by Bryan Cohen
Natalie yanked at the rope that she'd re-cinched around her waist. The other end was tied underneath Ted's arms. The first half-mile wasn't so bad, as the purported hero slid along the top layer of sand. As she got closer to her destination, however, the ground started to clump together, possibly indicating a water source close by. The chance of water was good for their survival, but it caused Natalie's feet to sink deeper into the ground. With her increased exertion came the anger.
"I can't wait till you wake up." She ignored the stinging pain in her hip. "Because that's when I'm gonna kill you."
As Natalie continued to make progress, she could see the landmark coming into focus. A fifth of a smile graced her lips when she realized the building was a house. The rotting wood on the exterior of the one-room hut told Natalie it had been abandoned long ago. While it wasn't a Kit Kable mansion or anything, the shelter would be better than sitting out in the open.
"Well, one of us is sitting." She grunted and forced Ted's momentum back in the right direction. "I know you're injured, but you could at least hover over the damn ground."
The last half-mile was the hardest. It was now apparent that the water source was beside the shelter. Her aching calves told her to abandon Ted and quench her thirst. She ignored her selfish impulses and pressed on.
"You know, there's a lot of people I could blame for this." Natalie jerked her cargo forward. "I could say it's Erica's fault for making you 'heroic.'" Another tug and another few feet forward. "Maybe the senator for setting up his whole evil scheme." She was on the home stretch now, down to the last 50 steps for sure. "But no, I'm gonna take it in a different direction." Natalie took another painful stride forward. "I'm gonna blame you, Ted. You heavy. Unconscious. Load of crap."
With a final pull, Natalie reached the front door of the cabin. She loosened the rope and knocked on the wood. It opened inward with a creak. Her stomach tensed up.
"Hello?" She stepped past the threshold. "I've got an injured waste of space here. Got any vacancies?"
She didn't get a response from the empty one-room hut. The inside looked just as unimpressive as the outside, but at least they could rest on solid ground for a spell. Natalie had gotten her fill of sand for the decade.
After she pulled Ted inside, Natalie let herself take a few sips from the tiny pond outside. She knew from several camping trips that the water could be polluted, but she'd lost just enough sweat from her sled dog impression to make it worth the risk. When an hour went by with nothing but the normal stomach rumblings, she declared the water safe and poured some into Ted's mouth using her hand.
By now, the sun was a few minutes away from ducking behind the highest visible sand dune. With the lack of light came a chillier wind that made Natalie glad she'd lugged Ted inside.
"Maybe we'll actually survive a few hours in this place."
When the sun dipped out of view, the first non-wind noise she'd heard all afternoon came in through the window. It sounded like slithering, but it seemed way too loud for that. Natalie gripped the ground beneath her. After a minute of silence she let out the breath she'd been holding. Ted's only reaction was the rising and falling of his chest with each unconscious breath.
Natalie looked over at him and grumbled. "Don't worry, I'll check it out."
The second she reached the window, the sound penetrated the thin walls once again. This time, she had a terrifying picture to go along with it. It was slithering, all right. A worm as big as a bus leapt above ground before dipping back beneath the sand. Natalie froze before the window. A moment later, the worm performed the same sand leap as before, but this time it and the sound were a few hundred feet closer. It was moving too fast. It almost wasn't fair.
Natalie dove to the ground, gripped Ted's shirt and shook him hard.
"Alright, sleeping beauty, time to go!" She glanced back at the window and then at his face. She whipped her arm back and slapped him right in the cheek. There was no response. "Great. We're gonna be worm chow."
Natalie's adrenaline surged as she scooped up Ted and hoisted him onto her shoulder. She took one last glance out the window. The creature had stopped moving about 50 feet out. With glassy, vacant eyes, it stared directly at Natalie. After what seemed like minutes, the worm continued its underground path toward them. The slithering noise grew louder with each passing second. The deafening sound seemed to surround them before it stopped. Natalie looked straight down.
"It's beneath us."
