Resurgence: Unseen Things, #11

By Duane L. Martin

The nathalis plan to wipe out the zethichtalarin was mostly successful, but a large number of zeths managed to escape to other dimensions before their worlds were destroyed. It was assumed that the threat had been eliminated, but assumptions can often be wrong.

After what was assumed to be a free army, led by a general with advanced tactical knowledge swept across the continent in the Faranox dimension, it was assumed that they'd done it to free all the slaves, and to wipe out the practice of slavery on the continent once and for all. Rather than releasing all the slaves however, they marched them back with them to the village where the army had formed. Why would a free army not just send the slaves back home, and where had this mysterious general come from that had the knowledge to lead his army to such a sweeping victory? The more the team in Washington thought about it, there was only one conclusion they could possibly reach. The zeths were back, and they were trying to build themselves a new home to use as a base of operations in the Faranox dimension.

Assembling a team made up of members of both the Washington and Scotland teams, as well as a newly human Thayelle, and a couple of ach'len who are hell-bent on revenge, the team heads out to the East Coast to begin their search. All the anecdotal evidence they've been able to gather so far has indicated that the mysterious free army originated from there somewhere, but with a lot of land to cover, the team has to disguise themselves as locals so they can gather information without raising any suspicions.

Back at home, a frustrated Jan discovers a new ability that will aid them all greatly on their mission. When the team takes that ability and comes up with some even more creative ways to use it, they suddenly find that they're all far more powerful than they'd ever imagined.

Resurgence is book 11 of the Unseen Things series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Duane L. Martin
• Release date: Jul 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9780991612550

Duane L. Martin

An avid reader since he first discovered the Hardy Boys books in the second grade, Duane L. Martin spent years being educated by some truly great authors. In 2013, after years of dreaming about writing a novel of his own, he finally hit upon a story idea that would ultimately turn into the 22 book Unseen Things series. Currently, aside from the series, he's also published two standalone novels. Cindy's Story, which is a humorous private investigator novel, and a superhero story called The Accidental Hero, which is both humorous, and quite dark at times. Aside from his writing, Duane is also a musician. He took his first bass guitar lesson in 1987 and has been playing bass ever since. He also plays some guitar, and a little keyboard and some percussion as well, with a particular focus on hand drums. As he's always been a great lover of music, he often has it playing quietly in the background while he writes. Born and raised in Northern California, he would later move to Idaho, where he lives the quiet life of a relative hermit with his wife Sharon, and their two dogs.

Book preview

Chapter 1

So this is the Faranox dimension, Giles said as he looked around, taking in the scenery.

I seem to remember from the reports that this late-afternoon light level is normal here, Savaric noted.  Did you ever figure out the reason for that?"

No, we didn't, Jarrod said.  I did some digging around a while back, and at first I thought it might be that this world is tidal locked with the sun here, so the same side is always facing it, and we just happened to be in an area that's starting to bleed over to the dark side of the planet.  It kinda made sense, but that would mean that the light levels would probably be different where Thayelle's from than they would be here, but they're not.  There'd probably be weather issues as well, but the weather here always seems to be pretty normal.

It's always been like this.  I was actually quite surprised the first time I came to your dimension and saw how bright it was, Thayelle said as she looked around, trying to spot any signs of life that might indicate that a village was nearby.

Perhaps there's something in the upper atmosphere that's blocking a certain amount of the light from getting through, Savaric suggested.

That'd be the most obvious solution, except for one thing, Jarrod said.

And what's that? Savaric asked.

There's no night here.  It's literally always this level of light.

More than one sun perhaps? Giles suggested.  Maybe you just never noticed because you weren't paying attention, or they're on opposite sides, so you only see one at any given time.

This world would have to be rotating around one of them, Derek said.  If that was the case, then at some point you'd be seeing both suns, but we've only ever seen one.

This is all really interesting, but I think it's a discussion we should probably save for another time, Tina said.  As for right now, which way should we go?

I don't see any signs of activity around here, so I'm not really sure, Thayelle said.

