by B. T. Narro
“How did you describe it?” Desil asked.
She curled her lips inward and toed at the grass with her shoe. “I said we were both on caregelow…but…” She didn’t go on. “How would you describe it?”
“I don’t think I can accurately, because I felt something that I shouldn’t have been able to feel: You spoke to me without words…and I think you heard me respond?”
She nodded as she looked away, as if lost in the memory. “I don’t remember what was said.” She stared at him silently for a breathtaking moment, her piercing eyes like lustrous stars. “Do you?”
“I know what I felt. It was like when we found each other in the other plane, a connection that reminded me of the lake memories we used to share.”
She nodded as she smiled. “I was reminded of them as well.”
“Gather around,” Basen announced. “It’s time we leave.”
Desil had hoped they’d have longer. The Academy wasn’t far from Kayvol, where his mother must be worried about him. Popping in for a quick greeting to let her know he was fine would mean the world to her. He didn’t know when his next chance would come.
But Basen had already put on his glowing akorell bracelets. He readied his wand in the air and waved his arm. His face took on a look a pain, one eye squeezing shut. The pupil of the other rolled up to reveal only white as he faltered. His legs gave out.
“Catch him,” Alabell said as she took hold of his arms. Leida and Adriya were closest, grabbing Basen before he hit the ground. Kirnich and Desil took over as Basen started to slip through their arms. They set him on his back.
He didn’t seem to be unconscious even though his eyes were shut. His hands fluttered as if he was dreaming he was in a fight. He murmured words. No, they were names.
“Bell. Leida. Bell.”
“We’re here,” Alabell replied as she put her hand against his cheek.
“Let me, Mother,” Leida said. “I need to practice.”
Alabell nodded as she moved away.
This must’ve been what they’d been referring to when they’d mentioned crumbling portals. They’d spoken as if this tended to happen more frequently recently because Basen had been making more portals.
Basen appeared to be in discomfort, showing a pinched face as he seemed to want out of this state, his hands still weakly fighting.
“Father, focus on what you can feel here.” Leida touched his cheek. “Where is my hand?”
“I don’t…mmerrah”
Desil couldn’t understand the rest, as Basen’s voice was too faint.
“It’s on your cheek. Don’t you feel it?”
“No, no, no.”
It hurt Desil to see their leader like this, trapped elsewhere. Was he in the other plane? Desil pushed his mind there to see if he felt any closer to Basen. Instead, immense power reached out to grab Desil—wolf fangs, while he was a mere hare. He retreated back to the physical world with a gasp.
“Is my father there?” Leida asked.
Desil wondered if she’d felt Desil traveling or if she just knew from the gasp. “I couldn’t tell. That man is guarding it.”
“Comfort isn’t going to work this time,” Alabell told Leida. “He’s too deeply stuck.”
“All right.” Leida took a breath in preparation as she made a fist out of her small hand. “I’m sorry for this, Father.” She brought her fist down on his stomach. It was too dainty and restrained to be called a punch.
Leida looked up at his face with a hopeful lift of her eyebrows, but Basen didn’t react.
“Was he supposed to feel that?” Kirnich asked in a teasing tone.
Leida half sighed, half grumbled. She struck her father in the stomach again, hard enough this time to be called a punch. “Wake up, Father!”
His hands lost movement as if he was falling asleep.
“More,” Alabell instructed.
But Leida leaned back instead. “I think he’s making fools out of us.”
“He’s not pretending,” Alabell said.
“No, I think I saw a smile,” Leida countered.
“The longer you take, the harder it will be.” Her mother put Leida’s hands on Basen’s face and chest. “Smack him, Leida. I don’t know if we’ll get him out otherwise.”
The lines across Leida’s forehead made it clear she didn’t approve, but she started slapping his cheek and pounding his chest anyway.
“Remember to tell him who you are,” her mother instructed.
“Father, it’s me. It’s Leida. Your daughter.”
