Jordyn
My sleep was never interrupted by dreams like it had been the night before. I was relieved. I did not need any more bad omens. My head was also ache-free, which I took as another good sign as I rose from bed. I surveyed my room one last time as I dressed, wondering if this would be the last time I ever saw it. I knew even thinking it was tempting fate. Putting my mind back in the game, I left my room.
Everyone was waiting for me by the time I made my way to the living room. Krista was zipping up the backpack I would be taking with me. Once we entered the Caverns of Gloom, human provisions would no longer be available. Krista had showed me the food she had purchased for the journey, making sure protein was prevalent in everything she packed. I wouldn't be able to eat traditional meals since preparing them would be impossible, so everything was on the go.
Boon looked unusually solemn as I entered the room. All pretenses with him were slowly disappearing. Now that Sam was planning on homeschooling him, they didn't fear that he would tell anyone what he saw. Not that I thought he would. He took our "superpowers" as he liked to call them very seriously. I suspected he would rather die than tell anyone what I could do.
I approached him first since I could already see Krista wiping away a tear on the other side of the room. Her goodbye would have to wait.
"You keep this bat cave up and running for me while I'm gone," I told him, smiling in an attempt to get him to smile back. His face remained stoic. I knelt down beside him so I could whisper in his ear. "I'll be back before you can even miss me. It's time I go and kick some bad guys' asses," I said as he threw his arms around my neck.
"Don't let them get you," he whispered back fiercely in my ear.
"I won't, and when I get back, I'll take you on that trip I promised you," I said, looking over at Sam. She nodded her head, giving her acceptance.
"Promise?" he asked.
"Promise," I said, holding out my pinkie so we could seal the deal. He finally smiled at me as my pinkie twisted around his.
Shawn was the next to hug me. His hug was hard, but his sentiments were the same. "Kick their asses and then get home with Lynn and Robert," he said, squeezing me tight before handing me off to Sam. Her hug was softer and more fragile. Her tears ran hot and fast down her cheeks, which was not surprising. Deep feelings was her gift.
Mark's hug was as gruff and hard as Shawn's. He didn't offer up any advice and I could tell he was close to tears. I returned his hug, feeling my own emotions rearing up in a rare display.
Krista was the hard one. Our new relationship was still raw and tentative. I knew she felt like she was losing me all over again. "I'll be back before you know it," I said as she wept against my shoulder. My words were a lie. We all knew this assignment would take much longer than any other we had ever done.
My words seemed to give her comfort as she pulled back. My goodbye to Haniel was different than the others. He was not a hugger, but his eyes said everything. With one look I was able to understand, despite his attitude, he was also worried about my departure.
Emrys reached for my hand and I took one last look at the only family I had ever known. Krista tucked into Mark's embrace and Boon huddled together with Sam and Shawn. They disappeared as Emrys and I left the security of my house in Santa Cruz and landed in the dry desert heat of a place no human would ever want to go.
Taking in my surroundings, it looked like any other desert location I had visited with Haniel, but with an unmistakable eeriness. There was very little plant life, with the exception of a few large bushes that looked dead. I had never encountered anything like them before. They looked sinister, if that was even possible for a plant. The ground beneath our feet was not the pale cream color of the desert sands in California. It was a deep rust color that I couldn't help comparing to dried blood. The area had an aura that gave me goose bumps. As it were, my body was already tense, sensing threats all around me. Instinct told me to take a defensive position in front of Emrys. Shifting, I maneuvered my body so I was standing in front with my back to him. As intimidating as the ground and plant life were, it was the mountain ranges ahead and the sky above that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The sky was dark and ominous and void of stars. An unnatural-looking red haze shrouded the entire area in a thick blanket that felt like despair.
"What do you think?" Emrys asked, sounding amused despite our dire circumstances. I continued to survey the land around me as I strapped on my knife holster that I didn't want to put on in front of Boon. Pulling out my dagger, I checked to make sure the blade was up to par before stowing it back in the holder.
"It's different," I answered, circling. I looked for hidden dangers that could be waiting to ambush us. My body was on hyperalert. This is what I trained for. Everything in me was in fighter mode. "Plus, those plants don't look like any I've ever seen," I added. "And what's with the crazy red fog," I continued, now that I had secured our immediate surroundings.
"You think the plants are bad, wait until you see the big-ass bugs down here."
My mind computed both meanings of his comment at once. "Big-ass bugs" didn't sound like fun since they were my only weakness. I filed that tidbit aside until it was a pressing issue. Instead, I focused on his other words. "You said 'down here,'" I observed.
"It's a term we use. We're really not down anywhere since the realms don't work that way. The best way to explain them is like dinner plates on a table. On the Earth Realm you have a plate here," he said, drawing a circle in the dark dirt at our feet. "The Light's Realm is here, and we are here," he added, drawing two more circles on the ground. "The Dark One's Realm is here," he said, pointing to a circle butted up against where we were represented. "The in-between is next to the Light's Realm, here. All can be reached if you belong in that particular realm, or if you have a guide. These areas are sorta like a holding area," he said, pointing to the in-between and the area we were currently in. "Now that you have seen this place, it exists to you and you could now travel here on your own. The same would apply if I would have brought you to the in-between. You have to see them in order for your mind to believe in them."
