Four elephants, a turtle, an Alex, and a Cal

[between_worlds]

Alex hits the ground with a thump and groans.
He is somewhere, he has no idea where.
A thin, wide-eyed man wearing a tall, pointy hat is leaning over him.
The man says, "Umm, Archchancellor, I think we got the wrong one."
A deep voice off somewhere to Alex's left says, "Well, get on with it then Stibbons. Do it again."
Alex blinks several times and realizes the thin man is tugging on his arm, "Sorry, sorry, you need to get out of the circle."
Alex stumbles to feet and to the side of the circle, still dazed.
"What-" he starts to ask, but the man wearing the very strange hat is already chanting.
There is a flash of bright, almost-purple, almost-green light and the taste of smoke fills Alex's mouth.

Comments

[hearing_shadows]

"Won't the wizards give us up to the police if we go back?" Cal frowns and shakes his head. "We're better off with your amulet, or with doorways. Which do you think is our best option?"

[between_worlds]

Alex grimaces, "I'm not an engineer so I have very little idea how to go about fixing it. We could look for doorways and see if the change in location helps the amulet? But I'm not sure the wizards would go directly to the police, after all they did bring us here and powerful people often don't care what the law has to say."

[hearing_shadows]

That last point, at least, is true. He knows that from experience. The idea of going back to the wizards grates on him, though, and he doesn't think they'd be able to help anyway.

Then again, wandering around the city looking for "doorways" sounds implausible, especially with police on their tail.

"How do you know where these doorways are?" Cal asks. "For a guy used to interdimensional traveling, you know seem to know very little."

[between_worlds]

"I can't do everything. But I should be able to find the doorways. You get a knack for, almost feeling them after a while. Each world has a slightly different taste and the flavor of the place in-between is very strong."

[hearing_shadows]

"Doorways it is," Cal says. He halts in his tracks, pats his pockets. "You don't happen to have another weapon on you, do you?" Rick had never allowed him to have more than one knife at a time, damn him. He should try Alex's shoe idea.

[between_worlds]

"Promise you won't kill anyone?"

[hearing_shadows]

Cal considered the question. Blah, blah, good behavior. There's some whispering in the back of his mind, and he shakes his head. "I'll try," he finally says.

[between_worlds]

"Thank you," Alex says seriously.
"You can hold onto the knife."

[hearing_shadows]

Cal takes the knife from Alex. He weighs it in his hand, taking in its weight--or rather, lack thereof. It bothers him, a little, but it'll do.

In any case, with the magic blade, he'll have to be extra careful if he doesn't want to kill someone. "They can live without a limb or two, right?" Cal says absently. He tosses the knife in his hand, twists the handle. The blade gleams in the light.

[between_worlds]

"Depends on the limb and if they have hospitals here, but either way, cutting people's limbs off is a bad idea. Right now, the police are just irritated, but if we hurt someone they'll get serious."

[hearing_shadows]

"I'm pretty sure I took down at least two of those policemen," Cal says. He lifts a shoulder. "Might be a little too late for that."

[between_worlds]

"We need to get out of the city."

[hearing_shadows]

"We're running now? Works for me." Cal squints at the blade. What's it made of, he has no idea. He twists the handle again and wags the knife at Alex. "Are you sure you want me to have this?"

[between_worlds]

"I can't fight, you can. We likely would have left the city soon anyways, the magic here may be what's interfering with my pendant and I don't think any portals are nearby."

[hearing_shadows]

"Sounds good to me." Cal sticks the knife in his waistband. The odd metal is cool against his back, and a little comforting.

[between_worlds]

"So now we just have to figure out how to leave the city without getting caught. A map would be very useful right now."

[hearing_shadows]

Cal half-expected a map to pop into existence right then and there, what with the absurdity of the day. "We don't have one. Do you know where the city exits are?" He'd had a cursory examination of the city, and he could probably trace their steps back to the police station, but that wasn't where they needed to go. Maybe if they could find a suitable vantage point...