4"It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Messick," Matt said politely, offering his hand to her.
Mrs. Messick took his hand and held it a moment. "Just call me Bee, dear." Matt nodded, smiling.
Jay looked around. "Where's dad?"
"He had to work late again, Jason."
"Oh, okay. Um, me and Matt will be downstairs in the family room." Jay started towards the staircase, pulling Matt by his belt.
Mrs. Messick nodded. "That's 'Matt and I' dear, and I'll call you when dinner is ready."
Jay shut the door on the way down, and flopped onto a couch. Matt looked at his boyfriend, raising an eyebrow. "Jason?"
Jay winced. "Yeah, that's my full name. I hate it though." He took the TV remote and began to flip through channels. "Anything you want to watch?" the younger man asked.
Matt flopped onto Jay, kissing him on the cheek. "Naw, we can just hang out." Both boys giggled and Jay turned off the TV. They both laid on the couch, enjoying being in the other's arms.
They hadn't been there long when they heard a deep voice calling from upstairs. "Supper, boys!"
"Dad's home, I guess," Jay commented as they disentangled themselves. Once they were standing, they began to giggle again, and then headed upstairs.
* * * * *
Keel stared at his computer screen. It wasn't often that he had the room to himself, and it had been months since he had it to himself for an entire evening. He wasn't in much mood to do anything though.
The young man jumped when he heard a knocking at his door. "Man, it's nearly ten at night, who's at my door at this hour?" Keel brushed his bangs from his face, and moved to the door. He opened it, and was greeted by Laura's smiling face. "Oh, hey Laura, what's hanging?"
Laura just pushed herself into the room and jumped on Matt's bed. "I figured I'd give you an update on things," she giggled.
"Oh, Matt and Jay?"
"Yeah, that and Risanth," she said, suddenly serious.
Keel looked at her carefully. "Risanth? You mean that mage from Ameranth?"
Laura nodded. She explained to Keel what had happened in the park earlier that day. "So I don't have any clue what to think."
Keel sat for a moment, looking over what he had written. "So this guy didn't respond to the name Risanth?"
"No, not any more than anybody else did." The elder girl looked around. It had been a while since she had been in Matt's room. Nothing had really changed.
"Maybe it is, but it isn't Risanth. You know, some sort of alternate dimension thing? Where people exist in every dimension, but not quite the same?" Keel though out loud, trying to remember what he had learned in his intro to quantum theory course. "We heard about something like that." Laura just stared at her friend.
"I may be older than you, Keel, but I don't think I'm quite as smart. You lost me," she stated, agitated.
Keel shook his head. "No worries, duddette, I'm just thinking. I don't know." He shrugged, grabbing a textbook off of his shelf. He flipped through the pages. "There," he stopped on a page about forty pages into the book. "Here's what I mean."
"It's called the many worlds interpretation. Anytime that a quantum event has more than one outcome, the universe splits. Say if an electron can strike atom A or atom B. There will be two universes, one where it hit atom A, and another where it hit atom B." Keel explained, glancing up from his text book.
Laura's face contorted. "So there could be an infinite number of universes? Like some sort of science fiction movie."
Keel nodded. "Yeah, something like that, so right now there could be a universe with dinosaurs still roaming the planet."
The older girl stopped, putting her hand up. "But a world with magic? Is that even possible, even with this multiple worlds theory?"
"Many worlds interpretation, and I don't think so. According to this book, the basic laws of thermodynamics and physics still apply to all worlds. As well, there shouldn't be any way to travel or even observe or contact any worlds outside of our own." Keel frowned. "I don't think that Matt is lying. Hell, I was there when those tiger claw marks just appeared in the middle of the night."
Laura shook her head. "Maybe quantum theory is wrong? I don't know enough about it to come up with anything."
"Maybe you're right, Laura. Magic in itself seems to defy the laws of physics, so why wouldn't it break every other law as well? I think I'm gonna swing by my prof's office tomorrow, and see what the dude thinks."
