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game.”
    Maggie shook her hair out to free the strands catching on
her buttons. With the headpiece secured on her head, Maggie had the sensation
of being top-heavy. Her head wobbled on her neck.
    “If you’re ready, say so.” Gwen placed the game gun in
Maggie’s hands, curling her fingers about the stock. “Don’t accidentally shoot
our stud muffin!”
    As Gwen spoke, Maggie raised her head. She stood at the top
of a mountain in a strange world. The title rose in the sky before her and
dripped its familiar blood. The drops glistened and, involuntarily, Maggie
looked down to see if they splashed on the floor. Dizziness made her jerk her
head upright again.
    “This is very weird,” Maggie said. Her voice sounded hollow
to her and far away. She experimented a moment, swinging her head about,
feeling dizzy again as grass and trees spun and lurched before her. Very
quickly, she took control and turned to the hill, facing the spot where the
warrior would appear, barely conscious of the boom of distant thunder.
    “It’s so real.” Maggie gasped, her heart beating a little
faster, for she knew what came next. Her breath shortened as she waited for
him.
    He did not disappoint her.
    The Tolemac warrior climbed the rocky hill, each boot placed
deliberately. Only this time, Maggie heard the crunch of stones beneath his
soles, heard the sigh of the wind in the trees. A pebble dislodged and rolled,
audibly bouncing along behind him.
    He came straight toward her.
    A swift and heated surge swept her body as she waited
breathlessly, the gun clutched tightly in her hand. She wanted to know what he
would do when he met her on the hill, for she stood in his path, not leaning on
the console as Gwen had, but standing rigidly in the waning light of the
warrior’s world. She almost felt the heat of the burning sun, did hear the
eerie cry of a bird in the distance. The scrape of his boots echoed about her.
Her heart pounded in her ears. Her mouth felt dry.
    Thunder rolled. It vibrated in her ears, magnified to ten
times its natural volume. Maggie raised her head in fear, looked from the path
to the distant mountain peaks. A blinding sheet of lightning streaked across
the heavens, setting the Tolemac warrior in sharp relief. The scent of ozone
filled her nostrils. She shivered. Then, as the warrior raised his head and
stared at her, the sky flashed a brilliant white. A sudden pain shot through
Maggie’s head—pulsed from one side of her skull to the other.
    She moaned in agony, clasped the gun to her chest, and shut
her eyes against a dazzling flare of lightning. Her head rocked heavily on her
neck. She stumbled, slipping to her knees just as the white flash broke into a
thousand shards of color and pain.

Chapter Two
     
    “By the sword!” Kered swore, staggering blindly. He stumbled
over a tree root and nearly fell. The fierce white light slowly dissolved,
revealing a woman stretched out at his feet.
    He bent over the supine woman, his vision still blurry in
the aftermath of the dazzling flash of lightning. He rubbed his eyes, making
them worse. Yes, he had stepped on her, not a tree root. Through the swimming
dots of color, he noted the rise and fall of the woman’s breast. Alive, but
badly injured.
    “Kered!”
    “Here, Nilrem,” he called to an old man easing his way down
the steep path.
    “Are you hurt? Who is this?’’ Nilrem came to a halt at his
side, planting his walking stick inches from the woman.
    “I thought you might know. I tripped over her.”
    “Is she dead?” Nilrem’s ancient back did not allow bending
and stooping over damsels in distress.
    “No, but whatever ails her, she is well gone from here.”
Kered ignored the stabbing flashes of color still plaguing his sight and picked
up the woman’s hand, seeking her pulse with his fingertips. It beat strongly.
    “Do you see her pendant?” Nilrem whacked Kered on the arm
with his stick.
    “Curious.” Kered lifted the bauble, then drew back, holding
it