Passages (Alternate Worlds Book 1)

by Taylor Leigh

  Suddenly, Victoria realised she’d made a huge mistake.

  Tollin had saved her life. She knew that now. Not just once, but twice. He’d been the one who’d drugged the Denizens, she was sure of it, and he’d been the one who’d stopped her from jumping. He’d done it for a reason and she’d just walked away from him. Now that the Passing was happening, Victoria realised just how stupid she’d been. She didn’t believe for a minute that Tollin was trying to get to the Other World, but he had to have a safe place to stay when it hit. Perhaps that is what he’d been trying to hint at to her—but why not just say it outright? It didn’t matter. All she knew was she had to get back to him before the Passing hit, and she was almost out of time.

  Victoria let out a panicked cry and started dashing back down the winding slope towards where they had met. She couldn’t see him now. She had walked a long way since they’d parted.

  A loud gong struck through her. She gasped and forced herself to keep staggering forward. The temple was sounding off the gong that signalled they were closing their gates. It was time to evacuate down to beneath the surface. Another gong sounded much farther off down the slope below her, from the city. Victoria saw movement to her right and watched as small rocks slowly began being lifted off the ground as if by strings.

  She gasped in horror. ‘Wait! Tollin, don’t leave me!’ she screamed, knowing she was much too far away to be heard. She pushed through a curtain of hovering rocks, swallowing down a panicked sob. Another gong from the temple rang down the slope towards her, fainter now. The gong from the city answered back.

  Victoria tripped over a sharp rock and went tumbling down the slope. She cried as she slid towards the straight drop off the cliff. Her fingers wound round a sharp rock and she clutched it for dear life, jerking to a stop. To her humiliation, she realised she had tears running down her face. Morosely, Victoria figured she deserved a good cry.

  She looked back up the slope through wet eyes. She had fallen a long way from the path. The slope was steep and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to climb back up it. Certainly not in the state she was in. Certainly not in time. A distant crash of the closing gates of the temple informed her of that.

  She cursed herself. If she hadn’t left Tollin, she wouldn’t be in the situation she was now. Victoria started to scrabble up the slope of shifting sand. Shale and sand kept slipping beneath her feet, pushing her farther back down towards the edge. She watched in numb dread as sizable stones began to be pulled up into the air, rocketing up to the blue.

  A rock directly in front of her was ripped away from the earth and went shooting towards the sky. She turned round in alarm as more razor edged rocks began to rise towards the planet above her.

  Victoria began to feel strange, light. Her hair and clothing floated away from her body up towards the green planet above her. Victoria started to climb faster. She clawed through the thinning air, desperate to reach the top of the slope and find some kind of shelter. Rocks were being yanked up faster now. Missiles were coming from above as well, logs and rocks and falling rain, rocketed downwards, hitting the earth with frightening force.

  Victoria felt her feet no longer touching the ground. She looked down and realised she was being pulled away from the earth, the only thing holding her back was the rock in her grip. She twisted, trying to get back to solid earth. Her eyes fell on a large rock wiggling in the sand beneath her. She let out a moan, but it was too late.

  The rock shot forward and struck her in the temple. It was then that everything went black.

  Chapter Five

  Victoria’s vision blurred back into focus. Her brain swam in a hazy green sea. She took a deep breath, inhaling wet, unfamiliar scents that came on in a dizzying rush. She blinked. Something wasn’t right.

  Victoria pushed herself up on her elbows and looked round. The sight almost made her blackout again.

  Towering trees, much bigger than the shrubby growth she was used to seeing, surrounded her on all sides. She was lying in an ocean of green, the earth beneath her belly wet to the touch. Everything held the dark blue tint of night but a bloody glow lit up all the plants around her. Victoria peered up and realised in horror and wonder where the colour was coming from. A red planet hung close above her through the tangle of leaves and a web of glittering golden light. Scrabia.

  She was on the Dead World.