* * * * *
"So, Matthew, what are you majoring in?" Mr. Messick's voice reverberated through the room. He was quite a bit older than his wife, his hair gone white years ago, but he still held himself with confidence.
Matt finished the bit of meat loaf he had before answering. "Mathematics, Mr. Messick, just finished my second year."
The elderly man nodded, smiling. "Any plans for graduation?"
Matt tensed, he hated this question. "I don't know yet. Grad studies, perhaps."
"Who wants some ice cream?" Mrs. Messick's voice carried into the dining room. She had left the table a moment earlier.
Jay laughed. "Mom, we're still eating! Can't the ice cream wait a moment?"
"That's all right, Jay," Matt said, as he was actually the only one eating. "I think I'm done."
Jay leaned in and whispered to Matt, "My mom loves entertaining, she lives for this." Matt giggled.
Mrs. Messick brought out a stack of bowls and spoons, along with a four litre tub of vanilla ice cream.
"Thanks for all of this, Mrs. Messick." Matt stood up to help her with the dishes.
Mrs. Messick waved him away. "Please, dear, call me Bee."
Matt sat down again. "Okay Mrs. Mes...I mean, Bee." Jay just rolled his eyes and grabbed a couple bowls.
Everybody was digging into the ice cream, and after everyone was served, they all began eating in silence, enjoying the treat. Not long after that, Matt began to feel light-headed, and then he felt darkness enveloping him quickly. Before he could even say anything to warn Jay what was coming, he had passed out, face-first, in his bowl of vanilla ice-cream.
"Matthew?" Bee Messick said in alarm.
Jay quickly lifted his boyfriend out of his dessert. "He's got narcolepsy mom, it'll be fine. He'll be up and about soon." ~Hopefully,~ Jay though, trying not to panic.
* * * * *
Matt woke up in a quiet, dense forest. He looked around and saw all sorts of deciduous trees. They were tropical looking, with leaves as large as his torso, or bigger, and trunks that extended far above a dense canopy.
~A rainforest? I must be really far away from the plains...why is it so quiet here?~ Matt kept himself low to the ground. He held the staff that Risanth had made for him underneath his body. ~This is vaguely reminiscent of the tiger incident a few months ago.~
Suddenly Matt found himself trapped by a dense net, rocks holding the edges to the ground to keep him from moving. "Bad move," Matt said quietly. He felt for a red gem on his staff and concentrated. A fiery, hollow sphere surrounded the young man and quickly expanded, burning away the net and allowing Matt to stand. The smell of burnt hemp filled the air, and almost choked Matt, but he held his concentration. Feeling for a blue gem on his staff, he willed a bubble into existence around him.
A roar to his left prompted Matt to whirl around. A humanoid creature had launched itself at Matt. He could only register orange and white fur from his glimpse while he fell flat on the ground again, evading the flying creature. Another creature jumped onto the bubble, but the bubble deformed slightly, and with a flick of Matt's hand, deformed outwardly again, launching the creature into the air.
~They're tiger men!~ Matt realized. They were shaped like incredibly large humans, standing more than seven feet tall, and probably weighing nearly three hundred pounds of sheer muscle. They had orange fur flecked with black stripes all over except for their stomachs and chests, which was covered in white fur. Their heads looked almost identical to a tiger's head. Their feet were like tiger paws, but their hands were more like a human's, with large claws.
The pair regrouped, circling around Matt on either side. Matt had stood up at this point, eyeing them both wearily. He had learned a number of defensive techniques, magical and physical, but not much in terms of offense.
They both pounced at the same time, but Matt was ready for them. He touched a white gem on his staff and jumped directly up, soaring into the canopy above, nearly fifty feet in the air. The tiger men looked up in amazement as Matt grabbed onto a branch, and nearly fell when the spell wore off. He clambered onto the branch and looked down back at his attackers.
"What do you want?" Matt yelled down at them.
They started to talk between themselves for a moment, a language of guttural growls and short barks. Finally one shouted back, "We could ask the same of you, human." His voice was deep, almost a growl. His accent was odd, emphasizing hard consonants.
Matt shook his head. "I don't want anything! I'm lost!" ~The story of my life in this world,~ he thought ruefully.
