by Jaymin Eve
“If you meant that comment in an even slightly suggestive way I will castrate you where you stand.” I hadn’t realized I’d moved closer to him and was practically growling in his face.
He leaned down, until our faces were inches apart. “It’s not my fault your mind automatically jumps to sex whenever you’re around me.” He tone was low, but everyone in the room had advanced hearing.
I sucked in a breath, afraid that there was some truth to his words. I could deny it all I wanted, but I was half First Worlder, born under the moon of the Empress, and I did have a tie to Lucas. It was just nothing compared to my Walker side and my bond with Brace.
“I had to have a daughter, of course I did. That way I could spend my entire life killing off horny males,” Josian muttered to himself.
Lucas laughed. “Don’t worry about Abby. She can take care of herself. And I would never go where I wasn’t invited.”
“It would be the last thing that you ever did.” This comment came from Grantham, who was slouched against the wall.
I wasn’t surprised that he was still here. He and the rest of his clan had been staying close until the Brace issue was resolved.
Lallielle walked into the room then, interrupting the sure-to-be testosterone-fuelled argument. After giving me a brief hug, she stepped into her husband’s arms. They were never apart for long.
“Frannie?” she said, pulling back from his gentle ‘hello’ kiss.
His expression sobered. “I’m sorry, Lalli, I searched as far as I could, but she’s not anywhere in Angelisian and her soothsayer protections are keeping her location shielded, although she’s definitely alive.”
Angelisian is the beachside town on First World where our stunning architectural home is located.
In my opinion Francesca was crazy, although a truly gifted soothsayer. She’d started this entire world-jumping mission with her insane visions, and then had decided to just up and disappear. And although Josian could sense she was alive, her actual location was murky. This was some type of inbuilt protection for those gifted in the art of foretelling the future.
Lallielle nodded once, dropping her head to rest on Josian’s broad chest. I knew she was worried, but this wasn’t the first time Francesca had decided to abscond for her own reasons. Whatever she ‘saw’ would dictate her actions, and since ‘no one should know their own future’ she didn’t always tell us what this was.
“Okay, Dad, enough with the chat. Let’s get this shield sorted.”
We only had a few more hours until dawn and I needed to be solid on my shielding, otherwise I’d put everyone’s lives in jeopardy. I was late to the world of Walkers and mostly had no idea of my powers, so I needed Josian’s expertise.
A few hours later I stared along the Walker doorway I’d just opened. At the other end all I could see was red.
Crais.
It looked the way I’d always imagined the burning gates of hell would look. You know, if I believed in that sort of thing.
“Why are we using a doorway, Abbs? I thought you’d just trace us.” Lucy stood next to me, gazing into the vortex.
“I’ve never traced with three people. I figured it was better to be safe.”
I’d have preferred to trace. It worked in a similar way to a doorway but was much quicker and didn’t leave an open rift behind. But I’d never risk my friends.
Talina stood on the other side of Lucy. We were all dressed in the same clothing, the most heat resistant material Josian could find on First World. White and reflective, the jumpsuit-style outfits covered us entirely except for our faces, although a hood curved over the back of our heads. And we even had thick white boots.
I started to bounce a little, tapping my right foot in time. “I’m kind of freaking out. What if I use all my energy shielding us and we don’t find the underground and then I have no energy left to open a doorway or trace us back here?” I said to Lucy, finally noticing how stunning she looked, all in white, with her blond curls and big blue eyes.
Lucy shrugged. “I guess we’re going to be a big old bonfire, minus the marshmallows.”
I rolled my eyes at her lack of concern. “Your comic timing sucks, as usual. And your faith in me is to the point of ridiculous.”
Lucy was the most vulnerable person on this adventure and yet she never let worry cloud her mind. Despite the fact she still suffered from Samuel’s betrayal, and often woke crying from dreams that she wouldn’t talk about, she remained in good humor. I envied her that.