She gritted her teeth and ran at full force for the entrance, hauling Ted with her. As she leapt from the edge of the threshold, the beast smashed through the floor of the hut and into the roof. Shards of wood flew through the air with one particularly sharp bit whizzing by Natalie's face. The worm shook off the pieces of house that remained on its glistening, pink exterior. Once the shelter had been completely destroyed, the creature looked back at Natalie and Ted.
Note to self: Abandoned huts are usually abandoned for a reason.
She lowered Ted to the ground and reached for the splintered wooden stake that'd nearly shaved off her cheek. It wasn't quite large enough to be a staff, but Natalie supposed she'd have to manage. The worm zipped across the top of the sand and headed straight for them.
"Eat dirt!"
Natalie drew back her hand and tossed the stick like a javelin. It lodged itself in the worm's face and caused the creature to stop in its slimy tracks.
Natalie hoped she'd somehow busted the worm's pea-sized brain, but there was no such luck. The beast seemed to absorb the stick into its skin, leaving Natalie weaponless.
"Fan-freakin'-tastic."
The worm continued its path ahead, this time at twice the speed. Natalie resolved to be one hell of a pain on its digestive tract. She braced for impact.
A sound resembling a video game laser blaster filled Natalie's ears. The worm tumbled sideways away from its prey. Natalie saw a black burn mark on its side. Another energy pulse zipped through the air and hit the creature again. This time, the worm slithered away from the former hut and ducked back under the ground.
Natalie turned toward the source of the blast. A woman stood there who seemed to be a decade her senior. She held a gun unlike anything Natalie had ever seen.
Chapter 4
Razellia watched as the terralite scattered away and dove back through the sand. She couldn't remember the last time she'd used an energy weapon; there was no question her hands were shakier this time around. She concentrated on slowing her breathing and looked at the young boy and girl before her.
They're alive. But how?
Razellia tried to look over at the survivors, but the darkness of evening hardly provided enough light. She pulled out one of the hovering lamps she'd brought and fiddled with the settings to make it float overhead. Razellia let it fly above them and soon enough, it was bright as day directly below the light.
The girl stood still. She was taller and older than Razellia had anticipated. She looked powerful, as if she'd been training most of her life. There were rumors circulating about a gatekeeper who'd been won over to their side. Could that be her?
"Hi." There was a hint of wariness in the girl's eyes. "That's one heck of a gun."
Hundreds of years ago, a light soul emissary cast an enchantment on the entire planet to close the gaps between all language speakers. Razellia could tell that the girl spoke a different tongue from her, but she was able to understand it all the same.
Razellia's lips curled up. "It is. Are you all right?"
The girl nodded and glanced down at her partner. The boy's face was obscured, though his chest seemed to rise and fall as needed. "My – friend has been passed out here since we arrived."
Razellia couldn't tell if the girl was jumpy from the terralite attack or because of the weapon. She withdrew it and placed it in her holster.
The girl continued. "He was wounded in – where we came from."
Something had drawn Razellia from her home and her daughter's side to these two. She woul
d need more information than the girl seemed willing to provide to understand why. Razellia approached with caution and knelt down beside the boy. "Do you mind if I take a look?"
The girl held her breath for a moment, but eventually she nodded her assent.
Razellia turned the boy over and brushed the sand off his face. Her heart skipped a beat. The sight of him caused her to dive backward. She pushed herself back with her hands until she felt like she was at a safe distance.
Alarm painted the girl's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Razellia had never seen him up close. She'd seen him on screens and propaganda posters, of course. It was as if he'd been pulled from the page and placed before her in the desert. It was the General himself.
Razellia narrowed her eyes and drew the gun on the girl.
The girl put up her hands and backed away. "Hey. I don't know what you saw in his face. Trust me, he looks better when he has a chance to wash his hair."
Razellia's cheek twitched. "Who are you?" She approached the General with her gun still focused on the girl.
This time, the girl didn't budge. "Leave him alone!" Her glare was almost overpowering.
