by Clayton Wood
Kyle turned back to Darius, nodding slightly in thanks. The man just stared at him, not so much as blinking. Kyle squirmed in his seat, lowering his gaze to his lap.
"A farmer found you lying in the road three miles from here, as near to death as he'd ever seen," Kalibar continued. "He brought you here, to Bellingham, and Darius brought you to me." He frowned, leaning back in his chair. "And now I need to decide what I should do with you."
"Uh," Kyle mumbled. "...where am I?"
"You're in my home," Kalibar answered. "In a small town called Bellingham, east of Stridon."
Kyle stared blankly at Kalibar.
"Stridon, the capitol of the Empire," Kalibar continued. When Kyle’s expression didn’t change, Kalibar's brow furrowed. "On Doma," he added. Kyle just shrugged helplessly. Kalibar's eyes narrowed. "Interesting," he murmured.
"Maybe he's slow," Darius offered.
"I'm not slow," Kyle protested, blushing furiously. Darius hardly appeared convinced.
"Yes, well," Kalibar interjected. "We'll have time to decide that later. I have an important matter to attend to." He stood up then, nodding at Darius. "Darius, please escort Kyle back to his room."
Darius rose from his chair in one fluid motion, then grabbed Kyle's arm, yanking him up out of his chair. The motion sent pain shooting down Kyle's back; he cried out, and tried to pull his arm free. But Darius's grip was incredibly strong, and resisting only made the pain in Kyle's back worse. He glared at the bodyguard, feeling a red-hot flash of anger at the brute. Darius ignored the look, pulling Kyle out of the room and back down the hallway, then up the stairs to the bedroom.
“Sit,” Darius commanded, shoving Kyle toward the bed. Kyle grit his teeth, but walked up to the bed and sat down gingerly. “Stay,” Darius ordered, and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Kyle glared at the closed door, seething with indignation.
I'm not a dog, you jerk!
He sat there for a long moment, the throbbing pain in his back fading slowly. Then he sighed, scooting up the bed carefully, then laying on his side. It felt surprisingly good to lie down; the short visit downstairs had taken more out of him than he'd realized. He laid there, thinking back to what Kalibar had said.
How could he not know where Earth was?
Kyle glanced down, spotting something glittering on his left thumb. It was his ring, he realized; the ring his father had given him. He wondered if Dad was looking for him back home. Dad had to be looking for him...a whole day had passed already. Dad had probably reported him missing. The police had to be scouring his neighborhood right now, searching for him. Worrying that he'd been kidnapped...or worse.
Kyle felt a lump in his throat, and clutched his left thumb to his chest, feeling his heart thumping there.
There was a knock at the door, and Kyle flinched, sitting up with some difficulty.
"Come in," he called out.
The door opened, and Kalibar walked through, closing the door behind him. He pulled a chair out from the desk nearby, sitting down across from Kyle.
"How are you feeling, Kyle?" he asked. Kyle stared back at the man mutely, not sure quite how to answer the question. Kalibar regarded Kyle wordlessly, a kind smile on his face. The silence stretched on for some time, making Kyle more and more uneasy.
"Lost," he answered at last.
"I can only image how you must feel," Kalibar replied. "Waking up in a strange place, in pain." He gestured at Kyle. "How are your wounds?"
"They hurt," Kyle admitted.
"Here," Kalibar stated, turning about to grab a glass of pale green liquid from the desk. He leaned over to hand it to Kyle. "Drink this."
"What is it?" Kyle asked, sniffing it. It smelled faintly sweet.
"Tea," Kalibar replied. "It'll help with the pain." When Kyle hesitated, Kalibar smirked. "It's not poison," he reassured. "I wouldn't go through all the trouble of saving your life just to kill you."
Kyle had to smile at that, and he took a small sip of the tea. It was quite delicious, with a hint of apple. He took a big gulp, the cool liquid soothing his parched throat. He was about to take a second gulp when Kalibar lunged forward to stop him, snatching the glass out of his hand.
"Careful," he warned. "It's...potent medicine."
"Sorry," Kyle mumbled. "Just thirsty I guess."
