juice, pondering whether I’d drink some, by the time she showed up at 8:30 am on the dot. I know because I was watching the second hand go by on my watch at the same time, which had been infinitely more exciting than the orange juice.

"Hello, Kat," she said simply with a calm smile as she sat down across from me. Looking up at her I saw that she was pretty, just like all those actors in movies. In fact, she reminded me a lot of the actress who plays the lead on that show about vampires and a bunch of teens that fight them, whatever it’s called. Except of course that her hair was red, long, and curly. Before I even had a chance to recover from my shock, she dropped all pretenses of being the wise, almost 4 billion years old sage I’d expected her to be. Giving an enthusiastic little gasp, she exclaimed, "Oh! Are you going to drink that?"

Grinning at my good fortune, I slid the glass over to her. "So, you’re Sarra?"

She winced visibly, then smiled and said, "It’s pronounced ‘say-rah.’"

"Ack, sorry, I keep forgetting. Sure doesn’t help any when you don't tell me how I can spell it first, heh. Sarra. Okay, I think I got it now. Sarra."

"Yes, that’s fine. Have you eaten?" she asked before taking a sip of orange juice. She sounded a bit rushed, which worried me slightly. I mean, hey I watch movies. I know what that tone means, I thought, giving her a confused stare before I chalked it up to paranoia and shrugged it off.

"Sure have. I’ve got a list of questions here, somewhere. It’s nice to finally meet you," I said as I fumbled through my small brown purse. Lot better than hearing her voice in my dreams or what she calls ‘The Dreamscape’ at least.

"It’s nice to finally meet you as well..." she said quietly, her voice trailing off at the end as she looked out the window and took another sip from her glass.

"Um. I know it’s sort of rude to ask but you’re seriously beginning to worry me...is something wrong?"

She turned to me and smiled, saying, "Oh there’s nothing wrong. You said you brought some questions?"

I pulled on the sheet of paper, but it was stuck, so I pulled harder, tearing it into two pieces. Sighing, I put the half I had down on the table in front of me. "Okay, first off, you said you think I’m the reincarnation of ‘The One,’ some god I believe?"

"Yes, The One is a celestial being, and creator of all the Old Races."

"Ah...yeah...okay...and?"

"And?"

I rolled my eyes. She was as evasive in real life as she was in the Dreamscape.

"Okay, fine, so you and your friends are SHAMROCK right? An ancient organization dedicated to fighting evil or something? And let me get this straight, you spell that in all capital letters? Why? Does it stand for something?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it was good enough for the Romans wasn't it, no it doesn't," she quickly rattled off with a smirk.

"Right...and there are eleven ‘Old Races’ including Dragons, Oce’alae’an, Faeries, Elfkin, Ion, Golems, Phrophet, Resna-ken, Kaiylahs, Wolfbaines, and Nemah. What? What are you smirking at?"

She laughed a little before she responded. "It’s just that you never cease to amaze me. I would think that you must surely be The One. You’ve listed them in order of age, with the Dragons being first, which are speculated as being the oldest known Old Race. And you had no problem pronouncing them the commonly accepted way despite many of the pronunciations being very different from the common spellings. Did you write them down there correctly?" she inquired as she leaned forward to look at the scrap of paper on the table between us. "Oh, yes you have! But we’ve discussed all of this already, and I should think that your dreams would provide to you more than enough basic information."

I bit my lip and fidgeted a bit. I looked down at the tabletop for a moment before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, crumbling the paper into a ball and throwing it back into my purse, zipping it up. When I looked up at her again, I had a determined look on my face. "Why me? I mean, look at me, I’m normal. Average. Ordinary even. Just an all around American girl. Heck, it’s not like I was even valedictorian for my graduating class or president of any of the clubs I was in. And I'm just barely a legal adult!"

Sarra only gave me a smile at first. Then she took a long sip of her orange juice. As she was setting it back down on the table, however, she stopped midway, seemingly frozen. Her eyes widened and her calm expression changed into one of worry, her eyes seemingly transfixed on the tabletop. She was quick to let me know exactly what was going on, of course. "Pay. Now."

"Um...I already have...what’s wrong?"

"We have to leave this place," she said, looking up at me with a serious look upon her face.

