“A treasure hunter?” I asked, the wind whipping the lose strands of my hair from where I still sat on the roof’s surface.
Rayon’s smile disappeared. He walked towards me and squatted a short distance away.
“Before I explain who I am and what I do, I have to show you something. I have to show you what’s at stake. But I also have to warn you,” he said, staring directly into my eyes. “It’s going to be hard.”
My heart rate started to increase. “Are you taking us to Nate and Shane? What’s wrong? Are they okay?”
Rayon nodded slowly his face set in serious lines. “Yes, they will be.”
The tone in his voice hit a nerve and anxiety fluttered in my stomach. I heard Arina approach from behind.
“Where are they?” she asked.
Rayon stood and held his hand out for me to take. “Come with me.”
This time, Rayon led us down the winding stone staircase slowly as if he wanted to prolong our reunion with Shane and Nate for as long as possible. After three floors, he stopped descending and turned down the corridor.
Sweat started to bead on my forehead, and I clenched and unclenched my hands together with each door that we passed. Finally, once we reached the end of the hall, Rayon stopped outside of one dark metal door. Compared to the rest of this building, this door stood out. Beside the door handle, a sensor pad with a digital panel was attached to the wall. Everything else about this building had seemed basic and rustic, but all of a sudden, there was technology in front of us.
Without hesitation, Rayon’s fingers danced over the sensor, too quickly for my eyes to register all the numbers. A buzz sounded, and he gently pushed on the door. He stopped before he entered completely.
“I want you to know that we can help them,” he said, softly. “It will just take time.”
His words sent a jolt of fear coursing through my body. Just what was wrong with them? Why was my brother and Nate locked inside this room?
Rayon opened the door all the way, and I pushed past. I blinked against the sudden change. The room was lit with a bright, neon white bulb. Similarly, white, polished tiles covered every surface of the room. A strong smell of something similar to antiseptic burned my nose. The only items in the room were a tall metal table to the side that came up to my waist and a metal platform along the back wall where Shane and Nate stood.
A gasp escaped my lips, and my hands came to my face. They were frozen, unmoving, a sheen of blue tainting their skin. Shane was crouching with his hands in front of his face while Nate was standing, leaning back on his feet with his hands held straight out. It was their expressions, those that resembled the uttermost fear and horror that made a sob catch in my throat.
I ran across the room towards them, the sound of Arina’s footsteps behind me echoing in my ears.
Taking a shuddery breath, I lifted my hand and reached out to touch my brother on the arm. I paused, taking in the features of his face. His eyes were blank, but the skin on his stiff face was contorted in a frozen silent scream. It was something I didn’t think I would ever forget. I shifted my gaze to Nate. His eyes were the same, blank and empty with his face knotted in fear. They looked terrified. What had they seen to give them so much terror?
I blinked back tears, and then I stopped. I had seen eyes like that before. They mirrored how Arina had looked in the clearing. Why had Arina snapped out of the trance and they hadn’t? Why hadn’t she been completely frozen and covered in this blue sheen over her skin as well?
Fear clasped around my heart. I couldn’t tell if it was beating faster or if it had slowed to a stop. I was too scared to step closer. Glancing back and forth between both of their bodies, I tried to swallow. My throat ached. Had the unconceivable happened?
Were they dead?
Closing the rest of the distance, I rested my hand on my brother’s chest, at the opening of his shirt. It didn’t move indicating he wasn’t breathing, but the skin underneath my fingers was warm. I stepped across, straight to Nate. He’d always been a friend to me, a second brother. The pain and fear on his face caused my body to ache.
“What’s…what’s wrong with them?” I whispered.
A heavy, large hand rested on my right shoulder. “They have been petrified,” Rayon said. If his hand was to comfort me, it didn’t work and I shrugged out of his touch. “They’re still alive, but their bodies are frozen.”
“Who did this to them?” I demanded, trying to blink away tears that had formed in my eyes.
“The Phalean,” he answered.
“The Phalean?” I spun on my heals and faced him squarely. “Those creatures in the scrubland? Why? Why would they do that?”
“They knew one of you had the Ruby Vambrace.” He looked down at my left arm. “They knew whoever possessed it was a threat.”
I lifted my left arm, the pain in my shoulder having disappeared completely, I realised. I stared at the vambrace with the ruby scorpion sparkling in the light. From the corner of my eye, Arina approached Shane. A sob escaped her and filled the room.
My gaze wandered back to Shane and Nate as well. I kept hoping they would move and break through whatever was holding them. They’d wake up and we could demand Rayon to take us back to the scrubland and the horses. The horses?! What had happened to our horses? But then, Rayon’s words hit home.
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“Threat?” I waved my arm in front of his face. “How is this a threat?”
“Because they knew whoever donned it, would be after the Ruby Dagger next.”
My mouth dropped open. “The Ruby what?”
“Come on,” he said, placing his large hand on my shoulder again. This time with more force for there was immediate pressure. He was trying to guide me away. “Let’s get you both something to eat, and I’ll explain how we can help Shane and Nate.”
I didn’t want to leave them. I didn’t want to leave Shane and Nate in this cold, empty room with no one looking after them. Shaking my head, I tried to hold my ground and not move.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. I hated how my voice shook. “All I’m interested in is helping Shane and Nate.”
“And you can,” Rayon said, the same patient tone holding strong. “You can help them this very evening. You just have to complete one task.”
“And then we can go home?” Arina asked, over my shoulder.
Rayon smiled warmly. “Of course, and then you can go home.”
