Rifts Ch. 02

Rifts -- Strange Bedfellows

Previously ... Donna Bell, a 32-year-old archaeologist is caught up in ley line nexus, which takes her from the present to a strange future. In this future, Zha-Ying a powerful Lizard Mage crime lord has been killed and with his dying breath casts a strange incantation that will hold grave implications for Donna. Lastly, although there was supposed to be no witnesses to the attack, we learned that it was witnessed by at least two bystanders.

*****

Donna was lying on a smooth black marble floor. As she opened eyes, she saw that she was bathed in soft white light coming from somewhere above. As she rose, she asked out loud, "Where the hell am I?"

As she scanned all around her, her eyes fell on a full-length mirror that was next to her. She got to her feet and saw that her reflection was completely naked. She was tall and fit, with almost boyishly short blonde hair. Her hands reached up to cup her breasts. They then tranced lines down her sides, where they came to rest on her shapely hips. She thought no one ever expected a scientist nerd to look this good. To punctuate that point, she heard a thought say, "You look VERY pleasing."

She then realized that the thought wasn't her own, but a voice in her head. Suddenly, it felt like someone was not just looking at her, but leering at her. Her hands instinctively went to hide her nudity.

She turned around and stepped out of the cone of light to better see her surroundings. As she did, the light brightened to reveal she was in a large circular room. The walls were lined with book shelves. There were tables and display cases scattered around the space and near her was a large ornately carved wooden chair sitting on a raised dais.

Seated in that chair was a half-human, half-reptilian being that had greenish-brown scales. It was well-muscled, with a broad chest and had powerful looking arms and legs. His arms were folded across his chest, while one leg was casually crossed over the other. The lizard-like head had large, piercing yellow eyes. A long, red snake-like forked tongue darted from its mouth. Its lips parted in a cold smiled, filled with sharp teeth.

"Greetings, my dear," he said in hissing voice, "My name is Zha-Ying and I would like to propose ... what is the word." He held up a long, clawed finger when it came to him, "Ah, yes! That's the word, a partnership. I would like to propose a partnership with you."

The only thing Donna could do, was scream.

*****

South of Northern Gun Territory

Wind Runner felt as if he were cursed or something. Everything he touched always seemed to turn from gold to lead ... including this present situation. He was an Emirin. Part of a small sentient race of beings that looked like large mountain lions, Wind Runner had keen senses that were accentuated by natural psionic abilities. He was creeping along as silently as he could, in the presence of a lumbering, 2 ½ meter-tall, 200-kilo ogre.

"Dammit, Grond! Can you walk any louder," he telepathically scorned.

'Sorry," said the ogre in a raspy whisper as a stepped off the branch he had just broken and sheepishly grinned.

They had crept from their position on the opposing hill and had made their way across the valley. Wind runner had led the way and had commanded Grond to dart from cover to cover as best and as quietly as he could. Occasionally, Wind Runner would send out a telepathic 'ping' to the third member of his crew, Elvina Glitterwing. She was one of the Faerie folk. A Pixie she would have emphasized. She liked to go by the name of Pink, due to it sound tougher than Elvina. Pink wasn't responding. She had psi abilities as well, but not as finely tuned as those of the Emrin.

He arrived at a copse of trees at the base of the hill they had been heading for and waited for Grond who soon followed, sneaking through the trees with all the grace that an ogre possessed. Grond unslung the energy rifle he had been carrying from his shoulder.

"Grond, you stay here," Wind Runner communicated, "I'll sneak up the hill and see if anything is left up there. If I need help, I'll call you."

Grond thought for a moment and said warily, "Are you sure? Grond don't want you to get hurt."

'I'm sure," broadcast the Emirin, "With all the shit that was thrown at that hill top, I don't think anything could have survived."

Grond set down his rifle and settled next to a tree with a crash.

"At least this way," Wind Runner thought to himself, "I'll have some semblance of an element of surprise."

The Emirin crept up the slope of the hill. As he went, he reached out with his mind to sense the presence of life and magic. His probes told him there was one life form and that the presence of magic did exist on the hill top. He gazed up. The Nexus had closed and ley line activity had visibly settled back to normal. Once more just to be sure, he reached out with his mind to detect any dimensional anomalies and found none currently present in the entire area.

