Palatinii Cycle

by G'vonni Avner

  She faced the small man named Fredrick. He was just under five feet tall and his body was visibly shaking, something that Nayara noticed, but she didn’t care.

  “Move towards the plank and walk across it,” the Queen ordered.

  At first, Fredrick didn’t move but shook only more violently. His eyes darted around as if looking for a way to escape.

  “I said move!” the Queen shouted, her voice ringing through the trees on land, causing the birds to shoot up into the sky from them.

  Fredrick took slow steps. He stepped onto the plank and stopped walking.

  “Walk,” Nayara said, not in a whisper but a deadly silent voice. Fredrick took careful steps as he crossed the plank. He stopped when he was halfway across.

  “Take another five steps towards the edge,” Nayara told him. By this time a sizable crowd had gathered, and they all watched with bated breath.

  Fredrick did as he was told. He hoped that he wasn’t being thrown overboard, and while the chances were slim, Nayara had not commanded him to stand by the edge.

  Nayara turned to address her audience. “I hope, for all your sakes, that you are more faithful than this weak coward.”

  The Queen turned back to face Fredrick. She pulled out a long, thin piece of crystal and pointed it at Fredrick. “No, I will not ask you to jump overboard.”

  Relief filled Fredrick’s face for just a small instant. Nayara smirked and then shot out a purple bolt that hit Fredrick in the chest, turning his look of relief into fear and confusion. He was blasted off the ship and his body froze solid midair before shattering into dust when he hit the rocky ground by the edge of the river.

  15

  The Crossing

  Tyson led Katie away from Koran, walking quickly and holding her hand, dragging her along with him. In this new world where he didn’t understand much, Cyrus was the one who kept him sane. Having Cyrus there, someone he knew he could trust, made all the difference to Tyson, and now that he was gone, Tyson wasn’t sure how to feel. He wasn’t sure how to think, or what to do.

  What made him angrier was that Cyrus had, intentionally or not, replaced himself with a kid who was around the same age as himself. Koran was young, and while he may be well acquainted with Narque, he probably wasn’t well acquainted with teaching and keeping others safe. Koran seemed like a guy who was always alone.

  It didn’t help that Katie was so quick to trust him. Tyson wasn’t happy with that.

  No matter how far Tyson tried to get them away from Koran, Koran trailed behind, keeping his distance, but was never out of sight.

  The trees here were denser, and it was even harder to see because the night was so dark. Tyson stumbled over some overgrown roots but kept his balance.

  “Tyson, slow down,” Katie pleaded. “I’m exhausted and every time you trip I get dragged down with you.”

  With a sigh, Tyson stopped walking and turned around to face Katie. He did not release his grip on her hand. In the distance, there was a dark figure he knew to be Koran.

  “Just give us some space and a goddamned minute!” Tyson shouted. While Koran didn’t understand every word that Tyson spoke, he stopped walking to grant Tyson’s request.

  Tyson let out a breath and looked into Katie’s eyes. He spoke calmly, considering his exhaustion and overwhelming emotions. “I don’t know what’s happening, or what you’re thinking, but I want you to stop.”

  “Stop what?” Katie asked, getting annoyed. “Stop what I came here for?”

  “Came here for?” Tyson asked sarcastically, though still not raising his voice much. “Do you honestly feel you willingly came here or did circumstances force you into this?”

  Katie took a moment to answer. “I didn’t have to come. I could have told Cyrus no, and with my mind set on that, he would have left. But I trusted him, so I followed. And now I’m trusting his son.”

  Tyson looked to his sides quickly and back at Katie. “We’ve been thrown into an entirely different world, jumping out of a plane. We don’t know what we’re doing here. We don’t know what other dangers we will have to face, and I have a feeling it isn’t going to get any easier.”

  “All I’m getting from you is that you wish you hadn’t come,” Katie said. “I don’t blame you. You’ve been afraid from the very beginning. If you like you can go back. I’m not sure how to leave this world, but if you find a way, then take it. But I’m going to stay.”

  “Your entire life is back on Earth,” Tyson said.

  “No, it isn’t,” Katie replied. “What’s left of my life is with me here.”

  “Until you leave me behind,” replied Tyson.

  Katie let out a soft sigh. “The way you’re talking, it sounds like you’re the one who is going to leave me.”

  Tyson wanted to say something back to her, but Koran interrupted. “We should keep going. The end of this thicket of trees isn’t too far, and we can rest on the edge of the Equire Plains. It’ll be safer there for us.” He walked past Katie and Tyson.

