--- KINTHEK ---

Kinthek peered at the strange space around him, eyes wide with wonder and curiosity. There was a hint of fear too, hidden below the surface. He felt his gaze drift across the nothingness, a pure white void that was lacking in anything.

Yet as he stood there, images briefly faded into view, giving color and flavor to the strange space. A field of flowers, faint but alive, blowing in the wind. A construction of stone that seemed more like an idea than an actual place.

Eliax gave the area a cursory glance, and then led him forward, but Kinthek couldn’t help but be in awe at the images and things that drifted past him. Were these his own thoughts? “What are we looking for?” He asked, hurrying to catch up with the short girl.

She pointed to herself, “She’s like me.”

Kinthek nodded, “it seems like it should be easy to find someone here.” He gestured out at the nothingness.

Eliax snorted. “That’s what I thought.” She seemed bitter about something for some reason. “Ah… stay with me.”

Kinthek’s gaze had been diverted by an image of a strangely shaped altar, but he focused back on Eliax, “What is this place? How can you even get here?”

The bluish cast to her skin grew more prominent. Was that a blush? It was strange on her, but in a way it fit. “It’s the… ah… dream world?” she seemed slightly confused, “I think that’s what your people call it.”

Kinthek nodded seriously, remembering legends about the crystal mountain that led to a world of dreams. She hadn’t answered him on how she could get here though, which Kinthek felt was important information—he’d tried to pay attention to the whole process as she’d pulled him through a glowing circle of air, but all he’d gotten from the experience was a headache. This was Eliax though, she probably had a good reason. “Alright! I’ll keep an eye out for people who look like you then!”

Eliax nodded distractedly, her gaze following the line of the horizon. It was strange that this place even had a horizon. “I’m used to it… looking different.”

“Like?”

“Ah, crystals, a lot of them.”

He frowned, crystals? Just like the crystal mountain. Perhaps it was related? An image appeared to the side of a small furry creature, it evaporated after a moment, “why is it different now then?”

She shrugged. “Depends on… ah… where you are.”

“And you’re from far away.” Kinthek filled in. He was increasingly certain that she was from Arendi. Or maybe even Peldrin. What did people look like on Peldrin? They worshiped… Stars above, Kinthek would have to ask Vespin again.

Eliax nodded, adopting a slightly wistful look. “Very, very far away.”

-

“Ah!” Kinthek called, pointing to a figure laying in the distance, “Is that her? The one you’re looking for.”

Eliax perked up, standing up taller, but it didn’t seem like she could see them yet. “Is she laying there?”

Kinthek nodded, “I think so, she’s a bit far away though.”

Eliax turned their trajectory without question, her gaze determined, possibly a bit nostalgic? Kinthek couldn’t really tell, Eliax wasn’t great with showing emotion. They moved forward, and the closer they got to whoever it was, the more Kinthek could tell that something was wrong.

The figure wasn’t moving.

As they neared her, Kinthek was startled to realize she looked almost exactly like Eliax, the only difference being the peaceful expression, the thicker clothing, and the huge wound across her chest.

Kinthek gasped as he saw it, rushing forward by instinct. He wasn’t someone who knew medicine, but seeing someone hurt felt wrong. It seemed only right that he helped as soon as possible.

But… She still wasn’t moving. Kinthek stopped a few paces away, glancing at Eliax as the girl moved forward without hesitation, examining the body. Yes… now that he was closer he could see the lifeless eyes staring upward.

Why did things have to always end so poorly? “I’m sorry…” Kinthek gave Eliax a sorrowful look, expecting her to seem if not mournful, at least respectful. But he found himself gaping at her as she shamelessly prodded at the body, clicking her tongue at it and squinting at the wound. “What are you doing?!” his voice rose unexpectedly high at that.

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Eliax glanced at him, looking apologetic, but more toward him instead of the corpse. The corpse that looked quite a lot like Eliax.

“Was this your twin?” Kinthek asked, quieter. Perhaps Eliax had hated her?

Eliax hesitated for a moment and then nodded, “Yes.” She looked back down at the body, examining the wound, “But she’ll be fine.”

Kinthek glanced between the unmoving, sightless, not breathing corpse, and the very much alive twelve year old. She didn’t act like she was twelve, but Kinthek finally understood the fact that she was. This was—well maybe she didn’t realize it. “Eliax… I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure, she’s dead.”

Eliax nodded, “yes, quite dead.”

Kinthek furrowed his brow at her, “Why are you treating her like that then!”

