As he came closer, she buried her hands in
his thick fur and rubbed him behind both ears. “Take me to Lydia,”
she urged. “Can you do that, buddy?”
He turned toward Lydia as if he understood,
so she lay one hand on his back for balance and made her way the
few feet to Lydia’s shelter.
“Good boy.” She gave him another rub.
Toran returned to his grooming.
Kira lowered herself to the ground, pulled
down a small section of Lydia’s blanket and took her hand. She
brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her friend’s face.
“Lydia?”
Nothing.
Kira thought back to the day this all began
and tried to remember everything she’d been told. As she recalled
the events, an idea came to her. If she heard Lydia’s thoughts,
maybe Lydia could hear hers as well. She closed her eyes and tried
to clear her head.
Lydia. You need to wake up.
Again, nothing.
Well, that was pretty stupid
, she
thought to herself. Not wanting to give up—but feeling extremely
foolish—she tried again. She took both Lydia’s hands this time,
closed her eyes, and tried to imagine herself actually being Lydia,
as she’d done when she found her in the forest.
Lydia! If you don’t wake up right now, I’m
gonna pour the whole jar of that horrible concoction down your
throat. Now wake up!
Kira expected her to wake slowly, like she
had. Instead, Lydia came up yelling and screaming—fighting mad.
“Octavion! How dare you give me that vile
poison,” Lydia screamed. She grabbed at her blankets and swung her
arms in the air. It was all Kira could do to keep her from hurting
herself—and Kira. She took Lydia by the shoulders and held on,
trying to get her to calm down. “Lydia, stop!” she pleaded.
“Release her!” Octavion yelled. He dropped
the firewood he’d been carrying and stepped closer, glaring at Kira
like she’d really been trying to hurt Lydia.
Kira let go of Lydia’s shoulders and leaned
away to avoid being hit in the face by her friend’s flailing arms.
Octavion wasn’t so lucky. When he knelt beside her, she took a
swing and punched him right in the jaw. Making contact with
something solid must have brought her to her senses, because she
froze with her fists clenched in front of her, ready for a
fight.
The shock that registered on Octavion’s face,
tickled Kira’s funny bone. She covered her mouth, trying to control
her reaction, but it was no use. She burst out in laughter, only
managing to get out three words. “Good shot, Lydia!”
Octavion put his hand to his face and
massaged his jaw. When Lydia giggled and dropped her hands to her
lap, he threw his arms up and stood. “
You
take care of her.”
Then he walked back to where the wood had landed and started
picking it up.
“I was trying to,” Kira snapped back at
him—sarcasm and attitude behind her words.
Lydia licked her lips and wrinkled her nose.
“Ugh, that stuff is nasty.”
“It smells bad, too,” Kira said.
Lydia pointed to the corner of the shelter
where a bag, like the one Octavion had offered her earlier, hung.
Kira gave Lydia the water and watched as she drank, spilling it
much like she had. Kira echoed Octavion’s instructions to take it
slow, but when she tried to take the bag away, Lydia raised her
hand, blocking her.
“You’re gonna get me in trouble,” Kira
said.
Lydia jerked the bag away from her mouth,
choking back her laughter. “I really don’t think you need my help
getting into trouble. Besides, he’s just worried about me. He gets
that way whenever I’m hurt. It scares him.”
“Good,” Kira said. “He should be scared. You
almost died. Did you know that?”
Lydia grew silent. The sudden burst of energy
she’d exhibited when she woke had caught up with her, and she tried
to lie back. Kira took one of the skins, bundled it into a ball,
and placed it behind Lydia’s head to prop her up.
“I’m sorry, Lydia, but what you did was
stupid. We both could have been killed.”
“Do not blame her. It was not her fault.”
Octavion walked up beside them.
“How would you know? You weren’t even there.
And that’s another thing.” Kira turned back to Lydia. “If you could
just grab onto that ruby necklace of yours, why—”
“Kira.” Octavion cut her off. “Let her rest.”
He stepped to Lydia’s side and lowered himself to the ground.
