CHAPTER TWENTY: HARD QUESTIONS

“Whoa, whoa! What are you talking about?!” Calin exclaimed staring at the man, who had dragged them through the barrier. But before Tyas could answer, Calin shook his head and went on asking,

“Are you telling me that we are on a different continent right now?” He glared at the man as he waited for the answer.

It was not lost on Calin as Tyas shifted uneasily back to the tree stump and said, “Yes we ar—”

“Bull! That’s nonsense!” Evany interrupted with her one hand up in an accusing manner.

Calin’s first reaction was in a sense the same as Evany’s, but before he could voice his disbelief, he looked again to his surroundings. He couldn’t rightly state where they were, so he looked back and stared hard at Tyas, not believing it for a moment.

“We need more than that!” Calin pushed the words out, his mind was working overtime.

It was not hard to see that Tyas seemed on edge.

“Okay fine! Technically you have been living on a different continent other than Africa all this time. The island was named as part of Africa when it first appeared, but in truth it is physically part of a separate one all together. And this is it.” Tyas gestured to the surroundings and went on,

“Haven’t you guys ever wondered why no sign of seawater was ever found on the island? The impossible mysteries of Breakwater Isle, well, that silver wall is the start of an answer I don’t have all the details of. And the cliffs and sea disappearing is just the beginning of it. I can keep going? So you tell me.”

Calin started to open his mouth, but kept quiet as the words sunk in.

No way?

Immediately he started to pace, there was really no way that they could be on a entirely different continent when there had been an entire sea to separate them. But what Tyas had told him revealed the inconsistencies that had been bugging him to no end. Breakwater Isle had been one big mystery since it was found. And this crazy theory was the first to explain certain things... But still...

Finally Calin drew in a hard breath, and said, “You have a point, though I can’t make a conclusion yet...” He was starting to sound like Kara.

Calin eyed his surroundings. It was just too difficult to admit it all. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but as he looked up, to at least find the cliffs that could set the stories straight, he found nothing.

The shrubs and trees on the side of the mountains were almost the same as the ones on the cliffs, but only bigger.

But behind him there was a part with trees that looked completely different than anything he had seen in his life. They were windswept trees that showed their constant survival in a brutal environment.

Apprehension slowly started bubbling up in his throat and through the utter confusion, he swallowed hard.

Not able to help himself, Calin glanced at his other two friends trying to cling to what was real, what had been real for him the last seven years.

Yet even through the confusion, something big didn’t add up, so he spun on Tyas again and asked, “Okay let’s say hypothetically that Breakwater Isle wasn’t part of Africa, but by some utterly crazy manner we ended up on some other one. Not that I’m saying we are, but let’s do for a moment. Which one is it? Asia, South America North America, Australia, Europe? This sure doesn’t look like Antarctica. So which is it?”

Tyas threw up his hands in exasperation. “None of those! Didn’t I just say we are on one of the LOST continents of Earth?! Its name is Sambria!”

“What!? Are you crazy? How?!” Jerry exclaimed. “How can there possibly be more continents? How can everybody in the world just look past a whole continent without knowing it, eh? It’s the twenty first century for crying out loud!”

The tension was high. Unease hung tangibly in the air. Calin wasn’t close to being sure what to do. But just before the shouts could turn into a fight, Evany chipped in and shouted.

“ENOUGH! Let the man speak, maybe he can explain, okay? I’m really scared... I want to know what is going on.” The last was said full of uncertainty as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Calin nodded and reached out to calm his friends down, even if just for a bit. A second later he dropped his own rucksack to the ground next to a big bush and sat down heavily, waiting somewhat impatiently for Tyas to speak.

The amber eyed man sat up and said, “I’ll tell you what I know and what my Mom told me, if you’ll give me a chance?”

Everybody stayed quiet and Calin motioned for Tyas to speak.

The man rubbed his neck as if the conversation was causing tension in his muscles.

“The reason why nobody ever found these continents, is because they were... they are hidden. Don’t ask me how, the legend tells of an ancient people sent out to keep the world of humans safe from—”

A loud scoff came from both Evany and Jerry at the ridiculous nature of the statement. Yet Calin decided to silence them with a pointed stare. Crazy answers were better than no answers at all. But the way Tyas said it, seemed absolutely sincere. Though, it didn’t take away the fact that the story was starting to ring hard with the word, myth.

