by Porter, Jack
Thornarm ended the rest of my sentence with another wet laugh, harsher and angrier than before.
“False god doesn’t even know proper language. So dumb.” The creature gave me a little shake, and I swore I saw a flash of teeth. “Idiot human translation say White Guardian.”
Not sure I liked where this was going, I asked, “And what is the proper translation?”
“Supreme god,” Thornarm splayed his tendrils out in what seemed to be a grand gesture. “Ultimate god. Ruler of all spirit realms. Successor of Kain.”
Really?
Somewhat stupefied by what Thornarm had just said, I replied, “There are eleven gods.”
“Master kills them all. All gods are dead. All goddesses dead too, now only false goddesses and you, idiot false god. Master is the supreme god now. Thornarm kills false god, and Master can stay supreme god forever.”
Interesting. If Thornarm was telling the truth, did that mean as soon as I found all eleven crystals and the girls and I transformed into our ultimate forms, I would be ruler of the spirit realm in Kain’s place?
Obviously, Zavier didn’t want his crown taken from under his nose. No wonder he was trying to keep Hannah and the other goddesses from me.
“Cool. Thanks for all the useful information, idiot alien,” I mocked, using Thornarm’s own words back at him, trying to bait him into drawing me in closer so I could have a fighting chance.
It worked. Thornarm yanked me toward a vertical slit forming on the flat top of his body. A giant gaping jellyfish maw would have intimidated others, but I was ready.
I’d seen how this could play out in a billion movies.
My astral body tensed as I focused on the crystal connection. Like the first time I’d summoned the crystal energy, when I didn’t know what I was doing, I let the fire of it burn through my entire body building it up as much as I could.
Then I unleashed a single, giant burst of energy straight into the alien’s system.
It worked, melting away Thornarm’s flat-topped body until I was completely clear of his hold.
It was over.
Done.
And the Vulox that had hovered in the distance took their cue, descending on the remains of Thornarm as if they’d been waiting for the opportunity.
The sight of the foul creatures doing their grisly work on the monster’s remains made me want to hurl. I turned away, and made my way to the pathway.
* * *
Yua wasn’t waiting for me in her astral body when I got back. She’d already entered her physical form and was sitting beside the fire. Every now and then she would poke the flames with a stick and sigh deeply, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy.
I grimaced. She was probably still upset about the push. I should apologize and explain what I learned about the crystals and their relevance to the spirit realm.
Resigned to get an earful about how dangerous what I’d just done was, I stretched out my arm toward my body, anticipating the swirling sensation as I re-entered.
However, before my finger touched the place on my forehead where my soul would reconnect with my body, a blast of dark power hit me like a huge gust of wind, coming out of nowhere.
Yua, too, had stiffened beside the fire, snatching her staff and settling into a defensive stance near Megan’s sleeping form.
“What in Kain’s name was that?”
A frown creased my brow. She’d felt it too. That meant it wasn’t an isolated event to the spirit realm.
I felt a second wave of dark power sweeping over me, nearly sending my astral body hurtling through the spirit realm.
In that moment, I recognized what was happening.
Zavier was waking up. Somehow, he’d discovered what had happened to Thornarm, and he was hurling his dark magic about in a fit of fury.
I’d just killed Zavier’s pet.
And he was pissed.
Eighteen
Before Zavier could find me in the spirit realm, I hurled myself into the physical world, where I knew he wasn’t as strong.
Snapping my eyes open, I rolled over, drawing energy from the crystal and waiting for Zavier to rear his ugly, cheating head.
Yua seemed to catch on to what I was waiting for. She gripped her staff tighter in her delicate fingers.
“I was wrong,” she said, moving around the fire to tap Megan awake with her toe. “You were more than ready, Dexter. You were barely gone thirty minutes. Did you really defeat Zavier’s guardian in that small amount of time?”
Megan mumbled in her sleep and turned over, obviously not wanting to be a part of any battle that took place before the sun came up.
I nodded once, then turned to look at the lady monk. Her eyes were red around the edges and slightly puffy, and she looked drained emotionally and physically. She was still sick from lack of proper nutrition.
This wasn’t good. If Zavier showed up while I was still exhausted from my battle with Thornarm and Yua wasn’t in top form either, I might not get another chance to clear the air between us.
“Yua, you were only concerned for my safety. That will never be wrong,” I said, hoping she understand what that really meant to me. “I’m sorry I was so curt with you. I meant nothing more by it than to get you out of harm’s way.”
A small smile curled the edges of her full lips. “I appreciate it.”
After a tense few moments, we both seemed to realize that Zavier wasn’t coming after us, at least not right away.
“What is he playing at?” I asked.
With a sigh, I moved to collect a small hunting knife. I’d promised Megan breakfast, and if I didn’t have to fight a god right at that moment, then I had no intention of letting her down just because my body felt like it was wrung out and spongy.
Yua’s smile turned into something more serious as she settled her kimono around her shoulders. She followed me across the plains, searching for small animal tracks by the light of the moon.