The two creatures conversed with one another again for a moment. the one that was talking to him before spoke up again. "Then we shall escort you out of the forest." Matt shrugged, happy with the answer. His bubble shield still up, he touched the white gem a second time and floated to the ground. The tiger men eyed him warily, but did not move to attack him.
"Lead on," Matt said, motioning towards the forest.
They walked for nearly two hours in silence before Matt decided to try and break the ice. "Um, so, what are you?" He winced. ~Some diplomat you are, Matthew Nanton. you'll get yourself killed before the welcome home reception.~
The second tiger man, the one that hadn't spoken to Matt yet, snorted. The first one grinned, revealing a row of large, sharp teeth. "We are Tigelmen, human."
"Tigelmen?" Matt said to himself quietly.
The first one snorted at this. "For a mage, you know very little." The second one snorted again.
~I think they're laughing at me.~ Matt shrugged the insult off. It was accurate, and he wasn't going to argue with something that was twice as big as he was. "I come from somewhere far away." Matt internally kicked himself. ~Lame.~
"All of Ameranth knows of Tigelmen, and they know to leave our forest alone. There is only Ameranth. You are lying." The first Tigelman stated matter-of-fact.
Matt sighed. ~Am I that transparent?~ "Another world, not here."
The second Tigelman nodded. He was taller than the first Tigelman, but leaner. The shorter of the two, the leader Matt presumed, asked the taller a question in their own language, at which he snorted again.
Matt looked around, his eyes darting about. ~I wonder if there's anyway to get away from these guys?~
"Qu'into will test you, without your staff. No weapons," the smaller one announced. Qu'into, the taller one, grinned.
Matt backed up a bit. "Wait, I never agreed to any test."
"You came into our forest unbidden. We will do what we want." Matt wasn't going to argue the point. He put the staff against a tree, and faced the taller one.
"What's the deal?" Matt asked.
The first Tigelman nodded. "You win, we consider you worthy of Tigelman friend. You lose, we leave you outside forest asleep." Matt didn't think asleep meant a peaceful sleep. The first tigelman growled three times, then Qu'into roared and launched himself at Matt.
"Ahhh!" Matt yelped, rolling out of the way. ~There's no way to compete! He's bigger, strong, and faster!~ Matt rolled out of the way a second time as Qu'into dove over him again. ~He's playing with me.~
Matt grasped his leaf pendant. It was nearly black. "Ai, now'd be a good time to help me." The pendant glowed slightly, but the glow quickly faded. Matt looked up just in time to leap to the ground again.
Qu'into snorted a couple times at the human. ~Oh yeah, he's definitely laughing at me,~ Matt thought morbidly. Then he noticed the vines, and remembered the Ith sprites' trick with the m'veri. Matt grabbed the pendant and willed the vines to slither towards Qu'into.
The Tigelman roared in defiance once he realized what was happening. The vines wrapped themselves around his limbs, and he thrashed about, ripping them from the trees, trying to keep himself from being caught. The shorter Tigelman snorted at his companion, which only enraged him further.
Meanwhile, Matt noticed that the colour of the pendant had begun to brighten. ~They're coming here! I have to keep Qu'into busy until then!~
Matt let out a strangled squeak when he saw what was happening to Qu'into. The Tigelman had stopped struggling, but he let out a primal roar that caused birds to flock from the canopy. He kept roaring, almost in pain as Matt watched him get taller, a lot taller, and bigger too. The Tigelman's hands became even less reconizable as a humanoid's. Matt continued to wrap vines around the creature, until he was almost completely covered.
Matt sighed in relief when the roaring stopped, but then screamed when he saw Qu'into, a much meaner looking creature now, burst out of the vines almost effortlessly. Qu'into was now nearly ten feet tall, and probably approaching five to six hundred pounds of muscle. He was slightly stooped, and his arms had elongated. His hands were now more like paws, with gargantuan, long, sharp claws. Matt gulped, looking at the pendant. It was a yellow colour now. ~Hurry, guys!~
Now even the first Tigelman looked worried, as his friend charged Matt. The young man decided to break the rules of engagement, and ran for his staff. Just as he was about to make it, the weretiger had reached Matt, and dove at the young man. Matt hit the ground another time, but not fast enough. Claws raked his back, shredding his shirt and leaving it on the ground in tatters. Matt felt blood running down his back. The pendant shined a yellow-green.
