Ahead, more flame baths lined a purple carpet that ran along the room towards a shallow set of stairs. A golden chair sat at the top. Two bizarre looking men dressed in white robes stood either side of it. They were completely bald and their pale skin was as smooth as wax. Roman numerals had been tattooed in the centre of their foreheads. The one on the left read XII. The right XIII. They stared at us through blood red pupils, powdery hands clutching silver staffs that curved into spirals at the top — they reminded me of the crosiers that catholic priests carried.
Except these were clearly weapons.
Must be guards of some kind, I thought. To protect…him.
Him was the old man who occupied the chair. Dressed in long black robes rimmed with gold, most of his face lay hidden underneath a deep cowl. I could just make out cotton wool eyebrows and a long beard which tapered to a point below his waist. In one hand he clutched a walking stick with a bright green orb attached to the top. His other hand rested in his lap. He raised it and beckoned. “You may approach.” The acoustics of the room made his voice boom like a megaphone. “Ella,” I whispered. “It’s okay,” she reassured, nudging me forward.
The old man pushed back his cowl. I swallowed hard, taking in the rest of his face. His skin was wrinkled and thin, like worn parchment. In contrast to his full white beard, his head was a smooth dome of baldness. A glistening black, tattooed eye stared out from the centre of his forehead. His actual eyes were just as odd as the guards. Instead of being red, they were totally white. Not like he had cataracts, but like he’d never been born with pupils.
He smiled, exposing a set of bright teeth. “Welcome Alexander, I’m so pleased you are finally here.” His voice seemed to echo around the room, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. “I was beginning to think our time and resources had been wasted,” he added in a more disapproving tone. The statement appeared to be aimed at Gabriella, who shifted uncomfortably on the spot like a child being chastised. “I apologise Faru. Alexander’s infiltration was badly handled. But he is ready and willing to listen.” I shot Gabriella a confused glance, but she remained facing the old man. He nodded. “This is good news.”
I couldn't handle the riddles any more. My head felt ready to implode. The frustration boiled up and before I could stop myself, I stormed towards the stairs.
“This is ridiculous!” I yelled, stabbing an accusatory finger at him. “I need you to tell me-”
I didn’t have time to finish my sentence. The guards reacted instantly. They smashed their staffs against the ground causing the coils to burst into blue flames. I heard Gabriella scream “NO!” before one of the guards vaulted into the air. Before anyone could react, I was lying on my back with the sizzling neon flame inches from my cheek. The heat seared my skin. Bloodlust blazed in the guard’s crimson eyes. I had offended its master, it wanted to hurt me.
“Enough Thirteen!” shouted Faru, clapping his hands together. Without a word, the guard released me. I crawled away with a whimper, holding my tender cheek. The guard returned to its position next to Faru. Both kept their unnatural eyes locked on mine, staffs flaming. From the corner of my eye I saw Gabriella staring at me in disbelief. As I climbed to my feet, she bowed onto one knee.
“Sage Faru, please forgive him. He is confused and scared.”
The old man waved a dismissive hand and began to chuckle.
“No harm done. I like this one, he reminds me of old friend.” He turned his head in my direction and stared with his blanched eyes. “Young man, you have passion in your heart, which is an admirable trait. However, I believe that you have held your frustrations inwardly for too long. This mixed with your recent…” he paused and waved a hand “…transformation, makes for a dangerous cocktail. As this evening’s events suggest.”
An image of TJ curled in a silent bloody heap entered my head. Horror and shame at my actions rushed through me.
Faru pointed a finger. “You must learn to control that anger of yours…” The same finger tapped his temple, “…and rely on this instead.” Smiling, he passed his ornamental staff to XII. Then he gestured his papery hands towards me.
“Alexander, it is time for you to shake off the bliss of ignorance. Please come here.”
I didn’t want to, but after what had just happened there was no way I could refuse. So I shuffled forward and climbed the steps until I was a few feet away. The guards stared at me, hands wrapped tightly around their crosiers.
