Part 1

I've got to get away, whatever the cost.

That was all that mattered to Iris at the very moment she came to and realized the danger she was in.

She more or less managed to reconstruct her last memories. It was the weekend, and she'd left home to run a few errands for the week. She dressed simply, in skin-tight jean shorts and a T-shirt with indescribably colorful squiggles, followed by a long, light coat in the same tone as her jeans. She opted for thick-soled black ballet flats. Wanting to leave as quickly as possible, she let her long, flaming hair flow freely down her back.

Of course, she couldn't go unnoticed on the streets, where men always had to whistle at her or make remarks bordering on the indecent.

Yes, she was beautiful, even very beautiful, and most of the time this made her proud, but on rare occasions it annoyed her.

She had to take the bus. So she did. It was already late, night had fallen, but Iris preferred to go anyway, so she wouldn't have to go out again the next day, or more exactly, to use her time for more pleasant things.

She got on the bus and settled into a seat next to two very nice women of mixed ages. They chatted pleasantly. And then nothing.

When she woke up or came out of her trance, or whatever this strange state was, she was still on the bus, in the same seat, with the same passengers, who were just as disoriented as she was, and who were staring at each other wondering what had happened to them.

It was now pitch dark.

"Does anyone know where we are?"

"And what's happened to us?"

They didn't have long to wait, because just then, a man opened the bus door with a rather abrupt gesture and stepped in, glaring menacingly at them.

He was not handsome, but quite impressive with his slim body wearing a beige jumpsuit, his black hair and his pale, almost sickly skin.

"Who are you, what do you want from us?" inquired one of the passengers.

"First I want you to shut up!" he replied in a neutral but frightening tone. "You're going to come out slowly and we'll tell you exactly what you're going to do."

"You're going to kill us!?"

"It will all depend on you, so...obey now."

Iris's two neighbors turned to her, their faces frightened, their eyes misty with tears.

The young woman never knew what had possessed her, whether it was the look in the two women's eyes that had unconsciously prompted her to act in this way, or her own survival instinct, or her own stupidity, but as she was standing next to a window, she looked out to see if it was guarded. She noticed nothing, but that didn't mean anything. But that didn't stop her. She opened the window as discreetly as possible, then took a deep breath, stood up and dexterously climbed through.

It didn't take five seconds. She jumped onto the cold, hard floor, so cold that it penetrated her rather thick soles. And without waiting, she got to her feet and ran away as fast as she could.

She heard the jailer shout something like:

"Hey you, stop right there."

As if I'd obey," she said ironically, continuing her run.

The jailer hesitated about what to do, and was finally about to give chase to the young runaway, but a voice stopped him, an order, grave, amused, but implacable.

"Leave it, Jor, I'll take care of...this incident myself."

The voice came from a dark corner atop a brightly lit building.

"Very well, Your Majesty." came Jor's only reply as he bowed, one hand over his heart to his sovereign, who finally emerged from the shadows wearing a sophisticated, imperial midnight-blue jumpsuit, and considering with a slight smile on his lips the route Iris had taken to escape.

"I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy myself."

Iris, still oblivious to the pursuit, continued her race relentlessly.

The place was vast, bustling, similar to that of humans, apart from the race and size of the people.

She had feared for a moment that her difference, highlighted by her beauty and her hair, would easily get her spotted, but she soon realized just how much color was part of this incredible place. Yes, the people were all different colors, ranging in size from dwarf to giant.


As a result, they didn't seem too attracted to Iris, by her rather incongruous presence in their world. Some looked at her and regarded her with curiosity, but most gave her no meaning, and went about their business.

Iris ran, jostling a few people as she went, until she bumped into a strange and rather terrifying being, a tall man wearing a light brown suit covered by a long coat of the same tone, his shaggy black hair hidden under a wide-brimmed hat.

He lowered his face to the young human and studied her curiously and slyly.

"Human?"

Iris didn't answer.

"You're in the safe zone where no one intends to harm you, even the bad ones, but..."

Iris smiled involuntarily, finally a being who meant her well.

"Now you're not."