I listened to his words intently, wondering why he hadn't covered this before we left. It seemed like something I probably should have known since he talked about it with such importance.
"In order to fully believe, you have to see," he explained, somehow knowing what I was thinking. "If Haniel or I would have tried to explain this before we left, your mind would have produced a preconceived notion of what this place looks like. You would have then rejected anything different and would not have been able to make the transition. Got it?" he asked. "It's a tough concept to grasp, I know."
"I think so. Does that mean I wouldn't be able to go to the in-between?"
"Exactly. Unless I knocked you out beforehand," he joked.
"As if that is even a possibility," I laughed.
"You never know, I could totally take advantage of you while you were drunk on my kisses."
"That's how you would decide to take advantage of me, by knocking me over the head?" I asked, raising my eyebrows suggestively.
He laughed openly at my innuendo before answering. "You got a point," he said, dropping a quick kiss on my lips. I tried to wrap my arms around his neck, but he pulled back. "We have to be careful. You never know who is watching," he said quietly.
His words stifled the playfulness between us, but made sense. I would be wise to remain on guard here.
"Which way?" I asked, adjusting my backpack so I had maximum mobility.
"I'll carry that," Emrys said, holding out a hand for my pack.
"You're kidding right?" I asked, looking at him like he'd just taken a kick to the head.
"It's the gentleman thing to do," he said, defending himself.
"Well, I got this, sport-o," I said, chuckling.
"You know, most girls would be touched if their boyfriend volunteered to carry their bag," he pointed out as we started toward the mountains in the distance.
"That's because they're pansies," I said, setting a pace that would have been hard for a human to maintain.
He laughed again. "You're definitely not a girly girl."
"Does that disappoint you?" I asked, genuinely interested in what he had to say. I kept my eyes on our surroundings in case of a sneak attack as we continued to walk.
"That you're not a squealing, squeamish, drama queen? No. I've seen enough of that in my time. No thank you."
"Yeah, girls are known for their drama," I agreed, digging my feet in to climb a small hill that had suddenly appeared in the terrain.
"They definitely got worse over the years," he said, reaching out a hand to help me up the last of the incline. I merely shook my head. "Hey, maybe I just want to hold your hand," he defended himself.
"Nice try. Why the sudden chivalry?" I asked as we made our way down the other side of the hill.
"Are you trying to tell me I'm not normally chivalrous?" he asked, avoiding my real question.
"Not like this," I answered. "What gives?"
His response was slow to come and I was tempted to punch him in the throat until he finally answered. "It's this place. I hate having you here," he said seriously.
"This? This is nothing. I got this," I bragged.
"That's my girl," he said.
I smiled at his ownership. I was setting myself up for heartbreak again since that title was temporary, but for the moment, I was claiming it.
We walked in silence for what felt like a long time, but there was no way to tell. Electronic devices didn't work here and even the watch on my wrist wasn't moving. It was as if we were someplace where time didn't exist. The terrain around us gradually changed as more hills and shallow gorges kept me on the defensive.
"Does it ever get dark here?" I asked as I began to notice things other than the landscape.
"Nope, it's like this all the time. There is no transition of time here."
"I thought something was weird. My watch isn't moving. How depressing," I said as movement out of the corner of my eye put me on high alert. "What the hell is that?" I asked. A monster-sized scorpion like something from a science fiction movie came crawling from under the ground not twenty yards from us. "Holy shit, does it have two heads?" I asked, instinctively jumping in front of Emrys.
"Talk about wounding someone's ego," Emrys said dryly, stepping to the side of me. "It's a scraggier," he said, lifting a large stone off the ground that looked too heavy to be of use.
"Do you plan on bashing both heads?" I asked, not knowing if I should be alarmed or amused.
"No, scraggiers are too cunning for that. Besides, you can't knock them out by hitting them in the head. Get ready. In about two seconds he's going to catch our scent."
"Wait, how are we going to take him out?" I asked, watching as the freaky scorpion lifted one of its heads and sniffed at the air. Without hesitation, the creature darted toward us at an accelerated rate that didn't seem possible for something that size. I only had seconds to react as I analyzed how to handle the incoming danger. Should I fight, or should we try making a run for it? During my split second of indecision, Emrys continued to stand firm with the stone held loosely in the cradle of his hands. Questioning how much help my boyfriend/guide was going to be, I was tempted for a moment to jerk the stone out of his hand and knock him over the head with it. The crazy fast freak of a scorpion was less than five yards away and closing fast. I could now see its deadly-looking fangs on both heads as saliva dripped from them. I debated whether I should draw my dagger, but I couldn't see where it would be any help. The creature's body was a hard armor-like shell. Not to mention its huge stinger tail that was raised up as it moved in for the kill. Three yards away and Emrys still looked relaxed. I wanted to throttle him. Shake some sense into him. Anything to get him to come out of his stupor. Two yards away. The Scraggier became even more hideous the closer it got. One yard. I reached for Emrys to drag him out of harm's way. He dropped the rock he had picked up that was so important a second ago. He sucked at mission work. The rock landed with a thud at our feet.
