It was only then that the young man realized that there was absolutely no one around. Even without passersby, the noise of combat and the racket the monster had made should have at least drawn a few curious onlookers to the windows. The area where they found themselves was surrounded on all sides by houses and buildings. Had the arrival of the creature and the old man had the side effect of isolating the scene from the outside world?
However, he had little time to consider the question, or to verify the health of his companions; Gwenn called to him. Though she had regained her voice, her face appeared even more terrified than at the first sight of the monster.
The adolescent turned and looked in the direction that she pointed, and at that moment, his heart skipped a beat. The horizon seemed to turn suddenly, the sky trading places with the earth, while the houses, trees, and surrounding objects remained firmly attached to the ground. Like a wave, the phenomenon drew nearer with dizzying speed. Glaide’s mind worked rapidly, even as Gwenn cried out anew. He had nothing near him to hang on to but grass. Furthermore, he could do nothing to help his injured friend. Then, the wave was upon them.
Suddenly, the young man found himself falling head first, gravity no longer holding him to the ground; just like his companions, Emily, Gwenn, Jeremy, and the body of the creature, he fell into the sky. His sword remained embedded in the skull of his enemy, and he saw it disappear along with the creature. Gwenn continued to cry out, while Jeremy and Emily remained insensible. Glaide didn’t truly understand what was happening: to an extent, he too feared falling like this; yet, he regarded the events with a certain amount of disengagement, as though he was an outsider observing the scene.
The ground had now completely disappeared from his field of vision, and the sound of a door opening resounded in his ear. The four young people found themselves in an immense field of blue with no perceptible reference point. Glaide craned his neck and thought he could distinguish a patch of something far below – a patch that grew and rapidly drew near.
This time, it was the sound of a door closing that he and Gwenn heard. Then, the ground began to approach more slowly. The speed of their fall slackened. Neither of the teens could have said how long they fell like that, but finally their journey came to a close. They fell slowly, and they had the impression of floating, like a piece of paper carried along on a current of air.
Their feet touched the ground.
Gwenn lost her balance and sprawled out across a ground that was soft, and almost downy. Glaide tripped also, but quickly caught himself in a crouch. He approached the other teen to help her up, but he found with surprise that she slept. “Strange,” he thought to himself. Truthfully, though, he too felt a soft drowsiness that threatened to overwhelm him. However, he fought to remain alert; there was no question of relaxing just now.
It was only then that he noticed his surroundings: he found himself in a clearing. The sun was setting; it was dusk. Before him, a row of trees seemed to form an archway leading into the forest. All around him were the unfathomable shadows of the forest. He observed that everything seemed to be covered with a fine layer of frost, although it wasn’t cold – the temperature was even comfortable. Everything around him sparkled and gleamed. He slowly got up. His spirit seemed frozen within him; for a moment, his mind was blank, and he thought about nothing. He simply gazed at the landscape that surrounded him. He couldn’t speak; the silence was absolute.
Attracted by the light of the sun, he moved near the archway of the trees and, passing underneath it, he surveyed a massive plain that continued farther than the eye could see. It was entirely overrun by tall plants that the setting sun tinted with shades of gold and crimson. They waved gently, caressed by a soft and pleasant breeze that Glaide soon felt as well.
The breeze lifted his hair and rustled the leaves of the trees at his back, creating a magical chanting sound. The young man interpreted the sound as a sign of welcome. His mind suddenly seemed to function again, and he was overwhelmed by emotion. He could feel tears of joy flowing across his cheeks. “I’m finally here,” he thought to himself, feverishly. “My dreams have come true; I’m in the Other World. It is magnificent. No, I can’t describe it like that. No single word could encompass such splendor.” He turned his head to the right and the left, reveling in every sight, in every odor, in every sensation. “Who knows what the future has in store for us? But it is of little importance: I’m ready for whatever may come.”
Glaide couldn’t say how long he remained there, contemplating his dream and crying for joy, but when he returned to himself, he realized the sun had not moved an inch. Then, he remembered his friends. Feeling ashamed to have forgotten them so easily, he made an about-face and retraced his path through the clearing.
Approaching Jeremy, he took his pulse and searched for any traces of blood. His heart maintained an even rhythm, and Glaide couldn’t detect a single red mark on him. Then he carefully checked his chest for potential fractures, but not a single bone seemed broken. He duly noted that Jeremy was not necessarily out of danger, but he at least felt a little reassured, and, being no doctor himself, he saw nothing else that he could do for the moment. As Jeremy appeared to sleep, he left him lying there, and moved towards Emily.
A quick examination showed him, without astonishment, that she too was plunged into a deep sleep. And so, he too, in turn, laid himself down and let the fatigue invade his senses. He was happy to be here, even if his joy was tarnished by concern over the health of his companions. “I’ll worry about them tomorrow,” he said under his breath, before falling asleep himself.
Chapter 3
THE young man felt someone pushing on him. A voice demanded that he get up. He opened his eyes and discovered with joy that Jeremy was leaning over him. He appeared to be perfectly alright. Glaide, however, felt as though he hadn’t even slept; nevertheless, he got up and asked his friend if everyone was alright. The other boy assured him that they were, apart from a few bruises, though he had no memory of what happened after his attempt at an attack. Glaide summarized the events for him.