All right, let's pull out the drones.  Send 'em on out and see if you can find anything, Derek said.

Giles and Savaric opened their bags and pulled out the drones they were carrying, and as they powered up the controllers, the drones shot up into the air a few feet and hovered there silently.

I'll send mine out this way, and you send yours the other way.  If we don't find anything, then we'll have 'em circle around on their way back, Giles said.

All right.  What if we don't find anything at all though? Savaric asked.

It depends on how far you go without finding anything.  We may have to go back to our dimension and travel for a while there if there's nothing within a reasonable walking distance from here, Derek said.

You guys have any idea what the range is on those things? Sarah asked.

No, but I'm guessing It's probably in the range of twenty-five or thirty miles.  It could be considerably farther than that depending on how powerful of a signal these remotes are sending out, but there's no way of telling without running some actual tests, Giles said.

Don't all of the villages tend to trade with one another? Patricia asked.

Yes, they do.  That's how it was back home at least, Thayelle said.

So, if we can manage to find just one village, then we can assume that there are more within trading range of it at least.

The problem is finding one.  I'm really hoping you guys can spot something, because I really don't wanna see this turn into some sort of an Easter egg hunt where we spend a week or more trying to find some signs of life out there, Tina said.

Hey guys, tell you what.  While you're flying those drones around, I'm gonna take the binoculars and walk over to that hill over there.  Maybe between the binoculars and my spiffy new super vision, I'll be able to spot something, Martin said.

Cool, I'll come with you, Derek said as he reached into his bag and pulled out his own pair of binoculars.  If you guys find anything, just throw us a link, and we'll head on back.

All right.  You two do the same, Savaric said as he sent his drone flying off to the south.

The hill was about a mile and a half away, but as far off as it was, it was worth taking the time to check it out since it would offer them an excellent vantage point to survey the surrounding area.  Along the way, they got to talking about old times, and the subject of Martin's ex-wife came up.

Oh god, I still feel like such an idiot for falling in love with someone like that.  You'd think if anyone would stand by you in the bad times, it'd be your wife, but she was only concerned with herself.  You know, I did everything I could to be a good husband to her, and she never really appreciated any of it, Martin said bitterly.

Do you know what ever happened to her? Derek asked.

Nope.  Once she left, that was the last I ever saw of her.

"Do you wanna know what happened to her?  I could tell ya if you want," Derek said.  Martin stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"How do you know what happened to her exactly?" he asked suspiciously.

Well, we were all just sittin' around one night, and we got to talkin' about what she did to you and how shitty it all was.  You didn't deserve that.

No, I didn't deserve it, but how do you know what happened to her?

Because...we looked into it, just out of curiosity.

And?

"And...she was doin' good man.  I mean like, real good."

Oh, wonderful, Martin said bitterly.

"After she left you, she got a high paying job at an ad agency, a new boyfriend, and a new house."

Figures.  Seems like it's the people who least deserve it that always end up having everything go their way.

Come on, let's keep walking.  We got a long way to go, Derek said as he took the lead.  They walked for several minutes in silence, with Martin absolutely stewing over the fact that his ex-wife was doing so well after she left him with nothing.

Why so quiet? Derek asked, smiling to himself.

I just don't have anything more to say, Martin said quietly.  The anger in his voice was palpable.

You know, you should learn to pay better attention.  Words are important you know, Derek said after another few moments of silence.

What are you talking about? Martin asked.

Repeat everything I said to you, word for word.

"You said, and I quote, And...she was doin' real good.  After she left you, she got a high paying job at an ad agency, a new boyfriend, and a new house."

So what's the key word in what I said? Derek asked.  Martin thought about it for a moment, going over each word individually in an attempt to figure out what Derek was talking about, but he just couldn't seem to figure it out.

"Ok, I give up.  What is the key word in what you said?" he asked.

"I said she was doin' real good.  As in, past tense," Derek said, still smiling to himself.

"What do you mean she was doing real good?" Martin asked as he stopped walking and looked at Derek.  Derek stopped as well, and turned to face him.