  Her stomach sank. She couldn’t rightly recall the circumstances leading up to her awakening in the forest. A face floated somewhere in the fog. Tollin. She remembered him. He’d mentioned something about coming here and then the next thing that happens to her, she wakes up in the forest. Her fingers curled into the soggy ground as anger at his betrayal seeped into her mind. How could he have done this to her? If he’d invited her here, that meant he had to be here somewhere, right? Well, he’d be sorry once she found him—and she would find him—she’d figure out how to get back to her world soon enough.

  Victoria pushed herself up into a sitting position, head throbbing. She put her hand to her forehead and it came away with dried blood.

  A cold breeze blew through the trees, making her shake. It was incredibly cold, cold like the dead. Gooseflesh rose on her arms and she rubbed at them feverishly. If her clothing had been ridiculous for the desert, it was even more impractical for the forest. Her bare skin was freezing in the unfamiliar wet air. The bells and medallions attached to her headscarf clattered noisily in the stillness. In fright she ripped the piece of cloth from her head and dropped it to the soft forest floor. She didn’t want to attract any attention.

  She stared round her. A low mist was drifting by through the trees, like ghosts, making it difficult to tell one direction from another. Where exactly was she going to go?

  Victoria sighed. Part of her felt resigned to stay right where she was. She wasn’t cut out for this sort of thing. A large midge, the size of her hand, buzzed by her ear. She swatted it away in a panic. No-one was going to come looking for her, she realised. This wasn’t Scrabia and she didn’t matter here. She wasn’t a princess here. Here she was just another body. Her lips trembled and Victoria, for a horrible second, thought she might cry again.

  At that moment, a horrible, bone rattling roar shook the forest. A roar so loud even the very trees seemed to shudder. Her vision blurred. Victoria could not tell how close the deafening sound came from because of the sheer power of it. All she could do was cower in the ferns. The impossible noise rumbled away to a gravely growl and a loud crackling crunch shook the trees somewhere behind her. Something gigantic was moving through the brush away from her. A group of black birds took to the sky, cawing in warning.

  Victoria, crouching in the ferns like a hunted animal, needed no more convincing to get moving. She sprang to her feet in wild fear and dashed away from the direction the noise had come.

  Tangling vines snagged at her sleeves. Branches ripped at her hair. Logs and holes seemed to spring out of nowhere to make her trip, but still she pressed on, running like a frightened beast. Even as her sides burned and she knew she’d die if she ran another second, she ran.

  From the forest there was no more horrible noise. It had returned to eerily restful. She noted that distantly.

  She didn’t know how long her flight lasted, but long enough for the dark blue forest to shift to one of pale green.

  She finally stopped up short, retching and coughing.

  Birds were chirping. Victoria warily took that as a sign there was nothing dangerous about. Of course, here, she wouldn’t be surprised if the forest was just trying to trick her.

  She listened. The gentle rippling sound of water, known by all creatures whether they are used to it or not, drew her attention. Victoria stumbled through the waist deep ferns towards the noise. She reached a moss-strewn, sandy bottomed creek of crystal clear water. It bubbled along at a happy pace, sparkling in the morning light. Victoria had never seen water so clean. She dropped to all fours and dipped her hands into the liquid, uncaring at this point if it might
be safe or not.

  She jerked her hands away as soon as they made contact. It was so cold! So cold it almost burned her hands. Her fascination was short-lived. Her body could not take the denial of water any longer and soon she was gulping down huge swallows. It tingled through her and she stayed by the creek for a long time, flopped down on her stomach till she was full.

  A warbling, mournful cry came from nearby. Victoria watched a large, antlered animal making its way down to the creek, farther upstream. She sighed and pushed herself up. With the light dawning, her terror was abating. Nothing was after her. All seemed calm now. Almost peaceful.

