Adahlia pulls the blanket more snuggly around her body. The soft material of her new dress is warm to the touch and she smiles with contentment. Only moments before, Adahlia’s dreams were filled with images of her mother—and the fun times they had shared. No longer is she drowning in self-pity and grief. For the first time, in a long time, Adahlia is able to dream good dreams. For the first time, since the Dual Voices of the Monoch laid out their cruel judgment, Adahlia has no doubts about seeing her mother again.
Turning over on her side, Adahlia breathes out a deep sigh and opens both eyes dreamily. She is shocked to find Sotet standing silently beside her bed. Adahlia sits up in alarm.
“Sotet? What’s going on?” Adahlia exclaims; her voice cracking with the effort.
Sotet’s mouth is the only part on his body which moves.
“I believe it is time we left this place,” Sotet trills—his voice dry and without emotion.
Deep furrows form in Adahlia’s brow and she shoots Sotet a concerned glance.
“Time we left? Leave? Why? Why should we leave?” Adahlia queries. “We have everything we need here. Why leave now? Is there some real danger?”
“The danger…,” Sotet says, his voice remaining measured and level. “Is on Shretonia. However, I fear, that if this danger is not addressed—it will inevitably spread. Even your world could be threatened.”
“What do you mean, Sotet?!?” Adahlia pleads. “I don’t understand. What danger? Who is threatening our worlds?”
Sotet hangs his head in shame. “The Shretonian leadership. They may not be what they seem. It is rumored, that several world cycles ago, a world traveler happened upon a facility where Shretonian scientists were manufacturing a potion, and other scientific means; which would allow the Monoch rulers to attain near immortality. The traveler was able to send several messages to their world before communications completely ceased. The traveler was never seen or heard from again. To quell the rumors of a secret facility; Shretonian security forces put forth holovids and memorandums stating that the world traveler was experiencing some kind of space illness and suffered from extreme delusions. The world the traveler hailed from was forbidden from having further contact with any Olotir controlled worlds. After some time, no more was thought about it. Except in secret. In secret, there are many who have sought to either prove or disprove the traveler’s accounts. Kotoro was one of them. She was part of a resistance cell trying to uncover the location of the rumored facility. I don’t know much about the resistance’s dealings, but I can only assume that Horotic must be involved somehow. How else to explain the aid he has given us—And the possessions of Kotoro’s secreted into our supplies. I really should have no knowledge of the resistance at all, but Kotoro and I kept no secrets from each other. She was a wonderful mate. And I will miss her.”
Adahlia shoots Sotet a hard glare. “Why do you keep talking about Kotoro in the past-tense, Sotet? Do you not believe you will see her again?”
“I know I will not,” Sotet trills softly. “Kotoro is dead.”
Adahlia jumps out of bed and grips Sotet’s wing. She stares up into his solemn face. “You don’t know that, Sotet! You can’t know that!”
“But I do,” Sotet replies. “Lerfaf has told me.”
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Adahlia grows intensely angry and points in the general direction of where Lerfaf might be outside. “He can’t know that!”
Sotet’s trill rises in pitch and he unconsciously shakes his wing loose from Adahlia—his grief is so great.
“But he does know, Adahlia! And there are other things that he knows. Things he could only know if he were truly gifted—as he says. We have spoken at length. I believe him. I trust him. Now, I believe it is time to act. Lerfaf speaks of many futures, and many paths. We must choose, now, which path we will follow. Do we stay here, for six world cycles, hoping that the worlds we return to will have us back? That there will even be anything to return to? Or do we forge a new path? Do we take our fate into our own hands? Do we fight for our future and our worlds? That is the choice we must make.”
Adahlia lowers her gaze and contemplates Sotet’s reasoning. She bites on her bottom lip and begins to pace. There is a long pause, as neither Adahlia nor Sotet breath a word. Finally, Adahlia shifts her gaze back to Sotet.
“Give me a moment, Sotet,” Adahlia says. “I need to talk to Lerfaf.”
_
_
“Lerfaf…Lerfaf, I need to speak with you,” Adahlia states impatiently. She drops down at Lerfaf’s side and lightly brushes his colorful mane. Lerfaf opens his eyes and stares at Adahlia—waiting for her to continue with her request.
“Lerfaf…You told us that you came here of your own accord. Does that mean that the portal to your world is still open? How does it work? And how do we get there?”
_
_
Adahlia rushes back into the stone cottage. Sotet is rooted to the same spot he was in when she left him—having not moved a single inch. He is deep in thought, and whirls in Adahlia’s direction as she speaks, his round eyes moist with tears. Adahlia is severely out of breath, and a jumble of word salad spills from her lips.
“We must travel to Lixuwon!” Adahlia exclaims excitedly.
Sotet shakes his head. “To Lixuwon? Why? No—We must go back to where we first entered this world. We must look for a way back to Shretonia. If what I suspect about Horotic is true—He will have left some sort of clue for us on how to get back. We have to start there.”
Adahlia waves a hand in the air for silence. “NO…NO…You don’t understand, Sotet! If we go back to Shretonia, now, we’ll almost certainly be walking into a trap. No, there’s a better way. Diyrl told me a story not long after we met, about a tidal pool on Lixuwon. In the center of it is a time vortex. Diyrl said the mages, and other royal advisors, would all meet at a certain time and receive wisdom from their ancestors—from inside that time vortex. She just forgot to mention that she was there. But what that means is…Diyrl may have the key you’re looking for, Sotet. A way to save everyone and everything we hold near and dear. We may be able to undo all of this.”
Sotet’s wet eyes meet Adahlia’s gaze and she realizes the implications of what she is suggesting.
“Do you want that, little one?” Sotet questions. “Do you want everything to be undone?”
Adahlia temporarily shifts her gaze, but almost immediately shifts it back to Sotet’s sad face.
“Of course not, Sotet!” Adahlia exclaims. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. But I can’t stand to see you hurting like this. If there’s even a slim chance that we can return things back to the way they were…That we can save your world and your wife…As your friend, I feel it is my duty to try. I know you would do the same for me. You made me a similar offer when we were imprisoned in that awful cell on Shretonia. You have protected me every step of the way. Now, it’s my turn to do something for you. The portal to Lerfaf’s home world is still open. If we find the portal—We can use it to jump to Diyrl’s world. Please, Sotet…Trust me. The way I have always trusted you. This is how it needs to be.”
A whinny from the cottage’s entrance causes Sotet and Adahlia to turn in that direction. Lerfaf shakes his mane and saunters inside.
“Even if you are able to travel to Lixuwon, and enter this time vortex, you will not be altering what has already occurred. You will simply be creating another alternate reality—as you call it. Another future. The outcome of which…Will be entirely up to you.”
A cough at the open window draws the attention of everyone present. Diyrl is too big to fit inside the small cottage. Therefore, she simply lowers her eye level with the window.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Diyrl says softly, her eyes locked on Lerfaf.