As he reached the mid-point of the slope, the ground became pock-marked from the hail of mini-missiles. His sensitive nose detected the acrid scent of the explosives and he could still feel the heat of the detonations through the pads on his paws. There was one life form and the presence of magic. Those two things put together could spell trouble. He glanced back over his shoulder. He was tempted to summon Grond, but if he did he would lose any hope of surprise. He crouched down and inched his way forward, deciding to go on alone.

*****

Donna stood quivering in fright, managing only being able to say, "Who and what are you? Where the hell am I?"

The lizard said again, smiling, "I am Zha-Ying. I want to make you a VERY lucrative proposition. Don't be afraid. I'm not going to harm you. Please, come closer so I can get a better look at you. What is your name child"

Donna was hesitant, but eventually inched forward as she continued to attempt to cover herself.

"My name is Donna. Donna Bell," she said.

As she got closer, she noticed a cushioned stool to the side of where the lizard was seated. Zha-Ying motioned to it and said, "Donna, please be seated. I want to answer your questions and tell you about this wonderful opportunity that is being presented to you."

As she seated herself, Zha-Ying said, "My you are quite lovely my dear. You don't need to cover yourself. I have always enjoyed the human form, especially that of the female. Please, let me admire you."

Blushing and feeling extremely embarassed, Donna lowered the hand that was covering her breasts to her lap.

"Very pleasing indeed," said Zha-Ying and continued, "Now where were we. Ah, yes! As I introduced myself, my name is Zha-Ying. I am a Lizard Mage. I come from a distant place called Palladium. Where we are, is a place that is called Earth."

"Earth," said Donna incredulously. "When did, what did you call yourself ... lizard mages come to earth," she asked.

Zha-Ying smiled, "This is not the same world you left. Do you remember seeing a blinding light," he asked.

Donna nodded her head and the Lizard Mage told her that was a nexus, a dimensional portal had opened and brought her here. These nexus points can form where two or more ley lines cross over each other.

Like a student, Donna raised a hand and interjected, "I've heard of ley lines, but I always thought they were mythical. I'm an archaeologist. Supposedly ancient cultures like the Mound-Builders I specialize in studying, built structures along them."

Zha-Ying smiled, "Precisely! Besides being very beautiful you are also learned. The ley lines have always existed. The cataclysm that resulted in our current dilemma has reawakened them with a vengeance. Magical power flows through them like a river and can be drawn from them as well. From time-to-time, dimensional openings appear and that is how you and I arrived here. It brought you more than 600-years into your future"

Donna felt dumbfounded. "Everything I know and love is just ... gone," she said.

"If afraid so," responded the lizard mage.

He went on to describe how the cataclysm that nearly destroyed Earth was caused by many nexus points opening at once. A new dark age followed, as the Rifts War was fought. Humanity reached the brink of extinction as aliens and monstrosities flooded through the dimensional openings. One of the last great series of rifts caused much of Palladium to be pulled to Earth. Elves, dwarves and many others came to this planet and thus have had to fight for their rightful place.

"Why have you had to fight,' asked Donna.

"Because we were seen as the invaders by the humans. We are D-Bees, a slur for dimensional Beings. Just like you."

"I'm a D-Bee," asked Donna shocked.

"You are worse than that," said the Lizard Mage, "You're a D-Bee human -- one from another time. Your seen as weak and useless by society at large. A parasite that should be crushed out of existence. But that will not be a true assessment."

'Why," said Donna now truly curious.

"That my dear, brings us back to our original conversation," said Zha-Ying, smiling.

*****

Wind Runner reached the top of the hill just after midnight. Amid the missile craters there were two bodies. In his mind's eye, he saw an aura of life that illuminated faintly. It was barely alive. He could sense no life from the other. The aura of magic came from a piece of clothing and the sensation of magic also came from whoever was alive.

Just as he was beginning to move forward, in his mind he heard, "Wind Runner! We've got company headed your way and fast."

It was Pink. Finally she decides to check-in. "Pink, where the fuck have you been? You sure took your sweet time letting us know where you've been," he telepathically screamed at her.

"Sorry about that, big boy. I was checking all the crash sites, to see if anything could be salvaged. Zilch. There's not much left," came the reply.

"Who's here besides us," Wind Runner asked her.

"Guess," came the reply.

"Get back here, now," was all he could communicate.

