Portal to the Forgotten

by John Gschwend

  Shevay came in and addressed the giants in their language. He then turned to Luke’s group. “We welcome you here to have breakfast with us before your journey.”

  “Journey to where?” Grace whispered to Luke.

  He whispered back, “I reckon we will find out soon.”

  The guards brought in smoked meat—appeared to be ham—and rough-looking bread. There were no eating utensils to eat with, just marble troughs from which to eat. It was the best meal by far Luke had enjoyed since coming to this land. The rest of the group seemed to agree as they dug in.

  After a time Shevay turned to Moon. “Sha-She, I thought on what you said last night. I also thought of the things Karl had spoken to me about.” He waved his hand toward the other giants. “This is the Royal Council and I have asked their advice. I am afraid they believe Karl is the one to trust, and you and the rest should be put to death.”

  Luke hadn’t spotted that escape route yet, so he searched harder. Grace, sitting next to him, squeezed his arm.

  Shevay laughed. “It is a joke. I learned that from Glen Turner.”

  Moon was cool. “That was a very good joke, Shevay.”

  Shevay took Moon by the hand and she rose from her seat. “I know the caliber of your father. He is a good man.”

  “How does the great Shevay know so much?”

  Shevay raised his head and laughed. He looked back down at Moon. “I have, as you call them, spies. I know everything about this part of the world. I must if I am to remain the Great Shevay. I know of your returning through the portal with this man.” He nodded toward Luke.

  “You are very wise,” Moon said.

  “I believe you as I believed Glen Turner. He asked for nothing and you have asked for nothing but understanding. Karl asked for many things.”

  “Will the Great Shevay stop Karl from making it to the portal?”

  Shevay clapped his hands and guards came into the room. They had leather bundles and weapons. “The Council has spoken on the matter, and I have agreed. We will not intervene.”

  “But he will—” Moon started.

  “It is your concern. You must stop him.” Shevay pointed to the guards. “Here are supplies for your journey. Be swift and be careful.”

  Moon and the group went to the supplies.

  “Sha-She,” Shevay said. “Karl has befriended many. Some of the Reeze are waiting, and they are formidable.”

  “So are we,” Adam said.

  Shevay went to Adam. Even though Adam was muscular and strong, he was small beside Shevay. “You are Orion’s son?”

  “I am.”

  “Give my old friend my kindest regards. Tell him I can’t wait to meet with him again.” Shevay smiled, and then he, the guards, and The Council left the room.

  Grace took hold of Adam’s arm. “How does he know your father?”

  “I don’t know,” Adam said.

  Luke saw the look on Moon’s face—she didn’t believe Adam.

  Adam turned to leave. “We go now.”

  Chapter 17

  They stood at the top of the hill and looked back down on the city with its shiny pyramid clad in gold and white, its beautiful columns, towering obelisks, its grand cobblestone streets, its giant precision stone walls. From the high vantage point, Luke saw the symmetry to it all—it was perfect. In fact, he had never seen any city laid out so perfectly. If he ever came back, he meant to find out how they measured, how they cut the stones, how they drilled, welded, and formed everything. He had seen the levitation, so he knew some of that, but he wanted to know much more. Yes, indeed, he was a long way from the Ozarks.

  “What you doing?” Luke turned to see Adam talking to Grace. She had a phone up taking pictures. She showed him the pictures. “Magic?”

  “No,” she said. “It is the kind of technology we have back in our world. It is like painting or drawing, but it’s done electronically.” Seeing that he did not understand, she pointed to the pyramid. “Uses power like the pyramid.” He smiled and nodded.

  Luke thought of his own phone and fumbled in his pack for it.

  “No need, Luke,” Grace said. “This is yours.” She extended it to him. “It fell from your pack back at the cave, and I’ve been taking pictures with it. I know I should have given it back, but I believed you and Moon would not have let me take pictures for one reason or another.”

  She looked like a helpless child, which Luke damn well knew she wasn’t. He waved her away. “Keep it, Sweetie. The service is really spotty here.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Why did you think we wouldn’t want you to take pictures?” Moon said.

