Chapter 1

Jason awoke with a start to see sunlight streaming through his bedroom window. He had been having a bad dream although he could not really remember it. Something about being chased through a dark hallway that was both alien and yet oddly familiar. It was strange. Ever since he had defeated the Enemy the year before all of his nightmares had stopped. In fact it was unusual that he had any dreams that he could remember. His deep and peaceful sleep was one of the perks of having finally faced his fears. But he supposed all good things must end eventually.

Jason gave a mental shrug and snuggled back under his covers. His room was surprising chilly and the thought of getting up made him shiver. It was already early April but they were in the midst of an unusual cold snap. The overnight temperatures were dipping into the forties but his mother refused to turn the heat back on. Thankfully today was Saturday and Jason could sleep in. It felt like he had been running a marathon instead of sleeping all night. He hoped this was not the start of some kind of new trend, he had just gotten used to actually getting a full night’s sleep.

He was just about to fall asleep again when his alarm started to go off. Opening one bleary eye, Jason glanced at the time. It was 9:40 am, way too early to be up on a Saturday. Jason smacked a hand blindly at his clock until it finally stopped making the horrible racket. In the blessed silence that followed he was very nearly asleep again when his mother’s voice sounded from outside his door.

Jason get up, you’re going to be late!”

Jason mumbled something that was supposed to be “No school today, Saturday.” But even to his own ears it sounded like someone with a severe lisp trying to talk with a badly broken jaw.

Now that woke Jason up. In fact he was on his feet so fast he very nearly fell over. How could he forget the fencing tournament? He had been doing phenomenally this year. It was amazing how well your skills got honed when you spent a few months using them to fight for your life. If he won this one he was almost guaranteed to go into the Senior World Championships with an A ranking and maybe even be somewhere in the top five. He was already starting to get attention from the college recruiters. If he kept on he was likely to get at least a partial scholarship and enough loans and grants to pay for the rest.

Normally he would not be getting up this early. Since he was a member of the local Washington DC branch of the United States Fencing Association, most of his competitions were close by. But this was an open tournament being held by the Virginia branch in Richmond and was going to be over an hour and half drive from his home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. He was barely going to have enough time to get ready and wolf down some breakfast before they needed to leave. It was a good thing Jason was in high school, he was used to having to get ready to go almost before his eyes were fully opened. Of course it was a skill he normally reserved for those times when he could not resist the siren call of the snooze button.

But today was a special case. Although he did not want to be late he did not care if he was particularly early. He had lain out his clothes and fencing gear last night and he knew his mom would have everything else prepared. Plus when he was in a rush he did not have time to be nervous, and it would be especially bad today since there was a lot at stake. Jason knew his mom could not really afford to send him to college. She had done her best but there just was not enough money to go around. If he could get even a partial scholarship and assistance as a student athlete, she could spend all the money on sending his sister to school instead. He had already applied for the NCAA fencing scholarships and heard back from several coaches.

Of course no one knew that Jason had brought home a small fortune in gold from his adventure into the wilds of Aramiac. But it had proven very hard to convert the gold into money without raising suspicions. It was a long and slow process, if he tried to unload too much the price dropped. And besides the last thing he wanted was to have the IRS sniffing around. If that happened the best case scenario would be losing all the gold. He did not even want to consider spending ten years in jail on tax evasion charges.

In particular he was hoping for either University of Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania State University. Both were Division I schools and they were close enough to allow him to come home when he was needed. He had back up schools in Ohio and North Carolina, but unfortunately most of the Division I schools were Ivy League and he did not have the grades for those. Still the coach from U-Penn had seemed very excited and was going to be going to the tournament today to see him in person. If he won, Jason knew he was a shoe in for at least a partial scholarship. And the coach had promised to get him in-state tuition too.

