Chris tumbled a short distance and ended up in some bushes. He was completely soaked but unhurt. The key had landed a short distance away, amongst some rocks. When he picked it up, although still warm, it was much cooler than before, and changed immediately to red. The wind that had thrown him through the vortex only moments earlier was gone. In fact, the distortion itself was now barely visible and could easily be missed. And there was something else; a control panel, or something resembling one, close to the distortion.
Joe and Susie had landed in an untidy heap some distance away and were slowly untangling themselves, groaning noisily as they did so.
When Chris looked around, he realised none of his surroundings were familiar. The boulders, the stream and cliffs were all gone. In their place was a forest with tall, umbrella-shaped trees he couldn’t identify. It was cold too, maybe ten degrees cooler.
Joe had climbed to his feet and was slowly pivoting on his heels as he gazed around him.
Susie hadn’t risen from a sitting position. Her hair, always a wild tangle at best, was now plastered to her face.
“The trees are like huge mushrooms,” she exclaimed, parting her hair and looking up. “And this place smells different.”
Chris stood up and brushed some of the mud off his clothes. The tree trunks were strange colours; red, grey, and shades of bluey-brown. He looked up and realized the trees were similar colours. And Susie was right about the smell. A slight breeze carried with it scents and odours he couldn’t identify - sweet, musty, spicy…he couldn’t really identify any of the smells.
“I don’t recognise any of this,” Joe said, wrapping his arms around his soaking clothes, “and I’m cold and wet. “We shouldn’t be here…we gotta get back.”
Chris focused on the device next to the distortion. It was about the size of a small desk with a screen and key board on top.
When Joe saw it, he rushed past Chris.
Susie sprang after him. “Don’t touch anything!” She cried, pulling Joe’s hand away from a large button he was about to press.
“Well, don’t you want you go back?” Joe said, wrenching his hand away from Susie’s grasp.
“That button could do anything. Even transport us to another place entirely.”
“Well...” Joe’s thin eyebrows knitted together in concentration, “how else are we ever going to get back?”
“I’m sure there’s an explanation for all this,” Chris said, stepping up behind them.
Susie turned to him.
“I just can’t think of one… yet,” he said with a shrug.
“Nothing can explain what just happened,” Joe replied.
Before Chris could stop him, Joe reached across to the distortion and thrust his hand through. When nothing happened, he walked straight through and appeared out the other side. “Maybe we’ve been sucked through a time machine,” he suggested, walking back through the distortion a second time. “That’s why this place looks so different. It’s millions of years ago.”
Joe could always be counted on to come up with the most ridiculous explanations. “I don’t see any dinosaurs,” Chris commented.
“Well, we’re only just arrived, haven’t we?”
“I don’t recognise any of these words,” Susie said, leaning over the control panel and running her fingers across a series of symbols.
Chris moved up beside her. The symbols looked a bit like stick figures with geometrical shapes like triangles and squares all mixed in. Certainly nothing he had ever seen.
Looking around, Chris noticed that the land was sloping downwards. Maybe they were on the side of a hill or mountain, but it was difficult to tell since the tree canopy obscured everything. Further down he noticed that the ground cover gave way to rock. Here the overhead canopy thinned. He jogged down and found the rock was part of a ledge. Chris crept up to the edge and peered out. He found himself staring out at a totally alien landscape. Countless saw tooth-shaped mountains, covered in sheets of ice and snow, stretched as far as he could see. The closest mountains stood beyond a gold-coloured lake, which lay directly below him, some distance away.
“Over here,” he yelled back to the others.
Susie and Joe arrived soon afterwards and stood in silence next to him.
On the lake’s shore stood a village, except it wasn’t like any village he had ever seen. The houses were more like stone towers, which rose above the forest canopy, like a series of rounded spikes. The tops of these towers were interlaced with walkways and roads, crowded with figures. Except these figures didn’t like any humans he had ever seen.
Susie pointed to the sun. “Look at the colour.”
The sun was much redder and larger than the Earth’s sun. This, at least, explained some of the strange colours around them. But it also meant they couldn’t be on Earth, or even in the same solar system, for that matter.
There was a tap on Chris’s shoulder, and he turned around to see Joe pointing toward at a tall, dark haired man.
“Welcome to Cathora,” the man said with a faint smile.