Razellia tried to ignore it. "Why are you with the General?"
The confused look on the girl's face surprised Razellia. "Ted isn't a General. He's – a human. Like me."
Razellia turned away for a moment and then looked back at the girl. She'd been telling the truth, or at least what the girl thought was the truth. Razellia had always had a keen sense when it came to falsehoods.
A few moments of silence went by before the girl broke them. "I'm Natalie. We came through a portal in the sky." She contorted her face into a strained grin. "I'm guessing from your weapon that this isn't Vegas?"
Razellia huffed and pointed the weapon back at Natalie. "Two humans fall from a portal in the sky." Razellia's breath grew quicker. "And he looks exactly like the all-powerful General for our Army." She aimed the weapon right between Natalie's eyes. "I need an explanation!"
Natalie shrugged. "Genetic coincidence?"
Razellia switched the weapon to a higher setting, causing the low hum of energy to get louder. "Nothing is coincidence."
Natalie crouched down and put her hands behind her head. She moved forward on her knees until she was right beside the General's doppleganger.
"You do what you want. Shoot us. Take us prisoner." Natalie grumbled. "But we're just kids, and we're not going to survive here on our own." She focused her stare right into Razellia's eyes. "So either kill us, leave us, or help us."
Razellia only let a second or two go by before she powered down her weapon.
Razellia was glad she'd brought enough rations for three, because Natalie seemed to be beyond starving. As the girl chomped on dried meat and fruit, Razellia caught herself staring at the boy. Unless Natalie was an adept liar, he wasn't really the General after all. But there had to be some kind of reason for his appearance.
"We were at a political rally when there was a big attack." Natalie swallowed with the help of the water Razellia had brought. "Draconfolk and Lychos were killing humans." Razellia had rarely seen these creatures herself, so to learn that they'd been on Earth was a massive surprise. Perhaps the worlds were bleeding together, but there was no way to tell what that meant for the cause. Could the war be drawing to a close?
Razellia put down her rations. "But how did you end up going through a portal?"
Natalie took a little too long to search her memory banks. "Ted was pushed through. I grabbed up some rope and tried to pull him back." She gestured toward her friend. "As you can see, I wasn't exactly successful."
Razellia could tell the girl was leaving something out, but she opted not to press too much. She actually liked Natalie. She was much more headstrong than most of the people in Razellia's village. If Razellia hadn't gone to the desert to find them, there was no way these kids could've survived.
"That portal was too high off the ground to survive the fall." Razellia scratched her head. "How'd you do it?"
Natalie looked at Ted for a split second. When she began speaking, Razellia didn't hear the words. Her heartbeat quickened and she stared into the boy's face. Razellia put on a fake smile and nodded toward Natalie.
There's only one way they could've made it. The boy isn't the General. He's the living soul.
A shiver went through her body.
Our greatest enemy.
Chapter 5
Ted wasn't sure how much time had passed when the light danced across his face and woke him up. The stream of sunshine was warm and it made his face twitch, causing a chain reaction that led him to stir. He touched at the spot where the light made contact. The skin there was tender. It might've been sunburn or the sandy wind that had pounded against him in the desert sky. Then again, it could've been Natalie's stone cold glare, which was the first thing Ted saw when his eyes opened.
Natalie was in full disapproval mode: her arms were crossed, her foot made as much of a sound tapping against the sand as it could, and her eyes were laser-focused. "Oh, now that the danger's gone, I guess it's time to wake up."
Ted reached for the wound on his side. Instead of skin or scabs, he felt a fresh bandage. The area was moist with a slippery ointment. As he rubbed the substance between two fingers, he tried his best to escape Natalie's stare. Ted was on top of a mat of some kind that kept him from making contact with the sand. Natalie was standing on top of hers, and there was a third to their side. Ted tried to use his powers to scan for a third person in the area, but he couldn't even read Natalie's mind at the moment. He figured that was probably a good thing.
Ted gestured to the wound. "Who did this?"
