The Avarian Chronicles: A Tear In The Veil

by K. M. Randall

  “Ardor Stone?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  I rubbed my fingers together, watching as the black dust mixed with the rain.

  “The heat,” I said after a moment. Ardor was a type of stone mined in Avaria. It was used in factories mostly, maintaining ridiculous levels of heat for days. Eventually it deteriorated, turning black and flaking away like dust.

  I looked at Ray again. He was eyeing me curiously.

  “Is it Ardor stone?”

  “Yes.”

  I stared at him.

  “That doesn’t mean it’s from Avaria,” he said at my look. “These two realms share many basic natural components. It makes sense that this other realm does too.”

  My shoulders relaxed a little.

  “Is there any news from Roger or his team?” I asked. Ray shook his head.

  “We’re thinking of sending another team in.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous? If they died… You could be sending more people to their death.”

  “We’re running out of options,” Ray admitted. He gestured to the scene around us. “This is only going to get worse.”

  “There has to be a better option.”

  “We’ve tried sending drones and robots in but we lose signal once they’re inside.”

  “How long can you keep the portal open for?”

  “Indefinitely,” he shrugged. “But it’s risky to keep it open longer than a few seconds. We’ve had close calls in the past.”

  “What if you send an army in?” I asked.

  “What difference does it make if we send in a specialist team or an army?”

  “If you could secure the portal entrance on the other side, you could keep it open indefinitely.”

  “But would you be willing to bet people’s lives on it?” he challenged. I hesitated. “Every time we open the portal, we risk hundreds of lives. It’s dangerous.”

  “What about the drones and robots you’ve already sent in?" I asked. “Surely it wouldn’t be too hard to get them.”

  “We tried. They’ve been destroyed.”

  “Destroyed?”

  “The Impius got them.”

  I ran a hand through my hair, knowing all my ideas were basic and had probably already been attempted.

  “Perhaps you should come and have a look for yourself,” Ray suggested. “It might shed some light on what we’re up against. We’re opening the portal tomorrow to conduct an experiment. Hopefully it will work.”

  I gave him a weak smile.

  “I’d like that.”

  Someone called his name. He apologised and turned to speak to someone else, leaving me to stare at the ground. During my studies, I’d read books about portals and how they worked. They were magical doorways but they had no physical form. It made no sense for these ones to leave marks on the ground.

  “You okay?” Blaine asked, appearing next to me.

  “Yeah,” I replied, looking up at him.

  “I’m going to help my team,” he said. “Do you want me to take you home first?”

  “No, I’ll stick around for a bit. You go do what you have to do.”

  He glanced around, as if not sure about leaving me here.

  “I’ll be fine,” I insisted, giving him a nudge. “Just call me when you’re done, okay?”

  He kissed my forehead gently.

  “Stay out of trouble, Princess.”

  Chapter 30

  I watched as my father took a big gulp of coffee. He looked rough, like he’d been awake for far too long.

  “Have you slept yet?” I asked him. He met my gaze.

  “I don’t think I could sleep even if I tried,” he admitted, running his hand through his hair.

  “Do you have another press conference today?”

  “Nothing official. I don’t think it’s going to do much good anyway.”

  “No,” I agreed quietly.

  “How was your time in Avaria?”

  “It was nice,” I said with a small smile. “I saw Remy and Rita. And Sash. I miss being there.”

  “Me too. Did you work things out with Blaine?”

  “Sort of,” I shrugged. I had no intentions of telling him the details of my time with Blaine. I knew he wouldn’t care about me losing my virginity if it was what I wanted but it was still an uncomfortable conversation to have with your dad.

  “That doesn’t sound positive.”

  “It is,” I reassured him. “Why don’t you go and get some sleep? You look shattered.”

  “Maybe,” he said, rubbing his eyes. His phone vibrated on the counter and he groaned. I put my hand over it before he could pick it up.

  “Sleep,” I told him. “This can wait.”

  He smirked at me tiredly.

  “What are you going to do today?”

  I nibbled on my lip before answering.

  “Ray said I could join him at the research centre.”

  “He did?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you want to go there?”

  “I figured it would be good to see first-hand what they’re doing there.”

  “Do you want me to come?”

  “It’s okay,” I said with a small smile. “Rick’s picking me up.”

  “You guys are talking again?”

  “Not exactly. He wanted to talk today but I told him I had plans. He offered to drive me and come along.”

  “You really should take your driving test soon,” dad frowned.

  “I can drive.”

  “Not legally.”

  I had learned to drive a few years ago, though I’d failed my test miserably. I could handle straight roads just fine but driving through the busy London streets always ended in disaster.

  “When’s Rick coming?”

  “I said I’d text him when I’m ready.”

  “Okay.” He rose to his feet and poured out the rest of his coffee into the sink. “Don’t be surprised at what you might see at the research centre. It’s not for the faint hearted.”

  “I think I can handle it.”

