by J. Thorn
Lindsay nodded as another explosion rocked the mountain. An ungodly thunder broke overhead, and Samuel did not need to look up to realize the tower was falling, crushing everything below it with sheer volume and gravity.
Samuel felt the steps sway and then stop. The moment of free fall caught him in his abdomen as the steps below them began to fall away with the walls of the staircase. In another second, they would be dropped as well.
“Now,” Samuel yelled.
Lindsay locked her hand in his, and they leapt from the step toward the portal that hung in open space above the crumbling mountain. She tucked her head like he told her and felt the brush of stone pass her hip and knee as her body launched through the air.
Chapter 13
Samuel allowed the gentle pull from within the portal to tug him past the clutches of the reversion. He closed his eyes, a useless gesture in the utter blackness of the void. Lindsay’s hand remained in his, and he squeezed it in quick pulses to let her know he was still there. A soundless wind blew past his face as it lifted his body in a direction he could not sense. Even inside his own head, Samuel’s screams fell silent.
He floated that way for what felt like hours. Samuel recalled his earlier slips, and knew this was the case. However, it never felt right, even though he knew what to expect. Much like a veteran paramedic arriving to the scene of an accident, Samuel could not quite quell the anxiety of a slip, no matter how many times it occurred.
It was not until the dot of light appeared that he realized they would come out on the other side. He considered the possibility they would float endlessly, tumbling through a nonexistence, caught between a world in its death throes and something else. He knew that was always a risk because nothing was ever guaranteed. Even a simple walk to the store could result in a tragic accident. It could happen, and the possibility should have never been taken lightly.
The light grew and expanded outward, casting a blue-tinged glow on his arm. For the first time, he could look to his right and see Lindsay, still clutching his hand, eyes closed. She blinked and turned her face toward his, allowing the slightest smile to form. Samuel felt his body slow as the air moving through the portal relaxed. Without a stationary, physical marker, Samuel could only guess their speed.
His feet came underneath him as his body turned to where he imagined the ground to be. It was quite possible he slipped upward or downward, but Samuel held onto the mental manifestation of a flying body through a void, much like a superhero in children’s stories.
The diffused light gave way to the azure of a natural sky. Samuel grinned, finally seeing the skies as he remembered them and not as the corrupted, rotting manifestation brought by the reversion. As the aperture expanded outward, he saw two white shapes: puffy, light clouds crawling across the pristine sky. He had the sensation of flying outside an aircraft without a terrestrial marker to put his body into context. Samuel looked again at Lindsay and sensed the same feelings of wonder and curiosity.
It was the first cry from a seagull that brought a wave of relief he had not felt for a long time. He recognized the trailing screech of the sea bird and almost cried when another returned its call.
The bottom of the portal expanded down and behind his feet until Samuel could see a blinding whiteness beneath. The salty, organic scent of the ocean flooded his nose, and he almost forgot to breathe. At the same moment, his feet touched the warming comfort of white sand. He turned to see Lindsay crying. Her tears fed into a full-fledged laugh that brought her to her knees.
For the first time since entering the portal, Samuel released Lindsay’s hand, allowing her to sink farther into the sand. She sat, sobbing and laughing, her body unsure which emotion should take precedence.
Samuel brushed a hand through his hair and, after his eyes adjusted, spun to look around. Several palm trees sat waving in a whispering breeze that pushed through them on its way out to the sea. The wind current moved in the opposite direction of the natural world. A forest began at the base of a gentle slope which extended upward into the blue sky. Looking left and right, Samuel saw a pristine beach curling back around itself. The warm, clear water bubbled and retreated. He collapsed in the sand, savoring the grit in his teeth and the continued singing of the seagulls overhead. Samuel removed his shoes and curled his toes in the soft, warm sand.
***
“Have you had enough?”
“No, but if I don’t stop, I’ll make myself sick.”
Samuel chuckled as he pulled two more blue crabs from the fire. The stick was charred and black, but the crabs were cooked to perfection within their shells. He snapped the claw and tasted the salty flavor as he sucked the soft meat from within. Samuel swallowed, knowing he had to take it slow or he would be vomiting, as well.
“Want to go for a walk?”
Samuel stood and brushed the pieces of crab shell from his bare chest. He glanced once at the fire and then back to Lindsay. Her shirt lay on the sand, her black bra accentuated by smooth skin. Samuel tried not to gaze at all of her tattoos, hoping he would have time to explore them in more detail.