Oh God, oh God, oh God, what do I do?? I can't just go off with some stranger! My parents would kill me! I thought frantically as I watched her set the orange juice on the table, sliding out of the bench and standing up.

"Come on, we have to leave now. I’ll explain later."

"Yeah, well, the thing is I don’t go off with strangers anywhere. So I’ll just stay here, thanks," I said as I crossed my arms across my chest in defiance. Heck, it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Sarra boggled at me like I was crazy. "You don’t understand. They found us much sooner than we thought they would. Now let’s go," she said sternly.

Taken aback, I opened my mouth to object but was interrupted by someone’s blaring car alarm. Looking towards the noise instinctively, the first thing I noticed was a large dent on the top of a blue car. Ironic that I remember the color of the car better than what was sitting on top of it as still as a statue. The best description I could give was that it was black, had long scaly wings, and when it looked at you its eyes gleamed a bright red. Needless to say, I got out of my seat, and fast.

"Excuse me! Would you like a table, miss?" some woman said loudly, sounding flustered.

"Buzz off, bitch!" came the shouted reply as an extremely attractive Asian woman in a red silk dress approached us and grabbed my arm, tugging on me like I was her ragdoll. "Come on, you bèn dàn!" she yelled at me through her teeth.

"You really should listen to Circe, Kat, in spite of her expletives," Sarra interjected quickly as she jerked a thumb in the general direction of the kitchen and tilted her head in that direction to denote extra urgency.

"Ow! Hey!" I yelled back at Circe, giving her a glare then looking out the window once more.

The creature, its skin as black as burnt coals, perched on the car growled, exhaling steam while looking directly at me with its glowing red eyes. Once people realized there was some eight-foot tall monster sitting on someone's car, the panic was immediate. People arose from their seats, scrambled around aimlessly, and some even screamed.

"AHHH!" an elderly woman screamed. Frozen with fear, she was unable to get up from her seat by one of the large glass windows overlooking the parking lot.

"Oh my God! What is that thing!?" exclaimed a man who was probably never again going to eat breakfast here.

"AHHHHHH!" another woman screamed as she got up from her booth and bolted past a few British tourists taking pictures and commenting to each other.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Stan-the-waiter urged the paralyzed old woman as he helped her out of her seat and to safety.

"What's everyone--Nooo! That's m--MY-Y-Y CAR!" some poor, unfortunate soul lamented.

There were soon to be many more statements like the last as car after car as well as asphalt were pulverized, bits and pieces flying everywhere, as more creatures identical to the first dropped out of the sky like stones, only to fixate their bright red eyes upon me.

Gulp? I almost-comically thought, as I turned to face Sarra. "Okay, what are those things?"

"They’re harbinger demons, chûn," Circe muttered. Sarra nodded in agreement before Circe continued. "Now get going, you moron! She can’t be a god, I swear. She’s daì ruò mù ji!"

At that comment, Sarra gave Circe an amused look, which was quickly replaced with a pensive expression as she looked out the window. Even more creatures were dropping down from the skies. "But they won’t be by the time I’m done with them," the drop-dead gorgeous oriental woman declared as her pupils shifted to yellow.

After blinking in shock at both Sarra and Circe a half dozen times, I blurted out, "Excuse me, back up a sec, did you say DEMONS?!"

Circe looked up at the ceiling for a moment in exasperation before putting her face in front of mine and yelling, "JUST GET GOING!" It wasn’t the yelling that caused me to back up into the bench in abject fear. No, it certainly wasn’t the yelling that caused me to scream, too. It wasn’t even the ghastly reptilian hiss that followed it.

It was that as Circe spoke, her skin became green and scaly. Her teeth elongated, each one gaining a point, two of them growing until they were two large fangs about where her canine teeth were. More than just that, she grew to stand over eight feet tall. Stand being a relative term, for she no longer had a dress, it being replaced by a ratty red bra-like rag over her round breasts, or even legs. Instead, a thick snake-like tail extended out from behind her that, to my surprise, quickly shifted to become some sort of a green blade, like a greatsword extending above and behind her evil scaly face.

