Guardian 2

by Porter, Jack

  It took an entire fifteen minutes to claw my legs free, and I used the last of my energy to slide/crawl across to my girls, where I collapsed in the dry, sandy dirt.

  The girls fell upon me with an odd mixture of tears and giggles. Eventually I started laughing too, and we all broke out into hysterical fits at how close I’d come to being forever preserved, like the mammoths and dire wolves Megan had mentioned.

  “Man, that was scary,” Megan said, clinging to my neck, not caring that she was getting sticky tar all over her.

  I gave a dry chuckle and nodded my head in agreement. “Do you want to know the worst part?” I asked, only now daring to allow myself the thought of it.

  “What was the worst part?” Yua asked.

  Swallowing thickly, I said, “I already understand some of the healing powers of this crystal and how potent they are. I am aware just how long I can survive certain situations. And I shudder to think how long it would have taken me to actually succumb to the tar.”

  The girls’ faces went slack, and then stark white. Yua’s in particular, because I suspected she was the only one of us with an approximate idea.

  “Let’s go,” Yua whispered. “I want to get as far away from that as possible.”

  They both climbed upon my shoulders without a single protest, and we continued on, sticking to the areas that we could see were safe, and making sure to test anything we were unsure about.

  * * *

  The incident with the tar pit was just the beginning.

  Just like when we first crash-landed, the island seemed to take it upon itself to make our journey more difficult than it should have been.

  It messed with the distances we had to travel. Sometimes, we would be walking along a high ridge with sheer cliffs on either side, only to then find ourselves (without any transition) in a narrow canyon instead. And sometimes we physically couldn’t travel in the direction we wanted to, even though there wasn’t anything obvious in our way.

  It was like trying to navigate with the whole world on shrooms.

  Yet we persisted. We ate twice a day, in the morning and night. We traveled as much as we could each day. And we slept soundly, while the peaceful atmosphere of the high mountains kept us safe. There was no need for anyone to stay up and guard our backs. The worst we’d run into was a bunny or the odd wild mountain hen.

  Megan and I chatted about various things to pass the time. We played a few games, one involving us selecting a category and listing off matters related to the subject, starting with the letter A and ending with the letter Z.

  Interest piqued, Yua attempted to join in. Soon, we found out that despite how much she’d read, there were still a lot of things about the modern-day world Yua didn’t know.

  “Wait, wait,” she said with a shake of her head. “You’re telling me anyone can purchase anything from this Amazon person, with a device that controls every aspect of your life but still manages to fit in your clothes, and then this guy just brings the items directly to your place of residence? What if Amazon falls sick? Do they have a backup Amazon?”

  Megan and I were in tears at this point. Our bodies shook as we tried to contain our laughter so as not to offend Yua, who was only growing more confused and frustrated.

  “Amazon is more than just one person,” I said, catching my breath.

  Explaining modern day technology like phones and the internet took the greatest majority of the day still left to us. Yua was brimming with questions, but I liked that about her. Her unrivaled need to search for knowledge and truth was another one of her many charming qualities.

  By the time the sun went down on the seventh day, the girls and I had come to the start of a narrow track cut into the side of a sheer cliff. It was a relatively idyllic spot with a stream forming a decent pool nearby.

  We gathered around a fire that flickered even brighter than usual. The meal Megan made was far superior to the ones before. I suspected it was her nerves at what tomorrow might bring. I couldn’t blame her. The track did look rather intimidating, with its winding curves and narrow overhang.

  I didn’t worry about the morning for long because as I picked some roasted sweet potatoes and dried deer meat out of my teeth with a small twig, Yua turned in her place beside me. Her expression was grave, and I knew she wanted to say something important.

  There was a particular resolve in her cobalt blue gaze. Her eyes pierced right through me as easily as a knife through butter. She was about to do something she didn’t want to.

  Sitting straighter under her observation, I returned her intense gaze with one of my own.

  “What’s up, Yua? Do you need something?” I asked, wondering if I’d done anything to put me on her bad side.

  Snatching her staff and twirling it with a flourish, she lay it between the two of us as if that were supposed to mean something.

  “It’s time,” she answered. That was all. It was as if she expected me to understand her meaning, as if I could read her mind. And as many supernatural powers as the crystal gave me, that was something I could not do.

  “For what?” Megan punctuated the same question running through my thoughts with a languid yawn. “Anything short of curling up in a bedroll and you can count me out.”

  The monk didn’t take her eyes from mine as she answered, “Oh, don’t worry Megan. You’re free to sleep. It’s Dexter and me who will be up all night.”

  My eyebrows rose. Talk about your double entendre. An easy grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.

  “Well, I can’t say I’m opposed. I’d have thought a little wining and dining would be in order first, but I guess that leaves more time for me to rock your world.”

  It took a moment, but Yua’s serious expression suddenly morphed into one of unmasked horror, followed closely by cheeks flaming red as the fire next to us. I wondered if I trailed my fingers down her skin, would it be just as hot to the touch? An instinctual response stirred the beast below and I shifted my sitting position.