“Where?”
“Anywhere,” she said.
Samuel reached his hand out and she took it. They headed toward the western horizon, where the sun slowly sank in a fiery ball of copper. It ignited the clouds until they glowed with the orange intensity of a branding iron. He knew they had only been here for a few hours, yet he could feel the stress of the reversion slipping away with the low tide going out with the sunset. Neither he nor Lindsay noticed it should have been high tide. Low tide goes out in the morning, not at sunset. His nose no longer throbbed with each heartbeat, and Samuel could barely see the puncture wound in Lindsay’s shoulder.
They walked, and Samuel knew it was time. “Where do you think we are?”
“Samuel, please. As long as we’re not in mortal danger, can we not talk about it? I’d like at least one night of normalcy before we have to come back to whatever reality we’re in.”
He thought it was a wonderful idea. “The fire should keep us warm.”
“We won’t need the fire,” she said with a devilish gleam in her eyes.
They walked along the beach, hand in hand and silent. Lindsay closed her eyes and let the sultry, ocean breeze caress her face while Samuel led, intently listening to the cries of the gulls. They walked until the sun dipped beneath the water and the first glimmers of stars appeared overhead. At one point, Samuel stopped and stood facing the open water. He turned, and Lindsay spun with him as they headed back to camp. By the time they arrived, the fire had gone cold and a full moon hovered above, giving everything below a glistening, silver tint.
“Could there be bears, or something?”
Samuel knew she was about to ask him about wolves before catching herself. “Could be, but I haven’t seen anything but the crabs and the gulls.”
She nodded, realizing they would have to sleep at some point and that dying here would be preferable to any end the reversion could conjure.
“Should I get the fire going again?” Samuel asked.
When Lindsay did not reply, he turned to see the light of the moon outlining her body. She stood, her naked skin appearing as porcelain in the moonlight.
Samuel stepped toward her and placed his hands on her hips. She collapsed into the sand, pulling him down on top of her. Samuel kissed her and knew she was right. They would have no need for a fire.
***
The sun rose, quickly scalding the night and chasing it from the skies. Samuel opened his eyes, smelling Lindsay’s hair. He buried his nose in her neck and felt the warmth of her skin on his. She moaned and turned over onto her back, her arms crossed over her naked breasts.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
Samuel placed a light kiss on her lips and sat up. Their clothes sat where they had left them, along with the remains of the previous night’s dinner. The gulls resumed their lonely calls and the sun warmed his face as he inhaled the ocean’s scent.
“I am. Just ate last night, and I think I need to eat again.”
Samuel winked. “I almost forgot what it was like to be hungry.”
Lindsay’s face puckered, and Samuel regretted bringing it up so soon.
“Let me see what I can find,” he said.
Samuel stretched and looked at his clothes. Finding no particularly good reason to put them back on, he walked down the beach in the direction they went the night before. He picked up a stick, examining the end and trying to determine whether it was sharp enough to skewer more crabs. If not, he might have to scour the forest at the base of the hill for other sustenance. Samuel kept walking, the sun warming his back and drawing a glistening sweat from his pores. He turned and saw Lindsay standing in the surf, her body tall and lithe in the waves. Samuel fought the sudden rush of heat and desire and refocused his energies on finding a morning meal.
He continued further until Lindsay became a mere speck on the surface of the beach. He stopped and looked at the palm trees, wondering if he had to enter. Samuel let his gaze drift upward, past the trees and to the elevated rise that kept guard over the sea. He continued scanning it until his eyes looked past the summit and into the deep blue sky. Samuel squinted and placed a hand over his head, trying to determine exactly what he saw. He shook his head and looked again. Just above the billowing white on the horizon, Samuel could see the charcoal texture of a cloud. The seagulls had fallen silent.
To be continued...
Acknowledgements
Robert Pettigrew read an early manuscript of The Law of Three: A New Wasteland (The Portal Arcane Series - Book II) and provided me with timely and invaluable feedback. I am forever grateful to him. Talia Leduc worked her magic on the early drafts and Katy Sozaeva polished the final manuscript. I could not have published this novel without these two incredible women. Claire Ridgway continues to inspire me with her selfless disposition and flawless prose. I'm grateful for the support of dedicated, early readers including Elizabeth Buttle, Bryden Yeo, Bernadette Davies, Carol Scott, and Regina. The Portal will open for the third and final time in 2013.