Jason dressed quickly, thankful that he had showered the night before. He had splurged a little when he returned from the adventure last year and bought his own equipment. He had his own jacket and knickers which actually fit on his thin frame. He wore a plain white t-shirt under the jacket and added a pair of white socks. He tossed his gloves and mask into his sports bag and added his new epee. He had started out as a foil fencer, but after having actual sword fights, Jason found the more free-style epee suited him better. Not that there was a great deal of difference, but the concept of “Right of Way” in fencing was starting to get him in trouble.

There are three different types of fencing. The foil is the traditional starting weapon. You can only score with the tip of the blade, and only hits to the torso count. The saber, which is based off cavalry fighting, allows you to score anywhere above the waist and allows you to score with the edge of the blade and not just the point. Both of these follow the “Right of Way” which basically means the attacker has priority. You need to block his attack before you can attack and score a point. There are counter attacks that allow you to circumvent this, but only if you can avoid getting hit in the process. The epee, on the other hand, allows you to hit any part of the body with the tip of the weapon and score a point. It also does not follow the “Right of Way” and whoever touches first wins the point. You can even double score if you both hit at the same time. Because it is more open, it required a lot of strategy and skill to win, which suited Jason the best. It would keep his skills sharp in case he ever had to fight for real again.

Jason snapped out of his thoughts and finished packing. He threw his fencing shoes into the bag and zipped it closed. He put on his old faded tennis shoes and dashed downstairs. His mother had breakfast on the table already and was bustling around doing last minute things before they left. Jason shoveled down his eggs, bacon and toast while his mom went upstairs to drag his sister, Sara, out of bed. Sara hated going to his fencing tournaments but his mom could not really afford to get her a sitter all day. Of course as a thirteen year old the idea of even having a babysitter was mortifying. Jason heard a high pitched voice drift down the stairs but whatever his sister was saying; he knew it would make no difference.

Sure enough when their mom came down the stairs a couple minutes later, Sara was trailing sullenly behind. Sara shot him a look of pure venom, and Jason just smiled back at her. She was thin to the point of almost being too skinny but then Jason knew it was from exercise and her boundless energy rather then starvation. And skinny was the look these days for teenage girls. Her hair was a deep golden blonde, with natural streaks of lighter blonde. She already had a very attractive face with deep green eyes and a bright smile. Jason expected she would be breaking a lot of hearts in a couple more years. She was wearing hip hugger jeans and a deep green blouse that matched her eyes. Even going to a tournament, she would be never allow herself to be seen looking sloppy.

They were very different, but Jason still loved his little sister. But he did not feel at all bad about dragging her out of bed before noon on a Saturday. After all she would directly benefit if he won and he rarely complained when his mom forced him to go to one of Sara’s cheerleading or dance competitions. Of course Jason was old enough to stay alone, but his mother liked him to go and show support for his sister. Not that he really minded either. She was competing at the high school level now and there was nothing wrong with watching girls his age jumping around in tiny skirts for a few hours.

Jason took a moment to lament not having Jenna or Selisande here with him. Either girl would make him feel better, Jenna with her unfailing optimism or Selisande with her calm and steadfast reassurance. But his mother had thrown a fit when Jason had shown up with Selisande after being missing for almost a week. Even with their story of the girl saving them from the wilds of Western Maryland, his mother had refused to allow her to stay with them. Eventually they came to an agreement with Jenna’s parents allowing Selisande to switch back and forth between the two households every other week. But Selisande has with Jenna this week, and she had declined his invitation when Jason had mentioned the tournament before she left.

Sara pretty much never ate breakfast, so as soon as Jason was done they all piled into his mom’s car. She had a 1997 Subaru Outback, a perfect mom car but one Jason hated to have to drive. As he stowed his gear and climbed into the front passenger seat, he debated again using some of his gold to buy himself a car. It would be a risk and require pretty much all of the money he had managed to convert over, but it would be worth it. And besides he would need one for college next year. He decided to ask his mom about it later, assuming he won.

The drive down to Richmond was pretty uneventful. They ran into a bit of traffic on the Beltway that ran around D.C. and on 95 south, but then there was always traffic on the Beltway and 95. Sara gave up her complaining after about fifteen minutes and just sank into the back seat and put on her iPod. His mother tried to engage him in conversation a few times, but he was too nervous and excited to really talk. In the end she was concentrating on driving and Jason was just staring out the window.

