by Kira Stüssy
Ash paused momentarily to look back at his friend, fake sympathy lighting his eyes, “Yes, yes, we appreciate the immense effort you put forth in picking up those three sticks. But Mira here is going to gain her Knowledge in less than an hour. Therefore, there is no time to dawdle. We must get her to the Courts.”
“Less than an hour?”
“This has been clarified. Yes, less than an hour.” I could almost see the impatience rolling off Ash in burning waves as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. He gestured for me to come with him into the thickness of the woods. “Now let’s go.”
“Saying ‘please’ never hurts.” I muttered softly enough that neither of them could hear and trailed after Ash with Erion closely behind. I noticed that this must be a common formation for these two: Ash in the lead with their retrieved person in the middle and Erion pulling up the rear. Although I had only been in their company for a short amount of time, a strange feeling of security washed over me as I fell into step between them. They seemed to be well trained and accustomed to the type of scenarios I had experienced today. This wasn’t their first rodeo.
“So,” I started, unable to handle silence for long, “where is this Nostos of which you speak?”
“It’s not on human maps,” Ash replied, not turning his head to call back to me. He had out a twig-like knife, much like the ones Bram had wielded against Rezza and Wiley, and whacked his way through the dense undergrowth of the forest. The strange knives turned out to be oddly effective, despite their appearance, and we made strangely good time. The night air had fallen to its darkest by now and the only source of light came from the luminescent moon. I thanked God that tonight blessed us with clear skies and allowed the silvery light to shine our way through the trees. As we moved, I was awestruck by the weightless way in which the boys floated through the woods; as if their feet never even touched the ground. I, on the other hand, trudged clumsily in comparison. My feet stomped on small shrubs and broke the millions of twigs scattered across the forest floor. I winced with every step I took, hearing the deafening crunch of dead leaves break beneath my shoes. I hoped no predatory animals happened to be stalking this part of the woods, because by the way I was walking, I might as well have held a blinking neon sign over my head that announcedEAT HERE.
“We need to get to a wide open clearing in order to travel,” Erion supplied from behind, “portals take quite a bit of space.”
“Portals?” I scoffed, although it didn’t sound too out of place among the other things Ash had explained to me earlier, “I’m actually unimpressed.”
“Unimpressed?” Ash blanched.
“Yeah, I was expecting a unicorn ride or, better yet, a dragon.”
“Sarcasm is unbecoming,” Erion murmured.
But Ash burst out laughing, “I’m sorry that our mode of magical transportation doesn’t live up to your expectations. I’m sure we can find a way to get you that dragon ride some other time though, if it would please you?”
“I suppose that’ll do.”
Erion snorted.
Ash cleared the way with surprising speed, allowing us to cover more ground in a shorter amount of time than I thought possible. Part of me remained paranoid that someone was following us through the forest and that Wiley would step out from behind a tree at any moment and kidnap me again. I glanced back at Erion and saw him holding a wooden weapon of his own, raised and eyes wary. Nothing would be getting past these two, even though they might be odder than your average person.
Fifteen minutes later, we emerged from the tree line and into a wide, open meadow, a sizable break in the dense forest. The clearing formed an almost perfect circle, the grass clad ground flat and without shrubbery. The night sky glistened with thousands of stars that shone like diamonds in charcoal. The ocean air whipped lightly against my goose bump covered flesh, the chill causing me to rub my hands up and down my bare arms. I was still very aware of the fact that I still wore my thin party dress which was now filthy and torn from running all over town and then stomping through the woods. My birthday party seemed like years ago even though it had really been only hours.
Ash and I stood side by side as Erion jogged to the center of the clearing. He knelt down and pulled a small object out of his back jeans pocket. He pinched it between his fingers for a moment, giving me a chance to observe more closely. The item was a small sphere, with a texture similar to marble. The color indistinct and a sort of murky fog slithered along the surface. Erion placed the ball into the grass and whispered something so softly that I couldn’t hear him. He then dashed back over to where we stood.
