Kayla called one last farewell to her parents as the Legion left. “I hope they’re going to be okay.”
Jaden nodded. “Don’t worry. Your dad’s dope. They’ll be just fine.”
Kayla smiled. “Yes, he is really good at what he does.” She nodded as if confirming something in her own mind. “Yes, they’ll make it to Sven’s, whatever they come across.”
“I bet they will.” Jaden glanced at Atu. “Okay, dude. What general direction would you say we should start out in?”
Atu shrugged. “What are those feelings of yours telling you?”
Jaden sighed. “It’s not like I tell them when I want answers. They just come.”
“Let’s head north,” Kayla suggested. “Atu did say we were headed somewhere in the general area of Sven’s home, so aiming there until something changes makes sense.”
Jaden sent her a grateful smile. How did she always know exactly what he needed? Thankfully, it meant one less thing he’d had to take the lead on.
They flew in silence for the next couple of hours despite being able to carry on a conversation thanks to their new comm system. Jaden wondered whether they were all keeping quiet because they thought it would help him figure things out.
Analyzing each of them in turn, he decided that wasn’t the case. Atu looked like a thundercloud. Iri alternated her gaze between the voyagers. What was she seeing on them? Kayla looked like she was just enjoying the scenery. Jaden followed her lead, and soon he began to relax.
He was eyeing a ridge below them when it happened: that spine-tingling sensation telling him he needed to pay attention. He jerked upright.
Iri’s voice reached him over the comm system. “Jaden, do we need to slow down?”
Ugh, Iri must’ve used her gift! Jaden had hoped to be able to figure this out without drawing attention to himself. That clearly wasn’t going to happen. “Yeah, let’s slow down.”
Kayla and Taz pulled in closer, taking up a position on their immediate right. When Iri and Tinks did the same on the other side and Aren and Atu placed themselves right behind Jaden and Han, Jaden realized they were surrounding him with protection so he could concentrate on where they were going, not unexpected Gaptor attacks.
Time to figure this out, then.
Jaden focused on what he was feeling. A pull. Towards the east. Getting stronger the longer they travelled north. Geez, if he didn’t get them to change course soon, it might just pull him off Han. He had never experienced such an intense feeling before.
“East!” Jaden yelled as his body curved in that direction.
Han must’ve felt it too because he immediately altered course. Jaden relaxed when the sensation left and his body was his own again.
“That was different?” Iri asked.
Jaden nodded. “You could see that?”
“Yes, the colors were more vibrant. And so bright it was almost painful to look at you.”
“Well, I doubt I’ll miss another one like that, but if I do, I’m sure you won’t.” Jaden grinned. He glanced at Kayla and saw the clouds in her lovely green eyes. “I’m fine. Don’t worry. It was just the strangest sensation. Like I couldn’t resist it even if I’d wanted to.”
“I thought you were going to topple off,” Han commented.
“It sure felt that way. Atu’s grandfather was right, which means we’ll be able to find this place after all. Who would’ve thought this was the way we’d find it?”
Atu scowled. “It would be better if we didn’t have to find it at all.”
“Dude, you’ve got to get over it. We don’t have a choice. If we have to drag you in there resisting like a mule backing away from a snake, we will. Although I’d prefer it if we didn’t have to be that drastic.”
Atu grunted but said nothing. Jaden let him be. About ten minutes later another one of those quirky sensations grabbed him. “South,” Jaden called, before it became as strong as the first.
Less than ten minutes later, the next direction came. Then the next in an even shorter time. The feelings came at increasingly closer intervals until Jaden wondered whether they were flying in circles.
“I feel like we’re going nowhere,” Taz commented, echoing Jaden’s thoughts. “Let’s stay in this area for a while and see what transpires.”