And taking the young human by the shoulders, he lifted her and turning slightly, launched her towards a place separated from the safety zone by a thick magical scarlet line.

Iris landed hard on the seemingly colder ground and gave her assailant an angry, frightened look.

She struggled to her feet and watched as the tall, human-shaped monster slowly approached her, his cold, cunning eyes shining with magic.

"You're really beautiful and so young...I think I'll get a very good price selling you on the black market, or better, to the aristocrats!"

He snapped his fingers and his shadow servants, skeletal beings dressed in black, emerged from the ground and pounced on her without delay.

Fortunately for the young woman, she was quite good at sports. She more or less managed to dodge her attackers and get to her feet before fleeing again with all her might.

"Help me! Save me!" cried Iris, trying.

You never know, she thought, as she easily realized that no one would answer her call. Indeed, her pursuers and their leader only sniggered at her desperate attempt to escape from them. But they soon stopped laughing and jeering when Iris, without realizing it, took a darker road than all the others.

"Not there, you idiot!" her pursuers' boss shouted at her as she quickened her pace to catch up before she was actually on the road, but it was too late.

Her pursuers came to a screeching halt at the road's threshold, while Iris was about two meters away.

They were so terrified by this specific area, darker and colder than the others that they stopped without hesitation at its entrance.

Iris did too, even more terrified than before.

"What's in here?" inquired Iris to the boss while studying the place fearfully.

"Something terrible. Now come slowly back to me and let's get away from here as fast as we can."

Iris, without answering, continued to consider with attention and deep fear.

It was a fairly wide road with equally wide sidewalks, bordered on one side by a high, long wall that gave a glimpse of an immense forest teeming with various equally fearsome and repulsive creatures, and on the other side an immense lake stretching as far as the eye could see and possessing an even more terrifying aspect, especially with its smooth surface gleaming in the almost non-existent starlight.

"What the..." she began, but the chief didn't let her finish.

"Can you see where you are now? Now stop standing there like the idiot you are and come back here so we can get out of here as soon as possible." He repeated, horribly nervous.

The crucial question for Iris was, should she choose the monster she knew or the monster she didn't know. She knew the chief, or at least what he intended to do to her, while she was totally unaware of the one who inhabited these places so sinister she doubted sunlight would ever shine in them. A monster that even the chief and his loathsome henchmen feared to the bone.

Finally, she made up her mind: she was going to try her luck in this place.

She gave the chief a frightened but determined look, then shaking her head while continuing to stare at him with will, stepped back, penetrating the road even further then turned on her heels and resumed her run.

"You stupid bitch. Suffer and die!"

"Scream in vain, your dirty coward!" retorted Iris with rather obvious satisfaction. At least she'd defeated him, even if it was the last thing she had to do in this life.

The young woman had covered about a kilometer when the monster who lived in this place feared by all decided to show himself.

First, there were growls of various kinds, but from the same beast? Flying creatures screeched and flew out of the deep forest.

Iris looked around, making herself as small and unobtrusive as possible.

But it was all doom and gloom as eyes opened up, eyes of the most repulsive and terrifying yellowish brilliance, and they quickly settled on the unwanted young human.

Then he finally came out of the night, looking so abominable that Iris couldn't dodge the slightest gesture, and trembling with all her limbs, watched him approach her and then devour her.

This was the end. She thought vaguely. There was no way out, no hope.

The chief was right, she was going to die in pain. She knew now that she should have followed him, that by being his prisoner she might still have had a chance to free herself later, but now any attempt, any option was non-existent.

Iris wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. She felt so little and had no desire to suffer, let alone die, but this was her fate.

The monster was skeletal, covered in fur oscillating between brown and yellow, with sharp-clawed paws and a huge mouth equipped with razor-sharp teeth. Drool dripped from his mouth, and he was huge, the size of her bedroom.

She shook her head and closed her eyes as the monster pounced on her, but?her death never came.

She waited and waited, but nothing. Then, cautiously, she opened her eyes and what she saw literally took her breath away.

The monster lay at her feet, his body covered in blood, which also spilled onto the floor, dead, and on top of him sat a being Iris knew she could never forget.

