Beacon

by Kyle West

  It surprised me to hear Shal say that, since he considered himself a man of science. The tale of disobeying the Elder Dragons was widely considered a fable. But as Fadings had grown more commonplace, many people had begun to wonder if there was actually something to the story. Even so, most people believed the Fading was a matter of blood and had nothing to do with curses.

  Whether I liked it or not, this was something that was going to happen. I could run away if I wanted to, but if necessary, my mother would take me back here herself.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  Shal reached within his cloak, producing a vial of glowing pink Aether. “It’s simple. You’ll drink this, and find Silence, as if you were to connect to the Xenofold.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but then again, it was probably best to get this over with as quickly as possible. Aether probably wouldn’t do much harm in such a small dose.

  Still, I couldn’t help but look at it as if it were poison.

  “What will it do to me?”

  “This vial is not highly concentrated,” Shal said. “It should be enough for a first time user. It will feel much the same as if you had entered normal meditation, only the trance will take you into a dreamlike state. It is completely safe, and I merely want to observe whether it still works on someone with as strong a natural connection as you.”

  “Why did I need to come here to do this?” I asked. “Why not the Palace?”

  “Because there might be fluctuations with the Point of Origin itself, and if there are, I don’t want to miss it.”

  “If you’re lying about any of this…”

  Rakhim Shal smiled graciously. “I assure you, I have spoken the complete truth. The king and queen have placed their full confidence in me, and I would do nothing to betray that.”

  Before I could respond, he held out the vial further. I just looked at it, feeling queasy. My problem was that I couldn’t trust Rakhim, and I didn’t care if he knew that.

  At the same time, though, I knew I wasn’t getting out of here until I ingested it. I was afraid of getting addicted, more than anything else. I knew addiction wasn’t an issue unless you did it often, but still, it was something that worried me. There were Aether addicts who lived for the drug in its most concentrated form, called Hyper. Hyper was illegal, but that didn’t stop dens from forming all around the city in the last few years.

  I reached out my hand. Shal handed the vial to me, and I just stared at the liquid. There wasn’t much, but it glowed brightly and had a hazy quality. I could see swirls eddying within it.

  I unstopped the vial and tilted it toward my lips. I hesitated just a moment before drinking. It had no taste, but it practically crawled down my throat. I almost coughed it right back up, and it felt like a living thing inside my stomach. It finally grew still.

  I handed the empty vial back as I tried to ignore my nausea. I wished I didn’t have to take this here, far away from anyone who might be able to help me. However, Shal had turned his attention to the shining Orb, as if it were of the greatest interest.

  “All right,” he said. “Find Silence. You should begin to feel a connection soon.”

  Perhaps a minute passed with nothing happening. I felt the same as before. But then, there was a curious tingling in my fingers and toes. I became intensely aware of every sensation — the coolness of the air, the smell of the soap I had used for my bath, the hypnotizing brightness of the Orb. I smiled, though I couldn’t have said why.

  The euphoria, I thought. It wasn’t as strong as I had expected, but still there. That made it less scary. It was hard to be afraid when all you felt was peace and contentment. I might as well have been by myself, walking in the forest.

  I did as I was told, finding Silence easily enough. The trance deepened, and I found myself looking at the Orb. It brightened and brightened, and I couldn’t look away. I didn’t want to look away. The whiteness separated into different colors — green, blue, brown — and those colors started to take shape. Trees, the sky, a stream…

  I was no longer in the Thought Dome.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  AS EVERYTHING CAME INTO FOCUS, it was clear that I was in the forest outside the city. The sweet scent of pine, alder, and Silverwood filled my lungs, stronger than I had ever remembered. Birds sang in the trees and despite the cool autumn air, the sun above was warm and bright. Bright sunshine came down, warm on my skin. It was the very definition of a perfect day.

  I walked across the xen meadow, toward the line of trees where the forest began again. I paused, kneeling beside a Silverwood sapling, touching one of its twig-like branches. I felt a connection with it such as I had never felt before. Energy left from my fingers.

  Before my eyes, the sapling grew, its trunk and limbs thickening until it had grown as high as my waist.

  I stepped back, breaking the connection. What I had done should have been impossible. Even the best Sages could only double the speed of a growing plant, and the effects of Agronomy were never visible to the naked eye.

  But here in the Hyperfold, things seemed to work quite differently. The proof was in front of my eyes.

  Looking around, however, there was nothing to indicate that this was a dream. If anything, it seemed as real as anything. Perhaps even more real. Colors were more vibrant, and my skin more sensitive to the cool air than it would have otherwise. The sounds of the forest — the birds, the wind, the running of a stream — were all sharp in my ears. More than that, I could feel the movement of the forest on a spiritual level. As if I were one with it.

  It was a communion I had never experienced, not even in the real world. The feeling in the real world was a pale imitation of what it was like here.

