She woke to sunbeams on her face.
Neri blinked up at the ceiling, uncomprehending. She was so comfortable that, for a moment, it felt as if she were back in the Mamodo World, laying in her favorite meadow after a long swim in the lake. Drying in the sun. Surrounded by vibrant flowers. Listening to the whistle of the wind through the trees.
It was a beautiful fantasy and one gone too soon, as her reality came rushing back.
Neri jolted into an upright position, heart racing. Her head whipped back and forth, as she analyzed her surroundings.
She was in a small room with big windows. There were boxes stacked against one wall and a large gold-wire mirror propped up against another. She sat in the center of a giant mattress, draped with cream quilts and sable furs.
No sign of Damascius. Or any Mamodo foe for that matter.
No sign of her ultramarine blue spellbook either.
Neri scrambled off the bed, panicked. She stripped the mattress bare, but nothing. She went through each box - a few were filled with nothing but books – and still nothing. She turned to the only door in the room, her face determined.
She stepped out of that room and into a much larger one. There was so much sunlight in this room it took her eyes a few moments to adjust. And no wonder, for the far wall was one big window with an unfiltered view of the ocean beyond.
Neri was momentarily distracted, until a small snore broke her trance. She looked across the room, noting intricate bookshelves, patterned armchairs, and a body slumped over a wooden desk.
She approached quietly, tiptoeing over loose papers and potted plants until she stood over him. And her breath caught.
The human was completely out, snoring softly, his head cushioned by the pages of the spellbook. The glowing pages of the spellbook.
Her spellbook was glowing!
So…did this mean...?
She observed him – from the greasy hair to the 5 o'clock shadow to the stained t-shirt. Her lips puckered. He wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting but figured anything was better than nothing. She poked him in the back.
Hal's arm shot out and Neri jerked her head back just in time to avoid being struck.
"What the—" Neri stumbled backward.
"Whoa—" Hal said at the same time, falling out of his chair. He blinked up at the mystery girl – the one he'd rescued from the tide. Large brown eyes stared back at him, fringed by thick lashes.
"Uh, um –" Hal stuttered, trying to get his bearings.
"Who are you?" Neri demanded, one hand resting on a hip.
A loaded question that Hal was not comfortable answering. "Uh, who are you?" He said instead.
Neri tried again. "Where am I?"
That was an easier question. Hal replied, "Kanem-Bhort. I found you unconscious on the beach. At dusk." And then, realizing what this might look like to her, he quickly explained. "See, I just moved here myself and I wasn't confident I could get you to a clinic fast enough… so, I uh… well, I used to be a Healer myself, and I figured I could at least attend to your wounds overnight and… yeah." Hal realized he was starting to ramble and shut up.
They regarded each other silently for a minute, until Hal asked, "So, h-how are you feeling?"
Neri ignored the question. She pointed toward the desk. "My book?"
Hal rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Uh, right. It was next to you in the sand. Strange book you got there, heh. Not a single page was wet."
Neri didn't care about all that. "Can you read it?" she asked.
"Oh. No. I stayed up all night trying to make sense of it. The text, I mean. But no dice. The language must be of the extinct variety? I was – somehow – able to manage one line though. But don't ask me how, heh. The First Spell…"
Hal trailed off when she extended her hand toward him.
"I'm Nerishima," she said. "But you can call me Neri."
As the sky transitioned into one of Kanem-Bhort's famed sunsets, Hal and Neri sat on the rooftop ledge of his apartment building, feet dangling, butts numb.
They'd been there most of the day. It took most of the day for Hal to wrap his head around her words.
"So… Let's go over this one more time." He said for perhaps the twentieth time.
"Okay."
"You're from… a different world."
"Yes."
"Called… the Mamodo World."
"Yes."
"And you… you're… a Mamodo."
"Yes."
"And - and you're here to fight… for sovereignty of your world?"
"Yes."
"Against ninety-nine others?"
"I figure there's less than that now. But yes."
Hal looked from the rainbow sky, toward the girl, studying her profile. Nothing on the surface would suggest she was anything but a normal albeit beautiful human girl. She certainly looked too petite to be anywhere near a battlefield, especially one of the otherworldly variety. Her skin was smooth and pale. Her hair was pink and wavy, pulled into a messy ponytail.
Her luminous eyes were a bit dismantling when they met his.
But he didn't break eye contact when he asked, "And you need a human partner to stand a chance?"
She nodded. "I need you."
Hal considered her words. The impossibility of them.
One-hundred monsters - from a completely different space-time, with powers beyond imagination – had been sent here, to the Human World. To fight until only one remained. The prize = kingship of their realm for a millennium.
Hal had to suppress a sigh. He had come to this small country to get as far as he could away from war. And on its peaceful beaches he had discovered something far more harrowing.
The Gods must be keeling over in laughter.
Although… he could say no. Refuse to take part and return to mindless days on the sand. There was, after all, no prize for the human partner (he'd asked). And he did not know this girl – did not owe her anything.