“It’s okay,” Lydia said. “She’s right. I
should have called you. I was foolish to let my kindred spirit take
over. It just happened so fast, there wasn’t time to do anything
else.”
“Your kindred spirit?” Kira asked. “Would
someone
please
explain that to me? The change in your eyes
and face when you got angry, and then . . . who’s Altaria?”
Lydia lowered her eyes. “I have a gift . . .
or a curse, depending on how you look at it.” She glanced at
Octavion.
He nodded, as if agreeing to her silent
request for help. “Kira, this will not sit well with you,” Octavion
said. “Our ways are not like anything else you know.”
“I already know about the Crystor, and it
didn’t take a genius to figure out she can rub that little ruby and
you come running. I’m not stupid, ya know. I’m sure there’s tons of
stuff you haven’t told me. I want to know what happened.” Now that
the urgency of the situation had passed, her curiosity had taken
over. Plus, she didn’t want any more secrets between them. That
part bothered her the most. She didn’t like being lied to.
Lydia smiled, searching Octavion’s eyes
again. “How do I explain this?”
He seemed reluctant at first, but after a
long moment of silence, he began. “My sister has two spirits. One
appears as you know her—as Lydia. She is very strong spiritually,
but her physical strength is limited. The other—Altaria—appears as
you saw her in the cave. She’s a fierce warrior and Lydia allowed
her to control their body during the battle so your lives could be
saved.”
“Two spirits?” Kira asked. “You mean, like a
split personality?”
“No,” he said. “She has two separate spirits,
both with different strengths, talents and physical traits.”
“But how is that possible?” Kira asked. “And
where is your other spirit now—Altaria?” She caught herself
searching the clearing, half expecting Lydia’s kindred spirit to
magically appear. Just thinking about the way she’d taken on the
scouts made the skin on Kira’s arms tingle.
“She is here,” Lydia said, placing her hand
over her heart. “But only one of us can be in control of our body
at a time.”
Kira looked at her injured hand and the place
on her wrist where the Crystor had burned her skin. If what they
said was true, anything was possible. “Go on. I want to hear
more.”
“You sure?” Lydia asked.
Kira nodded. “Where are you from? When you
change, or whatever—you both have an accent and your speech is so
proper. And then there’s all this magic, and potions, and a huge
tiger that should be wild, and this stupid bracelet that
burns—which
really
hurt, by the way—not to mention the fact
that I have somehow gone from being a normal human to some witch
with powers to bring back the dead. Does any of this seem
strange
to you guys?” Kira took in a deep breath, letting it
out with a sigh. She knew she was rambling, but all the questions
she’d held back bounced around in her head and she had to get them
out.
Lydia spoke first. “You’re not a witch.” Then
she touched her finger to Kira’s palm. “And I’m really sorry about
this.”
Kira pulled her hand back. “It’s just . . . I
don’t understand why you didn’t tell me before. I would have kept
your secrets.”
“I know,” Lydia said. “Octavion didn’t think
it was safe.”
“So, is that why you wouldn’t let me come to
your house? Not because your dad wouldn’t allow it, but because you
live here?”
“Sort of. I have a small place in town, but I
live there alone—except sometimes in the winter when it’s too cold
for Octavion to stay on the mountain. Our father didn’t come with
us.”
“Where is he?” Kira asked. “The truth this
time.”
“He’s in our homeland. We are from a place
called Ophira—another world, actually. Our home there is called
Xantara, where our father is king.”
“Another
world
?” Kira had expected
them to give her the name of some tiny foreign country in the
middle of nowhere, or maybe a hidden civilization that time forgot.
She’d even considered the possibility of some sci-fi time traveling
scenario, but the phrase “another world” left her with visions of
aliens and space ships landing in wheat fields. As much as she
wanted to know everything about them, she suddenly felt anxiety
prick at her nerve-endings like a million little spiders scurrying
up her arms. What she wanted was to go home.
Octavion drew his dagger and mapped Earth’s
solar system in the dirt. He pointed out the sun and each planet
that orbited around it. The whole thing was only the size of a
cantaloupe, but seemed in proportion from what Kira remembered.
