The space around me slanted and shifted. The trees elongated and the raindrops that fell, froze in the air. The rocks and grass at my feet stretched out of shape and we were suddenly hurtling forward and towards the ground. I flinched and scrunched up my face knowing I was moving too fast to bring up my unhurt hand to protect my face. My judgement was off, and when I thought I was going to hit the ground, my body kept falling. I looked to the left and layers of dirt slid past as I fell deeper and deeper into the earth.
I blinked in disbelief, but when I reopened my eyes, darkness had fallen. Fear pummeled through my chest. I was still falling. The speed increased and air whistled past my ears and stung my face. It was as if I was flying now, surging through nothingness, although I was doing nothing to create the momentum. Just as my fear was beginning to be replaced with wonder, a dirt ground covered in small rocks came rushing towards me.
Unable to stop myself, my head whacked into the cold, hard ground, and everything went dark.
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The room was small, brown-stoned and cool. I was lying on a cot that’s left side was pushed up against a wall. From where I lay, I could see that the room was simple in design. There was a small rectangular window further down from where my bed lay, allowing light to seep in. It was too high to see anything but blue sky beyond its opening. The sight of the sky stirred confusion that I couldn’t pinpoint, the fogginess of sleep still lingering.
There was a person sitting on a wooden chair beside the bed. I shifted my head slightly and recognized Rayon. He was leaning forward, his arms resting on his thighs as he read through a thin booklet, his fingers turning a page with a quick flick. Its corners were bent and its pages looked crumpled. On his other side, I spied Arina asleep on a similar cot.
There was a pounding in my head, and I remembered hitting it. Frowning, I lifted my hand to rub it only to have the metal of the vambrace clunk into my head. Remembering everything, I sat up.
Rayon’s gaze lifted from the pages.
“Good, you’re awake,” he said, simply. Rising to his feet, he stuffed the booklet into either a pocket or inside the top of his trousers at his back.
Someone had released the mock bandage that had held my shoulder in place. I looked down. My clothes had been changed as well, and I was now wearing dark trousers and a plain, short sleeved black T-shirt. How long had I been out for this time? Slowly, my hand went up to my shoulder to test it. So far, there wasn’t any pain.
“It’s not broken,” he said. “We scanned it a couple of times and treated your ligaments, however it’s healing perfectly fine on its own. Give it a day or two and you’ll be back to normal.”
“Thank you. Who changed my clothes?”
Rayon frowned appearing impatient. “One of my female colleagues. Come on, we’ll wake up Arina and get you both something to eat. We’ve got a lot to discuss. You’ve both been asleep for a good couple of hours.”
His words echoed in my mind. A good couple of hours? But it had been evening when I had last been awake. Now I knew why the blue sky had bothered me. Where were we for there to be sunlight outside the window?
I swiveled around on the cot and placed my bare feet on the cool, dirt floor. Pushing myself up, I stood to face him. My head swirled, and I reached out for something to hold on to. Rayon stepped forward and wrapped his hand around my forearm.
“Steady,” he said softly. “I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve eaten and travelling through the gate is always a bit rough on the body.”
“Gate?” I asked. I blinked, trying to remember.
His close proximity was unnerving. I looked up. Even though I was standing now, he towered over me. The spinning in my head eased, and I wrenched my arm free.
“Tell me where we are,” I demanded. “What happened to us? What was that thing we walked through? Where’s my brother and Nate?” My words stirred Arina, and she turned on her cot, her eyes fluttering open.
Rayon smiled, a smug grin that pulled his lips up nearly from ear to ear. “There’s so much you don’t know. The traditional gate to your world has been closed for centuries, feared lost and unattainable.” He rubbed his hands together. “But you,” he shook his head as if in disbelief. “You put on the vambrace and somehow opened your own gate so we could find you.” He leaned down and whispered. “You don’t know how happy we are that you did all of this.”
“Happy? We?” I side-stepped around him, trying to get close to Arina. She had pushed herself up off the bed as well. Her face was pale and her hair disheveled, and I had to wonder if I looked just as rough as her. I focused my attention back on Rayon. “I don’t know what ridiculous story you’ve got going on here, but you need to take us to my brother and Nate, right now.”
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Rayon pulled back seeming to ponder his next words. “I think it’d best if I simply showed you.” He pointed with his hand towards the other side of the room.
My gaze followed his motion and landed on a closed door that I hadn’t noticed before.
“There’s a lot of information that I need to share with you,” he said, his voice still gentle, unlike when we had met in the scrubland. “It’ll be a lot to take in, but remember,” he paused for what I took as effect, “you’re safe with me and my men.”
