by A M Lopez
"Connor, I'm serious."
Once more he ignored her and continued to dig. It was at this time that the light approached in record speed and a crowd of people were seen immediately circling the duo. There was no time to run, these people were fast. They had torches and pitchforks, overall an angry expression on their faces.
"State your business here!" A large red- haired woman suddenly held a pitchfork at her throat and Eva widened her eyes.
Connor looked over his shoulder and widened his eyes, but before he could do anything the crowd surrounded them and once more repeated their phrase.
"Okay, okay! We're just here to pick some flowers and we're leaving." Eva calmly held out her hands.
The crowd seemed to close in even more. "That's all we needed to know." The woman's strong voice stated.
Four burly men came forward and grunted. They grabbed Eva and Connor despite their calling out.
"Why are you imprisoning us?" Eva yelled, kicking her hands and feet. "We didn't do anything wrong!"
"You committed the crime, you harmed our sacred flower."
Eva and Connor's eyes connected and they growled, "Arthur."
Connor nodded at her, and they began to fight against the men, almost getting out of their grasp. Before they could completely escape, the woman held a cloth to their faces completely disabling their bodies. Eva with widened eyes and panicking, looked to Connor who seemed to have a calm expression.
Eva huffed and looked around. There were normal looking humans, but they were taller than normal. Not giant-sized but taller than Connor and that was saying something. They all seemed to be stomping in unison, and looking straight to their direction. Where to? Eva didn't know, the sky was dark and the only light was from the torches fleeting around the people's faces.
At first their pace was slow, but then they began to run. Eva shrieked from behind the cloth, their speed almost giving her whiplash. Apparently, they had another thing different from humans, their ability to run extremely fast. That at least explained how they had gotten to them so fast, but what else did the two not know about these people? Shifting her eyes to Connor, Eva tried to see him through her hair blowing in her face. She only saw glimpses of him, but none of them were good. He was still conscious but his face was tight with pain, fingers twitching at his sides. Trying to figure out what had happened to him, Eva did her best to scan his body when she could see it through her hair.
At first nothing seemed off, until she saw his arms. Her eyes widened when she saw how tightly his guards were holding him, the skin turning white. She desperately tried to move, but she only had control of her eyes and, unfortunately, nothing else. Even then, her mouth was covered by the cloth, preventing her from yelling. Wanting to help, Eva glared at Connor’s guards, wishing she could kill them with her look alone. The only good thing she could find in this situation was that Connor was regaining his mobility. Then again, Eva had no idea if that was because he was in pain or if it didn’t affect him as much as it did her.
She didn’t have much time to think about it when her head jerked violently, disorienting her. The people had stopped their insane speed in a second, leaving their two prisoners in severe pain. Eva took deep breaths through her nose, trying to regain focus and ignore the throbbing in her neck. Glancing in Connor’s direction, she saw him with his head down, limp in the guard’s arms but hands twitching slightly. When the people began moving again, Eva freaked out and shut her eyes tightly. A second later she opened them, realizing the people hadn’t started running. She quickly understood why, a quick look at her surroundings telling her everything.
They had made it to their town, looking out on the horizon the flower field was nowhere to be seen. Torches were everywhere, allowing Eva to get a good look of the area. The town itself was ancient, at least compared to Ranison. The houses were simple wooden buildings, worn and paint peeling. The path they were walking on appeared to be the main road of the town, surrounded by houses and shops. The shops sold a range of things: food, water, pitchforks, torches, tools, etc. It seemed that the whole town was on the edges of this path, nothing behind the buildings that lined it.
Glancing to her left and right at the town, she happened to catch Connor’s gaze. She froze before letting out a breath of relief from her nose, looking over him again. He was still slightly limp, but he was moving his eyes and head more. His hair was wild and his clothes were disheveled from the run. He tried to lift his head up but stopped with a wince. Eva’s eyes narrowed, realizing he could only move his head side to side but not up. The whiplash must have affected him more than her, she became even angrier. Knowing that if they weren’t on a mission, she would’ve gotten revenge without a second thought when they escaped. Unfortunately, the two were there for a reason and couldn’t waste any time.
Behind her someone began laughing, her guards shifted her causing her head to fall back. Seeing the woman who had put the cloth on each of them, her hair looking like moving gold as she jogged ahead. Like the rest of the people with her, she was wearing leather and fur. Her skin was a pretty pale color, eyes a shining light blue. She held her pitchfork over her shoulder, as if it was weightless.
Apparently, another woman had said something funny and caused most of those around her to laugh. The woman had the same outfit as the other one, her black hair moving like liquid darkness. Her skin was tanned, contrasting with her . . . yellow eyes? Eva’s eyes widened, wondering what else she didn’t know about these people. The golden haired one said something in response that she couldn’t hear over the other people, causing the laughing to get louder. The guards shifted her again, her head falling forward.
It was as if people trying to steal their sacred flower was common. If that was the case, why was there so little information on the dimension like Cato said? It made no sense, there should at least be some data. Yet, it was practically nonexistent. Did people just keep the information to themselves? Still, Arthur would’ve been able to find anything that was put onto a computer, so why didn’t he know this?
