"Who are you?" Kenny demanded, still holding Max close to him.
"I'll be happy to explain everything to you, but first we have to get away from these people," he said, "I will see you two in the garden in five minutes. It's right outside that door."
"What do you think?" Max asked, as they watched the stranger weave through the crowd.
"It's either him, or slay a dragon tomorrow," Kenny said dryly, "Followed by a wedding. Not that I'd mind being married to you, if you were going to look like this everyday."
"Yeah? You want to try wearing a corset?"
Kenny had to smile, as he brushed a curl off of her face, "Not something I ever gave much thought too. Well your highness, should be waltz over in that direction?"
"Anything for my prince," she replied, as they slowly made their way toward the terrace, "Do you think that they'll miss us in there?"
Kenny shrugged, as they walked out into the moonlight garden, "This is more important. Think he can tell us how to get home?"
"I hope so."
"Ah, I see that you have decided to join me," he said, as he stepped out in the moonlight, "Princess Annabelle and Prince William, it's a pleasure. Sadly, it's not who you really are."
Kenny pulled Max closer to him, "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Marbruk, a wizard. I'm the one that brought you here."
"And where is here?" Max asked, "The king said Ital, but."
"Yes it is Ital. This place, you could call it an alternate dimension. Full of magic and evil."
"So why are we here?" Kenny asked, sounding a lot more calm then he felt.
"You're here to go on a quest. Our dimension is being taken over, and none of our knights have been able to stop it. That is why the wizards are pulling people in here from your dimension, to stop the evil. To restore peace and harmony before it's too late."
"Uh, huh," Max said, "Can we wake up now?"
"Ah, you don't believe me," Marbruk said.
"Why us?" Kenny asked.
"We've tried many types of people. People in your military, doctors, scientists, and they all failed. We decided to try the law, and you two happened to stumble upon my portal first."
"The others," Max asked, "The others that you brought here, what happened to them?"
"They didn't finish the quest."
"And that means?"
"They died," Kenny answered, "You're killing people? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"If this evil overttakes our dimension, it will spill into yours. It will overtake the universe," Marbruk said, "And I doubt you want that."
"Why not just get someone with a tank?" Max asked, "Why this whole charade?"
"Making you royalty? Italy disdains people who aren't from here, they suspect them of being evil. The real Princess and Prince were taken by the evil, so it seemed natural to have you stand in for them," Marbruk said.
"This is crazy," Kenny stated, "Just tell us how to get home."
Marbruk shook his head, "Sorry. You can't. There is a quest first.
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"Morell should be here soon," Jimmy said, as he rubbed his temples, "And I don't want to hear about your ideas of other places, Carter."
"It's a viable theory," he insisted, "Alternate dimensions."
"I like it better than Danny's theory about Kenny kidnapping Max," Skeeter admitted, "That man is insane."
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"We're not doing your quest," Kenny spat, "Max? Lets go."
"Kenny, I don't think we really have a choice," she said quietly.
"The princess is right," Marbruk said, "You don't have a choice. You refuse, and you'll be stuck here forever."
"Fine," Kenny said, "What do we need to do?"
Marburk removed a map from his robes, and handed it over, "This shows the trail that you must follow. Along the way you have to collect seven orbs, together they form what you need to defeat the evil, on top of the highest cliff."
"Uh, how far did everyone else get?" Max asked.
Marbruk frowned, "The farthest? Three, I believe, before his death. Good luck to you."
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"This is where the cruiser was found?" Morell asked, as they went back out to the site of the disappearnce, "This is the middle of nowhere, Sheriff. How long was it before there last transmission and the arrival of the other deputies."
"A half hour, maybe less."
"No footprints, no drag trail, tire marks," Morell said, "Anything get picked up on their video camera?"
"It went dead," Jimmy said, "The last thing on it was Max approaching the car."
"Interesting," Morell mused.
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"Now what?" Kenny asked, "How does he do that?"
"Is this the start of the trail?" Max asked, as she looked around the green valley around him, "I think I miss the castle already."
"You would think that someone who could open portrals and transplant us anywhere he wanted could fight off this great evil. We're cops, Max, not . . . knights or whatever."
Max picked up the satchel from the ground, "He gave us food and some clean clothes at least, and a horse. I'm glad to be out of that corset at least, although I'm not sure I can ride a horse in this skirt."
