The Egg (Return of the Ancients Book 4)

by Carmen Caine

  Upset, I jammed my hands into my sweatshirt pocket and nearly screamed. It took me a second to realize the little fluff of fur that my fingers brushed against belonged to Jerry. He’d hitched a ride, and that realization tipped me into complete devastation.

  What had I done? I’d brought them all with me to the Second Dimension. And apparently, for no good reason.

  “We’re trapped,” I whispered in a cracked voice.

  “Trapped? Please!” Jareth snorted, tossing his head. “I’m not sure how you got here, Sydney, but I shifted. I can easily go the way I came.”

  His arrogance jolted me out of my rising hysteria and I felt a bit silly. I reached for my head but I’d apparently lost the Faraday cap somewhere along the way. “How did you know I was here?” I asked then, beginning to relax a little.

  “Please!” Jareth snorted again, this time rolling his eyes. “I didn’t need to see your thoughts to know you were pulling something like this.”

  “It was obvious you were telling everyone goodbye,” Rafael chimed in, dropping a comforting arm around my shoulders. “I’d never let you come here alone, Sydney. It would break my heart.”

  The raw emotion in his voice made my eyes widen a little. I hadn’t realized my leaving would hurt him so much. I mean, I know that he cared for me, but I guess I really didn’t realize just how much until that exact moment. Being important to someone was a bit of a new concept.

  I frowned, surprised that he could access the Second Dimension. “I didn’t know Fae could come here,” I whispered, reaching up to touch his glowing jawline.

  “Neither did I,” he replied, his lip quirking up a little. “It must have something to do with my newfound ability to dream. Brock tried coming also, but he didn’t arrive with us.” He shrugged and glanced around. “It’s just us.”

  I took a deep breath and eyed the darkness, wondering what we should do.

  “I’d suggest going back,” Jareth supplied at once.

  It was always disturbing when he read my thoughts. It was even more startling this time when I followed his gaze focused over my head, and looking up, saw the collection of what could only be my thoughtforms gathering there. Already, most of them were beginning to fade away. It was unsettling to see my emotions floating there as different geometric shapes and colors, an entirely different form of communication.

  I shivered, casting a quick glance above Rafael, but he didn’t have anything hovering over his head. He just glowed.

  At first, I didn’t see anything over Jareth, either. But as I watched, a sparkling golden shape with pink-tinted crystal wings appeared above his head. It was actually beautiful.

  “That is the thoughtform of loving protection,” a voice drifted through the darkness that startled us all. “He senses my presence and is unsure if I’m friend or foe.”

  We whirled to see a figure emerge, swirling into being from the surrounding shadows.

  It was the Man in the Top Hat.

  He was clearer than ever before but still not completely solid, and this time, I could see the color of his eyes were of the palest blue and the hair under his hat was pure white.

  “Jareth will see all of you safe with that,” the man explained, bowing a little in Jareth’s direction before turning to Rafael. “I have never seen a Fae here before, my friend. Your light will serve the three of you well. Light is what is needed here now.”

  Rafael and Jareth stood very still.

  The Man in the Top Hat faced me with a smile. “At last, Sydney, you can hear my voice.”

  Suddenly, I was mad. Really mad. Rounding on him, I abruptly accused, “You lied!”

  “Did I?” he asked with a gentle smile. “Tell me, child, what did you ask?”

  I knew exactly what I’d asked. It was easy to repeat, “So this is it, my Blue-Thread? I have to get to the Second Dimension?” I frowned, suddenly realizing that I’d asked two questions, not one.

  “I nodded yes to your last question,” he explained easily. “Your Blue Thread is here, Sydney. You had to get here, and soon.”

  I felt like an idiot. “Then I didn’t have to jump?” I asked quietly. My throat constricted again at the fear I’d felt. Had I terrorized myself for nothing?

  “It was exceedingly brave,” the Man in the Top Hat answered in a sympathetic tone. “It brought all three of you here immediately. Time is of the essence. It was not a waste.”

  I wanted to scream.

