Good Luck

One phone call, one flash of impossible energy, and Cam Waters wakes beneath two moons in a world ruled by magic, monsters, and tyrants. Stranded in a realm he doesn't understand, Cam may be the only person clever enough to change its future—and the only fool willing to try.

By Alicia AnspaughPublished 4 months ago • 14 min read

“Good luck.”

Lance’s bass tone came through the line with a weird lack of inflection.

“What?”

I picked up with my left hand while I was fumbling with my gym bag. Right when he called, it had gotten stuck in the trunk of the cab somehow and I was trying to wrench it out.

Crap, this parking garage was dark.

I was hoping for good news about our boss. Instead, I felt a weird shiver and then it was almost like I’d touched a power cable.

Then I blacked out.

I came to feeling like a fried egg. My brain bounced back first and I tried to roll over.

“Guuurgh.”

Operative word—tried.

Every muscle in my body was stiff as hell.

What the hell had happened to me... and why did I smell smoke!?

After a couple tries, I managed to get myself flipped over and took a look at the sky.

It had two moons and a sun.

What?!

I tried sitting up. It went a little better. I got a good look at where I was and it didn’t look like an airport parking garage in Zurich.

I was in a crazy-ass forest... almost like I was in some weird-ass ’80s cartoon. I liked ’80s cartoons. They were great, but I didn’t want to be in one!

Putting my hands down to push off the ground told me where the smoke smell was coming from—my left hand was completely black with ashy soot and the charred remains of my cellphone.

Okay... so thanks a lot, Lance buddy. Your hairless ass is buying me a new phone... when I get back from wherever the hell I am.

Rustling a few yards out caught my attention... and then a huge-ass blue and yellow tiger head popped out of the vegetation... with a mild growl.

Great, I was gonna be alien tiger food!

We held eye contact.

Maybe it’s gonna go away...

Not!

It lunged at me. It was big... bigger than it looked at first. This thing was big enough for a grown man to ride on its back.

I screamed and rolled, and my shoe got stuck in a tree root.

Great!

It sailed over me and ended up in some kind of tar-like substance... maybe a really thick black sap, and started... sinking!

It pawed frantically and started to whimper.

“Yeah, might wanna check what’s behind somebody before you lunge at ’em, jerk!” I hollered at the big cat.

Then I hopped over and tried yanking my shoe out of the root. I finally got it, stumbling back near the giant cat.

I wished Talin were here. He would be in heaven!

I turned to leave.

That cat was sinking fast and it was terrified. Its eyes went all big and it was whimpering... and I couldn’t help it.

I caved.

I turned back and grabbed some vines. They were actually pretty sturdy.

I twisted them together. I had no clue if it was gonna help, but might as well give it a shot. I wrapped them around a thick tree trunk and made a loop at the end.

I walked over to the pitiful cat.

“Okay, kitty, you gonna try and eat me if I help you?... Well, I guess I’m new around here and I need friends, so just remember that I pulled you out, okay?”

No response.

It was probably gonna kill me and eat me. But maybe it wouldn’t, and I didn’t wanna see anything die like that.

I tossed the rope and it caught it. Using the tree as leverage, I pulled and pulled and pulled and finally got it free.

It hopped up and came over, sizing me up.

“Hey, I just helped you out and saved your life. If you eat me, I am gonna be really pissed.”

I gave it a warning look.

Then it shocked me by sitting back on its haunches and purring at me. I cautiously reached over and petted its head. It sprang and aggressively snuggled me—knocking me back on the ground in the process.

“Easy, easy... I’m not as sturdy as you. Okay, thank you for not eating me. Don’t suppose you know the way to some sort of town or something?”

I gave it scritches and enjoyed the cuddle mauling.

It sat up and bounded into the forest.

Hmmm, cats will be cats.

I sat up and dusted off, trying to decide which way to go when it popped back out of the foliage, sat, and stared at me.

I stared at it.

“You want me to come with you?”

In answer it bounded off again.

“Wait!”

