CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: WAKING TO STARS

Calin waved his sword frantically in front of him, but no matter what he did he couldn’t hit anything.

The shadows descended on him, their crimson eyes mocking his feeble attempts to defend himself. There was no one there, no one with him. He was alone.

A cavern surrounded him. And on all sides dunes were rolling past him in the dark, like endless waves. Through the chaos some shape formed in the distance, a massive man shaped shadow walked down a large dune towards him and he looked up in terror as the shadow’s mouth opened into a great maw to consume him.

The moment the thing came for him he jerked awake with a loud gasp.

Shaking heavily, Calin sat up, but a hand on his cheek made him calm as sudden as the thing had come at him. When he looked down, he found Evany’s eyes on him. “Shhh, Calin it was just a bad dream, it’s okay, you’re safe.”

A few aftershocks ended the last of his trembling. For an instant, he wondered if it would leave his severely aching body worse for wear. But he nodded at Evany as he whispered back. “I guess fighting that monster did a job on me. But thanks.”

A soft smile splayed on her lips in the dim light of their shelter.

It wasn’t long before his breath became easier. He opened his eyes glad that they were somewhat adjusted to the dark.

He tried to look over Evany to the others in the damp cave. The smell of rain and moss was heavy in the air. But as he shifted around to take in his surroundings more thoroughly, everything in his body started to ache. He groaned. Before I went to sleep it was bad, but this ... He just let his head sag back down.

-- -

“The others are still asleep, don’t worry. It’s just after midnight if my watch isn’t lying.” The small whisper from Evany took his attention away from his body, even if just for a moment.

With a small shake of his head, Calin tried to shift the aches away, but did not achieve anything.

“I’m not. It’s more a fact of realizing I took a greater beating yesterday than I thought.”

Even though it was dark, her frown was clear, but he disarmed her as he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll live. I’m just very sore.”

Silence filled the air, he just waited for her response, but after a while her eyes went downcast as she said,

“Calin, I um ... happy birthday.”

His eyes popped wide in shock. I forgot!

It was the same day as on the beach eight years ago, the day which he was found with a letter in his pocket from his mother, congratulating him on his tenth birthday.

Staring at Evany in disbelief, he marvelled that she had remembered even through everything. Though, the girl must have misinterpreted the look on his face, as she quickly whispered, “I know it’s not much—”

Without a second to spare Calin silenced her and said, “I really forgot I was going to turn eighteen, and you remembered through all this... Wow, thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

Something made him sure that if there was some light, the girl’s cheeks would be pink with her blush. Calin smiled deeply at her. She was such a good friend.

He pulled her in for a hug. She just nestled her head into the junction between his neck and his shoulder and held on tightly as she whispered,

“Thank you for being there for me...I’m so sorry I broke down yesterday...it was ... I was... but... thank you Calin.”

The gesture sent heat through his heart, and strangely the predicament they all faced seemed a little bit less dark at that moment.

“You are welcome, and I mean it, always,” Calin said as he let go of her. “Now get some sleep.”

The pillow welcomed his head, lying back down. He watched as Evany’s eyes closed and she fell into a more peaceful sleep.

Long minutes passed after he had rolled on his back. The low ceiling of their small cave was slowly starting to divulge its secrets, he mused. But he couldn’t help but rather take some time to sort through everything from the last few days.

The fact that this was a different unknown continent; that he was here, with his friends nonetheless, was crazy. Yet it was starting to sink in, even if it was a painstakingly slow process. If it was a good thing or bad, he wasn’t entirely sure of that yet. Though everything bad that had happened to them until now had led to some good, it was something to hold on to.

Then a thought popped into his head of the utter weird things that had happened, the cliffs and the wall. The silver wall that reminded him of something forgotten; something he couldn’t truly place. Then the strangest event of them all probably was the little girl in the wall who had carried him to the top. I wonder who she was...or if she was even real.