"Just what I said.  She was doin' real good.  Now?  Not so much, he said with a grin.  See, when we found out how well she was doing after what she did to you, there wasn't any way in hell we were gonna let that stand."

Wait a minute.  Did you guys do something to her? Martin asked.

Us?  Sir, you wound me!  How could you ever think we would stoop so low as to partake in such shenanigans! Derek asked with mock offense.

"You did do something though, didn't you?"

No!  I swear to God, we didn't do a single thing to her.  Scout's honor!  We had Jan do it, Derek said with an amused look.  See, karma doesn't always come back to bite people in the ass the way it should, so we had Jan just sorta...you know...help it along a little.

Jan?  What did she do?

Oh, not much.  She just made a few calls, Derek said, looking more amused than ever.

Made a few calls, and did what exactly? Martin asked.

"Well, I dunno.  I mean, she might have blackmailed the head of the ad agency into firing her.  Apparently she did a little research on him, and it seems that he's been keeping a cozy little apartment on the side that his wife doesn't know about.  Wanna take a guess as to just who does know about it?  I'll save ya the trouble.  It's his secretary, and apparently they've been spending a whole lot of time there together, especially around lunch time, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, he didn't want his wife to find out about his little secret, so he fired your ex with a quickness, and Jan made him swear that if anyone called there for a reference, he'd tell 'em he wouldn't hire her again."

Are you serious? Martin said with a surprised look.

Oh, I'm just gettin' started.  Apparently, that hot boyfriend of hers was only interested in having a sugar mama, so when she lost her high ass paying job at the ad agency, he bailed on her.

No shit? Martin said with a sudden smile that was growing wider by the second.

Nope, no shit...but that's still not all of it.  See, because she was makin' a whole lot of money, she apparently got pretty cocky about it and bought way more house than she could afford to pay for if she ever had a sudden drop in income.  So, right about now she's maybe a month or two away from getting foreclosed on.  Even if she does somehow manage to avoid it, her credit's gonna be totally fucked.  So basically, if you think about it, we more or less left her in the exact same situation that she left you in, only she doesn't have any friends like us to help bail her out of it.

I just can't believe you guys did that for me, Martin said as he stood there trying to process it all.

"Well, we didn't do it.  Jan was the one that took care of everything, but we did ask her to do it for us.  What that bitch did to you was just unforgivable, and we figured it was long past time that she paid a price for it.  No one's ever gonna fuck with you like that and get away with it as long as we've got something to say about it.  Especially not after all you did for us," Derek said.

I'm sorry.  I'm just kinda speechless here.  No one's ever gone out of their way to do something like that for me before.  I mean, when you guys pulled me out of that whole mess I was in, I can't even tell you how much that meant to me, but going the extra mile to do all this...

Hey, don't worry about it man.  It's like Tina always says, it's what you do for family.  Anyway, it looks like we're almost there.  Ready to do some climbin'?

Derek..., Martin said.  Derek stopped and turned around to look at him once again.  Look man, I just wanted to say thanks.  You'll never know how much you guys mean to me.  If there's ever anything you need from me, you just say the word, and I'll be there before you can even blink.

Thanks man, that's really nice of you to say.  I'm just glad we could do that for you, Derek said, feeling a little embarrassed by Martin's gratitude.  Anyway, we'd better get on up there so we can report in to the others.

Yeah, all right.  Let's hit it, Martin said as the pair began to ascend the grassy hill that rose up about a hundred and fifty feet over the landscape.  When they got to the top, they each shifted their eyes to the more advanced vision, and then they raised their binoculars and started scanning the area.

Anything? Derek asked.

Nope.  You?

"Nope.  Keep lookin'.  There's gotta be something around here somewhere."

Wait a sec.  Look over there, about four or five miles away, Martin said.  Am I seeing things or does it look like there might be a big clearing in the trees over there?

Where? Derek asked.

Right over there, Martin said as he pointed toward where he was looking.