It didn’t help. The directions came one on top of the other, like microscopic adjustments were bring made. Jaden felt like he was on the inside of a blender running at high speed. Bile rose into his throat. On the last call, he barely managed to get the words out before his body twisted sideways so violently he thought he would fall off. Then the next pull came, and he did fall. The blissful sensation of only air tugging at his body was a relief. Jaden relaxed as his smart suit rotated him. Glancing down, he tensed. The ground was way closer than it should be. Han wouldn’t get under him in time!
Jaden closed his eyes, bracing for impact. But it never came. He continued floating.
Jaden’s eyes snapped open. What he saw was not what he’d expected. He was high above a forest, so vast it stretched into the horizon in every direction. He looked up. The sky above was distorted, as though a giant piece of rippled glass had been placed over it. His limbs jerked as Han burst through. What? Jaden stared as the others came through the—ceiling?—in short succession. Han wasted no time picking him up.
“What happened?” Jaden demanded.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Han moaned. “You were falling and then I couldn’t find you. You just disappeared!”
Jaden rubbed his neck. “Turns out I’m not that easy to lose, buddy.” Han purred. “What happened after I fell?”
“You were there one moment and gone the next. It was surreal.”
“Hah, payback!” Jaden chuckled. Han looked at him askew. “When Kayla and I first met you and Taz, that was how it felt when you two left us. You flew so fast that you were there one moment and—”
“Gone the next,” Taz finished dryly. “Yes, we get it. Atu, is this the place?”
Atu squirmed on Aren, his face ashen. “It is.”
“Now that we’re here, it there anything else you remember?” Kayla asked, her tone gentle.
Atu glared at the sky overhead. “That thing we passed through to get here, it’s what we’re going to find all over this place. We can’t trust our eyes. They will lead us astray, into danger.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all. How are we supposed to get where we’re going if we can’t use our eyes?”
“We use my ‘eyes,’” Iri said. The others looked at her. She in turn looked at Atu. “It seems we were both right. We needed Jaden to get us here, but I’ll have to get us through this place.”
Atu nodded. “Perhaps that’s why Jaden felt we should stay together.” He gave Jaden a reluctant smile. “Okay, bro, you’ve convinced me. If anyone can navigate this accursed place, it’s this team.”
“That’s the spirit,” Jaden said. “Iri, what do you see? Any ideas on which way we should go?”
Iri whistled. “If only you could see what I can. There are these doors.”
“Doors?” Taz objected. “I don’t see any doors.”
“Oh, trust me, they’re there. Just waiting for us to pick one.” She studied the area for a while longer, then glanced at Atu. “I know you don’t like to discuss the stories you heard about this place, but can you at least tell me if the few people that made it out had anything in common to say about the forest?”
Atu fidgeted. “They all admitted that everything was very ordinary at first. They were just minding their business, walking or riding along, when they found themselves in the Forest with no idea how they got there. After that, they entered purgatory.”
“Can you explain a little more?”
Atu shivered. “Not really. Their stories were all different. Walking through the forest one moment and then facing some calamity the next. What those calamities were seemed different for each person.”
“When you say ‘calamities,’” Jaden said, “
do you mean something had happened and they had to fix it?”
“No, I mean it was life-threatening. They had to survive it to get out.”
Iri hummed. “And they each only faced one calamity?”
Atu frowned. “I don’t remember. In fact, I don’t recall what the calamities were either. I think I was so terrified after hearing the stories that I just blocked the details out.”
Jaden glanced at Iri. “What was that ‘hmm’ for?”
“From what I can see up here, the doors are all at the same angle, although they’re different colors and at different places all over the forest. But some of them are closer to the end point than the others.”
“The end point?” Jaden repeated.
Iri squinted. “Yes, the doors are on one end of the forest and there’s something on the other side. I’m calling it the end point because the doors would lead there if there was a path. But I can’t see what’s at the end point. Every time I try and look at it, it kind of fuzzes. Like whatever is hidden there is not meant to be seen.”
“Let’s take a closer look, then,” Taz recommended. “Which way are we headed, Iri?”
Iri pointed to her right. “That way.”