  He kissed the side of my head softly then made his way across the flat to his room.

  When I opened the door for Rick an hour or so later, it was instantly awkward.

  “Hi,” he said stiffly.

  “Hi.”

  “Umm… Are you ready to go?”

  It was still raining outside when we left the car park. I settled into the passenger seat silently, not really sure the best way to start a conversation with Rick. It used to be so easy.

  “How was Avaria?” he asked after a long pause.

  “It was good,” I said simply. “Sucks to be back here.”

  “Dad said he saw you in the castle.”

  “Yeah, he did.”

  I wondered how much of that conversation he shared with his son.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been such a shit friend,” he dived in. I stared pointedly out the window. “I know there’s no excuse but… It was hard for me, seeing you with Blaine. I figured he would come between us.”

  He paused, as if waiting for me to jump in. I could’ve, wanting to point out that Rick was the one who came between us, but I kept my lips tightly shut.

  “I thought if I stayed away from you for a while, I’d get over it or whatever. But all it did was make me miss you more.”

  He cleared his throat.

  “Can we start again?”

  “I don’t know if we’ll go back to the way things used to be,” I admitted. “But I’ve missed you too.”

  “We can try.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Don’t you want to?”

  I hesitated.

  “You know, you were always there for me,” I said quietly. “I could tell you anything. And we would hang out almost every day. But you walked out on me because of my betrothal, which we both knew was always going to happen. I guess I just figured our friendship was stronger than that.”

  “I know I let you down,” he said quickly.
“But you don’t understand what it’s like for me to see you with Blaine, to read about your big romance, to listen to people talk about you two… It’s like a slap in the face every time.”

  “I get that,” I mumbled. “But I’ve never lied to you about how I feel. I’ve never given you any reason…”

  “I know!” he said abruptly, cutting me off. “It was all me. I know that. I just… I guess I hoped…”

  I winced.

  “Would it really make you feel better if I liked you back?” I asked him. “Would it be easier to see me with Blaine if you knew I was miserable?”

  “I don’t want you to be miserable.”

  “But you want me to like you back, even though we could never be more than friends anyway.”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I mean… of course I want you to like me back. Who doesn’t? But I wouldn’t want you to be hurting.”

  I nodded, glad that he’d been honest. It was something.

  “Do you love Blaine?”

  My whole body tensed at his question. Why did people keep bringing this up?

  “I don’t know,” I replied quietly. He was silent for a long moment.

  “I guess… it would be good if you did.”

  “It would?”

  “Yeah. I mean… I still hate it. But I want you to be happy. Even if it is arranged.”

  I turned my head and studied his face. He had a look of sad resolve, like he’d finally accepted that this was the way it was. He glanced my way.

  “I think we can start over,” I said with a small smile. He smiled too, but I could tell it was forced.

  “Good.”

  When we arrived at the research centre, we were waved through by security. The whole place was surrounded by tall fences, with guards patrolling around the edge. The portal had appeared in an industrial estate and the Impius had trashed several buildings in their murder spree so the company agreed to close their warehouse indefinitely, allowing us to stabilise the portal and block off the area.

  Rick parked his car down the side of the biggest building and cut his engine.

  “I feel like I’m in some kind of war film,” he said, looking around at the military vehicles that were parked nearby. Some armed guards were walking out the main doors, talking amongst themselves. When we climbed out the car, they paused.

  “This building is authorised access only,” one of them barked at us. I turned to face him and watched his stern face swiftly turn red. “Oh, sorry…”

  “It’s okay,” I smiled. Rick shuffled behind me, keeping his head low as we passed them. “Relax.”

  “I’m not their Princess,” he muttered.

  “You’re with me. Chill.”

  I rang the buzzer on the front door and waited. A woman’s voice answered.

  “Name,” she said in a bored tone.

  “Ashley Romar and Rick Dolton.”

  I heard voices in the background. After a short pause, the door clicked open.

  “Mr Edwards’ lab is on the ground floor. Follow the hall and turn left at the stairs.”

  “Who’s Mr Edwards?” Rick asked once we were inside.

  “Ray. He’s the one who invited me.”

  I followed the vague instructions. It was clear this building was mostly offices, though when we turned left at the stairs, we were faced with big, metal doors. Another buzzer was on the wall so I pressed it.

  “Name?”

  “Ashley Romar.”

  “Whom are you here to see?”

  “Ray Edwards.”

  “Hold on while I confirm.”

  The speaker cut out.

  “How do they know you’re not lying?” Rick asked. I rolled my eyes and nodded at the camera poking out the top of the buzzer.

  “Oh.”

  The door clicked open.

  “Holy shit,” Rick muttered.

  The dank office block opened up into a huge room. There were dozens of people inside, some sitting at desks and some standing around chatting. And right at the back was the portal.

