Exiled - 01 (28 page)

“Well, Chase Williams, it is good to meet you,” he said.

“You too.”

“Do you know where they’ve taken your friend?”

“No Tikima…” I tried to say his name but couldn’t. “I’m just going to call you Tiki.”

He laughed. “That is very good.”

“I don’t know where she is. I came through the portal right after them. They should’ve been right here!”

“Portals do not work like that. If you weren’t physically touching them, then they are in a different place. The portal will have taken them to the same dimension, but never the same place. Plus, we collided in the portal; that too will have thrown you off course,” he said.

“Collided?”

Tiki nodded. “I’m a dimensional jumper, I move from dimension to dimension as I please. I’ve never run into anybody else mid-jump before, though. The odds of that happening are astoundingly small.”

“This isn’t good. Rayna’s in danger and I need to find her soon, before anything else happens.”

“You will find her, Chase Williams, do not worry. Do you know why they have brought her here?” He spoke with strangely crisp pronunciation and a calm, even tone.

“Rayna’s blood was the key to unlocking the portal. She’s both a demon and a hunter, a piece of both our worlds.”

Tiki’s eyes widened. “She is the one you seek, the one from the prophecy? I thought it but a myth!”

“Believe me, it’s no myth.”

“Then the prophecy has begun. You are right that we must find her soon.”

“Am I the only one who doesn’t know what this prophecy is?”

“There is a prophecy that speaks of one who belongs to both worlds, one who will cause the beginning of the end.”

“The end of what?”

Tiki shrugged. “Prophecies are rarely specific. It could be anything from the end of all our worlds, to the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Do you know what they have brought her here for? If the portals are open, I would think she is of no use to them anymore.”

“One of them plans to invoke Ithreal and…”

“Invoke the god himself? That is an amazing ambition!” he interrupted. I glared at Tiki, who looked genuinely impressed. He cleared his throat and continued. “Although I’m not sure it’s possible. If it was, that wouldn’t be good for any of us,” he said. “We must go at once.”

“We? You’re going to help me?”

“I must. It has been seen.”

“Seen?”

“Krulear spoke of you many years ago. She said I would meet a hunter who would require my help one day. I thought she meant it metaphorically. I didn’t expect a true blooded hunter.”

“Who’s Krulear?”

“Krulear is the seer, the greatest in all of the dimensions. I will you take you to her. She will help,” he said.

Tiki led the way and I couldn’t help but follow. I wished I didn’t have to put my trust in a stranger from another world, but without him, I didn’t even know where to start.

We climbed down from the base of the mountain we’d landed on. We were surrounded by a red, rocky expanse that seemed to go on for miles in every direction.

“How are we going to find anything here? This plain stretches on forever.”

Tiki laughed. “I’m not sure what your world is like, but in this world, things are rarely as they seem. Just because you cannot see it, does not mean it is not there. Magic conceals,” he said.

I stared out over the plain and fresh air moved over my skin. The sky was cloudless and three suns beat down upon us, two yellow and one blue, but the temperature was cool. I pulled at my magic as though I was peeling away layers of glamour.

The land in front of me faded, revealing a lake. The water was calm, and instead of the water being blue, it was purple. The suns didn’t reflect off of it and I walked towards it in bewilderment.

I stood at the shore and looked down, but I couldn’t see into the water; it was too dark. I crouched lower, but the surface didn’t reflect my face, or anything else. The substance was cool, smooth, and rolled off my skin. It felt like water.

“Is it safe to drink?”

Tiki laughed “Of course. It’s very, very good.”

I cupped my hands, dipped them into the strange liquid and brought it to my lips. It flowed over my tongue and down my throat. It had a taste all its own, the purest and richest water to ever touch my mouth, and as it slid down my throat, I closed my eyes to revel in its flavor.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted.”

“Drakar is known for its rich water. People travel over many dimensions to try it.”

“Drakar – that’s the name of this world?”

“Yes.”

I looked out over the water and took another drink. “So where do we go from here?”

“We go in.”

Before I could ask for an explanation, Tiki dove into the water. I waited a few moments for him to resurface, and when he didn’t, I followed him down into the purple lake.

The water felt smooth as it slid over my body. I opened my eyes expecting to see nothing but darkness, but the water was oddly clear. I swam deeper and it didn’t take long to get to the bottom.

The lake floor was all smooth rock with no plant or animal life. Tiki was treading water next to a strange stone arch embedded in the rock. He gestured towards it, and as I got closer he swam through it and disappeared.

I swam around the arch in bewilderment. He hadn’t come through the other side. I put my hand through and it disappeared. I felt warmth on the other side and I put my other hand through the arch and propelled my body through. The cool sensation of water vanished and was replaced by dry warmth.

I didn’t so much swim through the portal as walk, stepping onto a stone path on the other side. My skin was dry and I could see the dark purple water on the other side of the archway. I reached out and touched the cool liquid floating in front of me, but when I pulled my hand back it was dry once again. I turned as the familiar tingling sensation moved down my neck.

The tingling came in waves as hoards of Underworlders walked in front of me. We stood at the entrance to a marketplace, filled with pure blood demons roaming everywhere. It was difficult not to stare at creatures with black, blue, green and other colors of skin. Some of the pure bloods towered over me while others came up only to my knees. A few of them had tusks protruding from their lips and others were covered in hair from head to toe. The majority of them did not look human, more like the demons I’d fought in the sanctuary, but those that did look human did not seem to be treated well. Everybody stared at me as though I had a horn growing out my forehead, although if I did, it would’ve helped me fit in.