Tyas sighed and in a subdued voice said, “My father said there were ancient murals that depict that those who created the barrier, made it so strong that the lands inside it would be like it never existed... Yes yes, I know what you’re thinking, it seems truly farfetched, but you saw the silver wall today. And believe me, I checked over the years on your side. Not people, not cars, not planes ever saw any hint of it.”

Tyas was animated while explaining, but then he frowned.

‘No wait... Once I came upon some sailors who seem to think they hallucinated small stretches of land in the middle of the ocean for the briefest of moments and even that was about as much I ever heard. Maybe even the stories of the Bermuda Triangle could be thrown into the same boat.”

Calin sat up at the part of the sailors. Hugo Brans? What are the odds... Even through the dubious sounding nature of the tale, he couldn’t refute that claim. Riddled with confliction, Calin listened to the man’s tale.

“But that’s beside the point.” Tyas’ hand rubbed a stray lock of black hair out of his pale face and continued. “This is my opinion, I’ve had years to think about it and somehow it seems that the World Barrier is so complex that planes fly into one side and immediately appear on the other side, an entire continent away and not be any wiser. The effect is truly and utterly complete, trust me.” Tyas pointed up to the sky, “Even the pictures of Earth sent back from space revealed only what you know as Earth, the seven continents and all. I tried—”

A million questions ran through Calin’s mind as Tyas spoke of things that were beyond imagination.

Finally he couldn’t take it anymore, his confusion was running rampant. He tried to voice a question.

Out of nowhere loud voices spilled forth from the forest.

“I HEARD SOMETHING! OVER HERE!” The distant voice exclaimed from the trees. Then a few moments later another loud voice lifted out of the trees.

“Aint this the place where the good captain repeatedly told us to check, Feron... Feron? Ey! Where are you... Oh, listen there, I heard something, I’m sure of it this time...”

Calin and the other three froze where they stood. He immediately mouthed at Tyas.

“What do we do?”

The amber eyes of Tyas flashed with a nervous look, but he whispered. “Hide. Now.”

Not needing any further encouragement, Calin and the others all grabbed their belongings and rushed for cover in the large bushes. He fell into one and got scraped over his face by a twig. Shrugging off the sting, he made sure he was hidden between the large spades of the thick leaves.

It was just in time to see two figures in black armour step into the clearing. On their chest plates there was a crimson sun. Their heads clean shaven.

Trembles swam through Calin. He wondered if it was because of hiding from the men, or the fact that he could swear he had dreamed about just such armoured men only a few nights back.

There was no mistaking it.

It made his head throb even more as the confusion kept piling higher and higher.

He couldn’t think on the matter further. One of the armoured figures, with a tattoo of an eye above his ear, spoke.

“Pror, I don’t see a thing. It breaks my mind that you’re still on about this! It has been weeks since that incident, and now every single noise out here makes you twitchy.” It was a gruff voice, one that carried a certain disdain for his comrade.

“No... listen to me Feron. I swear I heard something! And didn’t the captain say that this area was one of those places we always need to keep an eye on? He said that if Werios and the others ever come back with news of the child, we should take them to see h—“

There was a smacking noise and a small yelp.

“Shut your trap Pror, you talk too much. I don’t want to be reminded for the thousandth time what our orders are. Sands! Why do you keep on bringing up Werios. He has been gone for years... Ugh... Why do I have to patrol with you again... let’s go ba— Wait, do you see that… something’s been here recently. Maybe you’re right...”

Calin drew in his breath behind the foliage as the men started searching around.

A gasp almost escaped his lips as one of the men unsheathed a long steel sword.

This is not real, this is not real, this is not real, he tried to convince himself, but his aching body said otherwise and Calin sank slowly deeper into the leaves of his hiding place, hoping his friends were safe.

Then the one called Feron stepped closer to where Calin was hiding. He held his breath longer and slowly slid backwards, hoping not to make any noise as the man started poking around in the bush with the sword.

With his retreat, Calin accidently hit a thick branch with a soft thud, he cringed and the sword came poking right by his left arm. His lungs were straining for a breath of fresh air, while holding it.

To his dismay the sword disappeared and poked right back in. The blade nicked his arm.

He couldn’t hold his breath any longer as the sharp sting drew a drop of blood and he exhale loudly.

“Feron!!” The shout swept through the air coming from Pror, sending the man poking the bush stumbling back, startled.

Not even realizing his mistake, Pror said, “Feron! I just remembered, wasn’t this where Quinter and his men picked up that group of straggler humans the other day? It could be where they stayed you know.”

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Calin exhaled and inhaled the fresh oxygen gladly. The other man’s shout had been very timely.

