by Don P. Bick
Chapter 21
Looking out the window overlooking the beautiful gardens Camran thought about his life back on Earth. Why, out of the millions of inhabitants on Earth, had he ended up in this beautiful yet strange place? How were these decisions made? He was aware of one very important revelation from all that had happened. That was the fact there was no such thing as death. He was alive and he was here. He'd had a life on Earth and that life was over, but this was also life, different yes, but still life. And in some ways it was much better than the one he had before.
And what about dying in this land? If he was to die during the quest, where would he go from here? Who was to say what the future held. He could only guess what the death experience would be like for him in this world. Now, the most important thing was to stop the spread of evil that had been unleashed throughout this new world.
Since leaving Nemaris and arriving at the estate of the Ruler, word had been coming in daily of the atrocities happening all across the land. Disease was spreading rapidly. They had seen two cases themselves in OceanBay at the docks while waiting to leave for RiverRidge. No one knew how the disease spread or what to do about it when it was discovered. The one thing they did know was it killed quickly.
Camran was appalled at the serene beauty everywhere being turned into some insane evil, with a purpose or reason he was unable to fathom. The reports of animal attacks were on the increase as well, in some rare cases right in the villages themselves.
Camran walked across the room to pour himself another tart drink from the wooden pitcher on the table. The Ruler was out working in his gardens, while the others were discussing their next move. Camran needed some time alone to think, so he had gotten a pitcher of limett and gone into the library, closing the door behind him.
"Do you think we should take a ship to Pacific and then walk from there?" asked Twil, looking around at the others.
They were all conscious of Camran's absence from the room. Something was bothering him. They all sensed his worry; they thought it was just the pressure and the responsibility of their upcoming mission that was weighing so heavily on him. It had been difficult for all of them to adjust when they arrived and none of them were thrust immediately into life threatening situations as Camran had been.
"Should we go check on him?" asked Ve-Kim, starting to turn toward the door.
"No," said Gena "He needs this time alone."
They continued their discussion without Camran, trying to work out some of the details on the journey they knew they had to undertake.
A couple of hours later Camran rejoined them. He looked like a large weight had been taken off his shoulders. He commented that he had gone out into the garden and spoken with the Ruler. The old man had a way about him that calmed others and put things in their proper perspective once more.
The rest of the group filled him in on where they were in the conversation, along with some of the things they had already discussed and ruled out. The Ruler had promised them a ship would be at their disposal whenever they were ready to leave. They decided to leave the day after next, feeling they could use the extra day's rest. It would also give them a good opportunity to replenish their provisions and recheck their equipment.
That night after dinner the Ruler spoke with them as a group for the first time since they arrived two days previously. The situation had grown worse. Disease was spreading faster with each report he received. He gravely recounted the reasons they were seeking the magical bridge but he didn't minimize the danger involved. When finished he requested a pledge from each member. He asked them all to dedicate themselves to the cause of locating the bridge, and thus eliminate evil from the land. All of the members, without exception, gave their pledge willingly, expressing their unanimity of purpose and their massed intent to do whatever they could for the group as individuals, in order to accomplish their goal.
