The loud footfalls of a large number of people approaching broke through his concentration, jerking him back to awareness.
An unknown woman’s shrill voice spoke into the silence surrounding him. “Pyranni. You dare to stay here in our village. After what your kind has done?”
Another woman’s voice entered the fray, screaming in despair. “My son is dead because of you. Little Bourie was only four years old. My son!”
The first voice wailed in raw grief, “My husband, gone.”
A third, deeper voice cried, “My wife slaughtered before my eyes. Disemboweled by a sword. A Pyranni.”
“My daughter’s head shorn from her body,” yelled a nasal voice, faceless in the dark.
More voices joined the first until all of them ran together, rising to a deafening volume. The impact of a medium-sized rock between his shoulder blades caught Skye unaware. He hadn’t heard or sensed anyone behind him. He was surrounded by the surviving villagers. Another rock glanced off his forehead. More people joined the small crowd. His gut told him his death was near. But he wouldn’t die without one last fight.
He curled his fingers into Eiren’s black fur before letting go. He had to move or she’d get hit and killed by the villagers’ rage. Shrinking his shoulders to make himself smaller, he sent regret through their link. He felt her answering rage and desperation. They both knew she couldn’t move, being so close to death as she was. Skye let his own rage boil up from its hidden place within his heart. The volatile emotion poured into him, giving him strength. Before he stood up in a low crouch, his left hand found the club in the pitch black.
He heard more people scream in pain and anger. “My home is gone. The God and Goddess curse you to oblivion.”
The endless voices came at him in a barrage of invisible enmity. Without warning, a broad piece of wood hit him, and he fell to his side in pain. Gritting his teeth, Skye didn’t stop moving as he let his momentum roll him back over onto his hands and knees. He made another attempt to stand and move away from Eiren.
As he stood up, he struck out with the club in the hope of connecting with someone. With a smack and a groan from the other end of the club, his arm vibrated from the strength of the blow. Again, Skye swung the club and grinned in triumph when he heard a high-pitch yelp. Trying to take advantage of the lull, he stumbled in the direction of the person he had hit with the hope of getting through the circle of villagers. He continued swinging and jabbing the club with practiced movements. Sometimes the weapon met success, while other swings met nothing but empty air.
An advancing scream from the side warned him. Skye adjusted his shoulders to swing the club to the right in a smooth motion, but it didn’t connect. Throughout it all, he felt Eiren’s presence, lending him what little strength she had left. She screamed in defiance every time he was hit with a jagged rock or piece of wood.
He couldn’t stop the gasp of pain when he took a fierce blow to his vulnerable spine. Another hit from the opposite direction quickly followed. The villagers began working in tandem. He was battered from punches, slaps, rocks, weapons. The weapons were the worst.
Skye was going to die at the hands of an angry mob. It was ironic, really. His life had changed from one of respect as a Pyranni warrior to one as an outcast victim of a Kurite village.
Eiren was wrong.
He wasn’t blessed.
He was cursed.
The mass of bodies tightened around him. His ears rang from their screams and blasphemous words as they surrounded him. He struck out, hitting two more people before he was almost brained from a blow to the head. Swimming stars dazzled his vision in the place of black. Skye kicked out his legs and connected with shins and knees. He fought like a caged animal.
A mysterious, piercing scream overpowered the shouts from the crowd around him. Its sheer force bounced around the cavern in ominous, unearthly echoes, unsettling the people around him. For a brief moment, the mob paused to take a breath. Although he couldn’t see, Skye felt the press of bodies lessen as they pushed away from him, searching for the intruder.
Silence fell as one person’s laugh filled the cavern. A hint of madness spiked the laugh, sounding possessed. The hair on the back of his neck rose while the mob shifted uneasily around him at the sinister noise.
Thankful for the distraction, he clenched his teeth together to stop a moan from escaping. The crowd was still dangerous in its current mood. Skye didn’t want to serve himself up if the villagers’ attention shifted back to him. Skye froze when he heard the people standing over him begin murmuring amongst themselves.
What was it they were seeing? For what had to be the hundredth time since entering the tunnels, Skye damned his sightless eyes.
A vaguely familiar voice lambasted the villagers. “How dare you. There are wounded scattered all around this horrid place. Yet you ignore their cries? Can’t you feel their pain, their anguish? They call to anyone who would answer, and you ignore their cries?” The woman’s righteous anger was magnificent as it echoed around the heads of the villagers. Some of the women broke down, crying in remorse, her words striking reason into their minds.