  Despite all of my previous trepidation, I found myself rapt, wandering into the forest ahead. I roved up a xen-covered hill while weaving between trees. I took note of the dress I was wearing. It wasn’t like the plainer clothes I usually wore: it was shimmering, pearlescent, and the three layered skirts were light and airy, almost floating on the air as I walked. It was something my mother would have worn, but for some reason, it didn’t trouble me.

  All the same, I wanted something more suited for tromping in the woods, and suddenly, the dress was replaced by a pair of well-fitting, sturdy pants and a loose cotton shirt, both of earthen tones that would blend in with the surrounding foliage. A pair of well-worn boots replaced my slippers. I looked down in disbelief. Apparently, changing one’s outfit was as simple as a thought here.

  I knew the Hyperfold was essentially a dream world. Despite the fact that it felt realer than a dream, it still behaved like one. There were the clothes, and there had also been the plant. What else was possible?

  It was said that the only limits in the Hyperfold were one’s imagination. All the same, my mind had trouble accepting that, even after seeing what I had been able to do. I was afraid of experimenting, but maybe that was what Shal wanted me to do.

  All the more reason to not do it, then. Besides, it would be better to find my way around here before doing anything else.

  I moved forward through the trees, cresting the hill and making my way down the other side. I was in a portion of the forest I was unfamiliar with. I knew most of the woods surrounding the city, but I didn’t go north very often, so perhaps I was in the Northern Forest. Certainly, its growth was wild, and had clearly been allowed free reign. Or perhaps this was not a real place at all, and my mind was simply making it up as I moved along, just as would happen in a dream.

  Thousands of people used the Hyperfold daily, so I was starting to wonder if I would run into any…if indeed people could share the same world. I reached out with my mind, trying to see if there was anyone nearby. Detecting someone with Insight was only possible when they were strong enough to be detected. No feeling of confirmation returned to me, so I concluded that I was alone.

  And just as that thought crossed my head, I sensed someone nearing. I walked forward toward a break in the
trees, where there was a meadow. In that meadow stood a man, dressed in similar earthen tones. He didn’t notice me, as he was facing away, but he looked very familiar. If he were Elekai, he should have detected my arrival, but he seemed attentive to something out of my vision. He gave a sudden laugh, a laugh which sparked instant recognition.

  It was my father. I hadn’t recognized him because of the clothes, which he would have never worn in real life. I stopped to watch, even if all I wanted to do was run forward. I hid behind a tree, and from my new position, I could see what he was laughing at, or rather, who. A beautiful woman with long, silver hair sat in a tree, and she wore a radiant smile that reached her bright, violet eyes.

  It was my mother, only it was the mother I remembered from my childhood. Before I could even think about it, I laughed as well, only too late realizing my error.

  My father suddenly turned and caught sight of me. He looked surprised at first, but then his face beamed. I had nothing to fear.

  “Mia, there you are!”

  It felt as if this was the first time I was truly seeing my father in a very long time. To my surprise, tears had formed in my eyes. It wasn’t just physical sensations that were stronger here, but emotional ones.

  I ran forward and my father held out his arms. When I ran into them, he held me in a tight embrace.

  “What’s the matter, Mia? Did you get lost again?”

  “No,” I said, through my tears. “I’m just…glad I found you.”

  My father chuckled, surprising me by lifting me high in the air. I giggled with glee. It was as if I had gone back in time.

  When he set me down, I heard something fall to the ground, and I looked up to see that my mother jumped from the tree and was now dusting off her dress. How she had climbed in that thing, I couldn’t guess, but she was watching us with a smile. The fact she was even in a tree, much less jumping out of one, was so contrary to her nature that I couldn’t help but laugh. She laughed, too, as if sharing the same thought. I couldn’t remember the last time she had walked in the forest. Not since I was a child, certainly.

  Not only were they acting as if they were younger — they both looked younger, and in a natural way that had nothing to do with ichor treatments.

  An uncomfortable thought passed through my mind: was this really them, or just my imagination?

  My mother walked up to join us, taking my father’s arm. Her eyes were bright and happy.

  “Are you really here?” I asked. “Is it really you?”

  My father laughed. “Of course, what kind of question is that?”

  “Is Isandru here?” I asked.

  “He’s run off to see a girl,” my mother said. “I told him not to, but he did all the same.”

  “What?” I asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with a girl.”

  My mother laughed. “Well, that’s what he told us before running off.”

  “Who is it?”

  “I asked, but you know how your brother is,” my mother said. She turned to my father. “Perhaps we should sit down and eat?”

  “Of course.” He smiled at me, and winked. It felt just like old times, and that made me happy…even if I knew this probably wasn’t real. I wanted it to be real, to pretend for at least a few more minutes.

  I followed my parents to the base of the tree my mother had climbed, where there was a basket waiting. I remembered, a long time ago, we had done this as a family, and it had been a very happy day. It was a little different from this situation, because my mother had been afraid of wild animals, so she had guards stationed on the meadow’s perimeter. And of course, she never climbed a tree. But here, there were no guards, of course, and she wasn’t nervous in the slightest.

