“Right behind you,” Habbad replied and pointed.
Cole hefted a bundle of leaves with both hands. “Wow, good haul huh? Let’s see. Yep, more deka seeds. I’m getting sick of these things. Goran, you and me are going to do some hunting next time we stop. I could really go for a hot meal. Now that we have a spell-caster here we should be able to cook it up in no time.”
Goran ignored him as he tickled the surface of the water with his paw. Cole was about to give him a playful nudge with his toe but Goran shot his arm into the water like a spear, and pulled out a fish almost as long as he was, wrestling it onto the leaf. With a few well-placed bites the fish went still. Goran carried the carcass across the leaf and spat it out at Cole’s feet.
“I said a hot meal.” Cole kicked the limp fish back towards Goran, who wasted no time, tearing into the belly as eggs spilled out onto the leaf. Cole dry-swallowed. “Thanks for the deka seeds.”
Habbad grimaced as he watched Goran tear at the fish. “Intelligent as he is, he is still an animal. I think I will take a turn to sleep since you’re so rested.” Habbad curled himself up into a ball on the opposite side of Goran. “Wake me if you see anything unusual.”
“Will do.” The words were barely out of his mouth when Cole felt the leaf slow with Habbad’s breathing.
Cole observed the water and the faraway banks for a while. It was difficult to see anything in the pale starlight, and the river seemed to have gotten much wider since he was last awake. It was hard to tell if the leaf was moving at all in fact. Now that he was rested, he scooped some water out of the river and decided to take another crack at the puddle. It wasn’t long before he abandoned the attempt, however. His repeated efforts resulted in nothing but a wet hand and foul temper. Eventually he felt Goran’s weight against his side as his friend curled up next to him to sleep. Cole placed a hand over Goran’s brindle fur, his rapid heartbeat drumming through the rise and fall of his ribs. Bored, Cole laid himself back onto the leaf and tried to make constellations out of the foreign sky, crafting tales for each one. While in the middle of an epic battle between a dragon and a man wielding a bow, his view of the sky became interrupted by something immense and white as snow. Cole sprung to his feet as Goran barked his annoyance.
“Habbad, Habbad wake up!” Cole jostled his small frame, nearly knocking him into the water. “Get up! Look at this thing.”
Habbad’s eyes opened slowly at first, then snapped wide, sparkling with white light. He considered the thing for a few seconds, then opened his mouth, his tone morbid: “It’s the barrier.”
Cole gazed upon the translucent white veil, craning his neck as high as it would go. The gently waving sheet seemed to reach the stars, and expanded as far as he could see into the woods on either side of the river. He felt Habbad plop himself down in the center of the leaf.
“Start paddling,” Habbad said, placing his palms flat.
Cole stumbled as they lurched towards the shore. It wasn’t until they drew near the ghostly veil that Cole realized how strong the river’s current was. He threw himself down on the edge of the leaf and pushed at the water as hard as he could, though it didn’t seem to help much.
“Habbad, we’re not going to make it!” Cole shouted.
The leaf rippled as Habbad managed to find a small burst of speed, though it wasn’t enough.
Seconds away from the barrier, Habbad stood and looked at Cole, his face solemn with defeat. “I’m sorry, Cole.”
Instinctively, Habbad and Goran ducked under Cole’s larger frame as they readied themselves for the unknown. Cole held his breath and closed his eyes, throwing one arm over his face and the other around his friends. Cole felt a tingling pressure on his back and side. He looked up to see the ethereal sheet of light bending around him, vibrating as it touched his skin. The tingling worsened. It was as if the wall were made out of whatever causes pins and needles. While it was certainly uncomfortable, the sensation did not feel deadly.
They were at a standstill, the barrier holding them in the river’s current. Cole pushed his hand into the veil, giving his back a reprieve from the sensation, but now his hand tickled like crazy. Through the prickling in his fingers, he could feel the veil start to give. His fingertips punched through, then his hand and arm. He thrashed and tore at the hole as the veil disintegrated, coming apart like cobwebs. With the aid of the river’s current, the leaf passed through the barrier as the hole became larger. Ghostly strands clung to Cole as they moved down the river, unraveling the wall as if it were crafted from woven light. Cole cast off the remaining vestiges as quickly as he could, but the damage was done. The gentle breeze pushed and pulled at the barrier until the tear ran up towards the stars. Cole flinched as the wall flickered once, twice, then was no more. Its absence left the river in a profound darkness.