Feron retrieved his sword from the brush and his boots loudly thudded moving away. “I remember, but ... No, that was on the other side of the mountains!”

“Are you sure?” Pror asked.

“Yes, your memory is worse than our good captain’s squire,” Feron said with a chuckle. “And that’s saying something—”

The surrounding sounds echoed scuffling and of metal hitting metal. Calin dared a peek and watched as the two armoured men shoved and grappled each other.

Finally, Feron shoved Pror away and said, “Stop! You know it’s true.”

Pror was glaring at his comrade, but then Feron held up a hand and said, “Let’s get out of here, I’m starving.”

Strangely enough, Pror relaxed and clapped Feron on the shoulder agreeing. With that the men’s banter disappeared into the forest and after a few more tense seconds it disappeared altogether. Releasing his bunched up muscles Calin fell back against the branch, his chest heaving up and down.

Half a dozen minutes later, he checked if the coast was clear and stumbled out of the thick brush.

“Humans? Seriously, who talks like that?” Jerry said as he crawled from a spot not two meters away from Calin.

Jerry had been that close? He shook his head and stood up.

While dusting of his clothes, Calin said, “I don’t know, but maybe Tyas is right.”

Jerry scoffed. “Ha! Even if we were somewhere else, what other race could there possibly be but humans?”

“You’d be surprised with the answer to that.” A voice announced from the side.

Startled, Calin and Jerry both spun on Tyas coming from the right with Evany in tow.

“Agh, come on Tyas I’m tired of all the, ‘Legend has it’ kind of bull. I’m up for we try and get back tonight, maybe sneak past that monster and his friend. What do you think Evany? Cali—” Jerry asked before Tyas interrupted him.

“About that...I was trying to tell you before, but you kept misinterpreting it.”

The man’s tone alarmed Calin.

“So what is it?” He asked tentatively, fearing the answer.

Their guide opened his mouth about to say something, but closed it again. Calin could clearly make out the sudden panic Tyas was in. After a few more uncomfortable moments of shifting his weight to and fro, Tyas rushed the words out as he said,

“There is almost no way back to the Earth part you know! There I said it.”

“What—” Calin started,

“ARE YOU SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE WE’RE STUCK HERE?!” Evany’s voice pitched louder with each word, her fists were balled at her sides.

More out of anxious confusion, Calin wanted to grab Tyas by the scruff, but Jerry beat him to it. As the boy shook the man, Jerry stated harshly.

“We want answers NOW! Or you are getting a beating. So spit it out.”

Through it all, Tyas was sweating but something passed over his expression. It caught Calin’s attention so he tapped Jerry to calm the boy a bit.

The tension was strung high, but somehow Calin’s stare drained it a bit.

“Okay okay, you can let me go now. Please? I’ll talk, but you’ll have to listen patiently.”

“Oh I’ll listen patiently alright, but the moment you start yapping lies, you’re getting my fist in your face. Do we understand each other clearly?” Jerry was red in his face and when Tyas nodded the boy let go of the man.

With an awkward shrug Tyas straightened his shirt glancing to the forest around him before he said. “Okay first before we speak of these things, can we find a more secure place to talk?”

Jerry was about to protest when Calin stepped in, stopping the boy with a glare. “Chill Jerry, it’s the smart thing to do, alright?”

It was easy to see that Jerry was conflicted, but finally the tall boy said, “Fine have it your way then.”

As they started to leave the area, Calin eyes searched one more time for the cliffs that had so suddenly disappeared.

Why it wasn’t there was a mystery. No, most of what happened the last two days was a complete mystery. Yet some of the mad stories Tyas were telling was the only thing that remotely made sense. The thought of being on a different continent made him shake his head wildly.

No, there has to be something else... Yet somehow that thought didn’t feel as sure. With a great shrug, Calin followed Tyas through the forest, hoping that somehow there was a way back.

***

Once in a while Calin glanced back to check if the others were in tow before he pressed on. They walked for fifteen minutes when they reached the foot of the spectacular mountain range that went on as far as the eye could see in both directions.

As they came closer, there were huge boulders that had probably dropped from the immense looming peaks. Some of those slabs of rocks could have been as big as a small house.

Tyas led them between a few boulders with no hesitation, like he had long since memorized a path in a distant past. A narrow, concealed crevice revealed itself that sliced the mountain cleanly in half, but was only as thick as two or maybe three people wide at its widest.

Tyas glanced back and smiled before moving onto the flat area hidden from view, making his way between the sheer rock walls. Calin followed with apprehension, his eyes were darting up at those sheer rock faces, his heart anxious. If boulder came falling now, they’d be done for.