Instantly Chris recognised the grey face and pale green eyes.
“My name is Batarr,” the man said.
Some type of flying creature started circling. Like everything else here, it bore little resemblance to anything that Chris had ever seen. Instead of one pair of wings, it had two pairs that appeared to flap independently of each other, like a huge dragonfly. The creature circled once then landed on a tree branch next to Batarr, neatly folding its wings into its body as it landed. Chris estimated it was the size of a large turkey, but there the resemblance stopped. It had a broad leathery face, a mouth full of sharp teeth and eyes that moved independently of each other. The rest of its body was covered in soft grey fur, except for two scaly legs, which ended in sharp talons.
“This is Sasli, my companion.”
The creature dipped its head once, as though acknowledging Batarr’s words.
“Do you have the key?” Batarr asked.
Chris, feeling as though he was still in one of his dreams, pulled the key from his pocket.
“Very good.” Batarr gave a satisfied nod. “Chris, I’m very happy to finally meet you in person.” He smiled warmly. “And, of course, your two companions, Susie and Joe.” He paused, studying each in turn. “It will be dark soon and considerably colder. I have a warm fire waiting for us and a change of clothes.”
Chris had forgotten how wet and muddy he was. Joe and Susie were also looking at their wet clothes.
“There is much to talk about, but it’s too dangerous to linger long in this place. If you would please follow me, I’ll answer all your questions.”
With this comment he abruptly turned and walked off. The creature unfolded his wings and fluttered after him.
“What did he mean when he said he was happy to meet you?” Susie asked.
“And how did he know our names?” Joe added.
“What...?” Chris was still trying to comprehend the sight of someone walking off with a creature that resembled a cross between a butterfly and a bat fluttering over his shoulder.
Joe nudged Chris in the side. “How does he know you?”
Chris explained how Batarr had appeared in his dreams. But he could offer no further explanation as to what any of this meant.
“We have creatures that are similar to your wolves,” Batarr called back when no one moved. “And they’re always on the lookout for an easy meal, so I would advise you all to keep up.”
After glancing at each other one last time, the three friends ran after him.
After some time, they entered a narrow gully filled with prickly bushes. Batarr searched among these bushes and found a narrow path that weaved toward a cluster of large trees. “It’s not long now,” he called back, before striding ahead again.
Finally, they stopped in front of an enormous tree. Chris estimated the entire trunk was the size of a small house. The trunk rose vertically for maybe forty metres before branching out into a thick mat of gre
en and brown foliage. At ground level the trunk split into a tangle of roots that reminded Chris of the arms of an octopus. A path was cut through these roots that ended at the base of the tree.
Sasli was perched on top of one of the exposed roots, waiting for them.
When Batarr approached, Sasli burst into song. He nodded, then walked straight into a narrow passage carved out of the trunk. When the others followed, they found a door which opened onto a narrow spiral staircase. The stairs led down into a large roughly circular chamber, with a beautifully carved wooden table at one end and a large fireplace at the other. Along the sides of the chamber, set in metal holders, were a series of glowing crystals that bathed the chamber in a soft red glow. Batarr led them to the fireplace and gestured for them to sit on some chairs arranged in a semi-circle around the fire.
Once they had settled, Batarr went to a cupboard and pulled out some thick robes and offered them. After some hesitation, they changed out of their wet clothes while Batarr set about lighting a fire.
Chris watched in fascination as Batarr used some type of flint box to strike sparks into straw at the base of the fire. With only a few strikes a small flame crackled into life.
“I apologise for not explaining anything when we first met,” Batarr said, when he was satisfied the flames had taken amongst the kindling. “But it’s dangerous to linger too long on the surface.”
“Where are we?” Joe asked.
“I’ll answer all your questions soon, but first please listen to what I have to say.” Batarr threw a few pieces of wood on to the growing flames then came and stood directly in front of them.
This was the first time Chris had seen Batarr up close, and it was clear he wasn’t human. Apart from his grey skin, his eyes had no pupils or eyelashes, which gave the unnerving impression that he was constantly staring at whoever he looked at. The rest of his face was human-like, except his nose was too short and slightly upturned. From the lines under his eyes, Chris estimated, Batarr might be in his late thirties. That’s if these people aged at the same rate as humans.
“This may sound strange, but you have all fallen through a portal into another dimension,” Batarr continued, looking at each of them in turn.