“Alright, ladies, now don’t all crowd me at once. I know that you’ve probably never seen so much covered sexiness.” Lucas walked into the main room dressed in his white outfit.
You’d have to be blind not to notice how dramatically it set off his icy blue eyes and the golden brown of his skin. His white-blond hair was as reflective as the suit. The girls acknowledged him warmly; they seemed to like his clumsy flirting. I was the only one on which it eternally grated.
“You certainly look very handsome, Lucas,” Talina said, her lips tipping in one of her rare smiles.
She had a reserved and introverted personality, but don’t get her riled up: her water powers were immensely powerful.
“I don’t know, all that shiny whiteness, including your hair and teeth, is kind of giving me a headache.” Lucy pretended to shield her eyes.
Lucas winked at her before turning to me.
“Doesn’t look very inviting down there, does it?” He gestured along the tunnel.
“Why don’t you head down first and let us know what it’s like.” I smiled sweetly.
As usual he didn’t react to my bitchy comment.
We all spun around when Josian and Lallielle stepped into the room.
“All ready to leave, I see?” Josian’s bronze eyes twinkled. “Don’t drop you guard at any point, trust no one but each other and get back here as soon as possible.”
My parents engulfed me in their usual bear hugs. And for a brief instant I could just close my eyes and drift in the love surrounding me, a momentary relief from the ache.
“I love you, daughter, please be careful.” Lallielle’s voice was low as she whispered soothingly into my ear, the lilting First-World accent still beyond lovely.
I nodded my compliance.
“You know I can’t contact you easily, baby girl. Your protections are just too strong now, but try and open your mind to me as often as you can.”
I pulled back from Josian as he spoke. “But won’t that leave me vulnerable?” I was particularly protective of my mind.
He nodded. “Yes, so just keep it as brief as possible. I’ll stay as attuned to you as I can, so when I sense the breach we can quickly confer and then back to your shield.”
I stood on my toes and, at almost seven feet tall, Josian still had to lower his head so I could plant a kiss on his smooth glowing cheeks. For a brief moment our dark blood-red hair mingled.
“Okay, I love you both and I’ll see you soon.”
They let me go. And even though they hid it well I could feel their concern and reluctance. Lallielle quickly hugged the girls before stepping back to Josian’s side.
“Remember, you have to be all inside the shield before you step free of the doorway. The suns will incinerate you instantly. There will be no time on the other side.”
“Yes, Dad, I remember you drilling it in to me over and over this morning.”
He almost looked like he was going to roll his eyes. But his thousands of years of maturity kicked in and he refrained.
“And one more thing,” he said, reaching into his large jacket pocket, “Grantham believes you will need these to be able to see in the harsh light.”
He handed us each a set of what looked like heavy-duty sunglasses with large wrap-around sides. As I put them on they cut out almost all of the light in the cave system. Josian waved us forward.
“Alright then, what are you waiting for?” His voice went a little gruff.
My face softened as I blew my parents one last
kiss. I was so torn between wanting to escape and hating to leave them.
I could barely see through the dark lenses as I groped to pick up my pack from the ground. We each had a small shoulder bag with basic essentials and a few days’ food supply which we hoped we wouldn’t need. Moving closer to the doorway, we linked hands and without looking back stepped through.
Since I had come into my Walker powers I’d never felt uncomfortable in the vacuum that was a doorway linking the worlds. And because Talina and I were both half-Walkers, it was in our nature to walk between the worlds. She helped me balance the other two, who weren’t very stable in the vacuum.
It took awhile to travel the distance. Josian’s planet and Crais were many galaxies apart. But eventually we reached the junction of the red land. I closed my eyes, sending my consciousness inside to my centre of power. The limitless well of energy responded to me immediately.
I gathered this energy, and then, as I had been perfecting for the last few days, sent it free from my body to form a bubble of protection around the four of us. The complicated part was making sure that it was completely smooth and there were no gaps or tears. And it had to be large enough that no one accidentally penetrated it while moving. Any body part that left the protection would be incinerated.