But as he stepped into the narrow crevice, the fear of it dissipated. Around a small indentation in the rock walls came an area with a bit of breathing room. Tyas was already dropping his rucksack and motioning for Calin to do the same.

Happily dumping the heavy bag, Calin almost lost his balance as he lowered the thing. He sat down with a huff, not caring a thing of sitting in the sand as he rolled his aching shoulders while waiting for the others.

Man, my shoulders are dying. I hope we stay here a while, he laid his head against the rock wall and lazily watched Evany move in next to him. She sat down and immediately slipped her arms around her knees, holding them against her chest. She looked extremely worried.

That same worry was coursing through him. Calin pushed his own fear aside for the time being and tried to ease her. But it wasn’t hard to guess she needed answers, they all did. So with a tired voice Calin said,

“Okay we’re here, so fess up.”

Tyas stared hard at a rock in the sand, his amber eyes flashing with emotions Calin couldn’t read. The man turned to look at Jerry.

Finally the man looked to the other two and said, “Calin and I needed to come here. But I tried warning you. I tried to get you and Evany to stay home. Or at least go to Drave’s town... Numerous times!”

A heavy sigh flowed out of the man as he went on, “That didn’t work, now did it? You two kept insisting on following me and Calin. The thing is, this barrier, or the World Barrier, if you will, was created to keep whatever is here on these lost continents inside; to keep it secret, words and physical. And I’m quite certain it succeeds extraordinarily well. There is something I need to tell you and it’s going to be hard to hear.”

The man looked stressed as he fumbled with a small rock. With a pointed stare from Calin, Tyas finally, with reluctance said,

“Even if you wait for the next eclipse or whatever causes the walls to appear, and you go back through to the seven continents of the Earth you know, chances are great you will lose your mind. I’ve seen it.”

The man paused and everything stayed deathly quiet. Calin was sure the others were holding their breath.

A look of utter disheartenment passed over Tyas as he continued, “You know that mad hermit who lives at the closest cliffs to your village? Well I had the chance of talking to him once... and it only confirmed it all... poor guy.”

Calin stared at the man. That old Hermit? It couldn’t be.

He couldn’t believe it, there were many stories about the crazy things the hermit told when people visited him. It had always been fun to sneak there with Jerry to listen what the poor soul was rambling on about.

Not four days ago, he had talked to the women who had taken it on themselves to feed the hermit. But this was the first anybody has ever spoken of the origin of the old man who lost his mind so utterly.

Tyas twisting a piece of rope around his hand drew Calin out of contemplating about the hermit.

Then Tyas said, “And I know what you’re going to ask next. How did I and those robed men with their creatures end up on your side of earth?”

Seeming to look around for something, Tyas answered his own question.

“Let’s just say a certain man this side has the ability to open it up. Just one man, one man who can give permission for those who step through not to go mad, sad part is, he is being hunted. My dad had been part of the group trying to stop it,

‘These hunters want to use Calin to flush that man out, because Calin is his son... I’ve only pieced together theories for their reasons over the years. Things my parents used to talk about,

‘I’m sorry, but without Calin’s father there is not a single other way back to that side. That much I can say without a doubt. And as chaotic as things had been the day Calin and I landed on your shores, well suffice it say, you’re stuck here. As I said, Calin and I had to come, but I really tried to warn y—”

“There is really no way back?!” Evany cried out.

When Tyas shook his head gravely, and her chest started to heave.

Calin’s heart pulled into a knot. Too many emotions bombarded him, but seeing the look on Evany’s face engraved itself in him. She was distraught. Without even thinking further, he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.

She started to sob against his chest repeatedly saying, “No no no no ... this can’t be ... No no no, I meant to go back ... No no no.” Calin held her tight as she cried. He was too confused to think, it all suddenly felt too real. Far too real.

I never expected this. What now?

Through all the jumbled thoughts, he continued to soothe the crying girl in his arms.

His reasons for following Tyas was written in stone, to find answers to his own past, to find answers on why he was being hunted. To guide the danger away from his loved ones. But now it had all turned into a mess.

For the first time, he desperately wished that he had actually tried to persuade the others to go home.

It was too late now.

And the worst part was that, he wanted to say something to comfort the girl, but he couldn’t think of one single thing.

It was his fault she was there. Outside her house he had chosen to let her follow. Since then he had made jokes of their journey and not listened to Tyas when it had mattered and now... now the face she had was branded into him. Guilt webbed itself around him and hung like weights.