One man sputtered in defensive outrage, “Who are you to say what we should do?”
“Me? I’m nobody. Absolutely no one. But I at least have the decency to know that people die as you try to rid the depth of your despair with the death of another. Where is your honor? Your integrity? Where is your sense of right and wrong? Where is your humanity? One day you will regret your actions. And there will be nothing you can do to right your transgression. Your friends will be gone. Dead.”
Complete silence met her retort, then an outcry went up. Skye heard people fall to the ground as they prayed to the Goddess, asking for forgiveness. What was going on? Though heartfelt, Skye could not believe the woman’s words had the ability to change the villagers’ hearts to one of impassioned contrition. In growing confusion, he listened to one man’s awed disjointed comments. “Did my eyes see truly? Am I right to believe she vanished? My eyes have not deceived me?”
A softer and higher voice answered, “Yes. She disappeared. The Goddess sent her to stop us. Oh, my friends, the God and Goddess have blessed us with this timely warning.” At the woman’s prayer, others joined in recitation of a prayer. Some women cried, repenting for their actions. Skye was left in amazement as the villagers dispersed to assist their injured, leaving him on the ground. Not believing his ears, he stayed unmoving until he heard every footfall walk away.
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Lara woke up seething at the gall of the villagers. To leave their wounded lying in their own blood to bleed to death was inconceivable to her. People were dying because no one cared enough to patch their wounds. The wounded were dying with no one to hold their hands, letting them know they were not alone in their last few minutes of life.
She blinked back tears as she stared up at her bedroom ceiling. She’d felt the lives of the injured villagers vanish one blink at a time, almost as if a light switched off. The bed sheets crumpled in her clenched hands as she recalled the wash of pain and terror the gravely injured emitted to her. Their cries had gone unanswered by their friends and family. After being bombarded by the emotional upheaval from both sides of the battle, Lara knew she couldn’t stand by while people suffered.
She couldn’t believe she had had the guts to berate an angry mob of people. Lara took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She froze, then took another sniff. God. She stank like she’d never heard of the concept of soap and water. The aroma emanating from her was so rank, she gagged.
Her nose scrunched up and she breathed out a soft, “Yuck.” Breathing through her mouth. She threw off the covers.
To get a better view of herself, she used the tips of her fingers to peel the clothes away from her body. She grimaced at the sight. Although her clothes were still in one piece, they were covered with droplets of crusty blood and dirt. Lara looked like she hadn’t changed clothes in almost a week. Which, if she thought about it, was true.
Holding her breath, Lara rolled out of bed, trying not to get any of the dirt on the floor. Making sure the door and blinds were closed, she tore off her clothes in a cloud of dust and tossed them into her laundry basket. Lara made a mental note to do laundry this afternoon.
For a moment in the shower, she had to consider what day it was. She brooded while she shampooed her hair. By the time she finished her shower, lethargy weighed her down, her arms growing heavier by the minute. She stretched, releasing a long yawn. God, she could sleep for days.
She debated skipping class and going back to bed. Lara frowned. If she wanted a four point average this semester, she couldn’t afford to miss any more lectures. She dried her hair, and reminded herself this world was more important than the other.
Her first priority was to determine how she traveled back and forth. The second—to put a stop to it once and for all. She had had several close calls already. If she wasn’t careful, she’d die on the other planet. Lara had no idea how her death would look here on Earth. Would she really die here? She frowned at the thought. Lara didn’t want to die any time soon. She wanted to finish her degree and get a job that made actual money for a change. She planned to live a long, healthy life, and she didn’t think she could accomplish it while visiting the other world.
Her brush hit a snag in her hair, and Lara discovered a heavy case of guilt. As much as getting her degree had been her dream since she was a sophomore in high school, she felt like that goal wasn’t enough now. A degree no longer held any true meaning in comparison to the difficulties she faced with Chion. She now felt like she juggled a dual set of goals or desires, and they opposed each other. She would be abandoning Chion if she followed her original plans. On the other hand, if she stayed with Chion, her life here would stagnate, making it difficult to move ahead.
Chion’s voice drifted from her memory. You have been brought here for a reason. After contemplating Chion’s words over the last several days, Lara couldn’t help but agree with Chion. Instinctively, as bizarre as it sounded, she knew they were meant to be together. Thirty minutes back on Earth and she already missed Chion’s companionship and their connection with each other. She was strangely lonely as the only one residing in her head. It was surprising how easily they melded together into a bonded pair, sharing the majority of their thoughts and emotions with one another.