“Please kneel.”
I lowered myself onto one knee and stared at Faru. It felt like I was waiting to be knighted. The old man pushed himself out of the seat. His guards motioned to help him, but he swatted them away like an agitated animal. Lifting his beard, he swept it over his shoulder like a scarf. Then he took a few steps towards me and leaned over, placing his hands on my shoulders to steady himself. Being so close made me nervous. His blank eyes unnerved me.
“Please try to relax. This is going to be quite intense.”
Before I could reply, the old man’s icy claws grabbed my face with a vice like grip. Pulses of electricity coursed into my body. It felt like I’d touched a live wire. My teeth chattered and my tongue slammed to the roof of my mouth. I tried to scream but the sound died before it escaped. Bile shot up into my throat and burned. Bright flashes splashed across my vision. My mind screamed at me that I’d been tricked, that these people were evil and I should run, but I was paralyzed. It felt as if I’d been coated in cement, my traitor feet sealing me to the floor. The electricity continued to rack my body. The pain became excruciating.
I’m going to die!
I tried to move my hands to prise the human mantrap from my face. No use, my arms were pinned to my side. Then as suddenly as it had started, the shaking stopped. The pain faded away.
My eyes snapped open.
Faru had gone. Instead I was standing on the most beautiful beach anyone could imagine. Sand the colour of cream and as fine and soft as dust covered the ground like a magnificent blanket, collecting between my toes and warming my bare feet. In front of me, a crystal clear sea lapped gently onto the shore. The cool water felt its way onto dry land before gliding back home with a soft, swishing sigh. Thick palm trees arched over me, their giant leaves hovering above my head. Just offshore, a tiny wooden boat bobbed up and down on the waves. A fraying piece of rope kept it fixed to an old wooden jetty. The place seemed strangely familiar, although I knew beyond doubt that I’d never been there before. There’s no way you forget a place like this.
The whole gorgeous setting was illuminated by a bursting sun, which hung between cotton clouds. Beams of light reflected off the sea, making the surface twinkle like a million diamonds. For a while I forgot everything and shut my eyes, sighing with contentment as the sun’s warm fingers caressed my skin, and a cool, refreshing breeze ruffled my hair. For what could have been hours, I stayed that way, allowing all my confusion and frustration to wash away. Finally with a reluctant sigh, I called out. “Where am I?” “Hello Alexander.”
I jumped. Faru was standing next to me. He looked fifty years younger and far less intimidating. He had hair. It fell past his shoulders, sparkling silver in the sunlight. His beard was in its infancy, only reaching the top of his chest. The cold, unseeing eyes which had unnerved me before, now seemed to glow with life and intelligence. The only things that really appeared to have remained the same were the tattoo and his decorative robes — which hung tighter around his fuller, healthier frame.
Faru placed a soothing hand on my shoulder. “I apologise if I startled you,” he smiled. “In answer to your question, you are exactly where you were before. It is your mind I have taken on a journey.” He chuckled and smoothed out his robes. “Ah to be young again. Shame it’s only in the mind hey!” He nudged me as if I had a clue what he was going on about.
When I didn’t respond, he gestured towards the view in front of us. “Wonderful isn’t it?”
I nodded in complete agreement. “Stunning. But…why do I re
cognise it?”
Faru looked sheepish. “Well the process of mind merging can be somewhat invasive. Therefore, I try to take the person to a place that makes them feel safe afterwards. I found this little paradise whilst rooting about inside your head. It’s not actually a destination you have visited in reality, but rather somewhere you’ve dreamt about.”
He bent down and picked up a handful of sand, letting the fine grains slip through his fingers. “You come here when you are unhappy,” he said. With a sympathetic edge added, “which I’m sad to say seems quite often.”
I felt a slight unease at the idea of someone rifling through my thoughts. Knowing all my heartaches and fears. Does that mean he knows about my thoughts of Gabriella, how I imagined kissing her?
