Andrew came back with wide eyes. The siren entered the cabin without knocking.
"Did you watch the news?" Andrew asked, his hands shaking. "They are going to search this patch of the forest. There was a warning that there is a dangerous beast in here!"
Dimitri sucked in a breath. Jack placed a hand on Jean's shoulder as the young vampire began to shake.
"What does that mean?" Nikola asked. If there was a puma or something like that in the forest, then he needed to know. There was no telling just how dangerous the being was.
He didn't want Timmy to be in danger.
"That's their code when they send the hunters after supernatural," Jack told him, as he pulled Jean in his embrace. "This world is now too small for us!"
"Niki, quickly now, get your dimensional runes! We are leaving!"
Dimitri had been arguing about going to the new world for the better part of the past hour.
But if the hunters were involved, he knew that there was no hiding from them.
"We don't have time for that!" Andrew exclaimed. "There were police cars along the eastern bank of the river! They will find us!"
"I am not leaving my octopus farmer or my goblins behind!" Nikola said, standing up. Soon, he was rushing out of the door.
"You seem to be in a pickle," he heard Tangra's voice next to his ear once more. "I can stall the policemen, if you do something for me in the other world."
Nikola didn't kid himself. Tangra was offering him sometime, but if he was refused, then the policemen were going to come to them in five minutes or less.
"Ok, if it is within my power I will grant it," Nikola was busy taking the runes. They bled on the sheet of paper he had purchased from Emily.
He hoped that the shopkeeper was going to be fine, and that she would not be pulled into this mess.
Nikola looked at the now empty wall, then at the lake.
The Selkie were going to get it.
He didn't care enough to try to warn them.
He rushed back into the house as the sirens began to blaze.
"Wait! I can't just leave here for some wagon and horse world!" Jean protested.
"If you stay, they will kill you," Jack told him, as he lifted him bridal style. "Hate me later. Niki, get the crystal working!"
Nikola poured some of his mana inside the black crystal, just as he heard banging on the door.
Dimitri took Timmy in his arms, who was whimpering silently.
Bleda looked about as impressed by the police as someone who had quit a deity's service and had survived to tell the tale.
A portal appeared.
"There is a magical anomaly inside! What are you waiting for? Bust that door open!"
Nikola didn't wait for the policemen to start wrecking his home.
He took Dimitri's hand, rushing towards the portal. His bottomless bag slung across his chest.
The next thing he knew, he was in a forest. He blinked when he saw animals simply minding their own business without looking at him.
When even Bleda passed through the portal, Nikola gave the signal for the crystal to break.
Hearing cussing from the other side just as the crystal shattered.
****
They were searching for a path. Timmy needed to eat. They had rushed so quickly that they had not taken his bottle and his formula.
Only what was already in Nikola's bag was with them.
Bleda was leading the way. Looking at the footprints on the forest floor.
"I think there is a village over there. The path becomes wider," he said finally, as he took in a deep breath.
"I will need to preach for Tangra when we get there," Nikola said, as he clutched the whimpering Timmy to his chest. "I know, kiddo. Your diaper should be changed, and you are hungry."
They had been going through the forest for the better part of the day. He didn't want Timmy to go to bed hungry. Even though his legs were beginning to hurt, he still held his son and marched forward.
When they saw chimney smoke in the distance, all of them rushed as quickly as they could toward it.
The first house was like a miracle to them. The second a blessing.
When they finally entered the village, Nikola made a beeline to a shop with a mortar and pestle on its sign.
He entered, hoped that the locals could understand English, and then went to the counter.
An old woman came from the backroom.
"Oh! Welcome, travelers!" The old woman chirped.
Nikola took one of the many coin purses Emily had given him and then placed it on the counter.
"Do you have something a baby can eat?" He asked. Timmy whimpered again. "And diapers, wet wipes and powder for babies?"
The woman took out a bottle from something that had a cooling rune on it. She filled the milk in a bottle, then she heated it with magic.
"I have no idea what a diaper is," which sounded too dreadful for words to Nikola. "But we have nappies!"
Nikola breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he was going to be able to change Timmy!
"They have runes on it," the lady continued, as she took one nappy out. "The waste goes into the void. Would you like two, so you can wash them?"
Nikola nodded.
"Here you go, sir! That would be two gold coins," she smiled at the baby. Timmy paused in his whimpering.
Knowing that he was going to be taken care of now.
Nikola paid, but before he could leave, the lady pointed at a corner.
"Why don't you change him here? Do you have a place to stay?"
Nikola shook his head.
"Well, then, the tavern has rooms for people who first come in here. We can build you a house, since you have the money."
Nikola nodded, as he placed Timmy on the changing table. Soon, the baby was being cleaned and swaddled. When Nikola looked up, the old diaper was gone.
"Thank you." The brunette said.
Still trying to come to grasp with the fact that his family had nearly been killed.
Or worse.
His hands were still shaking. Timmy let out another whimper.
Nikola began to feed him from the bottle the shopkeeper had given him. Trying to use this piece of normality to ground himself in the here and now.