In the end, Lara forced herself to step out of her room and away from her bed. As much as she felt pulled in both directions, she couldn’t become lax in her classes. A yawn pulled her jaws wide in a drawn-out breath of air while her arms stretched over the top of her head. Rolling her head to release the kink in her neck, she yawned again and knocked on Becky’s door. Receiving an unintelligible “What,” in reply, Lara opened the door and found Becky curled up in her bed.
Becky popped one eye open, looked at her for a moment, and shut it again. She then groaned and rolled onto her back, the action pulling the blanket along with her.
Rubbing both hands up and down her face, Becky whined, “What?”
“Only one question, then I’ll leave you alone. Promise. What day is today?”
Becky stopped scrubbing her face and split her fingers open to peer at Lara. Her roommate looked at her for a long time before she groaned again and sat up. Running her right hand through her hair, she asked, “How long were you gone this time?”
Lara gazed up at the ceiling in thought. “I’m not sure. Four, maybe five days?”
When Becky didn’t say anything else, restlessness overtook Lara and she paced the small room. Unable to keep quiet in the lengthening silence, she said, “It’s becoming more real than this world, Becky. The sights, sounds, people are so amazingly real, but I still don’t know how it is happening.”
“Let me get this straight. I’m not sure I believe what you’re saying. You have been running around on this other mysterious planet for the past four or five days, but you’ve slept for only one night here in your room?”
She stopped and looked straight at Becky. She nodded once in agreement.
A minute passed before Becky heaved a big sigh and muttered, “Unbelievable.” She raised her hand to scratch her cheek. “So, it is getting worse.”
Although it wasn’t a question, Lara still shrugged in answer. Her friend continued, “I don’t know what to say. What is happening to you is so far out there, it almost seems far-fetched. Like a well-planned hoax. And you look different.” Becky pointed toward her head. “You’re sporting a new tattoo, too.”
With a gasp, Lara slapped her hand onto her forehead in a belated attempt to hide the marking. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to cover it with a hat. Lara sent a chagrin-filled smile Becky’s way. Becky huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at Lara with a fierce expression.
“Wait. No, no, no! You did not have that tattoo yesterday. Absolutely not.”
“Sorry. Sorry,” she wailed, “I’ve had it for the last several weeks. Days. Weeks? Darn it, I can’t keep it straight.” Frustrated with herself, she moaned and fell face first onto Becky’s bed. “I don’t remember how long I’ve had the mark on this planet or the other world,” she mumbled in a long moan. “I’d almost forgotten about it until you mentioned the stupid marking. The time difference is really confusing, and I can’t keep it straight in my head. I don’t even remember what day today is. On top of all that, I just now realized that I don’t know what to call the other planet, except, you know, the other planet.”
Knowing full well her friend didn’t have a clue, Lara asked, “What is happening to me?”
Becky shook her head. “I don’t know, but you look like you’ve lost weight overnight.”
“I haven’t looked at myself in the mirror. I don’t want to see how I’m changing or how bad the new mark on my forehead is. It’s enough I have to live with it.”
Becky leaned back on her arms, a serious look on her face. “Okay, let’s look at the situation logically. We need to discover how you are getting to the other planet. We need to find the trigger event.”
“Trigger event,” Lara repeated, testing the word. She gritted her teeth and rubbed her eyes in frustration. “That’s just it. I’ve tried to figure it out, but I can’t come up with anything.” The last of her energy left her in a rush and she closed her eyes, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She mumbled in mid-yawn, “I don’t think I’m going to class today. I think I need sleep more than an A.”
“Don’t you ever get any sleep?”
“You mean on the other world?” Not waiting for a response from Becky, she answered, “Yes, but I walk all day and the places I sleep aren’t comfortable. I’m also exhausted from being the emotion magnet all day and night. I can’t get away from everyone’s emotions. It never lets up.”
Becky sighed again and sent her a mock stern look. “It’s obvious you’ve been hiding stuff from me.”
Lara shrugged and spread her hands out, a rueful smile on her face. “I never have any idea where to start. It’s easier not to explain.”
“But,” Becky retorted, “how can I help you if I don’t know what’s going on?” Her friend stood up and headed to her bathroom. “I’m getting ready to go shopping with Jonathan. It’s Saturday, by the way. No classes today, so go back to sleep.” Becky looked over her shoulder. “Besides, you look like you’re dead on your feet. Go back to bed and get some sleep if you can.” Through the closed door, Becky yelled, “And don’t go anywhere.”