Natalie mumbled something to herself. "Do you remember anything from last night? Giant hungry worm? Me dragging you halfway across the damn desert?"
Ted's cheeks reddened. "I'm sure you got it all on video, right?"
Natalie kicked a mound of sand in his direction. He put up his arm just in time to protect his eyes.
He smiled. "At least it seems like we're safe."
An unfamiliar voice piped up. "I wouldn't count on that."
Ted internally scolded his ears for not hearing the woman approach. Over a year of training with Erica, and he still had yet to develop the keen hunter-like senses she'd hoped for. Ted turned toward the voice and saw a woman who looked at home in the rough terrain. Her skin was a beautiful bronze tone, though her eyes and face looked like they'd endured a lot of life in what couldn't be more than three and a half decades. The way she stood above him reminded Ted of his own mother.
He took a deep breath and attempted to stand without getting woozy. He was half successful. "Safer than we've been, at least. Hi, I'm Ted."
The woman gave his hand a look and placed her own on the handle of her weapon. "I'm Razellia. And I have a lot of questions for the both of you."
Ted watched her fingers curl around the trigger of the gun. "We're happy to answer. Though it'll be a lot easier without weapons getting involved."
Razellia's hand relaxed slightly, though she kept her wrist near her hip as if she still expected to shoot something. "How did you survive the fall?"
Ted looked to Natalie before answering. Her momentary look said to tread carefully. With Razellia staring deep into his eyes, he wasn't sure if she'd seen Natalie's warning.
Truth be told, aside from the last-second save his powers had given them, he wasn't sure that he was the one keeping them afloat to begin with.
He cleared his throat, something he found himself doing often in the arid environment. "We didn't slam into the ground at full-speed and live to tell about it, if that's what you're asking." Ted looked to see if there was any humor in Razellia's eyes. He sure didn't detect any. "We were falling to our deaths, and then we slowed down right before impact. There's something out here protecting us. I don't think there's another explanation for it."
The trio stood in silence.
Finally, Razellia let out a
sigh. "I believed you up until then. I really did." She pulled out her gun and pointed directly at Ted's face. "Now I have to question everything you've told me."
Ted put up his hands and tried to fling the gun away with his powers. When nothing happened, his stomach squeezed. "Put the gun down!"
Natalie seethed. Ted couldn't tell if the ire was directed toward him or Razellia.
"Tell her the truth, Ted!"
Ted supposed that answered that question. He stammered. "I have su– superpowers. Not like X-Ray vision or anything, though I'm always hoping for an upgrade–"
Razellia took a step forward, her weapon still drawn. "You're the living soul. One of the great enemies of my people."
Natalie moved toward Razellia, which got the gun pointed in her direction. Ted's ex didn't seem to care. "Hey! Enough with the weapon. Why'd you save our lives if you wanted to kill us?"
Razellia ignored her. "It's the truth, isn't it? You're him."
Ted wondered how Erica would react to this situation, but he didn't even know if she was alive. Butterflies played pinball in his stomach. "Yes. The luckiest guy on Earth, I guess. But what do you mean we're enemies? Who are your people?"
Razellia breathed heavier as some of the color left her face. It was almost as if she expected her words to incite an attack. "We go by the name given to us by your army's commanders. The dark souls."
Ted's pulse began racing. No wonder he couldn't read her thoughts. Now the gun made sense, too. Every dark soul he'd ever met had tried to kill him.
No wonder Kable sent me here. As long as someone is looking at me, I'll be completely powerless.
Ted took a step back. "We don't mean you any harm. We're lost and we want to get home. That's all."
Razellia was unfazed. "Gather your things. We're going back to my village." Her eyes were laser-focused. "We'll let the tribunal decide what to do with you."
Ted and Natalie did as they were told, though they didn't have much to gather. They walked ahead as Razellia brought up the rear with her weapon drawn. After several minutes of silence, Ted looked at Natalie. She seemed like she was in no mood to negotiate, so Ted took it upon himself.