Having decided that the young girl would be more comfortable if she knew that Gwen was also from her world, Gwen removed her gambeson and sat in her t-shirt and jeans waiting for the girl to regain awareness. It took what Gwen assumed was about an hour for the young girl to start to become coherent. The process was gradual at first, with the girl simply focusing her eyes, but Gwen was still startled when the young girl broke the silence.
"What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" the girl asked, panicking.
"Everything is all right. You are safe here." Gwen said, trying to soothe the scared girl. "My name is Gwen. What is your name?"
"I'm Nyah."
"And how old are you?"
"I'm fourteen."
"You were drugged. What is the last thing you remember?"
"I remember running through the woods being chased by some men with weapons. It was terrifying. I screamed for help, but no one came. They surrounded me. I tried to struggle, but they threatened me with their weapons. I was captured and tied up. After that everything is foggy."
"You were captured by slavers, but you are safe now. My friends and I freed you. Do you know where you are?"
"I'm not sure. I was walking down the street when suddenly I was in the woods. I tried to find my way out but then the men found me and started chasing me. Can you help me get home?" Large tears began to slip from Nyah's eyes.
"Where is your home?"
"Brooklyn."
"Well, I don't want you to be scared, but we are stuck in a medieval alternate Earth."
"What?! This cannot be real! You are joking? Please tell me you are joking, right?"
"Unfortunately, as much as I wish it were true, this is all very real," Gwen said, pausing. "However, there is a way for us to get home, but we need to get there. Do you want to meet my companions?"
"Are they nice?"
"Yes. This here is Marigold the fairy."
Marigold flew up in front of Gwen and waved at Nyah.
"A fairy?! I guess I really am in a fantasy land."
Gwen led Nyah into the boys' room. Nyah walked into the room behind Gwen. She peaked nervously around Gwen to see the boys.
"No one is going to hurt you here," Gwen stated, coaxing the younger girl out from behind her. "Guys, this is Nyah."
"Hello Nyah," Maximus said. "Can you tell me about your home world?"
"Not now Max," Gwen and Marigold said in unison.
Nyah returned to hiding behind Gwen.
Starting with Maximus, Gwen introduced Nyah to her traveling companions. Nyah was skittish and wouldn't leave Gwen's side the entire time.
Eventually the evening arrived, and the group decided that the two brothers would go purchase food and bring it back to the inn. The reasoning behind this decision was simple. Nyah did not yet feel comfortable going outside.
After eating, Gwen and Nyah went to sleep in the girls' room.
The next morning Gwen woke up to find Nyah sleeping in the other bed. Nyah woke up rubbing her eyes.
"Guess this isn't a dream after all."
"No, it isn't," Gwen replied.
The girls walked into the boys' room, and they all prepared to continue the journey. They went to the stables and retrieved their horses. The group then continued out of the town. As they left the town, the issue of their riding situation arose. Nyah was still not entirely comfortable with any of the boys, but neither she nor Gwen could ride. After a short amount of discussion, it was decided that Nyah would ride with Gabriel and Gwen would ride with Maximus. Nyah was not thrilled with this arrangement but agreed.
The ride was uneventful. The fields eventually gave way to forest. The day passed into evening. The group began to set up camp.
Suddenly a howl pierced the evening air. The howl was deeper than the wolf howls that Gwen was familiar with. Even more frightening, it was close. The howl was followed by another, this one coming from the woods on the other side of the camp. Tristan's hand went to his weapon. Gabriel grabbed his crossbow. Maximus reached for a branch. Picking it up, he lit one end in the fire. He then drew his saber in his left hand.
"Gwen, Nyah, stay close to the fire," Tristan commanded.
Gwen did as she was told, pulling her dagger from its sheath, putting herself in front of Nyah.
"These are dire wolves," Marigold stated, using her superior vision to see in the dark.
The three boys took up a protective triangle around the horses and the fire with Tristan in front of Gwen and Nyah. Looking into the darkness, Gwen could see several pairs of glowing eyes circling the camp.
"I don't want to die," Nyah whimpered.
"The wolves won't approach as long as the fire burns," Tristan said, reassuring the girl. "Keep the horses close."
The group was quickly surrounded by glowing yellow eyes. There must have been over 20 pairs.
"We will have to keep watch and keep the fire going to keep the wolves at bay. They may even leave if we wait long enough. I'll keep first watch, the rest of you try to sleep," Gabriel stated.
"Mari and I will take second watch in four hours," Maximus responded, pulling out his tent for the girls to sleep in. The magician then laid out a sleeping bag from his bag for himself. Maximus laid down on top of his sleeping bag on his side using his pack as a pillow. Marigold fluttered down and reclined on the pack next to Maximus's head.
Gwen and Nyah crawled into the tent. They settled down for what was going to be a difficult night. Gwen quietly comforted the younger girl, telling her that everything would be fine, even though she herself was worried about the safety of herself and her friends. Eventually, after much tossing and turning, Gwen was finally able to fall into a light sleep.
______________________________________________________________________________
Gwen awoke to the sound of shouting. Panic washed over Gwen like a bucket of ice water, banishing any grogginess she might have felt. The hairs all over her body stood on end. Something was very wrong. Climbing out of the tent, she saw that the fire was burning low. All three of the boys were awake and had their weapons drawn. Even Marigold was at the ready. The dire wolves were in a tight circle around the group; their eyes filled with hunger as they trained their eyes on the horses.
Gwen could see the drool dripping from the mouth of one wolf. Another had its lips curled back in a snarl. Both sides seemed to be waiting, preparing to see who would make the first move.
The first wolf lunged at Gabriel. Gabriel backstepped and swung his sword. The sword grazed the wolf's head. The injured wolf snarled in pain. Blood dripped down the wolf's snout as it backed away.
Marigold shouted something in Draconic. Needles of ice started to form around her. Pointing her hand forward, she sent them flying forward towards an approaching wolf. The wolf was struck in the side of its body. With a whimper the wolf retreated, blood dripping from its wound.
Suddenly, Gwen heard a howl from the back of the pack. The wolves all started to back away, the pairs of yellow eyes disappearing one by one. After a few minutes, having judged that the danger had passed, the boys sheathed their weapons and sat around the remnants of the fire.
"That was close. It would have been a difficult battle," Maximus stated. "Mari, how many wolves did you see? Your low light vision is better than mine."
"There were 23 dire wolves," Marigold responded curtly. "Why didn't you use your elemental manipulation? Your abilities are strong enough to have made easy work of those wolves."
"Mari, creating fireballs would have frightened the horses and you know that I am not as proficient with ice as you are. I would have frozen the whole area."
"Well, at least you thought things through during the battle. I figured you would forget and torch the whole forest like you used to."
"That was one time. It was 50 years ago, and there were many large spiders," Maximus indignantly shot back.
"You can use magic?" Nyah questioned, peeking out from the tent.
"Well technically it is all science and Draconic technology, entropy, gravity manipulation, and localized time dilation to induce specific phenomena. I can explain it if you'd like," Maximus described.
"Max, that would take several months, and the sun is already rising." Marigold countered.
Tristan and Gabriel looked at each other confused.
"Let us have breakfast and get moving. We can reach the Library within two days.