  Katie followed him but Tyson did not. When Koran noticed, he stopped and looked back at Tyson.

  “Is there a problem?”

  Tyson glared at Katie briefly, who returned the same tone. Tyson didn’t answer but trudged after them, almost unwillingly.

  Koran was right. The Equire Plains weren’t too far from them and he led Katie and Tyson to a narrow, widespread clearing that separated the Equire Plains and the small beach jungle. It was dark, but they could see the silhouette of the tall grass and hear the wind whistling through it.

  “I’ll keep watch,” Koran offered. Tyson looked at him suspiciously. He noticed Tyson’s stare and let out a breath. “Try to make yourselves comfortable. We don’t have much now. Tomorrow we’re going to have to hunt for our food and find a source of water.” He didn’t look directly at Tyson.

  “I can probably handle the water,” said Katie, sitting down with her back against a tree. “But I’ve never been much of a hunter.”

  Koran smiled. “I was born to hunt,” he said.

  “As long as I’m fed,” said Katie, closing her eyes. “I’ve been too hungry for a while now.” Tyson tried catching Katie’s eye, but she kept hers closed and Tyson gave up and sat against another tree.

  “I’ll wake you two if anything happens,” said Koran. “I think we should be fine though. It’s just a few hours till sunrise.”

  “Katie?” Tyson called out.

  “Yeah?”

  “Nothing,” Tyson spoke quieter. “I was just seeing if you were still talking to me.”

  Katie left a momentary pause before answering. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  Katie felt her hair whip her face and her eyes shot open. The breeze was strong and refreshing. Tyson was already awake, mulling around slowly, keeping his eyes on Koran, who was roasting a small mouse-like animal on a stick that he slowly turned over a fire.

  Katie stood up and looked around. The trees weren’t as thick as she made them out to be last night, and could see the beach through them. On the other side, she saw a vast field of tall, golden brown grass. She imagined that the field was large but could not see over the grass as it was so tall. It violently blew in the wind in one direction, then suddenly in another.

  The beach wind was loud but Katie could still hear the crashing of the waves. She looked thoughtfully out towards the sea, which was visible out in the distance. She supposed that Tantor had dragged her along the small forest of trees but didn’t take her too deep through the thicket.

  “Is that our breakfast?” Katie asked as she walked up to Koran.

  Koran looked up and smiled at her. “Yeah,” he answered. “This one is yours. Tyson and I already ate.”

  “Well, thank you,” Katie said with a small shrug. She looked back at Tyson who was staring and her and Koran. She looked away from him.

  Katie started to eat when Tyson asked, “So what’s your plan here?” Tyson unfolded his arms and made his way towards Koran, who didn’t answer. “What
about you, Katie? Do you have a plan?”

  Katie ignored the bitterness in Tyson’s voice. She finished chewing before answering. “Other than get to Oasi before Nayara does, I don’t have one. I guess from there we will have to figure it out.”

  “Yeah, that’s if we even make it there,” said Tyson.

  Katie looked back and stared at Tyson in disbelief. She stood up to face him. “I don’t understand what your problem is. We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?”

  Tyson walked towards Katie and got his face close to hers. “And tell me, how many times have we almost died?”

  Katie didn’t answer.

  “Hm,” Tyson gave a small chuckle. “At some point, our luck is going to run out.” He stepped away from her.

  Katie sighed. “I don’t fully understand what’s going on with you right now,” she said, not turning to face him, though Tyson stopped in his tracks and put his head down to listen. “But I would appreciate if you had more confidence in me.”

  “You decided to come here,” Tyson said.

  This time Katie turned around. So did Tyson. “And you decided to follow me.”

  “That was because I wanted to help you find your family,” Tyson answered. “I need to make sure I make it back to mine.”

  “What do you think I’ve been trying to do this whole time, Tyson? I’m still trying to get to my father in all this. You didn’t have to come with me,” Katie retaliated.

  Tyson gave her a long look of mixed annoyance and sorrow, then walked along the narrow clearing between the trees and tall grass.

  It dawned on Katie why Tyson was acting the way he was. He was done, not only for himself but for his family. They already lost a father many years ago. Katie couldn’t bear to think about what his mother and brother would do if anything happened to him. Then she thought about how they must feel now, with him being here, but all they know is that he went missing along with her.

  The silence that settled made Katie feel sad, but only made Koran feel awkward, who extinguished the fire and walked around, looking busy, to distract himself. Katie leaned against the tree that she slept by last night.