It came back, came at me, and tossed me onto its back. I held on for dear life as it ran through the forest.

We came out at the top of a cliff. Looking down, I could see a settlement. Before I could get my bearings, my new furry friend leapt off the cliff with me on its back.

I screamed my lungs out all the way down. I was sure we were both dead... at least me.

But the large cat just landed on all fours and shook itself a little, then stretched and charged off toward the town.

All I could do was hang on.

Once we got there, my mount trotting down the middle of the... street—a muddy lane—we caught a lot of attention right away.

So much for stealth and observation.

As it turned out, my new pal knew exactly where to take me.

The inn needed cleanup help.

Siiiigh.

Oh well. It was work. And at the tavern I’d be able to keep my ears to the ground for anything useful.

Intelligence work... just with a mop.

....

I teleported into my quarters, my magic painting the walls with purple light. I tore my helm off and threw it hard against the door, then sank down on the stool by my casting station. My head fell to the back of my hand and I wept bitter tears.

Kellen, the ruling sorcerer of this nightmare corner of Ainrete. We had started on the streets of this world together, but now he had decided that my contributions were nothing... that he had done this all on his own.

I had thought that we would be together in both conquest and in love.

Kellen held no interest but his own.

And now that we had claimed the Singing Stone from the caves of Vellia—the prize of the Sorna kingdom and one of the ancient wells of magical power—through my strategy and hard work, no less... Kellen decided to drink it all himself.

He graciously offered to loan me some for when he needed me to be at my best... to be withdrawn the moment I was no longer needed.

When I held him accountable for his promise to share it... he called me useless, unworthy of him, that I had held him back... climbed to what meager power I had by riding his coattails.

I laughed through my tears.

When I met him, he was eating rodents under a sewer drain to survive. I had taught him what I knew of magic gradually. I had intended to part ways with him. We were children, but I wanted no part of his life. It was HE who had begged me to stay... said he couldn’t live without me. Told me his sad story.

I had given in and stayed by his side.

Eventually, I fell in love with him and thought that he loved me too.

But no, he only loved himself.

Everyone else he just used.

I was angry and wanted him to pay... but I also remembered that little boy who had cried and clung to me when I tried to leave.

Well, I would just leave then. Our time should have ended a long time ago. I would take what was mine and I would go.

My scrying orb lit up and began showing me images... a man falling into our world from another.

Now why would it show me this traveler?

Hmmm.

He seemed smart.

But I held no interest in...

Ahh.

I could leave to another world and start over.

Good thinking, my friend!

Perhaps it was indeed time to say goodbye to Ainrete and my past once and for all.

I ran my hands over its translucent surface as the images faded, my sharp purple claws raking at the crystal.

The speaker crackled to life.

“Envy! Get your hide up here. There is an artifact from the Forgotten Empires in the Nightmare Mazes, and you are leading the legion to retrieve it... hurry!”

His self-important nasal voice faded out and my anger... and my body... blazed with the force of the outrage that he inspired.

Hmmmmm...

Well, if he was going to treat me like a lackey, then a lackey I shall be... to suit my own ends.

I scryed all of the information on this traveler and sure enough... he was no fighter and held no magical ability, but his intelligence was off the charts. All signs pointed to his being useful to me, but I couldn’t see how.

Well, it was time to see if he could keep his word, unlike certain people around here.

Time to catch a traveler.

I dressed and took the long way to the garrison hall. I wasn’t in the headspace to teleport. When emotions ran heavy and magic was used... it got dangerous fast! I could very well end up in a wall somewhere.

As I headed to get the legion gathered and go over the artifact reclamation, I sent a small raiding party to the Morwen village and took the tavern in minutes.

Hunters, muscle for hire, cooks, wenches, and patrons alike... and one confused mop-hand.

I smiled.

It was time that we met in person, the traveler and I.

But meeting him in my black armor and crowned helm of spikes... wouldn’t do.

I needed a disguise to see who he was.

And then I remembered who I was before I became Envy... personal right-hand leader to the Scourge Snake—the greatest evil lord on Ainrete.