As he slowly crept forward, the Emirin sniffed the air to pick up any scents. Nothing. Everything still smelled like explosives. He could sense lifeforms approaching from the north, but they were at the edge of his detection range now. Before things got worse he wanted to see once and for all, who or what had so miserably screwed-up his plans. He moved towards the shapes on the ground.

What appeared to be a black cloak billowed on the ground, but as he looked around he could sense no breeze causing it to move. He concentrated with his magic detection and saw a faint aura illuminate it. He crept closer and sniffed it. He realized it was not clothing, but was a living creature. It then clicked what it was -- a Night Wing. A symbiotic creature that feeds of the magic energy of the host and can turn the wearer invisible and almost impossible to most forms of detection. He did the math in his mind and discovered the silver lining to this current shitty storm cloud.

He realized that if there were things that needed to be carried, he or Pink couldn't do it. He looked back over his shoulder and mentally called Grond to come to the hilltop. He crept to the first form. A humanoid lizard. It was wearing very expensive looking micro-chainmail armor. More profit for this blown mission.

The lizard was holding the ankle of the second form -- the primary source of the life and magical auras, a naked human female. If she were standing, Runner knew she would likely be tall. Probably one and three-quarter meters. She had very short, light golden hair. Blonde he thought the humans called it.

He hissed and thought to himself, "A D-Bee human. Another fucking mouth to feed."

He sat on his haunches and decided to preen himself while he waited for the others to arrive. It wasn't long before he heard the lumbering movement of the ogre coming up the hillside. He reached out again with his mind and saw that Pink would also be here very soon, followed closely by the last being on this wretched world he wanted to see -- Strider.

Besides being Wolfen, which served as the first reason Wind Runner detested him. He was a stiff necked, stubborn, do-things-by-the-book, do-gooder and generally an asshole. His only redeeming feature was that he was very good to have around in a fight.

They had run into him on a previous job, back east near Burg, which was on the border of the Magic Fed and the Free Zone. He and his two compatriots were members of a crew low-level criminals for hire. Burg was a free-wheeling town on the edge of nowhere, far from the pricks of the Coalition and too far from their larger population centers for the blowhards of the Federation of Magic to care about.

Led by a Juicer human (someone who pumps chemical into their bodies to enhance themselves) named Richtor, a raspy-voiced de-generate, they were hired-out to complete custom jobs. He knew the Juicer was connected to the underworld, but didn't know how strong that connection was. One day this tall, Wolfen Cyber Knight blows into town and decides he going to clean house. At that point he encouraged Grond and Pink it was time to get out of town, but not before they clashed briefly with the knight. If it wasn't for Grond's ability to stand toe-to-toe with the nearly three-meter wolf and Pink's ability at distraction, he might not have been able to mentally pull the side of a building down on him, so they could escape.

Wind Runner hoped he wasn't still pissed-off about that.

He heard the soft buzzing of wings as Pink approached and he looked in the direction of the noise and saw her. At nearly 20-centimeters, she was tall for a pixie and had a set of faerie wings that could propel her at amazing speed. She was an adept telepath and could also telekinetically manipulate objects. She was one of the best burglars he knew, as she could manipulate the tumblers in most locks with her mind. Her moniker "Pink" came from the pinkish-silver hair she wore in a ponytail. Although she looked tiny and weak, she was cunning, tough and had a sharp tongue. She had her soft side as well. She was Grond's biggest cheerleader and always came to his defense, when others put him down. Wind Runner didn't know a lot about her past, but he knew she had zero tolerance for bullies of any kind.

Almost simultaneously, Grond crested the hill as well. Wind Runner thought of him as a big puppy. Something you liked to have around, but could at times caused great frustration. He always seemed to have a smile plastered on his face. His jaw jutted slightly forward allowing a set of his lower eye teeth to be exposed. He was thickly muscled and wore a mish-mash of composite armor and rough leather clothing. His head was completely bald. Although mentally slow, he could figure out lower technology equipment easily and he too was always good to have around in a fight. If someone or something he cared about was in danger, he became a juggernaut and was practically unstoppable. Runner had seen him like that only once and it wasn't a pretty sight. When became worked-up like that it a lot to calm him back down.

When Pink saw Grond, she zipped straight to him. "Pink," Gond said happily.

She flew up to him and kissed him on his cheek, causing him to chuckle and gush.

"You two act like you haven't seen each other in ages," Runner scornfully communicated, "We've got work to do!"

