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The horses come to a halt in front of the cabin and the sisters dismount. They meet at the rear of the wagon and Urmine waves a claw in the air.

"I release you from your weightly tether, make this cage as light as a feather." A bolt of energy flies from her fingertip and merges with the metal bars of the cage, briefly glowing green. She then turns to Gothetta. "Take Edmund back into the house. I'll drive the wagon up to the road and let that sleepy dog in the back take it over. I'll be back soon."

The bear sharply turns and walks up to the driving position. From her tone and posture it's clear she's still in a foul mood from earlier. Not that Edmund cared, he was going to be free of their company by the end of today.

Gothetta leans into the wagon and grips the bars with two skinny arms. With a labored grunt she manages to pick the cage up and lift it out of the wagon much to Edmund's surprise. Sure, magic was involved, but seeing such a lithe woman move a sizable steely cage around with him still inside seems surreal. She approaches the cabin door and Urmine whips the horses into a gallop, the wagon and it's still sleeping passenger quickly growing smaller. The deer briefly sets the cage down to open the door and Edmund decides to make his move, now was as good a time as any now that Urmine was gone.

"Gothetta? May I have a glass of ice water? I'm absolutely burning up after that journey, this cage provides no shade or respite from the sun."

She cocks her head, confused.

"You're hot? But you don't even have any fur. How could a furless little creature like you possibly be too hot?"

She picks up the cage again and moves inside.

"I suppose a furry lady like yourself wouldn't know but we bald man-things get something called sun burn. It's where the rays of the sun damage and dry out our unprotected skin. I really must rehydrate if I'm to remain healthy."

She carries the cage back to the corner by the fireplace and sets it down, putting a hand to her chin.

"I suppose that does make sense..."

Edmund rolls a sleeve up to demonstrate his point.

"See how red this skin is compared to the skin that was under my sleeve? That means it's sun burnt. It'll turn flaky and painfully sensitive soon, the only reprieve I have from it now is to hold something cold and wet up to it, like a nice cold glass of ice water. Not to mention my deathly thirst as well."

The deer leans in to observe his skin, taking in the difference in color.

"Oh, alright, anything for my Eddy. I don't want any more harm to come to you." The deer gets up and retrieves a frosted glass cup, blowing the dust out of it before pouring it full of water from a pitcher. She then returns to Edmund and waves a hand above the glass. "Winter snow and icy linger, freeze this water with the touch of a finger."

The deer dips her finger into the water a few times, an ice cube forming where she touches the water. When it's nearly half full of ice she hands it to Edmund.

"Thank you." He says, taking a big gulp. "That's a cool spell, if you don't mind the pun."

She giggles.

"It's one of my favorites. My mother used it quite a lot when me and Urmine were still children. In the summer we would cut open red melons and squeeze all the juice out into a big bowl then mix it with sugar and water. Mother would then use that very spell to add a few cubes of ice to the liquid turning it into an ideal summer treat. Me and Urmine could drink pitchers of that stuff. We called it crimson melonade."

Edmund looks at his glass and smiles.

"That's nice. Back on earth we have something like that called lemonade. I remember my grandmother used to make it when my family would visit. We used lemons though, for the sourness. I remember she would put it all in a pitcher with a few lemon slices for good measure and we would drink it during lazy summer afternoons. I wasn't able to see them that often with how often my family moved around. And now that I'm stuck here, I'll guess I'll never see them again."

Gothetta's ears flick back and she breaks eye contact, a sense of shame washing over her. Edmund continues.

"Speaking of Earth, do you really have no plans to send me back? I know Urmine already has her mind made up but I was hoping you would be more sympathetic to my pleas."

Gothetta looks to the ground as she starts and stops, unable to get the words out.

"She-well-I can't really-I mustn't..." She sighs and shakes her head. "Not only is Urmine is the older of the two of us but she has the horns as well. I don't have the authority to go against her wishes."

"What the hell do horns have to do with this? I need to go back home Gothetta. I have a family that's missing me. I bet my parents didn't get any sleep last night and my boss is blowing up my voicemail wondering why the hell I didn't show up for work today. I don't belong here."

"But I mustn't go against sister! I don't have the authority!"