"I've never ridden one," Kenny replied, "I guess we better get going? To the, uh, Mayahaluca? What the hell is that?"
"I guess we're going to find out."
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"They're just gone, Jill," Jimmy said, "It's like they fell off of the planet. If anything happened to them, I won't be able to live with myself. They wouldn't have just run off, and left us all here to worry."
"Of course not."
"I'd rather that be the case though, instead of having something happen to them."
"You'll find them, were ever they are."
"Even Carter is starting to sound plausible. Talking about other dimensions, and Danny Shreve harassing everyone. What does Max see in that guy?"
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"According to the map, that is the Mayahaluca," Max said, as she pointed toward the waterfall in front of her.
"Any clue what we do next?" Kenny asked, as they made their way closer, "Look for some orb? Some how I don't think it's going be that easy."
"It's pretty at least," Max said, as she gazed around at the greenery and the crystal clear water surrounding them, "It's something out of a fairy tale."
"And I guess it's my job to make sure the Princess gets home safely?"
"The Princess is more than capable of taking care of herself."
"I know she is," Kenny said, smiling at her, "Should we start looking? Shit! Max, duck!"
They dove to the ground, as the boulders crashed around them.
"More?" a voice growled, "Marbruk sends more? He is more dumb than we realized!"
"What the hell is that?" Max asked, as she stared up at the creature standing above them.
"And I suppose that you're here to take the orb? I'll offer you a trade. The orb for this fetching creature."
"You don't touch her," Kenny spat, as he lept to his feet. Eight feet tall, hairy, big teeth, what the hell is this, he thought, and this is the first one?
"So you'd rather die? Sounds like plan to me," the creature growled, as Kenny raised the sword, "Silly humans. You really don't have a choice."
Max looked up at the trees surrounding them, before turning back to the creature advancing on Kenny. The rocks split some of the trunks, she thought, all they need is a little push. Taking a step back, she picked up the other sword and swung it at the first one, "Kenny! Move!"
Seeing her whack the trunk again, he dove out of the way as the tree collasped onto the monster in front of them.
"Did I get it?" Max asked, as she pushed her hair out of her face.
"Oh, yeah," Kenny said, as he looked at the ooze seeping out from under the tree.
"Kenny, look," Max said softly, as the orb appeared in front of them, "Wow. I somehow thought it would be bigger. It looks like a marble."
"You want to take it? I'd say you earned it."
Max nodded, as she slid it into the satchel, "Six more? Thanks."
"For what?"
She smiled at him, "For not offering me up for trade."
"He'd be a step up for your fiancé."
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"I don't want to answer that," Jimmy groaned, at the knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Jill offered, as she moved toward the front door, "Danny."
"I need to speak to your husband," he demanded, "And know why he isn't out looking for Maxine right now."
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Max stared at him for a long moment, "I can't believe that you're bringing this up. Here of all places."
"Oh come on, Max. I was kidding."
"Comparing Danny to that thing? Yeah, you're hilarious."
"Fine, forget it," Kenny said, "We should go."
"Yeah we should."
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"Why?" Jimmy asked, "There isn't anything else we can do right now, Danny."
"She's been kidnapped! We're supposed to get married in two weeks! This is unacceptable."
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"You still mad?" Kenny asked, as they rode in silence down the path.
"Yes."
"Ah, Max. In all of this, that's what you're mad about? Look at us. We're in some alternate dimension, on a quest to save the universe from being taken over by evil, and you're ticked at me for not liking your fiancé?"
She groaned, "Okay, okay."
"We okay?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Kenny? You know what is really strange? I haven't really thought about him, Danny, since we've been here."
"We've been busy."
She shook her head, "Wouldn't a normal person think about the man she is going to marry in two weeks?"
"Max, we're trapped in an alternate dimension. I think he'll forgive you."
"Do you think that we'll get to go home again?"
"I'm not planning on dying here. Neither are you."
Max smiled at him, as she looked up at the sky, "It's starting to get dark. What the hell? Is that what you were supposed to slay?
Kenny watched the winged beast fly overhead, "What do you bet that we meet up with it again later?"
"That wouldn't be shocking."
"Do you want to make camp? I don't want to be wandering around here in the dark."