“Stay close to me and don’t talk to anyone or make eye contact,” Tiki said, but his musical tone didn’t match his serious expression.

He led me through the market while different creatures stared at me, mostly like I was lunch. Some drew their weapons as I walked by, while others shoved past me with their shoulders. I did my best to ignore their antagonizing efforts and followed Tiki.

“The pure bloods don’t like half breeds,” he said.

“No kidding. Why do you get to walk around so freely?”

“Most of them have come to know me, some through Krulear, some through…other means. I have their respect.”

We passed booth after booth, some selling weapons and others selling objects I didn’t recognize. Each stall sold something different, but I didn’t stop to admire anything. I had little interest in holding some sort of food that looked like a pineapple but sprouted strange moving tentacles where the stem should be. I’d leave that for the demons.

Tiki turned down an alley between two booths and we came to a small hut sitting by itself. Strands of leaves hung in the doorway and I pushed them to the side as I followed Tiki.

The interior was lit with candles, each with a different colored flame. The mixed glow of colors cast a strange radiance over the room. Skeletons of odd creatures hung from the ceiling. Urns and jars lined the shelves, full of things I’d never seen, some holding glowing viscous fluids and others with living creatures. A rickety table at the end of the room had something strange sitting beside it. Matted hair draped over the table in a blend of brown and gray.

Tiki cleared his throat and the hair rose, revealing a weathered face with small horns protruding from its forehead. It had no eyebrows over solid blood red eyes. Its lips were so thin they almost disappeared, and a smile revealed sharp jagged teeth.

“Tikimicharnikato of the Suriattas Clan, you’ve brought an outsider to me. Why?” a raspy female voice said.

The creature didn’t rise and Tiki moved forward and lowered himself to one knee as he kissed the extended hand she offered.

“It has been too long, Krulear,” he said.

She stared at me as she spoke. “That it has, child.” The look she gave me was strange, eerie, but not unfriendly.

“This is Chase Williams. He is from a place far from here and in search of his friend. I believe he is the man you told me about many years ago.”

Krulear grunted and moved towards me. Her face was flat and had two slits in the center that I took for her nose as she leaned in and sniffed me while running her long nails over my skin. I tried not to move.

“Interesting breed,” she said, running a frail hand through my hair. “I have not seen your kind in many millennia, hunter. I saw you in Tikimicharnikato‘s path many years ago, but I thought my time would have passed by the time you arrived.” Her raspy voice reminded me of Grams, but her breath reeked not of cigarettes, but…death.

“Please, Krulear, can you help us?” Tiki asked.

Krulear pulled away from me. “Of course, child. You need help finding this…female, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Indeed.”

Krulear grunted again and waddled back to her chair. A long ratty skirt dragged on the dirt floor and an old cloak covered a large hump on her back. Her tangled hair hung to her feet and was laced with colored beads and ribbons. She moved at a turtle’s pace, and it looked like the hump caused her pain with each step.

She fell back into her chair, stared at me with her pupil-less eyes and grunted, pointing to the chair across from her. “Come,” she demanded.

I sat down and she kept her blood red eyes locked on me. Her wrinkled skin hung loose and the small horns jutting from her forehead were like little white teeth. She stared at me for so long I started to get uncomfortable. I looked at Tiki, but he only gave a reassuring nod.

“Give me your hand,” she ordered.

I hesitated before laying my hand on the table. She grabbed my wrist with a speed and strength that shouldn’t exist in such a frail body. Her other hand came up with a rusty blade and my discomfort turned to a nervousness. I tried to pull my hand away, but her grip was firm and unrelenting. She turned my wrist until my hand was palm up and her gangly fingers gripped it tightly.

She slid the knife across my hand and I winced, forcing myself to keep my palm open. She moved the rusty blade slowly enough that I felt the skin split and the warm trickle of blood fill my palm. I could only think of the tetanus shot I’d need after this.

Krulear leaned over the table, her lipless mouth hovering above my hand, and a black tongue slipped out from between jagged teeth. The tongue was split multiple times, like a snake’s, but with more than one V. She lapped up the blood and slurped it into her mouth. I couldn’t keep the disgust off my face.

She released my wrist, leaned back from the table and nearly fell out of her chair. One small black dot appeared in the center of each of her eyes and expanded over the red until jet black orbs stared at me. They flashed white and then back to black several times. Her black tongue slipped out and licked some of the blood smeared around her lips.

“You’ve a most interesting past, hunter. You don’t belong in this world, but you don’t belong in yours either,” she said. “Your kind has not been here for thousands of years and now you are here, and there are more.” She paused and seemed to watch a scene in her head “What is this? A girl of both worlds? This is the one you seek?”

I leaned over the table and I could see my reflection in her flashing orbs. “Yes, Rayna. What do you see?”

An unsettling smile crept over her face. “Interesting,” she said. Her long nails tapped the scarred wood surface of the table. “I see many things in your future, hunter, and in hers too.” Her nails continued to tap the table before coming to an abrupt stop. “They are far from here, moving towards a cave by Alkalina Lake. There is great power there. They are close, but not there yet.” Her eyes moved back and forth. “They are preparing for a ritual. They plan to…” She stopped and a strange look crossed her face. “You are related to this man?”