  Rafael stepped forward, standing just a shade in front of me. “By what name should we call you?” he asked the man.

  The Man in the Top Hat didn’t miss his protective gesture. “My kind are called by many names,” he answered courteously. “Address me as you please.”

  “TopHat,” I said without thinking.

  “Then TopHat I shall be,” he said with a gracious bow.

  “And what kind might you be, TopHat?” Rafael asked next. His voice was soft yet urgent and commanding.

  The man didn’t hesitate. He waved at me. “I have been appointed to see this Blue Thread to its completion. There are others besides you, my two Fate Trackers, who watch the threads of destiny. And for different reasons.”

  I scowled, feeling very foolish to have leapt to such a horribly wrong conclusion about my Blue Thread. I’d made Jareth and Rafael come after me to the Second Dimension. But that thought made me pause. Melody had wanted Jareth to destroy The Tree of Life here. I caught my breath in the realization that maybe it was too dangerous for him to be here. Or maybe even both of them. What had I done?

  But I had little time to wallow in guilt because the Mutant Tulpa chose that precise moment to emerge out of the surrounding darkness.

  It was huge, much larger than it had ever appeared on Earth. It looked like some kind of monstrous airborne spider-octopus and was about the size of a house. Regardless of what the Brotherhood of the Snake wanted to use it for, I knew that it still wanted to eat me for its own purposes.

  I turned on my heel, poised to run, but Jareth grabbed my arm.

  “I’ll shift us out of here,” he shouted.

  “No, you can’t,” TopHat cried, waving his arms as if to herd us forward. “Run!”

  None of us believed him. Rafael and I grabbed Jareth’s arms and hung onto them longer than we should have, fully expecting him to shift us away. For a few endlessly long seconds, I know that he believed he could. But then, a look I’ll never forget crossed his face. Shock, followed quickly by fear.

  “Run!” Jareth shouted as the Mutant Tulpa bore down upon us.

  TopHat stood waiting for us just a few yards away. As we bolted his direction, he turned to lead us swiftly away through the swirling darkness.

  The Mutant Tulpa followed, close at our heels. I could hear it making ghastly clicking noises as we crashed forward through what felt like prickly grass.

  It seemed to be gaining on us.

  Panic consumed me and I tripped, but Rafael was there, yanking me up to half-carry me forward. As I ran, I squinted through the darkness, desperately hoping for a place to hide and wishing the purple clouds above would descend to hide us.

  My wish was miraculously granted. Sort of. With each step we took, a dark purple cloud formed behind us, slowing the Mutant Tulpa’s pursuit but making me afraid that now some kind of fire chased us as well. My fears were realized as the purple cloud reached from behind to engulf us in thick acidic smoke, and it suddenly became almost impossible to breathe.

  My eyes watered. I couldn’t see TopHat anymore. I could barely see Jareth just a few feet ahead as Rafael pulled me forward, up a steep incline.

  And then I recalled Al’s advice.

  In a forest fire, the smoke will show you which way the wind is blowing, and that‘s the way the fire is moving. Fire travels faster uphill, so don’t make for high ground. Take refuge in a river if you can.

  “Down!” I gasped, yelling over the sudden gust of wind pushing us from behind.

  I don’t know if they really heard me or not, or i
f the path just conveniently obliged, but the ground before us plunged and minutes later, we splashed into a dark body of water.

  The Mutant Tulpa swept along with the smoke over our heads as we sloshed through water up to our knees and out of it to a nearby grove of tall black trees. One of the trees had partially collapsed onto the others, and as if by some prearrangement, we all darted behind it.

  I stood there, catching my breath and holding tightly onto Rafael’s hand.

  Who would have guessed Al’s survival training would actually prove useful in the Second Dimension?

  As suddenly as they’d appeared, the wind, the purple smoke, and the Mutant Tulpa disappeared.

  Jareth whirled upon TopHat and asked sharply, “Just who are you?”

  The man merely replied, “I am simply the one appointed to ensure that your Blue-Threaded choices are yours and yours alone. A judge, if you will.”

  We just stared at him.