He stared at her intently with his fiery gaze, then leapt to his feet and stood before her.

He was about the same height as the Chief, but leaner, more muscular and, above all, more handsome.

He wore his battle suit in a stellar blue, similar to his hair, which reflected even the most insignificant light, and his face, like that of a Roman medal, was fascinating, his mouth sensual, which at this moment was smiling slightly mockingly, and finally his eyes, a deep green that seemed almost to blaze, so incredible was their intensity.

Iris felt her heart racing and her limbs trembling again, but for an entirely different reason.

When she finally regained the strength to speak, she swallowed her saliva with difficulty, looking in turn at the dead beast and then at the killer, and inquired.

"You killed him without a sound."

"So what?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions," he imposed, crossing his arms authoritatively.

This attitude piqued Iris.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

She was shaken by his palpable dominance.

"Well, let's hear it then..." the young human ventured, running her tongue over her lips. But the stranger didn't reply. Instead, he turned towards the lake, and soon bright eyes pierced its surface, startling the young woman, but curiously, she felt no fear.

How could she have been in the presence of such a strong, arrogant and obviously horrifying being.

The beast emerged from its watery realm and strode towards them.

It bowed to its stranger, took the monster's corpse in its mouth and, after an ostentatious growl, plunged back into its abyssal world.

The waves collided with an invisible barrier, so neither of them got wet.

"Thank you," Iris said almost shyly.

"You're welcome. Now it's our turn." he continued, facing the young woman.

"Are you going to kill me?" couldn't help asking Iris although she doubted a positive answer.

"That depends," said her savior, annoyed.

"The person who...I'll say...welcomed us into this incredible world, said the same thing."

"Jor? Yes, I know."

"What's going to happen to the other passages of the bus."

"You shouldn't have run away like you did if you wanted to know."

"Because you think a normal person would have stayed and waited for what he didn't know would be done to him in an enchanted world?"
"Still, it was safer than going off into this enchanted world without knowing where to go or what to do, and without any means of support."

His face, as he said this, reflected such contempt that the young woman straightened defiantly.

"You can talk since it's all your fault, in the end."

"And why is that?"

"Who drew us, poor humans that we are who only wanted to live our life in our world, than you, you and your kind, and for some unknown reason!"

"If you'd stayed, you'd know."

"But I didn't stay, I ran away, so let's not talk about it anymore. Why did you bring us here?" she continued, pursing her lips.

Her savior couldn't help but snicker.

"Ah, so human, because you'd landed here without understanding, you immediately think it's our fault."

"And whose else!"

"It never occurred to you, did it? That it could be one of your own kind?"

Indeed, Iris's expression clearly revealed that it had never crossed her mind. That she'd never even considered it.

"Did it?" she inquired, defiantly.

"Yes."

She shook her head.

"I don't believe you!"

"Tell me about it." he gestured ostentatiously.

Iris ran her tongue over her lips, her hand over her face as she gestured to avoid having to acknowledge the truth.

"Jor, that's right. Your henchman, there."

"What, Jor?"

"What did he want with us? And don't tell me I'd have known if I'd stayed."

"Since you said it for me, I'm not going to tell you anymore. As for Jor, his mission was to get you off the bus to search all of you from top to bottom looking for the smuggler."

"Smuggler?"

"One of your kind who brought you here?"

"How can he, does he possess magical powers?"

He emitted an unbearable sneer.

"Of course he doesn't. But what he does possess, however, is a magical object powerful enough to open a portal between our two worlds."

"And how could he have acquired it?"

Another sneer, this time aimed directly at her.

"Oh please, you're not stupid and even less naive."

"In other words?" she inquired while turning a murderous gaze on him.

"That someone from home gave it to him. His role was to bring you humans in exchange for real gold."

Iris hesitated to ask.

"And what's the value of a human in the magical world?"

"Ah, if you only knew..."

"Yes?"

"I can tell you that it's the favorite met of a certain breed of creature, colossal and very powerful, and whose battles bring their owners a fortune that even they find hard to spend."