----------------------------------------
The large, windowless room buzzed with activity. It was a mess hall, full of men and women who were eating what looked like their evening meal from the cooked meaty smells that wafted up my nose. They were dressed in similar clothing to Rayon with long, khaki-style trousers supporting a variety of pockets, bulging with unknown items. When they walked past, they placed their right hand over their chest in a sharp, swift motion that I could only take as a salute.
We were sitting on cold, metal chairs at a long metal table, off to the side and away from the other men and women. The material of Arina’s shirt tickled the skin on my arm as she drummed her fingers over the shiny surface. I had no idea which floor of the building we were on now. My mind was too overwhelmed. From the shock of seeing Shane and Nate and then remembering the scenery and the two moons on the roof, I didn’t know which problem to focus on first. None of it seemed real. I desperately wanted none of this to be real.
Metal food trays scraped against the metal table in front of us, jolting me back to the present. I smiled politely at the soldier who had delivered them, and then turned my attention to Rayon. He was sitting opposite to us and was finishing a quiet conversation with a female soldier who was standing at his side. She cast me a glance, and she nodded sharply at something Rayon said.
“What do I need to do?” I asked once the woman had moved away, walking towards the mess hall entrance. “How can we help Shane and Nate?”
Arina’s leg bounced up and down under the table knocking into my own.
“I think I need to give an explanation first,” Rayon said. “Before, on the roof, I told you I am a treasure hunter. In the past I worked for myself, but I now work for Queen Olesya of the Lendroth people.” Rayon leaned his arms onto the table, ignoring his own tray of food. His eyebrows bobbed as he spoke, giving the impression that his grey eyes were dancing with excitement.
“The Lendroth people live here?” Arina asked. I heard her stumble over her next words. “On, on this world?”
Rayon shook his head. “No, no, no. We actually live on another planet.”
Surely, Rayon was delusional. I leaned back and drew in my breath before I cast Arina a quick glance. She was shaking her head, her red curls bouncing around her shoulders.
“So, you're also from Lendroth?” I asked.
“Yes. What you need to understand is that there are five planets all interconnected by a series of gates. Eons ago, the gates were closed, leaving all the worlds cut off from each other. Earth, your planet, had been part of the group as well, however as I mentioned earlier, Earth’s gate was also closed and lost over time.”
“Riiiight….” I drawled.
His facial expression didn’t stray from that of someone who was completely enthralled and animated. He never considered what he was saying sounded absolutely and utterly absurd. He believed every single word that was coming out of his mouth.
“I discovered how to reopen the gate between Alandra and Lendroth. Once I had done so, I was approached by Queen Olesya. She heard of my treasure hunting endeavours and my success in reconnecting the two worlds.
“The Phaleans,” Rayon continued, “stole important artefacts from us. They stole the weapons our ancestors had used to fight against the Phaleans and save our world from annihilation. Since arriving back here, Queen Olesya most graciously funds my hunts under the condition that I also help her to find our ancient artefacts and bring them back home.” Rayon’s gaze fell to my arm with the vambrace resting on the table. “You’re wearing a part of one of my ancestors’ artefacts.”
I slid my arm closer to my body. “It was an accident!” I blurted. “I found it and put it on to see what it would look like. I didn’t mean for it to attach to my arm! You can have it if you can take it off!”
Rayon smiled. “It’s fine. As soon as you put the vambrace on, we were aware because the other part, the Ruby Dagger, began to glow. It was just luck that you also happened to open your own gate with it, and doing so, you connected Earth with us momentarily again.”
“Maybe you should have reconsidered putting it on,” Arina said, under her breath.
I shot her a glare. “You tried it on, too! How was I supposed to know this would happen?”
“It’s okay,” Rayon said. “You found it. For centuries, no one knew where it was.”
He paused to take some water, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed a large mouthful. “The Ruby Dagger,” he continued, “is the matching set for the Ruby Vambrace. Queen Olesya wants the set. She wants the Ruby Dagger, but it is protected, and we haven’t been able to retrieve it.”
Rayon’s eyes dropped to my left wrist again, and this time, I lowered my hand under the table, hiding it from view.
“Since you now have the vambrace, you can retrieve the dagger. I won’t lie. It’s not going to be easy. The dagger is inside the Phalean Temple of Lashiria. The Temple of Healing and Life.”
“You want me to help you retrieve the dagger?” I asked. “That’s the task I have to do. I have to take it from a Phalean Temple?”
My voice was so loud several people in the hall turned to look in our direction and the general volume of the surrounding conversations dissipated.
I let out a short laugh and shook my head. “No way,” I said. “You want me to go out there and take something from those creatures. It sounds like I’m going to be stealing it from them. There’s got to be another way.”
“There isn’t another way. You see, if you get the dagger, I know Queen Olesya will be more than happy to pay for the antidote to save Shane and Nate. And no, you wouldn’t be stealing the dagger. You would be getting it back for us. Queen Olesya would always remember your great efforts to help the Landroth people.”
He leaned back, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. This is some of my fault. I was able to get to Arina in time before the Phalean poison completely took over and build the protective circle, but I wasn’t able to get to Shane and Nate. We only found them later. The Phalean were too fast for us.”
“So, you can save Shane and Nate?” Arina asked. “If Jaliyah gets this dagger that you need. You will help us?”
“Of course,” Rayon answered. “Queen Olesya will be so thankful. The antidote is expensive and hard to come by, but I know she will be willing to pay for it in exchange for the dagger.”
Arina looked at me, her eyes pleading. “Just do it,” she said.
I closed my eyes and immediately saw the horrific image of Shane and Nate frozen faces in my mind’s eye. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and stared at Rayon.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll do it.”