After hearing about recent events, Jeremy stayed silent for a moment. According to Glaide’s watch, it was nearly ten o’clock and – though they weren’t sure how time passed there – the two boys both agreed they should wake the girls.
They woke easily and seemed to have had a good night’s sleep – if one could talk about a night’s sleep, when the sun still appeared about to set.
“I slept well,” Emily commented with a yawn. She looked around and seemed to realize that she didn’t recognize their surroundings. Gwenn seemed to be noticing the same thing.
“Hey, where are we? What forest is this?” she demanded. Then she straightened her back suddenly and cried out, “No, the monster! The sword! What on earth...”
Glaide put his hand on her shoulder and softly but firmly prevailed on her to sit, then threw a glance at his companion: some explanations would be necessary...
It took nearly an hour more, after their initial explanations, to say everything they had to say, starting with the revelations the old man had made about the existence of Galadria, Aras, and Baras, and, of course, about their status as protectors and maggs, continuing with the story of their combat, and finishing with their arrival in the “Other World”. They left nothing out. They did their best to faithfully convey everything that had happened.
“I think we are in ‘Galadria’,” Glaide declared. “And more precisely, probably somewhere within the Known Lands.”
“As for that man, you said it was because of him that we’re here. Have you seen him again while we’ve been sleeping? Did he come here?” Gwenn asked, with a suspicious amount of calm.
“No, we haven’t crossed paths with him again, which concerns me,” murmured Glaide. “All through our conversation, he never stopped glancing behind himself, as though something was threatening him. I hope nothing serious has happened to him, because I don’t know what we would do.”
“So in
summary,” railed Emily, “we are lost in the ‘Other World’ because some people who thought we had powers decided that we should come help them, without even asking us. And as for our guide, who is at the origins of this lunacy – he has yet to even show us a sign of life! Goodness gracious, I think I’m going crazy...”
The boys, as absorbed as they were by their own desire for adventure and by the incredible nature of the situation, hadn’t noticed that their companions were working harder and harder to keep control of themselves, fighting the nervous tension that had seized them more and more as the story became more and more fantastic. Suddenly, Emily exploded, saying, “We have nothing to do with this! I never asked for any of this. What am I doing here? All of this is completely nonsensical. Do you even realize what you’re saying? Other worlds can’t exist! It’s impossible! It would defy all of the laws of nature! You are completely insane, both of you! You’ve fabricated this story while daydreaming, and now we’ve found ourselves drawn into your delusion!”
Glaide judged it wise to let Emily express everything she had on her heart; after all, he was the only one there who really felt like he belonged. Jeremy had at least followed him of his own accord, but it was another story entirely for the two girls. They’d found themselves embarking on a perfectly inconceivable adventure against their will, and only because someone else had been curious about how white magicians could exist in another world. All in all, it made perfect sense that the girls didn’t believe a word of what their companion had recounted to them. Emily became increasingly upset, tears of anger and of resentment appearing in the corners of her eyes. At her side, Gwenn had her lips squeezed tightly together, trying her best to keep herself from losing her temper. But losing her temper over what? Perhaps that was what they couldn’t handle: in their depths, the girls themselves knew that what the boys had said was true, as incredible as it seemed.
How could a place like the one in which they found themselves exist on Earth? And that was what they couldn’t deal with – this truth that their anger could do nothing against. And that, more than anything, hurt Glaide: he’d never wanted to bring harm or unhappiness to anyone else; he’d never wanted to cause despair. And so, he now began to blame the stranger who had arbitrarily decided to do no more and no less than change their lives.
Bit by bit, calm returned. The young women became locked in silence, fixedly gazing at the arches formed by the trees and the plain beyond. Jeremy and Glaide moved away to leave them alone. Seeing the face of his friend, Jeremy said, “You just have to give them some time. They don’t understand the reason for their presence here, and, you have to admit, we don’t know ourselves what will happen. Look, it’s nearly noon, and we’ll soon be hungry. What do you expect us to eat? For you, this is paradise, and I have to admit that I’m sufficiently intrigued to not be afraid, but I have to force myself to set aside my feelings so that I don’t behave like them. And I chose to follow you even before the man made me come here, so I don’t even have the right to complain. What has happened is incredible, but for Emily and Gwenn it’s a nightmare. Do you understand that?”
“I’m trying, my friend, I’m trying. And I also have many questions. That being said, if I want us to eventually do something, I must at least seem to have a flawless determination, don’t you think? Earlier, I told them that I didn’t know what we were going to do, that I didn’t know what we were going to become. That was a mistake. I should have shown them unshakeable confidence.”
“Yes, maybe. But be wary all the same: by wanting too much to appear sure of yourself, by wanting too much to take everything on your shoulders, you risk destroying yourself. But, since I don’t want to die here, I think you’ll have the opportunity to make up for that in the future. That is to say, this was the first but not the last – should we say critical? – situation we’ll find ourselves in.”
“Probably. Whatever may come, all of this is my dream, and I should watch over those who must live in it.”