“He’s an evil trickster god, similar to several gods that take their descriptions from him, including the most famous, Loki.” She shrugged. “He could be waiting to gather his strength. Or he could be setting a trap for us. He was always better at using cheap tricks to accomplish his goals.”
“The Norse people modeled Loki after Zavier?” I grimaced. “He’s my favorite Marvel character.”
Yua gave me a confused look. I shook my head and said, “Never mind.” Then I changed the subject. “I learned a few things from Thornarm that I think you should hear.”
In the short time it took to tell Yua about what the monster had said, and how Zavier had killed off all the gods after Kain and their goddess mates, I’d caught two pheasants and a cottontail.
Yua scrounged in the soft dry dirt for the small root bulbs she favored. When I gave her a look she couldn’t fail to misinterpret, she said, “Just because I have to eat meat doesn’t mean I can’t have a little variety in there. You do realize that someone eating meat for the first time was bound to have to have troubles with nausea, don’t you?”
The thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but I supposed that was to be expected. “My apologies, lady monk. With any luck we’ll clear this land quickly and have you back on your normal diet in no time.”
“One can only hope,” she said with a false cheeriness. “I have no intention of eating any more meat than absolutely necessary.”
Making quick work of breakfast once we got back, I skinned and roasted our catch over the fire. I was only half paying attention to the task. Every other sense was alert for Zavier’s magic, or the black mist-controlled hosts that had attacked the girls and me only a few short months ago.
I doubted Zavier would use the same tired methods as before, but one couldn’t be too careful.
Megan woke just as I was putting our last smattering of coffee into some water, to steep on the hot coals.
The red-headed beauty stretched her long, topless body, promptly making me forget to be on my guard. And when she caught me look
ing at her pale pink nipples that pebbled in the chill morning air, she grinned and winked.
“Breakfast sure smells better when you’re not the one who has to do the work,” she commented.
“Breakfast can and will be made by me anytime you like, so long as I get to see you wake up like that,” I replied, unworried if Yua heard. She didn’t seem to mind as much now that we’d had our conversation. Nor did I have any intention of hiding that I was a red-blooded man with needs and desires. The more of the real me she saw, the less she’d be shocked by my playful banter with any of my girls.
Maybe one day, she’d even flirt with me too. And, maybe, if the way she was looking at us with open curiosity was anything to go by, that day might come sooner rather than later.
Yua and I filled Megan in on what had happened while we were eating, with Yua shoving her food in and plugging her nose as she swallowed. Megan and I drained the last of our coffee and we packed our things, all three of us spurred on to continue our quest before Zavier returned.
Once again, the girls rode my shoulders. With the land growing flatter as we descended into gently rolling plains, I found I could jog just as easily as I could walk. The girls didn’t seem to mind my new pace one bit, with Megan even egging me on.
“Faster, Dexter. Faster, I said!” she yelled, only to squeal in exhilaration mixed with fear when I complied. “No, slow down again, too fast!”
Yua let out a gleeful laugh as I picked up even more speed. She threw the hand not currently holding her staff wide and let it sail on the whistling wind, fingers dancing as the warm air tickled her palms. She didn’t even seem to mind when the wind whipped the fabric of her kimono in a way that slipped both sides off her shoulders, exposing most of her breasts.
By then, I’d perfected a method of tilting my head and using my peripheral vision as much as I could to keep half an eye on the girls as we traveled.
Something in Yua’s posture had changed, I realized. A lightness had broken free in her expression and some unseen weight was lifted off her shoulders.
Had the lie she’d been keeping about having a crystal weighed on her so heavily? Was this her beginning to accept that she wasn’t tied to her past life as a head monk anymore?
Or was it something else?
Whatever it is, it’s working for her, I thought, feeling that I’d never felt so happy to hear a single laugh before. I hope she finds her truest self on this journey.
Nearly a week passed before we finally made it to the wheat fields I’d seen in the distance. It had looked a lot closer, but that was the island again, always playing games.
Yua had tried several different meats and even some eggs before jumping down from my shoulder, literally, to kiss the rich soil. It was clear that there would be plenty for her to eat in this part of the land. She would no longer have to substitute her diet with living creatures.
It therefore came as a shock to both Megan and me when one night around the campfire, she asked for a piece of chicken to go with her steamed sweet potato and carrots.
We were both wise enough to keep our comments to ourselves. Yua was a prideful woman. If we gave her a hard time about choosing to eat meat, she’d be a devout vegetarian again by the next morning. And for all the rest of her days, just to spite us.
Besides, it gave me hope she was warming up to the idea of becoming a goddess.
After Yua cleared our plates and scrubbed them clean with a water-soaked scrap of buckskin, she turned to me.
“Okay, Dexter. You’ve done really well these last few weeks. Are you ready for your last training session?”
“Already?” I asked, alarmed, and kind of pleased.
“Yes. You’ve learned to maintain the integrity of your astral body, use your crystal properly, and learned to stay connected to your physical body no matter how far away your astral self is from it. You’ve ridden red and yellow pathways all by yourself, and defeated Zavier’s own guardian. Oh, and you broke the only rule we spirit realm dwellers have.”
