〆 𝖆 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖑𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉 〆 ᵗᵖⁿ ⁺ ᵗᵗⁱᵍʳᵃᵃˢ

I. Mixing it Up

• Xander and Faith are characters from the author and are part of a bigger picture. They are only here for this chapter.

-

"Glad we could help," Xander said, shaking the village leader's hand. "Looks like it's time to go, though."

The portal shimmered into existence, beckoning them onward. Faith nodded and started to wave farewell to the villagers they had spent the last week getting to know as they resolved, of all things, a diplomatic crisis. Neither hunter had quite known what to make of that, but pitching in, offering advice and help where needed without actually punching or stabbing anything had been a pleasant if confusing change.

"Wow! That's some neat magic."

They turned to see a young girl in an embarrassingly revealing outfit. All three stared as the pink-haired girl with the brilliant blue eyes stuck her head through the portal and pulled back.

"Fun! I may go exploring."

"We don't control the portals," Xander said quickly. "We can't guarantee you could get back."

The girl, and Xander found himself wondering what she actually was, ran a finger along the edge of the portal and then stuck it in her mouth with a thoughtful look. "Yeah, it's pretty obvious you didn't make this. That's high-level magic, but now that I've seen it, I can make one myself- at least to go there and get home. Easy."

Their host frowned briefly, but shrugged and addressed the odd creature that probably only looked like a girl. "All I ask, Milim, is that you be careful, and come home safe."

Milim's grin was so wide that Xander feared for her face. "No problem, bestie!" She gave him a hug and followed the two demon hunters through the portal. "This'll be fun, and I'll be back 'fore ya know it!"

Xander and Faith looked around the forest they found themselves in and listened for any sounds that might indicate either civilization, trouble, or both. All too often, they went hand-in-hand. Faith moved back-to-back with him, watching the other direction, till they got a handle on their immediate situation. Milim showed no such caution.

"See ya!" She headed off in what was probably a randomly chosen direction.

Xander and Faith traded glances, and the former shrugged. "Nothin' we can do about her. Let's have a look around."

They began to explore. Moving quietly through the forest, eyes and ears alert; they soon came upon a huge wall. It stretched up well over their heads, and appeared thick and well made. It vanished into the forest in each direction.

"Inside or outside, you suppose?" Faith asked. She tried to follow it with her eyes, but was stymied by the forest.

Xander shrugged. "Let's find out. We'll find a gate eventually."

They followed the wall for about five minutes before they found a path leading away from it. It wasn't much of a trail, more than likely made by animals originally, but it had been widened recently, and there were shoe prints in the dirt. They agreed that was promising. Moving off the trail, they traveled parallel to it, not wanting to meet anyone just yet.

After about 10 minutes of walking/sneaking, they heard voices. It sounded like young children, but not trusting their luck, they dropped to their hands and knees and carefully moved to the edge of the woods before lying behind a bush, looking out into a meadow at a large rambling building. A group of kids dressed in white had just finished pouring out the door into the almost football field-sized yard. They quickly organized a game of some sort, as two of the older children headed into the woods.