He didn’t react.
“Wake up!” she tried.
Basen didn’t move.
“It has to be harder if he’s not waking up,” Alabell said.
Leida slapped hard, with increasingly more strength.
“Bastial hell,” she grumbled out of what sounded to be shock. “How is he not—?”
Basen started to laugh. “Ow.” He rubbed his cheek, smiling all the while. “Took you long enough.”
“You were pretending!” Leida made a fist as if she would strike him, though she set her hand down instead as she smiled. “I knew I saw a grin!”
“We had to make sure you would strike him hard enough,” Alabell said.
“You were part of this plan?” Leida asked in disbelief.
“It was her idea,” Basen answered.
Alabell didn’t appear amused. “You took too long to induce pain. If discomfort doesn’t work, you have to be firm immediately.”
“All right. I will from now on.”
“Wouldn’t it work better if I did it?” Kirnich asked. “I’m sure I could wake him up quickly.”
“It’s not sleep we’re talking about, Kirnich.” Basen chuckled. “Just looking for an excuse to punch the headmaster in the face, eh?” He didn’t give Kirnich time to reply as the warrior’s cheeks turned red. “Well, it works better if it’s family. It’s not just the distraction of pain that gets me out. It’s remembering where I am instead of where I perceive to be.”
Desil asked, “And where do you perceive to be when that happens?”
Basen shook his head and clicked his tongue. “In many places at once, divided. For each location where I can make a portal, it feels as if a piece of my mind is stuck there. When it’s time to form an entrance to one location, I have to put myself there first through my mind. I reckon it’s similar to how you and Leida are moving to this other plane, which we still have to learn more about before you experiment too much. Understand?”
“I do.” Desil didn’t need Basen’s reminder to remain cautious.
“You must’ve known he was pretending, Beatrix,” Kirnich said.
That’s right. Psyche would make it obvious he was still fully here.
“They told me beforehand.”
“We had to make sure Leida was ready,” Basen said as he lifted his wand. “I’d say she is now.”
“Wait,” Leida said. “Promise you won’t pretend anymore.”
He lowered his wand. “I promise I won’t.” His shoulders tensed as he lifted both arms. He fished a cloth holding something glowing from his pocket, then dumped it on to the floor. A piece of bright akorell metal tumbled out.
So he would be using some of what they’d already mined from the Dajrik Mountains, preserving the two akorell bracelets for later. Desil wondered why not take more of the akorell fragments if they would work the same to make a portal.
They’re too hot to handle, he realized. The akorell bracelets were designed to be worn without burning Basen, with the hot akorell encased by rock.
Desil was surprised no one had mentioned a plan yet. He supposed they could return through an escape portal if anything went wrong, but after seeing what could potentially happen to Basen as he tried to make a portal, Desil figured a precaution needed to be taken.
“Let me be the first to go in,” he said, stopping Basen once more. “Then give me a moment to make sure there aren’t dajriks or Marros there.”
Bas
en tilted his head. “What am I missing? Why wouldn’t all of you go in to better protect each other?”
“Because there is nothing we can do against many dajriks or Marros. But I can get back into the portal easier by myself than if all of us were there.”
“Why you, then?” Basen asked.
“I can climb or take care of myself if something goes wrong. I have the best chance of surviving if I can’t get back into the portal.”
Basen looked at Desil sideways. “Why wouldn’t you be able to get back into the portal?”
“There’s no way to know what we’re going to find, so I can’t say. But I would rather risk myself than everyone else.”
Basen pinched his chin as he thought. “I had similar worries earlier, which is why I wanted to go alone. Well, I can’t go through the portal and keep it open, so I guess it must be you.”
It wasn’t a direct agreement, but it was good enough.
“When the vertigo passes,” Basen said, “put up your hands to tell us whether to come in or wait. Gesture emphatically because it might be difficult to see you clearly.”
“I’ve got it.”