I found myself being pulled out of the bench by Sarra, who was tugging on my leg like I was an unruly child who didn’t want to take a bath. THE HELL I’m getting closer to THAT! I thought as I saw Circe’s huge curved black claws extending out from each fingernail.

People were screaming and running around in circles in their panic, bumping into each other and trampling their friends underfoot. Some were doing something a bit more productive and headed for the nearest exit, but for the most part this place had become Panic Central.

The sounds of several windows breaking echoed as the demons charged all at once, flying straight through the glass like it was paper. Some glass fell onto me, quickly followed by a gooey red substance. I hardly had time to realize it was blood as I looked above me.

There was a demon, being impaled straight through the gut by Circe’s tailblade. Again and again and again she struck, slicing and dicing with lightning speed. When a demon got too close, she’d tear him apart with her bare hands, claws slashing throats and gouging out eyeballs. One, three, seven...there were too many demons to count, but they swarmed around us like black bees. A sickening stench filled my lungs as I put my hands over my head in a vain effort to shield myself from the gore and demon body parts.

Suddenly something else sailed through the window, or what once was a window. The first thing that struck me about him was his silver fur glistening in the sunlight, and how much he looked like some sort of noble werewolf. Instead of being ugly and twisted like werewolves usually were, however, he was beautiful. With the head of a wolf, and the muscled body of a man, he, clothed in nothing more than a torn pair of cloth pants, ripped through demons with a grace and agility that surpassed that of the greatest Olympic athlete.

"Kat!" Sarra yelled, waking me from my trance. I ducked under Circe’s tailblade as it split a demon straight down the middle, bubbly red blood spouting up gruesomely in every direction.

The first thing I saw was brown stone inches from my nose. Looking up from my crouched position, I saw what could only be described as a face made of meshed together stones. In fact, the entire being was made out of large stones. The gapping black hole that was its mouth twisted into a smile. "Heh...heh...heh..."

I stared at it, eyes wide, suddenly oblivious to the battle around me. Vaguely I wondered how I hadn’t seen it before, but the answer was that Circe had obscured my view.

"Kat, this is Erik, let him protect you."

"..." I managed to nod. The being of stone wrapped his large hands around me and stood over me. I was literally imprisoned in the stone, able to watch the battle through small cracks.

Winged creatures soared through the windows, two of them. The female’s wings were feathered, while the male’s were scaly and bat-like. Beyond that, I was only able to determine that the female’s hair was golden and the male’s was dark brown. They seemed to me avenging angels.

More than once I thought I saw a trail of bright orange energy, but if there was some sort of orange glowing being in the restaurant it moved too quickly for me to get any sort of a clear picture of it. I did get frightening snippets though: people were screaming, being pinned down by the creatures, slipping on huge puddles of creatures' blood, running around, and bumping into each other. Luckily, they were also being saved by either the silver-furred werewolf or the celestial avengers as they tore, pierced, and even bit the demons.

The only thing that kept me from completely panicking was Sarra’s voice. Even though I couldn’t see her, it sounded like she was nearby. "It’s okay, Kat, we’ll get you out of here safely."

"Yeah...Heh...pretty...Kat..." came the hulking stoneman’s voice once more. I wasn't sure what to be more surprised about, that stone was talking to me or that it had just complimented me.

"Oh you’ll hit on anything with two legs, won’t you Erik?" Sarra joked, trying to relieve the tension. "I don’t see why Nefertini stays with you."

"Heh...shut...up," the behemoth’s deep, seemingly disembodied voice came in slow response.

Suddenly the entire building began to shake. Oh no. No no no! Things can’t get any worse!

I’m afraid that they can and they have, Kat. As a matter of fact, a massive demon is trying to tear off the roof as we speak, stated a much-too-calm voice directly into my head. Hell, at this point, a telepath is normal, I thought, grim.

A gigantic crack boomed triumphantly, hurting my ears as the sounds of heavy debris falling surrounded me, along with the unearthly screams of demons dying.

I stand corrected.

OH GOD!

Swish. Blinding light. And a strangely jovial male voice: "Did anyone call for a portal?"

"Yes! Oh most definitely yes, Xavior!" came Sarra’s relieved voice before there was a whoosh.

"Get over here Angelo!" came an unfamiliar woman’s voice.