Even in the horror of the situation, Calin knew he had to be the one to stay strong for the other two. It was one of the hardest things he ever had to do as his own fear threatened his sanity.

He could just hold on to the crying girl.

After a while, he looked over to Jerry, the boy was struggling with something, evident from the frown on his face.

Jerry looked to Tyas and asked, “I ...how... um you said Calin’s father? How can that be ... Of all that is ... Okay wait, you said Calin’s um father can open it? Why don’t we just find him and let him help us back through?”

“No, it’s nowhere near that simple,” Tyas said perplexed and a shake of his head. “Calin’s father—”

Then thunder boomed above them.

Fat rain drops immediately started dripping through the gap right down the steep sides to the sandy floor.

Tyas dropped the conversation and called for the others to help. “Hurry! See if we can find a cave or something.”

To Calin’s surprise Evany surged to her feet and grabbed her rucksack. Calin stood up and watched the others scramble around searching and he followed suit grabbing his own bag and slinging it onto his shoulders as he ran along the path between the mountains.

Déjà vu washed over him.

It almost stopped him in his tracks, but just then the storm worsened and the rain started to fall in heavy swathes and soon it was cascading down over the rock in small streams. Thunder roared to life in the sky.

A sense of resignation formed as he slid around a corner and almost fell.

His boot had slipped through the already slick mud underneath an overhanging rock. He had almost ran past it, but then realized there was something there. Looking down, he found the rocky overhang gave way to a dark fracture in the rock. Leaning in further, he tried to make out what was in the dark, but was met only by blackness. It looked plain, uninviting. He moved away from it slowly only to jerk as thunder cracked loudly again. With a great gulp, Calin swallowed his nerves and crept in.

The bright outskirts of the cave was left behind as the interior started to get more detail. The cave had a small flat area and then it sloped upwards only to give way to a wider flat area at the back, he couldn’t see the edges completely in the dim light. It was at least seven meters wide and not even half that in height.

After checking if there wasn’t anything he had missed, Calin decided to go find the others. The moment he turned, there was a shadow behind him.

He yelped and fell back scrambling away, only to realize it was Tyas crawling in.

Heaving a sigh of relief, he said, “For goodness sake, you scared me. Couldn’t you have warned me or something?”

“Sorry I didn’t see you crawl in here,” Tyas said tentatively. “I’ll go get the others.”

Grunting at the man, Calin watched as Tyas left the small cave. Alone in the dark cave, he decided to crawl to a part with more vertical room and started feeling around in the gloomy darkness of the space. Soon enough he found some debris with his groping and started brushing away the small twigs and moss until there was some relative sitting area before he lowered his rucksack. With some fumbling in the dark, he located his small headlamp in the side and donned it. He was happy that it was working as he flicked the switch and the light brightened the small cave.

To his utter surprise, he found an old fireplace. Someone must have hidden there too. Calin crawled closer and could make out small boot tracks in the dust, but what worried him was that it was tracks of modern boots, with a clear familiar logo imprinted in the ground. Someone from the modern Earth has been here.

It was then that Calin realized his line of thought and frowned. Have I so readily accepted that we are on a different undiscovered continent?

It was a very disturbing feeling and he shook his head trying to place his thoughts in order about what had happened.

The truth of the matter was: He had stood on the cliff where he had fallen off. He had miraculously surged through a shimmering wall with odd markings to find himself in a place that doesn’t make sense. He had since seen armoured figures with red suns on their chest plates, everything almost like the dream. What’s going on? A shiver ran down his spine, and all too suddenly a deep chill grabbed hold of him, and he was certain it wasn’t from the rain.

Out of the cascading rain there was scraping and a without a moment to spare a wet Evany scrambled up into the cave, followed by Jerry and Tyas. Calin lighted their way for them, but shone it into Jerry’s eyes, the boy complained.

“Easy on the light mate, I can see well enough.”

A smile tugged at Calin for a moment before it fell back into a frown. There were difficult things to come to terms with and at that moment he pitied Evany the most and Jerry too.

They had no reason to be here except for superficial ones while thinking they were just going to leave the country for a while. He had thought the exact same thing himself, but it was a moot point now.

Now it was all chaos and he silently understood why Tyas had said he was probably going to be the only one who would come to terms with the truth.

He was the only one who needed to be here, for answers. Tyas had been right. The cloud of responsibility hung heavily over Calin now.

What did I get myself into?

It was another hard question, one that had no answers yet.