I don't know man, it's hard to say.  It could just be the edge of the tree line, Derek said after he scanned the area for several moments.

That's what I thought at first too, but look at how it's shaped.  It doesn't look entirely natural, does it? Martin asked.

You know what?  I think you're right.  Giles has his drone over in that direction.  I'll throw him a link and show him what we're lookin' at so he can check it out.

Cool, Martin said as he continued to scan the area, trying to see if there were any other telltale signs of life.

All right, he's got the drone headed over that way, Derek said a few moments later.  Since that's about our only lead on anything around here, if we come up empty on it then we're gonna have to head back to our dimension and do some traveling.

Doesn't seem like we'd have a whole hell of a lot of choice, Martin said.  It's either that, or we just start hoofin' it.  Personally, I don't feel much like walkin' through a whole lotta nothin', when we already know there's nothing out there for us to find.  I guess we might as well head on back to join the others.  Hopefully Giles will have something positive to tell us when we get there.

Yeah, all right.  Let's get goin', Derek said as they carefully made their way back down the side of the hill.

When they got to the bottom and had walked about a hundred yards or so back in the direction from which they came, they suddenly heard a horrible, high-pitched noise coming from a copse of trees off to the right.  As they looked over to see what it was, two anxious looking blue fins came running toward them.

Well, that was unexpected, Derek said.

Seriously.  What the hell are they doing out here by themselves? Martin asked.

No clue, but here they come.  I guess we'll find out in a minute.

When the blue fins got over to them, they started speaking rather quickly in their own language.  It'd been ages since Derek had actually heard the natural way that blue fins speak, and Martin had never heard it, so they were both cringing at the high-pitched squeals and other noises they were making.

Derek held his finger to his lips and shushed them both.  The gesture was foreign to them but they figured out soon enough what it was he was trying to say.  Once they'd managed to calm themselves down a bit, Derek reached out his hands so he could link with them the old-fashioned way, thinking that the physical contact might make them feel more at ease.  They looked down at his hands for a moment, and then tentatively reached out to take a hold of them.

The first task he faced was trying to use images and emotions to calm them down somewhat.  He wasn't really used to having to communicate like that through a link anymore, so it was a bit awkward at first, but eventually he had put them at ease enough for him to move on to his questions.

Once he'd acquired all the information he needed, he felt to them that he was going to take them back home.  Once they finally understood what he was trying to tell them and they saw the image of the beautiful waters of their home dimension that neither of them had seen in so very long, the relief and gratitude he felt coming through the link was almost overwhelming.

Be right back man.  I'm gonna take 'em home, and then I'll come back and tell ya what I got from 'em, Derek said as he pulled out his amulet and started adjusting the crystals.

All right.  I'll link with Jarrod and let him know what's going on, Martin said.

The blue fins were a bit surprised when the portal opened, but knowing that it was their ticket to freedom, they couldn't get inside of it fast enough.  Derek followed them in, and then the portal quickly disappeared.

All set? Martin asked once the portal reopened again a few moments later and Derek stepped back out of it.

Yep.  There's no telling where they came from originally, but blue fins are pretty good at taking care of themselves, so I'm sure they'll be all right, Derek said.

So?  What'd you find out?

They were being brought over along with all the other slaves, Derek explained.  These two were friends that were in the same village together when the free army came rolling through and gathered 'em up.  Apparently they were more or less well treated as they were marched back across the country, but then by the time they got over here, they started wondering why the free army was dragging them all the way across the country instead of just sending 'em back home.

Smart guys, Martin said.

"Yeah well, they are blue fins after all, Derek said with a grin.  Anyway, they just kept on marching with all the others until they finally got up the nerve to take off running.  They showed me images of what they saw, and man...there's literally thousands of 'em.  That’s why it was fairly easy for 'em to get away actually.  You can imagine the confusion involved in moving that many people.  Apparently, quite a few people have bailed out along the way, and they don't even bother going after 'em.  I'm guessing it's because it would take too long to track down all the stragglers, and they can't keep stopping all the time like that just from a logistical standpoint."