"What's here Wind Runner," Grond inquired and then seeing the human female he brightened again and said, "She's pretty."

As Pink zipped forward to do a closer investigation, Wind Runner admonished Grond with, "She's a fucking D-Bee human. Just another mouth to feed."

Pink flew to her face and feeling her breathing said, "Come on Runner, be nice. She's alive. Who knows she might be good for something."

"Grond," Wind Runner communicated, "Keep a look out. There may be trouble."

Then he turned his gaze on Pink, "How much time do we have," he telepathically said.

Pink whispered, "Not much. He's right behind me."

Wind Runner and Pink then approached the other figure next to the woman. The micro chainmail was very high quality. Pink buzzed to the creature's head and emitted a muffled scream.

"What is it," Runner thought at her, his eyes going wide.

"A pretty scary looking lizard," she whispered and she moved back from the corpse.

"Not just a lizard," said a new voice, "He's a Lizard Mage."

Wind Runner turned toward the voice and emitted a growl, crouching and baring his teeth. Grond caught completely by surprise turned with his fists up and asked, "Strider. What you doing here."

"I could ask you losers the same question," growled Strider a huge and powerful bi-pedal wolf. He was powerfully built and wearing mottled grey composite plate armor.

Wind Runner bared his teeth and hissed, as he telepathically said, "Who're you calling loser? We weren't the one who had the building pulled down on his head."

Srider stepped forward, a low growl uttering from his massive chest.

Wind Runner mockingly communicated, "Careful of that precious code yours, Cyber Knight."

Pink shot between the asdversaries and said, "Give it a break, guys. You can beat the shit out of each other later. All those fireworks earlier are going to draw the attention of the bugs," she made a point of pointing to the north toward Xiticix Territory. Ever the diplomat, she continued, "Let's take the woman and the lizard's body and all this stuff and find some place safe to hunker down the rest of the night. Okay."

Strider narrowed his eyes and growled, "I have to admit she's right. I'll carry the lizard and all his things. Grond, carry the woman."

"You always have to give the orders don't you, Strider," Wind Runner telepathically complained. "We'll do like you said, but all of that shit is ours. We found him first."

Pink streaked down to Wind Runner's eye level, "Listen, Runner. We can argue about this later we must go. Now!"

"Alright! You win," communicated Wind Runner and continued, "Grond, carry the human."

Strider and Grond cautiously stepped toward each other. The level of stress was dramatically decreased when Grond said, "She really IS pretty."

"For a pink skin," muttered Strider.

Pink zipped up to his eye level, "Strider. Be nice!"

"Out of my way, bug," he muttered, swatting at her with his hand.

Grond stiffened and said menacingly, "Don't you be mean to Grond's friends, Strider."

The Cyber Knight raised his hands in mock surrender, saying, "Sorry, big boy."

Strider then reached down to move the Lizard Mage's hand from the woman's ankle. As soon as his hand touched the Lizard Mage, the corpse crumbled to dust. The clothing settling like a deflating balloon.

Pink seeing this, flew up to his face and shouted, "What did you do?"

Strider himself looking surprised confessed, "I didn't do anything. He just disintegrated."

"Well," interjected Wind Runner. That'll make the job of carrying his shitf easier." He turned to Grond and directed, "Grond, you carry the lizard's things and the wolf can carry the female."

"But," Grond began.

"No buts," the Emirin telepathically stated, "Just do it."

Hurt in not getting to carry a potential new friend, Grond acquiesced. He stooped down and picked-up all the lizard's gear, including the night wing. Strider picked up the woman.

Pink flitted up to his face, "Make sure you're careful with her," she snapped.

"By all means," the Wolfen said sarcastically, flashing a grin filled with pointed teeth.

The group moved down the hill in a southeasterly direction and into the woods. They continued moving until the sky started to lighten. Wind Runner estimated they had travelled at least ten-clicks. They found a secluded spot to camp, near a pond. Pink scouted the are to ensure everything was secure. Strider set down the woman and asked the ogre for the night wing. He used it to cover her, so she would remain warm. He and Grond then set-up camp, while Wind Runner laid by the woman and rested. When Grond went to start a fire, Wind Runner communicated he thought that might be a bad idea, to which Strider agreed. The group then settled in to a time of rest. They had decided that for the next several days, they would move during the night and camp during the day.