“You’ve having us on,” Joe said after a moments silence, glancing around at Chris and Susie.
“I assure you, I’m not,” Batarr replied. “You have already seen things that couldn’t possibly exist on your planet.”
“We didn’t fall through,” Susie said. “We were sucked through.”
Batarr looked at her for a moment. “Yes, that’s probably more accurate. It was necessary that you came.”
“You did it?” Chris asked.
“In a manner of speaking... yes,” Batarr replied. He held up his hand before Chris could ask any further questions. “Please let me explain. I’m a Guardian of a portal, or what you might term a gateway, that exists between your dimension and ours. You’re in a parallel dimension. This planet, Cathora, shares the same time and space as your world, but vibrates at a different frequency. Earth and Cathora could be considered sister planets. Our size is similar, so is our climate, and our more intelligent inhabitants have followed a very similar evolutionary path to humans on Earth.”
“We can’t be in another dimension,” Joe said, looking at Chris and Susie as though they could offer a better explanation.
“I can see,” Batarr continued, “that my words have caused more than a little confusion.” He paused, as though deciding what to say next. “I think,” he said finally, “that we need to go back to the beginning in order to understand what I’m saying.” He brushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “As a Guardian of one of the portals to your world I have certain responsibilities to keep the balance between your dimension and ours. You were brought here to ensure that the balance between our two worlds is maintained.”
“You mean you can control events in our world?” Chris asked.
“No, no. I just try and divert potential disasters, and I only interfere as a last resort.”
“And you use these portals to monitor Earth?” Chris asked.
“Yes, to stop humans destroying themselves and their environment. And there are Guardians on your planet who will be doing the same to the planet that Earth is linked to. It’s like a huge chain linked by portals. Each planet monitors and looks after the next, so the dimensions are kept in balance and intelligent life can thrive.”
“Cool,” Chris grasped, nodding slowly to himself. “You know… when I think about it… that’s really cool. The portals act like safety valves so that life doesn’t destroy itself.”
“Exactly,” Batarr smiled, “It’s a very simple but very effective way of maintaining intelligent life since many civilisations, at some point, will self-destruct, sometimes taking all life on the planet with them.”
“So who built these portals?” Chris asked.
“Hmmm... That I don’t know,” Batarr replied. “These portals were left many thousands of years ago by very advanced beings who had mastered the ability to travel between worlds and dimensions. No one knows what they looked like, or where they have gone. All we know for sure is that they built the portals for a very specific purpose, to act as safety valves for all creation. And they left behind a key with each portal.”
At this point there was a burst of song from Sasli.
“Good idea,” Batarr nodded, when the song ended.
“Please take out your key again,” he instructed Chris.
Chris pulled out the key, which was bright red, and held it in the palm of his hand.
“The key exists independently of time and space and is indestructible,” Batarr explained. “It’s used to locate individuals who have special powers and are capable of crossing through portals without being killed. Please pass the key to Susie.”
In Susie’s hand the key, as before, changed to yellow.
“Now Joe.”
It changed to blue.
“Each colour represents a specific power that the key holder has.”
“What powers?” Chris asked.
“Powers to control the weather, read minds, move objects, change shape and communicate with all living creatures.”
“And we have these powers?” Susie queried.
“Yes, each one of you will have a specific power, but until your powers develop, I won’t know who has which power.”
“So that’s why you brought us here, because we have these powers?” Chris asked.
“You three are very special. You are what the builders of the portals called “Mytar” and I brought you here, not to stop something happening in your world, but to stop something reaching your world; something that would cause the destruction of your society and the enslavement of the human race.”
There was another awkward silence. Chris had now convinced himself he was having a rather confusing nightmare and he would wake up any minute. He looked across at Joe and Susie, but their faces showed only confusion.
He shivered and leant closer to the fire.
“Five years ago...” There was a burst of song from Sasli. “I stand corrected, it was only four, but it seems longer. Our planet was invaded by a creature from the planet that was connected to us by portals. We were totally unprepared. We had simply become too complacent and never thought such a thing could happen. Well, anyway...without the Mytar to protect us we were quickly overpowered.”
“We’re only kids,” Chris said, wishing this absurd nightmare would go away.