"Come on, Katerine," came a man’s voice I’d never heard before.

"Not without Angelo!" the unfamiliar woman answered stubbornly.

"You get out of here, I’ll get him!" Circe shouted as she slithered off, her green scales covered in a black and brown pattern I hadn't noticed before, much faster than I would have expected her to, leaving my limited sight.

Then there were two more quick whooshes one after another.

"Uhhhhh...is he going to drop that on us? It looks like he’s going to drop it!" the jovial voice warned, adding quickly, "better baseball the girl, Erik. I don’t know if Phybee’s shield will hold out very long after the demon drops it."

I can sustain it, but if he starts pounding upon it as well, I fear not, given the forcefield’s large radius. It must have been Phybee’s voice I heard in my head, I realized.

The stoneman grunted, shaking the stones that surrounded me. "Batter...up...heh...heh," came the deep voice once more.

"Say what?" was all I was able to manage before my stony prison receded all around me, giving me a glance at a massive crimson figure standing overhead holding the entire roof of the building in its claws. Blocking the crimson demon from us was an expansive translucent shield made of orange light. Levitating between it and us was a figure the same bright light.

Next thing I knew I was being hurled through a swirling rainbow portal of light. "Oh GOD!" I found myself suddenly regretting that Bacon & Eggs.


Chapter 2: Kat in Wonderland

Groaning, I slowly shook off my weariness, remembering vaguely that I had to do something important today. It’s too early for this…Oh yeah, I have to meet Sarra--

My eyes flew open as I jerked awake, sitting up in my bed to come face to face with an ivory-skinned woman in her mid-20’s with long neon blue hair. Her face was one of gentle kindness, though I didn’t let that fool me into being calm. I had the strangest thought when I saw her: she looks like the quirky sidekick of that warrior princess! Even stranger than thinking of a TV show at a time like this was that somewhere in the back of my mind I realized she had to be a Faerie due to her coloration and the fact that she was glowing with a soft effervescence, even in her human form.

Her quiet yet bright blue eyes were fixated upon me as she opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "Okay," I forcefully began, shifting my expression from one of fear and shock to one of determination. Pointing at her with a slender finger, I demanded, "who are you, where am I and..." I looked down to realize I was completely naked. Snatching up the gray covers around me, I yelled, "and where the hell are my clothes?"

My blue-haired captor’s smile merely widened at my indignation, spreading across her pale face in amusement. Her voice was as gentle as she seemed in her 5 foot 3.5 inch frame, and had a calming effect on me. "They got...dirty. But we’ve cleaned them for you. You’ve been unconscious for fourteen hours, but don’t worry, it’s nothing unusual. One’s first teleportation is always difficult on the body. My name is Nefertini, though not said quite the same way as the antediluvian queen’s!" she said with a small chuckle. "And you’re in your new home, our castle. Now, would you like some breakfast?"

I stared at her hair for a moment, mesmerized by the various shades of light and dark blues interwoven into each other. I had to admit she had pretty hair, but other than that I was getting rather annoyed with weird-looking people acting like demons tearing apart a diner then being swept through a portal of rainbow lights was completely normal. Frowning, I lifted my chin a bit and commanded, "Not until I get my clothes." After a pause, I added, "Wait a sec, what am I saying? I don’t want breakfast, dammit, I want to go home! My parents must be so worried about me..."

Nefertini smiled once more, but this time her smile was a sad one. "If you went back, you would only put your family in danger."

"What? What kind of BS is that? You ever heard of little things called ‘the government,’ or ‘the police?’ They’ll take care of me!"

The pale woman continued in a tone meant to console me, "Against what, my dear child? Against...demons?" She sighed, placing her hand over mine, laying on the gray blanket. "Oh Kat, I know it’s going to be hard for you, but trust me when I say that any contact with your family, your friends, and even your acquaintances would only put them in the gravest of danger," she stated, her voice soothing. I could see in her face that she was clearly distressed by keeping a child from her parents, but beyond that was a steely resolve to do what was best for everyone, even if it was painful.

I shook my head, with tears in my eyes, and hissed through my teeth, "What? No. No, dammit." I can’t explain how, but somehow I simply knew the importance of Nefertini’s words. I simply felt it. And it was crushing me.