  “A judge for whom?” Rafael asked, voicing what we all wanted to know.

  None of us were surprised at his answer. “I cannot reveal that.”

  Jareth swallowed. “Why can’t I shift and leave this place?”

  “No Lizard Person may leave this place,” TopHat answered in an even tone.

  Jareth’s jaw dropped open in stunned disbelief.

  “But he’s not one of them!” I gasped, outraged.

  “He is as much as they are,” TopHat disagreed. Meeting Jareth’s eyes, he added, “You may be Fae, but your lizard half will trap you here in the Second Dimension. Forever.”

  I couldn’t breathe again.

  “And Rafael?” Jareth was asking.

  “Fae light can’t be used here,” TopHat replied, holding out his hands. “There is only darkness here, darkness in all of its beauty. Rafael will not be able to shift any more than you can. The three of you are here to stay.”

  I can’t really describe how I felt after hearing that. I mean, I was ready to face my own dark destiny. But I wasn’t ready to doom those I loved along the way. I felt devastated. Completely shattered.

  “Sydney, you mustn’t call the Tulpa to you,” TopHat warned. “Your thoughts are powerful in this place.”

  I just stared at him numbly.

  “It’s not your fault, Sydney,” Rafael told me then, his voice low and deep as his fingers gave mine a comforting squeeze. “We made the choice to come here, well-aware of the danger. Each of us are responsible for our own choices and no one else’s.”

  “Wisely said, Fae Fate Tracker.” TopHat nodded.

  I just frowned. They could say whatever they wanted. I felt differently about it. It was all so overwhelming that I was beginning to feel strangely disconnected. I actually preferred that, for the moment. At least it allowed me to think.

  “What are we supposed to do here?” I asked in a detached voice. “What is my Blue Thread?”

  “That isn’t my place to tell you,” TopHat replied, looking anything but contrite. “You must find it yourself.”

  I found his answer aggravating. But I really hadn’t expected anything else. Bracing my shoulders, I snapped, “Well then, I’m off to find it and get it over with.”

  He merely smiled.

  Jareth moved away, bowing his head, and strangely, all I could think was that even after all that running, he somehow still had his guitar strapped to his back.

  It was Rafael that brought my thoughts back into focus. “Lead the way, Sydney,” he said, in an offer of grim support. “I will follow.”

  I nodded, and steeling my resolve, marched forward. No one stopped me. I had no idea where I was going, let alone if I was going in the right direction.

  The ground beneath my feet crunched like I was walking on sharp gravel. Purple clouds still covered the dark sky. Ahead of me, a dull red glow grew brighter, and as I emerged from the grove of dark trees, I saw that I stood at the edge of the molten river.

  I’d expected it to be evil, dark, and horrible, like something out of hell, but it wasn’t. It was actually beautiful. Alive. The liquid fire flowed in endlessly unique patterns over the red rocks. It was almost mesmerizing in its own right.

  “What is this place?” I asked aloud.

  “The edge of reality,” TopHat obliged me with an answer. “This is the stuff of dreams.”

  I felt like I should understand him. For a brief moment, I thought I did, but then the feeling slipped away, leaving me to wonder if I’d lost my chance to glimpse some deep understanding of the universe. I stood there a moment but then shrugged the thoughts away. Apparently, they didn’t have anything to do with my Blue Thread. If they had and I’d asked questions, TopHat wouldn’t have answered, of that I was sure.

  Jareth snorted, clearly reading my thoughts. TopHat seemingly could too, because he did smile a little, but he offered no further explanation.

  The sound of snarling on the cliffs above caught our attention. Voices echoed through the darkness. Creepy, hissing voices followed by an ugly, shrill scream filled with venom.

  I knew it was the Lizard People, and I knew in my heart that I was going to have to face them. There wasn’t a shred of doubt about it, nor that if I stood there and thought about it for too long, I wasn’t going to be able to do anything but turn into a quivering mass of fear.

  “Let’s get closer to them,” I whispered, making up my mind.

  TopHat nodded in agreement. “You are correct, Sydney. They are your next step.”