Edmund presses his face between the bars, his face red with aggravation at the spineless doe.

"Screw your sister! You people brought me into this world and you can take me out as well! It isn't within your authority to go against your sister? Well it's way the hell out of your authority to kidnap an innocent person and keep them in a cage for your own sick pleasure Gothetta! It's utterly immoral!" Edmund leans away from the bars and takes a deep breath, the anger leaving his voice. "Please, I'm just asking for a little mercy here. Can you at least talk to Urmine about setting me free? Letting me go back home? Can you at least find it within yourself to confront her about this?"

Gothetta breaks eye contact and looks down, slightly shaking with nervous energy.

"Well, I, ummm-"

She's cut off as the door to the cabin swings open and in steps Urmine. She claps her hands together and walks towards one of their many bookcases, retrieving a few tomes before speaking.

"Come Gothetta! You and I have a great many things to discuss regarding the future of our husband-slave. Come meet me in the bedroom."

Gothetta turns to join her and Edmund puts his hands out in a plea, his voice a whisper.

"Gothetta, please, just talk to her."

The deer only briefly glances back at him with an anxious expression before entering the bedroom and closing the door. Edmund sighs and waits for the muffled sound of conversation to begin drifting from the bedroom. He wasn't going to count on the doe to convince Urmine to let him go. He lacked confidence in her backbone. Which leaves only one person to possibly get him the hell out of this situation, himself.

He takes the glass of ice water in one hand and moves towards the door of the cage, eyes focused on the hefty metal lock. With his free hand he touches the lock and waits for it to turn red hot as before. It takes mere seconds, and he removes his finger with a grimace when he could take no more pain, dipping it in the ice water to numb it. Edmund was no expert in metallurgy, or in materials sciences, or in blacksmithing or any sort of field related to the chemistry of the physical world. However he does have enough knowledge to know what happens when an incredibly hot object meets an incredibly cold one, the unpleasant memory of when he once let a chunk of ice fall into a deep fryer bubbling up to his consciousness. He looks at the red hot lock, then the ice water, then back to the lock. In a sudden motion he moves the cup above the lock then turns it over, the water and ice pouring over the cherry red metal. The lock sizzles and clouds of steam rise from where the water hit and instantly evaporated, several metallic clinking sounds are heard then comes a soft whine as the metal settles.

Edmund pauses, did the sisters hear any of that? Thankfully it appears they didn't as the conversation from the bedroom continues uninterrupted. Satisfied with his plan thus far Edmund tests the temperature of the lock finding it to be lukewarm. He grips the body of the lock and tugs it sharply towards him. It's shackle breaks in two and the top half falls to the floor. Suppressing a satisfied chuckle he sets the now broken lock to the floor of his cage and carefully opens the door, moving it as slowly as possible to minimize the many squeaks and whines coming from its rusty hinges.

He then slips out, finally free for the first time in nearly 24 hours. Edmund tip toes towards the cabin door but as he passes the kitchen table something catches his eye, one of the few things he brought with him to this world, his frying pan. He picks it up and moves it around in the light, the surface is nice and shiny, one of them must have cleaned it since yesterday. Who knows, maybe it'll come in handy in the future. Whether it would be from having to smack another animal person with it or simply using it to cook some food he didn't know. He hopes it's the latter.

Weapon and/or cooking implement now in hand he creeps to the cabin door and opens it, softly closing it behind him. He pauses and surveys the area. A flat patch of gravel and dirt surrounded him for 100 yards in every direction until abruptly ending in a towering tree line. It's midafternoon and the sun is still visible, sitting on the topmost branches of the forest. It's subtle, but there is a traveled dirt path extending out into the trees, that path must lead to the road that they all took to the town in the morning. That's it! He'll hike to the town then try to get help there. Who knows, maybe someone there will know who he can contact to help him out, perhaps a group of friendlier witches, or a wizard, if wizards are even around in this blasted plane of existence. He takes a deep breath and accelerates to a steady jog, soon disappearing into that dark mass of trees.

**************************************************************

"Have a look at this one sister." Says Urmine, pointing a claw to one of the many tomes spread out on a desk.

Gothetta shuffles closer and peers down.

"An intelligence deadening potion? And how would that help us?"