Jason had not been to a tournament in Richmond before. He had traveled for some of the bigger tournaments, but nothing this far south in his local area. Jason was a bit worried, his mother was never very good with directions and Jason was too distracted to be of much help. Luckily the directions were pretty simple and the location was only about ten miles off of 95. They arrived about fifteen minutes early so his mother dropped him off and left to get Sara something for lunch.

Shouldering his bag, Jason went into the building alone. He had pre-registered so he did not need any money, which was good because he had left his wallet at home. Walking through the door, Jason paused to look around. It was a good sized club, with a nearly a dozen fencing strips laid out. There were fencers of all ages milling around waiting to begin their bouts. This was an Open tournament, which meant all the ages and sexes were mixed in together. Those were what Jason was used to, but in the larger tournaments, they had strict categories for sex, age and skill level.

Jason spotted the registration area and made his way through the crowd towards it. There was not much of a line, but then by the looks of things he was one of the last ones to arrive. When he got to the front, the middle age woman checked his name off a printed list and told him the first bouts would be starting in about ten minutes. There was not much to do but wait, so Jason started to head for a promisingly empty section of wall where he could sit and brood alone.

That lasted for about two steps as he felt a familiar tickle in the back of his skull. That was all the warning he got before he was hit in the chest by a tiny red missile. When he managed to catch his balance, he glanced down to see Jenna Thompkins smiling up at him. Jenna was his partner on his adventures and supposedly his girlfriend. Although, that relationship had not really seemed to change since they had started dating. In fact, outside of the infrequent kissing sessions, he could not find any difference at all. Still Jenna insisted that he refer to her as his girlfriend and tended to smack him if he ever called her anything else.

Jenna placed a light kiss on his mouth and stepped back to take in his surprised expression. Jenna was short and cute, with flaming red hair cut almost boyishly short. She was always brimming with energy and her eyes shown with fiery passion. She was showing a lot of skin as usual, wearing a white top and a short black skirt. Ever since their time in the other world, the rather body shy Jenna had turned into something of an exhibitionist. She seemed to enjoy getting men to ogle her, although she would never admit it. She enjoyed the flirting but she was still quite reserved even around him. It would be frustrating for any teenage boy, but especially so for Jason with Selisande around.

As if the thought had summoned her, Jason saw the vision of inhuman loveliness standing behind Jenna. Tall and slender, with raven black hair, milk white skin and eyes the color of the deepest ocean. She stepped closer to give Jason a kiss, a mere brushing of her lips against his, but it was enough to stop his heart for a second. But then she always had that effect on him. It was more then just her incredible beauty, it was the link that had been forged between them. Selisande was not a human girl, but a dragon trapped in human form. And Jason was her designated mate. At times it still made his head hurt to think about it.

Jenna flashed him a triumphant smirk. “These were the big majors plans silly. I know how much this tournament could mean to you. You end up with enough points and you can pretty much have your pick of any of the fencing schools. And since I am probably gonna go to the University of Maryland, it means I can keep you within a couple hours drive. So of course you’re going to have a cheering section. Not that you need it. You have been killing them this year.” Jenna paused for a second and then added. “Besides Sel has been pining for you all week long. If I had to hear her go on about you one more time I would have screamed.”

“Oh yeah? Well I’m not the one that calls out his name while I sleep.” Selisande shot back. Jason was impressed on how quickly she was adapting to being a human teenager. She even got the catty tone just right.

Selisande smiled a triumphant little smile and began making kissing noises. “Oh Jason! Wrap me in your big strong arms.” She wrapped her arms around her body in demonstration.

Jenna let out a little shriek and tackled the dragoness. Jason realized they were starting to draw a crowd so he reached down and pulled them apart. This was only a token gesture considering that Selisande was several times stronger then he was and Jenna tended to fight dirty. But since they were only play fighting, it gave them the excuse they needed. They each latched onto one of his arms and started pulling him towards the wall. Jason flashed what he hoped was an apologetic smile to the other fencers and allowed himself to be dragged along.

