Chapter 18-The Journey
“How much longer” I asked, smacking my hand down on top of the map. Draven looked like he wanted to ring Viale’s neck for wasting our time so far and I can’t say that I blamed him. We had taken a bus to Syn-Wood Forest, which was just about the longest hour and ten minutes of my life. He traipsed us through the lush vegetation, out into the quietest part of the forest and then insisted on taking a break to check the map. Our patience was wearing thin. “Only a few more moments,” he said slimily.
I cocked my eyebrows and slumped down into the tall coastal redwood next to me. “Fine,” I said exasperated, “but can we hurry up? My friend’s life is on the line and if anything happens to her you’ll be the one to pay.”
I surveyed the area taking in the faded green and yellow undergrowth. I briefly remembered coming here with my parents before. It was during an unseasonably wet summer, but it was time for the arrival of the ladybugs and my parents didn’t want to miss it. We walked down a trail and stopped in front of a large redwood tree that looked like it had a huge carrot orange spot growing out of one of the fallen limbs. All of a sudden, a swarm of little ginger dots started whirling around in rays of sunlight between the trunks of the trees. It was one of the most breathtaking and magical things I’d ever witnessed. I knew it was past the season, but I looked around for signs of them anyway. If I make it out of this in one piece I’ll have to come back, I thought.
A rustling noise coming from behind Viale made the hair on the back of my neck prick up. We all jumped and scooted close together into defensive mode, ready to strike at whatever appeared through the thicket. We listened intently as another faint crackle sounded and a reddish-brown head poked out from between two trees. “It’s just a black-tailed deer,” I said sighing with relief. “They’re common in this place.” As if sensing us, it fleetingly looked our direction, sniffing the air cautiously and then took off running. “It’s now or never,” I said catching Viale’s gaze. He nodded apprehensively, but bundled up the map and beckoned us forward.
We continued walking silently through the earthy woods with me occasionally breathing in deeply to take in the heady aroma swirling all around us. If it’s going to be my last time, I might as well get as much of it as I can. We slowed to a stop, almost bumping head first into the back of Draven. “What’s going on?” I asked trying to peer around him.
“Look,” he said in awe. I stepped to the side and my jaw practically hit the floor. There, in the middle of a vibrant meadow was a swirling mass of colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple were whirling around each other faster than my eyes could take in. It looked like a mini rainbow caught up in a whirlpool, the lights captivating us.
“What is it,” I whispered not wanting to break the enchantment it held over us.
“It’s a spintoral, or for lack of a better human term, a portal. Where I come from they are only rumored to exist.”
“Really? What’s it do,” I asked taking a step forward.
“They can take you from one realm to another. Whoever steps through first sets the location and others that follow will go to the same place. It is said that many a man trying to transport large armies have tried to recreate a spintoral, but failed. Only someone who wields the greatest magicks is able to craft one.”
“So how did this one get here? Did Circe make it? If so, I hate to say it, but we may be biting off more than we can chew.” We both stared at Viale waiting for a response, but he just shook his head.
“Not Circe,” he rasped.
“Well that’s a bit of a relief in some ways, but troubling in others. If it wasn’t Circe that made it, then who?”
“We don’t have time to think about it right now,” Draven said snapping me back into to the task at hand.
“You’re right, lead the way,” I said gesturing Viale forward. “This place that we are going, what’s it called again?”
Draven shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure. I’ve only heard of a few different planets, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others.”
Viale had reached the spintoral and gently stuck his gangly hand in. He pulled it out and said, “Ladies first.” I was hesitant initially, not wanting to walk right into a trap, but I remembered the way Zilla looked and knew I couldn’t wait. I tentatively stuck my arm and leg through and when everything felt normal enough I stepped all the way in. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on the other side of the swirling vortex, a ratty swamp with a beat up shack maybe, but this was unlike anything I imagined.
We were in a rainforest. I looked up towards the sky and could only see bits and pieces of light filter through the top of the canopy, the leaves soft, droopy and brightly colored. Underneath that were layers of smaller trees and shrubs with large climbing plants clambering through the vegetation, using them as support and linking the different levels of the forest. Dew drops illuminated the details of the moss slowly hiking the trees as wraiths of mist wandered and twisted along the base of the forest floor which was covered in a thick layer of rapidly decaying plant material. This place was dripping with humidity and I suddenly felt as if I were drowning in my own sweat. It reminded me of my old home before we moved and the night’s spent swinging on the porch swing drinking lemonade with my dad, the condensation from the glass dripping all over us as we gazed out at the horizon. A light cool rain began falling as I looked back to make sure Draven and Viale had arrived safely. Draven look as shell-shocked as I did, but remained silent. Viale trudged forward, a brief glance over his shoulder the only sign that he expected us to follow.