"Well if we keep him stupefied maybe he won't have the brains to try and escape. We can keep him nice and content, our very own little love servant, perpetually free of any traitorous or inconvenient thought."

"You wish to lobotomize him!" Shrieks Gothetta.

"No-no-no." Says Urmine, her voice calm. "Its effects are temporary. We could simply stop giving him the potion and his intelligence would return." She suddenly leans forward and begins reading the many paragraphs of tiny text surrounding the bottom of the page. "Probably. I mean that's how most potions work. And we would have to find all these ingredients to brew it in the first place..."

She traces a claw down the list of ingredients and grimaces, they would not be easy to find. Gothetta steps away and begins pacing back and forth on the floor, an occasional anxious groan escaping her lips. Growing tired of her sister's lack of teamwork Urmine looks up from the tomes and raises her arms up in exasperation.

"Well are you going to help me or just continue running laps around the bedroom? We need to find an expedient solution to this problem of ours."

Gothetta suddenly stops and faces Urmine, her hands curled up into fists and hanging stiffly by her sides.

"Don't call it that."

"What?"

"You called his free will a problem. Edmund exercising his free will doesn't make him a problem. The problem, is that he doesn't want to be here."

"Well I'm not aware of any potion or incantation that can change someone's mind for any lengthy amount of time. We'll have to keep him loyal to us through alternative means."

"Every alternative mean you've sussed out of those books has been either cruel beyond reason or requires so many rare ingredients and complex rituals that it would surely kill or bankrupt us."

Urmine lowers her muzzle, eyes squinted in annoyance.

"Then I'll ask you again, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well...maybe..." Gothetta stops and breaks eye contact, looking down as her confidence falters.

Urmine waits for her to answer but she remains quiet.

"Stupid doe." The bear mutters before turning back to her tomes.

Gothetta suddenly shoots Urmine a death glare and stamps a hoof on the ground, an uncharacteristically heady feeling building up in her chest.

"I think we should send him back." She shouts.

Urmine freezes, then slowly turns around.

"Send him back? Did I hear that right? Tell me I'm mistaken."

"W-we should send him back." Declares Gothetta, her arms crossed defiantly. "He doesn't want to be here with us and is clearly miserable. We should send him back and go back to the drawing board. Maybe we could summon a different beast that enjoys our company or search the countryside for someone who takes a fancy to us. S-sure we're chimeras but there's bound to be a few people out there that won't sneer at us. Please Urmine, just listen to me this one time."

The bear stands up and walks forward, an angry scowl on her muzzle.

"No. We summoned him here, he's ours. We both want new company and we both want eggs. Edmund can provide both and he's already here! Right in the next room! Now you suggest we do something as stupid as scouring the land looking for consensual love. Ha! Fat chance you could get someone to like you with those two daggers hanging from your lips, doe. You're just as grotesque and freakish to everyone as I am, admit it."

"Just because we find it difficult to acquire a mate through traditional means doesn't mean that Edmund should have to suffer for it. We're sending him back."

Urmine points to her horns.

"No. Mother gave me the horns and I say we're keeping him. End of story!"

Gothetta stamps a hoof on the floor again.

"Mother never said those horns of yours meant anything!"

The bear rolls her eyes.

"Horns are a sign of power and wisdom, have been through countless untold ages. I have the horns because the powers that be favored me over you when we were still forming in the womb. My horns signify a strong and powerful leader, your fangs signify how little you brush your yellowed teeth. Horns trump fangs. I will hear no more of this insubordination from you."

Gothetta grinds her teeth, then points a finger at her.

"Mother may have given you_the horns, but it's clear she gave _me the heart. You unfeeling, ruthless, cold blooded excuse for a witch!"

Urmine gasps, never before had her sister acted so brash, so stalwart, so insubordinate in all their years together. She points a crooked claw at Gothetta, her words low and serious.

"We will not be sending him back. You will obey me, sister."

"I will not."

Urmine suddenly raises both hands towards Gothetta, the doe mimicking her actions as they both enter a magical standoff.

"Don't make do this." Urmine demands with a low growl.

"He needs to go home." Declares Gothetta, curling her lips back to display the full length of her fangs.