  “Oh, no. I d-didn’t mean,” Yua squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again. “That’s not what I—”

  The monk gave up trying to explain herself and finally broke those vivid blue eyes from mine. I didn’t miss her gaze skimming down my body, however, before shifting away.

  No, there was no mistaking the desire she and I shared. It raged, captured in the heated air between us. A tangible thing that begged to be let free.

  “Damn it, Dexter,” Megan grumped, shaking out a blanket to sleep as Yua suggested. “You broke my friend. I rather like this one, so try to remember that not every girl is as promiscuous as Hannah.”

  Wincing at the redhead’s remark, I moved closer to Yua and placed my hand in hers. She tensed a little but didn’t pull her hand away. Instead, she laced her fingers between mine.

  Instantly, I felt like the world’s largest asshole.

  Megan was right. Yua hadn’t grown up in a world where flirting was considered a harmless jest, like women of my time. For her, this was a clear sign of intent to pursue a lifelong bond between man and woman. And while I knew in my very core that I wanted to bring to life that type of relationship with the monk, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out she wasn’t ready for that step.

  “It was only a joke. I’m sorry,” I murmured, working to keep my voice even, but falling rather short as some of my passion for her escaped instead. “Forgive me?”

  She pulled her hand away reluctantly, her jaw clenched tight.

  Silence hung between us for long enough that Megan’s soft snores came before Yua spoke again. Her scent of herbs and woman wafted over me as she darted forward into my space. She ran her fingers up my forearm and over my shoulder and then down the bumpy terrain of my abs.

  Her lips were inches from mine. Her eyes were so bright in the fire’s light that they looked like comets igniting in the atmosphere.

  Her fingers stopped just short of the top of my buckskin pants. Yua’s full lips moved past mine and paused at m
y ear instead.

  “See? You’re not the only one who can turn someone on and call it a joke,” she said.

  Goddess, this woman set my blood on fire.

  “Point taken,” I managed, my lips almost brushing her neck. If I stuck my tongue out, I could lick the sensitive skin to her jawline.

  I knew with a few well-placed kisses, I could make her abandon all reservations about having sex with me. The desire to do just that burned hot in every cell of my being, but I wouldn’t.

  Not until she wanted me to, anyway.

  Yua’s body shuddered. She leaned back until she was a safe distance again. Her hand went to her neck where my lips had just been and gave it a quick rub, as if to wipe away the feeling of my words against her skin.

  Despite herself, she bit her bottom lip and squeezed her thighs together.

  So. Fucking. Hot.

  That I knew she desired my body as much as I desired hers was not doing us any favors.

  Swallowing, I tried to bring us back from the brink. “So, we’re staying up tonight,” I said. “Any particular reason?”

  It was if I had broken a spell. She sighed in relief. “Yes. I’m going to once again take you to the spirit world.”

  Six

  “Well, I’ll be honest, that sounds like a terrible idea, Yua,” I replied in one rush of breath. “I don’t want to go back there. You may not remember this, but I didn’t exactly have a pleasant stay last time.”

  Yua smirked a little. She picked up her staff and began to ring it over my head. “That’s kind of the point. If Zavier has access to the spirit realm and all the possibilities it represents and you do not, that immediately puts you at a disadvantage. This is something you, as the White Guardian, have to do.”

  I knew she was making sense. I uttered a sigh and nodded my head.

  Just like my experience before, my eyes grew heavy as stones. However, because I knew and trusted the process, it went quicker. Entering the spirit realm took as little effort as slipping into the next room.

  Was that because I’d been there before?

  Whatever the reason, the ease with which I came to be in the not-quite-conscious space of the spirit realm didn’t stop a tsunami of utter detachment from my life. Just like last time, a static haze fell over my existence.

  However, this time I was ready for it. The trick was to try to hold on to who you were through memory.

  In my mind’s eye, I brought up an image of the clearing where we’d fought Zavier. I was careful not to think of the dark god himself. I didn’t want to accidentally call him, but the clearing had become our new home, so I imagined the landscape as it was now.

  Thunderous waterfall melting into a playful river. Pine trees and a melting layer of snow. The girls and I eating dinner together, laughing and joking as we did.

  “Learning already?” came Yua’s voice in my mind. “Good. Looks like you’re ready to maintain your own astral body now.” The lady monk materialized near me as herself, yet not as I knew her.

  This was Yua in the days before she came to the island. A princess and high priestess. Her shaved head was replaced with long black hair that fell impossibly straight and ended abruptly at her hips. Half of her locks were tied up in a bun, held in place by twin ruby pins. She wore a gold kimono offset by a red sash tied around her middle.

  I noted that there was also red makeup above her eyelids and painted on to her full lips.

  “You mean I wasn’t maintaining my astral body before, when Zavier pushed you away from me?” If I had an eyebrow to raise at that moment, I would have done so. But I was still largely formless. “Then who was?”

  “Zavier, of course.”

  “Well, that’s a terrifying thought.”

