We were lost in a sea of flowers.

“Krift, it’ll be night soon,” I said, looking up at the fast moving sun.

The other one, the slow one, had long since set. And the second sun was already heading down to set.

“I know?” he asked, as if it was strange for me to say so.

My hair flew in my face thanks to the wind, and I had to brush it out of the way. I wanted to glare at Krift, not my hair.

“You said we’d be out of the lake before the night,” I said.

“And we will be.”

Stepping over the edge of a white petal and up onto it, I hurried to follow Krift. He had been able to walk straight over it, but it had taken me a moment to step up onto it.

“I haven’t even seen the water in a while,” I said, looking to the spots where the petals sat on top of one another.

The flowers had gotten so close to one another that their petals laid on top of each other. Hiding the lake below.

“Well it is see-through, after all,” Krift teased.

Shaking my head at him, I noticed that we’d be walking closer to the next flower’s bulb. Once we reached it, at least.

Krift had let me touch and examine one earlier, but I had noticed he always kept us at a distance from them. Though he hadn’t said why.

Maybe there was no reason. Maybe he was simply… instinctually, walking near the edges of the petals.

Krift had us walking at a rather steady pace. A little faster than I walked comfortably, but not at the near trot he had us at the other day.

I wasn’t ready to complain at the pace yet, though. We had just sat nearly all day in that makeshift boat after all…

It helped also that my shoes no longer moved as I walked. They were just tight enough to be comfortable. To be pleasant.

They now felt as if they actually fit my feet, and weren’t a size too large.

I’d have to get Krift to teach me how he had tied them.

Reaching the next flower’s petals, I carefully stepped up onto a black petal. Its edge was a little sharp, like the rest had been.

Krift had said they weren’t sharp enough to cut, but I wasn’t going to risk it. For some reason they really did look like they could cut to me.

As usual, Krift watched and waited for me as I did so. He had noticed that I slowed down, when crossing the petals… and instead of saying anything, simply waited for me.

It was a kind gesture.

“Would you like to name these flowers too, by the way?” Krift asked as I returned to walking beside him.

The question bothered me, since I hadn’t thought of it at all. “I… I don’t know,” I said honestly.

“You don’t want to?” he asked, and seemed genuinely upset I didn’t.

“Oh, no. It’s not that. It’s just… I don’t know what to call them. They’re momentous. So they should have a special name, but I’m not sure what it should be,” I said.

“Momentous,” he teased my description of them, but I stood by it.

They were. Their size alone made them… amazing. But there was something about them, gathered all together like this. Floating on a massive lake…

It was beautiful.

“Just call them Giant Flowers or something. There. Easy,” Krift said.

“Don’t you dare! And that’s not fair to the ones floating in the rivers, the smaller ones,” I said.

“Call those Small Giant Flowers. There? Like I said. Easy.”

The light wind that had started earlier blew past a little stronger. As if it too was upset over Krift’s joke.

“I’ll think of something. It might take me some time, though,” I said.

Krift nodded, unbothered that his idea had so readily been tossed aside.

Watching the large bulb as we walked past it, I wondered if these flowers bloomed. The little ones in the river had been opened, and didn’t have such bulbs, so…

Yet they also had petals. Layers of them.

Maybe they just continuously grew new petals? Bigger ones than the last? And we were walking on layers of them?

“There. See? Mountains,” Krift got my attention, pointing ahead.

Sure enough there was. Off in the distance, groups of pointed green appeared. Mountains, rising to the sky.

“We’re going to cross those…?” I asked, worried. They were massive. And looked to go on for a long distance…

“No. We’ll be crossing through them. Caverns, remember?”

“Oh. Yea. Dark places,” I said, remembering.

“It’s that or a storm. I think one’s rounding the mountains,” he said.

“Oh? You said it was circling us, earlier,” I said.

“That was another one. This one’s… well it’s a little bad. I was debating not using the caverns, for you, but now it is necessity. I’ll not risk you in a storm like that,” he said.

Risk me.

