Page 160 of A Soul to Embrace

Liar, she thought, her tail swaying faster.

Maybe that had been his intention in some way, but she didn’t think that was truly his sole reason.

He rolled his eyes as if he could read her thoughts. “It also stopped people from attempting to dig for the mana stone that powers the portal, since it’s buried right beneath it.”

“Do you mind if I ask why you chose to come to Earth?” She was curious if he’d chosen this realm because it had humans in it.

“I just took the first stone I could find, and it led here. The fact I could even activate it was a miracle, and a total fluke.” He pushed his hand out in her direction to halt her. “Now... give me a moment. I’ll check to make sure the other side is clear, and then I’ll bring you through.”

He walked through the portal without another word. The centre of it dipped around him before giving way with a ripple like someone had thrown a rock into water.

Seconds later, half his body dipped back through, and he waved for her to come. “Alright. Let’s see if I was right that you’ll be able to access it.”

He retreated to give her space, disappearing once more.

Zylah didn’t know what she expected. She thought it would be like teleporting – darkness giving way to a disorientating new environment, while her mind was wrung like a damp cloth.

Instead, all she felt was coldness as it crept along her body, goosebumps making her fur puff. There was no disorientation, no queasiness. It was like she’d merely stepped through a threshold and into a new world shrouded by the dark of night.

The very first things Zylah noticed were how much warmer it was, and the gigantic moon that lit up the sky.

Pale bluish white, it appeared to have green streaks of gas roaming across it – although that could’ve just been the moon’s surface. Two rings made up of what she thought might be dust and rocks circled it in a cross pattern, and they sparkled in a reflection of the moon’s light.

Earth’s moon appeared tiny in comparison, barely the size of a human coin Jabez had shown her. This moon was so large she could barely see the night unless she looked way up.Thousandsof stars glittered in the distance, some flickering red, others green, as celestial dust flittered all throughout.

At least the rest looked black, just like on Earth.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Jabez stated softly, drawing her gaze to find he was looking at it as well. “I’m guessing you think it’s a moon?”

Zylah chittered at that and scratched at the side of her neck awkwardly.Well, yeah.It looks like one, just massive.

“It’s actually a planet.” The mischievous smile on his face told her everything she needed to know; he was going to tease her the entire time they were here. “It’s called Otholla.”

Zylah looked around them, noticing how the portal was surrounded by trees on one side, and a vast meadow on the other. In the distance, she heard the rush of a strong stream, but couldn’t see it over the rolling hills.

Stillness surrounded them and only the very tips of the tall dark-teal grass moved in the whisper of a breeze.

Her gaze drifted up to the very tops of the tallest trees she’d ever seen. The bark itself appeared to be white, as if bleached, but the leaves were a gentle light pink or purple. They barely rustled, but she did note how large each leaf seemed to be.

It helped there was a fallen one nearby, and she tilted her head when she thought she could have laid on top of it and her toes would likely not stick out past it.

Jabez took a single step, and she shuffled back when the ground lit up momentarily. She looked down at her own feet, and each time she moved or settled her weight differently, the grass remained dark, but the dirt beneath it seemed to ooze with a bluish colour.

He must have noticed the way she lifted a foot just to step it down in a different spot, because he said, “There’s mana in almost everything around you. It’s in the dirt, reacting to the pressure of your steps, in the water, so it makes it glow when it’s moving or disturbed, and in many of the plants that absorb it.”

“I like how it looks,” Zylah said, her sight shifting to a bright yellow. “I wish Earth glowed like this.”

It would make the world less foreboding and sinister at night.

Although the pink leaf on the ground was dark, she noticed the softest, barely visible glow on the stems of each one connected to the branches above. It was like a canopy of dulllight, not sharing any with the ground but enough that she could see the twists of branches or tree trunks in contrast.

“We won’t be able to walk to where we’re going, as it’s a little far to the ruined village, and doing so would be undeniablystupid.I also won’t be able to teleport us right into the middle, as that’ll likely spook the inhabitants. I’ll take us somewhere close by. There may be a lot of dematerialising and materialising involved. If you start to feel unwell, let me know.”

“Okay,” Zylah stated with a nod, agreeing just to follow whatever he thought was best.

He placed his palm on her forearm, and they teleported to a new environment once more. This one was in the very centre of the forest, and somehow, the trees appeared to be even taller and more daunting. Or perhaps that was just because she was now standing right underneath one.

The bases were around the same thickness as those in Spiral Haven, and she thought they could be close in height, if not a little taller. She noticed the bark of the trees surrounding them was a brownish red, and the leaves glowed a faint blue on their stems.

---