by BC Powell
“If you don’t remember soon, we can plan a trip to the Reflecting Pool for you to ask. Maybe the Pool will give you the answer.”
“I hope so,” I reply. “It’s horrible not knowing.”
We reach the black granite door in the side of the hill and Sash swings it open for us. Side by side, we walk through the narrow tunnel.
“Awaken!” she calls out at the entrance to the main cavern.
As the Swirls slowly rotate inside the crystal ceiling, soft golden light spreads across the room and dimly reflects in the blue quartz walls. I stop behind Sash at the row of metal hooks bolted to the wall near the tunnel entrance. Next to where the cylindrical packs of stakes hang, she locks her spear into its clasp. Beside it stands a new spear, held in place by a clip that’s been added since the last time I was here. Two more weapons lean against the wall, but they have round black pads covering the points on both ends. I assume they’re the training spears I remember her mentioning in the past.
When I look around the room, I instantly notice the changes. On top of the large mattress-like pad on the floor by one wall, four pillows now rest instead of two. Under the steel table on the other side of the cavern, a second stool resides in addition to the one I’ve sat on in the past. A few more cups and pitchers sit on the shelves above the table than were previously there.
Sash takes the pitcher from my hands, walks across the cavern, and sets it on the table. Further down the wall stands a second table, identical to the first, that wasn’t in the habitat before.
She anxiously watches as I step past her to the new table. A single sheet of folded white fabric lies on the top. Nestled in freshly carved shelves in the wall over the table are more fabric, a sheathed knife, a metal bowl, and several of the twigs they call markers. The pencil-sized shoots of tree branch are similar to the one I used to create the drawing of Sash that hangs over her bed.
I pick the white fabric up from the tabletop. The material is much thicker than the tank top I drew Sash’s picture on, with a tighter weave and smoother quality to it. Unfolding the fabric and holding it up in front of me, I reveal a two-foot-by-three-foot rectangle with well-seamed edges.
“You did all of this for me?” I ask, turning to Sash.
Her eyes light up as the corners of her lips curl into a smile. “I want you to be able to draw. I know how much it means to you. I had a Weaver make the fabric based on the way you described . . . canvas? Is that the word?”
“That’s the word,” I answer.
“The Constructs cut the shelves in the wall. They heard a hollow sound while chiseling and said there’s a cave on the other side. If you need more space, they’ll create an opening to it so you have your own place to draw.”
“That would be great,” I reply.
“I’ll speak with them about it soon. I feel fortunate this was the habitat available to me when my Apprenticeship ended. All habitats have a waterfall cavern, but other than the habitats at Home, very few have an adjoining cave that’s empty.”
I lay the fabric on the table, cross the polished quartz floor to Sash, and take her in my arms. “It means so much to me that you did all this.”
“It’s our habitat now, and I want you to feel comfortable.”
“The first thing I’m going to draw is a better picture of you.”
She glances at the sketch hanging over the bed. “I don’t want another,” she says, turning her face back to mine. “That one is perfect.”
The drawing of her is certainly not my best work, but it was created on the day we both knew we’d fallen in love with each other. If anything can define it as perfection, it’s that fact.
“I don’t think I could ever capture how beautiful you really are in a painting,” I say.
As she starts to reply, I silence her with a kiss on her full red lips.
“We’re covered in sap,” Sash says after we kiss. “We should clean in the fall.”
Hand in hand, we walk into the waterfall cavern. Our feet splash through the shallow glistening stream until we step under the fall. With a cascade of silvery blue spilling over my body, I comb my fingers through my hair and wash the sap off my skin. Sash has me take off the black leathery pants and sleeveless V-neck that Krymzyn magically dresses me in every time I arrive. Holding them up to the falling water, she rinses them clean.
When we return to the main cavern, as always happens, my skin and hair feel dry by the time we reach the head of her bed. From one of the hooks in the wall where she hangs her clothes, Sash takes a pair of white sleep shorts down and hands them to me. Soft and new, styled like gym shorts with a drawstring, they seem to be my exact size.
“I had these made for you.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
“And a spare set of clothing,” she says, tilting her head to the wall, “as well as a new long-sleeved shirt for trips to the Mount. You should rest now, Chase. You look very tired.”
I can tell that any damage done inside my head has almost finished healing. But I also feel as tired as I did the first few days following brain surgery when I was seventeen. After I slip into the shorts, Sash hands me a white tank top, which I pull over my head.
She steers me across the cavern to the bed. I lie down on my back while Sash quickly undresses, slips into her own sleep clothes, and then climbs over me to her usual place by the wall.
“Thank you again for everything you did,” I say to her.
“You never need to thank me.”
Lying on her side, Sash gently caresses my hair. I gaze up at the tiny golden Swirls floating inside the crystal ceiling.
“I’ve always known that I belong with you,” I say. “I don’t want you to worry that I feel like I’ve made a mistake. It’s just going to be hard on me sometimes.”
“I’ll help you in any way I can.”
“It’s strange. Since the first time I came to Krymzyn, I’ve felt like there was a reason for my being here. I know the most important part of that is being with you, but I also feel like there’s more to it than that.”