“Alright. I’m sure I… can bear with it,” I said. Especially if he let me stay close to him.

Plus how could I not try my best, and face my fears, when he had so dearly said such a thing?

“It won’t be long. A day or two, at worst,” he said.

I groaned at the thought of spending a whole day in a dark cave. How ridiculous!

Especially when there were such wondrous sights to see outside… The mere thought of it almost made my earlier happiness over his statement disappear.

Almost.

“How long do storms last?” I asked, hoping to get my mind off the dreaded future in front of me.

“Some only a few minutes. Others can last forever,” Krift said.

“Forever…?” Had I heard him correctly?

“Forever. There are seven storms that never end. They just… move along. If you traveled with them, you’d be stuck in them forever,” Krift said.

I tried to imagine a storm that never ended. Tried and failed.

“Have you traveled in the storms then? To know this?” I asked, wondering if he would have done such a thing.

Krift laughed a little, and nodded. “I’ve done so. But not because I wanted to,” he said.

Reaching another petal, I came to a stop at the sight of it.

It was not laying flat down on the one we were walking on, but instead arched up into the air. Far enough that I was barely able to see over it.

“One moment,” Krift said, grabbing the edge of the petal. He quickly pulled himself up onto it, with ease.

Once on it, he turned and held out a hand for me.

Taking it, I didn’t even get to try and jump and climb up. Instead I was simply lifted.

For a small moment I felt silly, as Krift just pulled me up onto the petal. As if I was just a small bag, light as can be.

When both of my feet found the petal, I glanced back to the petal we had just left. It was far enough that I’d have to be careful to fall down to it.

“You alright? I didn’t grab too hard did I?” Krift asked, most likely not understanding what had caused me to pause.

“I’m fine. You were gentle. I was just… not expecting to be lifted like that,” I said honestly.

“Oh… did you want to climb up it yourself? Want me to put you back down?” he asked, looking down at the petal.

I smiled at his oddness, and shook my head. “No. I’m fine.”

Krift studied me for a moment, and then nodded. He turned, and I went to follow him.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Looking back at the drop, I wondered if Krift even realized how strong he was.

Granted it should have been obvious to me. I had watched him carry that stone, after all.

And it wasn’t like I was heavy. That one man in RiftWarren, who had tried to kidnap me, had hefted me just as easily.

But there was a difference to it.

That man, and the ones who had pulled me off the Caravan Bear, had… well…

When they had grabbed me, I had felt their grips. I had felt the effort it took them, even if it had not been much.

Krift though?

Glancing to the man walking next to me, I noticed the way his hands moved as he walked.

I hadn’t felt anything. I felt his hand grab my own, but I felt no struggle. No effort.

Picking me up was as easy for him as it was for me to pick up a tiny stone.

And his first worry was if he had hurt me. If he had grabbed too tightly.

Which told me he had done so before. To others. He was conscious in how tightly he grabbed, or touched someone.

It made me wonder just how useful he’d be on a farm. Or hauling fish.

He could most likely do the work of several men, effortlessly.

“Land,” Krift broke through my thoughts, pointing ahead of us.

Visible in-between the flowers before us, not too far, was indeed land. Land covered in green grass, and shrubs.

“Good. You kept having us round the flower bulbs, so I thought maybe you were lost,” I teased.

I hadn’t actually thought so, but it was a good way to tease him.

“I get lost all the time,” he said.

“Really?” I was shocked, and heard it in my voice.

“Just not in the Rift.”

My excitement at the idea of getting lost here in the Rift died down, as I realized he was serious.

“Not once?” I asked.

“No. Once I travel somewhere I remember clearly where it is and how to return. I don’t really get lost anywhere else, either though. But there’s been a few times I’ve had to gather my bearings in the Lands of Man. Having to backtrack, or such,” he said.

“Or such,” I repeated his words, and wondered just where he had gotten lost before.

“The Lands of Power’s sky stops one from getting lost there. So I’ve never had to experience such things there,” he said.

“The sky?”

