My alarm went off early the morning of our trip, and I flopped onto my back, my left hand patting down the bedside table, searching for the alarm. My hand touched the cool glass of my phone screen, and I lifted it, turning off the alarm as the screen brightened in my face.
I groaned at the sight of the time, dropping the phone onto my chest and rubbing my eyes.
For a few minutes, I just lay there, mustering the energy to move. Cool air rushed into my covers as I kicked a leg out, haphazardly draping it over the edge of the bed. My feet slid down to the floor, and I lazily pushed myself off the bed, stretching in the same movement with my phone in hand.
Exhaustion tugged on me. I hadn’t learned any lessons about staying up late playing video games until the early morning and had taken happened to take a look at the clock sometime around 4. I’d immediately closed out of the game and flung myself into bed, ensuring the alarm was set correctly. The trip to Agartha was important, and it wouldn’t do to be overly exhausted.
As it was, I got only a few hours of sleep, not nearly enough to recover from the previous day. But it would have to be enough.
I texted Ember, letting her know I was leaving and would inform her when I was heading back home, and packed the recently cleaned and disinfected backpack with a couple of pairs of clothes and many of the same items I’d packed for What Lies Ahead.
Ani leaped onto the counter as I cooked breakfast, and I shoved him off. He squeaked as he hit the ground, disgruntled. To regain my favor, he rubbed up against my legs, purring.
I ignored him, continuing my routine.
He let out a pitiful cry as I stepped away, and he tipped over, nearly landing on his side. Giving in, I said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be coming with me.”
His ears perked up at my words, and he trotted over, showing his appreciation with a brush against my legs. A fond smile crept its way onto my face.
I met Cove outside one of the portals in Chicago, using a portal closer to myself to teleport there.
Cove was waiting with Ranch wrapped around his neck when Ani and I arrived at the predetermined portal meeting place in Chicago. This time, I noticed, he had a backpack draped over his shoulders.
I smirked.
Cove ignored my glee and asked, “You ready?”
I offered my wrist as my answer, and so our travels began. The light flared beneath our feet, dying down as a remarkably boring, tan-painted, bare square room built itself around us.
Immediately, we noticed the heat and humidity, shuffling the cats and our bags around as we stripped our jackets off, shoving them into storage while we evacuated the room, emptying it for its next travelers.
The portal room connected to a larger waiting room, with chairs decorating the modern interior, akin to an airport setup. Two other rooms branched off from the waiting room, their sign cards indicating they were additional portal rooms.
Two Indian men in Western-style brown suit jackets and khakis stood up from their chairs as we walked in, friendly smiles on their faces. “Cove and Hayden, I presume?” There was no hint of a foreign accent in the man’s friendly voice, and he held his hand out for us to shake.
The head of this operation, Cove, took his hand first. “You presume correctly. I’m Cove.”
“Hayden,” I offered when It was my turn.
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“We are Raj and Arjun.” The first man said, pointing to him and his acquaintance respectively.
“Are you two ready?” The second, taller, man Arjun spoke up for the first time, and his deep voice carried easily across the room, though I wouldn’t have described him as loud.
“Of course,” Cove answered, as I nodded my agreement.
They flashed smiles at us. “Very well. Did Mr. Jacob inform you of the process?” Raj asked, leading the way down the hallway, then the stairs leading to the street.
“A little.”
I grasped Ani tighter against my chess, finding myself standing taller on my tiptoes as we reached the street, eager for a view of the city. Excluding my world-walking, this was the first time I’d ever traveled out of country, and my curiosity was getting the better of me.
Arjun, bringing up the rear behind me, explained, “We’ll be loading you in the back of our van and driving you deep into the Himalayan mountains to meet with your next pair of guides.”
Raj continued, “Unfortunately, the Agarthians are a very secretive race. Very, very few know of their existence, much less their location. We hope you will not be offended by their precautions.”
He stopped outside a white van straight from a horror movie, with a door in the trunk area and pitch-black windows. Putting the pieces together, I cast a quick look around, drinking in the city while I could.
Raj opened the door to the back of the van, an apologetic look on his face. “Our apologies.”
The better-natured of the two of us, Cove, shrugged as he climbed in, throwing his backpack on the ground as he let Ranch roam free. “Not your fault.”
Arjun gave me a pat on the shoulder as I entered, saying, “Maybe you can take a vacation in Delhi, yeah?”
I gave him a smile, using the opportunity to take in my last view of the city for now. “Perhaps.”
They shut the doors behind us, leaving us in darkness. There was a rumble beneath our feet as the vehicle started, and we stumped as the van jerked forward. Unable to remain standing, we sat on the bare metal floor, pressing our backs up against our backpacks. Periodically we’d have to push back up against the rear corners as momentum and cloth pants on metal floors slid us forward. Ranch and Ani were none too pleased with the arrangement.
Bored, Cove and I both pulled out our phones.
Feeling slightly guilty, I pulled up the GPS, checking to see if it worked in this foreign country. To my surprise, it did, even without cell service. I switched between it and a book I had downloaded to my phone as we moved, keeping track of where we were.
The road grew bumpier and curvier the further we got from the city, forcing me to close the book app on my phone. I slumped further against the floor, switching to use the backpack as a lumpy pillow as I comforted myself in the twists and turns I saw ahead on the GPS.
The rocking of the van and the quiet darkness around us lulled me into slumber.
An undeterminable time later, I was shaken awake by the slamming of the two car doors. Quickly, I went to check my phone, curious, only to find the battery dead. I shoved it in my pocket with a sigh.
“Your phone dead, too?” Cove asked, somewhere to my right.
“Yes. Yours?”
“Died during my nap.”
Sunlight slid in as the door creaked slowly open, a chill wind rushing to blow against our faces. We collected our things and our cats, yawning and squinting at the sun as we climbed out of the van. Raj and Arjun slammed the doors shut behind us.
A dirt road cut around the mountain before us, and the sheer cliff faces mere feet from the edge of the road, enough to make me swallow thickly, suddenly grateful I hadn’t been able to see in the vehicle. The mountains lifted high above our heads, pale white at the top where snow trailed down the peaks. They swiftly descended below, dropping to a crevasse between the mountains.
“This way,” Raj said, pulling our attention to an unkempt path drifting from the side of the vehicle.
We trekked a little ways up the winding path, trees acting as guardrails between us and the edge. The trail opened up shortly ahead, tree logs laid alongside the path for weary travelers.
Arjun, then Raj, sat on the logs, ready to wait. “Wait here.”
Cove and I exchanged glances, then followed suit, taking the opportunity to pull water from our backpacks. We offered some to Arjun and Raj, who passed them up, claiming to have some waiting in their van.
It wasn’t long before odd footsteps echoed down the mountain. At first, I thought they must be the pads of wild animals and glanced warily around. Raj and Arjun remained unconcerned, and I let my shoulders relax.
They rose as the footsteps grew closer, motioning for Cove and me to do the same. We slipped our backpacks on and did the same, nervously looking at the bend in the path ahead, attempting to catch sight of our next pair of escorts.