I had been so entranced by the scene with Erion that I didn’t notice that Ash had leaned over to whisper into my ear, “Watch this. The next part is when it gets interesting.” I was about to reply that I was already watching but then the center of the clearing exploded. A shimmering dome erupted from the spot where Erion had placed the marble-like object, spanning about fifty feet wide in diameter. I gazed up in awe at the expanded version of the unclear sphere Erion had just carried in his hand merely moments before. The murky surface began to form into more distinct shapes, and I watched as a lovely picture painted itself before my eyes. Soon, the fog dissipated and, presented now before us, lied the scenery of a land of rolling hills and flowing streams. The picture tinged with an electric blue, the same color that Wiley’s eyes flashed when he blinded Caspian and Bram back at my house. The moon shone across the alien place the portal displayed, casting elegant shadows across the entire scene. I could see an ancient castle in the distance, overlooking the land regally, like watching something on television. Intense longing tugged at my heart, urging me to step through the portal and enter the magical land that waited only feet away from where I stood. I tensed, ready to take that first step when a strong hand rested on my upper arm. I glanced up to see Ash staring stoically at the portal. A distinct look of importance crossed his gaze, letting me know that he knew exactly what he was doing.
He tore his gaze away reluctantly to look Erion in the eye, “On three?” Erion nodded and Ash continued, “On your count, chap.”
Erion cleared his throat and placed a firm hand on Ash’s shoulder, “One…two…”
Before he finished even the second number Ash tightened his grip on my arm and surged toward the shimmery blue surface of the portal, dragging me along with him. I barely caught Erion’s stream of curses toward Ash before the portal swallowed us up into darkness.
Chapter 4
When the surface of the portal touched my skin, the sensation of buckets of icy cold water enveloped my body. I wanted to cry out in shock and discomfort but failed to find my voice amidst the void I had been tossed like a salad into. Only blackness existed, everywhere in sight. I felt my body be whipped and thrown around, causing an uneasy dizziness to come over me. I wondered if this was how it would feel to be put in a blender on full blast; I suddenly felt sympathetic towards fruit and promised to never make another smoothie again. Numb and lost in a dreamlike state. My only source of reality remained to be the desperate hold Ash managed to keep on my arm and I could feel the strange heat that radiated from his skin sear into my flesh.
Finally, the darkness began to fade, and stars started to fill the air around me. I knew gravity had regained its power over me when I felt my body transfer into a distinctly freefall state. There was a single moment of serenity as I fell through the silvery night air, a moment when I believed that nothing could touch me. Nothing could hurt me. That moment abruptly, and ironically, ended when I crashed into hard ground with a painful thump. I moaned, my body screaming at me achingly.
I heard two more crashes from a couple of feet away along with a frustrated growl, “Will you get off of me?”
I propped myself up onto my elbow, and with a quick look around, caught sight of the two boys a few feet to my right. I stifled a laugh as I took in the situation. Erion splayed out on his back, his blue-tinged wings spread out behind him, with Ash seated cross legged
on his chest. Erion’s lips curled into a snarl as he squirmed beneath Ash’s weight, but he failed to make much progress. Ash stuck out his lower lip in a pouting fashion.
“But I just got comfy.”
With a labored grunt, Erion used all of his might to flip onto his side, causing Ash to topple to the ground. Never failing to be graceful, Ash rolled once and then used the momentum to bring himself to his feet, his powerful black wings being of major assistance. Erion stood up after him, muttering and brushing off his dirt dusted pants. Ash reached down to give me a hand. I ignored the offer, determined to do something for myself. My limbs ached from the impact but they didn’t need to know that. I eased up to my feet, trying not to think about the pain. My bones cracked with every tiny movement, the sound of feet on eggshells.
Ash’s dark eyes twinkled with amusement as he looked away from me. He spun on his heel and threw his arms out wide in a presenting manner, “Welcome to Nostos.”
