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THE FIRST TIME I TRAVELED TO ANOTHER DIMENSION, I intended to take a life Now I’ to save one
But I can’t do that unless I savestreets of a near-et burned at the stake
Welcoh alternate universes
“She is the sorcerers’ daughter!” someone from the mob shouts “She bears the tools of their witchcraft!” Her voice echoes off the cobblestones, just like the jeers fro torches, the better to chase ht
My parents are scientists, not sorcerers In this universe, looks like nobody knows the difference
What I’ in the pockets of my robe or cloak or whatever you’d call this shapeless red thing—it’s not witchcraft It’s a spyglass, aka a priet looks like a prop for stearound by hand But this s this diet my entire family killed first
Panting, I dodge around every corner I co It’s not like I have any idea where I am anyway When I leap into one of uerites, who live in these parallel diet to access their e and ability carries over, but those are only the deeper, no-longer-wholly-conscious things Knohere the hell I am in this version of Rome? No such luck
All I know is that I have to get away Finding the Castel Sant’Angelo—and Paul, who should be there—well, that has to wait until I’m safe
Of course, I could escape this diht on a chain around my neck To anyone in this dimension, and virtually anyone in ours, it would look like nothing e, fairly elaborate locket—if they even noticed it, which they probably wouldn’t
This isn’t any old necklace This doesn’t belong in their reality This is the Firebird
The Firebird—the one and only device that allows huh alternate dimensions The invention of my mother, Dr Sophia Kovalenka, with the help ofthat can instantly transport my mind out of this universe completely and send me back to h an alternate Roth woolen dress and cloak, ainst the rain-wet cobblestones on the road, I keep the Firebird clutched in one hand; if I lose this thing, I’m screwed
But I won’t go I can’t leave this dimension until I do what I came here to do
I must save Paul Markov
A couple h dark alleyways, and I finallyand shouting in the distance, I have aof ins to slow My back is to a wall the color of terra-cotta; the only illuh s that have no glass And, of course, the stars I look upward, momentarily dazzled by how many ht
The view around me could have been taken fros I’ve studied This is a world without electricity, where only fire shows the way after dark A cart pulled by a donkey rattles along in the distance, stacked high with bags of soet Wi-Fi, tablet coines are centuries away It’s not that I’ve traveled back in tih; the Firebirds don’t do that But some dimensions develop faster, some slower I’ve already been to futuristic worlds where everyone coram and travels by hovership It was only a matter of time before I reached one where the Renaissance is still in full swing