First Dimension

by Rebecca Royce

  Smoke filled the room, Hadley tried to raise her head but Hawk pushed it back down to the floor.

  “Jeremiah, for all that is holy, come here and get Hadley and go through the entrance.”

  Hadley squirmed under Hawk. There had to be something she could do other than lie on the floor while Hawk guarded her body like she was some sort of valuable commodity he needed to get through the portal.

  As she watched, Jeremiah rose from the floor and ran towards them. He dropped to the floor and rolled next to Hawk. Pulling the pin, no beacon—that’s right it was called a beacon—from his shirt he shoved it onto Hawk’s shirt.

  Hawk jerked like Jeremiah had just stuck him with a sharp object. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Making you fulfill your destiny?”

  Hawk snorted and coughed as he inhaled a ton of smoke filled air. “What are you some kind of prophet now?”

  “Exactly.”

  As they lay on the floor, she could tell by the sheer number of footsteps she heard above them that an army was amassed above them. The boat was sinking, and the room they hid in had been fire bombed. Hadley wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.

  “Hawk, while the two of you discuss these life altering issues, may I remind you that I am still perfectly capable of dying?”

  “That’s why you have to go right now, my lady.” Jeremiah bowed his head. “And there is still the matter of your sister. We can’t let her die. This is where it stops.” The black smoke had gotten so thick she could barely see him. It was a good thing she could feel Hawk’s heart beating or she would think it had stopped. “I’ve altered, Hawk, I’m changing like the others started to. I’m seeing pieces of the future and I know you are supposed to take this woman through the portal. You, not me. So get moving before she dies in this heat.”

  “Jeremiah, how will you avoid being boxed?” Hawk’s voice sounded rough.

  “Ha. Don’t worry about me, my prince, I’m more resourceful than you can possibly imagine.”

  For a moment, silence filled the room, broken only by the sound of wood breaking as it split from the pressure of the water and the heat and flames of the fire. Hawk cleared his throat. “Alright, Hadley, I’m going to roll you under me and then you hold onto me tightly.” His strong arms maneuvered her under him. “Harder, Hadley.”

  Hadley wasn’t sure how much tighter she could hold him but she squeezed her fingers, despite the pain in her gashed hand, into the back of his shirt, hoping her nails didn’t cut into his skin. “I’m going to lift you onto your feet. Follow me.”

  She nodded. “Okay.” Whatever was coming her way, she was ready to move on to the next part because her current situation was dire at best

  “This was the part I said would hurt.”

  Hadley closed her eyes and did what he asked. He lifted her off the ground, his embrace was strong and she couldn’t believe that anything would be too hard to handle if she just held on tight enough. He pushed her head down on his shoulder.

  “Hadley, can you hear me?” He shouted, why hadn’t she realized how loud the buzz in the room had gotten?

  “I can.” She coughed when she spoke but at least she’d answered.

  “Know this. If I had this to do over again, I would have left you alone.”

  His words panged her heart and she wasn’t sure why they’d bothered her so acutely. “But then I’d be dead in six months.”

  “I can’t promise they can fix you on the other side of the portal.”

  “I know they can’t fix me here.”

  While still safely ensconced in Hawk’s arms, she felt him push them through what at first felt like nothing more than a thick batch of foggy air. It was dense and difficult to breathe. Hawk pressed his mouth down on top of her head. “Hold onto me.” He’d already given her these instructions and since he didn’t come off as a man who repeated himself very often, she felt sure what he said was very important.

  Wondering if she was about to die, she pulled his mouth down to hers. For a moment, he seemed stunned, but then he kissed her back and for the mere seconds their embrace took, the troubles that had befallen her seemed to disappear. His mouth was warm and his breath sweet. The dark stubble that covered his face cut gently at her skin and caused little sparks of pleasure to surge through her body.

  Wishing it could go on forever, but knowing it couldn’t, she pulled her mouth from his reluctantly. He hadn’t asked for an explanation but she felt compelled to give one. “If we’re going to die, I needed to know what it felt like to kiss you. I should be embarrassed to admit this, but what the hell? I’ve had the strangest desires toward you since you first stormed into my bedroom.”

  “Hadley, I…” Whatever Hawk was about to say was left unsaid as a sharp, blinding pain pierced her body. She screamed out and he pulled her closer. Feeling his body tense, she suspected he felt the same agony she did. Had to give the man credit, he didn’t utter a sound of protest.

  “I’d like to tell you it will be over soon but it won’t.”

  She wanted to laugh. In the brief time she’d known him, no one had ever been more blunt with her than Hawk.

  She couldn’t see anything. Pressed up against Hawk’s shoulder she couldn’t even see the white of his shirt. It was as if they existed in a state of nothingness with the exception of pain. Somehow the sting that consumed her had become palpable, a living, breathing thing that existed as much as she and Hawk did.

  “What’s happening?”

  “I’m not sure of the science of it.” From the sound of his voice, Hadley guessed that Hawk spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Then give me the unscientific explanation.”