“I can’t see a thing. Did we cross?” Habbad asked.
Cole opened his eyes as wide as he could, trying to coax some light from the darkness. “Yeah we’re through. My arm is tingling like hell, but I feel fine. I definitely don’t feel like I’m about to die, or stop existing.”
“We need to get back to the Light Side. This place is dangerous. Did you happen to see which way the shore was?” Habbad asked, keeping a hand on Cole’s shoulder.
“No, but I hear birds over there. Shoot us that way…” Cole dropped his arm as he realized Habbad couldn’t see where he was pointing.
“Hold on,” Habbad said, plopping onto the leaf.
Cole braced himself on all fours as his hair flapped behind his head. A minute later he felt solid ground under the leaf as they skidded up onto the shore.
“Here, give me your eyes. Now that I don’t have to move the leaf we might as well be able to see.” Habbad walked his fingers up Cole’s face.
Cole felt the familiar pressure in his eyes as Habbad’s fingers zapped his lids. The shore gradually came into focus with every blink, eventually revealing a pebbly shore lined with what looked like a bamboo forest. Habbad pressed his fingers to his own eyes, blinking wide. Goran’s eyes apparently needed no aid as Cole saw him pounce and chew up a winged insect.
Cole kicked the giant leaf. “I’m going to miss this sun lily leaf. That was the most comfortable ride I’ve ever had.”
“It has served its purpose,” Habbad said, looking up the river bank. “We should walk upstream. I would rather not tempt whatever lurks in the forest.”
“After you then.” Cole extended an arm.
They meandered along the river bank, slipping over the loose pebbles. On flat ground Cole was usually faster, but his size was more of a hindrance in this case as he kept stumbling over the larger rocks. Once they reached the river bend where the barrier was, Habbad held out his arm, stopping Cole.
“Do you see those lights?” he whispered.
“No, I’m too busy making sure I don’t fall on my face.” Cole looked up, scanning the tree line.
Habbad pointed. “On the river up ahead. There are dozens of them. We should retreat into the forest where we can watch from the shadows.”
To Cole’s great annoyance, the pebbles carpeted the forest floor as well. After walking a few paces into the trees, the trio stowed themselves in a shrub. Goran hid himself completely under a wiry shrub. Flickering orange lights soon painted the bush and surrounding bamboo trunks.
“They just keep coming. Do you think they are boats?” Cole asked, flipping a leaf up so he could see better.
“They are certainly boats, but it’s their passengers that worry me. Can you see what’s on that banner?” Habbad squinted, standing on his toes.
Cole plucked a branch off of the bush and used it to cover his torso as he stood. “It looks like…a set of jaws with a fist inside? Does that mean anything to you?”
“Get down, slowly,” Habbad whispered, squeezing Cole’s shin. “We need to leave. Crawl as quietly as you can.”
When they were a good ways away, Habbad stood and guided Cole to a large boulder. He pulled Cole’s head l
ow and whispered into his ear, “They are the Domina, soldiers of Grotton. They must have been sent after us. Cole, I don’t know if we can escape them.”
“What do you mean?” Cole turned his head to look Habbad in the eyes. “We have a huge head start, can’t we just keep running?”
“You don’t understand, the Domina are magic users as well. They use Grotton’s temptations to bond to animals, and not in the way that you and Goran have bonded. Here, let’s take cover behind this boulder for now.” Habbad stopped and scanned the ground. “Where is Goran?”
Cole searched the canopy, pointing up a tree. “Something’s got him spooked, but there’s no way they saw us. Can you use magic to check the area?” Cole waited for a response. After a moment of listening to chirping insects, he smacked Habbad’s arm. “Habbad, can you check the area? Are you listening to me?”