I had been Etheri... a silver-haired, waifish slip of a young girl with purple eyes, pale skin, and soft features.

Etheri.

I stood in front of the great hall and looked into the gazing pool there. It was filled with cannibalistic krakel water beasts, but it would pass for a mirror.

I used illusion magic to turn my armor into a long silver silk dress and allowed my helm to fade to a small silver circlet with a purple crystal in the middle.

There she was.

I hadn’t seen her in so long.

I really was beautiful under all of this... noise.

And I looked non-threatening enough to coax the truth from an unsuspecting dimensional traveler.

I plucked a dark purple crystal from around the gazing pool and with a flick of my fingers fashioned it into a pendant, then let it settle around my neck. I would keep this illusion attached to it so as to reduce magical fatigue.

With a twist of the crystal, I became Envy once more.

I went to get the legion ready for what was surely a death mission. I would tell Kellen that we had failed and I would keep the artifact for myself... and the next one as well.

It was time for me to act in my own best interests... no one else’s.

I would meet the traveler when I got back.

....

As expected, the mission had cost us greatly.

But I had secured the prize... for myself!

Oh, the look on Kellen’s face when I handed him that pearl! He tried to access the power held within it and it crumbled to dust... very sparkly dust... all over his boots!

He was enraged, and it took everything in me not to laugh at him.

He made his customary accusations of treachery, incompetence, and all manner of things before dispatching us to the tar pits to retrieve a new prize.

I smiled.

That would be mine too.

As I prepared to head out, I stopped by the dungeons and shifted my form before going in. Picking up a water bucket and ladle, I walked amongst the prisoners as Etheri and gave them water.

Some were rude, others grateful... and the traveler seemed puzzled.

He stared at me as I held out water for him and blinked. His eyes were so wide... a very pretty ocean color.

“Who are you?”

He seemed so taken aback.

“Etheri... and you are?” I played demure.

He wiped his hands on his shirt and stuck one out to me.

“Cam, Cam Waters! Uh, how do you do?”

He was trying so hard.

Well.

“Good to meet you, Sir Waters.”

I took his hand and he clasped mine and shook it up and down.

What an odd gesture.

But sweet and awkward.

“Oh no, sir... just Cam. Ummm, who are you? And you don’t look like you belong down here... what gives?”

I blinked at him.

He truly was a stranger.

Good!

“I am here because I am meant to be. Now, Cam... would you like water?”

He gingerly took the ladle and sniffed, then a strange look came over his face.

“Hey... this water, where is it from?”

I frowned.

“The falls by the cliffs on the edge of the castle.”

Odd man.

He blinked.

“This tastes like Seriumin... it’s in the water?”

I nodded.

“Yes. These lands are overflowing with Seriumin. Why do you ask?”

What a bizarre question.

“The same mineral that’s used to build everything here on this world?”

His eyes had gotten considerably wider.

What an odd little man.

“Yes. One and the same.”

He laughed out loud, prompting one of the other prisoners to yell obscenities at him.

“You’re joking! Every kingdom on this world needs this stuff desperately... depending on how much there is, the guy running this joint could make enough to hold the whole planet. How much is here?”

And that’s when I understood why my scryer had shown him to me.

His intelligence was off the charts.

Kellen had been obsessed with gaining power through conquest, but he ignored the goldmine under his feet.

Hmmm.

How like him.

“I do not know... there is much. It makes much of this area uninhabitable. It is why the Scourge settled his armies here. No one wanted it.”

Stupid Kellen.

And even stupider me.

“Could I talk to the guy in charge?”

His eyes lit with opportunity.

I thought it over.

Hmmm, yes he could.

“Very well, I will take you to him.”

I produced keys and unlocked his cell. He stepped out and we headed to Kellen’s throne room.

As we walked, he told me of his homeworld and many of the things that he enjoyed and his friends and colleagues.

He was a good man... and a smart one.

But was he honest?

That was the true question.

