Anthromagic ~ Chapter 31

Preparing for my so-called journey seemed to drag on as those the hand on the clock refused to turn, refused to let time pass as it should. I eagerly anticipated and dreaded what was going on with my life and the two worlds I’d been plummeted into; the two emotions conflicted within me. My clothier dressed me in one outfit after another, only to tell me that my attire didn’t seem appropriate and ask me to dress in something new.

“This is the one. The proper attire for your outing.” She said at last.

“Are you kidding me?” Turning to face the mirror, I realized what she had me dressed in. How was I supposed to go on a journey to explore the lands in a floor length gown?

“No miss, I would never kid you. It would be most foolish for me to treat her ladyship in any sort of childish way; you are very clearly not a kid.”

“What I meant by asking that was whether or not you were serious. Do you really think that this dress is appropriate for travelling across the lands?” I gestured toward the mirror and up and down the length of my gown, trying to make my point. “This will be impossible to walk around in. Especially if we run into any rocky patches.”

“Oh.” Her face bore an expression of confusion. “It did not occur to me, Miss, that her ladyship would actually be walking on her journey. I assumed you to be taking the carriage or perhaps some other mode of transportation.”

“It would please me more to walk and actually learn the land.” It was difficult to keep my voice even and not let it show how aggravating it was to continually be called ‘ladyship’ in a land I had never known.

“Let me see what I can do to correct my mistaken.” She turned to walk to her basket of cloth and thread amongst an array of other materials. Stopping just steps from the basket, she turned back to me and looked down. “If it pleases her ladyship.”

“Aren’t there any jeans that I can wear?” I asked her, growing weary of the formalities associated with this place.

“None that I know of, Miss, and I know this land.” She never looked up from the floor.

“Very well. This will just have to do. I’ve grown tired of putting on new outfits and would rather just proceed with the tour.” Without any hesitation, I strode from the room before she had time to insist upon yet another outfit without any improvement. I had two explicit goals in mind that I wanted to accomplish. I need to try and locate the young girl, Katie, and see what truths I could get out of her and I wanted to do so before I went out to explore the lands, which just happened to be my second major goal.

It turned out that I didn’t have to go far to find Katie. When the clothier had rudely dismissed her from my room, she had gone just beyond the door and into a small enclave. Apparently, she was awaiting my departure because she poked her head around when the door clicked shut. Seeing that it was me, she jumped out into the middle of the hall, grinning.

“I was waiting for you.” She said softly, noticing that I was looking at her.

“That much I can see.” I smiled. “In truth, I was actually on my way to find you.”

“Me? Why would you try to find me? Aren’t you leaving?” Her tone was bitter, leaving me confused.

“Honestly, Katie, I’m not sure what my plans are. The world that I know, the place that I’m from, is not this one. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.” Sighing, I slide to the floor and the side seam of my gown rips.

“But you do know. Or you will. In just a few days, you’ll remember here and you’ll want to stay and you’ll forget there and we’ll keep you this time, I promise.” She rambled on; it seemed as though she was on the verge of tears.

“None of that makes sense.” To me, it seemed as though a very confused seven year old girl stood before me, possibly searching for answers just like me.



Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Anthromagic ~ Chapter 30

Days could have passed before morning came and I would have had no way of knowing; the cave walls block out any sunlight. It is impossible to distinguish night from days within these stone walls. My mind was running too much on overdrive for me to fully appreciate the small amount of sleep that I managed to obtain; for the most part, I lie in my bed staring up at the ceiling and waiting for the next morning. I had to rely on the goodness of others to truthfully inform me about morning’s arrival. When the time came, it was not the lord of the land who told me it was day, but a small girl who woke me.

She could not have been more than seven or eight years old and she had the sweetest disposition. Standing quietly by my bed, she tapped my shoulder and whispered to me that it was morning. I nodded and smiled at her, gesturing for her to climb up because it seemed to be the right course of action at the time. I was relying on gut reactions but they were instincts created by a curse; how was I to know whether they could be trusted? My only option was to take the risk and find out.

“His lordship will be arriving soon to accompany you about the kingdom, my lady. Shall we prepare you for an outing?” Silently and some oh-so-cleverly, a young woman had slipped into my room. She was just a few years older than me in appearance, but her tone reminded me of a motherly type.

“Prepare me for an outing?” I repeated, clueless about her meaning. “You mean, should I get dressed?”

“Yes ma’am. Shall we dress you for your gallivanting?” She threw open the large oak door that hid away a wardrobe filled to the brim with clothing.

“Gallivanting?” I sighed, shaking my head slowly. “I suppose we must. Can you help me find something that is comfortable and will let me easily move around?”

“Certainly Madame. Shall we pack you several choices of attire for your journey?” Rummaging behind a section of the wardrobe, she lugged out a suitcase large enough to fit a person in.

“My journey?” Every word or phrase that escaped her mouth sent my brain into another round of questions that didn’t have answers.

“You have requested that his lordship show you the entire kingdom, have you not?” She raised an eyebrow in my direction as I wondered how that information was running rampant so quickly.

“I did, indeed. I suppose it will be a journey; thought not one that I necessarily intend to come back from.”