Did they tell you where they escaped from, or what direction they were going? Martin asked.

North.  Well, north according to our dimension anyway, so it'd be that way, Derek said as he raised his hand and pointed in the proper direction.

So basically, they were headed in the direction of where I thought there might be a village?

Seems that way.  If there is a village there, then that means that within a certain distance of that one, there's probably another one, and another one, and so on.  If we just keep following 'em, then eventually we should find what we're looking for.

All right.  I guess we'd better head on back then, so we can let the others know what's goin' on.  If there is a village out there, then we've got a long walk ahead of us.  I just hope he actually spots something with the drone.  It'd really suck if there's nothing out there, Martin said with a bit of a frown.

Just think positive man, Derek said with an encouraging smile as the pair started their long walk back to rejoin the others.  When they finally arrived, they noticed that Savaric was packing away his drone, while Giles' drone had just returned.

You get those two blue fins back home ok? Jarrod asked as they approached.

Yep, all safe and sound.  Dunno where they came from originally, but I'm sure they'll be all right.  Hopefully they'll be able to find another group to hook up with, so they don't have to be all alone out there.  What about you guys?  What'd you find? Derek asked.

Why don't you all come and have a look? Giles said.  Everyone gathered around as he brought up a video on the controller display of what the drone saw while it was out.  There is indeed a village there.  As you can see, I circled the drone completely around, so we could make a proper assessment of the village's size and make up.

That was really good thinking man.  You sure you guys were just lab assistants? Derek said, truly impressed by Giles' tactical intuition.

Well, we were for a while.  Before that, we were both chief operations officers in the zethichtalarin military.  We were in charge of genocide operations on various dimensions, Giles said flatly.

Wait...what? Jarrod asked with the same shocked look that everyone else suddenly had.

Oh yeah, we killed everything we came across.  That is, until Giles here got us involved in a little sexual tryst with the wife and daughters of one of the generals.

Come on Sav, that was totally worth it.  Still, I wonder if maybe if he might have taken it better if we wouldn't have had all four of his daughters involved in our little escapade? Giles said with an amused look.

I think it was his wife he was the most pissed off about, Savaric said.  The way she hung on to my leg when he came in and caught us.  It was absolutely shameful.  I did try to be a gentleman about it, but once you've had a taste of this... 

Seriously?  Do they teach that level of bullshit in the schools on your home dimension, or does it just come naturally to you two? Derek asked with a laugh.

Oh, it's quite natural, I assure you, Giles said with a grin as he packed his drone away.  Sav's better at it than I am though.  All those years of drinking gave him lots of practice.

Yes, but if I may say in my defense, you never know when a good lie might just come in handy, Savaric said with a smile of his own.

True enough, Derek said.  Anyway, I guess we should get going.  Let's go ahead and start projecting our disguises now, just in case we run into any of the villagers out in the woods.

Thayelle suddenly changed into her pre-human self, and she quickly found herself surrounded by a bunch of rather mean looking agaronin guards.

That's perfect you guys! Tina said as she looked around at everyone.  These agaronin bodies are big enough to hide our bags too, so this'll work out really well.

What about Thayelle's bag? Sarah asked.

Give it to me.  I'm wide, so I won't have any trouble carrying both, Derek said as he walked over and took her bag from her.  After he slung it over his opposite shoulder, he turned completely around.  Anything showing?

Nope it's good, Tina said.

Giles, did that drone happen to give you a distance to the village? Derek asked.

Only in the zethichtalarin measurement of distance, but I believe it converts to approximately four miles or so.

Guess we're in for a bit of a hike then.  Let's get goin', Derek said as they all started their lumbering trek through the dense forest.  Unfortunately, they couldn't walk like themselves if they were going to maintain the illusion that they were agaronin, so it slowed them down a bit having to use such an affected gait.  As for Thayelle, since the normal faranox were built roughly the same as humans, she at least was able to continue walking normally.

