Feeling like an earthworm in a flash flood, I’m hoping to hit a sidewalk soon even if it will probably mean that I’ll be squashed by some kid’s bike tire. My lungs burn as the urge to inhale is warring with common sense. Bright, intense light is shining through my eyelids, making them almost red. But black spots are slowly blocking out the light.
Hugging Trey to me desperately, I shake my head, trying to force myself not to inhale the water all around me. But, I can’t hold on. Inhaling deeply, the water chokes me. Digging my nails into Trey’s back, I struggle against him, knowing that I’m drowning. The current is slowing down as the light is fading around us. My entire body begins to relax as I open my eyes, seeing Trey staring back at me beneath the water, and then everything just goes black.
CHAPTER 6
FOLLOW YOUR EYES
I hear his voice...it calls my name in the dark as pressure on my chest turns into a burning agony in my lungs. Coughing, a gurgling sound emits from me as my eyes flutter open and I’m being pushed on my side while I retch water onto the sandy ground.
Inhaling a deep breath and coughing again, my wet hair clings to my neck as my entire body shakes from trauma. Intense, violet eyes peer down at me from above as Trey says my name again.
“So lost,” I whisper, closing my eyes and feeling like the tide is going to sweep me away, back into the water. Trey picks me up in his arms, pulling me to his chest. He strokes my back hypnotically.
“Here, Trey, put her down. I need to—okay, take it easy,” Jax says defensively. “I just want to make sure…” Jax trails off. “At least let me cut the rest of the rope off of you two.”
Feeling a gentle tugging on my abdomen, the rope eases away from me, allowing me to breathe more deeply. My eyes flutter open briefly. My cheek rests against something warm and solid. I look up from Trey’s chest to his chin. He sits down wearily, leaning against a rock with me on his lap.
“What was that?” I ask in a low, gravelly voice.
“Thin spot,” Trey says, touching my cheek with the back of his fingers.
Jax sits next to Trey and eyes me, clearly wanting to snatch me from Trey to examine me. I gaze back at him from my position on Trey’s lap. Jax says, “It’s what some humans call a wormhole. It’s a link between your Earth and our Ethar.”
I just continue to stare at Jax’s concerned face. Then I murmur, “Oh,” but only because he seems to be looking for a reaction from me.
“Your universe and Earth are our closest dimension, well, right now they’re the closest,” Wayra chimes in, digging through his bag. Finding a canteen, he hands it to Jax. Jax twists the cap off, extending it to me. I shake my head, feeling like I’m waterlogged. “In another few of your millennium, Quixar will be closer.”
Jax nods, “He’s right.” He hands the canteen to Trey, who drinks like he has been in the desert.
I feel drunk. “Is this the only thin spot?” I ask, my mind is still hazy, but I know that I need to find out all I can about how this works if I ever hope to get back home.
“No,” Jax replies, handing me some kind of protein bar that Wayra handed to him.
“Are they all in water?” I feel ill. I never want to repeat what I just went through. Nearly drowning while being flushed to another world is probably the worst torture ever—in either place.
“No, there’s another gateway just a few clicks north of…” he trails off, looking at Trey’s face. “Uh…no. Some are located on the ground, but you wouldn’t want to travel through a few of them.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“They drop you at the poles. It’s a little colder than Chicago, even in winter. Aren’t you more interested in Ethar?” he asks, his eyebrow tilting up.
Raising my head off of Trey’s chest, I gaze around curiously at the panorama. We’re at the edge of a basin, facing an enormous mountain. The clear water is a mirror’s reflection of the imposing mountain, looking like it could indeed be an alternate universe. “Holy…mother of…” I breathe, looking up at the sky and seeing not only a waning sun, but also a moon that is so close that it looks like I could reach out and touch it. Not only that, it’s blue.
“Eat, Kricket” Trey says softly, pushing the protein bar in my hand nearer to my mouth. “You’ll need your strength for what’s ahead.”
“Why?” I ask. “You mean there’s more?”
“We need to get to Rafe,” he replies, accepting a protein bar from Jax.
“This isn’t it?” I blanch, taking a small bite of the protein bar and immediately fighting the urge to spit it out. “Uuughck! What is this?” My face distorts in disgust. “It tastes like bark!”
“Oh, there’s bark in it and protein.” Jax smiles while chewing his bark bar. “It’s from the Grumrell tree and it contains enzymes that ward off parasites and insects, but it tastes like—”
“Cat poop,” I state, trying to fight my gag reflex and hearing them all chuckle.
“Eat it,” Jax replies, “or when we travel through the Forest of Omnicron, you’ll get an intestinal worm the size of those hot dogs they sell at Wrigley Field.” He takes another bite of it.
“Eewwww,” I whisper, feeling a shiver go through me. I nibble on the bar again, having absolutely no appetite. “When are we going to the Forest of Omnicron?”
“When you’re finished with that bar,” Trey says, “we’ll leave.”
“How are we getting to Rafe? Is it far?” I ask, feeling like I need to lie down for at least a day before I move again. My muscles ache and even though it’s really warm here, deliciously warm, I’m still shaking like I was when we were in the frigid water of the underground pool. “Can’t we stay here for a while?”
“No,” Trey replies. “This is a water source for every creature within 20 clicks of here and most of those creatures are bigger than us.”
“Excuse me?” I ask, hoping I misunderstood him.
“This is wilderness, Kricket,” Wayra admits, pulling out clothing for Trey and Jax and tossing it to them. “This is not our territory.”
“Whose territory is it?” I ask. “Someone needs to give me a really good explanation for why I have to move from here after I literally almost drowned a few minutes ago.”
“No one owns this territory—or everyone does, depends on how you look at it,” Jax explains.
“It belongs to every Etharian, but no one can alter it or attempt to annex it. It’s protected land,” Trey says.
“So, basically, don’t try to build a summer home here because you’ll never get a building permit?” I ask.
“Not only can you not build, you can’t employ a vehicle on this land or in its airspace,” Wayra expounds.
“So…no limo?” I ask.
“No roads, Kricket.” Trey’s tone is soft as he rubs my arms, like he’s trying to improve my circulation.
“How large is this territory?” I ask.
“Hmmm…” Jax scratches his chin. “About the size of South America, wouldn’t you say, Trey?” he speculates. Trey nods.