by Linda Palmer
Chapter Six
Home Again
I dropped straight into endless night. Praying I'd been vanquished to a place as harmless as Bingo Land, I endured a roller-coaster ride that abruptly ended when my feet touched solid ground.
"Airborne aardvarks! What the heck was that?"
Before I could tell Matt I didn't have a clue, every cell in my body zinged to life. Familiar scents assaulted me—damp earth, green grass, fragrant flowers. I felt peace, tinged with fleeting giddiness.
Home.
Oh, not Pringle's. Never Pringle's. But home all the same. A canopy of brilliant blue sky arced over a forest and distant mountains. I heard the sweet song of an algoran, perched in a nearby bagowan tree.
Algoran? Bagowan?
Amazing, dreadful memories instantly began downloading into my brain, stealing my breath, shattering my composure. I cringed under the weight of all that truth.
"Alleana...?"
Jor. With a gasp of ultimate realization, I rounded on him. "Jor M'Andadune Antorius, what have you done?" I swung my fist just as I'd done last night, a world away. When he easily ducked the punch and grabbed my wrists, I kicked him in the shin. Hard.
Vivid images of my past now flashed rapidly before my eyes. I relived a day eleven years ago when none other than Jor sentenced me to life on earth without a shred of Balmythran memories.
As the implications of his crime registered, my knees gave way, and I collapsed onto the grass. I struggled to keep my cool, but knowledge of what I'd missed quickly got the best of me. My eyes brimmed. Tears splashed onto my hot cheeks. "How could you do it?"
Jor tried to answer the Balmythran way—without words. I instinctively resisted that familiar mental nudge even though it would only be a superficial breach. Wanting all my thoughts to be safe from him, I deliberately locked him out of my head.
"He did it to both of us, and I'm glad he did. What a ride, huh?" Matt swayed as he rose from the grass where he'd landed, a few feet away. He wore a dopey grin on his face; his eyes, one still shadowed by the bluish-green bruise, appeared unfocused.
"You don't get it." Though I knew Matt suffered from aftereffects of our crazy ride, I wanted to kick him, too. "Jor stole my life from me. I’ve missed s-so m-much...” I abruptly lost it and began crying like a baby.
"Leah?" Though Matt swayed on his feet, he still managed to get right in Jor's face. “What'd you do to her?”
Jor stepped back even though he was a couple of inches taller and just as strong. "She's remembering. Er, you might want to sit down. It takes several minutes for the Xephyr Stream’s effects to wear off."
"The zebra what...?" Matt scanned the area, probably for a horse with black stripes.
"Xephyr." Jor sounded impatient. "Xephyr Stream."
Matt blinked several times, his eyes darting from left to right. He seemed to doubt what he was seeing and more than once had to quickstep to keep his balance.
Jor pointed to the grass. "Sit before you fall."
Matt did. Meanwhile, I managed to get a grip of sorts, though a sob or two still got out. I wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my tee.
"So you're saying a wind brought us here?" Matt asked.
I tried to explain. "You're thinking of zephyr with a Z. This is Xephyr with an X. They sound the same, but they're not."
Jor nodded. "The stream is a psychic force."
"Ah. Um, Leah? Where’s that brand new brother of yours?"
"Rocc!" Scrambling to my feet, I charged Jor once more, backing him against the giant trunk of the bagowan tree. "What have you done with him?"
"Nothing. I sensed another presence, probably Dagonel, and threw you into the Stream. Rocc should've followed."
I grabbed a handful of Jor's shirt, right above his heart. "You sensed the what?"
"Dragonel." Matt said it as if he actually knew.
Jor shot him a hard look. "The Dagonel. Our enemy, Alleana. I felt them in that shed." He sighed. "There's so much you don’t know."
"Beginning with whose side you're on."
My comment actually seemed to hurt him. "How can you wonder?"
"Because of what you did to me and what the voices said."
Jor tensed. "What voices?"
"Let's just say that the four of us weren't alone in the shed."
Frowning, Jor turned to Matt. "Did you hear anyone?"