“You are Mytar.” Batarr spoke in a slow deliberate tone, as though trying to burn the words into them. “You wouldn’t have survived the transition into this world, and you wouldn’t be able to understand our language, if you weren’t.”
“And we’re supposed to stop this evil creature,” Joe said, a grin breaking out on his face. “He’s not called Darth Vader by any chance?”
Susie and Chris chuckled. Batarr, however, did not share their humour. He shook his head slow
ly, his eyes narrowing on them. “This is not a children’s game. This is deadly serious!”
A burst of song from Sasli seemed to calm Batarr down. He selected a log from a pile next to the fireplace and threw it into the fire. When he turned back he appeared to have regained his composure.
“Sasli is right,” Susie said. “We can’t be expected to understand what you’re telling us.”
Everyone looked at Susie. “Well, it’s true,” she added, turning slightly pink.
“Can you understand what Sasli is saying?” Chris asked.
“Yeah... can’t you?”
Chris shook his head.
“Me neither,” Joe added.
“Ahh...” Batarr was suddenly beaming. “It has taken me years to understand the language of the Caan. This must be your gift. You understand the languages of all the creatures of this world without being taught.”
Sasli was now watching Susie intently. A moment later he burst into song. This time directed at Susie.
Susie smiled broadly. “And it’s nice meeting you.”
Sasli continued singing while Susie listened, occasionally smiling and nodding, or commenting. “Yes... I see, I understand... that’s terrible...” frowning more and more as the song continued.
When Sasli had finished, Susie remained silent, a troubled expression on her face. “Horrible things have happened to this planet,” she said, her voice now as serious and grim as Batarr’s.
“Like what?” Joe asked.
“Many towns and villages have been attacked by creatures that no one’s ever seen before.”
“You mean like us?” Chris asked.
“No,” Susie shook her head strongly. “Not like us... insect-like creatures, huge flying snakes, creatures with claws for hands… things of nightmares.”
“And they came through a portal, like us?” Joe asked.
“Yes. This planet was once peaceful. There were no wars, or starvation. Now everything’s changed. The population is being turned into an army to attack the next planet linked to this one.” She looked across at Chris and Joe. “Us. We’re the next target.”
Confirmation of Batarr’s story, coming from Susie, somehow seemed far more real to Chris. He looked over at Joe. The levity and disbelief of a few minutes ago was gone, now replaced by a growing look of horror.
“On every planet with intelligent life there is a group of Mytar with these powers,” Batarr said.
“And how many Mytar are there?” Chris asked.
“There are six in a group,” Batarr replied. “Mytar are no different from any other people on your planet. For thousands of years they have lived normal lives. Grown up, had children, aged and died, never knowing they were Mytar. Because they are mortal, a new group of Mytar is born for every generation of a species. For humans this is twenty years. This is to ensure that at any one time there will always be a group of Mytar of fighting age.”
“Fighting age?” Chris didn’t like the sound of those words. “Fighting what exactly?”
“In your case, Zelnoff.”
“And who’s Zelnoff?”
“He’s a creature from another dimension that now controls most of this planet. No one has ever seen him, but we know he has the power to project his will over vast armies, and has already used these portals to conquer untold worlds in this dimension and others.”
“So he has a huge army,” Chris said.
Batarr shook his head. “He will build an army to subdue your world, but he doesn’t rule by brute force. Instead, he feeds off people’s fears and insecurities and turns friends against each other. He can turn the strongest army against itself by seeding lies and mistrust amongst its members. He rules by mistrust and fear and his spies are everywhere, which is also why we had to reach a safe place quickly when you arrived. If any of Zelnoff’s spies saw you and realised who you were, soldiers would soon sweep down, burning and slaughtering every living thing in this whole region.”
He paused, watching the growing horror on their faces. “There are seven portals into your world,” he continued. “To the best of my knowledge, four have already fallen to the forces of Zelnoff and their Guardians have been killed. Three, including this one, remain.”
“And what happens when the remaining three portals fall?” Chris asked, not sure whether he wanted to hear the answer.
“Then he has won. Zelnoff is free to invade and conquer your world and nothing can stop him.”
“So you’re saying,” Chris continued, “that it is basically all up to us?”
Batarr glanced at Sasli. “Yes,” he nodded, “it is.”
“But we’re too young to fight,” Chris said.
At this question Batarr shrugged. “You are young, I admit. But you’re the only group I have been able to find in over a year of searching the dreams of your people. I have found no trace of the older groups.”