I told him I was trapped here—not quite a lie—and that I wished to be free.

He told me he would make that part of the deal.

I smiled.

We would see.

We came to the doors. At my touch they slid apart to reveal the great Scourge Snake throne room. A throne raised on a dais, made to be the highest point in the room with a great hooded serpent over the luxurious glorified chair. Swathed in black and gold, hints of blue. The vision pool at his elbow and his staff held loosely in his hands.

Kellen sat and eyed us. Black veins crawled over every inch of his skin and his eyes glowed a nasty red. The end result of too many magical experiments gone wrong.

“My liege,” I greeted him.

“Envy... love the look. Why are you wasting my time?”

He mocked me even now.

Bastard!

Cam stepped up, greeted Kellen awkwardly, and told his information.

Kellen seemed to think it over.

“Hmmmm, alright... you’re head of the project. I won’t waste my precious time with something so common as mining. Good work, carry on.”

He shooed us out.

“Great! How much of the profits do you want... 50/50 split?”

Oh dear, this would get messy.

Kellen laughed.

“Hmmmm, how about... you keep your head. How’s that sound?”

A look came over Cam’s features. He didn’t like that at all, and it looked as though he had dealt with it before.

Odd.

“I don’t think so. 60/40 split. 60 me, 40 you. And she goes free.”

He gestured to me.

I blinked.

Cam’s voice held a non-negotiable note to it.

Kellen blinked and laughed.

“Well, since you’ve been so kind as to give me the information... you’re no longer of any use to me now, are you?”

He pointed his staff and I was ready to deflect his killing beam. I should have never brought it back for him. He focused his power through it to lethal effect.

“Well, before you do anything you regret... I told you the BASIC information... not ALL of it. Now, how does 70/30 sound in my favor?”

He stared at Kellen unblinking.

He held.

Kellen looked at him and he knew he had been outfoxed. He paused and then set the staff down.

“Fine, deal. Get to work and hurry.”

Cam nodded.

“Okay, good. Now... Etheri. She goes free.”

Kellen snorted and glared.

“Her name is Envy. And no deal. She’s mine. She’s treacherous and irritating, but she has her uses. Why do you care anyway? She might be pretty, but there is always pretty when you are wealthy... and you are set to be a very wealthy man.”

Cam looked at him.

“Because I promised her she’d be free. And without her, I wouldn’t have even put this all together. She goes or no deal, man.”

Kellen thought it over a minute.

“Well, mining is beneath me anyway. No deal!”

He pointed the staff and I deflected it back at him.

I heard a crack.

Kellen was shot back against the wall through the back of his throne. He got up coughing blood and went for a second attack.

“I don’t think so, Kellen!”

With that, I hefted him by energy force and plunged him into his vision pool... sending him to the far side of this world.

It was quite cold up there.

He screamed as he was sucked in.

“I was always better at magic than you ever were, Kellen. Farewell.”

I closed the pool with a chant and turned to see Cam staring at me with a grin and his eyebrow raised.

I looked at him quizzically until I caught my reflection in the jeweled eye of the throne serpent.

I had reverted to my black armor... to Envy... once more.

I looked around frantically and found the crystal pendant at my feet cracked into multiple pieces.

My soul sagged.

“I...” I started.

Cam smirked at me.

“Come on... a beautiful girl shows up bearing water in a ratty-ass dungeon... like that’s not suspicious. I’m glad you showed up... and thanks for saving my ass. But I knew you weren’t what you seemed.”

I stared at him.

“Huh... wise and discerning.”

I stepped down off of the dais one stair at a time and saw him admiring me.

That felt good.

It had been a long time since anyone had done that.

I stepped to him and looked up at him.

“Well... with the Scourge’s untimely incapacitation... I AM in charge. And I think that deal would work... 60/40?”

He smiled.

“Well, you DID save my life... so okay... I get 60... and... dinner?”

I broke into a smile.

“It would be nice to have a project coordinator... and I could eat.”

I stepped close to him and slipped my arms around the back of his neck and pulled him close.