They heard footsteps behind them and turned around. Gwenn and Emily were there, their gazes focused on the boys. Gwenn spoke. The tone of her voiced was witness to the fact that she remained tense.
“So, what are we going to do? We can’t just stay here, and besides, I’m hungry.”
Glaide looked at Jeremy, a smile on his lips. “I know exactly what we’re going to do,” he declared, his voice confident and self-assured.
The small group decided to explore their surroundings. They didn’t dare to truly explore the forest, but observing the plain and its surroundings tempted them. They walked for a while, without crossing the smallest sign of life. It was only then that the two boys noticed a sizeable problem that had, until then, not even crossed their minds: how could they retrieve their swords? Glaide’s had fallen with the monster, and he had seen Jeremy’s leave the ground and fall with them, but the swords had disappeared in the immense expanse of blue. If they had made it here, could the swords have followed the same path as they had? They began to search.
An hour passed during which each of the young people did their best to forget the hunger that tore at their stomachs – an hour in which they didn’t recover a single blade. The dusk, always present, began to irritate them; it certainly didn’t help them in their search.
After they decided to continue their exploration in the forest – an idea that Glaide had ferociously opposed up until now, on the pretext that, if they were truly in a world that could qualify for a “heroic fantasy”, they could cross numerous dangers in the darkness – a sound drew their attention. Even disarmed, Glaide and Jeremy were ready – or at least felt they were ready – to fight. They’d placed themselves in front of the girls before they even had a chance to turn and face the place where the cracking sound came from.
The sound approached; they could now clearly hear the sound of footsteps. The teens tightened their hands into fists, fixing their gaze on a bush that had begun to move. The noise continued its progression. No one spoke. The footsteps were now very close. The thing that was approaching would be on them in a few seconds. Glaide and Jeremy, not knowing what awaited them, preferred not to attack first. The group retreated a few steps, just in case the beast wanted to leap in front of them. The thicket in front of them began to move, and then... out came an old man!
The two boys made not a move, petrified in surprise. As soon as they regained control of themselves and thought to introduce themselves, they realized that their charges were already before the stranger. They seemed to have recognized this person who they called their guide. Again, he did not introduce himself, and, though the four young people asked all of the questions they wanted, he obstinately guarded his silence with a benevolent smile. After becoming annoyed, they finally stopped talking and waited. Then, the old man began to speak.
“You have arrived in Galadria, on the outskirts of the Forest of the Worlds, to be precise, and you have no doubt noticed that the twilight here is eternal. That is a peculiarity of this forest. It permits certain secrets to remain buried in the deep depths of this place. Before you, you can see the plain that protects this place. It seems infinite to discourage the curious. Actually, this forest is mystical, and rare are those who adventure within it. Don’t think that movement between the worlds is frequent; it remains rare.”
“So then other worlds exist, too?” asked Glaide with a pensive air.
“That isn’t important right now,” interrupted Emily brutally. “Sir, I think you’ve made a mistake. This young man,” she said, pointing to Glaide, “is crazy, but the rest of us are of sound mind. We have no reason to be here, and I want you to send us back home, please.” But even as she spoke, the others could see by her face that she was losing confidence, and before he could even reply, she knew that her demand was impossible to satisfy. She was here and would have to follow the “lunatic”, as he was their only remaining connection to their own world.
The man – without a doubt divining what she thought – didn’t respond to her question, i
nstead declaring, “Young people, your new lives begin now. If you are concerned about your desire to sleep when you arrived, know that that is normal: your body and your mind had to deal with your passage here, which was naturally exhausting. But now, passing to more serious things: as you know, you must protect your maggs,” he said to the boys. “And you must protect your protectors,” he announced to the two girls. “For that, you possess magic. Yes, you heard me correctly: magic. We’ll talk about that again in due time.
“You protectors, for your part, use swords. Yes, yes,” he hurried to add as Glaide opened his mouth, “you have lost them, or at least you think them lost. In fact, they are actually just hidden from the eyes of all, and several different ways of making them appear exist. At first, your swords will simply appear during combat or stressful situations. However, this isn’t a particularly effective way of making your swords appear, because they could appear when you counted on the element of surprise, or while you’re incognito. But later, when your mental processes have developed and you know your swords well, you’ll be able to make them appear and disappear when it seems wise to you. I counsel you, therefore, to rapidly reach this stage of development; it will offer you considerable advantages.”
Already after these explanations, Jeremy and Glaide felt reassured. The latter felt free to lose himself in thought. “Other worlds exist; it’s unimaginable. And we’re completely unaware of all of that on Earth!” The man continued to explain everything that awaited them: a long journey, throughout the Known Lands – a rather imprecise objective for the moment... Glaide didn’t pay much attention, as he felt ready for anything. He wanted to try to make his weapon appear – his instructor had just told him this power was essential, so it would be best to work on it right away!
It was then that they began to hear some strange sounds. The leaves moved anew, but the approaching steps seemed heavier. They must belong to a massive creature. “For a place that is meant to be deserted, there seem to be an awful lot of people around,” thought Glaide with a smile.
Chronicles of Galadria I_The Other World Page 3
