Page 6 of Splintered Shadow
She ran a finger along the nearest vine leaf, surprised to find it rough. Knowing her red herrings from legitimate clues wouldn’t help her now.
She really should have read more sci-fi.
Reaching for her phone, she checked for a signal out of habit. It didn’t make sense to her, either. A body just moved on autopilot when overwhelmed, which was why Sarah stretched her hand up to raise the phone, like that would get a better signal.
A crack spread across the screen, either from the trip through the portal or the fall. She squeezed the phone in frustration. She resisted the urge to throw it because if this was a hallucination, she didn’t want to wake up in her bedroom with a busted phone. Those things were expensive. Instead, she tucked it into her bra on the side near the strap.
Nothing felt real. Not the sunlight. Not the birdsong from the trees. Nothing except her killer headache.
So she waited. Sweating. Itching from where the strange vines rubbed against her skin, leaving red welts.
“Great. I’m allergic,” she muttered. Her throat felt dry and sitting in the sun was not doing her head any favors.
Sarah hauled herself to her feet—no shoes, because of course not. The dizziness wasn’t so bad. She took a step, gasping at how wrong it felt, like the ground was made of the rubberized playground material. Was that gravity, or was the stone different? No, it felt like stone when she had her face pressed up against it. Her body ached like it landed on stone.
She bounced on her toes, testing gravity. Yup, it was lighter. Not Earth or a strangely specific hallucination.
Bare feet picked her way through the vines. She felt filthy and didn’t want to think of all the cuts and scrapes on her poor feet. Where had her slippers gone? They went through the vortex, too, but were now missing along with most of her laundry. Speaking of…
Sarah reached down to grab a sock, the blue one with an orange octopus.
The ground gave way. Screaming, she grabbed onto a vine, the rough leaves sliding through her hands as she fell.
Finally, she stopped, twisted in vines, and dangling in midair. The vines creaked alarmingly when she moved.
Sarah grabbed hold and attempted to pull herself up. Easier said than done. Flashbacks of third -grade gym class played in her mind as little Sarah tried to pull herself up the rope.
Who had the upper arm strength to do that?
Another creak.
The vines snapped, and she fell.
Vekele
“Are we even allowed to be on Miria?” Luca asked. “This place is too rarified for my blood.”
“Miria is sacred, not prohibited,” Vekele said. Travel to and from the mountain was controlled to maintain the fragile ecosystem. Colonies of karu existed elsewhere on Arcos, but this region was the ancestral home of the creatures.
“For a royal,” Luca said.
Vekele tilted his head, staring at the male from a good angle. A round face gave the appearance of youth. A foolhardy person would dismiss the male as benign, but he was a member of the royal guard, therefore dangerous.
He resisted the urge to ask if the male spoke to his king in such a manner, but Vekele knew the answer. While Vekele never tolerated insubordinate behavior when he was a Revenant, Baris actively encouraged it.
The male had the good sense to appear shamefaced.
“Visiting is simply a matter of applying for a permit. Royal or not,” Vekele said in a tone that discouraged further conversation.
Kenth made a noncommittal grunting noise, her contribution to the conversation.
“Scans indicate an unidentified life form,” Luca said.
Vekele brought up a surface map of the terrain. Twin red dots indicated the location of the anomaly and the life form. Both were too close to the temple complex for his liking.
“Land here,” he said, jabbing the holo with a finger.
“We can get closer to the location of the anomaly,” Luca said.
