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MOST OF THE SHIFTERS were in their animal forms, but a couple were in their humanoid guises. They looked just like the soldiers we’d seen, with jutting jaws and bulbous backs of their heads. I skidded to a stop and growled in warning.
“This is an unlikely sight,” one of the humanoid werewolves said. He was stronger than the others, I figured he was the alpha. Both men wore animal skin clothing that was in far better quality than Aurora’s and Ruen’s rags. The rest of the pack were similar to werewolves back home, but had large bulges in the backs of their heads and narrower, more elongated snouts. They were mostly black, brown and gray, but there were a couple of silver ones as well.
“I’ve never seen a troll take anyone captive before,” his second replied.
“Where did it get a demon and a vampire from?” the alpha said in puzzlement. “We don’t have many of them in this realm and none are anywhere near our land.”
“This isn’t what it looks like,” Aurora said. “We’re traveling together.”
The wolves shared a look of amazement, then the alpha motioned for his pack to hold off on attacking us. “Where are you from?” he asked. He was taller and stronger than his second. He was an abscess on my monster scale.
“We’re from the fourth dimension,” Ruen lied. “We’re passing through to the sixth realm. We’ve been trying to stay out of shifter territory, but we accidentally crossed into yours. Trolls are fast, but they aren’t easy to guide,” he added ruefully.
“Frug ylu,” I muttered.
“That’s pretty much all she can say,” Aurora said apologetically at the wolves’ amusement. Still tucked beneath my arms like toys, they were mustering as much dignity as they could.
“How did you manage to tame a troll?” the alpha asked incredulously. “It’s never been done before. Did you capture it as a youngling?”
“Something like that,” my bestie hedged. “She won’t harm us or our allies, so you have nothing to fear.”
They shared another skeptical look at that claim. “We were going to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind,” the alpha said, shaking his head in amazement. “There’s something about you all that’s very strange. I have a feeling it would be a bad idea to divert you from your task.”
“We appreciate your leniency,” Ruen said. “We’ll be passing back through this way in a few weeks’ time, just to give you a heads up.”
“We’ll keep watch for you,” the alpha said, then studied us intently. “Does your visit here have anything to do with the overlords’ plans to invade Earth?”
“You know about that?” Aurora asked in surprise.
“The overlord of this realm has recruited many packs into his army,” he replied. “They tried to slaughter the rest of us who refused, but soon learned it’s wiser to leave us alone.”
It was a subtle warning not to cross him or the other shapeshifters who lived in this realm.
“We’re just on a scouting mission for our master,” Ruen lied. “We don’t work for any of the overlords.”
The alpha nodded, eyeing me uneasily. “I don’t think you’re being entirely truthful, but I don’t sense that you’re a danger to us. You may pass through our land peacefully, as long as you don’t hunt here, or harm any of my pack members.”
“Thank you for your courtesy,” Ruen said politely. “Saige?” he prompted me.
I nodded at the alpha and his second, making them start in surprise. They nodded back, then the shifters parted to let us through. I took off running and we soon passed through their territory and reached neutral ground again.
“I’m glad we didn’t have to kill their entire pack,” Aurora said now that we were out of earshot.
“We could have taken them,” Ruen said confidently. We’d been outnumbered by thirty to three, but we all knew he was right. Aurora could have knocked half of them out with a sex fantasy. He would have shrieked at the rest of them to shatter their eardrums, then we would have bashed and sliced them to death.
“I don’t want innocent blood on our hands,” my bestie said sharply. “We don’t kill people unless they’re working for the overlord or if they try to kill us first,” she reminded him.
“I know,” the vamp said sulkily. “You’ve both nagged me about that in every realm we’ve been to.”
Ignoring his sullen attitude as best I could, I was more careful to skirt around shifter territory now. The last thing we needed was for word to spread about us. It was doubtful the wolves would tell any of the soldiers about the strange trio they’d met, since they were enemies. Still, it would be best for us to avoid contact with their kind if we could.
It was heartening to realize not all beings in the underworld were evil like we’d thought. The shifters were warlike and didn’t tolerate trespassers, but they weren’t savage beasts. The alpha had been intelligent and insightful enough to know we had no intention of bothering his pack. I hoped the other shifters in this realm would be as easy to deal with.
“Can we stop for a while?” Aurora asked an hour later. “My meat sacks are empty and I’m getting hungry.” She’d tossed meat into my maw while I’d been running to keep me fueled. I’d eaten most of her supplies and she’d only snacked every now and then.
“I’m thankful it isn’t possible for vampires to get motion sickness,” Ruen grumbled, straightening his ratty shirt and flicking his lank black hair out of his eyes when I stopped to put them down.
“Don’t start whining,” Aurora warned him. “Saige might make you run behind us if you start complaining.” I nodded in agreement while smirking at him.
Ruen’s lips thinned in annoyance, then he flashed off into the trees to search for food. Aurora trotted over to a narrow stream to fill up her waterskin again. I dropped to all fours and stuck my face in the water, gulping it down like an overgrown dog.
My bestie snickered, so I scooped up a handful of water and tossed it at her. She spluttered in shock, then shook her head. “You look and act like a beast, so I keep forgetting you have the ability to think.”
I held my hand up and waggled it from side to side.
“You have trouble concentrating?” she said, already well aware that my mind wandered a lot. She constantly had to prod me to stick to the fastest route that would lead us to the relic we were in search of.
I nodded glumly and sat back on my haunches. My stomach was rumbling even louder than hers. I needed something more substantial than the snacks I’d been eating.
“Go and hunt,” she said when she heard my gut growling. “I’m sure Ruen will be back soon.”
Doing as she’d suggested, I stayed within earshot of her, although I could sense the vampire somewhere nearby. He always appeared on my monster radar when we left our world once his restrictions vanished. I could hear him giggling as he chased after his prey. Rolling my eyes at his inability to quell his murderous side, I reached into a shrub and pulled out a sleeping animal.
“Don’t eat that!” Ruen said when he suddenly appeared next to me. He slapped the food out of my hand before I could take a bite out of it. I only realized it was one of the weird sheeplike creatures that had fur like sticks and leaves when it bleated in terror. More of the herd were roused and went into an instant panic. The one I’d intended to eat projectile vomited at me, but I leaped back before it could splatter on my fur. As black and gray as the shrubs that surrounded them, they’d blended in with the foliage too well.
“Eat this,” the leech said and thrust a bird at me. It looked like a black goose with a brown beak and feet.
Glad he’d stopped me from eating the sheeplike animal, I stuffed the bird into my mouth whole. I loped off in search of more food, leaving him to guard our friend.