  My eyes went straight to the portal. Like the main portal that had been stabilised between the human realm and Avaria, this one was about four metres wide and two metres tall. Even though the mist still swirled gently, it was muted and darker, like it was asleep. That meant it was closed but still active.

  “It’s good to see you, Ashley,” Ray said, appearing beside us. He shook my hand eagerly then looked at Rick. “You must be…?”

  “Rick,” he answered, shaking his hand.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  I was too curious to bother with pleasantries.”

  “What source is keeping the portal active?” I asked. Ray followed my gaze.

  “A mixture of magic and science,” he explained. “Some scientists on my team have managed to enhance the magic from a portal stone.”

  “They enhanced the magic?” I repeated, not quite sure I believed it. “How?”

  “It’s quite interesting, really,” Ray said enthusiastically. “They ran some tests and found that the stone’s magic increased when exposed to electrical currents. When this tear turned up, they used the stone to secure it instead of repairing the veil.”

  He rambled on about their work on the portal while I studied the dark mist. It felt strange being so close to a portal. Even though I knew it wasn’t open, it felt like something could come running through the mist any moment.

  “Do you know what’s on the other side?” I asked.

  “We did manage to get some footage a few weeks ago,” Ray explained. “We only managed to get two seconds but it’s still something.”

  He led us over to a desk at the back and typed his password into the computer. He loaded up the video. Rick and I leaned closer to see.

  The screen showed a dark landscape with an orange sky. It looked like there were mountains in the background but the thing that caught my eye was the way the dark landscape seemed to move. The video went dark so quickly I wasn’t sure what caused it.

  “That was shot from a drone,” Ray explained. “We managed to download the footage before the portal closed and severed the connection.”

  “Is all of that… Impius?” Rick asked, mirroring my own thoughts. The video played again.

  “Yep.”

  “There must be loads.”

  “Dozens,” Ray said with a sigh. “All waiting on the other side of the portal.”

  “Are they always there?” I asked.

  “We don’t know. Every time we open the portal, it’s a huge risk. We don’t open it without additional security.”

  “Is there a way to make it a one-way entry?” I looked up at the portal, trying to remember everything I’d read about them.

  “That’s one of the things we’re researching here,” Ray replied. “We keep sending in drones and robots but the Impius destroy them all. Frankly, we’re lucky to have this footage.”

  “When are you next opening the portal?” Rick asked.

  “Today.”

  He looked up in surprise.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “We’re going to try and clear the area on the other side. Today is a trial to see how successful we are.”

  “Clear it how?” Rick frowned.

  “We plan on using explosives.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Explosives?” I repeated. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

  “Every time we open the portal it’s dangerous,” Ray countered. “We are no closer to gaining safe entry to their realm because they swarm the portal constantly. The key to stopping these attacks lies in the realm.”

  “What if it doesn’t?” I asked. “What if there’s a way to fortify the veil so these tears stop happening?”

  “That is something we’ve considered. We have researchers working on accessing the veil that separates realms but it’s a long shot. The veil is supposed to be impenetrable. It’s also has no physical form. As far as we can tell, there’s no way to access it or ma
nipulate it.”

  “Then how are these tears even happening?”

  “Again, we have no idea. The answers probably lie on the other side of that portal.”

  He gestured to the portal again.

  “Looks like security’s here,” he said suddenly. “I’ll be back soon.”

  He strolled away, leaving me with Rick. I glanced at him and saw that he looked pale.

  “You okay?”

  “They’re opening that thing,” he muttered. I raised an eyebrow.

  “You can wait outside if you want.”

  “What about you?”

  “I want to see it. If you don’t want to, just wait in the car. I’ll call you when it’s over.”

  He looked like he was considering it. I glanced up as the security team entered the room and did a double take when I saw Blaine and his team. His eyes landed on me moments later.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked when he came over. He glanced at Rick with a slight frown.

  “Ray invited me to see what they’re doing,” I replied. “I take it you’re the security?”

  I glanced behind him as his team put their bags of gear on the floor.

  “Yeah, that’s us,” Blaine replied.

  “Do you do this often?”

  “Sometimes,” he shrugged. “They’re not allowed to open the portal without us here.” His eyes roamed over my face, as if searching for something. “Make sure you stay behind the glass screen at the back when it opens.”

  “Will do.”

  “I’d better get set up.”

  I looked at Rick as Blaine returned to his team, wondering what he was thinking. He’d stiffened a little and was glaring at the back of Blaine’s head, but said nothing.

  “You going to wait outside then?” I asked him.

  “Nope.”

  Chapter 31

  “So, you guys are talking again?” Blaine asked.

  “Sort of,” I replied, glancing over to Rick. He was standing with one of the researchers, looking at her computer.

  “That’s good,” Blaine said. I looked back at him, something in his tone catching my attention.

  “Don’t you want us to be friends?” I asked him.

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “You tell me.”

  He eyed me for a moment.

  “I’m glad you two are friends again.”

  Again, there was something wrong with his tone.