Shadow and Fire
‘Right… but that doesn’t explain what you're doing in my bedroom?’ Kate stared blankly at the group of fantasy creatures, dressed in armour and robes that looked torn straight off the cover of a young adult fantasy novel.
‘Ah, right, I suppose I should explain,’ said the tall, gruff, wizardly-looking man. He appeared to be well into his years, his dark skin contrasting sharply with his shockingly white hair, which stood on end as if static ran through his very being. ‘We are here for the chosen one, the hero who will save our realm and banish the darkness once and for all.’
Kate, still in her pyjamas, slowly reached down into the bowl of popcorn in her arms and nodded. She didn't understand what was going on, but she found that people usually elaborated quicker if you acted as if you understood them.
‘Right, right... gotcha... and so, um... do you need like directions or something?’ She looked around nervously at the group. There were two dwarfs, one dressed in thick-plated armour, the other wearing some kind of religious robe. A tall, hot, long-haired Elf carrying a bow. A smaller child-sized figure with big ears, and a creature who looked like a half-lizard man, the kind you would probably see at a furry convention.
‘We have travelled many realms to find you, as it was foretold. You, Scarlet Bishop, shall be the herald of our new age!’ He stamped down his long wooden staff, and lightning crackled across the apartment, causing one of the wall lights to fizzle and die.
Kate let out a sigh, ‘Ohhh… You’re looking for Scarlet, my roommate. Yeah, she's at a uni lecture right now. I’ll text her.’ Nonchalantly she pulled out her phone and began to text Scarlet. ‘Yo dawg, its your gurl. There are some strange ass fantasy guys here looking for your buns, so get back here quick. XX’ She snapped a quick photo of the group for good measure.
The wizard looked slightly dejected, his static hair slowly deflating. ‘Ah, I see. Will she be long at this task?’
Kate checked her phone. ‘No, she should be back in about 15 minutes. Uh... you guys can wait if you want.’ The group looked around awkwardly. Several minutes passed as Kate scrolled through TikTok. Meanwhile, the Dwarfs wandered around the room. The Elf, who was too tall for the low-ceilinged roof, sat on the bed, and the Wizard and the lizard man engaged in a hushed conversation in a corner.
After what felt like an eternity to Kate, the door swung open with a loud crash as Scarlet burst in. She wheezed excitedly as she took in the group. ‘Ran... here... quick as... I... could!’ She gasped between breaths, hands on knees as she hunched over.
The wizard lit up again, static returning to his powder-white hair. ‘Ah greetings, you must be Scarlet! In the beginning, there was shadow and fire…’
Kate cut him off, ‘Oh you don’t need to do that again, I texted her the gist of what you said.’
Once again the wizard's face fell, dejected. ‘Oh I see, well Miss Scarlet Bishop, we are here to recruit you for the adventure of a lifetime in a quest that—’
This time Scarlet interjected, ‘Oh my god, yes, it’s finally happening!’ She clung to the edge of the bed like an excited dog, her eyes wide with the sense of adventure as her daydreams finally became a reality.
The Elf and the lizard exchanged a look, confused by her enthusiasm. The wizard coughed, trying to regain composure. ‘You do understand the sacrifice this will mean? You might never return to this world, doomed to spend the rest of your life in our realm of magic.’
This time Kate’s ears perked up. ‘Wait, can I come too? I can’t fucking stand it here in the UK any more.’
This time the Elf spoke up, in a smooth androgynous sounding voice. ‘We’re talking about an entire other plane of existence here, well beyond this simple nation.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I heard the speech blondy, but I’ll die happy if I never have to work in retail again. Please Scarlet, pleaseeeeeee!’ Turning to Scarlet she gave the biggest brown puppy eyes she could muster.
Scarlet beamed with excitement. ‘Of course! Every hero needs a loyal and sexy sidekick. It's like heroing 101.’ Before anyone else could interject, Scarlet had rushed over to the corner, where she pulled out a suitcase and began packing.
The wizard gave a withered smile. ‘So you’ll be joining us then?’