The images after that just flashed through his mind. The images after that just flashed through his mind. The fort and then the message in the stone, he wondered what had happened there.

What unsettled him the most was that his friends had also touched the stone and nothing had occurred? Something that defied logic had transpired. And everything was a bit hazy about the experience. Well, everything defied logic the last few days.

It was that thought that got him to reflect on his fight with the smaller creature, he again grudgingly acknowledged that he had only taken down the thing by sheer dumb luck and by Tyas showing up. But what worried him most was, if a small Nighthound was that hard to kill, the older ones would just be… He wildly shook his head from even the thought of it. He stared at ceiling and went over the battle in his head.

Still, it was a hard thing to cast off his disappointment in himself, but the image of freeing Kara came crashing in through those thoughts and he sighed with relief. Even though the situation was less than ideal at that moment, it was all, every moment of it, worth it just for the fact that he could find one of Misses Getsamé’s missing family members.

For him, it was something extremely important to work towards. But he hoped with every bone in his body that he could find Doctor Getsamé and his co-workers and above all find a way one day to get them all back home. It was paramount. The image of Kara’s mom with tears streaming down her face would haunt him until they do.

With that thought, he closed his eyes and dropped back into a dreamless sleep.

***

Calin woke up, and for an instant, he was utterly confused as to where he was. Disorientated, he tried to jump to his knees to find out what place this was but failed as he got tangled in his sleeping bag, which sent him tumbling hard onto the hard ground on his right. Somewhat stuck he tried to compose himself. It took a few seconds before remembering that he was in the cave. The strain of the effort sent cramps up his muscles and he groaned as his heavily battered body made itself known to him.

He turned on his side and tried to look out the mouth of the cave for any light, but his angle was wrong. Nothing seemed to have changed except for Tyas sitting at the relit fire. Calin’s shuffling must have alerted Tyas, as the man looked his way.

Upon making eye contact, Calin waved his mostly uninjured left arm in a small arc. Though for a moment realized the uncomfortable position he was in, with the stuck gauntlet on his right forearm.

He struggled in the restrictive material but finally fell on his back. The painful process of getting up, had to start. With considerable effort he was able to escape from his sleeping bag only for the cold of the cave to hit him. He shivered and quickly crawled towards the welcoming fire.

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The heat slowly seeped in his hands as he rubbed them together above the small flame, as he was satisfied with their progress, Calin said, “Good morning Tyas... or is it even morning?” he leaned over the slight decent to look out of the opening, the silent dark was still hanging outside. Confused he glanced back at Tyas as the man said,

“It’s about 4 am.”

Calin shook his head at the revelation and brought up his own watch to confirm it. This is not right...

Taking a deep breath Calin said, “I don’t say I like how odd it is to have slept a full night and still only just wake up after four in the morning.”

Smirking at him, Tyas said, “Yeah, it takes getting used to. I almost forgot what the days were like this side.”

The notion was unexpected to Calin and with an apprehensive frown he asked, “So what are the days like here then?”

He waited in hope for Tyas to tell him it’s normal.

“The days in the mountainous parts of the North are only eight hours long, mostly due to the size of them. But the deeper into the south you go the less it becomes.”

“What?!” Calin exclaimed a bit too loudly, before lowering his voice. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not. It’s a large reason why they often call the southern parts the Moons' Hemisphere because night is normal here and the Sun Hemisphere for the exact opposite reason.”

This stunned Calin to his core as he sat back and asked through a daze.

“Really?” For some reason, he slapped his own cheeks, but asked in the same breath, “What did you call this continent again? The name keeps slipping in my mind.”

Tyas nodded and said, “Yeah really ... And it’s Sambria, there is a story behind the name, but I never really paid attention as my mom told it to me. I was too young, I guess.”