Faru wiped his sand covered hand on his robes and stood back up. “Anyway, I hope you aren’t offended by this. I just wanted you to be relaxed before I explained everything to you.” I shook my head. “No it’s fine. I–I love it here.” He nodded then looked at me, in as much as he could look at anyone. “I’m afraid we cannot stay much longer. Are you ready to continue?”
I took one more look at the scene in front of me, breathing in the salty aroma of the sea air and trying to capture the sounds of the waves in my mind.
“Yes.”
“Good, then please take my hand.”
As soon as I did, there came a furious lurch. I cried out in surprise as my feet left the ground. The beach shrank until it became nothing more than a crescent shaped patch of land in a mass of blue. I saw ships; large cruise liners and oil tankers dotted over the sea, reduced to tiny specks and then vanish from sight. We burst through clouds, which left my clothes and skin damp with moisture. My heart screamed against my chest as the wind whipped against my face. It felt like falling, but in reverse. I craned my head up against the wind resistance and saw the blue sky dissolve into black as we left Earth’s atmosphere. Too shocked to react, I clung onto Faru’s hand for dear life. With a mixture of horror and wonder, I watched as he pulled me higher and higher, like some human rocket. We left Earth’s orbit and entered space. Faru slowed and twisted, so that we both faced the direction we’d come from. My mouth dropped open as I witnessed the full beauty of my planet from the outside. It was breath-taking, almost too wonderful to be real. A palette of vivid blue mixed with rich greens and sandy browns, topped with swirls of white. If anything could make me believe in divinity, it was this incredible piece of universal artwork. Regardless of whether I was actually here or imagining it due to the mind merge, it was enough to bring a lump to my throat. Faru released my hand and I floated in slow motion, jaw still somewhere in the region of my chest.
He looked over at me and smiled. “Unbelievable isn’t it? This is exactly how Earth appears from Space. Obviously some sensations cannot be as realistic as the genuine experience. I dare say you would be a little short of breath and somewhat compressed otherwise.” He gave a little chuckle at his joke.
Faru gestured towards the planet. “This is Earth as you know it, but there are elements which are hidden from your eyes. Observe.”
As he finished speaking, the world began to change in front of my eyes. Islands shifted and altered shape. Pieces joined together, like magnetic puzzle pieces drawn to one another. When it settled, the world looked much younger. There were no manmade landmarks — no Great Wall of China, no Egyptian Pyramids — just a single giant mass of green and brown which floated inside a border of blue.
I remembered a Geography lesson as a kid where I’d learned that the entire world’s land mass had once existed as a single supercontinent known as Pangaea, before erosion and shifting of tectonic plates split it apart. This rewind of millions of years of evolution seemed to agree with the theory. But something my Geography teacher definitely hadn’t mentioned was the shimmering line which ran as far as the eye could see down the centre of it. “What’s that?” I asked. “That Alexander…” Faru answered, “…is the Veil.” I frowned at the bizarre line. “What’s the Veil?”
Faru pulled his legs underneath him, so he was floating cross legged. He steepled his forefingers together and fell silent for a moment, as if trying to recall a forgotten speech. Finally he spoke, pointing his joined fingers at me.
“The Veil is like an ancient, natural doorway. Back when Earth was far younger, it was divided by this doorway. However, if one were to pass through, they would not end up on the other side you see here, but rather another world entirely.”
“Like a parallel dimension?” I gasped.
“Exactly,” smiled Faru. He smoothed out his robes before continuing. “Earth is a twin to another world. Whilst in some ways the two are very alike, such as sharing similar laws of physics and gravity, in others they are remarkably different. In fact to a human, some differences would seem unbelievable and could probably be best described as magic.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A parallel world, full of magic? I shook my head in disbelief. “Alexander, are you alright?” Faru asked. I made a squeaking noise which he took as a cue to continue. “Well as I’m sure you are aware, the world is in a perpetual state of evolution. It is forever changing.” I nodded.