Urmine raises her paws a little higher and Gothetta does the same. Their eyes are wide with anticipation, sweat forms under their fur and their hearts beat out of their chests. Urmine's jaw opens as if to begin the incantation for a spell. She turns her head slightly and squints, a determined look in her eyes. Her lips quiver, her tongue hangs in her mouth, her fingers flick and adjust, their aim remaining on Gothetta.

Urmine's jaw widens.

Then closes.

Suddenly her arms fall limply to her sides and an exhausted breath leaves her chest. The bear then walks up to Gothetta who still has her arms up. Urmine hugs her tightly and cries apologetic tears into her shoulder.

"Oh Gothetta! My beloved sister! You had no idea what I was about to do! What gaping cavernous hole this human has torn between us! I almost casted a spell that would turn you to naught but ash! The foul words were on the tip of my tongue!" She manages in between a few wild sobs.

Gothetta lowers her arms and hugs her back.

"It's alright, precious sister. I almost turned you into a newt."

The sisters embrace for a few tender moments, Gothetta slowly patting Urmine on the back as the bear continues to envelop her in a tight hug, as if the doe may float away if she lets go. Eventually Gothetta moves away and Urmine does the same.

"So, you agree we should send Edmund back?"

Urmine wipes her eyes, the fur around them moist.

"That devious human has only been around for a day and already he's almost driven us to commit sororicide. I say we should banish him to whatever infernal plane he came from! He can keep his strange glowing tablet and flaky fishy things to himself as far as I'm concerned. No one, human or otherwise, should be allowed to break our sacred sisterly bond."

The deer smiles and claps her hands in celebration.

"He was ours for a day now we'll send him away! We'll consult the tome and send him home! Yes-yes-yes!"

Urmine sniffles and wraps a hand around Gothetta's bony shoulder.

"Come sister, let's inform Edmund of our decision."

"Let's!"

The sisters open the bedroom door and step into main room of the cabin. As their gazes fall onto Edmund's cage they both let out a mighty, panicked shriek.

"He's gone!" Screams Gothetta. "Our love-companion is gone! Left us on the eve of his freedom! A classical tragedy that will surely end in bloody brutality!"

Urmine runs to the cage and inspects the open door and shattered lock.

"Tricksy human, he found out a way to break the lock and open the cage."

"We mustn't let him out of our sight much longer! He's but a small little furless, clawless, fangless, hornless, gutless, magicless thing, he'll never survive out in the untamed wilderness. What if he runs into a pack of dire wolves? Or a colony of blood beetles! He'll be torn to shreds! Ah!"

Gothetta gasps and falls into a nearby chair, the strength in her knees failing as a litany of horrible fates rush through her mind. Urmine, however, is quick to action, grabbing Gothetta by her shoulders and bringing her back to her feet.

"Now is not the time to be sitting down! We must find him quickly if we are to send him home in one piece." The bear grips her wrist and walks to the front of the house, Gothetta stumbling behind her. Urmine looks to the front, then the left, then the right. "I don't see him, do you?"

Gothetta frantically looks around in all directions then stomps a hoof in frustration.

"No, not a sign. Damnit! He must be beyond the tree line. He could be by the road by now, or the babbling brook, or the red melon grove, or that tangle of noose vine to the East! Eep!"

Urmine looks at the ground for tracks. Seeing none she then looks at the ring on her finger, it's stone still purple and pulsing.

"Cursed thing, if only that scaredy cat priest would have married us then I would know exactly where Edmund is! Foul feline, that's the last time I try to count on a man of the cloth to do his job! His cowardliness has now indirectly lead to-"

"Shhh!" Says Gothetta, a finger held up to her lips and her two large ears locked on a single direction. "I think I hear something."

Urmine goes quiet and turns her ears around to the same direction as Gothetta's, eventually picking up on a faint yet promising sound coming from the road.

"Is that..." Whispers the bear.

"Screaming!" Shrieks Gothetta.

Urmine's ears go flat as she flinches from her sister's sudden outburst.

"He's close Gothetta, we must act quickly if we are to save him!"

Urmine lifts her skirt off the ground and breaks into a run, the two of them hoping to save Edmund from a fate most foul.