Calin just nodded, still trying to deal with all the things that were so different now. Tyas poked at the fire with a stick and said,

“Forgive me, I should’ve considered telling you about the nights here... You know it’s hard for me to tell you all of this. It’s what you and I both grew up hearing,

‘We used to play together in the Morning trees when your parents were away, conjuring great and noble fantasies of what we would both accomplish in Sambria one day,

‘That we might one day visit the haunting but famous silver sands, that are only found in a few places; the great forests of Yria, which is one of the most astonishing forests on the continent. Or search for the many mythical things like the Star Caverns in the dangerous underground. Or join the legendary Tzaven-Gard in Moons’ Reach to defend its pass from the dark things that lurk in the mountains with wit and swords alike. Or even venture beyond the great Veil. However crazy that must have sounded. It’s difficult to forget.”

Calin didn’t miss the shine in Tyas’ eyes as the man recounted the dreams of his... their childhood. The man chuckled at the memories but lifted a hand to rub away a dark lock of hair as his smile disappeared from his face.

A silence fell around the fire, long enough that it was thick and awkward before Tyas finally broke it again, and said, “It’s hard for me... Hard, that you can’t remember any of that.”

As he sat there hearing hints about his childhood; a happy childhood, Calin’s mood darkened. It sounded like a childhood that was full of wonder and an odd sense of certainty.

The idea was alien that he came from this strange land.

With no clue how to accept the fact, Calin started poking at the ground with his finger and without real interest, he asked, “What are the Morning trees?”

Tyas’s gaze was on him, of that he was sure, but he continued dragging his finger through the dirt.

“It’s um...” Tyas started after a moment, but it was followed by a sigh. “You’ll see soon enough. That’s if the rain has stopped.”

“What does the rain got to do with—“ Calin spotted the picture his hand had drawn while his thoughts were on Tyas’ response. He was shocked to see he had drawn a small stick boy reaching for his parents. With a jerk, Calin recoiled and could feel the tears building in his eyes. He destroyed the sand picture as fast as he could and bitterness crept into his voice.

“When do we leave?”

“I’ll start waking up the others in a minute.”

Tyas’s voice was full of concern, but Calin didn’t want his sympathy. He needed time to sort through the chaos in his mind.

So, without a word, he just turned around and crawled back towards his own crude sleeping place.

It took him past Kara.

For a moment, he was surprised to see her eyes were open as she watched him move by her. He ignored the fact and kept on crawling.

Questions were written all over her face, but Calin just shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do now was talk about what was discussed by the fire. He needed to think, alone.

Upon approaching his own sleeping bag, he sat down next to Evany and started stuffing his sleeping bag into its small cover. His thoughts were a jumbled mess.

I came from this place... I ...

He shook his head violently and placed his face in his hands trying to process the thought. Calin lifted his eyes and glanced around anxiously, but nothing gave him a clue to the numerous questions he had.

With no choice but to give up, for now, he sat up and pushed it aside. There would be time for it later when he was less confused. He fumbled with his small headlight and placed it down beside the backpack before he reached forward and shook Evany awake gently.

With a squeak, the girl yawned and stretched.

While she slowly woke up, a small smile tried to tug at his lips and his heavy heart.

A few seconds later, Evany asked through another big yawn.

“Is the sun up yet?”

The question caught him off guard. He was not exactly sure how to answer her as he sat there, twisting his finger through a patch of moss. After a while, he answered.

“Nope, but we have slept for eleven hours or something.”

Evany sat up with a jerk and said, “Eleven hours? That long? But shouldn’t the sun be up by now then?”

Shaking his head Calin said, “It’s a long story, I’ll bother you with it later. For now, start waking up and then pack your things. I think we are going to leave in a short while.”

The girl’s gaze burned into him while he was talking, but as he finished, he didn’t know how to go about to telling her about the fact that the days here consisted of several hours less sunlight than normal. The decision was made for him as he thought about how much she already had to deal with.

Calin donned his small head light and turned around bathing his side of the cave in light. For a second the dark rock and creamy layers in between the thick slabs fascinated him, but soon enough he started rolling the thin campers mattress and strapped it on top of his backpack with the elastic ropes, along with the almost non-existent pillow. When he was satisfied with his backpack he dragged his cloak over his sore body and crawled to Tyas, who had started packing his things.

