Blue-flamed torches outlined a gravel path. Jackie followed its trail as it wound like a river up and around a centered stone statue of a howling wolf. Its chest protruding outward—with closed eyes, his head aimed toward the heavens.

  She circled the monument, her fingers trailing the paws of the immortalized wolf. The script on the stone epithet plucked at a distant memory of hers. A language, some foreign tongue that didn’t look so foreign. These characters, she had seen them before. She moved her bag’s strap to her other shoulder, dug for her journal.

  “Our…destiny is not seen, it is… what does this word mean?” Jackie struggled to read the last word, thumping her pen onto the journal. She moved a bit closer and traced over the hollowed letters, then once more as she searched her memory for its meaning.

  “The word you’re looking for is heard.” Caleb said, startling her from her fugue. Their eyes connected; his held a question. “You understand my language?”

  She spoke the words hesitantly aloud, the syllable gliding smoothly over her tongue with familiarity and comfort that she wasn’t aware of. These words made her feel empowered, almost as if she were working a spell of some sorts. “How beautiful.”

  “Well, I guess that answers my question. How do you know what this says?”

  “Growing up, my mother taught me the basics, she stopped when I became a preteen. She says it was because there was a fire in my eye and she didn’t like that. She wanted me to live comfortably on Earth and not like an outsider. She and my father tried to speak the language less and less when I was around. The more they tried to keep it away the more I fought for it to stay alive and real.” He listened and nodded along. “I probably have an elementary level understanding, but I can at least understand this much and that makes me happy.”

  “You say that while speaking with this much fluency?”

  Jackie’s hand raised to cover her mouth.

  “What?” She asked, her voice breathless. Again, she spoke in the foreign language of her childhood, the language of her ancestors.

  Letting that settle into her mind, Caleb walked further ahead, leaving her behind. They needed to find the barrier. She also hoped they weren’t intruding, although she suspected they were. The further they got from the statue, the more that became evident. The well-trimmed grass, the elegant gate surrounding a cottage showed signs of life and regular maintenance. Awe-struck, she took in the witchy-looking cottage.

  When they approached the door, she expected Caleb to knock instead, he stepped back and motioned Jackie toward the door. She gave a tentative knock while shooting him a wary look. Why did she have to knock? He walked in a natural and habitual way like he’d done this plenty times before, so of course; she had expected him to be the one to knock. She raised her fist to knock again when she heard a “Coming!” from within.

  The owner opened the door a crack, whispering, “Yes?” Green eyes peered up at Jackie. “Oh,” uttered the feminine voice. The door flew open revealing a plump woman with an apron around her waist—pockets stuffed with garden tools and kitchenware—the mash-up didn’t complement each other. “Welcome to my garden, travelers. I am Maia. It is nice to make your acquaintance.”

  The woman’s speech struck her as odd and a bit old, so much so that Jackie wanted to drop down and offer her a curtsy.

  “Hello. I’m Jackie, it’s nice to meet you.” Deciding not to curtsy, but to offer her hand instead. Maia accepted her politeness and shook her hand.

  Looking to her left, she said, “Hello again, Caleb. What causes you to hide? Come out.”

  “My lady Maia, is this the welcome you give to an Alpha? Welcome, travelers? You act so unfriendly. It worsens each visit.”

  “I will have you know, Caleb. I am a faerie and one blessed by your Moon Goddess to protect the boundary. As much as that hurts your pride, you will respect me. Your kind’s customs don’t affect and nor will they ever.” Her mention of customs peeked Jackie’s interest. Even more interesting she wondered what a faerie was. She decided to save her questions for later. She found her to be trustworthy because of how hostile she took to Caleb, her friend’s killer.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Oh silly me, let me get that kettle running for you, sweetie. Come, make yourself at home.” She motioned them inside one last time leaving the door cracked leaving the invitation at that. Caleb was the first to push the door open, he grabbed Jackie’s wrist and walked inside.

  “It’s not a good idea to linger here,” His low voice pulled her from her jumbled thoughts.

