Branches of Life

Human realm

A blonde-haired woman walked down an unused and overgrown dirt road, humming to herself as she did so. Giving off the appearance of being unobservant and careless. She stopped at an unassuming tree, waving her hand in front of it. A hand that was glowing a deep blue. At the base of the tree trunk, a golden rift appeared. One she pressed her still glowing against and was pulled into another dimension. The rift dropped her off in a sprawling field, full of waist-high purple grass and colorful wildflowers that came up to her chest. A pastel blue sky sat above, filled with silvery clouds and a small white sun. Standing in the middle of the field, was the only other structure in the acres of lush grass. The house was a light yellow, with colorful tinted windows, and a white wraparound porch. It appeared to be a small house, but as the front door swung open, it was revealed to be far bigger on the inside.

In the center of the open living room, was a waterfall, with crystal blue water appearing out of thin air. The water splashed into a shallow pool carved into the floor. Despite the constant gushing water, it never flowed over the edges. On the far left wall was a crystal rectangle, taking up most of the wall, with veins of blue, gray, pink, and green running through it. Seated in front of it was an oversized blue sofa, with a green crystal table sitting before it.

She breezed through the living room, the spacious kitchen, and out the sliding glass doors. The wraparound porch spread out into a large deck, leading to a swimming pool. Full of the same water as the waterfall.

Beyond the pool was the pastel purple grass, that every so often would rustle with movements of the animals running through it. If one were to stand in the field looking in, they wouldn't have been able to see the swimming pool. Nor would they have seen the woman, lying on the inflated raft in the middle of the pool.

A pair of rose gold sunglasses covered her eyes, matching her swimsuit and making her appear more tanned than she actually was. On her left shoulder, down her left side and leg, were tattoos written in an ancient language—tattooed in a shade of pink several shades lighter than her deep pink hair.

The blonde removed the blue-tinted ring from her ring finger, and her image shifted. Light blue eyes deepened to an impossibly deep blue, with a ring of gold striped through. Beneath the strap of her shirt, was the same tattoo as the other woman. Only hers was the same shade as her eyes. Her straight and golden hair changed to bouncy ringlets, with the left side an icy blue, and the right a snowy white.

She pulled off her boots and rolled up the legs of her pants, revealing more blue script tattooed on her left leg, along with the top and side of her foot. With a long sigh, she sat at the edge of the pool and dipped her feet into the water.

"Interesting trip?" Asked the woman in the pool, not bothering to remove her glasses, or even look at the other woman.

Rotating her hand up with a flourishing twist, the curly-haired woman made a black velvet pouch covered in golden script, appear on the palm of her hand. She pulled out a necklace, careful to only touch the chain. Dangling off her finger was a silver-colored chain, with a rough cut silvery-gray crystal as the pendant.

Somehow without moving the raft, she sat up and pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. Revealing eyes the same shade as her tattoos, with the same ring of gold as the other woman. "Who had it?"

"A dragon summoner."

"Did you have to kill them?" Her strange eyes remained glued to the stone.

"Give me a little credit." She scoffed and dropped the necklace back into the pouch. "They were easy enough to subdue."

Her pink eyes lifted from the pouch to the other woman's face, narrowing as she tilted her head to the side, and studied her intently. "You're being vague. What happened?"

Rolling her eyes, she leaned back, resting her hands on the deck behind her. "They were talking about going somewhere to find something or someone when I walked into the pub. The dragons weren't forthcoming with their answers, so I knew eavesdropping wouldn't—"

"Emmy," the other woman cut her off with a sigh.

"I sang just enough of a lullaby for them to fall asleep, and took the key from them. I let them follow me, chose the one most likely to talk, and isolated her. She knew nothing, unfortunately, and I knew I wouldn't get anything from those damn dragons."

"She saw your face, didn't she?"

Emmy tilted her head from side to side. "Possibly."

"You should've killed her then." She heaved out an exhausted sigh as she dragged her hands—her fingers stained blue, purple, and black—down her face. "We can't risk being recognized."

"First of all, I doubt she knows anything about us." Emmy pulled her curly hair from her face and into a bun. "Second, you told me to avoid killing, that it would draw too much attention."

She gave Emmy a deadpan stare, not even bothering to dignify that with a response.

Emmy sighed, splashing her feet through the water. "Her memory of the event is most likely hazy, she had lost a fair bit of blood by that point. Not to mention, the idiot ran head first into enchanted water."

This had the other woman raising a pink eyebrow. "I'm sorry, she did what?"

"I know"—Emmy shook her head in baffled amusement—"I was just as surprised when she chose death over facing me."

"How the fuck did she survive?" The other woman asked looking intrigued.

"Her spirit animal familiar saved her."

"What kind?"

"A wolf, as was she."

"Interesting." She chewed on her bottom lip, lost in thought. "I wonder how the Mythics would react if they ever found out how their spirit animal familiars were born."

Emmy chuckled, but there was nothing nice or pleasant about it. "Would you like to tell them, or can I?"

Ignoring Emmy's dark amusement, she laid back down. "So the girl didn't know anything, but what of the dragon who carried the key?"

Emmy eyed the pouch sitting next to her. "She was wearing it around her neck, not even bothering to hide it or mask its energy. If she truly knew what she had and what it could do, I doubt she would've been so careless."

"Hide it somewhere safe, in a place not even I would think to look." She pinned Emmy with her intense stare.

"I'm on it."

"Good. Good," she murmured pausing with her hand on her sunglasses, as the gold in her eyes disappeared and they lit up a luminous pink. She stared off into space for several minutes. All the while, Emmy waited patiently, apparently used to this. The gold reappeared as the glow died down, and her eyes focused on Emmy.

"If what you said is true, and they truly didn't know what they held, there should be no reason for them to go after the other keys. But if for some reason they get in your way again—"

"Kill them?" Emmy suggested with a mischievous smirk.

She hesitated, considering her words for a moment. "Only if it's absolutely necessary. They may prove useful to us in some way. It's best we don't kill them before then." Pulling her glasses back over her eyes, she relaxed back onto her raft.

Emmy stood up and used her elemental magic to dry the water from her feet. She began humming again as she went back inside, past the kitchen and into a smaller room. One full of weapons of various sizes, shapes, and purposes.

Once she was stocked up on weapons, she changed her clothes and back into her glamor. She stood in front of the waterfall, which wasn't any normal waterfall, but a gateway. One that could take her almost anywhere she wanted to go.

After taking a deep breath, she lifted her glowing hand and parted the waterfall, revealing a rift. Pressing her hand against the pulsing light, she was pulled into another realm. Where death would no doubt follow in her wake, as she searched for the four other keys.