Habbad’s wrinkled face was frozen, his mouth agape and his eyes wide. Without warning, he turned on his heel and sped off into the forest.
Heavy, ragged breathing brought Cole’s attention to the boulder, which turned out to be no boulder at all, but a massive animal. As it turned, starlight poured in through the gaps in the canopy, revealing its size. It was the largest creature Cole had ever seen. It looked as if someone had tried to combine a man and a bear, but kept switching their mind throughout the process. A gargantuan paw brushed aside a tree trunk as thick as Cole’s leg, the resulting crack echoing throughout the forest. Its other hand, a human hand as large as a trash can lid, held a jagged axe with a blade that curved back down the handle. A ragged howl erupted from the creature’s snout, which was full of misshapen human teeth. Cole jumped back. Dropping his sharpened stone, he also darted off into the woods.
His body seemed to react on its own, managing the loose pebbly floor with clumsy footfalls. From the crashing behind him, Cole judged that the creature was too large to fit in between the trees. Daring to look over his shoulder, he could see that he was right, but the trees might as well have been made of paper for all the good they did.
Cole heard a familiar snorting alongside him and saw a small shadow with a white mohawk dart ahead of him and up a hill. He followed Goran up the incline, but a thicket of smaller trees and vines halted him. The smashing and roaring grew louder as Cole squeezed in between the trunks. Hopefully the dense vegetation would slow the beast down. Cole pressed on, cutting his way up the hill. He had to earn every foot as the mass of branches and snagging tried to hook him in place. Seeing Goran waiting at the top, Cole dropped down to the pebbly floor and crawled the rest of the way, finding gaps in the mess. Once at the top, Cole stood and found himself on a dirt path. To the left, the path ran downhill, back towards the beast. To the right, there was a bridge leading to the unknown.
Cole’s heart fluttered as the beast snarled and smashed its way up the hill. He needed to make a choice and fast. Fear fueled his creativity, driving Cole towards the bridge as fast as his legs would carry him. Cole’s padded feet fell hard on the wooden slats, sending waves down its length. Knowing he couldn’t outrun the creature, he threw a leg over the edge of the roped handrail and lowered himself so that he only held on by his fingers. His injured arm ached and creaked, threatening to break again. Goran scrambled down after him. The added weight on his back made him nervous, but Cole’s fingers held fast.
A raging bellow and thundering footsteps sounded from up the path. A few seconds later violent waves traveled up and down the bridge, causing Cole’s fingers to slip with every ripple. The beast slowed. Cole could feel the wooden slats straining under his fingertips as the thing stopped, sniffing the air. Cole shut his eyes as he heard a grumbling laugh above him. It had found them. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have that crooked blade drag across his white knuckles.
Cole felt Goran tense on his back, as he barked at the creature. Before Cole could stop him, Goran scaled his back and threw himself at the beast. Goran’s menacing growl mixed with the beast’s oddly high-pitched screams, making the hairs on the back of Cole’s neck stand on end.
“Goran hold on!” Cole hollered, pulling himself up. His head popped up over the slats and his feet kicked uselessly into open air. He couldn’t hoist himself up. As his head sank back down, he saw Goran on the creature’s face. “Goran look out!”
The thing’s massive human hand dropped the ax and snatched Goran with crushing strength, but before he could be snuffed out like an insect, Goran sank his canines into a finger. Howling, the beast whipped Goran onto the bridge, the latter landing on all fours with murder in his crimson eyes. Cole kicked out with his feet again, trying to grab onto something as his head dipped below the bridge, which began to shake worse than ever.
Suddenly, a new roar tore through the night air, startling Cole and hurting his ears. Was there another animal up there now? The creature let out a pitiful wail as the bridge stopped shaking. All was silent, save for the chirping insects and Cole’s panting. Summoning the final dregs of strength, Cole pulled himself up. Before his eyes rose above his cramping hands, his sweaty fingertips betrayed him. His stomach lurched and his hair rippled as he saw the bridge get smaller and smaller. The last thing he remembered seeing was a pair of huge ruby eyes watching him fall.