“Which is?”
“Sliding into someone else’s physical body and taking over their will.”
It was a lot, now that she said it out loud. Had all this happened in only a couple of weeks?
“What about Zavier?” I asked.
We had been avoiding the spirit realm over the past few days because of the threat he represented.
“He will always be a threat, but he can’t be everywhere at once.” Yua shrugged, going on, “And we’ll keep a lookout for him. Either way, there isn’t much more to teach you. So this will be more of a ‘just making sure’ session than anything else. Maybe we’ll go check on the girls at home, without entering their bodies, thank you very much. Then you’ll be able to come and go from the spirit realm without my guidance.”
Excitement filled me at the thought of seeing home again. I wanted to make sure Hannah and Layla were not still at each other’s throats. Also, I was eager to see Piper’s beautiful smile and her progress on the baby clothes.
Megan sighed next to me. “I wish I could go too. I miss my family.”
My heart broke for her, and I stretched out to give her a comforting hug. “I promise it’s the first thing we do after defeating your guardian,” I said, my tone gentle and sure.
“You better,” she sassed, snapping out of her mood and giving a little tap on my nose with her finger. “But I’m not too sad.”
“Why is that?”
Thunder boomed in the not too far distance. The sky was too dark to see the storm except for when flashes of lightning crackled across the clouds.
Megan leaned in close, a new excitement in her eyes. “Because I can feel my crystal,” she said, her voice breathy with elation. She lifted one finger to point directly toward the raging storm. “And as soon as you come back from the spirit realm, we’re going to go get it.”
Nineteen
For an instant after I entered the spirit realm, I wondered why Megan didn’t insist we go after her crystal right away. No doubt the pull to find it was strong enough to beckon her as quickly as possible.
Maybe she was just being practical about how dark and thunderous the sky was. Or maybe she wanted me to make sure the girls were okay first.
No matter what her reasons, I was relieved. Megan hadn’t found her crystal a moment too soon because a crystal headache had prickled at the edges of my temple right before Yua and I jumped into the spirit realm.
Yua was oddly silent as we approached a yellow pathway.
She stopped me right as I was about to get in and asked out of nowhere, “Dexter, do you trust me? Do you trust that I have your best interests at heart?”
Somehow, I had the impression that this would not be good.
“You know I do. Why do you ask?”
Her eyes closed briefly. I suspected it was to block me from seeing the pain in their cobalt blue depths, but I’d seen her hurt anyway and felt a prickle of worry.
“The last time we were in the spirit realm together, I set you a test. I had you make your own way to the beach near where you and the others came to the island,” she said. “And you succeeded beautifully. Now, there’s only one more thing for you to learn. You need to be able to find your way back from areas you’re not familiar with.”
I blinked at her. “So, what do I need to do? Close my eyes so I can’t see where we’re going?”
She shook her head. “Not good enough, I’m afraid.”
Her foot darted out, knocking me off balance and onto the hard ground—even though if I’d just thought about it, I could have remained floating in the spirit realm’s weird reality. Instantly, her hand was on my neck. Her fingers moved directly over my thumping pulse.
“Sorry Dexter, this is the only way it can be a true test. Use all your senses. Feel your way back here by yourself. Megan and I will wait for you in the physical world. Good luck.”
With no other warning, Yua sent a bolt of energy directly into my astral body, paralyzing my non-corporeal form for
a moment before the pain came, knocking me out cold.
* * *
Residual flits of pain coursed through my astral form before subsiding to nothing. Confusion plagued me as I came to, and I tapped my awareness into my crystal’s center without fully deciding to do so.
Power flared through my limbs as naturally as air filtered into my lungs. Listening to my physical body for any signs of what time it was, I heard someone snoring lightly.
Megan?
I bet this was why she wanted to wait to find her crystal. Apparently, she was in on this little test.
I couldn’t help but be irritated as I took in my surroundings. Sand. Everywhere. As far as I could see, and to my left there was a large temple.
No, I corrected myself. A pyramid.
My irritation drained away and I found myself grinning broadly.
Then I roared with laughter. Because why not? Why not have a giant-ass wasteland, complete with an authentic-looking pyramid, along with everything else on this ridiculous island?
The absurdity of it was almost too much for me to take. Eventually, though, I settled down. Whether or not I liked it, I was here now, and despite not necessarily agreeing with Yua’s newest teaching technique, I would have to find my way back to my physical body by myself.
At least, I figured, she hadn’t dumped me on the other side of the universe.
Even so, it was easier said than done. Something about that pyramid was pulling me to it. Several times I dashed off to find a yellow pathway, but somehow always ended up back in front of the thing.
It took considerable effort to find a yellow pathway. I sprinted about for quite some time in my astral form, and saw several red pathways zip by me on the way, mocking me as I searched for one that would take me back to my body.
I suspected Yua had dropped me in an area without many options on purpose. It forced me to really seek out a way back with all of my astral senses. The yellow pathways felt less powerful than the red vertical pathways surrounding me. Like the difference between a stream and a waterfall.