  She needed to hear his voice, anything to ground her so she didn’t give into the urge to simply become part of the endless ache. Something told her, a voice she’d never heard before, but that now existed as clearly as her inner monologue, that she must not give into the pain. If she did so, she might never come back, never return to herself.

  Listen to me, Hadley. It is virtually impossible to get your attention when you’re awake. But pay attention. Do not lose yourself to this.

  She knew that voice. It was the giant squid from her dreams. Oh god, now she was dreaming while she was awake. Unless, of course, she’d lost consciousness and just wasn’t aware of it—which was entirely possible.

  “What you’re feeling, well, part of what we’re both experiencing, is the fact that we’re dragging twelve souls behind us. We are essentially acting like a magnet and pulling them along the path with us.”

  Hadley, so caught up in the voices she heard in her head, had all but forgotten that she’d asked Hawk to explain to her what happened.

  “Everyone but Jeremiah.” She didn’t need to ask that as a question. As much as she didn’t understand everything that transpired, she understood Jeremiah had insisted on staying behind in Hawk’s place.

  “It’s so bizarre. I keep thinking we should feel like we’re flying. But it doesn’t. It feels like we’re not moving at all, like we’re suspended mid-air, and just surrounded by nothing but emptiness and pain.”

  Hawk shook his head and Hadley stared into his green depths. His eyes changed. They still looked green like the ocean, but it wasn’t any sea she’d seen before in real life. The best description she could give of them was aquamarine. It was as if the word had been invented to describe Hawk’s eyes. Still aware of the pain around her, there was some peace to be found in the closeness she shared with Hawk and the mystique of his newly colored pupils.

  “Ha. That’s an excellent description. Every transfer feels like this. It’s why I’ve never understood why the royal family sends their children out to do it as part of their becoming full-fledged adults.”

  She wanted to sigh and cuddle into his embrace, but that would be ridiculous given the circumstances. She’d all but assaulted him once with her affection and he hadn’t said word one about it; she wouldn’t do it again.

 
“How can I understand you when you speak, if you’re from a different plane of existence?”

  He raised a brown eyebrow as he looked at her. The shade of his hair changed as well. What had looked to be the darkest brown she’d ever seen now held shades of auburn and gold in it. She wondered remotely if her appearance altered as well.

  “I’ve been speaking English.”

  Hadley sighed. Once again he hadn’t followed her line of thinking. No one ever did, and her imaginary friend the Giant Squid had told her there was a good reason for that, but she’d be damned if she knew what that was. Or why she was listening to a manifestation from her dreams.

  “I know you’re speaking English. Did you have to learn it when you first arrived two centuries ago?”

  The thought of trying to learn the dialects and languages of an entirely different world made her stomach twist. Thinking it might be a bad idea to vomit at the current moment, she tried to swallow her fear. But the sourness remained despite her best efforts.

  “I found that I could understand everything being said to me when we came over. I’m not sure why that was, but it was true for all of us. We’ll have to see what happens with you when we get there. They’ll know what to do with you in Astor.” He looked left and right and his hair came loose from its ponytail. She wished she could reach up and stroke it. “Okay, Hadley. We’re going down.”

  As if his words made it happen, Hadley felt herself fall like a wingless bird. She looked down and saw that the ground rapidly approached. They were like a missile and their destination was the land below them. Unless something got in their way, they would plummet towards the ground until they hit and then compacted to their end as soon as they struck.

  “Hawk, you do remember that I can die?”

  He nodded. “I know and I can die here. But neither one of us is going to do that right now.”

  Hadley’s temper flared and her cheeks heated. How the hell could he be so sure? At the speed they fell, they were going to hit hard. And his bones might be built to withstand such a thing, but hers weren’t built to be smashed like a bug on a windshield. She heard herself start to scream and closed her eyes as she prepared to have all of her molecules collide in a fatal traffic jam.

  She landed softly on her rear end, Hawk’s arms still around her. Opening one eye first, she dared to glance around to see where she was. Hawk released her gently and she opened the other eye.

  They were in some kind of field, a grassy one. But it didn’t look or feel like any grass she’d ever seen before, being orange. Neither the corn stalks nor the dead fields she’d sometimes seen on her travels looked like this. She shook her head. Truly, she didn’t care. Everything could be completely different for all it mattered. They hadn’t gone splat on the ground. How was that even possible?

  She whirled around, intending to ask Hawk that very question, but stopped short. He stood up; his hands lay at his sides. He stared off in the distance at a purple mountain range covered in what she hoped was snow as it was white. It would be nice to have some things the same. His expression was passive. He neither smiled nor frowned. But his eyes, which she had spent so much time examining in the last few moments, glistened with what she could only guess were unshed tears.

  She swallowed, and tried to remain perfectly still. This man who she hardly knew but who she was already fascinated with, more than any other being she’d ever come across, had been away from his home for two centuries in an attempt to protect her mother. Hadley looked down at the ground. Would she ever see her home again?

  Turning as quietly as she could muster, she walked to the lake that lay five feet away from where they’d landed. The water looked the same, just a deeper blue. Running a hand through her hair, she gasped. Who the hell was that?