“The stars, remember? They act as perfect guideposts,” he said.

“Oh. Yea. The stars,” I said.

Stepping over onto another petal, I noticed the sound of splashing. Something was making noise in the water nearby.

The sound ended quickly, and Krift didn’t seem worried, so I ignored it.

“The capital city, Cazbi, is a maze. Especially the center of it. If you ever go there, try and get yourself lost on purpose to see if you can get back,” he said.

“Get lost on purpose?” I asked, amused at his suggestion.

“Don’t think you can?” he asked back.

“Oh. No, I could. Definitely could. I almost got lost in RiftWarren, and was careful where I went because of it. I was just surprised that you would suggest such a thing. Getting lost is dangerous, so I figured you’d not tell me to do such a thing,” I said.

“Hm. The capital is safe. Cazbi is probably one of the safest places in all of the realms,” he said.

“Realms? Is that what we call it?” I asked, wondering if that was the proper term.

“It’s what I call them.”

His tone told me he didn’t care if anyone else called them different.

“Which do you prefer Krift? Of the realms, I mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, glancing at me.

“I suppose… but I’d still like to hear your opinion on it,” I said.

“Well, the realm where I’m the strongest thing to exist is the best. Obviously,” he said.

“Obviously.”

But his words did raise another question… “So… is there nothing stronger than you here?” I asked.

“Yes. Of course there is. Several of the storms would kill me quite quick, if I didn’t handle them properly, for one thing,” he said.

“Oh. So you don’t think the Rift is the best place to be?” I asked, wondering if I had misunderstood.

“I do. I meant more in the sense of… strongest amongst people. I don’t like it when someone else can be stronger than me,” he said.

“Very power of you, to say so,” I said, smiling.

Krift didn’t respond right away, as we stepped onto another petal. A new flower, which was one of the last on our path.

He walked for a bit, and I noticed the way he was pondering something. It wasn’t one of his angry faces, but it wasn’t the one he had when upset or sad either.

I saw genuine confusion on his face, as if I had just said something outrageous.

Krift then came to a conclusion, and then looked to me. “We’ve talked about this, but I suppose I’ve never really said it. A lot of people would happily kill me, given the chance, Mint,” he said.

I didn’t like such a conversation, but I nodded all the same. “I know.”

“So not being strong enough to defend myself, is… just a bad idea. I meant it more in jest, but that’s the honest reason. I’m safest here, in the Rift, because I’m stronger than anyone else here. And because I know how to safely survive. But anywhere else, I grow weaker by the day… and I’m…” he went silent, and I watched him struggle with continuing.

Being patient, I let the man next to me gather his courage. Or maybe his resolve. It was an odd sight, to see a man who was so confident and strong to act so… So what? Unsure of himself? Worried? Weak…?

No. It wasn’t a weakness. At least, I didn’t believe it to be so. But I knew others would call it such.

Not that I wanted anyone else to ever see such a thing.

“I’m alone elsewhere. So I need to be strong enough to face many, alone. I guess. I’m really starting to not like talking to you, you know,” Krift then said, swallowing his pride.

“That’s rude. But it is ok. My enjoyment in our conversations makes up for it,” I said.

“I can tell. Hopefully this journey doesn’t take too long, or you’ll end up knowing everything about me,” he said, annoyed.

I smiled at that thought, and wondered if he’d get angry if I told him I’d be more than happy to take a few detours.

We stepped onto the last flower before the land, and I noticed something a little off.

“Krift, the flower doesn’t go all the way,” I said, noticing the water between the last few petals, and the land.

“I know. We’ll just have to walk one way or the other until one does,” Krift said.

“Oh. Good. I don’t mind swimming, but it’s about to be dark and cold and…” I stopped complaining, since I knew he had already probably thought of my complaints.

“There’s a mountainous valley, to the north. Covered in snow. And is constantly snowing too,” he said.

“Sounds cold,” I said, wondering if he was trying to say at least we weren’t there.

“Yet, it’s not. In fact it’s so hot you’ll want to shed all your clothing,” Krift said.