Tossing a pair of old underwear across the room, Scarlet nodded excitedly. ‘Of course! This is like one of my top ten fantasies! Let me just pack some essentials, I’m so tired of the trope of heroes getting lost in other realms without proper equipment! Let's see... tent check, thermals check, bug spray check…’
The Dwarf wearing the plate armour gave a grin, ‘Ay lass, if it’s Swords and gear ya need, we be havin plenty.’ His face fell however when he saw the bottle of XL sunscreen and mini solar-powered phone charger she was attempting to stuff into her cramped suitcase.
‘No, no, I got it! So how does this work... is there a portal? Some kind of magic word…’
And that is how our tale begins, the grand adventure of Scarlet and Kate, heroes of the realm, and defender of the weak. Or at least that is how the prophecy was supposed to go…
…Six weeks later.
‘Ughhhh. Scarlet, can we please rest for a moment? My back is killing me!’ Kate exclaimed. She had mud smeared across her face, and her clothes were torn and ragged—She looked as though she hadn’t had a good night's sleep in months.
Scarlet looked considerably less strained, but even in her mix of combat gear and mediaeval leather and chainmail, the tedium of travel was starting to get to her too. ‘Yes, I suppose we should,’ she conceded.
When they had begun this quest all those weeks ago, Scarlet had been prepared for deadly encounters, traps, and dungeons. However, the reality was that these types of events only took up a small fraction of their actual time. The rest was spent traversing the vast, expansive, unclaimed wilderness that divided the land, or hunting and gathering for scraps of food to stave off starvation.
As they lay in the heather, Scarlet began to reflect on why she had wanted to come to this world in the first place. Fantasy had always been her escape from reality, the place she could go to get away from life's problems. However, the longer she spent here, the more she realized it had all the same problems she faced back home. The people were still close-minded and bigoted; only now, the racism was across species. The classism persisted, with the rich 1% hoarding all the wealth, leaving the lower class to starve. Even the everyday problems were the same, only now she had to worry about being attacked by dangerous creatures or contracting some deadly disease that could kill her overnight.
Ahead in the distance stood Blackstone Castle, the home of the evil tyrannical lord Victor, the mad titan who had corrupted the people of this land, turning them into monsters of chaos—or so the wizard had claimed.
The ‘monsters’ they had dealt with so far, however, hadn’t been all that bad. Sure, they were eccentric and a bit different, much like any foreign culture, but the people they had encountered so far hadn’t seemed any more evil than any other race they had dealt with. What was different was how scary or imposing they appeared. Orcs sported tusks, and the Goblins had sharp razor teeth. However, to Scarlet, it seemed like these were superficial aesthetics, and didn’t really merit the distrust they garnered from people.
Scarlet twiddled her thumbs. ‘Kate, do you think we made a mistake coming here?’
Kate gave a raspy laugh. ‘Yes, we should have stayed in that tavern two towns back. I miss sleeping in a real bed.’
Standing up, Scarlet looked out towards the castle in the distance. ‘No, I mean coming here, to this world,’ she said, letting out a small sigh.
Kate gave a small shrug. ‘Well, it beats exams and taxes. Besides, it’s been fun, hasn’t it?’
Scarlet looked down at her feet sheepishly. ‘Maybe... it’s just... it’s not how I imagined it, you know? I thought we would be fighting evil, engaging in magic, being heroes, you know? And instead…’
‘...It’s the same crap we faced at home only with some magical fantasy paint?’ Kate said with a grimace.
The two girls sat in silence for a minute, contemplating the life they had left behind.
‘I miss my mum.’ Scarlet said with a sigh.
‘I don’t, my family is a fucking nightmare.’
‘Do you think we’re actually doing good here? Is it…’
‘...Worth it? I don’t know. We haven’t exactly done much heroing. Just a heck of a lot of walking and camping.’ Said Kate with a sigh.
The sun began to set. The pale orange horizon was strange and different, and yet just the same as it was back home.
Scarlet threw her bag back over her shoulder as she stood up. ‘We should get moving, I want to get there before dark.’
Night fell quickly as they reached the castle. The front entrance was barred by a portcullis and drawbridge, however, to their surprise both were open and undefended. Small wispy spirits lit up the path, illuminating it invitingly.
Scarlet scrunched up her face.‘This has to be a trap right? Where are the guards?’