I swallowed. I wasn’t ready to completely trust him just yet. Yes, he had gotten us away from the creature, but I wanted to see where he had taken us. What was on the other side of that door?
He smiled encouragingly and nodded his head in the direction of the door. “Come on, I’ll show you what’s going on.”
Rayon was handsome, older but still handsome. There was something in his grey eyes though. It took me a moment to put my finger on it. They burned with eagerness, but eagerness for what? I glanced over at Arina. She had crossed her arms defensively over her chest.
“Can we have a moment?” she said, staggering past Rayon.
He frowned slightly but nodded and walked towards the door. He stopped at its side. Arina gripped my hand and squeezed it.
“Let’s just follow along until we know what’s going on,” she whispered. “We’ll find Shane and Nate and then get out of here.”
I met her gaze and I nodded, glad that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to trust him.
I turned back to Rayon. I met his gaze and nodded. “Show us,” I said simply.
When we left the room, Rayon ushered us down a long hallway towards a stone staircase. The walls were the same simple, brown rock as the room we had woken in. Without considering whether he would be going too fast, Rayon took two steps at a time. To keep up with him, we were forced into a run. I leaned on the wooden railing for support, my head still protesting at my movement.
I panted and my legs started to burn as we continued upwards, flight after flight. On each level, a lone hallway jutted off with seven or eight rooms and a large window at the end allowing light to come in. The walls were bare, devoid of paintings or hangings. Neither were there any plants, tables or lights. The stone floor was devoid of rugs or carpet. Strangely, torches lined the walls of the dark staircase.
Finally, the stairs ended and a wooden door blocked us from going any further. A large, thick metal bar lay across it horizontally. Rayon shoved his hand into his trousers and retrieved a bundle of metal keys. We waited while he placed three into the locks down the righthand side of the door, and with his strong arms, he lifted the metal plank and rested it on the ground. His hand went to the door knob and he twisted it. The door creaked outwards, and the glaring, outside light blinded me.
I squinted against it.
Placing my foot up the last step, I stepped over the threshold and into the open. A fresh, gentle, warm breeze enveloped my skin. Blinking repeatedly to adjust to the light, I turned and started to take in my surroundings.
We were standing on what looked to be the roof of the building we had been in. Its surface was the same stone that was inside. A low wall ran along the edge, meaning a person couldn’t simply walk and fall off the side of the building. I stepped further out onto the roof eager to see more.
Shielding my hands from the sun, I squinted and took in the view. As far as the eye could see, similar buildings of about five or six floors high surrounded the landscape, spreading outwards and away from us. Off in the distance, to the right, a large dome loomed over one part of the city, several floors higher than the building we were standing on. Beyond the city, a desert with rolling sand dunes continued until they disappeared from view. We were no longer in the scrubland. Had we somehow been transported to the middle of the Australian Outback and into one of its large deserts?
I doubted it. This city did not look like anything I had ever seen in books or on the TV about the middle of Australia. I turned to the left and spied a large, high protective city wall that ran for kilometers in a straight line. On the other side of the city wall, a wide river wound its way. Even further off in the distance, across the other side of the river, another large stone wall towered protecting another sprawling city.
I sensed Arina stand beside me, and I tilted my head to look at the sky above. It was crystal blue and clear, not a cloud could be seen. The air felt strange, and it took me a moment to put my finger on it. It was clean and pure, but at the same time, it was thin. Were we high up? Was it possible? Had Rayon somehow taken us to another country?
“Where are we?” I stammered, turning back to him.
Rayon crossed his arms. The same smug expression I had seen earlier, formed on his features as if he was proud of himself and all his efforts, whatever they were. He pointed his hand up to the sky, high up on the left, and I twisted my head in the same direction. What I saw knocked the air out of my lungs, and my legs collapsed out from beneath me.
It was impossible! Outrageous! I was dreaming! I had to be.
I blinked hard, but when I reopened my eyes, the two, large, orange moons with their golden rings were still there.
My throat was dry. I couldn’t swallow. My heart pounded in my ears. Fear surged through me. All I wanted to do was go back home to what I knew and to what was familiar. I wanted to be back on my horse, riding through the scrubland towards my grandparents’ home with my brother, Nate and Arina by my side.
“Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!” Arina cried from somewhere behind me.
I swiveled on the dirt ground to face her. She was holding her arms wide open while she spun in a circle taking in the view from every possible angle. “Where the hell are we?” she yelled. Her eyes met mine. They were large with fear and shock, and I knew they mirrored my own expression.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Rayon took a step forward. “This is Alandra.”
I turned to face him once more. “Alandra?” I looked him up and down. “Who are you?”
A large smile formed on Rayon’s face. “My name is Rayon, and I am a treasure hunter.”