After walking for what seemed like hours I finally broke the silence. “What is this place?” I asked Viale.
“It’s one of the lost places,” he answered vaguely. “It is called Nephoxi.”
“Wait,” Draven said contemplating. “I thought the lost places were just a myth?”
“Such is the way we like to keep things,” Viale said with a sneer. “If anyone knew about it they would try to take it from us and thus far it is uninhabited, besides Circe of course.” I still didn’t understand the importance of what was going on, I just knew we were somewhere neither of us had ventured before and we were running out of time.
“Do you know of the location of any of the other lost places?” he asked excitement building.
“Yes, only two more of the five.”
“Which ones?” he asked the air heavy with his anticipation. He was eager for a certain response, but I couldn’t tell what. I was definitely missing some part of this story.
“Limchae and Eylaik, but I shouldn’t even be telling you that much.” Draven’s face slumped, all the hope rushing out of him.
“What is it?” I asked putting my hand on his shoulder.
“There is a rumor that one of the lost cities called Karlyst would hold the answers I seek.”
“What answers?” I asked confused.
“The key to breaking my curse and getting back into my home planet,” he said sadly. I reached down and slipped my hand through his. I hoped he wasn’t as eager to leave me as it sounded, I would be as lost without him as I would be if I couldn’t save Zilla.
“Don’t worry, we will get it all figured out.” He just stared at me as we continued on the path. He seemed weird after that, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
I opened my mouth to say something when Viale shushed me. I wanted to knock him around a bit, but I stayed calm and gazed the direction he was pointing.
An immaculate one story house was looming in front of us, nestled in between two enormous trees. It was made completely of wood, similar to a log cabin, but completely covered in vines with its flowers in full bloom. A tall archway served as the entrance and it had only one window plus a large makeshift chimney that weaved in and out of the trees. There was a garden near the left of the house and on the right was a fenced in area that held animals. I didn’t bother to look, who knew what we
ird species of things I would find there.
“This is where we part ways,” Viale said grinning.
“What do you mean? You’re leaving?” I asked flabbergasted.
“This was your journey, not mine. I only promised to lead you where you wished to go.”
“This is as much your journey as it is ours, if you don’t stay and help fight you won’t be getting another drop of blood from me.”
He chuckled. “A deal is a deal. I brought you here and you’re bound to me now. If you don’t willing give me your blood, I can just take it myself. I do like it when my food plays hard to get, its much more fun.”
A chill ran down my spine and I looked to Draven for confirmation. He nodded and my stomach clenched. “Fine, coward,” I said shooing him away. If I made it through this I had to think of a way to get rid of him that didn’t involve getting my own hands dirty.
As Viale scampered away my heart beat erratically in my chest. It was getting down to the wire and I wanted so badly to run, to just take Draven’s hand and dash right out of this place going somewhere no one would find us. But then I remembered Zilla and the terrible way her usually vivacious eyes were glazed over and knew I had to fight, if not for her then for myself. I wouldn’t let these people hurt the ones I loved anymore, it had to stop.
“What now?” I asked Draven sighing. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. I reveled in the comfort of his nearness, it didn’t happen often, but when it did I tried to make the most of it. “We go in.”
“It looks so quiet in there. Do you think it’s a trap?”
“Most likely,” he said unhappily, “but I’d rather bring the fight to her in hopes of catching her off guard versus waiting until we are completely surrounded. Plus, there’s nothing to guarantee Viale didn’t just go alert her to our presence anyway.”
“True, although I don’t think he would do that. If something were to happen to me he’d lose his meal ticket,” I said trying to sound hopeful.
“But there’s always another one around the corner. His loyalties lie with himself and nobody else,” Draven said his expression unreadable. He was right, there was no guarantee he would keep his trap shut, we just had to try to be stealth-like and hopefully beat Viale to the punch.
“I believe she’s in the basement,” I said standing up. “Or at least I think it was the basement anyway, it was dark and creepy.”
“Are you sure?” he asked skeptically.