“I believe so as well,” she replies. “We just don’t fully understand yet.”
“I have to tell you something incredible,” I say, turning my face towards hers. “Maybe it’s part of the reason.”
“What is it?” she asks.
“In my Vision of the Future, I saw—”
“Chase,” she firmly interrupts. “What you saw was meant only for you. You should share that with no one else.”
“But it’s something for both of us.”
“No, it was meant only for your eyes. If others know the future, it may alter the way they lead their lives. If that happens, what you saw may never come to pass. That Vision was meant to guide you and only you.”
I consider her words, remembering that if she had told me about her Vision of the Future, it could have changed everything that had happened. If I’d known that she might die with me at her side, I would’ve taken the anti-seizure medication to avoid coming back to Krymzyn.
“You’re right,” I say. “It was just something really amazing. Wonderfully amazing.”
“Then I’ll be amazed when it comes to pass. How are you feeling now?”
“Tired, but I feel right being with you,” I answer. “More right than anything has ever felt in my life.”
“It feels right to me as well. Sleep now, and we’ll talk more when we wake up.” She kisses my cheek before saying, “Peace.”
As the golden points of light fade to darkness, Sash holds me in her arms. Although the sap is calming me mentally and emotionally, my heart still aches for the people I care about in my world.
I fight against the drooping of my eyelids, trying once more to figure out what happened to me on Earth. But before another thought can enter my mind, I’m lost in sleep.
Chapter 2
I bolt upright in bed. Like a thousand fire alarms triggering at once, high-pitched shrills screech through my ears. Red light strobes from the crystal ceiling
and gleams over the walls. I glance to my side, but the bed is empty. After frantically looking around the room, I jump to my feet.
“Sash!” My voice echoes through the cavern with no response. “Sash!” I yell again.
I rush to the hooks at the head of the bed, strip out of my sleep clothes, and throw on my shirt and pants. While running to the tunnel entrance, I spot the spears leaning against the wall. Sash’s is gone, so I stop to grab the other weapon with sharpened points. I may not know how to use it, but I never want to face a Murkovin empty-handed again.
With the spear firmly in my grip, I dash into the long, dark tunnel. As I near the halfway point of the passage, the door at the end swings open. I jolt to a stop while the sound of pouring rain floods the corridor. Two glowing red eyes sear through the dark.
I jerk my weapon up in front of me, the blood in my veins pumping faster and faster. Another pair of burning red points appears beside the first. Two hulking bodies with ghostly white skin crouch in the doorway. Never taking my eyes off the beasts, I take a step backwards. When my foot touches the ground, the creatures storm into the tunnel.
“Sash!” I scream.
“Chase!” she yells, shaking me until my eyes open. “Awaken!”
As the cavern illuminates, I sit up in bed and turn my head to her. “That felt so real.”
“A bad dream?” Sash asks.
“A terrible dream,” I reply. “I was attacked by Murkovin.”
Looking straight at me, she grasps my shoulder with her hand. “Bad dreams are often warnings. What happened in your dream?”
“There were really loud, high-pitched sounds, and the Swirls were flashing red.”
“That’s how the Swirls alert us to Darkness when we’re inside our habitats,” she replies.
My eyes never stray from hers as I wonder how the red light and loud noises could have been in my dream. I don’t remember anyone ever telling me what the Swirls do when Darkness falls. “I called for you, but you weren’t here,” I finally say. “So I grabbed my spear and ran through the tunnel. Before I reached the door, two Murkovin came in.”
“I won’t let that happen,” she insists. “I always know if Darkness is near. Even if I’m asleep, I wake up before the Swirls. Until you’re ready, I won’t leave you alone.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” I reply.
She reaches her arms around me and pulls me to her body. “I wanted you to feel peace when you arrived. I wanted you to feel happy here. So far, it’s been nothing but pain for you.”
“No, Sash,” I say, returning her hug. “I am happy, and I’ll adjust. Don’t worry about me.”
“I do worry about you.”
“I’ll be fine.” Remembering that I’m permanently in Krymzyn, I fall backwards to the pillow. Even with Sash by my side, I suddenly feel very alone. My stomach knots from the sadness of leaving my family, but even worse, self-blame for what I know they’ll go through because of me creeps into my mind. When I try to block those thoughts out, they’re instantly replaced by anxiety regarding my new life in Krymzyn. “What am I supposed to do now?” I ask.
“Do you feel rested?”
“I feel pretty good,” I answer. “Was I asleep for very long?”
“A very long time,” Sash replies. “Eval and I spoke before you arrived. She suggested you and I spend time together before you start your Apprenticeship. I’ll help you learn your way around the Delta, introduce you to others, and train you with a spear. Only when you feel ready will you begin your Apprenticeship.”
“That’s really nice of her,” I say.
“She wants you to adjust to life here, and you and me to our lives together. She knows it may not be easy for you. She’s wise in many matters, even if they appear to be outside the customs of our plane.”
“I can tell that about her,” I reply. “To be honest, I’d rather be doing something right now than just lying around. I need to keep my mind occupied.”