It was true. Already they were announcing the pools. Fencing tournaments generally started out with pool of round robin competition which was to five touches. From the pools, the competitors advance to a direct elimination style where each round the number of competitors is halved. The final competition for the win is the two best fencers of the day, and Jason planned to be one of those. Looking around he saw only a few familiar faces. But then with his odd style it could only help him to fight strangers. After all he knew their style but they would not have seen anything like his before.

There were ten pools in epee alone, each type of weapon, epee, foil and saber, having its own set of pools. Each pool had five or six people in it. The top two from each pool would advance into the direct elimination part of the competition. Thirty fencers would mean and additional five rounds to get into the final bout for the competition. But that was getting too far ahead, Jason first had to make sure he was in the top two of his pool. He was in Pool 3 and so would have five others to compete against. That would mean four of them would be going home early. But Jason was not too worried. He knew he was good enough to beat most of the people at this level.

It was time to go out and check out the competition. He got up, grabbed his bag and headed for their strip. The other fencers were already there, putting on gear and getting loose. Jason glanced at them while he started unpacking his equipment. There were four men, all older then him, and one woman about his age. Jason was the tallest person there and so he should have the reach advantage. And he hoped his age would give him an advantage in speed and reflexes too. So long as he focused and did not get cocky, he expected he should have a pretty easy ride to the later rounds.

Jason pulled out his sword from his bag. He checked over the sword carefully to make sure it had survived the trip intact. He then retrieved his mask, gloves and shoes and looked them over as well. When he was satisfied he plopped down to change his shoes. Once he had the street shoes safely in his bag he stood up and nearly bumped into the woman from his pool. She was maybe five foot four, with light brown hair, a small upturned nose and shining eyes. She was not thin but certainly not heavy, with ample curves that not even her fencing uniform could hide. She seemed excited about something and was nearly bouncing in place.

He pulled his hand free firmly and put them behind his back. Maybe Melinda was out to try and cripple the competition. “Sure maybe. I don’t know when though. I mean I have a lot going on with school and the big competitions coming up. But I’ll help you if I can.”

“That would be great,” Melinda gushed. “I have to fence first but maybe afterwards we can talk some more?”

Jason made what he hoped was a noncommittal noise, but it seemed to satisfy Melinda. She bounced off to face her opponent, a slightly balding middle aged man with a mild paunch. The man did not seem to be much of a threat but then in fencing you could never tell. Jason finished his preparation and moved back to watch with Jenna and Selisande. These opening rounds were only scored to five points, so they went pretty quick. Melinda jumped out to an early lead and although her opponent rallied, she still won 5-3.

Jason was up next. He was fighting a short man, in his mid-twenties. He moved with a fluidity and sense of energy that reminded Jason of Malgard. But in the end it was not much of a contest. Jason knew moves and skills that had not been seen in hundreds of years. He scored five times in quick succession, including one score caused by driving his opponent completely off the strip. Once he was finished, there was a rousing cheer from his personal cheering section which now included both his mom and his sister. He saluted them and went over to have a seat and watch the next bout take place.

The round robin lasted for nearly two hours. Epee had gone after foil, but there was still saber after them. Jason won his pool easily only giving up three touches in total. But one of those was to Melinda who reacted as if she had just won the lottery. Melinda managed second place, just beating out the short man who had been Jason’s first opponent. Jason hoped the rest of the tournament was that easy, he knew he was being scouted and wanted to look impressive. There was going to be a short break while the next rounds were being worked out, so he went to grab himself some water.

He was standing with his mom chatting about school and trying to distract her from the attention he was receiving from Selisande, when he first felt the pain start. It was like a sudden flash of a headache, but sharper and deeper. It was like an instant migraine stabbing into his brain. He was barely aware of falling to his knees and clutching at his head while his mom, Jenna and Selisande clustered around him. Both Jenna and Selisande touched him at nearly the same time, and he felt the flow of magic from both of them until the headache was tolerable again.