Giving my hand a squeeze, she repeated as cheerfully as possible, "I’ll get you your clothes, and then we’ll see what we can scrounge up for breakfast, hmm?"

I only had to nod and she stood from her place at the end of my bed and made her way to the wooden door. "This won’t take long," she assured me as she turned back for a moment and flashed me a smile before opening the door and closing it behind her.

So much had happened in so little time...I just needed a moment to reflect. Taking a deep breath, and thinking of my dreams, my meeting with Sarra, the scary harbinger demons, and the even scarier Circe, as well as the slue of other colorful characters that I’d since made the acquaintance of, I came to the only possible conclusion: I am completely, and utterly, out of my freaking mind!

After a few more moments to think about it in the silence of the castle, I knew I had to accept that this was reality. Okay, so…ancient organization fighting demons, events of a time long since passed haunting my dreams, and a castle in the middle of nowhere inhabited by a glowing pale person with blue hair. These things I can deal with, surprisingly enough. But something I’m not going to stand for is being kept from my family. I’m getting the hell out of here.

As soon as I made my way out of the bed in the small stone room and stood I encountered just a slight problem with that. Which was, namely, my nakedness. It wasn’t a problem for long, however, due to some quick thinking on my part.

I knew going to Latin Club once when they had free pizza would come in handy some day! I thought, snickering, as I wrapped the gray blanket around me like an old Roman-style toga. Snatching up my small brown purse from the floor and draping it around my neck, I made my escape.

It wasn’t until after I’d closed the dark wooden door behind me that I fully realized the gravity of the situation. I had no idea where I was, no means of contacting the people I cared about, and a horde of demons who doggedly sought me out for God only knows what purposes.

And yet, none of this stopped me from moving forward, quickly and quietly, bare feet padding against cold gray stone. Through the corridors I went, turning here and there, hoping to eventually find some stairs. In surreal patterns of light and dark, shadows swirled around me, the result of my movement and the strange blue torches guiding me on my mission.

Just as I was about to stop and reconsider my aimless wandering about in favor of sneaking away after breakfast, the music came. Classical music, melodic and serene, floated on the air towards me. Hesitating only for a moment, I followed the music until I found a spiral staircase. Making sure none of my makeshift toga was dragging along the ground, my heart raced with joy as I carefully made my way down the hard stone stairs. So many times I had wished I could be in a real castle, like the ones in legends of old, and here I was, a princess in a castle of my very own.

My stomach growled at me, distracting me from my whimsical thoughts. Looking to my right, I noticed a door, behind which the melody was stronger than ever before. There was no doubt that this was the level the music had come from. Glancing down the stairwell, then glancing at the door, and down at the stairs again, I fought to keep my curiosity from controlling me. Why did I even bother?

Pushing open the door slowly, I peeked through it. There was nothing more than another cold, dark corridor. For the first time I noticed the silver-coated torches attached to either side of the hallway, which flickered with pale blue flames, giving light to the otherwise dark passageway. The scene was almost too eerie to proceed, but my curiosity, rather than my courage, pressed me onward.

One foot in front of the other, I quickly made my way towards the music, eager to satisfy my curiosity then get away as quickly as possible. Through dimly-lit passageways I made my way, until I spied in the distance a well-lit room. As I approached it, I noted that if there was any door at all it was opened fully for the yellow-orange light was lying on the floor in an unbroken frame of the doorway.

Leaning up against the wall, near the doorway, I listened, hearing nothing more than the serene classical music playing loudly from somewhere within. Slowly I edged closer to the doorframe until I could look inside. There was elaborate lab equipment filled with various colored liquids and gases and a single figure standing in one place, sobbing quietly into its hands.

Standing there with half my face bathed in the light of the room watching the figure, I slowly came to see that it was a pointy-eared Elfkin in robes the colors of the night sky, complete with countless twinkling stars dotting the fabric.

"Xavior? Xavior are you there? Respond, Xavior," came a woman’s voice with just a hint of a British accent.