  Glancing round, Victoria realised just how right she was about a dead planet. The whole forest looked it. Hair-like moss that hung from the trees fluttered in the cold breeze, making her jump whenever she caught sight of it. Great, jagged rotting trees leant precariously overhead, dropping fluttering leaves. Though Victoria saw very little real life, everything round her seemed to shudder and take on a life of its own.

  Victoria pushed her dirty self up and waded off again through the vegetation, following the creek. Her eyes felt heavy and her feet dragged but she kept on. She was determined to get out of the forest before another night fell. She doubted she’d survive another night. That was, if the forest even had an ending. If this was where the Scrabian ghosts went once they died, she knew she was in for trouble. Ghosts wanted the living, and if they found her…

  It was late morning when Victoria finally began to get hopeful. The creek had widened out and joined with several other small tributaries and now formed a small stream, moving much faster.

  She’d reached a spot in her journey where the trees had fallen away to form a sort of clearing. With the absence of trees, Victoria could actually picture the place without the forest now. She felt hope grow in her, she had to be getting close. She was just deciding whether to go on or rest when a new noise hit her ears. It sounded eerily human.

  Chapter Six

  Through the tangled undergrowth the noise echoed again, closer this time. It sounded like a shout. A wild, whooping shout. And it sounded like it was heading straight for her. Victoria cast about. The dark wood around her had plenty of trees, but they were so tall and smooth Victoria knew there would be no hope of climbing them. The approaching noise gave her little choice. Victoria dropped down onto her stomach in the deep bracken. Like it or not, she supposed it was the best cover available.

  A breath later the makers of the commotion burst from the brush. Victoria watched from her low position as a young man—looking only slightly older than her—with skin as white as paper, dashed forward. He was breathing heavily and held a distressed but calculating look in his eyes. Something colourful and shiny was tucked into his pocket. It took Victoria a moment to figure out what it was, then realised with shock—it was her headscarf.

  The man barely had time to decide what he was going to do when four other figures hurtled out through the trees behind him. The man spun, bristling like a cornered dog, hands balled into fists, to meet his pursuers.

  The new arrivals, two girls and two boys of different ages, all brandishing weapons of different sorts, rushed the man. These new beings were different, Victoria noticed. They were dressed much more simply compared to the man, wearing grey skins of some kind instead of the buttoned jacket and trousers the young man had. They were tanned and wild.

  Victoria put her hand over her mouth. Could they be ghosts?

  Whatever they had against the pale man was obviously the cause of some strong dislike, since things seemed to be taking a fatal turn. They hit him hard, and the pale man fought back savagely, placing several well timed strikes with expert accuracy, but Victoria could tell he was failing. The others could as well.

  Finally, one of the wild boys, Victoria assumed to be thirteen in age, tackled him. The man with her scarf put up an impressive fight considering the younger one’s ferocity but it was no good. The boy jerked out a green stone knife and tried to plunge it down into the man’s chest. The pale-skinned man kicked the younger one off of him and, grabbing the boy’s arm, twisted in and rammed his shoulder up to the joint with some force. There was a loud snap! and the boy fell back with a howl. The man grinned briefly, but grunted as the rest of the pack fell on him. The only one who stayed back was the eldest of the lot, an olive-skinned man, watching the whole thing emotionlessly.

  Victoria heard the shouts and kicks and grunts but did not see them. She buried her face in her arms and tried not to breath. Those savages were going to find her at any moment and then she’d be murdered just like the man with her scarf several metres away from her.

  Over the noise of fighting Victoria somehow heard another noise in that instant. It was a distant whinny. She kept still, wondering what new horror was coming. The noise came yet again, louder this time and with the accompaniment of heavy falling feet. She heard one of the savages, the man, bark out a word and looked up through the ferns.