  My mother passed out food — sandwiches, fruit, and there was also a silver pitcher filled with clear water, its outside beaded with condensation. I wondered where that had come from, because it seemed a strange thing to carry and there was no running water nearby that I could see. My mother smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back. It was a beautiful day, and the blue sky was pure and clear, save for a small cloud floating above

  My parents talked between bites while I stared into the forest. Deep in the trees, I could see a deer grazing, with a silver coat covered with brown spots. It looked in my direction for a moment, as if considering whether to come beg for food, before going back to its own meal.

  I reached for an apple, but didn’t take a bite, because my attention was drawn across the meadow, where a silver arch stood. I hadn’t noticed it before. In fact, I was sure it hadn’t been there at all. It appeared to be some sort of ruin. Sometimes, old buildings could be found in the forest that had been long forgotten, but none of them were ever as ancient-looking as that.

  Then, the interior of the arch began to shimmer, and the land beyond that shimmer became invisible, obscured by a shining, white plane.

  “Father?”

  Seeing the direction of my gaze, he turned, but didn’t seem to see what I was seeing. “What is it, Mia?” His blue eyes were concerned, as were my mother’s. She turned to look as well.

  “Do you not see it?” I asked. “That arch!”

  My mother looked at me, her eyes amused, as if I were playing a trick. “What arch? Are you making up stories again?”

  “Across the meadow. It wasn’t there before.”

  Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about that arch. Or perhaps it wasn’t the arch, but the situation I found myself in. I felt myself tense.

  “Mia, you’re acting strangely,” my mother said, her eyes concerned. “Here, have some of this cake. I had Laki make it just for you.”

  “Laki,” I said. She hadn’t been the chef in the Cloud Palace’s kitchen in years. She had been replaced long ago, and I remembered being sad about it because I liked her.

  “When is this?”

  The question sounded strange to my ears, and yet…I did want to know when it was.

  My father laughed. “It’s your birthday, Mia. How could you forget that you’ve turned eight?”

  My birthday. And then, I remembered everything. This was a memory, but slightly altered. One detail that was the same was that Isandru had missed it for a girl he thought he was in love with, despite him only being eleven. This had all happened before, only it was being replayed now, for some reason. I looked at my hands, noticing for the first time that they were smaller.

  Now, I wanted nothing more than to get out of here. And with mounting fear, I realized I didn’t know how to get out. Shal had never told me.

  “I have to go,” I said, already getting up.

  My mother’s eyes seemed concerned. “Mia, you haven’t even tried…Mia?”

  I walked at first, but then I started to run.

  “Mia, come back!” my father said. “Where are you going?”

  I turned back to look. Both of my parents were now standing, and my father was running after me. He was so much faster with his long legs.

  That was when they both transformed right before my eyes, so suddenly that I screamed. Their eyes glowed white as their skin became like jagged scales, while insect-like legs grew from their torsos. Their faces melted and darkened until they no longer resembled people; their heads were angular and reminiscent of a lizard. They scuttled across the meadow as high screeches pierced the air.

  The light of the gateway seemed to be fading. I now realized what it was: my means of escape. I didn’t know how, but going through it would get me out of this place. But its light was fading, and within moments, it would be completely gone. The archway itself was now translucent, slowly fading. Just a few more feet…

  Just as it was about to wink out of existence, I dove headfirst into the arch, so faded now that I could hardly see it. There was a sudden brightness, and then, nothing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  I OPENED MY EYES TO find myself lying on the ichorstone surface surrounding the Hyperfold’s Point of Origin. I blinked several times before the world returned to focus
. My heart was racing like mad and I felt as if I’d been kicked in head. Perhaps more than that.

  “Just wait,” Shal’s voice said, as if from another world. “The aftereffects should pass quickly, after which, you can stand.”

  Even as Shal said that, my head began to clear. My vision sharpened and the dizziness faded, allowing me to sit up.

  I stood as soon as I felt ready, feeling my hands shake. I took several steps back from Shal. It was hard to remember what had happened, but all I felt was fear.

  “Can you remember anything, Mia?” he asked. “What did you see?”

  He didn’t know what I saw, and now he was asking me. I tried to remember, but there was nothing.

  “I remember nothing. Nothing, except fear.”

  Rakhim actually seemed concerned. “Fear? Why fear, Mia? What happened?”

  I felt a sudden flash of anger, though I wasn’t sure why. I had the sudden impulse to run, but immediately tempering this feeling was a numbness, followed by a wave of nausea. My skin grew cold, and then felt as if it were on fire.

  “I…don’t feel well.”

  “It will pass,” Shal said. “Your symptoms are common for a first time user, so there is nothing to fear. Take your time recovering.”

  Part of me suspected that Shal might have given me a much larger dose than what I should have taken, but I found it difficult to be mad, for some reason. I knew I should be mad, but I was so miserable, so afraid, that the sickness was all there was. How could anyone take Aether if this was what it was like?

  At last, the foul feeling seemed to pass for good. Like a cloud, my head cleared and my memories of the Hyperfold returned. I could still see my parents turning into those monsters – monsters which perfectly fit the description of crawlers.