"You've lost a lot of blood," Kalibar explained. He set the glass back on the desk, then turned to Kyle. "What happened to you?" Kyle paused, then shrugged.
"I was attacked by something," he answered. He was about to say more, but Kalibar put up one hand.
"Tell me from the very beginning," he requested.
"The beginning?"
"Yes," Kalibar confirmed. "Start with how you got...lost."
Kyle frowned, unsure of how to proceed. Kalibar clearly had never heard of Earth, and the trees Kyle had seen in the forest earlier...there were no trees like that anywhere back home. But if he so much as hinted that he might be from another planet, Kalibar would think he was crazy.
Maybe I am crazy, he thought.
"I'm not sure," Kyle answered at last. "I was at my Dad's house," he continued. "...and I fell asleep for a nap." He described waking up to find himself hurtling through space, then landing on the forest floor. The words kept spilling out, and once they did, Kyle found that he couldn't stop. He told Kalibar everything, all the way up to the point where he'd woken up in this very room. When he'd finished, Kalibar turned to stare out of the bedroom window. At length, he sighed.
"That," he murmured, "...is an interesting story."
"It's not a story," Kyle countered, feeling a flash of righteous indignation. "It really happened!"
"Yes, well," Kalibar stated. "If so, how you managed to live through all of that is beyond me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well for starters, the vines you described are called 'rip-vines,'" Kalibar answered. "Once touched, they wrap themselves around their prey, sinking their roots into the flesh, slowly digesting their victims.”
The blood drained from Kyle's face. He glanced at his left calf, remembering the little white things burrowing into his skin.
“And they don't have a habit of spontaneously dying,” Kalibar continued dryly. “Because dying is the only thing that would ever stop a rip-vine. The same for the Ulfar – the animal that chased you.” Kalibar gestured at Kyle. "Your wounds were hardly fatal, but Ulfars' saliva prevents blood from clotting...that's why you almost bled to death."
"Oh."
"You're lucky there was only one," Kalibar continued. "They usually hunt in packs."
"So you believe me?" Kyle asked, daring to hope. Kalibar nodded.
"I think I do."
Kyle felt a wave of relief, and couldn't help breaking out into a smile. He felt almost giddy, in fact. For some reason, Kalibar smirked.
"How is your pain now?" he asked. Kyle twisted his back slowly, and to his surprise there was only a faint twinge.
"Much better."
"The tea is working," Kalibar observed. Kyle glanced at the glass of tea on the desk. He was a bit woozy, but in an indescribably good way. He realized that he was still grinning rather stupidly, and tried to compose himself.
"Now," Kalibar stated, "...where was it you said you were from again?"
"Earth," Kyle replied.
"Ah yes," Kalibar murmured. "And what is Urth, exactly?"
Kyle tried not to laugh, and failed miserably, a loud snort blowing through his nostrils. He covered his nose and mouth with his hands, staring at Kalibar in horror. But the look of confusion on the old man's face was priceless, and despite himself, Kyle burst out laughing again.
"What's so funny?" Kalibar asked, his voice oddly calm. Kyle shook his head, trying desperately to control himself. At length he succeeded.
"It's a planet," Kyle answered, rubbing an itch out of his nose. Kalibar's eyebrow rose.
"A planet," he echoed.
"Yeah," Kyle insisted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the
world. Which it was.
"And the...united states?" Kalibar asked.
"Of America," Kyle stated. "It's a country. The most powerful country in the world," he added rather proudly. Kalibar raised both eyebrows at that.
"Oh really," he murmured.
"Yup."
"And what continent is your country in?" Kalibar pressed.
"North America," Kyle answered. Kalibar's eyes narrowed.
"Kyle, how many continents are there?"
"Um," Kyle replied, "...seven."
Kalibar leaned back in his chair, cradling his chin in one hand and staring off into space. Then he blinked, settling his gaze back on Kyle.
“Well, thank you for your honesty,” he said at last, leaning forward and patting Kyle on the knee. Kyle smiled back; Kalibar had listened to him...truly listened, without always interrupting, like adults tended to do. He felt a sudden affection for the man.