“Wait!” Jaden ordered. “Before we go hurtling in that direction full tilt, we should consider Atu’s first warning that we can’t trust our eyes. I suggest we go slowly, so that if there are any surprises, we aren’t kicked out of the game before we’ve even started playing.”
Taz nodded her agreement. “Single file formation, then. Iri, you and Satinka take the lead. Perhaps your talents will give us an advantage.”
Iri nodded, and she and Tinks took point as Taz directed. Jaden watched the rest of them form up. He and Han were at the rear. Their pace was sedentary. Jaden had almost forgotten the gliders could fly this slowly.
Still, it didn’t seem long before Iri said, “It’s close now. About two hundred yards ahead. I think . . . Tinks, stop!”
Her words were cut off as Tinks hit something. Jaden watched, stunned, as Tinks crumpled, then launched Iri headfirst into whatever she had smashed into. Impossibly, Iri turned so her shoulder connected with the obstacle rather than her head. Then she dropped like a stone. Jaden was about to command Han to collect Iri when Tinks shook her head to clear it, all the while sliding down an invisible wall. With supreme effort, she twisted herself backward, falling away from the obstacle upside-down. She then curled out of her inverted position and flew away from the barrier. In a flash, she was back and under Iri.
The whole incident took less than two seconds. Jaden and the others drew level with Tinks and Iri.
Tinks asked Iri, “Are you alright?”
“I think my shoulder will survive,” Iri moaned. “How about you? How’s your head? I’m sorry, I didn’t see that wall until we were right on top of it.”
“Don’t fret. My head is pretty hard,” Tinks assured her.
“You didn’t get any of those feelings of yours?” Kayla’s worried frown was more disturbing to Jaden than the collision.
“Not a one,” Jaden confessed, still puzzling over Kayla’s response. What was she afraid of? She knew the danger. Then he understood. The safety of the group partly depended on his feelings. If he wasn’t getting any, the bar had just lifted immeasurably higher. Only Kayla would think of the others before herself. Didn’t she know she was just as valuable to the team? And even more so to him? He wished he had a private channel to speak to just her, but he had to settle for speaking to her at all.
“We’re going to get through this. All of us,” Jaden reassured her.
Kayla attempted a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Jaden wished he could do more, but that was impossible without being able to hold her. He sighed. And that did it for her.
Her smile widened as she guessed what he’d been thinking. “Me too,” Kayla mouthed.
Jaden chuckled. Kayla’s smile was infectious.
“Although you did warn us to go slowly. That was fortuitous or that collision could’ve been fatal,” Taz pointed out, oblivious to the silent conversation Jaden and Kayla were enjoying.
“I’d like to make sure Iri and Tinks are really okay. Can we land?” Atu asked.
“Yes, we should.” Jaden was really thinking he would be able to make good on his wish. “Iri, any particular spot you can point out to us?”
Iri peered down. “The only suitable places are in front of the doors. Do you care which one we choose?”
Jaden considered. “Pick the door that’s closest to that end point you mentioned.”
Iri directed the gliders, and they retreated from the invisible wall, flying even slower than before. Soon, the others saw the clearing Iri was leading them to, but the door still eluded them.
At Taz’s insistence, they circled the area, alert to any sign of danger. But to Jaden, nothing seemed amiss. The others concurred.
“Alright, I’ll go first,” Jaden said. “Once I’ve made sure the area’s clear, I’ll signal you. Make sure you come in one at a time. I don’t want us clumping together in case I overlooked something. Also, if some of you are still in the air, you can see something approaching that the rest of us can’t. It’s a bit of a jungle down there.”
The others nodded, and Jaden and Han moved away as Han prepared for the descent. Muting his comms, Jaden spoke to Han. “Be ready for anything. I don’t want you flying into one of those invisible walls. And I don’t want us to be caught unawares if something leaps out or attacks as we get closer to the ground.”
