Catching Smoke

By Morgan J. Manns

Chasing Joe Enza was like trying to catch smoke. Just when I thought I had him, he’d slip through my fingers, leaping into another timeline—another reality. It was maddening.

But this time, he was still in sight—at least for now.

I tucked a long strand of my auburn hair behind my ear and pressed a finger to my earpiece. “He’s here. Reality 219. Year 1257.”

A pause, then my boss’s low voice. “Don’t let him see you, Webb.”

The line went silent, leaving the murmur of tavern patrons and the clink of mugs to fill my ears.

Apt advice as always, boss.

Maintaining my position in the shadowy corner, I kept my gaze fixed on Enza from beneath my hooded cloak. His receding horseshoe of dark hair drooped loosely around his ears as he spooned another bite of stew.

I shifted deeper into the shadows. He had no idea the Agency was tailing him—no idea I, Alexa Webb, was watching. It was better that way. If Joe Enza discovered time-travel agents were tracking him, there was no telling how far he’d go to disappear again. His Group, with their supernatural abilities, was known for secrecy bordering on paranoia. I should know—I’d spent the better half of a year on their tail. They were fascinating to watch.

The tavern door creaked open.

A woman with glasses too big for her face walked between tables and slid into the chair across from Enza.

I leaned forward, curious.

Enza glanced up from his bowl and murmured something.

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I tapped the small button on the back of my oversized stopwatch, revealing a hidden compartment. A tiny mechanical mouse of my own creation scuttled out and dropped soundlessly to the floor. I switched my earpiece to its frequency.

The faint chitter of its metal toes on wood sounded in my ear. Then, the woman’s voice came through.

“Getting straight to business, are we?” She pulled a bundle of cloth from her coat and unwrapped it slowly. Something golden rolled onto the table.

My breath hitched.

“Finally,” Enza said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

My eyes widened. The Group Enza belonged to specialized in stealing magical artifacts—staffs, gauntlets, enchanted swords—which they believed could keep their timeline safe from the creeping Darkness that infected every reality. But this wasn’t an artifact. It was a dragon egg.

And by my notes, they’d never stolen a living creature before.

“We need to leave before it hatches,” the woman whispered. “It’s already radiating heat.”

My stomach tightened. Was the dragon vital to this world’s fate? Normally, I’d tail a Group member for weeks to figure out what they were after, then research it with Agency resources before deciding whether to intervene. But there was no time. Enza had the egg and was preparing to leave.

Before I could act, Enza’s sharp gaze flickered toward my corner. He held the mouse’s tail between his fingers.

“You’re too late, Webb.”

He threw the mouse to the floor. I winced as Enza crushed it under his boot. The feed died.

No—

A shimmering wave rippled outward, and in a blink, both Enza and the woman vanished—along with the egg.

I jolted as black mist twisted through the tavern windows. Screams erupted as patrons scrambled toward the exits. The Darkness was already here. That meant the dragon was essential—its presence in this world had been holding the Darkness back.

“Blast it,” I muttered, jabbing a button on my watch. I needed to follow them.

As colors swirled around me, my boss’s voice crackled in my earpiece.

“Webb, stand dow— We’ll regro—”

I ignored him.

The world twisted into a swirl of light and shadow, the tavern dissolving into smoke. Jumping between realities was dangerous—too many leaps, and the watch’s magic could collapse, leaving me stranded. But I had no choice. If I didn’t stop them, the dragon’s absence could doom this world.

When the smoke cleared, I found myself in a glade bathed in pale moonlight. Towering mountains loomed in the distance, their peaks wreathed in shadow. Tendrils of black mist crawled through the ridges, waiting to descend on all that came near.

This would be Reality 192. Enza’s home…

A growl rumbled through the night.

I turned as a streak of golden flame tore through the night, lighting up the sky. A massive dragon—its scales glowing like molten gold—burst from behind a peak, breathing fire into the Darkness.

I stumbled, shielding my face from the light. The dragon, locked in battle, burned away the black tendrils with every breath. It seemed to be…winning.

Then it hit me: I had miscalculated the watch’s jump. I was in the future, not the present.

The creature Enza and the woman had stolen wasn’t just powerful but also essential to the Group’s timeline. Agency predictions pegged its end before a dragon could have arrived. I held my breath. Somehow, the beast was keeping the Darkness here at bay.

I tapped my earpiece. Dead.

I fumbled for my watch, heart thudding. I had to warn the Agency about what had transpired—about the dragon. But when I flipped the stopwatch open, dread crawled down my spine.

The glass face was cracked, split clean down the middle.

I was trapped.

“Finally caught up with me, Webb?”

I spun. Enza stood a few feet away, flanked by shadowy figures. His grin was sharper, and he looked years older. How had he found me?

“I, uh…” The words died in my throat.

Enza’s crooked grin widened as he gestured at the broken watch. “Looking for new employment?”

I’d like to say it was a hard decision to join the Group. But as I looked up at the dragon in that moment, flames still licking the night sky, I clenched my fists, resolute.

“Where do you need me, Enza?”

I was done watching. It was time to fight.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Morgan J. Manns is a speculative fiction writer who firmly believes that the world needs more stories filled with magic and wonder. Captivated by the realm of intricate world-building since composing her first fantasy tale at the age of ten, she now ventures beneath the endless Canadian prairie sky with her supportive husband and two hobbit children, all while eagerly contemplating her next literary creation. While her current occupation is that of an elementary school teacher, her dream job will always be dragon rider, soaring through the skies of her imaginings.

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