“Are you sure about this?” Leida asked.
“Yes, and you should go in last,” he said. She looked offended until he continued. “If our group is separated again, you and I shouldn’t be together because we are the only people who might be able to communicate while apart.”
“I suppose that does make sense. Just be careful.”
Desil wasn’t sure how easily he could find her again in the other plane, but at least he knew it was possible. He wouldn’t give up if they needed to find each other.
“All right, we’ve waited long enough.” Basen opened the portal without another warning. It looked like a deep hole opening in the middle of the grass, only it didn’t fall down but forward.
Basen grimaced as he let out a groan. He stumbled and reached out, Leida and Alabell steadying him. The portal shook.
“I can’t seem to get the location right,” Basen said with a strain in his voice.
Rips shot across the sphere. It looked to be splitting in half, the wavering edges shooting off beams of light.
This is his first portal to a place where he’s never stood.
There was nothing to see within the portal but darkness, streaks of light running across the surface. It looked like an endlessly deep hole.
Basen screamed with concentration. Just behind the shimmering scars on the surface of the portal, an image formed, though it was just a thin line of white. The perspective shifted in front of Desil’s eyes, the image turning to fill the entire spherical portal. The scene was still all black except for the bottom, which glowed white. Gray rocks took shape between the bright glow.
“Go now, Desil,” Basen gritted out.
The portal hardly seemed stable, continuing to shake as if a tremendous force pressed down onto it.
Desil ignored his fear and jumped in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Desil felt as if he’d been tossed onto white hot coals. He rolled across them, holding in a scream, for it might give away his location to any creature that might be up and about. The akorell metal was as smooth as it was scorching.
He hurried to his feet as soon as he came to a stop, his boots protecting him completely at least for now. Shapes of gray, black, and white continued to tilt, merging together as he held out his arms for balance. He shut his eyes and took a calming breath. He felt like he was in an oven. When he opened his eyes again, he saw little else besides the glowing akorell metal around his feet. His pupils adjusted, his eyes teary, and he saw the blunt rocks between the akorell metal. He looked around for what else might be in sight while the portal behind him made a windy sound.
He almost yelled out as he saw them—at least a hundred Marros. They were scattered along the peaks of the mountainous hills that seemed to surround this place. The land came to an end not too far behind Desil, nothing but black past it.
He waited for the Marros to attack. He would flee into the portal as soon as they did, for there was no hope to fight off so many, but they didn’t move. Was it possible they didn’t see him? Desil didn’t think that was likely, given all the light of the akorell metal around him. There was more than enough of the precious metal to match what he remembered seeing within the Marros’ home in Kanoan.
It was unfortunate the Marros got here first. Still, they did not attack. They were little more than shadows on the hills, but Desil recognized them as well as he would recognize Micklin again. There were no other winged creatures as large, none with beaks that long. All the Marros appeared to be folded over their own bodies, their heads turned inward. Was it possible they were asleep?
Desil jumped as he felt something above him. He watched a Marro glide past him as if he wasn’t there, a trail of wind following that wrapped Desil’s cloak around his arms. The creature refused to beat its wings even as it neared the ground. It barely made it over the field of akorell metal and hit the rocks hard, rolling over itself a few times. It came to a stop at the base of a short hill. For a moment, it didn’t move, awkwardly lying on its back with its feet in the air. Finally it turned onto its feet and powered its wings, scampering up the rocky hill as it half took flight and half ran to the top. It collapsed on the first ledge flat enough to support it.
No other Marros showed movement. Desil realized they must have just flown here. The last Marro appeared to be so exhausted from the long flight over the ocean that it didn’t even notice Desil standing on the precious akorell metal. Hopefully that meant the creatures would sleep for a while.
He decided it was worth the risk to stay. He turned to the portal and lifted his arms to gesture at the rest of his party. They leaned into one another for a look, though Desil couldn’t make out more than the outline of their shadowed images. He continued to wave for them to follow him through.