There was a pause in which the tan-skinned Elfkin seemingly ignored the voice, with his only response being quiet, bitter laughter. Hey, this ‘Savior’ guy is the same one that created the portal I lost my breakfast on…

"Fine, then don’t respond, see if I care!" the woman joked, her voice sounding like it was coming from an intercom of sorts. "Raikector reports a significant drop in field strength. In addition, both Phybee and Angelo report spotting several momentary tears in the anti-detection invisibility field."

Another pause. Xavior took a strained breath of air and looked up at the ceiling, a depressed look upon his face.

"You may not find that to be a big deal, but I think that the good people of Louisiana may discover the sight of a giant red and black horned Dragon flying overhead a bit unsettling, don’t you?"

Ooo…a dragon! They have a dragon? That is SO cool! I thought, practically squealing aloud in delight, forgetting for just a moment that these ‘people’ were holding me captive against my will. All the same, as I continued to watch Xavior I couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy, who was obviously upset about something.

A few more tears fell from the Elfkin’s green cat-like eyes before he closed them and shook his head with sadness. "I’m on it," he said simply before turning around and walking over to one of his many tables of glass vials, test tubes, and bottles.

***

The ground floor.

They…seriously…need…an…elevator… I thought between breaths as my bare feet rapped lightly across the stone floor. In the torch’s blue light I began to realize this place was really too clean for an old castle. Either they had one amazing maid or this place wasn’t actually a castle at all. My heart sank at the thought of hidden cameras following my every move and my captors laughing their heads off at the mouse that thought she was escaping the maze. My thoughts were interrupted by a cold, clammy hand gripping my left upper arm and pulling me forcefully across the hallway towards the side wall. I stumbled across the stone tiles before slamming into the wall. Pain arched through my back and the back of my head throbbed as I mumbled, "ow…wha…"

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" a masculine voice commanded calmly as he squeezed my left arm even tighter.

I grit my teeth together in response to the pain, but I had no response for the man. Straining to discern his pallid face in the pale light, I could only judge that he wasn’t much taller or older than I was and had light-colored hair. "Uhh…I’m Kat?" I mumbled, still feeling a bit disoriented.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that I’d hurt my head or not, but I felt like I’d been pressed against the chilling stone of the wall for an awfully long time with the man, his dead blue eyes fixated upon me. Then I was released as if nothing had happened and the ashen man wandered off again, his deep brown trenchcoat swirling in the wind carelessly as his powerful stride distanced himself from me in a matter of moments. What the hell…? And you thought this couldn’t get any weirder! I thought for a moment or two, watching him leave and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Who needs demons when you have allies like him? I jested after some of the initial shock had worn off and I was left with my fear. Biting my lip and turning around quickly to see if anyone was following me, then spinning around to look ahead of me, I resumed my course but quickened my pace. Oh God… the grim thoughts came, What if I can’t get out of here? What if I’m stuck and going to spend the rest of my life here? After my most recent encounter, I didn’t feel like a princess anymore. And this was no fairy tale.

From somewhere in the azure expanse, I heard the same British woman’s voice, though in person it sounded more like a girl. I ignored it, only glancing briefly into a room with an immense computer display and countless glowing buttons at which sat a normal-looking human brunette. By now I was not only fed up, I was hungry, freezing, and pretty much naked. A few twists and turns later, and I’d found a door that--appropriately enough--had iron bars on it. What interested me the most was the moonlight I saw streaming between them and the breeze I felt on my face. Wasting no time, I turned the doorknob and pushed it open. Closing it as slowly as possible, I then turned around and ran.

Ow…ow…ow…darn rocks…ow…

As I distanced myself from the castle, the grayish mist around me became thicker. So thick, in fact, that I could no longer see the damp grass as it bent under my weight or the rocks that ground into my feet. I was in constant pain because I, like most Americans I suppose, didn’t run barefoot through a field of grass very often. Just as things were looking like they might turn out for the better, Fate stuck its foot out and tripped me. Either that or it was a tree root.

I was sent flying through the air. Momentarily, I thought that I just shouldn’t have gotten up this morning. Then I crashed to the damp ground. Curling up and gripping my left ankle in pain, I was about to mutter something my mother wouldn’t be very proud of when I heard two voices.

"Hey…no fair! You cheated!" the voice of a child floated through the fog.