“The same applies to the Veil. What was once an entire ring that encompassed the world has eroded away over Millennia. Parts dissolved, or broke off and sunk to the depths of the seabed. Now only a few sections of the doorway remain, all of which are well hidden and well-guarded. Though before that, many of the life forms existing on the other side escaped through into the human world.”
My mouth dried up. Life forms?
“In the parallel world, creatures exist that you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams…” he paused and took a deep breath, “…and some you will be all too aware of, although would never have believed could possibly exist.”He looked up at me with his blazing white eyes.
“Like what?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know.
“Take my hand,” he replied.
I extended my arm towards Faru. It glided in slow motion through the black nothingness and my palm connected with his. My arm was yanked so hard that for a moment I was convinced my shoulder had been wrenched from its socket. We plunged back towards the Earth. My stomach lurched and cheeks flapped from the sheer speed.
Then silence.
All I could hear was the frantic beat of blood pulsing in my ears. We continued to blaze downwards into the planet’s atmosphere.
Boom!
We broke through the sound barrier. The explosion echoed behind me and noise returned as a torrent of wind and my own yells. The ground spun around like a broken fairground ride, rushing up to greet us. We weren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Fear began to rise in my chest. If Faru didn’t do something, we’d smash right into it. For a fleeting moment I considered letting go of his hand, but what good would that have done — I’d fall anyway.
But it’s not real! I can’t die…can I?
Either reading my thoughts or sensing my distress, Faru slowed and changed the angle of our descent. The landscape was now parallel and about twenty feet below us. We rocketed over a carpet of treetops; flocks of birds fluttered out of the dense leaves in fright.
I’d finally managed to calm down enough to stop screaming, when I forced my chin up enough to see ahead and started all over again.
We were heading straight for the Veil.
Up close it appeared to be a shimmering pool of thick silver water. Rising vertically, like a giant liquid wall. We plunged in head first and the chord to my scream was cut. A sensation like slimy, ice cold fingers pressed hard against my skin, starting at my head and rushing down my body. I shuddered. As I slid deeper at incredible speed, the pain began. At first it felt like someone pressing down on me, but the further I was drawn into the Veil, the stronger and more forceful it became. Soon it was an unbearable crushing pressure, like being squashed under a rock. The air compressed from my lungs and my eyes were forced shut. I tried to gasp for oxygen, but couldn’t even
part my lips a millimetre to draw anything in.
I can’t breathe!
The thought was loud and clear. An alarm bell which shrieked into every corner of my mind. I’m trapped in this thing until it spits me back out…alive or dead!
The pressure rolled upwards and collected at my head. The pain amped up to a level I didn’t think possible. It felt as if someone had clamped my skull in a vice and was happily twisting the lever. Bursts of white hot pain seared through my temples and bloomed in yellow patches behind my scrunched eyelids. Just when I thought I would pop, drown, implode and suffocate all at the same time, I felt a new, unexpected sensation — similar to breaking through the surface of water, but denser. The slimy fingers raked my skin again and then the pressure vanished. We shot out of the veil like a bullet. Faru landed on the ground, sliding gracefully along the dirt. I followed, tripping over my own feet and toppling forward. His iron grip snapped me back like a seatbelt, keeping me upright.
I spent the next few minutes doubled over, greedily gulping oxygen back into my aching lungs. I vowed that from then on, I would never take the beautiful gas for granted again.
Faru walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. Blind with anger, I shoved it away and swung my fists at him. He dodged every punch and caught my wrists, holding them tight. He was surprisingly strong.
“Please calm down.”
“What the hell was that?” I screamed in pure fury. “I almost died!”
Faru’s voice remained placid. “Alexander, please believe me. You were never in any real danger. The sensations of travelling through the Veil are unpleasant but rarely fatal.”
“ Unpleasant? ” I shrieked. “Stubbing your toe is unpleasant! That was horrific!”
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