The hike was more or less uneventful, except for one rather shocking moment when a bird swooped down out of a tree toward what appeared to be Savaric's head.  Before the bird could penetrate his disguise however, he quickly ducked out of the way, which gained him a considerable amount of praise from Tina over how well he'd remembered his training.

When they finally reached their destination and were approaching the edge of the tree line, Thayelle took up her proper position at the front of the group, and then they paused for a moment to discuss the plan.

All right, here's what we're gonna do, Derek said.  Thayelle, you link with us all so you can translate what they say.  That way, if they happen to say anything that relates to us, we'll be able to react accordingly.  The story is, we were with the army, but we split off to scout for other villages and got separated from them.  Now we're trying to find out where they went, so we can join back up with 'em.  Mostly what we're lookin' for here is to see if we can find someone who might know where the army originated from, or at least what direction they were headed.  Also, find out if they've seen any more slaves around here.  If there's anyone out there that we can find and send home while we're here, then we need to do that.

All right, I understand.  What if they say something to one of you and expect an answer? Thayelle asked.

Then you answer for us, Tina said.  Remember how I taught you guys how to leave people with false memories?  All you have to do is leave whoever's there with a false memory that we answered 'em with whatever answer was appropriate.  That way, it'll cover up the fact that none of us can speak the language, and we won't all just be standing there like a bunch of idiots while they're waiting for an answer.

Tina my dear, you continue to amaze me with your brilliance, Savaric said sincerely.

Awww, thanks Sav!  That's really sweet of you to say. Tina said, blushing a little at the compliment.  All right Thayelle, you ready to do this?

I suppose so.  I don't know why I'm so nervous though.  It's not like I haven't been a leader of a village for my whole life or anything.

Listen, just follow the plan, and everything will be all right, Derek said encouragingly.  She smiled at him hopefully, and then they headed off on their way.

Thayelle led them all into the village, and other than attracting a bit of attention simply due to the fact that they were strangers, no one paid them much heed.  When they reached the leader's house, she grunted something at one of the guards.  He grunted something back to her in return, and then he headed off into the house, returning a few moments later with the leader of the village, as well as his two guards.

He invited her into the house, and told her to leave her guards outside, simply because trying to stuff eight over-sized agaronin into his house would have created a bit of a space issue.  Thayelle told them through the link that they should all just wander off a short distance while they were waiting, and try to keep to themselves.  That way, they wouldn't risk getting involved in any random conversations.  There was a storehouse next to the leader's home, so they moved over in front of it and seated themselves, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.  Unfortunately, that didn't stop one of the villagers from casually walking over to ask them a question.  They didn't know what he was saying, and Thayelle was too wrapped up in her conversation with the leader to have caught it.  With no other options left open to them, Patricia just blanked him and sent him on his way, but not before she wiped away any memories he had of them.

Wish they'd hurry up in there, she whispered after the villager had wandered off.

There's probably some formalities when one friendly tribal leader visits another, Martin suggested.  She's never really mentioned anything about that before, but then again, we've never really talked to her much about their customs.  I guess we probably should have.

It's all right guys, we'll just blank whoever comes along and send 'em on their way like Patty did, Sarah said.

It's rather strange seeing these agaronin in the flesh.  It's one thing to see a photo or a projection of them, but actually being here around 'em is rather intimidating, Giles said quietly.

You'll get used to it.  At least the ones here aren't trying to kill us on sight, or trying to capture us so they can turn us into slaves, so you don't have to deal with that aspect of it like we did.  Imagine these guys lumbering at you with those giant ass clubs in their hands, hell bent on taking your head clean off, Jarrod whispered.

Or your arms, Sarah muttered.  She'd been haunted by that image ever since it happened, and as much as she desperately wanted to have one of the others suppress that memory for her, she knew it was important to remember.  Unfortunately, Jarrod heard what she said, and it absolutely broke his heart that he couldn't take her in his arms to comfort her.

It's ok sweetie.  I'm alive, and they both grew back just fine thanks to you guys.  Please don't let it keep hurting you like that, he whispered to her.