Kate stood up dramatically. ‘Forget the guards, where is the army of the dammed that bloody wizard wouldn’t shut up about? He said this whole region was a heavily defended fortress.’
In a panic, Scarlet grappled with Kate's leg. ‘What are you doing!’ she said in a frantic whisper.
‘Relax, there is no one here, see?’ She waved her arms around, but no one seemed to investigate.
Slowly, Scarlet stood up and then followed Kate towards the main gate. It was true that the castle seemed distinctly lacking in the army of untold power that the wizard and others had raved about when they first arrived in this world.
As they stood in front of the main gate, one of the white wisps slowly wafted over before projecting a voice akin to a very fancy magical doorbell. ‘Greetings heroes, we have been expecting you, please follow the wisp inside.’
Kate grabbed Scarlet's hand. ‘Out the frying pan…’
‘..and into the fire.’ Scarlet gave a nod, and the two began following the wisp.
Blackstone Castle was surprisingly pleasant. As they walked through the halls, they encountered many '
Monsters,' none of whom seemed like soldiers. It wasn’t just them either, there were Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, the lot. They passed libraries, living areas, kitchens, and various other communal spaces. If anything, it felt more like a big homeless shelter or community centre than a military base, much like the ones Scarlet used to volunteer at back home. These were ordinary people, wearing rags, carrying with them what little possessions they still owned.
A small Orc girl waved at Kate as they walked by, giving a beaming smile. Scarlet gripped her sword defensively. ‘Come on, let's keep moving.’
The wisp came to a stop outside a large wooden door that stood slightly ajar. ‘Please, come in,’ came a deep voice.
The room appeared to be a meeting hall, with a grand oak table stretching across the centre, adorned with various maps, flags, and scrolls. Seated at the end of the table was a human—a tall, dark-haired man with a closely trimmed beard. He wore pyjamas and a thick dressing gown and didn’t seem to be much older than they were, perhaps around 26 or 27 years old.
‘You must be Scarlet and Kate, I’ve heard a lot about you.’ His gaze was kind but tired, and you could tell this went beyond simple sleep.
Kate tugged on Scarlet’s arm. ‘This is the evil Lord Victor? Why didn’t you tell me he was going to be hot!’
Scarlet rolled her eyes. ‘Forgive my friend. Why did you invite us here?’
The man gave a soft deep chuckle, and even Scarlet had to admit he was rather handsome.
‘The comment is appreciated, though I should clarify I’m not evil.’
Kate poked out her tongue. ‘Sounds like something an evil guy would say.’
‘That is fair, but what so far on your journey has led you to believe I am evil?’
Scarlet lowered her sword. ‘If you’re not evil, what are you then?’
He leaned back against the table casually. ‘A hero, like you, from Earth. I was the last idiot who fell for their pitch of a grand adventure.’
‘Come again now?’ Kate blinked.
‘Six years ago, a group of fantasy nut jobs tried to recruit me, claiming I would banish evil from their land. Being young and naive, of course, I signed up all too easily. They had me slay 'Monsters,' creatures they had deemed unintelligent and violent. I went from village to outpost with them, committing atrocities in their war. It wasn’t until I came across a family of Goblins, shielding their children that came to realize that these weren’t just brainless brutes, but people, being driven from their homes and slaughtered in a racial cleansing. I put a stop to it, turned my back on them, and came here to make amends.’
Scarlet dropped her sword and sank to her knees. It all sounded too familiar—the countless outposts and camps they had pushed through to get here—all egged on by the promise of adventure.
Kate rushed over. ‘Scarlet, are you ok?’
‘It was all a lie…’
‘I know, I know, I feel sick. We’re not the bad guys, we were used…’
Slowly, Vicktor walked over towards them and placed his hand softly on her shoulder. ‘She’s right, but it's not over yet. Join me. You're not the first adventurers to come here, nor will you be the last. But together, we can bring these people out of the dark ages, teach them the ways of our world. Maybe make up for some of the damage we caused here. What do you say?’
Scarlet reached for her sword, giving a small nod to Kate. They knew what had to be done.
Taking his hand she smiled, ‘We’re in.’
The End.
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