By her own account, this battle would get fierce. Her competitors were powerful, vicious, cunning, ruthless. His life would be forfeit. So, as a matter of fact, he would have his prize – the ongoing beat of his heart.
Very skewed terms.
So, why was he considering it?
He looked down at the spellbook - the key component to this ancient battle. In it was a spell only he could read. And if it disappeared, so did she – Nerishima. Neri.
And though it was true he didn't know her - was an entirely different species than her, apparently - he felt somewhat… connected to her. To the darkness in her eyes. There was great pain in her past, a pain she hid well.
But Hal saw it. Trauma sees trauma, after all.
When he looked at her again, she was facing straight ahead. She did not press him for his thoughts, did not demand a decision. She just sat there, her face giving nothing away. Waiting patiently.
So, he faced the sky too and together they watched the sun sink under the horizon.
In the Great Indian Desert, two formidable beings face off
The winds were strong, blowing grains of sand into the eyes of Colonel Meiers as he assessed his surroundings.
Beside him, Oorjit loomed. His Mamodo partner stood an impressive 30 ft tall, built entirely of stone. He leaned on boulder fists riddled with yellow Mamodo runes.
There was a burst of mauve lighting across the sands, and an accented voice yelled out, "Garuk!"
The ground began to quake.
Meiers opened his own spellbook. "Here it comes!"
Sand exploded to the right, and the spinning Salvatrax crashed into Oorjit. The momentum threw the stone Mamodo off-balance, but only briefly. A giant stone arm swung to meet it, but the Mamodo evaded by spinning upward. It landed 50 yards away.
Meiers gritted his teeth. Damn thing was quick. "Try dodging this. Amurusen!"
Oorjit's boulder arms lifted, disassembled, and shot toward their foe.
Salvatrax jumped right then left, the boulders creating large explosions of sand as they missed.
"Ushana!" Salvatrax hissed.
"Garuk!"
Salvatrax began twisting rapidly and disappeared into the sand once more.
Same ol' trick. "Oorjit! Aim for the ground! Amuruk!"
Oorjit's boulder arms doubled in size. With great strength, he brought them down, sending up a large plume of sand. The force of it unearthed Salvatrax as well.
With his strengthened fist, Oorjit landed a direct blow, sending Salvatrax flying.
"Nice one!" Exclaimed Meiers, watching the large reptilian creature flail in the air a moment before seeming to catch its balance, and landing on clawed feet near its partner, a cloaked woman.
Colonel Meiers had been sent as part of SR, their special reconnaissance unit, to scope out the area in the interest of establishing a new military post for the Alliance. The desert was quite unforgiving, naturally, but the nearby Indira Gandhi Canal guaranteed clean drinking water, and enabled irrigation. Rural villages lined the canal, and it was in one of these communities that the Colonel and his partner were set on by their current adversary.
Suddenly, he heard The General's voice in his head. A snippet of their hushed conversation from weeks ago. "We must try to recruit as many Mamodo to the Alliance as possible. With their powers, we would make great strides in winning this war."
Judging by its feral expression, diplomacy was the last thing on this Mamodo's mind. But Meiers had to at least try. He closed his book and raised a placating hand. "Mamodo! What is your name?"
Salvatrax blinked, confused.
"I'm Cael Meiers. This is my partner, Oorjit. I am a Colonel-ranking officer in the Alliance. First Wing, Sector Five. One of our Special Forces units." When there was no response apart from its flicking tail, he continued. "As part of our Special Forces unit, we are recruiting Mamodo to our side for the war effort.
"The Republic of India, though neutral, is certain to become a battleground, sooner than later, due to geography. It's only a matter of how soon. Already, the Alliance is deciding on base locations; that's why I am here. And I can assure you similar decisions are being made in the USSR and China."
Light erupted. Ushana, the other bookkeeper, wore a gauzy ghoonghat; old, traditional garb very common in this part of the world. She only ever spoke to recite from their mauve spellbook, which she now gripped tightly.
"If you joined your power to ours, we would be better equipped to repel them!" Meiers rushed to finish. "We could protect your home, your family! Together!"
"I have Salvatrax," Ushana said in a soft voice. And then, much sharper, "The rest of you can go away! Sorugaruk!"
Shit, a new spell?!
Salvatrax launched into the air, something akin to a large, tapered drill-bit emerging from between its extended jaw.
"Amurusen!"
Three boulders launched to meet it. Salvatrax began spinning, looking very much like a giant drill.
Salvatrax smashed through the first two boulders in midair with ease. The third slowed him down, but not enough to prevent a direct hit.
The pointed end pierced Oorjit's chest cavity, splintering the stone. A low groan emitted from the stone golem as, almost in slow motion, he toppled back into the sand.
Eyes wide, Meiers had no time to even call out as Salvatrax, atop Oorjit, whirled and lunged at him.
It was the last thing he remembered before everything went black.