"No way! You just don’t like losing!" another puerile voice retorted.

"Race me again, Maverick, or you’ll get it! I promise this time it’ll be a real race, no swimming slowly this time!"

"Hah hah! Sore loser! Nyeh nyeh!"

"Oooo! I’ll get you for that! No one sticks their tongue out at Maeve and lives to tell about it!"

At once, the pitter-patter of small feet were coming towards me, mixed with children’s innocent laughter. Geez! Locals! I’m saved! Maverick and Maeve are pretty much normal names, right?

"Hey! Kids!" I shouted, repositioning myself to a sitting position in the grass holding my ankle. "Hey kids, help me out over here, would you?"

The pitter-patter and laughter stopped abruptly. The silence was so penetrating and complete I thought that perhaps the kids were ghosts of the lake or something. Hey, I’ve seen stranger. Man, this sucks. Now what am I going to do?

Somehow I found the strength to get to my feet. "Ahh!" Wincing, I looked down at my ankle. I think I’ve twisted it! Darn, this just isn’t my week! Shaking off these thoughts, I began limping in the same direction I’d been going.

"Hello! Who are you?" a little girl’s voice to my right inquired.

Before I had a chance to react, another voice greeted me from my left. "Hello! Maeve, who is this? We don’t get visitors. … Do we?"

Opening my mouth to speak, I really wasn’t prepared to do anything but stutter. I didn’t even get a chance to do that.

"We certainly don’t! I think she’s the new girl! You know, Kat?" the girl’s voice continued, now behind me.

"Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" I muttered rather loudly.

"Hey, you kiss your mother with that mouth? Hehe, just kidding!" the boy’s voice came to me once more, but this time directly in front of me.

"Please to meet you, Kat. We’re Maeve and Maverick," the girl continued cordially, though she was now somewhere to my left.

"Hey! Would you two cut that out! If you’re going to keep me captive against my will, you might as well come out where I can see you!" I said, frowning. With an exasperated sigh, I’d pretty much accepted my fate. For now, at least…

"Sure thing. It’s going to be so nifty having another little kid around! We could play dress-up or tea-party or--" the girl said. I’d given up on trying to track their movements.

"We can play games and stuff, okay? Plus, I’ve got a big screen TV and tons of video games! It’ll be keen!" the boy interrupted.

Just when I was wondering whether I was talking to children or monsters, I got my answer: a bit of both. From beyond the gray mist stepped forward two nearly identical four-foot figures, each possessing webbed feet and hands as well as a large fish fin extending above and out of the backs of their heads. I couldn’t tell which one was male and which one was female until they spoke once more.

"Yeah! Peachy-keen!" the girl, Maeve, exclaimed gleefully. In the moonlight her scales gleamed, dark aqua with flecks of lavender. I dwelled on her glowing lavender eyes a moment before my attention shifted over to the boy.

"Hey…wait just a gosh darn minute…should you be out here?" the boy, Maverick, added, his scales a dark aquamarine sheen with flecks of magenta. His glowing magenta eyes focused on me with a suspicious stare.

Maeve caught on, as well: "Oh yeah! Katerine told us you weren’t supposed to leave the castle…Hey isn’t that weird? You’re Kat and she’s Katerine! Hmm! And you both have blond hair, and--"

"Greenish hazel eyes! Though I think Katerine’s a bit taller…"

"Ahem! My dear brother, shouldn’t we be focusing on the task at hand?" the girl spoke up, trying to sound all prim and proper.

"Uh…yeah…" I said, laughing nervously at the two Oce’alae’an or ‘merpeople.’ "Well, it’s like this, see…"

The girl shrugged and the boy stepped forward to poke me in the arm, saying "Hey, I like your toga! Though most common people didn’t really wear it like that. Here, let me help--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Lookie, no touchie! Capeesh?"

