The Crystal Bridge (The Lost Shards Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter 13: A New World

K
aden looked down at the girl he’d just stepped on. Her scream had been short lived before she’d closed her eyes and gone limp.

“Aren? But…how…?”

She looked worse than pale, like when she’d had the seizure. He bent down and touched her neck, checking her pulse as he’d seen on tv. He didn’t find it right away, and his own heart did a flip-flop before he noticed her chest moving up and down.
Alive, but cold.

“Aren. Aren, you have to wake up. I don’t know how safe we are here. Bad things happen within minutes. Aren, wake up!” He tried tapping her face. He couldn’t bring himself to slap her. Her eyelids fluttered. “Oh, thank heaven! Aren, are you okay, Aren?”

She opened her eyes and focused those gray storms on Kaden. She blinked several times before she spoke. “Kaden? What happened? Where am I?” Her eyes darted around, taking in the forest, the grass, the desk that sat in the middle of the clearing and then her eyes returned to his.

A frown formed and creases appeared on her forehead as memories flooded back into her. “What did you do to me? Where am I?” Anger mixed with fear in her voice.

She sat up and scrambled backward away from him. She made it about two or three feet before she stopped moving, groaned, and put her hands on the sides of her head as if to hold her skull together.

Kaden knelt by her with his mouth open, but nothing came out. He’d imagined sharing his secret with someone a thousand times, but now he couldn’t dream what to say.
Say something, anything!

“Um…okay…this is going to sound more than a little crazy. We, um, traveled through a wormhole to another dimension. You and I are no longer on Earth.”

Aren groaned again and pushed against him with a weak hand. “So loud.”

Kaden smiled with pity. “The headache is normal, I think. I’ve only done this a few times and never for very long. It should go away soon…” He tried to sound confident and comforting, but felt awkward, nerdy, and more afraid than he’d been since the accident.
Gotta get her out of here.

She peeked out at him from behind squinted eyelids. “Yeah…sure…wormhole. What did you do? Drug me or something? And, seriously, where are we? Behind the school?” She tried to look around, but closed her eyes again within seconds.

He sighed. “Drug you? Of course not. I know it’s crazy, but you have to believe me. Just look at the sky. I swear we’re not on Earth anymore.” He pointed up at the deep blue sky where a very normal yellow sun hung beside what appeared to be a soft red scar that ran from one horizon to the other. It was beautiful, and Kaden couldn’t help but think that it must be breathtaking at night.

Her eyes followed his gesture and she gasped. “What is that?”

He shrugged. “My guess, a nebula, close enough to be seen, but far enough away not to engulf us in superhot gasses. Yes, I’m a nerd. It doesn’t matter really. We’re not staying. We need to get you home before too much happens. I don’t even know how you managed to follow me in the first place.”

He moved closer to her. “How you feeling? It’s a bit of a shock the first time, I know.” He glanced around. “But at least there aren’t any tigers, bloodthirsty shadows, or scorpion things…yet.”

She shook her head, and then doubled over as the motion appeared to set off new fireworks in her brain and stomach. She groaned again, louder. “What tigers?”

“Long story, one I’ll share when we get back home.” Kaden put his hand on hers. The touch sent shivers up his arm as he felt her cool, soft skin beneath his warm hand. She smelled like blackberries. He could almost taste the sweet, purple fruit as he breathed.
She’s so close and real
.
Still very glad to have clothes.

He wrenched his attention away from Aren.
We really need to go.
He looked around, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Monster tigers the size of minivans, poisonous red fireflies, man-eating primates. Aren has no idea how scary these worlds can be
.

He thought he saw a flash of movement to his left. A stick snapped in the forest to his right. Kaden’s fear deepened. “I haven’t been counting, but I’m pretty sure we’re close to five minutes. That’ll be a record, but we really have to go now. Come on, Aren, get up.”

“What is it?” She looked around at the foreign world. “I’m still not entirely ready to believe your story, red slash in the sky or not. Can’t we wait until my head doesn’t feel like its inside out though?”

“No. I don’t think we can. We aren’t safe. We need to get back. I’ll explain everything when we get there. Just do whatever you did before. Do you remember any of that?” He had a momentary panic that she might have no idea what she’d done and they’d be stuck here until they figured it out.