He looked up and gazed distractedly at the starry sky, then a winged creature with glowing eyes appeared and moved towards the savior, informing him of something rather important in a language she couldn't understand. The warrior nodded, then the winged creature left as he had come.

"Knowing Jor and his henchmen, he must have found the...how do you say it in your human world? The rat?"

"You know our expressions?"

"And not only that."

"I can't imagine what you mean by that. And so, what are you going to do with the...rat?"

His laughter as well as his expression was worth all the words in the world.

"You don't want to know, human."

He was right, but he hadn't finished.

"But it will be nothing compared to what I'll do to the traitor of our world."

Never had Iris heard a more icy, ruthless voice.

She didn't reply.

"And...what are you going to do with the innocent passengers who didn't ask for anything."

He laughed mockingly.

"What do you think I'm going to do to them?"

"I don't know, then?"

He tilted his head to one side, considering the young human for a long moment, then shrugged.

"I'm going to send them back to your world, but only after I've erased their memories."

Iris supported the changed look as best she could. A look any normal woman would recognize.

"So that's my fate too." It was not a question.

"Yes. Don't worry, it won't be terrifying or painful, and all memories will disappear. Forever."

Memories of his world, especially memories of him. She didn't want to, but it was impossible to tell someone you were meeting for the first time, even if that someone saved your life.

"Why do you care so much about the separation of our worlds?"

"Do you really think I care about that?"

It's true. They'd only just met, but already she could say with certainty that he didn't care about other people. Human or not.

"This is my territory, and I don't want anyone I don't want here."

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

A chastened, angry voice uttered these words.

From the shadows of the forest emerged a whole group of monsters similar to the one his savior had eliminated in total silence.

The one who spoke was unquestionably the group's leader.

The warrior faced him with determination.

"I have no desire to fight your clan, Kajun. I asked your idiot nephew to stop as long as I didn't wish to intervene, but he wouldn't listen."

"So you killed him?"

"And now the situation is settled."

Iris regarded her savior with wide eyes. He wasn't serious. But from the look on the monsters' faces, she assumed he was.

She couldn't stay silent any longer.

"Majesty or whatever, if your intention was to negotiate, this was not the way."

"I never negotiate my murders."

"Huh?"

Jor came upon a winged creature accompanied by half a dozen of his henchmen.

"Master, we're here."

"Take this human away from here, I have a score to settle here." he ordered his loyal subordinate, pointing with a nonchalant gesture of the head at the so-called human.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And you're going to fight them...on your own?" inquired Iris, not believing he could actually do it. True, he'd taken out that filthy nephew who'd nearly ended his life with ease, but this was a whole group of monsters and clearly more formidable than the victim swept away like dinner into the bottomless waters of the lake.

"There are so many of them! You'll never beat them alone!"

"And how can you know that?"

"I may be human, knowing nothing of magic and monsters, but I'm no fool!"

The warrior rolled his eyes.

"Jor, please!"

"Yes master...majesty, anyway."

And so his subordinate delicately seized Iris by the waist, and brought her behind him onto the winged creature whose dark, shiny plumage was soft and comfortable. Meanwhile, the warrior's other henchmen put their feet down, standing behind their master, awaiting his orders.

"Jor, is he really going to win?"

Iris felt more than saw Jor's expression and smile, a smile that reflected what he thought of his sovereign.

"Don't worry, young human, it's not that he's dangerous or anything, it's just that he's different. He always has been."

And then, high above the deep water, protected by the brave and loyal Jor, Iris saw her warrior transform into a monster. He already was, but this time he literally became one.

A monster twice the size of his opponents, with striped fur similar to that of a white tiger, and emerald eyes that radiated power and the desire to destroy all those who opposed him, including the beasts of the forest.

But powerful as he was, master of these people and his vast territory, he was not invincible, nor was he flawless.

The battle was fierce. Jor wanted to leave, but Iris threatened to hurt herself, to run away again if they ever left.

Fighting the other monsters was more or less passable for him, even if their sheer numbers didn't make his job any easier, but the hard part was his confrontation with Kajun, the clan leader. He may not have been as strong and powerful, but he seemed to have more fighting experience. Given his age and position, this was understandable.