The young man staggered to his staff, and held it closely, pressing his palm against the blue gem. His protective bubble sprang into existence for the second time that day. Qu'into rushed Matt, and pressed into the bubble. Instead of the bubble launching the Tigelman away, though, Matt found himself flying through the air. ~Not good,~ Matt thought woozily.
* * * * *
Jay was watching Matt closely, wondering what was going on. Matt was twitching in his sleep, almost as if he were trying to act out some dream. Suddenly Matt screamed out in pain and rolled over, falling onto the floor. Jay watched in horror as lines of blood began to stain Matt's shirt. Remembering the story of the tiger in the woods that Matt had told him earlier that day, he quickly got some bandages and bound the wounds.
"Is everything all right, Jason?" Bee Messick called down the stairs.
Jay gulped. "Um, yeah, mom. Just watching a horror movie. I'll keep it down."
"All right son, don't stay up too late."
She closed the door and Jay breathed a sigh of relief. Matt was in danger, but he didn't know how he could explain this to his parents. He shuddered as Matt began to whimper. Jay drew his boyfriend close to him and kept applying pressure to the wounds.
"It'll be all right, you can do it, Matt," he whispered quietly.
* * * * *
Matt's head was swimming from the rapid loss of blood. He held onto the staff, lifting himself up from the ground slowly. ~Where's Qu'into? He should have finished me by now.~ Matt looked up to see Qu'into attacking his friend!
"I guess he loses all control in that form," Matt said to himself. "Good riddance to both of them." Matt began to limp away, but stopped when he heard Qu'into's friend roar in pain. "I can't just leave him," he lamented.
He turned around to see a small trail of blood from where he had crawled from, but the trail stopped not less than a foot away from him. ~Jay,~ Matt realized. Another roar brought him into the present.
Matt looked to see the smaller Tigelman on the ground, rolling in pain, and Qu'into was heading his way. "What was that incantation Kazar taught me?"
Matt touched the blue gem again and held the staff in front of him.
"Frozen throne heed my call,
Take my foe or I may fall.
Stop him solid in his tracks,
Keep me safe from his attacks!"
A flash of blue light surrounded the staff and a blinding projectile shot at Qu'into. Matt heard the Tigelman roar in defiance, but when the light subsided, Matt was still standing. Qu'into had been encased in ice, or some of him. From the waist down, the Tigelman's body was trapped. Matt heaved a sigh of relief.
Before he could even think about what to do next, a loud snap could be heard, and Qu'into began roaring again. Matt watched in amazement as the ice shattered and the Tigelman was racing at him once again. ~It's not possible! That was solid ice!~ The young man dove for the ground, trying to think. He looked at the pendant. It was a verdant green!
Qu'into never made it to Matt. He was caught in the branches of a large tree, which seemed to be moving of its own will. The tree held the Tigelman, and it seemed he was finally stopped.
"That was too close," Matt said, slumping back to the ground.
"Yesitwas! Fartooclose! Goodthingyoucalledus!" Matt heard Ai's voice, and let out a small sob.
* * * * *
"And then?" Jay asked as he washed Matt's cuts.
Matt shrugged, a painful motion. "The sprites healed both me and T'saro, the other Tigelman. He apologized, he didn't think his friend would go that far."
Jay gave out a low whistle. "It's a good thing they healed you, 'cause I think these cuts would have needed stitches otherwise."
Matt nodded. "Thank you, Jay, for being here for me." Matt leaned back and gave Jay a kiss on the forehead.
"Always," Jay said quietly, laying both of them on the couch. Matt fell asleep quickly. Jay listened to his breathing, laboured, but not loud. He gave his boyfriend a quick squeeze.
"Always."