I'm sorry.  I've tried to deal with it, but every time I think about it, all I wanna do is whip out my sword and take off the head of every agaronin I can find, she whispered back.

Yeah well, things are different now.  It's just gonna take some getting used to I guess, Patricia whispered.

Just then, Thayelle came back outside with the village leader.  They grasped hands and said a few more words to one another cordially before she left him and headed over to where the others were sitting, barely waiting for them to stand before she led them north through the village and back out into the forest.  Once they were far enough away that they wouldn't be noticed, she turned to address everyone.

Ok, so...here's what I learned.  The free army came down from this direction when they marched through here originally.  Unfortunately he didn't know where they'd come from, but at least we have a general direction to go in now.

And he bought the whole story about why we were looking for them? Derek asked.

From what I could tell, yes.  He was very friendly and welcoming, which I must say was a bit strange for me, since the leaders of all the villages that were anywhere near mine were all basically enemies, and quite intolerant of the way we were living.  This was the first time I've ever met the leader of another free village.

Is that all he told you? Jarrod asked.  He didn't mention anything else about them?

He said they came through here a little over a year ago, took all the agaronin from the village aside from his guards, and made them a part of the army.  Once the war was over, the army returned, dropping off all the agaronin they'd taken with them back at their home villages on their way through.  He didn't know why they were taking all the slaves with them instead of returning them back to their homes, but he was happy that the threat from the slavers had been removed, and that his people had been returned home safely.  I think your theory about what happened here is probably accurate.  The leaders of the free villages didn't know what was going on, other than that they were helping to fight the slavers by sending their agaronin to war.  As far as they know, that's all it was.  Unfortunately, he couldn't tell me anything more.  He had no idea who started the army, or who was leading them.

Did he say how far it was to the next village? Sarah asked.

He did, but I'm not familiar with your measurement of distance, so all I can tell you is that it's a very long way.  We'd be better off going back to your home dimension to travel there, rather than trying to make our way on foot.

It's your dimension now too ya know, Martin reminded her.

Yeah, I guess so.  I'm just not used to thinking of it that way yet since I haven't lived there for very long, Thayelle said.

It's hard for us to think of it that way as well, even though we've been living in it for centuries, Savaric said.

Hard for you maybe, but I accepted it long ago, Giles said.  I wasn't happy about it, but one must accept things as they are if they're to attain any level of happiness in life.

I got my happiness from a bottle, Savaric said somewhat bitterly.  I never thought there'd be anything else for me.  Not until now anyway.

Well, I'm glad you're past that now.  At least we won't have to chase after you anymore as you run naked through the forest, trying to catch invisible pixies, Giles said with an amused look.

One time!  I did that one time, and you guys would never let me forget it! Savaric protested.

And I'm sure we never will, Giles said as he gave his friend a gentle pat on the back.

All right you guys, since it's already well into the afternoon, why don't we just head on back, Derek said.  We'll find someplace to rent a couple of cars, then we'll let Thayelle navigate for us.  Once we've reached a point where she thinks we've gone far enough, we'll just stop and check into a hotel for the night, so we can get cleaned up, get something to eat, and have a little down time to relax.

Maybe we should just call a couple of those minivan cabs instead.  It'd be a hell of a lot faster than finding a rental car place, and they'll come to pick us up wherever we're at, Jarrod suggested.

Dude, that's really good idea!  I didn't even think of that, Derek said.  I guess we'll need a couple of 'em, huh?

Well, there's nine of us, plus our bags, but I think two should probably do it, Jarrod said.  I'll find someplace to call when we get back and see what they've got available.

Cool bro, thanks.  All right you guys, let's get goin'.  I'm hungry, and I really want a shower, so the sooner we get where we're goin', the better, Derek said as he pulled out his amulet and opened them a portal.

*   *   *

They traveled about twenty miles by cab, and then checked themselves into a rather luxurious hotel that was near where they'd be porting back to the Faranox dimension the following day.  After they showered and got themselves cleaned up, they had a very nice dinner together, and then they headed back to their rooms to settle in