I blinked and took in the view. We had landed atop a grassy hill that overlooked the entire land we saw earlier through the glass-like surface of the portal. In front of us, an expansive meadow of grass and brilliantly colored flowers, of which I did not recognize, danced in the breeze. They seemed to glow even in the midnight air in an unnatural, but lovely way. A small gurgling creek ran past their petals and stems, leading to the previously seen castle in the distance. Small cottages dotted the vast meadow in a seemingly random manner. They were constructed of plaster with sturdy roofs of thatch. They vaguely reminded me of the humble place sleeping beauty had been sent to live with the three good fairies until her sixteenth birthday. Behind the castle, I could see the high canopy of a lively forest, whose green foliage was visible from this distance. The sight was even more majestic in person.
But the sights on either side of me induced awe most unexpected.
I whirled around in a complete circle, still absorbing the fantastical view. The realization dawned on me then that the hill we were perched upon was a centralized point between the four varying sections of land. It was as if someone had chosen the hill and then divided the land around it into four equal portions. With all the majestic castles and twinkling lights, I felt suddenly overloaded and exhausted.
To my left lied a desert-like landscape of red rock and sand. A beauty thrust upon it, very different from the streams and wildlife beside it. The sky over the desert painted a deep indigo, but that is not what caught my attention. Bright, blue, electric. Strikes of lightning shot across the sky in an ongoing storm. The bolts were vibrant and clearly forceful but somehow I did not feel threatened by the cobalt flashes. The desert was interrupted by organized rows of box-like houses made of material that reminded me of tin foil; the blue lightning shone brilliantly across the reflective surfaces. Beyond the desert and rocks, another castle regally stood. This one shimmered, as if made of glass. Rather than appearing to have been stolen straight out of a fairytale, like the one across the meadow seemed to be, this one looked modern and boxy.
The area on my right revealed another landscape of it’s own variation. Here, whimsical trees could be seen for far distances, resembling weeping willow trees but with leaves that sparkled in the moonlight like fireflies. I felt my sharp intake of breath scratch my throat as I realized the grass was not the typical shade of green but, in fact, a luminescent silver. The stars twinkled extra bright, casting their lovely glow down onto the world. Here, the homes were circular and, like everything else, seemed to shimmer. The homes did not appear to have ceilings and I wondered how the residents did not freeze to death during the winter months. Across the field of glistening plants lied yet another palace, this one glowing softly in the rich night with sparkling vines creeping along its walls. As I gazed over there, a mild wind blew from that direction, bringing with it the sound of a thousand whispering voices. I shook my head, sure it had been only my imagination.
I pivoted on my heel to face the space behind me, curious as to what my eyes would discover and I was immediately taken aback by what met me there. The sky remained unaffected by the silvery moon that hung directly above the hill on which the three of us stood. Instead, it was a tone of opaqueness that implied no light had ever touched that portion of land. I don’t know how I managed to do so, but somehow I was able to navigate the black land, seeing everything as if it was in broad daylight. I saw sheer cliffs above a raging sea. I saw wind scorned trees with crows on their branches. The houses here seemed strangely similar to the type back home, with regular windows and doors and made of wood. Corporate buildings scraped the night sky, a New York seeped in gray. The castle in the distance was designed in a clearly gothic style. But the major difference between this place and the other three was that this one teemed with activity and people. Lots of them, young and old, talking and laughing and going about normal day-to-day life activities such as hanging clothes up to dry and children playing in the roads. All in pitch darkness. “What do you think?”
I tilted my head up to look Ash in the eye. He wore a solemn expression that I could not decipher. “It’s beautiful.” I said.
He smiled but his eyes remained serious, “Are you alright? This must be a lot to take in.”
I blinked in surprise at his earnestness. I searched his face for any cracks in his legitimacy and found none. But as I opened my mouth to respond, Erion cut me off, “Shall we?”