She sighed, “It doesn’t matter. Just… looking for something.”

He frowned at her, but didn’t interrupt as she finished looking her sister over before holding out a finger and drawing something in the air. Kinthek blinked as glowing lines and runes followed her finger. Not so much appearing as gathering. His eyes insisted they had been there all along, yet if that was true then there should have been thousands of the things floating about to see, he couldn’t see anything.

Kinthek had no idea how Eliax could do things like this. She’d shaped earth, she could pretend that gravity didn’t exist, she could take people to the realm of dreams. Abilities like that sounded like something that would take your whole soul to get with bloodbinding. You’d go insane and then… well Eliax wasn’t a bloodbinder, he already knew she was something else, but whatever she was couldn’t be any less dangerous. And yet she was a kid. When he’d been her age, Kinthek had barely been able to even talk straight.

She pressed the runes to her twin’s chest before standing back up and meeting his eyes. “Let’s go.”

“Did you… find it?”

Eliax nodded.

Kinthek peered at her hands, which were clasped together, “What is it?”

She tapped the side of her head in explanation, “It’s up here.” Which Kinthek felt wasn’t nearly good enough. She was like a sky beast that way, constantly dodging confrontation until finally it was cornered. But as the sky beasts were, she’d likely be the most unpredictable or dangerous once she was cornered. You had to wait for them to come to you.

He glanced to the side as another image appeared, this time of two worlds orbiting each other. While he was distracted, Eliax started back the way they’d come.

“Aren’t we going to… bury her or something?”

Eliax glanced back at her twin, shaking her head, “No, she’d want to stay here.” She gestured forward again and started walking. “Come on, we leave where we came in.”

Kinthek frowned, “Why?”

Eliax seemed annoyed about something, “Because Astral doesn’t like me warping hundreds of miles of space.”

Kinthek tilted his head, Astral… that name sounded familiar, at least a bit. He wasn’t entirely sure where, but Vespin had probably told it to him. The part about hundreds of miles of space was more disturbing though, “Space is different here, right?”

Eliax nodded absently, “Not really space. It’s…” she frowned in thought, seeking a suitable metaphor, “It’s the space between spaces. Something and Nothing. The barrier between them. It’s the place of thoughts and connections. The between.” her words seemed more clear as her voice was imbued with passion for this. This was the first time Kinthek had heard her speak of something she seemed to care about.

He gestured for her to continue, she blinked at him and made an odd noise, perhaps some mixture of laughter and pain. “I… ah… Understand why your people would call it the dream realm, dreams are between sleep and wakefulness, they’re thoughts but also pieces of the spirit, they’re a lot like this place. I think dreams come from here. I mean… nothing comes from here, but everything comes through here to get where it’s going.” she gestured at an image that appeared, an enormous tree holding up the sky. “It brings things together while also holding them apart from each other.”

She looked sad about that last bit, perhaps thinking of someone she was apart from. She had to have a lot of those, right? Being so far from home? Or was she more like him, hardly able to remember the land she’d been born into?

“So, this place is like a mind? It pulls things in and lets them out, sometimes changing them on the way. It connects things.”

Eliax paused, and then nodded, understanding, “Yes. Mostly I think.”

Kinthek smiled, “I kind of like it, it seems… peaceful.”

Her gaze sharpened suddenly, alert. “don’t do that.”

He blinked, “What?”

“Don’t think of it as anything like that. It’s best as a thought experiment.”

Kinthek raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

“You can stay in this place for as long as you want, but if you decide that you don’t want to leave, it will… change, and then it will never let you go.” She cringed, but her reaction wasn’t strong enough for someone who had had personal experience with this. Eliax must have heard it from somewhere else. Or maybe she’d had a friend of a friend go missing here. Or maybe it was a cultural thing. Kinthek mused over the possible reasons as Eliax continued, “It’s better to… just not think about it like that.”

He nodded, “I’ll remember that. Thank you.”

“I brought you here, it’s my job to make sure you know how it works.”

He sighed, “No, that’s for bringing me. I know there’s something big about this situation you aren’t telling me, but thank you for including me. I’d like to be able to help with it, whatever you’re dealing with.” He gestured back toward the lifeless form far behind them, “I’m sure you know what you’re doing, but if she died… well whatever it is, it’s got to be dangerous, and I’m sure you’re not invincible.”

Eliax smiled, but for some reason it seemed brittle; perhaps a bit angry. “Yes, I’m not invincible. Sometimes that’s hard for parts of me to remember.”