“What?” The young child on my bed protested. “You aren’t going to come back? But we just got you back? When will it be our turn again? Aren’t they ever going to finally solve this and figure out where you get to stay? I’m tired of sharing!”

“Katie!” My clothier interrupted suddenly. “That is quite enough. You hold your tongue child and make yourself useful. Run down to the study and inform his lordship that her ladyship will be ready for departure when the clock strikes. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am. I apologize and it won’t happen again. I give you my word.”

“That will do, Kaite, that will do. Now, off you go.”

This young girl, Katie, ran out through the door and, with her, went my best clue yet. She seemed to know, truly and completely, what kind of warped world I was stuck in. The most worrisome part was that I felt I should know a Katie, but that this young child was not the Katie I remembered.


Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Anthromagic ~ Chapter 29

“The transitory state has my lady bewildered again, does it not?” The man with the gold sash asked me as he pulled a chair across the stone floor. Placing the chair in front of me, he took a seat and one of my hands.

“It does.” I agreed simply with his statement.

“Do not fret love; it will end soon. Perhaps the next morn that you wake from slumber, you shall only posses a solitary set of memories.” He informed me. The blunt information that he shared with me was both reassuring and upsetting in one swift blow and the emotions consumed me momentarily. I tried to search his eyes for an explanation but found nothing.

“Who says that I wish to have only one set of memories?” I demanded harshly and watched as his eyes grew cold.

“In time, the only thoughts you will wish to hold within you will be those of your life here.” He told me as he wrapped his hand around mine. At first, the sensation of his hand upon mine felt unnatural and devoid of warmth, but, within seconds, I found myself thinking that it was a familiar stance for me.

“For now, it would be best if I escorted you to your bed chambers once more at this time. The paths and routes along this way are often confusing and may easily bewilder a new arrival.” The lord instructed me and began walking without letting go of my hand. I allowed myself to be led by this man down a hallway and around several corners before I resisted his light pull.

“My bed chambers, as you choose to call them,” I began, retracting my hand from his grasp, “are not in this…this cave land that you people want me to believe is my home.”

“Does her ladyship hold a preference for being in her other world? The one which she is now referring to as home?” It was as if he was frustrated with me, responding like that after a quiet sigh escaped from his lips.

“It is not a question of which I may hold a preference for; it is simply a matter of which I am familiar with. I know nothing of this world, where you and yours insist that I belong.” My temper was growing and I did not doubt that his patience was growing thin.

“In the morning.” A deep sigh escaped him again and he stared at me. It was the first time I’d truly stopped to take in his appearance. His lips were drawn, not in frustration, but sadness; his eyes, a soft and dull green, bore into mine; and his hair was tousled, not as a style, but as though hands had been wringing his hair throughout the day and he’d never bothered to straighten it. I waited, knowing he had more to say. “In the morning, we may speak frankly. In the morning, I shall show her ladyship every corridor and crevice of this world. In the morning, should she promise not to run, my lady’s mind will be cleared and she will have her freedom. All this, I promise her in the morning; for now, my body demands replenishment through rest.”



Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Anthromagic ~ Chapter 28

The next room was fully lit. Small circular lights lined the walls along the ceilings and the floors while a large chandelier halfway down hung from the center. With the excessive lighting, there didn’t appear to be a single shadow in the entire room as I walked around, taking the sight in. Within seconds of beginning my exploration, it was interrupted as a section of the wall slid open behind me and the same man with the crooked smile walked into the room. He gestured toward a velvet chaise lounge in the corner of the room, indicating that I should take a seat and I cautiously sat down. Sitting there, the memories mixed in my mind again and I found myself wondering what this man’s connections were to Sikal while the other thoughts told me that he was the lord of this realm.


Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Descendant: The Directory

The following will help you navigate the short story "Descendant".

~Part 1~

~Part 2~



Descendant by Crystal MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Anthromagic ~ Chapter 27

By the time I woke, I assumed the sun had set low in the sky and I found myself in a plush sleigh bed that you might’ve found in a Victorian home. Rubbing my eyes and sitting up, I looked around trying to establish where I was, but it was too dim to determine much beyond the shape of the bed. I could tell that the room was large and the door seemed infinitely far away. Slowly, I brought my feet over the edge of the bed and tried to feel the floor beneath my feet. The sudden chill that met my toes caused an instant reflex, causing me to jerk my feet back up into the linens. Anticipating the cold the second time, I put my feet firmly on the floor and stood up from the bedside. After ten or twelve feet, I reached the other side of the room and the door. Gently cracking the door, I peered into complete darkness cautiously before opening the door to its widest expansion and walking through. Once I’d passed through the doorway, I felt furs, cotton and blends, and polyester brushing against my face and realized I’d walked into a closet instead of a hallway.

Turning around, I tried to look back into the room where I’d awoken to locate a door, but I couldn’t see anything in the dim light. I let my feet glide across the floor, using them to test the area in front of me for any possible dangers before proceeding around the room in search of another doorway. Letting my hand flow across the wall as I followed it around the room, I searched for cold metal that might indicate a door handle. Within moments, my hand grasped a knob and I pulled the door open into the room, allowing light to cover the span of the room.



Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.