  She bent over closer to get a better look. Her hair, still red and wavy, looked golden instead of its usual carrot appearance. Freckles no longer marred her nose and her skin had taken on a creamy hue she’d only seen on Barbie dolls she’d been given as a child. She looked down, oh wow, her breasts were huge.

  “What are you staring at?”

  Hadley jumped at the sound of Hawk’s voice and her cheeks warmed. Had he seen her staring at her own boobs?

  “I can’t get over the change in my appearance.”

  Hawk moved to the left as he examined her. “What are you talking about? You look exactly the same as you always did.”

  Great, so he thought she looked awful. It was obviously too much to hope she might be attractive to him.

  A loud boom sounded behind them and they both swung around, Hawk shoving her behind him.

  “Stone?” Hawk stepped forward as more booms rang the ground.

  Stone jumped to his feet, as unaffected by the landing as they had been. “Hawk, Lady Hadley, are you both well?”

  Hadley shrugged. She had no idea if she was fine. But she supposed she was about to find out.

  Chapter Six

  Hawk did a quick head count. All of his men were accounted for and they stood up as if nothing happened. He needed to say something to them about this significant moment. They were back home for the first time in more years than he cared to count, but they left the Princess and half of their entourage behind. This should have all but physically destroyed them, but it didn’t, and that bothered Hawk more than he cared to admit.

  Why were they still all functioning this far from the princesses’ presence? Their blood oaths should have made it next to impossible to leave her without pain.

  Water splashing in the lake behind him broke into his preoccupation. He turned around to look at what happened. Hadley sucked in her breath and Hawk suppressed a smile. There would be some things here that would be completely new, awe inspiring to her, just as he had felt when he’d first arrived in her dimension.

  A crocodile climbed from the bank of the lake and stood up on two feet. The bracelet attached to his front left leg identified him as a messenger. Hawk nodded. So their reemergence had not gone unnoticed.

  “You are sent the warmest greetings from the royal family, Prince Hawk. They have long awaited your arrival. Although they are most disappointed to see you do not have the Princess with you, they are gratified to see you have the Lady Hadley with you.”

  “Hawk?” Hadley’s voice shook which tore at his insides, and he placed a hand on her arm to pull her close.

  It had been so long since he’d addressed anyone of importance, and speaking to the crocodile was the equivalent of speaking to the King himself. “I am surprised, master crocodile, to hear that the royal family knows of our struggles, as we’ve felt all but alone on Earth for some time now. I have returned with Hadley for many reasons. Please assure them it is my every intention to go back and retrieve the Princess, once a plan can be worked out for her safe recovery.”

  The green-skinned crocodile dropped to four legs, swung toward the water and slipped beneath the surface with barely a ripple.

  Hadley’s eyes were huge as she addressed Hawk. “Can all animals speak here?”

  “The royal family has long been able to control and connect with the animals. It only spoke to me because one of them told it to. If I were to run into the croc on the road, it wouldn’t act any different with me than it did in your dimension.”

  Hawk turned to his men. “While it is good to be back, it is clear we will have to make our way straight to Astor.”

  His men nodded, which gave him no little amount of relief. When he’d assumed they would all be half dead upon arrival due to the lack of the Princess, he’d known he could count on them to go to Astor. But now, when they all seemed relatively intact, he’d worried that they would immediately wish to return to their homes and families.

  Strangely enough, Hawk didn’t feel the urge to go to his home either. His eyes flew to the back of Hadley’s golden red hair. She walked a distance away, arms crossed in front of her, as she studied the ground. Resisting the urge to follow in her wake, he turned to his men. Why were they not all half-dead
?

  He could still remember the day, over two centuries ago, when he’d sworn the blood oath to keep Zamara safe. They all had. That very oath should have made it impossible for them to leave her without becoming nearly dead. He’d seen members of his people shrivel into nothing more than stumps for the betrayal of a blood oath. Yet here he stood as if nothing had gone wrong and Zamara stood next to him.

  “We’ve left the Princess behind and while the physical manifestations we all anticipated have not happened, I hope you will join me in vowing today to not let this be the end. We will recover the Princess and our men who are losing themselves in that place, and return here together. We have a day’s journey ahead of us and already the sun sets. So let’s make way in the direction of my parents’ home and spend the night there.”

  Stone stepped forward. “Lady Hadley, might I assist you on the road? It is a treacherous journey and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

  She smiled briefly before the show of happiness wobbled and disappeared as she stepped forward. Inside Hawk roared. No one should be helping her with anything but him. He’d gone and gotten her and he’d brought her here. She was his to protect. But he didn’t dare interfere in his men’s relationship with her. Until they deposited her at Astor for the Royal Family to either cure or let die, he needed them all to care what happened to her.

  Trying visibly not to flinch when she took Stone’s hand, Hawk marched ahead of the group, hoping his mother wouldn’t care that he’d arrived home with twelve hungry men and a soon-to-be dead member of the royal family.

  Of course, the King of the guard might end Hawk’s life as well for leaving Princess Zamara behind. But he wouldn’t blame the guard King for that. He just hoped whomever they sent to replace him did a better job than he had done at retrieving her. He should have never been sent out as prince of guards two centuries ago. He was not ready for the task.