  “I don’t know. Bad karma, I guess.” She looked at the phone. “Won’t be able to take many more; battery’s about dead.”

  “I have a little solar charger in my pack,” Luke said, fumbling around in it. He pulled it out and tossed it to her.

  “Great, I can take more pictures. I want a record for when we return to our world.” She crammed the phone and charger in her bag. “I will charge it when we rest.”

  Luke was glad she had the attitude that they would return. He hoped so too, but every day seemed to bring a new obstacle.

  “My phone was taken by those people at the portal,” Grace said. “What about yours, Moon?”

  “I broke it on the teeth of one of them.”

  Luke laughed. “What about your camera? You had a camera too.”

  She dropped her pack and rummaged around in it. “Here it is.” She pulled it out and tried to turn it on. “The batteries are dead and they can’t be charged.”

  “We will get batteries at the next corner store,” Grace said.

  Moon and Grace laughed. As the others started down the hill, Luke took a long last look at the city. He had the feeling he would, indeed, be back because he had a growing doubt he would ever see Arkansas again.

  Adam had led the way all day, staying far enough ahead to spot any danger. Luke brought up the rear. The trek was uneventful. The prairie was so open that no one could sneak up on them, but that was going to change before long. They soon would be coming to river bottoms and undulating hills. It would get a little more interesting with some of the Reeze buddied up to Karl.

  Luke stayed about a hundred yards behind the rest, and it gave him plenty of time to think; there was nothing else to do. Grace had been his concern from the beginning, but he had her all wrong. She was a very capable person. She could kick ass as good as anyone in the group, and better than Luke. She was more than an equal on this adventure. Wak’o was an Osage, so from her he planned to glean as much knowledge of how to live off the land as he could. The Osage had been some of the fiercest and proudest of all the Native Americans. She was definitely an asset in this world. If Adam wasn’t the leader, he was at least the first sergeant. When the situation appeared bleak, he was the man of the hour. He was one of the most important of the group. Moon was the leader. She was a machine, full of fighting ability and knowledge…and mystery. Now, that left Luke. What was he to this party? He had knowledge of primitive skills, but Adam and Wak’o had him on that. He was a good hunter, but again, so were Adam and Wak’o. No matter how you cut it, he brought less to the table than the others.

  Luke caught something out of the corner of his eyes. It was a man running through the grass, and he was hell bent toward Wak’o. It was a Reeze.

  “Look out!” Grace screamed. She was too far ahead to help Wak’o—so was Moon.

  Wak’o saw him coming and squared up to him with her club in her hand.

  The Reeze was too far for Luke to shoot. Luke sprinted toward Wak’o, but there was no way he was going to get there in time.

  The Reeze raised his spear as he charged Wak’o. She deflected it with her club and lowered her shoulder. The Reeze rolled over her shoulder and slammed on the ground. She turned and swung her club down toward the Reeze, but missed. He raised his spear and drove it into her middle. Immediately, Grace came up and kicked the Reeze in the face. She then
wheeled around and slammed her club into his temple. He lay on the ground quivering, dead, but still holding the spear. Grace eased it from his grasp as Wak’o moaned.

  Moon ran up and grabbed hold of Wak’o. “I’ve got you, Honey.” She turned to Grace. “You will have to pull it out. Now pull fast and straight. Do it quickly.”

  Luke ran up to the group. “Oh, no.”

  Grace squared up. “Okay. Okay.” She took a few deep breaths and jerked the spear straight back. Wak’o screamed and fell limp in Moon’s arms.

  Luke and Grace helped Moon lower her to the ground. Luke pulled his water bottle from his bag and handed it to Moon, as she talked soothingly to Wak’o in French.

  Luke remembered his first-aid kit in his pack. He fished it out and offered it to Moon. “I have this.”

  “Luke,” Moon said slowly and calmly. “Hand me two of the biggest bandages in the kit, and the tape.”

  “Okay.” Luke fumbled with it, and Grace took it from him and assisted Moon.

  Adam ran up and towered over the group. “Will she survive?”

  “How far to the river?” Moon said, not answering Adam’s question.

