Chapter 4
I leaned out the door of the UTV to tap the display screen near the closed gate of the zoo, or as they liked to call themselves officially, the Terran Species Preservation Society.
I didn’t buy it, but they’d been around since before the vampires went to war with the humans on Terran and took over.
Their mission, according to their literature, was to preserve and increase the number of animal species that were going extinct.
I was of the opinion that the vampires and therianthropes who ruled the Terran dimension now could and should take care of whatever animal species needed to be saved.
My opinion wasn’t unique, as many people frequently protested at various locations across our dimension.
I’d not seen such protests here. It might have something to do with the fact that the owner, or “Director” as she liked to be called, of this location was also the chairperson of the city council who governed Rox.
The screen changed from the logo of the society to the bored face of the guard on duty. I pulled on the badge attached to the lanyard around my neck and showed it to the guard.
“Hi, I’m Ryker Idra with The Protection Agency. There’s a malfunctioning shield I need to look at.”
The guard nodded. “You’re expected. You can drive around to the east habitat area. From there, you’ll need to walk to the hippo habitat. That’s the one on the fritz.”
The gate started to open. “Okay, no problem.”
“Do you need an escort or can you find it?”
“I know which one. I was part of the team that installed it a few years ago.”
“Alright. If you have any problems or need anything, call.”
“I will, thank you.” The screen went back to the logo, and I waited for the gate to open fully. I never understood why these things were so slow.
As I drove forward, finally, the energy of the barrier spell passed over me.
Barriers were like shields, but they were more malleable and meant to be crossed constantly.
Most barrier spells would prevent anyone with ill intent from crossing, potentially stunning them upon contact, depending on its design.
That enabled time for the city guard or whoever to take the trespasser into custody.
I followed the road around to the east parking lot. Luckily, the hippo habitat was near the entrance because I had no desire to walk around. It always unsettled me. I put a clean set of coveralls on before passing through the entrance and onto the sidewalk that wove between habitats.
The first habitat I encountered was for lions.
As I walked between it and the zebra enclosure, I took a brief glimpse around.
Each habitat was designed for visitor viewing but shielded the animals from external sights.
This setup was intended to make the animals believe they were in their natural surroundings, reducing stress from being observed.
Furrowing my brow, I examined the lion habitat and noticed only one male lion, which struck me as unusual.
During my last visit to service a shield, there had been several females alongside him, along with some cubs.
I couldn’t help but wonder where they had gone.
The two zebras that were present before remained in their spot, leading me to think the lions might have been relocated or were being examined by the facility’s doctors.
On the opposite side of the lions was the habitat I had come to see.
The animal placard had been updated, indicating that a pygmy hippopotamus lived there instead of a standard hippopotamus.
I found myself curious about when this change had occurred, especially since no one had called us to modify the environment.
While I wasn’t an expert on the preferred habitats of any species really, I wondered if they required similar conditions.
I walked the perimeter of the enclosure, trying to locate the hippo and determine where the damage was.
As I examined the shield, it flickered a few times but it was intermittent.
At the backside of the habitat that faced the outer rim of the zoo, I noticed a discoloration on the walkway, spreading out from a section of the shield.
I crouched to examine it. It appeared to be some sort of liquid seeping through the shield.
It shouldn’t have been possible, but I needed to find where the liquid was coming from.
It had dried for now, leaving only an odd colored stain behind.
I took another look to find the hippo, but it was nowhere in sight. I guessed it wasn’t in there yet.
I crossed through the shield to investigate the origin of the leak.
Whatever it was had slightly eroded one of my runes.
Thankfully, I could fix it without bringing down the shield altogether.
That would have been a huge mess. Normally, no one would have been able to cross this shield unless they were keyed to it.
The only people allowed to cross were the facility doctors, the director, and I never made a shield I couldn’t pass through. It was my magic, after all.
I sensed movement behind me before the sound of crunching grass reached my ears.
I swung around, hand raised, ready to stun whatever it was.
My heart raced as my brain processed the sight of the small, or rather not-so-small, creature before me.
It resembled a miniature version of a hippo, and surprisingly, it was quite adorable.
I started to lower my hand when, in the blink of an eye and a pulse of magic, a human male stood where the hippo was. I instinctively jerked back, landing on my ass. I scrambled to my knees.
“What the…who are…” He opened his mouth, coughed, and a rough wheeze escaped him that sounded like “help” interrupted me.
He then collapsed. I dashed forward to catch him.
He was so thin and naked, very naked. His very long, tangled black hair hung in clumpy strings, and his damp skin soaked my coveralls.
I quickly glanced around on the off chance someone had seen what happened, but the place was empty.
I held his upper body in my arms as I knelt on the ground.