"Can't. They're inside her head." A nanosecond later he seemed to think better of his reply and gave me a sheepish shrug. I answered it with a withering glare designed to shut him up until he could think straight. Jor stared me down. Once again I felt that mental prod and once again I resisted it.
"How long has this been going on?"
As if I'd tell him. "What difference does it make?"
"I think you might've heard who or whatever is behind the Dagonel. Our enemies are way too stupid to be a threat on their own. And though I've been trying to penetrate their mind shields for years and get to the source of the evil, I've had no luck. And now you tell me this."
Jor was clearly in awe of something I hadn't consciously done. Was it real or an attempt to flatter me? "Who or what are the Dagonel?"
Jor opened his mouth to answer, but never got the chance before Matt jumped up and wedged himself between us, facing me. "No one's telling anyone anything until you tell me where we are." His gaze, much clearer now, nailed me to the spot.
I felt awful for him. "I don't know where to begin...."
He huffed his exasperation. "Maybe this will help, Dorothy. I know we’re not in Kansas anymore." Matt seemed calm enough, all things considered, but why wouldn't he? Jor wore his earth clothes at the moment, and there were no Balmythran citizens or buildings in sight. We really could've been in Kansas.
"Dorothy?" Jor was obviously baffled.
I ignored him. "We're in Balmythra, which is where I'm from. It's a totally different, um, world, I guess you'd say."
Matt blinked. "Then there's no hidden camera?"
I shook my head. "Sorry. It's all real."
"O-kaay." He swallowed hard. "So this dude is from Balmythra; you’re from Balmythra; Rocc, who really is your bro, is from Balmythra; and somehow we just magically landed here in Balmythra. Er, how am I doing?"
"Great, but it wasn’t magic at all," I told him. "It was the Xephyr Stream, just like we said."
"I’m listening."
"That’s a sort of a connecting point between this world and earth. They both pulsate, and when those pulses bounce against each other, a psychic bridge called the Xephyr Stream is formed."
"So we're on another planet."
"No. Balmythra and earth share the same space."
"I see," Matt said, though he clearly didn't. He glanced uncertainly from me to Jor, and then to me again. "Well, it's been great and all, but I think I’ll be going back now."
My gaze locked with Jor's for a second before shifting to my pale friend. "Look, Matt, I know you're a little weirded out—"
"Ha!"
"—and I understand why. But if I remember right, it's not that easy to get back to your world."
"My world? You've deserted earth already?"
"Of course not. I just—"
Matt halted me with a raised hand. "Listen, you're right about me being wigged out. I totally am, which is why I want to go back to Pringle’s, where I know what to expect and who to watch out for."
"But Balmythra is an amazing place." I playfully tugged the sleeve of his T-shirt to lighten the mood. "Way cooler than earth. I really think you'll be happy here if you give it half a chance. I'd have missed it terribly while I was stuck at Pringle's if I'd only remembered it."
"The exact reason I erased your memories." Jor stuck his fingertips in the front pockets of his jeans. "I wanted to keep you safe and far from pain."
I glared him into silence. "Excuse me if I never trust you again. Not that I don’t appreciate the rescue. I do." I shuddered, only vaguely recalling the events of that day so long ago. I remembered some kin
d of monster stalking me—a monster whose face kept changing—or was that just a childhood nightmare blurring my reality? "Now where is Rocc? And don't you dare tell me you don't know, because I'll never believe it."
"But I don't. I swear. The moment I sensed something wasn't right in the shed, I pushed you into the Stream and then jumped in, myself. If you heard those voices, you surely picked up on the danger."
"Maybe; maybe not. How can you be sure they're controlling these Dagonel if you can't hear them yourself?"
"They've scared you every time you've heard them, haven't they?" Matt seemed to agree with Jor on this. "That's a dang good clue they might be the enemy."
Jor wasn't thrilled by that news. "You've heard them more than once?"
"Yes. But the first time I was in Bingo Land." I stared at a root snaking out from the bagowan tree while I thought about my experience. "Oh my God. I was in stasis."
"When?" asked Jor.
"At the carnival, after you stuck us in that stupid coffin, Matt and I wound up in a very weird place. I heard four voices and got the feeling they were trying to kidnap me."