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Epilogue:

         It’s been a month and things have finally calmed down enough for me to write another entry. Never thought keeping my diary in my purse would be this handy. When I met Sarra, demons attacked the diner and we narrowly escaped being crushed by one of Lord Diadahm’s demonic slaves. At the same time “harbinger demons” of Malevo’s demon cult were trying to capture me. The Father of All Demons wants me dead and Malevo, the prodigal son, wants me captured. This sucks.
         I tried to escape SHAMROCK HEADQUARTERS but twisted my ankle. Lots of weird people here. Only one other human: Evelyn, and she’s British. Or English. Whatever. Everyone calls her Evie. She’s sitting here right now, helping me out with spelling. Nefertini, a Faerie, healed my ankle but something nasty followed Katerine and the others back when they were riding on the Dragon Raikector. Circe was there at the diner too and she was very angry with me for trying to escape. I think she would have hurt me a lot if Connor (some pallid-faced scary dude who looks human but isn’t) hadn’t come out of nowhere and stopped her with one word. She’s a Resna-ken or ‘snake-person’ and they are vicious, cruel, and ruthless. She’s green even though most are black. I guess Connor’s the only one she’s scared of even though Evie says she respects him and he used to be Commander. I can tell Evie’s scared of Connor no matter how much she tries to hide it. I don’t know if the others are scared of him but they aren’t afraid of the new Commander, Katerine. Commander = leader of Shamrock SHAMROCK.
         I’m not allowed to see my family or friends. But Katerine says they’ll be watched over by Shamrock so I guess I feel better. Oh yeah, after I tried to escape and Tini used her healing powers on me, we were attacked by a big demon that had attached itself to the Dragon’s underbelly. That was almost as scary as the diner attack. But I just stayed in my room. Evie said it was one of Malevo’s and that Malevo is trying to overthrow his father. I didn’t know why we’re trying to stop Malevo. I thought we should just let them kill each other. But they say if it comes to that the energy output could destroy the Earth. So, uh, that’s bad. Kinda duh.
         They have my favorite brand of cereal, Dad and Mom, and can make all the foods I like so don’t worry. I wish I could say that to you. Tini’s actually quite nice; I don’t think there’s a mean bone in her body. We usually eat breakfast together. And I’m okay friends with Evie but she’s not as cool as Grace and Sarah. I get to play video games with Maeve and Maverick and I think I’ll start painting again soon.
         Yes, Mom, there are some cute guys here that I have crushes on, but they’re all way too old for me. They’re way too old to date dinosaurs too. Erik’s really muscular in his human body and he’s a nice guy and handsome, and Michael’s definitely cute with his short blond hair and light blue eyes! But Erik is a rock person Golem and Michael’s a Wolfbaine. Plus they both have girlfriends: Nefertini and Katerine. Then there’s Xavior who’s cute too and he’s an Elfkin who makes jokes even though I know he’s really upset. Probably about being tortured in a hell-dimension not very long ago. His girlfriend is Phybee, a young woman made out of orange light or Ion but I don’t think she who can read minds really knows how torn up inside Xavior is. Xavior looks Latino and Phybee looks African American with bright orange hair in her human form.
         I think the only single guy is Connor and he’s much too scary. Erik and Xavior have their own band so that’s cool but Erik cheats on Tini. Tini doesn’t seem to mind though, and everyone else almost ignores it. I wonder what the definition of ‘love’ is to people almost four billion years old b/e Erik tell me he loves Tini. Come to think of it, I think Maverick must be single too and those merpeople are much more mature than they let on but I think in their culture it’s okay to be in love with your sister. I don’t get it, but okay (gross!). Oh yeah, and Angelo--Katerine’s older brother--and Sarra, a Phrophet, are gone now. We think they’re on a cruise but we’re not sure. They do this a lot even though they used to be the two most serious, responsible people. Katerine gets this distant look in her eyes like she’s remembering something unpleasant whenever I mention Angelo.
         Most of them look ‘white’ or Caucasian in their human forms though Michael, Katerine, and Angelo (Eurasian like me) but Maeve and Maverick look Native American and I could swear Raikector is Filipino (just like Grace!) Plus I already mentioned others. Except the video games, TV shows and food everything is just a LITTLE eccentric here. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with college though! I miss my friends…and you too, Mom and Dad.
         To the rest of the world, I’m probably just another nameless missing person. Normal people are clueless for sure, but when there’s a war between demons and fantastical beings you begin to think that ignorance is bliss. Once you’ve opened your eyes to something there’s no shutting them again. This is my destiny. Sounds silly but it’s true.