“To be honest, no, I’m not sure. It’s possible that it was just a room somewhere in there, but she is definitely here.” I shuddered at the memory of being inside her head and hoped I never had to go through that again.
I looped my arms through his as we tip-toed out of hidden cover and trekked towards the entrance.
I scanned the house again for other signs of exits, but there was still only one window and one door. This was going to be epic. We scaled along the walls trying to avoid being spotted and ducked into the doorway. I reached out to turn the knob, but there wasn’t one, it was just a swinging door. I hoped and prayed it wasn’t rickety so that it didn’t squeal when we pushed it. I eased it open gently and tentatively stepped inside. It was almost completely pitch black in here and eerily quiet. Something dank and tangy permeated the air making it hurt to breathe in.
“What is that smell?” I whispered behind me.
“I don’t know,” he said urging me forward, “but something definitely doesn’t feel right.”
I knew what he meant. It was as if everyone was waiting for us to reach a certain point of no return before they jumped out as us. Kind of like a surprise birthday party where you’re surrounded the second you walk into a room. There was no turning back now. We continued on through a long hallway only a few flickering candles to guide us along the way. We peeked into a few rooms, but they were all empty, completely devoid of furniture or people.
At the end of the hall it forked in two different directions. The left one seemed like it led to more rooms and was equally as dark, but the right one seemed to go in a little and down some steps. The window we saw from the outside was a few feet away and light was streaming through it. This had to be the basement. At the foot of the stairs we stopped to listen for any signs of life, but it was still harshly quiet. I stood frozen, scared at the prospect of what I might find down there until Draven put his hand reassuringly at the small of my back. I smiled up at him and started forward, careful not to make any of the wood steps creak under my weight. If it wasn’t for him I don’t think I would have made it this far. I would probably still be able home in my room trying to come up with a plan involving police or something.
I reached the bottom step and stopped. The basement was dark and windowless. The only light in the room was coming off of more flickering candles. The walls were just like I remembered from the vision, except more of a chocolate color and crusted with smudges of crimson, which I could only imagine had to be blood. I squinted trying to adjust to the dim lighting again and gasped when I found what I was looking for. In the middle of the room was Zilla, her hands and feet tightly bound to a chair.
I wanted to rush over to her, but before I could, I needed to make sure to check out the room. I had to search for anything I might be able to use as a weapon, just in case. There were tables along every inch of the wall covered with some shimmery cloth-like material that you could barely see through. Each one was completely jam-packed full of wooden bowls, vials and other knick-knacks. I padded forward and started sifting through the items on the table nearest to me, there had to be something here I could use. The labels were old and yellow, slightly peeling off and making them hard to read. There were things I picked up and immediately put back down in hopes that it had just been mislabeled. Something called crippled man’s hand made me gag.
Draven and I rifled through several more tables before giving up and deciding to just go for it. Zilla hadn’t noticed us, but it was probably because she was so out of it. Her head was lolled back, but her eyes were open, she just wasn’t registering anything. The first thing we needed to do was get that bracelet off of her so she would snap out of it. I tapped Draven on the shoulder as he was lifting up a small box that read tongue of tricon. He put it back down gently, his face set into a hard line. He was as disturbed as I was by the vast array of items in this dingy room, but we needed to focus.
I pointed to Zilla and whispered, “I’m going for the bracelet. If anything happens, get out of here.” I knew he didn’t like it, but I didn’t care, he needed to save himself if nothing else. He was about to respond when I held up my hand and said, “Don’t.” I brushed my palm across his cheek and watched as his whole body lit up in response.
“Fine,” he said stepping away and moving back towards the stairs. I was hurt that he could go from hot to cold in such short amount of time, but now wasn’t the moment to wallow in my self-pity, I had to save her. I marched over behind the weathered crusty chair and leaned down, grabbing hold of the bracelet and trying to yank it off. It wouldn’t budge. Rivulets of blood splashed against the dirt caked floor as I tried to pry it off of her red and swollen arm. Finally I decided to take drastic measures. I grabbed it with both hands bracing myself and heaved as hard as I could. It broke off with such force that I fell backwards and landed on my butt. Zilla moaned and I immediately jumped up and rushed around to face her. Her eyes returned to their normal color and she blinked back tears.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said breathlessly. “I just want to go home.”
“I know,” I said wrapping my arms around her, “let’s get these stupid chains off of you.” As I bent down again to try to wriggle her free, a familiar high pitched cackling laughter erupted behind me and my heart dropped.
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