She looked up at him, fear evident on her face, but her voice sounded confident. “Yeah, I think so. Pretty much just go through the swirly, scary doorway of death after you?” She managed a thin smile, and Kaden couldn’t help but smile back.

“Exactly!” He grabbed her hand tightly. “Don’t let go. I’ve never taken anyone with me before…well, until just barely.”

Kaden reached out to his tether home, like he had when the tiger chased him, and nothing happened. “What?” He flipped open his Egg and found dozens of images instead of just the usual lone picture of home. “That’s new too. What did you do?”

He felt her shrug next to him as he flipped through the images, found a hazy one of the classroom, and reached out to it. He held Aren closer and whispered, “Here we go. Hope this works.”

Aren had been trying to focus on the shimmering image that Kaden reached out to, but something distracted her. Past the image she saw a small, bearded man rise out of the ground as though on an escalator.

Swirling fur that resembled tattoos covered every inch of the man’s exposed skin. He blinked in the sunlight and then fixed large, dark eyes on her and Kaden. Aren looked into those animalistic eyes and saw her curiosity reflected back. She smiled as the familiar knowing sensation took over.
Apparently this thing of mine works here too
.
Who knew?

The little man’s memories rushed to the surface, and Aren didn’t have to look too deep to see he was friendly and extremely loyal. He could be passionate and even fierce, but preferred to understand a conflict before joining one. She also saw and felt things that were beyond her grasp.

Dancing fireflies turned stone into dust. Songs built huge structures out of metal and glass. Aren found herself lost in the unfamiliar images and ideas, so enthralled that she didn’t notice when the pressure on her hand disappeared at first.

Aren smiled at the man-like creature, unafraid as she knew she had nothing to fear unless she threatened him. She turned to tell Kaden that he had nothing to fear as well, but Kaden was gone.

Kaden saw none of these things as the image of home engulfed him and he spiraled away once more, but as the darkness closed in he had a feeling that Aren’s hand was no longer in his.

He reached out to her in the black.
Aren? Aren, are you with me?
Nothing but the swirling darkness as he slid back to Earth.
Maybe she just can’t hear me in this terrible place. Maybe…

Evandrel pushed himself faster. Someone else drew near to the two humans. Evandrel reached out as he ran, sniffing the newcomer with his mind.
It must be a Dwaro.

Evandrel’s father had spoken of Dwaros and their amazing powers over stone and metal, but Evandrel himself had never seen one. He knew with a certainty that the Dwaro would beat him to the humans. He could feel the animals moving in the soft dirt as vibrations from below startled them, the death of roots torn by claws, and the hum of life within the Dwaro.

Evandrel’s father had told him that a Dwaro felt like a thousand beehives contained in one small body, but the comparison barely resembled the surge of life and movement that emanated from the being that moved toward Evandrel’s prey.

The world around him blurred as he pushed past his limits of speed and strength, hoping to arrive at least moments after the Dwaro. His calloused feet cushioned each step, springing him forward as he made his bones stronger and his muscles larger to help compensate for the strain. Branches and roots moved from his path and then closed back behind him. He ran faster than he’d ever dared before. Any misstep could result in disaster, even death, but he whispered words of power to increase his speed even more.

If the Dwaro took them, he could not follow. The Dwaros and the Keitane had treaties and Evandrel would not trespass in their caverns uninvited.
Oh, to see the Singing Crystal Caverns, the Petro Gates, the underground Waterfalls of Trent, or the Forrest of Stone Thorns.
Evandrel grinned.
It would be like something out of a childhood story. Only the Elders have seen so much.

Evandrel felt the moment the Dwaro touched air with senses more finely attuned than he’d achieved even after weeks of meditation. The humans stood together to confront the surprising threat. Then, the male human disappeared. Evandrel skidded in shock and nearly tripped, but his altered muscles moved at blinding speeds to keep him upright.

Has the Dwaro killed him? They have no reason to love humans.
The stories of the Elders spoke of the warrior spirit of the Dwaros, but not of this kind of violence.