  “Not far.” Adam pointed to some cottonwood trees. “There.”

  “We must make a litter to get her there,” Moon said.

  “We can make one from cottonwood poles,” Luke said.

  Adam turned to Luke. “You were the rear. This should have been prevented.”

  Luke instantly knew he was right. It was his own fault. They were strung out too far from each other. If he had only been closer—

  Adam backhanded Luke, sending him to the ground. “It should have been you.”

  Moon snapped. “Adam, get me a litter, now!” Adam looked at Luke for a short spell and then turned and ran back toward the river.

  Grace offered her hand to Luke, but he brushed it away. “He’s right,” Luke said.

  “Shut that up,” Moon said. “We are on a mission. The mission comes first. Now you two go help with that litter.” Grace offered her hand again and Luke took it.

  As they jogged to the river, Grace said. “You think she will be okay?”

  Luke had to shake the blame from his mind; Moon was right, and it did no good. He turned to Grace. “If anyone can help her, Moon can.” Grace wiped her eyes as they ran to the river.

  A fingernail moon settled over the camp as Wak’o quietly moaned in the darkness from the pain. Luke couldn’t help but admire her strength. If he were suffering with such a wound, he would probably be screaming.

  Luke tried to stay vigilant as he stood at his post along the river, but it was no use. He wasn’t much good to them tonight—he couldn’t help do anything else but blame himself for what had happened. He looked across the camp to see Adam’s silhouette high in a cottonwood tree. No one would get close with him up there.

  Fish flounced in the darkness and owls and coyotes called from the black abyss as Luke lay his bow beside him on a log, which had been deposited there during some past flood. He turned to see the two women bent over Wak’o, silhouetted by the fire. For some reason it reminded him of the scene in Gone With The Wind where Scarlett and Prissy are delivering Melanie’s baby. Yeah, he thought, gone with the wind just like his own world.

  He reached over and picked his bow back up. He squeezed it with both hands, could feel the grain in the wood, which he hadn’t been able to sand away. He felt the small knots. If he were back home, it would have been said of them, that they gave the bow character, but here, they were just knots that were on this particular piece of wood that he had used at the time. Back home the bow would have been a toy to play with. Yes, it was a weapon, but, of course, there were modern weapons that were exceptionally better to kill game with. Here on this prairie, in this world, the hickory was a state-of-the-art weapon, not a toy. He raked his finger across the stone point on his cane arrow—sharp as any metal point, very capable to kill. He sighed and looked up at the moon; it looked like it was smiling back at him with its sideways grin. Why hadn’t he been closer? Why had he allowed Wak’o to be injured? The answer came back from the old moon— he was the amateur here.

  Luke caught movement down the river. He nocked his arrow and stood. Green orbs floated above the river about a hundred yards downstream, will-o’-the-wisps. There were at least thirty, maybe more. If each one was held by a Reeze meant to do them harm, it was over. They moved slowly toward their camp. Luke turned to look up at Adam, but was startled to see Adam already next to him.

  “With that many Reeze, we don’t stand a chance,” Luke said.

  Adam said nothing, just moved past Luke and stood in the river.

  Moon went to Luke. “What does Adam think?”

  “Hell if I know.”

  Moon moved to the river’s edge and said something to Adam in their native language. Adam replied. Moon waded out into the stream with him.

  “What are y’all doing?” Luke said.

  “We must catch one,” she said.

  “Catch one?” Luke said. “A spear is what we will catch if y’all don’t get out of that river and take cover.”

  “Luke, these are alone,” Adam said. “They are not being carried. We must catch one. You stand guard while we do it.”

  Luke had no idea what they were up to, but, hell, he had little idea now what was going on as a whole. He looked back to see Grace standing over Wak’o with her arms spread, questioning. Luke returned the gesture.

  The orbs floated closer and Adam was right; they were alone like a colony of giant fireflies. They were not a constant—some light green, some a deeper and darker green. One would blink out, but another would slowly form, as a person might turn up a dimmer switch. Moon tried to grab one and it came apart into a million pieces like sparks and disappeared. She tried another with the same results.

  “Esva,” Adam said.