“I’m just going to check outside,” Calin said, but he paused.

Jerry and Kara were in a heated conversation in hushed voices, talking just outside the warm light from the fire. Tyas was next to them, but the man ignored them flat. There were hints of the conversation that was clear when Kara gasped,

”I’d have pink fluffy ears if I would believe that story! ... ... No way that we are on a different continent... ... It doesn’t make sense, I... ...”

“Come on Kara, I’ve given you enough evidence to... ...”

It irritated Calin at that moment and he decided to let Jerry sort it out.

Without real reason, he lifted the arm with the bent gauntlet. The sudden memory of the creature’s jaws snapping around it made him stiffen.

He tried again to get it off, but finally gave up after a few tries and just ventured outside the cave.

***

Outside, the smell of fresh air after the rain bathed Calin in nostalgia; he always liked the gentle rain. It brought newness to the earth. It brought life.

Dripping noises filled the air from every crack and nook in the sheer walls of rock, but it was clear the rain had stopped. He walked down the pathway to the first place the forest came into view. Calin sprung up onto a relatively small rock and sat there.

He stared into the shrouded forest, the hulking giants of trees lurking in the darkness. Even their roots were as big as the numerous normal trees around them.

But even that fact couldn’t tear away the one question bombarding his mind.

Why did I follow Tyas?

It had seemed so clear back at the Cabin... before even crossing through that mysterious silver wall. Answers about his family? Maybe it was even just escaping in the fear of being hunted by those brutish Nighthounds, or was it seeking the excitement of the adventure like Evany? Or was it something entirely different?

But that day in the Cabin, there was an air of safety. It was even possible that those monsters wouldn’t have found him there.

Yet now it was real. The excitement Evany was seeking had evaporated in an instant. All because of a series of decisions he had made. Those thoughts warred inside his mind. Long minutes passed, but one fact remained unhindered.

He had made the choice on more than one occasion that Evany could come. Was it wrong? I could have been more adamant that she couldn’t follow ... Should I have stayed?

But, we found Kara...

That changed things. Yet, maybe Evany wouldn’t have been with him if he had made the other choice.

Regardless ... What came next was the true question, though chasing down the clue on Kara’s dad and the other scientists was a good start. But how do we get back—

“Good, it stopped raining.”

Startled, Calin turned to the source of the voice. It was Tyas.

“Any idea where we should go first?” Calin asked, staring back into the forest, even with the little light there was.

There was no answer for a few seconds, but then Tyas said, “That’s a complex question—“

“I want to go back to Mesa Versee...” A girl’s voice said.

Both Calin and Tyas turned around. Kara stood there; pure determination in her eyes.

***

“I would normally ask why first, but how is currently higher on my list. Didn’t you listen to what Jerry said?” Tyas asked with his hands up to the sides.

Kara straightened up.

“I know what you guys keep telling me,” She lifted her hands and made quotation marks with her fingers. “ ‘Different continent’ and all, but when I woke up after that great light show at the Well, I was still in a building that resembled Mesa Versee’s inner room, although different, it had what looked like the other half of that strange Well. And I want to go back.”

“That’s uh, news... But even if that is true, why would you want to go there now?” Calin asked, trying to understand her reasoning. But Kara stiffened visibly. Her eyes flicking back to the cave, a worried look on her delicate features.

“I’ve been talking to Jerry and Evany, and let’s say for a moment that the story is the truth... Which I find very hard to believe! In fact, I don’t believe half of it. But... the way Evany cried when Jerry said there is no way back to Lamb’s Crest... It rattled me. I can’t say I understand what is going on. Everything is out of whack!” She threw up her hands and pressed her fingers to her skull, blowing out a deep breath.

“But, for Evany’s sake, I want to check something out at the Ruins. Maybe there is a way back for her...”