  When Tyson returned Koran got straight to the point.

  “We should get going now,” he said. “Be careful as we walk through the tall grass. We may not be able to see what is coming until it gets us.”

  “Got it,” replied Katie. Tyson nodded. Koran led the two of them through the plains. The wind made it uncomfortable as it shifted the grass in all directions, making it hard for the three of them to keep their balance.

  Their skin became annoying itchy within ten minutes and their faces felt as if they were swollen. Tyson had a grimace on his face but stayed silent. Katie grunted a few times. Koran looked almost unbothered.

  They walked on and on through the tall grass. Katie’s already terrible sense of direction was completely lost, and at times she wondered if they were even making it anywhere.

  After a few hours, Tyson stopped walking. Katie looked back and gave him a questioning look.

  “I’m dehydrated,” he said. His voice sounded hoarse. “I-I need water,” he said. “If you can…”

  Katie sighed. “I can try,” she said. She looked back at Koran. Katie could tell that Koran was also thirsty, he just wasn’t going to admit it.

  Katie waved her hands in the air. Nothing happened. She tried grabbing the air as if it were solid chunks of matter but still, nothing happened.

  “Don’t sweat it,” Tyson said. “I’ll live.” He pushed passed her and Koran continued to lead them through the field. Katie felt annoyed, but more so at Tyson now than herself.

  They trudged on through the Equire Plains. The wind kept blowing and Katie felt like she was inhaling microscopic chunks of dead grass.

  Another hour passed. Katie was walking slower, as well as the others, but Tyson didn’t say anything. His face was dead set, his eyes were staring and unfocused, but still, he pushed on. It was Koran who stopped this time.

  “What’s wrong?” Katie asked when she reached him. Tyson walked a little further but stopped as well. He looked back, almost annoyed but was too tired to show it.

  “We need to get water somehow,” Koran said. He sounded worse than Tyson had done hours ago. “I don’t know how much further we have.”

  Again Katie sighed. She didn’t think that she would be able to produce water from the air. But she knew that she had to try once more.

  Katie grabbed the air again, but to no avail. She swept it with her hands but managed only to wave her arm through it.

  “I-I can’t,” she said with despair, but as soon as she said it, Katie had an idea. She grabbed one of the stalks of grass from the bottom and slid her hand up it.

  Water sprayed out from the top and rained down like the miracle it was. Koran cheered and opened his mouth to let the water drops fall into it. The grass blade had shriveled up and turned brown.

  Katie did this again with another blade of grass but controlled the fall of the water this time. The drops hung mid-air like small pools. Koran cupped one of them and drank it. Katie turned around and offered Tyson some water. It floated towards him unrealistically, like a movie with dreadful special effects.

  Tyson took the water but didn’t say anything. His face was set with no emotion, except a clenched jaw. He drank a lot and when he was done, he turned away.

  Katie then quenched her thirst. Water never tasted so good until now. Katie wasn’t sure if it was because the water was just that, pure water, or if she was that dehydrated and didn’t realize it until now.

  “At least you did it for man’s best friend,” said Tyson suddenly. “But not for me. I see how it is.”

  Before Katie could answer, Koran spoke up, but he didn’t hear what Tyson had said.

  “I feel much better now,” he said. “Thank you, Katie. I feared that we were going in circles, but I can sense we are in the right direction.”

  “And we still trust the canine, even though he doesn’t know where he is going,” said Tyson. “Even though he should.”

  Tyson kept walking, taking the lead. Koran looked at Katie, but she just shrugged and followed on. She got that Tyson was worried about making it back to his family, but she didn’t understand why he was acting that way towards Koran.

  As they walked, Katie wondered why Tyson acted the way he was. At first, she felt sorry for him, and a little guilty, but he was starting to piss her off. What had she done that upset him so much?

  Katie looked around. The sun was set high in the sky and burned down. The breeze that passed through felt warm too, unlike the ocean breeze that she woke up to.

  Then it came to her. Tyson was jealous. She almost laughed at it. It was absurd, so stupid, to think she would have a “thing” for Koran.

  She thought about it more. At first, the idea seemed even dumber, especially because she had just met Koran, and she wasn’t the type to believe in “at first sight.” But almost as if Tyson’s worries and sense of it entered her head, she looked at Koran. He was a good-looking guy. He had straight teeth, olive complexion, and a muscular body. Katie didn’t know what Koran’s life was like here, but back on Earth, and at their school, a lot of girls would probably be into him.