Echoworld

That's what most magic is. The stories that people are told about wands and magic dust are just that - stories." He shifted to face her more directly. "You' re capable of magic, Wren. All of your echoes are too, to a greater of lesser degree. The Wren from my universe is probably the strongest of all of you."

She leaned her head against the bricks and closed her eyes, laughing sardonically. "Great. Just great. Do you have anything else -"

Shaun's comtra crackled, cutting off any other sarcastic comments Wren had been about to make. "Sierra Br----o. Do-----ear me? Sie-----avo."

"Here. Eric, what's the matter? I can barely understand you." Although his voice was calm, his eyes betrayed his worry.

"Wren-----fire. I need to------out. No-----ation for------day, at least."

"Eric, I can't hear you. What's -"

"Try tomo------. Over----out."

"Eric!" Shaun tapped his comtra, then placed his ear to it. Nothing. He sighed and put his head back, smacking it into the wall. "Great," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"What bundle of good news do you have for me now?" Wren asked in a mock-cheerful voice.

"Ever hear the adage 'trouble sires three children'?" he asked. Wren shook her head slowly and he continued. "Well, think of it this way. First sign of trouble was running into you. Not," he added hastily, realizing his mistake, "that that's a bad thing, just very troublesome for me."

"Oh, really. How am I 'troublesome'?" She stared straight ahead but her tone could have frozen stone.

"You're not! My whole situation, running into you, is. Second child of trouble is directly related to the first. Third child is Wren setting my hometown ablaze."

Still avoiding looking at him, she asked, "What was Eric saying?"

"As near as I can tell, Wren set fire to my town, including our transportation base. He's moving as much of it as he can, but it will still take a day or so. We're stuck here."

"That, my friend, should be more 'troublesome' than I. Having to stay on the same world as one of your echoes," she pointed out icily.

"Wren, please," Shaun pleaded. "Do you really want to know why it's not helpful, running into you?"

She shrugged, but looked at him.

"I don't want to kill you. That causes problems for me because if I don' t kill you, I'm not doing my job. But I don't want to kill you because I care for you. Which is another problem altogether because I pretty much promised Eric I'd bring you to him." He grinned, abashed. "I don't like sharing."

She gave him a slight smile and rose gracefully to her feet. She reached down to help him up. "Well, if that's the case..."

"It is."

Once he was standing, he gave her a quick, awkward hug. Then he looked at the sky, searching for the sun, trying to estimate what time it was. "Late afternoon," he murmured. "We should find a place to spend the night."

Wren nodded. "Park?"

Shaun shook his head emphatically. "Only as a last resort."

"Can you sneak us into a hotel?"

He grinned. "Now you're thinking." He began walking down the street. Wren hurried to catch up.

"Tell me more about the magicks. Why are you walking so fast?"

"Which one do you want me to answer first?"

"I don't care."

"In this world, night is a dangerous time. Magic becomes stronger, people become more violent...bad time to be stuck outside, lost."

She nodded. Her eyes searched the street for as far as she could see. There wasn't an inn in sight. "All right. What about the magicks? They're stronger at night? How many kinds are there?"

He quickened his pace as he replied. "There's chaotic, elemental, black and white.