“It’s hot? Yet it’s snowing?” I asked.

“One of the oddities of the Rift.”

“Hm. Is the snow hot?” I asked.

“Yes, it is.”

I frowned at the idea of it. “How does it melt then? Wouldn’t it just keep stacking up forever otherwise?” I asked.

“It melts when it gets cold, obviously,” he said.

My frown deepened, since I didn’t like that reasoning. At all.

“We’ll go to that one. Not too far away,” Krift said, pointing to our left. Sure enough a flower, about five or six down, looked like its petals were on the land.

“Good. I’m hungry,” I said.

“I know. I heard your stomach earlier,” he said.

He did? I tried to think of when it had made noises, but couldn’t remember.

“What do I get to eat tonight? More trees?” I asked, hopeful. I had really enjoyed those.

“Fish,” he said.

I paused mid-step, and wondered if he was serious.

“Really. I’ll catch some in a moment,” he said, smiling at me.

“First thing, you don’t have a pole, or a net, as far as I’m aware. Secondly, you said they were disgusting,” I said.

“So are those branches, in my opinion,” he then said.

Returning to walking, I nodded. He had said that.

“So the fish are delicious then?” I asked, excited at the thought.

“To you they might be. We’ll find out,” he said.

Smiling at the thought of trying something new, I picked up my pace. Krift quickly matched my own, unfazed.

It was exciting; to eat something I’d never eaten before… especially since it was here in the Rift.

But it was also going to be interesting to see how he’d catch the fish, without any tools.

Maybe I’ll get lucky and learn a new technique. Something no one else knew.

After all he wasn’t just a power, who likely had different techniques and teachings than humans, but he was also a riftborn. Who knew what weird methods he’d use!

Walking along the petals with Krift, I grew excited as we neared the one that would let us reach the land.

If only I could spend my whole life with Krift… I’d get to experience such wonders constantly.

Though… I knew the truth.

This man has probably endured a lot of suffering.

The price he’s paid, the things he’s suffered, for these moments of happy peace…

Would I have been able to do the same?

Could I go through the pain and sacrifice to be able to live like this?

Was I willing?

Although I was enjoying this, and having more fun than I’ve ever had… I knew it was temporary.

He’s made it quite clear how dangerous this place was. How dangerous his life could be.

And…

Reaching the flower that connected to the land, I smiled and went to cross the petal. But right before I could, Krift grabbed my arm.

“This petal, Mint,” Krift led me past the first petal that touched the ground. For some reason he had us cross the third petal to the land, and not the first or second.

Stepping back on dry land for the first time in hours, I glanced to the two petals that Krift hadn’t let us cross.

“Why not those two, Krift?” I asked.

“Not sure,” Krift said.

I paused for a moment, to stare at the man who looked a little too calm.

He hadn’t lied, or hidden something.

“I’m serious. I really don’t know. I just had a feeling,” he said, and I once again heard the utter truth in his words.

Though, just because I didn’t hear or see him hiding the truth… that didn’t mean he wasn’t…

Maybe he was able to hide his emotions better than I thought?

“Really?” I asked, glancing to the petals again.

They didn’t look any different than any others. One was even a little more solidly on the ground the one we had walked upon.

“Really. Sometimes it’s best to follow your gut, you know?”

“Gut… my gut is telling me to eat something,” I said.

“Right, right… let’s go… over there. I’ll make a fire and then catch something,” he said, pointing farther down the lakeside.

“Can I help?” I asked. He hadn’t let me help him with the fire or the tree last time…

“I suppose? If you want to.”

“Please and thank you,” I said, hurrying towards the area he had pointed at.

Maybe if I helped enough, I’d learn something.

Not just how he did things here in the Rift… but also how he did it at all.

How he listened so closely to his instincts.

How he knew where to go, and when.

How he started fires with a snap of his fingers.

Or even…

If I could learn how he so happily lived such a dangerous life…

Maybe I could learn to be happy too.

Or at least learn how to survive long enough to become so.