His agility was also a tad better than that of his opponent.

The henchmen were efficient, as you'd expect from his kind, but they could only take on one monster each.

One group reddened, and together they formed a shell which they hurled furiously at their leader's adversary.

The latter didn't even try to dodge, too enslaved by his pride and arrogance.

"What an idiot!" cried Iris, clenching her fists in rage and extreme anxiety.

Her warrior faced the massive force of the shell head-on and managed to defeat it, despite some signs that it wasn't without after-effects.

He tore through the group of shells, but the clan leader pounced on him just as he broke the neck of the last of the group of shells, and grabbed him by the neck in turn, but his enemy was too imposing, so he managed to break away from his bite. Kajun stepped back and irradiated to send a magical shot at the warrior, who waited and faced up to demonstrate his superiority. He weakened but did not retreat.

Glowing red in his turn, the sovereign increased his strength and charged at Kajun with a roar, sending him flying into the distance, then sending a magical shot that he took full force.

Kajun's body disintegrated in an incredible display of fireworks. This tremendous blaze finished off Kajun and the fight.

"Leave!" ordered the victorious warrior to the remaining clan members, glaring at them with an almost demented but triumphant gaze, "or I'll wipe you all out, and your clan will disappear from history."

Kajun's son glared at his enemy with a hateful yet terrified gaze, so after a brief wait, he nodded and ordered the surviving members to retreat to the forest.

"I'll remember this day, Zogias. You humiliated us and killed our leader, my father. It was an unforgivable, unforgettable act. I'll be back one day for my revenge."

"And I'll be there, Karief, and I'll kill you like I killed your father."

The new leader of the monsters pursed his lips until they bled, while Iris couldn't hold back the sound of surprise and indignation at these words, which were as crude as they were cruel. But what she retained most from their incisive and terrible exchange was his name. Zogias. A sublime name that suited him perfectly.

After one last evil glance, Karief finally withdrew. He returned to the dark, living kingdom that was his forest.

As soon as he disappeared, caught up in the walls of ancient trees that lined his territory, Zogias let himself go. He let out a pained sigh, then fell to his knees on the arid ground, bringing his hand to his arm.

"Master!"

"Zogias."

Iris shouted his name at the same time as her loyal subordinate, joining him as quickly as possible.

Jor helped him to his feet, placing an arm around his shoulders for support as Iris surveyed the scene, her eyes misty with tears.

He was clearly suffering, grimacing in pain, a trickle of blood running down his face and neck.

The other henchmen had already prepared the makeshift bed that was to carry him, pulled by their flying beasts.

Jor was now to take her back to his world, but Iris refused and insisted on accompanying them.

She consulted Zogias, who studied her expressions for a moment, then finally sighed with an exasperated, resigned smile.

"That's because you're beautiful."

Never was Iris happier to have been born with this beauty that turned men's heads.

So she was allowed to accompany them to Zogias' home, a sort of pavilion built atop a huge rectangular building, the very one built atop a hill far from the others.

"Who lives in this building apart from him?" inquired Iris, very curious about his savior's life.

"Oh, nobody. It's only our meeting places when we have one, but most of the time it's deserted."

As deserted as his life, Iris immediately thought as she looked in turn at her warrior and the place where he made his home.

What solitude.

The pavilion was as luxurious as a Hollywood celebrity's villa, but minimalistic. There was really only what one needed to live.

"It's so empty," Iris remarked in a tone that made Zagios tense like a doomed animal.

He had been washed, groomed and dressed, and installed in a bed large enough to accommodate at least six people.

The two were left alone. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, then Zagios gave one of his trademark mocking smiles.

"I don't even know your name."

"Iris. It's Iris."

"It's a beautiful name."

"Not as beautiful as yours!"

"It's the name my father gave me just before he left."

"He's...deceased?" inquired the young human shyly.

He made a funny sound.

"The word 'leave' has so many meanings."

"And which one is attributed to your father's departure."

He didn't answer, merely smiled at her.

"Now you must go."