She rolls on top of me and looks down into my eyes. “If you feel up to it, we’ll go out. I can give you a lesson with spears, or we can just walk through the Delta.”
“Let’s do both,” I say. “I should learn to defend myself with a weapon.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
We climb out of bed and cross the cavern to the main table. After Sash fills two cups with sap, we sit at the table sipping the Krymzyn version of a meal. I try to adjust to the idea that this is the only form of food here.
“It’s going to be weird getting used to only having sap,” I comment.
“Doesn’t it make you feel satisfied?” she asks.
“It does,” I answer, although satisfied can’t begin to describe the energy and euphoria I feel from sap. “But in my world, we also eat things just because they taste good. Do you remember how I described taste for you?”
“I remember,” she says. “Will you long for that?”
“Some things. Like something called pizza, and most of all, I’ll miss ice cream, but I can’t really explain those to you.” I study the slowly moving globs of orange, red, and yellow inside my cup. “I’ve never seen anyone drink water here. Don’t you get thirsty?”
“Sap has everything we need. We don’t consume anything else.”
I assume that not needing water is somehow related to the lack of temperature in Krymzyn, or maybe sap provides all the hydration people need. I’ve never been thirsty here, so I guess the sap gives me everything I need as well. Not to mention, no one sweats in this world—not that I’ve seen, anyway—and I never have when I was here in the past. Not even the slightest perspiration in my palms if I was nervous or the tiniest beads of sweat on my forehead from running.
After we finish our sap, we take off our sleep clothes and walk to the waterfall. Between the sap I drank and the refreshing sensation of the water splashing over me, I feel as strong and alert as I’ve ever felt in my life. The strange thing is that I also seem to be lighter, almost as though I’m levitating over the stream. I assume it’s from my particles of mass now being separated and in motion the way Sash described them to me.
When I look to my side, Sash is standing under the fall with her face raised to the water. I can’t stop my eyes from wandering over the curves of her sleek, athletic frame. The natural sensuality of her long, toned legs, firm torso, and small but beautifully shaped breasts always seems to entrance me. She smiles to herself before turning her face to mine.
“You seem to enjoy looking at me when I don’t have clothes on.”
I blush slightly from her comment. “I like looking at you with or without clothes.”
She steps to me and gives my lips a quick kiss.
We relax under the fall for a few more minutes before returning to the main cavern. In the style of Krymzyn, we dress in black pants and sleeveless shirts with rope belts clasped around our waists. Our feet remain bare, also the norm for the Delta.
“I already filled your flasks,” she says, referencing the two metal containers dangling from my belt. “Travelers always carry two. Make sure they’re full whenever you leave our habitat.”
“I will,” I reply, but the last two words of her sentence are what really hit me. “Thank you for calling it ‘our habitat.’”
She smiles at me with understanding in her eyes. “I know it won’t always be easy for you in Krymzyn. Or without challenge. But you should always feel comfortable in our habitat. It’s as much yours now as it is mine.”
“I really do feel comfortable,” I say. “Thank you again for everything you did to get it set up for me.”
“Anything you need, just tell me.”
We cross the cavern to the metal hooks by the tunnel entrance. Sash removes a pack of stakes from the wall and loops the strap over her shoulder.
“I always keep these with me when I’m outside, except during Rituals. I have to be ready for Darkness at all other times.” She takes her spear with sharpened points and one of the two training spears in the grasp of o
ne hand. “Bring both your spears.”
I grab a weapon with each of my hands. The spears are almost as tall as I am, about six feet in length, and surprisingly light considering how solid they feel. The fine-brushed steel of the shafts prevents them from slipping at all in my grip as I follow Sash through the narrow tunnel. After she swings the door at the end of the passage open, we step into brilliant light.
Side by side, we stroll through the shallow ravine until we turn into the valley at its end. I try to find my bearings by looking up at the rays of light that cut through the clouds, remembering Tork’s words from long ago.
“The light always points north in Krymzyn. Always to the north.”
As we head to what I determine is the south, Sash points to the hill in front of us. “That’s the Empty Hill. At the foot of that hill to the southeast is the sustaining tree you saw the first time you came to Krymzyn.”
“You mean the tree that tried to kill me the next time I was here?”
“If it had truly wanted to kill you, it would have done so,” she replies.
“I guess so,” I mumble, although I’m not convinced.
Before we reach the Empty Hill, we turn west into another valley. After a short walk through the silky red grass, we arrive at the base of another hill and climb to the crest. Sash points to the tallest hill in view, the one I know is the Tall Hill, which is a few miles west of us and slightly to the north.
“The Tall Hill,” she says before swinging her arm to the south. “Sanctuary to the south.” She moves her hand to the northeast. “The gate is in that direction but several miles away.”
I point to the north. “Home, Market, and the grove of thread trees.”
“You’re correct, but they’re many miles from here.”
As I survey the peaceful landscape, the only form of life I see other than the grass is an occasional sustaining tree in a meadow. “Why does it seem like we never see other people around here?”
“Only eighty-four people dwell in the Delta, and it’s quite large.”
I remember that Larn once told me that the Delta is twenty-one miles long by fourteen miles across at its widest point, and we’re a little south of the midline.