  I scowled at him. “And why tell me now? I thought you weren’t supposed to tell me what to do.”

  “I may comment upon your decisions after you make them,” he said. “Remember, simply concentrate upon the next step. That is all each of us are given to take at a time.”

  I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be aggravated with him or not. It was a close one. Deciding it wasn’t worth it at the moment, I moved as if to take a step forward.

  Rafael’s strong hand clamped down on my shoulder. “The river is in the way, Sydney,” he pointed out.

  It was. It ran around the base of the cliffs as far as I could see in either direction. And upon closer inspection, the cliffs themselves seemed to be made of some kind of red glass, slippery and impossible to scale.

  I frowned, wondering how I could possibly get to the top. Clearly, the Lizard People were entwined in my fate. I wanted to face them, but it wasn’t like the cliffs would just crumble at my feet, nor would the ground I stood on rise to reach them.

  The ground beneath me began to shake and rumble. We didn’t have time to even run before it moved, carrying us upwards. I couldn’t tell if the red cliffs were collapsing or if a mountain was forming beneath me. Maybe both.

  I could only hang onto Rafael for dear life as a bridge of some kind formed, leading to a handful of lizards now crawling towards us, a couple walking upright like a human as the remainder crept behind them on all fours. The majority of the Lizard People stayed where they were, writhing and snarling in a large slithering pile of scales huddled in a pit at the top of the cliff. They look grotesque and smelled worse. I could smell them even from where I stood.

  I watched the lizards approach, again startled at the strange events coinciding with my thoughts. First the purple smoke. Now the leveling of the cliffs.

  “As you are already beginning to suspect, Sydney. It is no coincidence,” one of the lizards called out as he approached.

  I recognized his voice at once.

  Blondie.

  Now devoid of his Earthly form, he walked upright on his two hind feet. He was dark, his scales oily, and he smelled like sulfur. Evil radiated from him and from the smaller lizard person at his side. The fanatical pair of eyes were familiar.

  Marquis.

  I could tell by the way Rafael’s arms tensed that he recognized his father as well. Well, the lizard who had possessed his father, anyway.

  “Humans are dangerous in this world,” Blondie said, coming to a stop in front of me. “What you dream and imagine comes true here first, Sy
dney. And if it is powerful enough, it leaps dimensions to manifest itself on Earth as well. That is the true power of human thought. Humans hold the power to create.”

  My eyes widened. Had I really created the purple smoke and leveled the cliffs through thought alone?

  “Yes,” Blondie smirked.

  It was terrifying.

  “But, how are you at controlling your thoughts?” His voice softened but took on a menacing tone. He didn’t look scared of me in the least. In fact, he looked jubilant, like he’d just won the jackpot.

  And I knew exactly why. I was engulfed in fear, fear that what he said just might be true. I didn’t trust myself. I’d always felt kind of like a victim to my thoughts. I’d never really consciously tried to control them.

  “They’re trying to frighten you,” Rafael warned in a low voice. “Don’t fall into their trap. Just breathe, Sydney. Think only of breathing.”

  Seizing his advice, I concentrated only on breathing long, deep breaths. It was really hard to do, but it helped.

  Blondie and Marquis just watched, still leering. The other lizards behind them had stopped to hover in the background.

  “She won’t be able to create an escape route for you, Blondie,” TopHat said from behind me.

  Blondie drew his lips back and hissed.

  TopHat shrugged. “The Brotherhood of the Snake could have been so much more. But now that you’ve cultivated only a taste for fear, you will be consigned to that pit for an eternity.” He pointed to where the other lizards writhed on the cliff.

  As I watched, small dark wriggling Tulpas appeared above their heads. The lizards jaws snapped as they lunged forward to consume them, biting and clawing at each other to reach the Tulpa first. It was like watching a pack of wild dogs fight over one morsel of raw steak.

  Blondie approached Jareth, reaching out as if to touch him. “You made the wrong choice, lizardling. Now you are trapped here as well.”

  “I’m not one of you,” Jareth said tightly.