Eva’s mind was racing, trying her best to understand what was happening. She felt overwhelmed, wishing she could save herself and Connor but not knowing how. Frustrated tears threatened to slip down her cheeks, just barely staying in her eyes. Movement on the edge of her sight had her eyes turning towards Connor, who was barely in her field of vision. It seemed he was regaining his ability to move more than his fingers and head, his foot moving a little. For a second, Eva thought they would have a chance. Then she tried to move her hand, with no luck. Disappointed, she knew that Connor couldn’t fight the people off alone, so they were still stuck.
She saw someone walk away from the mob of people, waving his hand toward them. Multiple people called out their goodbyes, but that wasn’t what caught Eva’s attention. What did was the fact that the man had their stuff. After turning away from the people, he held the jar with the bee up to his face. The bee seemed to be flying in circles, the loud buzzing making the jar tremble. The man tilted his head before shrugging, continuing into a red building. The building had two floors and seemed to have only one entrance from what Eva could see, but it had multiple windows.
Before she could get a better look, Eva heard the people hollering and calling for their prisoner’s punishment. Her eyes snapped to look over at them as best she could, hoping they wouldn’t kill her and Connor before they got a chance to escape.
The golden headed woman spoke above the noise of the crowd. “We will punish them however the gods see fit. As you all know, the gods only judge criminals at midday. Until then, we will keep them in the cells.”
Despite their disappointed faces, the crowd announced their agreement with the plan. Eva released a long breath through her nose, relief flooding her. The crowd began to disperse and her relief was quickly replaced with fear and uncertainty when she saw what their bodies had blocked. Their guards and the two women from before were taking them to what could have been mistaken for a haunted house. The guard
s shifted her again, her head falling forward and forcing her to look back ahead at the town.
Glancing at Connor, he looked worried and hesitantly tilted his head, questioning where they were going. Eva just looked at him with wide eyes before looking away, unsure. Connor dropped his head again, wondering how they had gotten themselves into this mess and trying to figure out how to get out of it. Unfortunately for them, while him and Eva had the same thoughts, neither had any solutions.
Chapter Seventeen
Aaron and Allison looked over a jaw-dropping majestic mountain. Purple clouds ran around like children on a playground. The ground below them swam for miles, down the mountain and onto the plains. It was currently nighttime and the sky was swept in multiple colors, all of which were woven together. Looking like something out of a fantasy world, Allison and Aaron marveled at the beautiful sight.
A purple butterfly snapped them out of their spell, as they listened to the fluttering of the wings.
"Alright, let's get going." Aaron spoke up, starting to walk down the mountain and Allison ran to catch up.
"Going where? Cato never told us anything on how to find this crystal." Allison gripped the straps of her backpack.
Aaron pointed a long finger to a place with tents in the distance. Soft lights floated around, and light music was heard through the air.
"Let's ask the locals."
They continued their journey down the mountain.
~
"Wow." Allison's mouth hung wide open.
There were balls of light floating all around the girls, as if dancing and laughing at them. They stepped onto the sand that the small place was settled upon. On a small piece of the desert, tents were raised with food laid out, as if a little fair was going on.
People setting up small shops and little kids running around in pale tunics surrounded them. Allison and Aaron began to walk around, the chatter slowly increasing with people coming to shop.
Allison was still wonderstruck on the balls of light floating around and managed to catch one, bringing it up to her face. It was warm and seemed to vibrate, but had no life.
"How is this possible?" Allison whispered.
Aaron softly smiled at Allison, smile lit by the ball. "Welcome to Solat's planet, Allison."
Everything was simple, but was made beautiful by the spectacles of nature around them. The colorfulness of the sky with the beautiful lights that seemed like stars coming down to greet them.
Aaron pulled Allison's attention away to talk to a woman selling green apples on the side of the fair. They ducked under a flap and saw the lady's red hair in the way.
"Woah!" Allison jumped back as to not bump into her.
"Oh dear!" She turned around, revealing wide green eyes and vibrant colored freckles. She immediately started to apologize, fussing over the both of them.
"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry about it." Aaron assured her, making the small sized woman step back and wipe her hands on her apron.
She looked down. "How may I help you? You don't look like you're from around here."
Allison looked around the small tent, while Aaron asked, "We're here to look for a crystal named Stralent. Would you happen to know where we can acquire it?"
The lady went silent, long enough for Allison to stop her wandering eyes and look back at her.
"Why are you looking for Stralent?" Her voice seemed to be disappearing.
Allison looked at Aaron, who had a straight face. "We would like to collect some of it."
The girl's eyes seemed to widen even more if that were possible and she ushered them out of her tent.
"Leave here, I cannot help you."
The last thing they saw were her frightened eyes before she closed the flap on their faces. Aaron and Allison blinked at the tent, not really believing what had happened.
"What's plan B?" Allison scrunched her brows together and looked at Aaron who was deep in thought.
"We continue to ask. There's not really much we can do besides that."