The coach was bald as an egg with a round and pleasant face and big smile. He was dressed mostly in ill-fitting suits and always tended to give the impression of a jovial but not very bright, favorite uncle. But if you looked past the surface, his eyes were piercing and missed little. And under the suit was the body of an athlete despite being on the downward side of fifty. Jason had spoken to the man and knew beyond all the glad-handing there was a knowledgeable and skilled fencer who could teach Jason a lot.

“Once I get things worked out with the college, we can bring you up for an Open House in a couple of weeks. But for now you just need to concentrate on winning. The more ranking points you have the easier it will be arrange the money for you.” Although the coach’s smile seemed sincere enough, Jason knew it would all fall apart if he lost. But he smiled back and shook the coach’s hand before returning to his group. Nothing like a little added pressure to go with the stunning headache he had developed. A headache that felt horribly familiar.

Unfortunately, Jason did not have any time to relax. His first match was about to start and since it was now a single elimination competition, he could not take any of them for granted. He wished he had more time to mentally prepare himself, and a couple dozen Advil could not hurt either. But there was just barely enough time for Jason to put on the rest of his protective gear and move to his starting position. He opponent was already there waiting for him. Although there was little to make out through the vest and the mask, Jason guessed it was a younger man. He was a couple inches shorter then Jason but held his sword with an easy confidence and careless sort of grace. Certainly a difficult opponent even if Jason had been one hundred percent. Thankfully Jason had fought more injured then this and he was confident he it would not affect his performance greatly. But the question was would it make the difference between winning and losing?

Despite his nerves, the first bout went fine, Jason was able to focus through his headache and win easily. Melinda lost her first round and joined the official Jason cheering section. Her apparent hero worship made him a little uncomfortable so he feigned a muscle cramp and went to sit alone. Jenna looked concerned but respected his desire for privacy. The next round was more or less the same. Jason won handily but the headache refused to go away and was starting to affect his vision. In a sport where speed of the sword is judged in hundredths of a second, vision problems were pretty severe. Luckily there was still plenty of time to rest while all of the other matches went on. Each round consisted of foil, epee, and saber matches which added time between bouts. But that time would greatly be reduced as more and more fencers were eliminated.

There were only eight fencers left, when Jason went to start the third round. But he still had three more bouts if he was going to win this and his head was only going to get worse. In between matches, he was sitting down and trying to rest his eyes so he never got the chance to watch any of the other competitors. But luckily he had been doing a lot of local tournaments and his third round opponent was a man named Mike Simpson whom he had competed against before. Mike was a good fencer but he tended to over extend his thrusts and Jason was able to take advantage. He scored six times on Mike’s outstretched arm and won the match fifteen to nine.

The next match was even more of a struggle. He was fighting a man with similar height and reach but without all the distractions of the migraine such as the steadily growing nausea and balance problems. But he was able to focus just enough and win the points he had to. It was still closer then Jason was comfortable with, he only won by three touches. But a win was a win and he would take anything at this point. This put him into the finals and gave him a few minutes to rest while his opponent was decided.

Jason tried to watch the other match, but the whole thing was kind of a blur. His family and friends could tell he was suffering but there was little they could do to help. Jenna and Selisande tried to heal him again, but magic was so weak in this world that their efforts did little to dull his throbbing head. But it was only one more bout, and his future was more or less assured. He just hoped that Coach Allen was not judging his style too closely as this one was likely to be ugly.

Jason did not have much time to get himself prepared before the final. It was already into the early evening and remaining people were anxious to crown the victors of each weapon. Not that he could blame them; most of the fencers had already packed up their gear and headed home following their elimination. But the tournament organizers and officials were more or less stuck there until it was over and Jason was sure they were getting tired and hungry by now. He knew he was.