Ash looked away from me and offered Erion a toothy grin, his moment of seriousness vanishing completely, “We shall.” He then strode to the very peak of the hill, which only lay about twenty feet above us considering the small size of the mound, and spoke again, this time an air of authority thickened his already accented voice, “Permission to enter the Nostosian Courts, Ash Brentwood, Elemental and Erion Wilmot, Elemental; both of the Legion with rank of soldier, escorting Mirabelle Durrant of the human realm by orders of the Council itself.”
Durrant?
A mistake? A joke? It would be the lamest joke one could think up, but maybe? But he spoke it with undeniable authority, there was absolutely no way he could be wrong. What he said was a fact, not a suggestion or guess. But why then, would this boy claim my name to be Durrant, when my name is Mirabelle Daily?
There was no time for me to think any longer on the subject. As soon as his voice faded away into the wind, the ground at the top of the hill began to peel open like a Ziploc baggie. Awestruck, I climbed the few feet that separated Erion and I from Ash, joining him where he stood in the center of the hill. Where there had just been solid ground, a tunnel now existed with a steep set of stairs made from compacted earth. The stairs led underground into darkness.
“Ladies first,” Ash motioned for me to proceed down into the hole. I gulped and considered running away; now would be the time. But I knew there was truly nowhere for me to run to. According to Erion and Ash, we had entered a totally different dimension, so my best bet would be to go along with whatever they told me to do. With a raggedy breath, I placed the toe of my shoe tentatively onto the top step of the staircase, sure it would crumble beneath my weight. To my surprise, it held steady and even seemed securely firm. I heard Erion let out an impatient sigh and I decided to pick up the speed. The last thing I wanted was for these two to think I scared easily. Now was the time to put on my big girl pants and suck it up, for my own good. I only paused as the opaqueness enveloped me, but all I had to do was blink once for my eyes to adjust and then I continued. Nighttime, or really darkness in general, had never really bothered me. My eyes have always been able to adapt swiftly to changes in light, allowing for darkness to be nothing of a hindrance. I suspect my love for carrots contributes greatly to this ability.
I heard a short scuffle followed by the sliding of dirt and a soft, “Oof!” I glanced back to see Erion seated on his butt with an expression of shocked anger. Ash, who had been walking right behind me appeared victorious, a broad grin illuminating the cavern.
Erion stood and stomped after us unsteadily, obviously deterred by the dark, “Just bec
ause I can’t see anything doesn’t mean I’m bloody stupid. Ash, did you really just trip me?”
“It was a training exercise my friend, you must always expect the unexpected.” Another “Oof” followed but this time I knew it was Ash who gasped.
“What was that about expecting the unexpected?” Erion sounded triumphant as I looked back to see Ash standing up this time. I wondered if the two of them always acted so much like children. Something told me they did.
“Well played.”
The stairs went down, and down, longer than I ever would have anticipated. Everything in sight was sculpted from soil and it was purely miraculous to me that the ceiling didn’t cave in on us the deeper we tread. The idea of being trapped forever beneath the ground made me fidgety and I bit my lip subconsciously until the pressure of my teeth broke skin and I tasted the tang of blood. The boys moved slower down the steps than I did, having a more difficult time dealing with the lack of light. There was a dirt crafted hand rail on the near wall that the boys had to use for support and guidance as their vision was not as well adapted as mine. I felt somewhat proud to know that in this area at least, I had the clear advantage over them.
Just when I thought the stairway would never cease to provide new steps, my foot came upon flat ground. We entered a small foyer type space with a tunnel looming up ahead. The cavern flickered with energetic light that told me torches lit the way from here on out. Ash and Erion now moved ahead of me, explaining that when we entered the Court, this was the proper formation. My stomach curled into knots at the thought of being presented in front of this mysterious Council. Erion briefly explained that the Council was the group that resided in the Courts. They were the ones who made all of the decisions in Nostos.
I picked up my stride to match Ash’s, pulling up closer to where he stood, “So, why exactly did you bring me here? To the Courts I mean.”