  “Why are we here?”

  “Think of it as paying our respects.” He eyed the hall with suspicion before continuing in a whisper, “Maia is the guardian of the portal without her approval she’s likely to shoot you right between the eyes before you reach the barrier.”

  Jackie swallowed hard. He could have warned her of all this before they had gotten here. Now she understood why it was so hard to find the barrier. What was the ratio between the people who died from crossing and the ones who were shot by Maia just for being disrespectful? On some level, she acknowledged the possible differences of moral opinion them both—being that killing was wrong—but the enemy of her enemy was her friend so she blocked out the fact that Maia was also a killer. She still thought of her as a possible companion. Maia was also the first supernatural she had met and Caleb acted really cautious and scared when she was around. He’d even had her knock on the door. She held a power Jackie didn’t have. It would be wise to stay on her good side.

  “How bad would it be to cross the boundary without these?” Jackie held out the golden armbands toward Maia.

  “This bracelet? You are blessed to have them in your possession.” She said sweetly, blowing the steaming teacup she cradled in her hands. “It’s a token offered to me for a passage across. I won’t be your guide, but you gain my favor, having one with you.”

  ***

  The mirror-like reflection of the boundary stood in front of them. There was a tugging feeling in Jackie’s mind as if she had been there before. She felt as though she was looking through a portal into another world and that was sort of what she was doing. This was the moment she had been waiting for, she had wanted to know what was over that boundary so bad and now was her chance to finally pass through.

  Despite the mental bells going off, she moved forward. A soft hum echoed in her ears and drowned out the noise in her vicinity. The sound lulled her forward. Her feet moving of their own volition. A smile found its way to her face, stretching her cheeks. Her breathing turned shallow. Her heartbeat sped up. A little faster. Then faster still. This was it. This was the moment.

  She reached her hand out to feel the barrier that had enchanted her dreams, the very thing that brought her to this moment. She reached her hands out toward the rippling and felt an energetic pulse pulling her closer and closer into itself. She was a few feet away when ice cold hands wrenched hers back. A weird sensation passed through her, fleeing when the freezing hands covered her ears.

  At first, a white noise rang out and her mouth opened as she threw her head back and forth, hoping to get the invader to unhand her. She didn’t want to be freed from that sound.

  “No! Bring it back,” she pleaded.

  Those persistent hands pulled her head down into their chest, the comforting warmth that ensued was enough to pacify her for the moment. The motherly embrace kept her senses intact, what was her mother doing? If she had known where Jackie was, maybe her mother would worry about her.

  Calm down, Jay. It’s me. It’s me. Riley’s voice broke through the ringing.

  Jackie pulled back from the hug, only to find nothing. Riley hadn’t been holding her. In fact, nothing had been holding her. She tried not to panic at that revelation. Why had she thought Riley was here? She had heard her…but that voice hadn’t come from a source outside of her; it came from within. Telepathy? She was still alone with a killer wolf, going on a sympathetic hero’s journey to save his mom. She wondered how ridiculous that would sound had she said it out loud.

  A distorted shout drew her attention over her shoulder. Caleb’s gesticulating made her giggle a bit. His eyes looked like they would soon pop out of his head. Whatever he was saying were garbled and indiscernible. She shook her head while pointing toward her ears. She couldn't hear a thing he said.

  A cawing sound came from above her head, she looked up at the night sky in wonder. She glanced back at her world and its bright blue sky high above. She sucked in a large gust of air before breathing out from her mouth. Her muscles relaxed as she did so. With outstretched arms, she spun around in glee.

  “Duck, woman!”

  The fear-stricken yell burst her bubble of joy. She dropped to the ground in fright, instinctively reacting to the shout. Out of curiosity, she rolled onto her back. And wow...

  What looked like giant cockroaches with wings swooped down from above. Jackie fought the urge to squirm when its spiky legs got close to her. In a strange union, the insects squawked as they flew by.

  Welcome home. Save my warriors.