Adriya came first. Desil had the chance to finally see just how impossible it was to land on one’s feet when leaving the portal. Adriya popped out diagonally, already tilting toward Desil as she started to flip.
He sucked through his teeth as he saw her come down on her front side. At least she got her hands out to protect her face from hitting the akorell metal.
“Don’t scream,” he told her as he helped her up.
“Who do you take me for?” She wobbled and groaned, but she seemed to find her balance quickly.
Kirnich went through similarly, landing hard on the akorell metal. He already sounded to be suppressing a scream, so Desil didn’t think it necessary to warn him to be quiet. The big warrior was much harder to stop from rolling than Adriya and took Desil down as he plowed through his shins. Desil got up and left him for the moment, rushing back in front of the floating portal just as Beatrix went through.
“Don’t scream,” he said to her as he mostly caught her so she wouldn’t land on her face. She seemed to want to fall forward although she needed to lean back, pushing against him with her toes on the ground.
“Lean back,” he told her. “You’re not straight.”
She was beginning to take his advice when Leida fell through the portal onto the two of them. Desil got himself up quickly as both women rolled along the hot akorell.
“Don’t scream,” he said for the third time.
Leida muffled herself, letting out only a whimper before falling silent. Desil hoped Kirnich and Adriya might help the headmaster as he came through last, while Desil got Leida and Beatrix onto their feet. But when he glanced over, he saw Kirnich and Adriya had fallen again, now clawing and kicking in poor attempts to get off the hot akorell. Basen rolled into Leida as Desil was pulling her up, dragging her down again.
“There are Marros asleep,” Desil said. “Stay quiet.”
He wasn’t sure if his entire group heard, many distracted by the pain and dizziness as they groaned despite their best efforts to stay silent.
Adriya recovered first and gasped. She spun to look all the way arou
nd them, at every unmoving silhouette of what must’ve been hundreds of birds. “Are you sure they’re asleep?”
“It seems that way. I saw one land only a moment ago, utterly exhausted. He climbed up there and now he’s not moving like the rest.” Desil pointed to the nearest hill of rock. It was only fifty yards away.
“What of the dajriks?” Basen asked as he held his stomach. Like the others, he had made it away from the field of akorell that looked like white, flat grass covering the even ground. There was no way to see past its bright glow, so Desil quickly made his way around to get a look at what he assumed to be the dajriks’ home. It was difficult to tell anything from here. All that he recognized was the short wall of jutting rocks nearby that separated this area from the actual grass field where the giants dwelled. He looked past it at distant shadows. He thought he could make out their massive stone homes, but it might’ve been his imagination as he tried to decipher one shade of black from another.
“Can’t see them without light,” he answered Basen. “But I assume they could see us if they were to look closely enough.”
“We’d better be quick. There’s no telling how long the Marros will be asleep.” Basen took off each of his glowing akorell bracelets, wrapped them in a cloth, and stuck them in his bag. He then assigned each person to their designated section.
They got to their task immediately. There were two areas of the field of akorell that were closest to the Marros. Basen took one corner for himself and gave the other to Desil. It might’ve meant nothing, but Desil took it as an honor.
Basen had given no instruction other than to pour the potion, step away, and see what happened without breathing in the toxic air. That meant moving closer to the Marros after Desil began.
He found it difficult to resist the urge to continually check on the Marros right behind him, but he didn’t have time to waste. He poured a little of the akorell melting potion onto the first bit of glowing white at the very corner.
The stench—he almost fainted. If the strongest drink known to man could turn rotten, that’s what it smelled like. Desil’s head felt light as he covered his mouth and nose, his eyes burning until he closed them. He feared the Marros might smell it and wake up, but he no longer suffered from the intense odor or the sting in his eyes as he took a few more steps away. Although potent, the toxic substance didn’t seem to spread very far through the air.