“Kyle, you deserve my honesty,” Kalibar admitted, rubbing his palms together in front of him. "When Darius found you, I was more interested – at first – in your ring than I was in you."
"My ring?" Kyle asked, glancing down at his left thumb. "Why?"
“It is a...most unique runic device, as you must know. The tech...” He paused then, noting Kyle's blank stare. “You do know what a runic device is, don't you?”
"Um, no," Kyle admitted. Kalibar arched one eyebrow.
“Do you know what magic is?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure."
“Well, a runic device is an object that is infused with magic. This magic allows it to perform a particular function,” Kalibar explained. “Take your earring for example...its magic is very complicated. In fact, it is so complicated that no one has been able to make one for over two thousand years.”
Kyle stared silently at Kalibar, unable to keep a straight face. Magical earrings? How gullible did the old man think Kyle was? He'd stopped believing in magic and fairy tales years ago, after all. His stepfather had once said that magic was just a word people used to explain things they didn't understand. Then he'd added “...like reli-” and Mom had hit him so hard and so fast, he'd never finished the sentence. Kyle remembered them arguing for a long time afterward. Steve had never brought it up again.
“Why are you smirking?” Kalibar asked. He looked slightly perturbed. Kyle shook his head.
“Sorry, I just...well, I'm old enough to know that magic isn't real,” he confessed. Kalibar blinked.
“What do you mean?” he retorted. “Of course magic is real!”
“No it isn't," Kyle insisted.
“It most certainly is,” Kalibar stated heatedly. He stood from his chair then. “Come," he continued, standing up and offering one hand to Kyle. "Perhaps you need a demonstration!”
Chapter 4
The sun was at its peak in the sky, blazing brightly atop the trees outside Kalibar's massive mansion, its warm rays gently baking the earth. Kalibar had led Kyle downstairs and out of the house, walking across the huge backyard beyond. They'd passed dozens of people in the process; a maid busily mopping the floor, a pair of guards standing rigidly at the rear door of the property, and many more patrolling outside. More men worked the endless acres of farmland behind the mansion. If Kalibar really owned this mansion – and by the way everyone, including the armed guards, behaved around Kalibar, he most certainly did – then he was obviously filthy rich.
"So you own this whole place?" Kyle asked, glancing back at the mansion behind them. Two stories tall in some places, and up to four stories in others, the massive building was big enough to house a hundred people.
"I do," Kalibar replied. "I was...a man of some importance before I retired here, in Bellingham. I came here to get away from the distractions of the city, so that I could concentrate on my research."
"Your research?" Kyle pressed. Kalibar nodded.
"On the void mineral,” he clarified. “It's complicated," he added, noticing Kyle’s confused look. "In any case, I chose Bellingham because its people value privacy, and they respect mine.” He sighed. "For me, that is a rare luxury."
Kalibar fell silent then, and they continued down the dirt path past the seemingly endless fields of crops on either side. Eventually these gave way to the towering edge of the tree line beyond. The dirt path continued into this forest; tall trees lined the path as it curved this way and that, and in the distance Kyle could hear the gurgling of running water.
“I've lived here for almost six years,” Kalibar said, breaking the silence. “Rather uneventfully...until recently. When Darius brought you here...”
Kyle's expression immediately soured, and Kalibar smirked.
“I understand Darius is a bit...rough,” he stated. “But he came to me with the highest of recommendations." His smirk faded. "I hired him after someone tried to assassinate me." Kyle stopped in his tracks, and Kalibar did so as well.
"Wait, someone tried...?"
"...to assassinate me, yes," Kalibar confirmed. "About three weeks ago. They didn't do a very good job of it, obviously." He began walking again, and Kyle followed beside him. The path led to a small bridge that arched over a stream some ten feet wide. The stream was quite shallow, cutting through the forest with a merry, gushing, gurgling sound. Kyle spotted colorful rounded pebbles on the stream bed, with silver fish darting through the clear water. Kalibar turned to Kyle, gesturing at the stream.