Some sort of primal instinct surged within me, making me want to protect whoever he was.
I looked him over, searching for some sort of injury but saw none.
He wasn’t all skin and bone; his muscles were finely defined, but he seemed too skinny for the creature he was before.
His almond-shaped eyes fluttered open as I pushed a piece of hair out of his face.
He jerked awake and frantically looked around. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re safe.”
“No.” He shook his head almost violently. “No. Safe. Help. Please.”
Something about his raspy voice and the fear in his watery, oddly bright green eyes reached into my soul, into my very core. My magic surged around us unbidden and he vanished from my sight. He was still there based on the weight in my arms but I couldn’t see him.
Strong hands gripped my shirt and his face leaned into my neck. “Please,” he whispered. The plea made me quiver, not in fear, but in a rising anger at whoever had hurt this being.
“Don’t worry.” I kept my voice low in case anyone was nearby. “I’m not going to leave you here.” I wasn’t sure what to do next but every fiber of my being couldn’t, no, wouldn’t allow him to stay here any longer. “Just let me fix my rune real quick. If I don’t fix the issue they’ll notice.”
I felt him nod against me. I tried to stand but he clung to me. “I can’t fix it if you’re holding on to me like that. Can you stand?”
With narrowed eyes on his last known location, my magic re-adjusted, revealing a translucent version of him. It was a mind fuck because he was a solid weight in my arms. I moved so that we could stand together, but he still leaned on me heavily.
“Okay, hold onto my arm. I need to go over there and fix the rune.” I took the two steps slowly to the base of the shield.
I took out my rune pen and crouched again.
The liquid had eroded the side of one rune.
Thankfully, I only needed to widen the line a bit to resolve it.
The shield firmed, and I sensed its energy solidify again.
“All done. Well, at least until whatever leaked does it again.” Hot breath tickled my ear in quick puffs. I twisted my head, my neck cracking, to see the person clinging to me. A smile stretched his lips, his whole body shaking with barely suppressed laughter.
“Did you almost break my rune?” A broad smile swept away the fatigue from his face, and as he nodded, it revealed a playful spark.
“Let’s get you out of here.” I thought for a second. He couldn’t walk out. Not only did he not have any shoes, but he didn’t seem strong enough to walk. “Can you get onto my back?”
He straightened to his full height, which was quite a few inches taller than me. I hummed. This was going to be awkward, but he appeared confused. “Like hop onto my back and wrap your legs around my waist and your arms around my neck.” I mimed the actions, trying to explain what I wanted.
Understanding flickered across his face as he positioned himself behind me.
He placed his hands on my shoulders and hopped.
As his legs came up, I caught them, helping him wrap them around me.
I couldn’t secure them with my arms if I wanted to maintain any semblance of normal movement.
His hands glided over my chest. The familiar feel of my coveralls’ rough fabric a grounding presence amidst the heat of his touch.
With his ankles locked together, I cautiously took a step to assess our balance.
“Alright, let’s give this a try.” I drew in a breath and stepped through the shield.
I let it out slowly as we crossed through without an issue.
Encouraged that this might actually work, I proceeded calmly back toward my UTV.
I didn’t slow as we approached the barrier.
I kept calm and walked with purpose. The barrier tingled as I passed and he tightened his hold on me, but nothing stopped us.
We made it to the UTV and I swung the door open. “Climb in and we’re almost out of here.” What I planned to do after that, I didn’t know, but all my instincts screamed this was the right thing to do.
His feet unhooked from each other, and I tried to stand with the door open as naturally as I could.
He moved around me and into the vehicle.
I unzipped my coveralls, taking them off quickly, and tossed them inside.
“Here, you can put those on. I doubt they’ll fit but you can at least put your legs in and tie the upper portion around your waist.”
He seemed to understand what I meant and put his feet in one at a time.
I got behind the wheel and started the UTV.
I drove slowly to the gate. The tension of trying to act normal was starting to get to me.
At any minute, I was sure that whatever magic I was doing was going to fail and he would be exposed.
The guards would come rushing out and detain me.
Who knew what would happen to my new friend?
The gate started opening as I approached. Just like at the entrance, there was a screen to call the guard. I pressed it and his face appeared.
“Done already?” He didn’t sound suspicious.
“Yeah, it was a minor adjustment, nothing serious. An invoice will be sent by the office as usual.” I offered a smile, or endeavored to, at the very least. I hoped it didn’t betray the nervousness and disgust that boiled within me.
“Sure. Thanks for coming out. Have a good day.” The screen went back to the logo before I could say anything else. The gate was wide open and I accelerated through it. We passed through the last barrier without an issue.
I took a deep breath and relaxed back into my seat.
Now what?