Jor's shoulders sagged. "So that's what happened. We wondered what had gone wrong. I don't understand why I didn't feel them at the fair."
"I'm very curious about what happened at the magic show," said Matt. "First off, how'd you even know we'd be there?"
"Rocc and I had been psychically spying on Leah all week. You talked about the fair and the magician a lot, so we went there, too. Once I was sure you were actually headed to the tent, I set our plan in motion."
"Which was?" I prompted.
"I'd get rid of the real magician and take his place so I could send you into stasis where Rocc was waiting. I didn't realize you never made it there until I did my disappearing act as M'jorca. Naturally Rocc and I began looking for you. I found you with your friends not long after. I think you saw me."
I sure had.
Jor sighed. "Rocc and I must've been followed. I'm sorry. I had no idea I put you in such danger."
I wanted to believe his concern, but how could I after what I'd heard about him?
Oblivious to my worries, Jor kept talking. "What I don't understand is why they didn't take you then."
"How should I know?" I was deliberately evasive. I'd told him enough for now. I needed to sort through the carnival scene before I said more. It had pretty much crystallized in my mind, every little detail sharp and fresh. "I bumped into someone on my way to the coffin and got a weird vibe. It must have been one of the Dagonel."
Jor scoffed at that. "If a Dagonel had been in the crowd, I'd definitely have sensed it."
"Or not." Matt seemed peeved at being left out of the conversation. "Should we be standing around like this?" His gaze shifted from the two of us to some brush that could easily hide the enemy. "I mean if there are perps out to get Leah, shouldn’t we take cover?"
"We're safe here until the effects of the Stream wear off," Jor told him. "Exhilaration isn't the only side effect of Xephyr travel. We'll be unavailable to mind searches for almost an hour."
"Mind searches?" Matt's eyes widened. "Listen, guys, I need some answers, and I need them now."
"Then ask your questions," said Jor.
Matt gave him a dirty look, but forged ahead. "How was it Leah got the best of you and Rocc last night? And what about these powers of yours? Are you the superhero of this world? And why are these creeps after Leah in the first place? Also, why did you think I have noble blood...or were you just BS-ing us?"
I groaned. "Geez, Matt. Can we please just give you an IOU? I swear I'll tell you everything, but right now I really need my brother." When Matt nodded reluctantly, I turned to Jor. "Could the Dagonel have him?"
Jor sighed his exasperation. "Alleana, I—"
"—don’t know. So you said." I fumbled through my brain for a solution, and then slapped my palm to my forehead. "Duh. We’ll ask my mom. I’m so used to not having parents that I almost forgot what a help she’ll be. The Guardian can locate anyone."
"You’ve got parents?" Matt had never looked so startled.
I felt bad for him all over again. "Yeah. I was only an orphan at Pringle's." I closed my eyes and focused inward for a second or two. When I felt nothing, I turned to Jor for answers. "Why can’t I sense my parents? For that matter, why can't they sense me? Shouldn't they be here already? It's been eleven years, after all."
Jor cleared his throat and wouldn't meet my gaze.
I pressed him. "Are we having solar flares?"
"I think you're forgetting what I just told Matt about the Xephyr Stream's protective aftereffects."
"Oh yeah. I did forget." Since I had no memory of coming out of the Stream before, I had to accept that. So why did Jor's manner send up a red flag? And why did I get the feeling he was trying to connect with me mentally yet again? It was like a mild nudge to my brain every time he did it, and I wanted him to stop until I was thinking straight.
I peeked at Matt's watch and saw it was three o'clock. But the Balmythran sun told a different story—high noon. Had we gone forwards or backwards in time? "We need to go to Vannarius now. I really, really want to see my parents."
Jor shook his head. "Too far."
Matt caught my eye. "Vannarius?"
"Where my home is." I shifted my gaze back to Jor. "How about Kalmitrius, then?" I checked to see where the mountains were. "This is the Palmandarius region, right? We can easily psifly from here."
"Did you say sci-fi?"
I spelled the word for Matt even as Jor caught me firmly by the hand. Clearly he didn't intend for me to go anywhere. "That's way too dangerous. Things have changed while you were gone, Alleana. We’ve got big problems."