The others turned to me. I gave the shield one last cursory glance, allowing an extra portion of energy to run along, checking it for faults. It was perfect. I nodded once, our signal that it was fine to step free from the doorway. Then, as we had practiced, moving as one, we exited the doorway.
Chapter 4
Death.
My first impression of Crais was death. A dead land without a single living entity. I don’t know about the other three, but I couldn’t hide my shock and interest as I stared around wide-eyed, taking in as much of the red expanse as I could. Luckily we had the glasses, because even through the dark lenses it was out-of-control bright.
A quick glance either side assured me everyone was just as stunned as I was by the landscape surrounding us. Lucy opened her mouth, but then probably remembering Josian’s warning slammed it shut again. We’d decided not to talk; we needed to conserve our oxygen. I couldn’t replace it, only prolong the amount that was in with us at the time.
Through my shield I could feel the intensity of heat, although it wasn’t directly affecting me. Visible heat waves shimmered off the cracked red dirt and bare rock-faced cliffs. The two suns seemed to be on opposite sides of the red sky at this point. The smaller one was so bright I couldn’t look directly at it, even with the sunglasses on. The other was larger but less intense.
Talina caught my attention as she pointed toward a huge set of cliffs close by. Josian and Lucas’s information was that there were many entrances to the underground and our best chance of finding one was along the cliff faces. At this stage I felt no discomfort or fatigue from the shield, but I needed to keep a close eye on it. I’d managed to hold one for hours while practicing, but according to the Walkers the heat here was like a direct attack, and I would be expending much more energy than in practice. The moment I noticed it starting to drain, we had no more than an hour of shield time left.
Moving as one, we crossed the cracked, parched land. It was so leeched that there wasn’t even a layer of dust to kick up as we walked. Instead it was as hard and compacted as cement. And through the insulated boots I could feel the heat. My protective sphere did not cover the ground under our feet. It sat flush with the red dirt in a dome shape, and was about fifteen feet in diameter. Luckily it was adaptive, moving and shifting as we walked and the land changed. The gravity here was similar to First World and Earth so we could walk without burden, my pack light enough I forgot it was there.
Once we reached the shade of the first craggy cliffs, I felt an ease on my shield, a reprieve from the suns’ deadly embrace.
Lucy pointed to the right and the rest of us followed in a single-line formation. I had no idea what we were looking for, some type of crevice or trap door. There was no way to know how intricate or well hidden their entrances were. My eyes skimmed the expanse, the dark glasses making it difficult to judge the shadows. I wanted to lift them up to rest on my head but I was worried that the light would blind me.
A loud screech froze us to the spot.
I spun around, searching for the cause, but beside the suns the red sky was empty. We’d had no indication that anything lived on the surface of this planet. All I could see was the cracked red land, craggy cliffs and maybe some withered tall tree in the far distance.
The screech sounded again, but it was further away this time. With another quick glance over my shoulder, I indicated that we should start moving. We didn’t have time to waste.
We had no luck with the first set of cliffs, our quick circumnavigation finding no entrance. At that point we stepped back into the sun, and I almost dropped at the sudden weakening that flowed through me. The heat was brutal.
Lucas touched my arm, his eyes questioning. I shook him off, before straightening and nodding. I was fine; I just hadn’t been ready for that.
We continued along, searching, braving the sun, stopping only for food and drink from our packs. I felt a slight lift in energy at these moments, but I knew our time was growing shorter.
We traversed about five miles in the direct sunlight to reach another set of cliffs. It took us an hour and I finally found some Crais life, a few small lizard-looking creatures scurrying around. They were much more scaled and spiked than anything I’d seen before, but seemed to have no problem in the harsh suns’ heat.
Lucy waved a hand in front of my face. Shaking my head, I focused on her. Had I just zoned out for a moment? She raised her brows, her expression holding concern, and lifted her hand with one index finger raised: was I in the last hour countdown?