  “Esva?” Moon replied.

  Another one drifted to Moon and she slowly took hold of it. It remained formed in her hand. “I’ve got it!” She turned toward the bank and it exploded silently into a million fireflies and disappeared. “Damn it.”

  One drifted to the edge of the river and Luke set his bow down. “I will get this one.”

  “No, Luke, only the dark ones,” Adam said. As he said it, the orb blinked out. Luke then understood. The ones he had seen blinking out were all lighter. The dark ones stayed bright, just like the ones the Reeze had here at the river before and the ones back at the bell.

  A big orb, the size of a basketball, drifted toward Adam. “Esva,” Adam said softly as if he were trying to sooth a wild horse he was trying to catch. He slowly squeezed his hands around the orb as if he were plucking a giant apple from a tree. “Esva,” he soothed.

  “You got it,” Luke said.

  “Remove the bandage from her,” Adam said as he turned toward the shore with the orb. Moon climbed from the water and went to Grace and Wak’o. They worked slowly and delicately to remove the bandage. Wak’o moaned through gritted teeth—she never moaned loudly, ever.

  Some of other orbs appeared to stop moving in the water and just float in place. Others followed Adam out of the water. Barely a whisper now, Adam continued, “Esva.”

  The orbs followed Adam into the camp, emitting their green, liquid, light making everything glow—even the fire seemed to be green. Adam gingerly lowered the orb down to Wak’o’s wound. The blood running from it appeared to turn green. “Esva,” Adam whispered as he slowly moved his hands to the side of the orb and squeeze. The orb changed form as a round water-balloon might if you were to squeeze its sides. It elongated and began entering the wound. Wak’o gasped. The orb continued its flow into the wound like sand from an hourglass. The other orbs began undulating around the people in a slow circle like a green, dreamy carousel. Adam eased the last of the orb into the wound and held his hand over it. He slid his other hand to cover the exit wound. His hand and the area around the wound emitted a purple glow.

  “What—” Grace began, b
ut Moon put her hand over Grace’s mouth.

  Wak’o began to convulse. The orbs began undulating faster as they went around in the merry-go-round. “Esva,” Adam said more loudly. “Esva.” The orbs moved faster and faster and faster. “Esva.” The orbs moved faster still until they blended into one stream of green around the people. “Esva.” The orbs moved faster still. Wak’o shook violently as Moon and Grace looked to Adam for what to do. “Esva!” Adam shouted. The orbs spun like a centrifuge, drawing other orbs in from the river as a tornado draws in debris. Adam snapped his hand away from the wound. The orb slowly slid out like a snake or smoke. It was now brown, not green. It shot up erect and then straight up and out like a laser. All the other orbs melded into it as it went straight to the heavens like the beam of a spotlight.

  “What the hell?” Luke said.

  The beam went up and up and up until all the orbs followed it like a tail. It went up until it was just a dot like one of the many stars, and then it was gone.

  Wak’o slumped and began breathing softly.

  Adam brushed Wak’o’s hair from her face and said, “Mieux?” He had been listening to Moon’s French lessons. Luke had, too, and he knew it meant “better.”

  Luke watched Adam tend Wak’o, and Grace smiled at Luke. They were at the same conclusion: Adam was in love with Wak’o.

  Moon stood and nodded. “Okay. Okay.” She turned and went to the river.

  Grace looked at Luke. “Okay what?” Luke shrugged his shoulders and went to Moon.

  Moon was looking at the smiling moon. “You want to know what just happened, don’t you, Luke?”

  “Oh, I think I’ve got it figured out.” Luke picked up a flat rock and skipped it across the black river. “Spacemen just sent down—”

  “Don’t be a smart ass.”

  “Okay, Moon. What just happened and what does esva mean?”

  “You will have to ask Adam what esva means because I don’t have a clue. I’m not exactly sure what those orbs are either.” She turned to face Luke, her face picking up the red glow of the fire. “Some kind of plasma, or residue of the magnetic field, fairies: will-o’-the-wisp.” She turned back to the river. “I’ve never seen my people do what Adam just did. I don’t think my people know how to do what Adam just did.”