  The scene before her had frozen for a split second. The oldest girl, who must have been Victoria’s age, was holding a somewhat bloodied but otherwise unhurt pale man by the collar of his shirt. The younger boy and girl went still, pinning his arms down. The oldest man was staring through the trees, from where they’d just come, frowning. The pounding of feet was unmistakable now. The oldest girl said something, jerked back to the pale one and brought the knife to his neck. She didn’t get a chance to finish what she’d started, however, because the situation suddenly became more complicated.

  Two great white animals, a horse and a dog, burst through the trees, leapt over a fallen log and ran straight for the violent scene. A strong looking man, closely the same colour as the younger man, was riding astride the big white horse. He held a spear in one hand and Victoria noticed a younger girl riding behind him. The man shouted something in a thick accent and the dog charged.

  The savages scattered, trying to find cover. The oldest girl scurried up a tree with remarkable ease. She was out of sight in the branches in less time than it took Victoria to process what she’d done. The younger boy with the broken arm dashed Victoria’s direction, paying her no mind as he took to the denser brush behind her. The youngest girl hurled a knife in desperation at the man on the horse and raced the same direction the younger boy had taken. Meanwhile, the eldest of the attackers was set upon by the great dog. He tried to fend it off with his knife and then broke into a run, disappearing into the trees.

  The man on the horse shouted another command to his dog and the animal raced after the savage. The man then slipped the girl off the back of the horse, ordered her to do something and went charging the direction his dog had taken.

  Victoria lay frozen in horror. She prayed no-one would follow the way the girl and boy had fled. They would see her immediately.

  An eerie silence fell again, distantly punctured by the whinny of the horse or the barking of the dog.

  ‘What are you doing out here, Andrew? You could have been killed!’ the young woman said in a language so similar to Scrabian Victoria could understand it, though it took a great deal of concentration.

  The girl helped the bloodied man up. ‘I was out looking for something, if you must know, Molly,’ the man, Andrew, said in a deep voice. He brushed off his front, looking rather haughty. ‘Though I don’t see how it was any concern of yours. I hadn’t anticipated the Druid hunting party; they usually stick farther to the north on days like this. They must have been out for blood, not food today.’ He turned inwardly thoughtful.

  The girl, Molly, put her hands on her hips. ‘You think you’re going to find something else out here? What makes you think that? Did the Traveller tell you something he didn’t tell me? What are you getting at, Andrew? Your mother would kill you if she knew you were out running round in the forest. You know you shouldn’t! Not in your condition!’ She noticed the headscarf and reached for it curiously.

  Andrew pulled away. ‘Do not treat me like a child, Molly. I am more than capable of looking after
myself.’ Andrew raised his shoulders. ‘I just thought I’d have a look round. No doubt when the party found the Traveller they might have missed something important.’

  ‘Have a look round? Your head is up in the rainclouds.’

  A loud howl announced the return of the man on the horse and the white dog. The horse pulled up short and the man dropped to the ground. ‘Well, little brother. Had enough fun for one day?’

  ‘Quite,’ Andrew said drily. ‘Watching you execute children is exactly what I would call fun, Thedric.’

  The one called Thedric snorted. ‘You’re crazy, running around out here in the forest by yourself. What were you thinking?’

  Victoria glanced round her. There weren’t many means of escape. Making a run for it would be suicide. They were bound to see her. Moving at all might be dangerous. She tuned out the conversation of the strange people and tried to think. She didn’t have many options.

  She noticed slowly from the corner of her eye that the greenery around her had turned white. She glanced up, straight into the face of the huge dog. Its black gums pulled back over horribly sharp teeth and it let out a snarl. Victoria shrank back, groping to find the knife Sinsetun had given her in panic.

  ‘Oi! Max, what you got there?’ Thedric barked, pushing his way through the ferns.

  Victoria could do nothing but cower. She peeked up between her arms as Thedric shoved the dog out of the way and glowered down at her. ‘What’s this?’ he shouted.

  Andrew and Molly dashed up to him. ‘I’ve never seen skin so dark,’ Molly said, wonderingly.