Flames And Blades

Chapter Sixteen: Hot Blooded

When we all headed downstairs, four different plate settings were made. Each plate consisting of what I gathered as everyone's dream meal. Adam had a huge steak, very rare, from the blood seeping out onto the mashed potatoes, and a small helping of cheese grilled veggies. For Warrison, finally, after more fighting over random theories on how everything is going to happen after we leave, Rori tells us to get out of her room and head to the kitchen.

A standard cheeseburger the size of my head and some juice soda combo. Rori's had a home-specialty looking soup that made her smile in a far-off kind of way. My plate, the one that made me the happiest, was filled with gravy covered poutine and a grilled cheese mom-style placed on top. Cut into triangles with the crusts off, of course. Once seated correctly and quickly, we all ate in complete silence, too absorbed in our meals to care about anything else, or at least I was.

This was followed by Rori staring out the window with an unplaceable emotion in her eyes. The one that had, and did so again, made everything in the room going flying everywhere at warp speed only to drop back as nothing happened. She then looked at me, a saddened twinge in her eyes. "It seems a few things are going on a bit quicker than I thought they would. Very well. Huh-huh. I'll just have to show you guys the reins and let you have at it." With this, she gave a nervous wince and opened the door outside.

I froze.

Outside, in the perfect circle nature could not have produced with its forces alone, stood an entire army in some sort of intrequilt yet completely barbaric war. Everyone split into two sorts of teams, both aiming for the cottage we were in. Only using flames and blades to do their bidding. At this rate, we, and the cottage should have been dead hours ago. Only all the people fighting and everything to do with them, right down to their fires, were translucent. As if the four of us were surrounded by ghosts.

"What the f-" Warrison whispered, now beside me, pulling a switchblade clumsily from his back belt loop, ready to use it on any of the army members.

"Relax, Mr. Over protective. I have us in a - oh what would you call it? - Ah, a - um, pocketed like, half dimension of sorts." Rori waves her hand as if Dimension travelling is just a Sunday brunch,

"A- um- what now?!" Adam outs, grabbing Warrison and I, pulling us back behind him.

"Well, how do I explain this to you without freaking you light-weights out?" she sighs, putting an elegant finger up to her chin. "Ah! Okay, so basically, when you came over, your brother's haze came on big time, only crazy different. And what I believe to be an army of the Ab Antiquos and a large group of the Demetrains to start a violent war right here. So for the purpose of not dying, I sent us to this dimension. Which is just an underlayer of the one these guys are in." She finishes, looking proud of herself for wording it in a new way.

"Wait so my brothers here. Where? Let me see him." I say, cutting myself short of being out of breath. Adam grabs me before I make a run for it. My legs kick out from under me, and I stop before I kick him square in a place that might be deemed unpleasant to be kicked in.

"It's a warzone, Indi. Attempting to go there will just get you killed. We'll get to him another way." He still holds me back, even with me struggling against him, shaking more than anything.

"You'll have a better chance of living to see him once you understand how to use that haze of yours." Rori chymes in. I glare at Warrison for help, but he's just staring someplace far away, brows furrowed. This is so not the time for a self-finding moment or the beginnings to a musical number Warrison! I freeze again. Long enough that Adam lets go. Warrison finally snaps out of it and looks right at Rori.

"Tell me again how this dimension of yours works."

She smirks before starting, giving me the impression that she has something else going on in her head, for all I know this whole shtick of hers could just be one huge, illegal, diversion.