"This is a tributary that feeds the Great River – the one you nearly drowned in this morning," he stated. Then he pointed with his other hand, toward a mountain far in the distance. "It, in turn, is fed by rainwater from that mountain." Kalibar paused for a moment, then spread his arms wide.
"Streams," he continued, "flow downhill toward rivers, and rivers flow downhill toward the sea." He paused then, staring intently at Kyle. "This is the way of things; the stream obeys the laws of nature."
Kyle nodded; he'd heard it all before in school, of course.
"And nature, in turn," Kalibar continued, his voice suddenly grim and powerful, "...obeys me."
Without warning, the waters of the stream rose upward above the smooth pebbles of the stream-bed, lifting slowly into the air. The water flowed through the air in a wide fan, tiny droplets flying outward from the main stream in all directions. The sun's rays shimmered through the water, sparkling brilliantly; small silver shapes darted through the hovering water, tiny fish swimming in their newly airborne channel. A faint blue glow surrounded the levitating stream, growing brighter as it rose higher and higher into the air.
Kyle gasped, staring in disbelief.
Suddenly, pebbles lifted up from the ground all around him, dead leaves and dirt following suit. Within seconds, a layer of forest floor debris was hovering at waist-level all around them. Kyle turned to the right, spotting a half-decayed log hovering a few feet above the ground next to him, rotating slowly in mid-air. Then he felt a sickening lurch, and his feet lifted off of the ground. He cried out, flailing his arms and legs wildly, but this only caused him to somersault forward in mid-air, until he was hovering upside-down. He looked down – or rather up – at his feet, and saw an endless expanse of blue beyond them. He screamed, terrified that that he would soar upward into that infinite abyss.
He continued to rotate until he was right-side-up, and moments later he descended back to terra firma. The levitating sea of leaves, dirt, and rocks around him descended as well, returning to their rightful place on the ground. Even the stream lowered itself to rest upon its bed once more, flowing merrily through its narrow channel as if nothing had happened.
"I assure you," Kalibar stated authoritatively, staring down at Kyle from where he stood a few feet away, "...that magic is quite real." A slight smirk played on the old man's lips.
"Whoa," Kyle breathed. Sweat trickled into his eyes, and he wiped it away, his hand trembling with the motion. Kalibar's eyes twinkled.
"Whoa indeed."
Kalibar turned toward the small bridge arching over the stream, stepping acro
ss it and gesturing for Kyle to follow alongside. Kyle did so, staring up at the man wordlessly. If Kalibar noticed, he didn't show it; he kept his eyes forward, on the path beyond the stream.
“So, we've established that magic is real,” Kalibar stated casually, as if nothing unusual had happened. “As I was saying earlier, your earring is powered by magic. Objects powered by magic are called runic devices, or runics," he added. "Your earring is actually over two thousand years old. They were very common in Ancient times.”
“Uh huh,” Kyle mumbled. He glanced back to look at the stream behind them, unable to believe what he'd just witnessed. It was impossible – magic didn't exist – but he'd seen it. He put a hand to his lips then; had Kalibar drugged him with that glass of tea, making him hallucinate?
“The Ancients last lived over two thousand years ago,” Kalibar continued. “They had formed a remarkable civilization that had endured for thousands of years. Their runic technology was far more advanced than it is today. Your earring is a relic of that time. It is relatively simple by Ancient standards, but today it is considered impossibly complex, and no one knows how it works.”
Kyle frowned, reaching up to feel the earring with one hand. It was impossible to deny that the earring did as Kalibar suggested. Kalibar's lips moved as if he were speaking a foreign language, but what came out was English. It was as if Kyle was living in a dubbed movie.
"Anyone trained in the use of magic can sense magic in other people, and objects," Kalibar lectured. "We can detect the strength and complexity of a runic device in this way. When I met you, I felt the presence of such a device.” With that, Kalibar pointed to Kyle's ring. It was still on Kyle's thumb, sparkling slightly in the sunlight. Kyle frowned.
“Wait, what?”
"Your ring," Kalibar explained. "It's magical."
"It can't be," Kyle countered, drawing his hand to his chest protectively. "My dad gave it to me." Whatever strange forces existed here, there was no magic on Earth...that was a scientific fact.