I shook my head. Once we stepped into the shade I’d be okay.
Lucy moved her hand again, reaching over to wipe at my face. Small droplets rained off me before disappearing into the hot land. I hadn’t noticed but beads of perspiration were dotting my forehead. I shook my head, glad I’d tied my curls back in a braid. Right now I didn’t need any more heat on my neck. Actually the air was starting to get a little stuffy in this shield. Josian had shown me how to purify particles, but it was only slowing the gradual breakdown of oxygen.
When we reached the next set of shaded cliffs I sighed in relief. They were massive, much larger than any I’d seen yet, and they were our last hope. I couldn’t cope with any further journeying through the sun that day. If we didn’t succeed now, we’d just have to come back and try again once my energy had recovered.
As I was thinking this I noticed the two suns, which had been steadily climbing in the sky, were starting to overlap each other. The larger, less bright sun was crossing in front of its smaller and more intense mate.
Then it was as if a magical button had been pressed; the land started to come to life. Small scaled creatures, followed by larger, less reptilian but still almost snake-like animals emerged from the cliff where we stood. The general strain I’d been feeling on the outside of my shield lessened and the world began to cool down. Even the heat waves were less visible.
As we walked around the cliffs, the animals that were leaving gave us a few glances. One even hissed as it came closer, but mostly they left us be. I couldn’t see where they emerged from. Not that it mattered; we would need a much bigger entrance than any they used.
And then, when the suns were halfway across each other, the first inhabitant that resembled us emerged from the cliffs.
The man seemed to unfold himself from a seam in the rocks. His skin was as black as any I’d seen; it had an almost purple sheen to it. He slithered low to the ground and dashed across the parched land until he reached a nearby rock face. Not once did he waste time looking left or right. I wasn’t sure at first what he was doing until I noticed the small lizards gathered in his hands.
He wore just a simple leafy belt covering his groin, leaving the res
t of him bare. We watched as he tucked the limp lizards into the front of the leaf belt. He was turning to scurry along the ground again, in pursuit of another animal, when he finally noticed us.
I hate to point fun at anyone, but the way he fell face first into the hard dirt was a little humorous. Judging by the look on Lucy’s face, if we’d had more oxygen, she’d have been on the ground herself, laughing hysterically.
He crouched low to the red surface again, facing us, in a fight-or-flight stance. He was definitely unsure whether we were friend or foe.
We all spun around when the same loud screech from before echoed above our heads. And, I’m going to be honest, when I caught sight of the creature circling above us, I almost dropped the shield. And peed myself.
It was a freaking dragon. Almost exactly how I pictured one: four large taloned legs, shiny scales reflecting the light, a mouth full of huge razor-sharp teeth, a long snout, and muscular wings. It was red, with visible blue veins running throughout its massive body. It screeched again as it circled above us.
We faced each other. Everyone’s expression said the same thing: ‘what the eff?’ and ‘oh, shit’.
The dark-skinned man moved then. He didn’t hesitate, dashing toward the cliffs.
Despite the stuffy air, I wasted oxygen screeching when Lucas threw me over his shoulder and took off after him. Lifting my head, I was relieved to see Lucy and Talina keeping pace. Lucas must have noticed my exhaustion and realized I didn’t have the stamina for a race across the land.
I spun my head again, trying to see what was happening. The man was a few paces ahead of us. We weren’t going to reach him in time. He gave us one last look before slipping through the wall again and disappearing.
Two steps later and we were standing at that very spot, but there was no visible opening. Lucas lowered me to the ground, holding on to me for that extra second as my legs wavered, my energy lower than I’d expected. I pulled away as soon as I could; he gave me a measured stare before turning to help Talina and Lucy. They were scrambling along the cliff trying desperately to find a hiding place. I concentrated all my energy on holding my shield. The screeching sounded above us again, and I mean right above us.