LAN FARROW_Guards bowed low as I came storming through the chamber. The prisoners inched away from the bars, blending into the shadows. They hid, not entirely from me. But from what they knew I could do to them. On entering the central hall, I spotted an elder tear away from the crowd of people he was with, fast approaching me. I held up a hand, needing to be left alone.Head pounding, I climbed up the stairs, thoughts frantically zipping across my mind. After navigating the keep, I marched into my private wing and instantly drew up short when I saw it was teeming with lycan warriors. The hell? This part of the castle was private for a reason.On sighting me, the warriors fell silent. The sound of my boots reverberated as I slowly walked through the large hall. Looking at the faces around me, I came to a stop. "Out."For a while they stood there, staring at me, their faces starting to twitch anxiously. This ratcheted up my ire. I roared, "I said get the hell out!" I wasn't used to

WILLOW __My cellmate was quite... talkative. Even now the scaly woman's voice rang out in the cramped room, grating on my ears."...Yes! I'm telling the truth. I was a princess in my land, right up until these dogs decided to take my sister, Dierdre, for some debt we haven't paid yet. To be fair, something that old shouldn't be considered a debt anymore. But, noo, king La--"I didn't want to even hear his name being spoken, but sadly, my ears were not immune to Yvonne. The 'princess'--an interloper from another dimension--had landed herself here when she came to get her captive sister, and now she was stuck in our dimension, or kingdom Earth as she'd called it."...I mean, every night before I sleep, the palace maids comb my hair with exactly two hundred and five brushes. Imogen used to add an extra one..."From the side of my eyes, I took in the young woman who was at the verge of hysterics, that was, if she wasn't already driving into it headfirst with a speeding limit. She was bl

Something collided against our cell bars loudly, producing a godawful sound. "Wake up!" A guard yelled.Prying my eyes open, I squinted, focusing on the huge guard. I started to glare, but stilled when I saw numerous other guards with long chains in their hold.Yvonne paled, saying from beside me, "Gods, no. Don't tell me it's today."Confusion filled me but I never tore my eyes from the guards."Up," one said.I drew back. "We're not even going to eat first?""I said up!""Okay. Sheesh."I struggled to my feet, Yvonne rising up on her tail. She slithered away on instinct when the bars were forcefully pushed open.The guards invaded our cell, starting to replace our bindings. One gripped my wrists, holding it together as the cuffs were opened, then another longer was being one closed around it.All the while a thousand thoughts bounced around my head. I shot a look at Yvonne. The same treatment was being given to her.One end of my chain was attached to Yvonne's, then we were led ou

The next day came in a burst of sunshine, and annoying lycan guards."Up," some jerk ordered, opening the cell wider.My eyes flickered open and I sat up slowly, eying the burly guard. "What do you want?"Of course he didn't answer. He would lose his heart to a witch if he did; which, to them, was a worse fate than beheading.Once he started to swap my lengthy bindings for shorter ones, I realized he was leading me to my interrogation. "But it isn't afternoon yet," I said to his uniform, because it was more likely to listen to me than its wearer.Without saying a word, he grabbed my arm and started to lead me out. I threw a glance behind me, sighting Yvonne's still sleeping form.Down to the open colonnade we went. In the manicured gardens beyond, I spotted the thin, bespectacled boy from yesterday. When our gazes connected, he quickly looked away in guilt, nervously typing away on his keyboard.The cottage doors opened and I was led in. As usual, I swallowed on sighting the torture e

It felt like my soul had been sharply sucked out of me by a large vacuum, and it spat me out into an entirely different world. The motions around me were happening so fast; voices rattled off words in lightning speed; people, scenes, things: passed on and away rapidly, and all the while my head reeled, trying to clamp down on the rush around me. Then there were moments it all slowed down. "Don't worry, lad, I'm sure he just wants to quizz you on your lessons," I heard a guard say. Shock coursed through me when I saw he was dressed in an extremely outdated fashion. Almost like I'd gone back in time. "Yes," someone else said, moving through the bright hall. "I'm certain that's just about it." Then the world went crazy once again. My heart sped with each scene I experienced at breakneck speed. Words, sounds, laughter, chattering; bombarded my head, nearly driving me crazy. Then it all slowed once again. "Do it, Lan! Kill the enemy of your people." I moved against my will, as if