I was unprepared for the scraggier's reaction to the thudding of the stone as it hit the ground. The larger-than-life monster put the brakes on within a foot of me. Its stinger tail swayed warily, waiting to strike. Then, for no apparent reason, the scraggier did a complete one-eighty and took off in the direction it had come from. I watched with morbid fascination. "What the ape's ass was that?" I asked, turning to Emrys after it had disappeared from sight.
"A scraggier has one enemy here," he answered as he started walking again. "The sasquamith. When I dropped the boulder, it sounded like a footstep of the sasquamith. That's why it took off."
"What? You risked letting it get that close, thinking it'd be scared off by a sound?" I asked.
"It worked, didn't it?" he replied like he had no doubts.
I followed after him, glancing behind us to make sure the scraggier was gone. "Exactly what is a sasquamith?"
"Think bigfoot, but bigger," he said, picking up our pace.
"What a shocker. Is anything here not bigger? How many sasquamiths are there?" I asked apprehensively.
"Two. One in the east territory and one in the west. They're what you would call 'population control.' They keep the pests like scraggiers under control."
"Do pests include us?" I asked, placing my hand on my dagger. I was beginning to think a sword would have been a better choice or maybe a machine gun.
"Just put it this way. You'd be a tasty nugget. Me, it wouldn't even see, just like the scraggier couldn't. I'm like a ghost in this land.
"What?" I shrieked louder than I had intended.
Emrys clamped a hand over my mouth before abruptly pushing me to the ground. Anger surged through me and I was in the process of climbing to my feet when he threw his body over mine.
"What the hell are you doing?" I mumbled since his hand was still clamped over mine.
"Shush," he hissed in my ear. My body tensed under him as I heard a weird beating noise in the distance. It sounded like a bird flapping its wings, but a hundred times louder. Peeking over Emrys's shoulder, I saw a large shape in the sky, just as it broke through the haze. I gulped loudly at the sheer magnitude of the bird that really wasn't a bird since it was also shaped like a monkey, but with humongous wings that would rival a small airplane.
"Don't move," Emrys breathed into my ear as he angled his head so he was covering my face from view. I acknowledged his words by meeting his eyes. I could hear the flapping of the wings as the kooky monkey bird circled above us. I knew if Emrys had reacted this way our situation was precarious, but I couldn't help thinking about the fact that his body was sprawled on top of mine. We had shared our fair share of kisses over the course of our unusual relationship. I could feel every lean muscle of his contours as he tried to cover me from sight. His weight was not a burden. It felt so right that it took all my willpower not to shift underneath him to see if the sensations got even better.
"I think we can get up," Emrys said, looking amused, which definitely got my hackles up. I was embarrassed that I was the only one focused on our compromising positions.
"Then get off me," I said, pushing at his chest.
"Say please," he teased.
"No," I said stubbornly, shoving harder. I was pissed at myself for acting like a total twit.
"Why are you mad?" he asked, using his strength to hold himself in place.
"It's nothing," I muttered, feeling mortified.
"Tell me," he coaxed, placing his lips on the corner of my eye and then trailing down my cheek toward my lips. My embarrassment and anger slipped away as the same dazzling side effects of his kisses took over my senses. "Tell me," he repeated, pulling away.
Completely entranced, I couldn't remember why I was angry, so I answered honestly. "I liked how it felt to be so close to you," I admitted, knotting my hands in his hair so I could pull him close again. "And you didn't seem to notice," I added just before I crushed my lips to his so he could see my point.
He gave in to my demands and returned the kiss. I sighed with pleasure as his tongue found mine. Everything faded away as the sensations of having him so close wrapped around me like I had been dipped in some kind of euphoric concoction.
Emrys, of course, was the one who broke the kiss since I became a dizzy fry head anytime his lips came anywhere near me.
"I did notice, by the way. Why do you think I made it seem like a gleason was going to eat you?" he asked, dropping his lips to my neck.
"Hmmm," I asked, trying to sort out his words in my head.
"A gleason, the flying monkey thing? It was harmless," he said smugly, trailing his lips back to mine. "Oh, and the creatures here can see me."
"You dick," I gasped, finally able to make sense of what he was telling me.
"I may have fabricated danger so I could kiss you," he said, unaware of the new surge of anger that was swirling through me.
"You ass. I thought I was going to get eaten," I said, punching him in the shoulder and scrambling out from under him.
Grinning deviously he also climbed to his feet, unconcerned about my anger. "Well, the scraggier would have. That was close."
"Not funny," I said, jabbing a finger in his chest. "Haven't you ever heard of the Boy Who Called Wolf or in this case, flying freaky monkey?" I added, stomping off before he could answer.
"Um, Jordyn?"
"Don't talk to me," I grumbled, still stomping my feet to show my anger.
"Jordyn," he said in a more serious tone.
"What?" I said, not turning around.
"Don't take another step. You're about to make a mistake."
"Right—" I said as the sand under my feet disappeared.