Iris's heart ached at the very thought. Never to see this magical world again, this being who dominated so much of it and who had saved her; it hurt so much, so what would it be like when she really got home? Oh yes, she'd forgotten, she thought with unbearable cynicism, she was going to forget. They were going to take away all memory of those moments, of that enchanted universe, all memory of him.

Instead of shouting her refusal to have her memory erased, she smiled at him.

"Jor really does look like he's tearing his hair out over my presence and my persistence in staying when he should have taken me home with the others long ago, with all this," and she pointed with an eloquent gesture to the room as well as the entire magical universe, "forever erased from my mind."

Zogia ran a weary hand over her face.

"He'll get over it," he reassured her in an even weaker tone, "it's not the first time he's been unable to perform his duty."

"With you as his sovereign, it must happen to him even more often than the other way around."

He only laughed at this, so he settled more comfortably on his bed, sketching a grimace of frustration.

"Zogias..."

He beamed at her again, then declared.

"You must leave now."

The tone he used to tell her himself, Iris wished she would never forget.

It was so implacable, irrevocable. He may have saved her, he may have shown her a certain kindness, but he really was a sovereign. One of the rulers of this world so different and far removed from that of humans, and which she had entered by the greatest coincidence.

Fate was so perfectly cruel that one could only hate it, just as she could only feel that way about this being.

She didn't answer, but she felt light, as if she were about to fall asleep in her bed at night.

She could more or less guess what was going on. She made sure that the last thing she saw of his world was him, watching her leave irrevocably with that expression on his face that she would carry with her forever.

Someone had once told her that all it took was a moment. And they were right.

When she awoke, she found herself asleep, sitting on a subway bench, her head leaning against a pillar, her bag and three shopping bags lying beside her.

A policeman approached her and asked.

"Are you all right, miss?"

Iris struggled to gather her wits, and when she did she nodded, then inquired in turn.

"What time is it?"

She had a watch on her wrist but didn't notice. The policeman must have understood her dismay, made no remark and simply gave her what she'd asked for.

Hearing the time, Iris was startled, without understanding why, or rather, she felt she couldn't remember.

The policeman continued to observe her, admiring in spite of himself her beauty, further accentuated by this strange vulnerability.

"Are you all right, Miss? Would you like me to call an ambulance?" he added, detailing her body to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"No, I'll be fine," Iris finally replied, rising to her feet. "Thank you, I only wish to go home, as I was asked."

"Asked? But who?" inquired the policeman, frowning, puzzled.

Iris thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"I don't remember. But this person really wanted me to return home."

The policeman helped her with her groceries to the outside then, leaving her to check that she had enough money for the cab, let her get into one.

Iris expressed her gratitude before leaving.

Back in her apartment, she felt really strange and tired, and after taking a shower, immediately went to bed.

A week later, still in the evening, she was waiting for the metro to take her home. It had been an intense day, with work busier than usual, so she and her friends and colleagues couldn't have their usual gossipy moments. Luckily, her boss is a great guy, a bit strict but very open-minded, and very easy to talk to.

Iris consulted her watch, and when she saw the time, she sighed.

It was early, but considering how tired she was, it was late for her. Fortunately, the train would not be long now.

But as she heard the train coming, she noticed something strange. She noticed that she was alone in the subway.

"At this hour!" she exclaimed, looking around.

She really was alone.

The train arrived and stopped, opening its doors.

She hesitated again, then shrugged and got in.

She sat down on a bench. Immediately, the doors closed again, which was unusual, and the train restarted.

Again, Iris was greatly intrigued, then shrugging again, took out her mobile and exchanged a few messages with her best friend.

Soon, she felt strange and tensed up like a spring about to break, as she was certain of a feeling of d?j?-vu. The same weakness, the same feeling of tiredness, of trance.

She struggled again against this strange, disconcerting sensation, then closed her eyes and sank into a painful unconsciousness.

She awoke with a terrible headache.

"Ah, you're awake at last!" came a cavernous voice that immediately displeased her and seemed to awaken a distant echo within her.

She forced herself to open her eyes, even though she was certain that what she would see in reality meant her no good.

Her inner warning of danger was screaming atrociously.

Chapter end