Han nodded. “I’ll drop you and then return to the air until the other voyagers are on the ground. I’ll be more effective if I can attack from above. Although I’m not happy that you’ll be on the ground on your own. Just don’t go into the forest where I can’t see you.”
“I won’t,” Jaden said. He didn’t point out that there could be other rabbit holes down there which would vanish him like the ceiling over the forest. As he prepared to dismount, he could only hope that wasn’t the case.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Iri studied the area. She didn’t see any incandescent colors like those that had pulsed on the wall she and Tinks had crashed into. But did that mean there was nothing to fear?
Too late, she thought as Jaden leaped. Anxiously she watched Jaden land, roll, and come up in a crouch, his DD flaring to life. He surveyed the area, then paced the circumference, peering into the dark recesses of the trees. Eventually, his DD disappeared, and he signaled the all-clear.
They lined up: Kayla first, then Iri and Atu last. Iri scanned the surrounding forest as Kayla dismounted, but the only thing drawing her attention was the door. Kayla landed without incident, and Iri tensed as Tinks took them down.
“Is something wrong?” Tinks asked.
“Not that I can tell,” Iri told her. “But last time I didn’t see the wall until the last second.”
“You’ll let me know if anything changes?”
“I will.” Iri smiled. “Just join me as quickly as you can. You sure your head’s okay?”
“I do have a pretty hard head.” Her confident tone reassured Iri.
Minutes later, Iri was on the ground and off to the side of the clearing, watching Aren approach. He came in fast. Now that Iri was paying attention, she noticed how graceful Atu was when he dismounted.
Atu loped over to them, his stride easy. “Let’s take a look at that shoulder.”
Obediently, Iri sat on the ground, then waited as Atu’s gentle fingers probed the area. She winced when he hit a tender spot. Atu stopped and frowned, concentrating on the area for a while before resuming his examination. Did the purple swirls of worry around him seem darker than usual?
Probably not, because he sat back, a grim smile on his face. “You seem none the worse for wear. A little bruising and tenderness, but that will pass. It will heal faster if you apply this lotion. Kayla, can you help her with that?”
Kayla stepped forward to take the tube Atu proffered. “Shall we?” Iri fo
llowed Kayla to the edge of the clearing.
“Stay where we can see you,” Jaden cautioned. He snagged a towel from his pack. “Here. It’ll allow some privacy without you having to go into the forest.”
Iri inspected the blue sparks flashing between Jaden and Kayla with fascination. She had never seen such a strong connection between two people before. Would it be the same for her if she ever fell in love? She almost laughed. Would she even see the colors on herself? She’d never been able to before. Did that mean she also wouldn’t see them on the person she fell in love with?
She eyed Atu again as she slipped behind the towel Kayla had propped between two branches. Was this the reason Iri could only see purple around Atu? One color that dominated all else? Or was he just that good at hiding his emotions from her? She’d never met anyone with that ability before.
Iri hissed as Kayla began rubbing the cream in. Kayla paused. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Iri chuckled. “I just wasn’t expecting it to tingle like the cream he uses to shield against the cold.”
Kayla examined the tube. “This is definitely something different. Different container, different smell. Should I carry on or wait a bit?”
“No, carry on. It’s already helping.”
“I wish he’d share some of his secrets with me.” Kayla sighed. “These potions are extremely effective. I wonder if it really is all in the way it’s mixed together, like he says.”
Iri giggled. “Probably not. Did it ever cross your mind that he has a gift, but he presents the potions as a way to explain it?”
Kayla smiled. “The thought has occurred to me several times.”
Tinks landed, interrupting them. Something about it wasn’t quite right. “You almost done?” Iri asked, eager to get to her glider.
“Yup, done,” Kayla confirmed.
Iri tossed her shirt back up over her shoulders, thanked Kayla, and trotted over to where Atu examined Tinks. “Is she alright?”
Atu glanced her way, but continued running his hands over Tinks’s head. His fingers abruptly stopped, and he pulled his hands away. They were covered with blood.
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