For the longest time I didn't see any reason to free myself from this mess I've gotten myself in. Part of me wanted to see why they had nailed me to this tree instead of trying the many other forms of torture that I know exist. The other part felt like giving up and relinquishing myself to whatever fate those ass holes hoped I would succumb to. I heard movement in the trees around me, but nothing came too close. I was expecting the smell of blood to attract a lot of predatory creatures, but it didn't seem to be attracting anything yet.
I looked up at my wrists to assess the damage and to see how difficult it would be to free myself. The metal spike was most likely imbedded into the tree at least 5 or 6 inches so it wouldn't slip out easily. There were about 2 and a half inches through my wrists and another 3 inches sticking out. I would say the spike was at least a foot long. The circumference gradually increased towards the end. This is going to be fun. I braced my back against the tree as much as I could and pushed outward with my arms. I really wish that my bones weren't so damn impervious to breaks. If the bones would just snap, this would be a lot easier.
After about 15 minutes went by I gave up on that. Another hour went by and blood was still drizzling down my arms and my back. I sighed and closed my eyes.
I blinked probably for a second too long and suddenly found myself standing at the end of a marble paved street. There was a river to my left and large columns bordering the road. I looked down at my wrists and they began to heal up. I touched my back and felt that it was healed and my robes seemed to be intact again as well.
"This is odd."
A tall grey, wrinkly faced, dreadlocked, alien looked over at me and hurried off when she realized I was talking to myself. Yeah, yeah. . .whatever. I went into a tavern and seated myself at the bar. The bartender lumbered over and looked at me. I didn't know what language to speak to him, which is a problem because I don't think I know any other languages if English, er. . .human rather, isn't acceptable. I read the blackboard behind him and just uttered something about a Bitter and he lumbered down to the other end of the bar. At least I don't have to speak in complete sentences. The bartender slid my drink towards me and I took a swig of it. I suddenly remembered that I didn't have any money. I suppose that I could just teleport out of here, but that's kind of rude.
I looked at a calendar that was hanging off the wall and saw that it was turned to a page marked 'Hendas' and all the days up until the 67th were marked off with a black slash. I frowned and looked around. Hendas. . .How the hell did it go from being the 4th of Jundas to being the 67th of Hendas? Obviously the months aren't incredibly short, so what is going on? Did I move forward an entire month in time? A man sat down next to me at the bar. Man is stretching it a little since he was about 6 feet tall and had squid like features. No apparent nose or mouth and his hands were more like fins. Maybe someone should dump him in the ocean for another million years so he can finish evolving. I think he missed out.
"It's a nice day isn't it?"
"Too bad it isn't Jundas anymore."
He laughed a watery laugh.
"It hasn't been Jundas for three ims."
I kept the look of shock off my face because it took me a while to realize what an 'im' was. That must be a 70 day period, like a month back on earth. I've traveled forward 207 days. . .this can't be good. Squiddy turned to the bartender and started talking to him. I didn't pay much attention until he started talking about a large rebel force and their leader.
"They say she's over a million degs old, but still looks like a young girl. She's been breaking into the palaces somehow."
"I've heard of that. They say there is no apparent break in, but there are signs of at least three kets of people being there at once."
"How do you move a small army around undetected? The soldiers have been going out of their minds trying to track down anyone who has seen or head of the whereabouts of her hideout. Nobody seems to know anymore than the soldiers."
"It's bad business. I wonder what's going to happen when the Unifaction is gone."
They stopped talking and looked at me. I didn't mind the way the bartender was looking at me. I know I must look completely out of my mind.
"Yes?"
"This girl. . .what is her name?"
"They just call her Shadowhunt. That's all that's really known about her. Except that she can control the elements."
I knocked my empty mug over and almost toppled over off the stool. I managed to catch myself.
"What's your damage young lady?"
"I have to get out of here."
"Hey, you can't leave until you pay the tab."
"Right."
I looked around the room until I saw what appeared to be a pile of money on a table. I took its appearance in in detail and pulled a similar looking wad out of my pocket a moment later.
"How much do I owe you?"
His glance flickered down at the red piece of leathery substance and then his eyes twitched back to mine.
"3 gurms."
I handed him the red one and he took it, handed me some change and I ran as fast as I could out of the bar.
I couldn't believe Adrasta had formed an army and was marauding around killing everyone in the Unifaction. I have no idea what the Unifaction is, but if Adrasta is bothering about killing all of them, there must be a good reason. I have other business however. I have to kick her ass for leaving me like that. It really doesn't matter if the soldiers can't find a trace of her. If we are indeed that same sort of being, then I should have some sort of connection with her. It's just a matter of figuring out this connection.