“How come?” Joe asked.
“There is a distinct possibility that Zelnoff has already found them. In which case, they are certainly dead.”
“I wanna go home,” Joe said. “I can’t even stop anyone bullying me at school. How can I stop an army invading Earth?”
“You have more strength than you realise,” Batarr said, trying to calm things down.
“Everyone kicks me around!” Joe said, shaking his head miserably. “My family will miss me. My mum will miss me. She’s probably looking for me now. I’ve got to go.” He climbed to his feet and walked past Batarr toward the stairs as though expecting Batarr to immediately escort him back to the portal.
“When this is over I will take you all back to the exact time you left your world. No one will miss you,” Batarr said, watching Joe curiously.
“Maybe we can go back with the key and find the other Mytar,” Susie suggested.
“Yeah.” Joe’s face lit up. “Then there would be six of us against Zelnoff’s massive invading army, instead of only three.”
It was clear Batarr didn’t know whether to take this suggestion seriously. “It’s not possible,” he answered at length. “I can’t risk opening the portal again on the chance you may be able to locate the remaining Mytar.”
“You’ve kidnapped us!” Joe exploded. “And now we’re going to be sacrificed in a hopeless cause.”
“How do you know this Zelnoff wants to invade Earth anyway?” Chris asked. “He may have no plans at all.”
“Haven’t you been experiencing unusual weather patterns, droughts, floods, disease, earthquakes? Your planet is out of balance. This has been caused by the advance guard of Zelnoff’s army crossing over to your world and destabilising the balance between these two dimensions. His spies are now working to stabilise your planet. When this is done the next wave of his armies will invade and conquer your Earth. Even now, this same advance guard is gathering information on how to immobilise your defence capabilities so your planet’s armed forces, and all their weapons, will be paralysed when Zelnoff’s armies cross over.” He shook his head firmly. “No, there is no doubt Zelnoff will invade your planet, as he has countless others.”
Chris watched the dejection on the faces of his friends. This was real. They had been kidnapped and thrown into someone else’s nightmare.
“I don’t have all the answers,” Batarr continued solemnly. “First we must wait until your gifts become more obvious. In this world your powers will develop rapidly. When we understand your gifts more, we can formulate a plan to stop Zelnoff.”
“So you don’t even have a plan,” Joe said, making no attempt to conceal the disgust in his voice. “You’re just hoping an idea will pop into your head.”
“You must have faith in yourselves,” Batarr offered, “and faith that a path through this crisis will be found.”
“All you really have then, is faith,” Joe concluded.
“And you three,” Batarr said quietly, a clear note of resignation in his voice.
“You’re a lunatic!” Joe accused.
“A maniac,’ Susie agreed, with a con
senting nod from Chris.
“You have to face up to your responsibilities,” Batarr countered.
“You sound like my mother,” Joe snapped.
“Luckily, I’m not!” Batarr replied angrily.
“Well, I want to go home now!” Susie demanded, folding her hands across her chest defiantly. “You had no right to kidnap us like this.”
Chris and Joe nodded their agreement.
“And when you take us back, don’t ever come near us again,” Joe added for good measure.
Batarr looked at their sullen, defiant faces, then threw his hands in the air, spun around and abruptly walked out. Susie burst into tears. Joe crawled into a corner of the room and curled up into a ball against the wall. Chris slumped further down into his chair.
Throughout the conversation Sasli had been watching them in silence. Presently he hopped up onto the table and burst into song. But this song was not like his previous songs. The notes seemed to rise and resonate around the room. The melody lifted Chris up and made his mind soar. It swept away all of his troubles in an instant and replaced them with visions of strength and triumph. He felt he could achieve anything, endure anything, overcome anything. Susie had stopped crying and Joe rose from his foetal position in the corner of the room.
“What’s he saying?” Joe asked Susie.
“It’s not words,” she replied, her eyes transfixed on Sasli. “It’s just pure notes and melodies.”
Chris realised how beautiful this planet must have been, how beautiful it still was, and how desperate Batarr must be to even attempt to stop Zelnoff with the likes of Joe, Susie and himself. He felt ashamed of all the things that had been said. This situation was not Batarr’s fault. He was just playing the only cards he had left.
Chapter 3: Mind Over Matter