Chapter 11
Enlisting
Cole wove in and out of conscious thought. Snapshots played before his mind’s eye; pain, rushing water, choking and fighting for air. Eventually he succumbed to the blackness, unable to maintain the struggle any longer. Dreams of warm waters and soft hands swirled around his head as a whale’s song moaned somewhere far off. He woke for a moment, feeling his broken form rise from the water, his gaze drawn into a pair of eyes that held equal parts intelligence and ferocity. He indulged in their beauty before the blackness took him once more.
He rolled over, tightening the blankets around himself as he found a more comfortable position. The smell of breakfast tempted him out of bed, but he was too comfortable to get up just yet. His mom would come get him before it got cold anyway. He buried his head into the pillow and stretched his arm beneath the cool underside. The fog of sleep was quickly lifting, but he was content to lie curled up in his bed forever.
An unfamiliar voice cleared its throat as Cole slowly cracked his eyes. He was in a bed, but it was not his own. He was in a room he did not recognize. Sitting across from him was a very large man with shoulder-length hair the color of clouds, his hands folded on his lap. Cole shut his eyes a little so the stranger might think him asleep. He would wait it out. He hoped the man would get bored and leave. That would be his chance to sneak out.
The man leaned forward, his ancient eyes staring right into Cole’s. “I’ve no doubt your dreams are enticing, but I think you’ll find this reality might be more to your liking at the present. It’s all I can do to keep from leaving this chair and discovering the source of that delicious smell. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Cole thought about continuing the farce, but he didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger. He was unrestrained and this man was at least as big as Kreed. The stranger would have hurt him by now if he really wanted to. Cole blinked, pretending to have just woken up.
The man wore plain clothes of drab greens and browns unadorned by pockets or frills. His sat in a relaxed position with one leg crossed over the other, one bare foot bouncing in midair while the other tapped the floor.
“Um, where am I?” Cole shifted under the blankets.
The man gave Cole a smile, deep and warm, as if he were greeting a friend he hadn’t seen in a very long time. “You are in a safe place. I could tell you exactly where you are, but I doubt it would mean anything to you. Your kind hasn’t stepped foot on this planet in quite some time. Might I ask your name?”
While the man didn’t look anything like Kreed, he couldn’t help his reservations. Cole wanted to trust him. While his sweeping eyebrows and beak-like nose gave him the appearance of a bird of prey, the man’s eyes were soft and kind. “I…I’m Bob,” Cole li
ed.
The man raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Well Bob, my name is Chiron. You’ll be happy to know your Underkin friend is also safe, and is being summoned here as we speak. The Domina that followed you across the barrier, or where the barrier used to be, I should say, have all been dealt with.”
Feeling a modicum of bravery, Cole asked, “Are you with the Dark Ones?”
Chiron leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “We have other names, but yes, I am with the Dark Ones.” Chiron raised his head, looking down at him. Cole noticed a terrible white scar that ran up the man’s neck. It was a few inches wide in places and glowed with a throbbing rosy light. What could have caused an injury like that?
Cole looked to the door, and then back to Chiron. “If I try to leave, will you stop me?”
Chiron’s expression remained light and pleasant. “No. Is there somewhere you’d like to be?”
“Yes, but I don’t think I can go back there.” Cole’s eyes scanned the room, searching for anything he could use as a weapon.
Chiron crossed his legs, folding his hands atop his knees. “It’s funny how we don’t fully appreciate a place until we find ourselves in a position where we cannot return to it.”
Cole sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. His feet dangled a few feet from the floor. Chiron continued to watch him with polite interest, giving Cole a moment to gather himself. The room was large, though to someone of Chiron’s size it would be small. The lack of décor gave Cole the impression that the room may have been some sort of prison or military barracks. There were bladed objects on a nearby table. Their design was elegant but entirely foreign. Cole couldn’t decide if they were weapons or tools for torture.
“I imagine you would feel more comfortable if you had something to defend yourself with. Please, take your pick.” Chiron waved his hand towards the table. “I see the hesitation in your eyes. With or without a weapon you are no threat to anyone here, but you may take one if you wish.”
Saving The Dark Side: Book 1: The Devotion Page 17