  “Mm-hmm,” she said in agreement. “But that’s in the past. You’ll learn to prevent that from happening today.” Yua lifted a finger to her chin, tapping it as if in thought. “You can think of last time as me holding your hand across the street. Showing you where the crosswalk was and how to look for oncoming traffic. Now, I think you’re ready to give it a whirl yourself.”

  Without further explanation, the weight of my own mind was dumped unceremoniously into me. This had to be the oddest sensation. I became more of myself than I was before, and I realized this was why I’d been in such a haze since entering the spirit realm.

  Literally, there had been pieces of me missing.

  “Goddess, I’m a heavy fucker,” I laughed, trying to stand my astral body up. It was like she’d put a stack of bricks on my shoulder and legs.

  “It will become easier with time,” Yua said. “Now come, we must hurry. There’s a lot to show you.”

  I glanced up at her and sucked in a breath. She’d morphed back into the version of herself that I knew in our physical form. This made me blow out a breath of relief. If we were no longer connected, that probably meant we weren’t subjected to each other’s memories anymore.

  Not that I’d minded watching her get off to the thought of me, but this seemed more appropriate. Especially after that little moment we’d had by the campfire.

  “This is trippy,” I said as I floated free of Yua to look around, suddenly lighter than air. “I think I’m in way over my head.”

  She giggled when I had to literally doggy paddle back to her because apparently not having a corporal form meant no gravity to keep me in one spot. How in the world had she made this look so easy last time?

  “Okay. What’s next?” I asked, curious about this place and ready for a challenge.

  “See those pathways over there?” she asked. “That’s where we’re headed. It’s how we navigate the spirit realm. It’s a critical skill for you to learn.”

  Turning, I discovered a network of currents threading through different sections of the land that I hadn’t noticed before. Some were large and red in color, others were smaller, and held shades of yellow. Each seemed to branch off in a different direction.

  “So, these are like streets?” I asked.

  “In a way. It takes a while to get used to, but I’ll help you until you do. The yellow ones are for traveling the island only.”

  Yua walked away toward one of the red currents. I did my best to keep up with her. It was like trying to learn how to walk all over again. Except, I had no legs to do so and ended up drifting slowly after her.

  “Most of the action here is what you make of it. If you believe you have mass and can walk, then it will be so.” She showed me by walking in a slow circle across the air. “Give it a shot.”

  I did. It took a few tries, but she was right. If I imagined a sidewalk in front of me, it wasn’t so hard to remember how to move forward and back and side to side.

  “Good. We’re going to enter one of the pathway’s now,” she said and moved to the edge of a pocket of flowing space. “Try to keep up.”

  “Wait, you never told me where the red pathways lead,” I said, but she just gave me a wicked grin and stepped into the red current. To my amazement and horror, she was gone in the blink of an eye.

  Frantically, I jumped in after her and found myself spinning and twirling through the red current. Roller coaster ride was a good way to describe it at first, but once I found my stability and stayed upright, I found I could maneuver as if on the interstate in a car.

  It kind of baffled me that I was the car in this situation.

  Despite what Yua had said before she jumped in, she’d stayed nearby to guide me through the currents that branched off one another.

  “So, where are we going?”

  “Wherever we want. We are not bound by normal rules in this realm. The world we have left behind is just the beginning.”

  I balked, momentarily forgetting to keep my focus on staying upright. I tilted for just a moment before realigning myself. There were a lot of things about what she just said that set off alarm bells. I held up a hand even though she’d stopped talking.

  “Hold up monk lady, you’re telling me we’re no longer on earth?” I as
ked. “And we’re traveling through space, right now?”

  “Of course. You’ve heard of astral projection, right? Even if you haven’t experienced it?” She shook her head and tsked as if my surprise was elementary. “We had such things even in my era.”

  “People lose some knowledge over time, Yua,” I floated closer to her while I tried to process this new knowledge. Flashes of light penetrated the red current every once in a while, making my eyes water.

  What the hell is that? I wondered, but decided to add it to the piling list of questions I had about the spirit realm.

  “Most of us don’t believe in being able to leave our bodies to travel the unknown. Let alone all of space. Hell, modern-day earth has only just begun touching on space travel in the last fifty years. My government would lose their shit if they knew about this,” I gestured around to the spirit realm, spreading my arms wide.

  “Yes, I read about those rockets. Had a merry laugh too,” she quipped with a smirk. “I was wondering why anyone would want to spend that much money just to see beyond the earth’s atmosphere.”

  Yua paused, her expression becoming distant. “But you have to understand, even in my time, the ability to travel the realms was rare. I imagine what your government can’t control, it wants to keep hidden from those who can.”

  Area fifty-one and the conspiracy that aliens existed sprang to the forefront of my mind.

  God damn it. I bet the president knows about the spirit realm.

  Taking a deep breath, I tried to adjust to the expansion of my horizons. Goddess only knew how fast we were traveling right now. Or how far.

  “This is what you were mumbling under your breath about before we left. No, more than that, this is why you had been expecting me at the shrine. You told me it was your job to teach me to use my crystal. That means you knew this needed to happen from the very beginning. And you planned on telling me this when, exactly?”