On they went, tent by tent asking the locals where they could find this mysterious crystal that no one seemed to want to talk about. They had flaps shut in their faces, shouts directed towards them, and scared people running away in fright. By the time they asked seemingly everyone in the magical town, the people were putting away their products to go to bed. Aaron and Allison started to walk away, disappointed.
"Let's see if Dawn can meet us and maybe fly above the planet to scan for its signal."
Allison sighed, shaking her head. "Not possible. She has to stay in Proteus in case any of us land in serious trouble. We have to find some other way to acquire the crystal."
They stood in thought for a while, trying to figure out a plan. Allison and Aaron started to walk out of the miniature town, but a small voice started to call out behind them.
"Excuse me, misses!" A high-pitched, young voice called out.
"Huh?" The duo turned around to see a little kid dressed in a beige tunic calling out to them. His brown hair flopped over his hazel eyes, allowing only a sliver of the innocence behind them to appear.
"I think I can help you! I'm Oyder!" He excitedly bounced on the balls of his feet.
Allison smiled at him and squatted down. "Hello Oyder, I'm Allison and this is Aaron. How can you help us?"
He looked around before whispering, "I can lead you to the Stralent."
Allison glanced at Aaron through the corner of her eye. "Really?"
He nodded, and Allison looked up at Aaron. She waved them forward and Allison said to the young boy, "Are you sure your parents would be okay with this?"
The little boy looked to the ground. "I don’t have..."
Allison's heart broke for the little boy as she said, "Okay Oyder. Let's go on this adventure."
Oyder gave her the widest smile possible and started to walk to the side. "We're going to the lake. It has all the best kept secrets."
Aaron and Allison began to follow him and Aaron asked, "Why is everyone here afraid to talk about the crystals?"
The little boy looked back at her. "It's a dangerous and difficult journey to get them. In my tribe, you can't get too close to the area. They say it sucks you in and draws on your worst nightmare." He shuddered. "I don't want to experience that." The girls shared a look, dreading their task in light of the new information.
Allison looked at the boy, hesitantly continuing the conversation. “How does your tribe know that?”
Oyder looked away, fear dusting his features. “Only two things happen to those who go. One, they never return. And two… they do come back, but their fate is one worse than death.”
Allison held her breath, her next words barely making it out of her mouth. “What is their fate?”
Oyder looked her in the eyes, unblinking. “To spend the rest of their lives in constant fear of the crystals and their guardians, warning all those who seek them of the dangers. To warn others, and watch as they go on anyway. To welcome those broken ones back and take them in, helping how they can.”
Allison’s jaw clenched, horror written on her features. Suddenly, realization dawned on her.
“Do those people ever leave?”
Oyder glanced at her, looking at the sky. “No. They stay and drink the mead of our people, turning them into one of us. Why else would my tribe be so big?”
Allison couldn’t handle any more information, looking away from Oyder with fear in her eyes. Turning to talk to Aaron behind them, she saw that her leader was on her phone. Allison slowed down so she was walking next to her. Aaron’s screen showed a multitude of messages, all from Arthur.
Allison raised a brow. “What’s with the—” she looked at Arthur’s words. “ ‘Mass Textodus’ as Arthur is calling it?”
Aaron sighed, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Apparently, he has been trying to message us since we got on the planet but something had been interfering. He just now got the connection back but said not to go underground unless we
want to get cut off again.”
Allison groaned, throwing her head back. “Figures. What was he trying to tell us before that?”
Aaron bit her lip. “The trip to get the crystal is insanely difficult. Not only will we have to go through our nightmares like Oyder said, but we will still need to figure out which crystals we need. They will all look similar and we don’t have the time to gather samples of all of them.”
Allison sighed, resigned. “Is there any good news?”
Aaron swiped the screen to show more messages. “Well, there is a hint he found. The phrase ‘the one that deals with all’ describes the crystal we are looking for.”
Allison retrieved her wrench from her tool belt, spinning it between her fingers to help her think. “Any clue what that means?”
Aaron only shrugged. “If it helps, he got it from the digital diary of a 35 year- old man named Benjamin Jerrany. The man sent multiple people in to gather the crystals and keep him updated, some came back while others didn’t. Those who returned to him mentioned they got the phrase after… ‘talking’ with the tribal people.”
Allison looked at Aaron’s clenched jaw and scrunched brows. “Did this ‘talking’ involve fists?”
Aaron took a calming breath. “Yes, it did. There are more but I think you get what I mean.”
Allison shuddered, trying to pull her head out of those dark thoughts. “Yeah, I do.”
The phone in Aaron’s hand lit up, no noise being heard. Allison figured that explained why she didn’t realize her leader was on the device in the first place. A quick glance at the screen showed it was another message from Arthur.
Aaron read it before narrowing her eyes at the screen, as if she could change whatever she had just been told with a death glare. Not being able to see, Allison huffed.
“What? What did he say?”
“I asked him about how things were going. With the four of them at Cato’s home and with Eva and Connor.”
“And?”
“And, Dimitri and Anston were making quick work of the cure with Cato but now they are hitting bumps that might set them back a long while. If that wasn’t bad enough, he lost contact with Connor and Eva after we got dropped off here.”