Thank you for taking this journey with me. If you enjoyed the book please leave a review on Amazon. It can be brief and written in a few minutes. Authors depend on reviews from readers like you.
If you enjoyed this story finish the adventure with Corrosion: Terminal Horizon (The Portal Arcane Series - Book III) OR get The Complete Portal Arcane Trilogy: 3 Novels and 4 Shorts of Intense Dark Fantasy (PLUS Book I of the Hidden Evil Trilogy) for a special low price! Browse the entire J. Thorn catalog at http://jthorn.net/books/.
Praise for the Portal Arcane Series...
"This is a great start for what promises to be an engaging, intense series."
Scott Nicholson, Author of the #1 Amazon Best Selling Horror Novel, The Home
"It's all about the journey, about the creeping horror of individual moments, the long wait, the brief moments of terror, and then more waiting. It was... a fascinating read, and I will definitely be interested in following this series.."
K. Sozaeva, Amazon Vine Voice, Top 500 Reviewer
Reversion: The Inevitable Horror (The Portal Arcane Series - Book I)
With a noose around his neck, Samuel arrives in a forest littered with caution tape and artifacts of the deceased. He struggles to regain his memory while fending off a pack of wolves and the mysterious visitors who seem to know more about this dying world than he does. Major, Kole and Mara, new companions also trapped in this strange place, realize they must outrun the ominous cloud eating away at their world before it collapses upon itself. Samuel must find a way to escape the reversion.
The Law of Three: A New Wasteland (The Portal Arcane Series - Book II)
The reversion plucks Samuel from a dying world and drops him into another, a decaying desert wasteland of darkness and peril. As his memories return, he finds himself in another cycle of destruction. With newcomers Jack and Lindsay, Samuel leads the group towards redemption in the mountain stronghold of a mysterious man known as Deva. Finally, as the locality collapses behind him, Samuel realizes his only escape from the reversion will be putting his faith in The Law of Three.
Corrosion: Terminal Horizon (The Portal Arcane Series - Book III)
Samuel and Lindsay arrive on the shores of another reversion and quickly realize their journey is not over. They pass through a portal, slipping into a rotting and decayed city inhabited by an army of the undead and their maleficent leader, his brother Kole. While trying desperately to beat the cloud to the east, Samuel must also face his brother and the inevitable confrontation at the end of the world. Only one will survive the Corrosion.
Other works from J. Thorn
Browse the entire J. Thorn catalog at http://jthorn.net/books/.
About the Author
Healed by the written word
Want a story that's rooted in a fundamental aspect of being human?
I believe reading dark fiction can be healing. My overriding mission is to connect with you through my art, and I hope to inspire you to do the same. I’m a word architect and driven visionary. I’m obsessed with heavy metal, horror films and technology. And I admire strong people who are not afraid to speak their mind.
I grew up in an Irish Catholic, working class family and was the first to go to college. I didn't have expensive toys, so I used my own imagination for entertainment. And then I abused alcohol for entertainment. I spent the first thirty years of my life convincing myself I wasn’t an addict and the last ten worrying about all the potential threats the substances hid from me.
Anxiety and depression are always hiding in the corner, waiting to jump me when I start to feel happiness.
I had to break through family programming and accept the role of the black sheep. In my 30s I started writing horror and formed a heavy metal band while my family rolled their eyes, sighed and waited for the “phase” to end.
I spent years paralyzing myself with self-loathing and criticism, keeping my creativity smothered and hidden from the rest of the world. I worked a job I hated because that’s what Irish Catholic fathers do. They don’t express themselves, they pay the damn mortgage. I may have left my guilt and faith behind long ago, but the scars remain.
My creativity is my release, my therapy and my place to work through it all. I haven't had a drink in a long time, but the anxiety and depression are always lurking. Writing novels and songs keeps it at bay. I scream over anxiety with my microphone and I turn my guitar up loud enough to drown out the whispers of self-doubt.
I hope to leave a legacy of art that will continue to entertain and enrich lives long after I'm gone. I want others to see that you don’t have to conform to the mainstream to be fulfilled.
Don’t be afraid of the dark. Embrace it.
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