By bad luck, Jason’s bout was to be the first of the finals. He barely had time gather his gear and try to clear his head and focus on the other man before the “Ready? Fence!” command was given and he was being attacked in a rush. But Jason’s reflexes were good and his skills were finely honed. He beat back the attack with a minimum of effort and managed to score a hit when his opponent started to retreat. But even though he got the point, Jason was still concerned. These bouts were to fifteen and the early points were more for learning your opponent’s techniques then for winning. And he got the feeling he was just being tested. His opponent was fast and had flair to his style that Jason was unfamiliar with.

But the press Jason feared never seemed to materialize. Jason won five of the next six points getting him to nearly half way. Even with limited vision and his balance a bit wobbly, Jason started to feel more confident. He kept on winning too, only dropping the occasional point due to bad luck or lapsed concentration. That put him comfortably ahead, twelve to three. His opponent would have to win three points for every one of Jason’s in order to win the bout and that did not seem very possible. Jason flashed a salute to his family and friend before the next bout and got a rousing cheer in return. That scholarship was nearly his.

The next point, Jason felt his opponent’s sword smack into his chest almost before the referee finished instructing them to start. It happened so fast, at first Jason thought it had imagined the whole thing. But no, the referee awarded the point and moved them back to their starting positions. The next point Jason tried to concentrate but again he was struck before he could defend himself, this time on his sword hand. The next point smacked Jason solidly in the mask when his parry was a second too slow. Jason shook his head feeling the beginning of worry, it was obvious his opponent had just been playing with him before now and if Jason did not figure something out soon, he could very well lose.

But who would let an opponent, even one you were confident of defeating, get ahead by nine points? It made no sense. But after Jason lost the next two points it was obvious that that was exactly what had happened. His only chance was to change his tactics. His opponent seemed determine to strike first, so the next point Jason immediately stepped back out of the way of the lightning quick thrust. Knocking aside the blow which fell slightly short, Jason thrust as fast as he could and managed to score a shot on the led leg of his adversary. Straightening quickly, Jason thought he saw a trace of surprise and confusion in the other man’s stance, but it was difficult to be sure with the mask in place.

Jason decided to change things up a bit and see if he could take his opponent off balance for once. He started by retreating two steps with the other man in hot pursuit. Then he reversed his momentum and thrust forward using all his height to close the distance between them. Jason saw his blade strike his opponent right in the belly just as he felt a light poke in his right shoulder. Jason straightened to see who had won the point, only to realize that they had touched at the same time, it was a double point. Well Jason would take it. He only needed one more point and the other fencer still had four more to go.

And apparently his adversary knew that too. The next point, Jason had barely even flinched before he was being scored upon. If he had thought the attacks were fast before, now he could not even see them. It was like the other person simply teleported his sword from the starting position to Jason’s body without bothering to move through the adjoining space. In any other tournament, Jason might simply have laid down his sword and surrendered, the other man was obviously a much better fencer then he was.

But Jason needed this victory and he was close. But the next two points fared the same, Jason was barely able to move his sword to defend himself before he was being scored upon. With only two more points to go, Jason tried attacking. But even though he struck as fast as he could, his sword met only empty air. Before he could even figure out what had happened, he felt a touch on his back. It was now fourteen-fourteen. If Jason could not win the next point, all his dreams would be dashed.

And then something strange happened. It was as if suddenly time itself took a lunch break. The weapon that had been moving at near supersonic speeds just an instant before was suddenly nearly stopped in front of his head. Jason had all the time in the world to lean to the side to let the lethargic lunge slide past his head. And then with an almost casual stroke, Jason poked the end of his epee straight into the other man’s mask.

Time regained its normal momentum and Jason heard the roar of his cheering section. He glanced over just in time to see the point officially awarded to him. Although he had no idea how, apparently he had done it; the final score was fifteen to fourteen. He turned and rushed to his family getting hugs around and several excited kissed from Jenna. Coach Allen came over to shake his hand and offer his congratulations as well. It was only later, after the cheering and slaps on the back were over, that Jason realized that his headache had disappeared. In fact it seemed like it had ended just before Jason had scored that final point.