Astronomy was not her best subject.
Kira pointed to the tiny circle that
represented Earth. “So if we’re here, where is Ophira?”
Octavion picked up a small pebble, rolled it
around in his hand for a second, then chucked it across the
clearing. It ricocheted off one of the trees and landed somewhere
in the bushes. “Over there.”
Kira’s eyes widened. “That far? But how did
you get here? How did you know to come to Earth, and . . .” Kira’s
mind was so full of questions, she wasn’t sure which one to ask
first. “Where’s your spaceship?”
Lydia laughed. “The little green men took it
home with them.”
“Very funny.” Kira curled her legs up to sit
cross-legged, then leaned forward to listen intently. “I’m serious.
I want to know how you got here.”
Octavion slid his knife into its sheath and
settled back on his heels. “Remember I told you I am an
alchemist?”
“Yeah.”
“Part of what I do involves the study of the
universe. In our world, we have rare gems and stones that possess
what you would call ‘magical powers’. But to us, it is as normal as
electricity or communicating with cell phones is to you. Your world
seemed magical to us when we first came here.”
He hesitated for a moment, as if considering
his words carefully. “I inherited part of my mother’s gift as a
visionary. I cannot tell the future, but I can see things others
are not able to see. There is a blue crystal that we call Soleryne
and when I concentrate on it, I can see other planets with my mind.
There are other mind travelers on Ophira, but their gifts are not
as strong as mine. They do not venture as far as I have—at least
not that I am aware of.”
“You mean others from your planet have been
here?” Kira asked.
“I do not believe so. Such things are not
discussed between kingdoms, but a journey to such a spectacular
world as Earth would have filtered through the kingdoms somehow.
Someone would have boasted of their journey. I do know we are the
first from Xantara.”
“So with this stone, you can see people
walking around on Earth? Is that how you knew you could live here?”
Kira was surprised at how accepting she was at the knowledge of
other worlds. She’d never given it much thought, but now found it
fascinating.
Octavion smiled. “Not exactly. I can only
observe from a distance.” He glanced at Lydia, then back to Kira
again. “I came here once when I was younger. I had been studying
your planet for quite some time and found it very similar to
ours—lush soil and plant life, raging rivers and a moon that draws
the tide. I couldn’t stand not knowing what it was like.”
“And he got in trouble,” Lydia said. “Father
forbad him to travel like that again. It was too dangerous.”
“Only because Shandira followed me and could
not keep her mouth shut.”
“She was your older sister. She was supposed
to keep an eye on you that day, remember?”
Octavion waved a hand to dismiss the subject
and turned his attention back to Kira. “Back to your question. Yes,
your atmosphere has sustained our lives quite nicely. At first, it
was difficult to get used to some of your vegetation and living
creatures. We do not have as many insects on our planet. Nor do we
have snakes.”
Lydia wiggled into a full body quiver.
“That’s the
worst
. I hate those things. And the spiders.
Ugh!”
“So . . . that explains how you
found
Earth, but not how you got here. All joking aside, is there some
kind of spaceship you traveled on or something?” Kira hated to ask.
Even as the words crossed her lips, she knew they sounded
ridiculous.
This time Lydia spoke. “We have a journey
stone. It opens a doorway to our world and we just jump through to
the other side.”
Octavion’s brow furrowed as he brushed his
fingers through his hair. He was clearly uneasy with Lydia’s
explanation. “Perhaps Kira has heard enough for one day. It is a
lot to take in.”
“But wait—you never told me why you’re
here.”
Octavion hesitated before answering. “There
were some in our kingdom who wanted to take Lydia’s life. I am her
guardian and took an oath to protect her, even if that means my
death.” He turned to Lydia and grimaced. “She has not made it an
easy task.”
“But if your father was the king, couldn’t he
just call for guards or soldiers to protect her?”
Lydia’s mood seemed to change suddenly. She
adjusted her blankets and squirmed under the covers. “That would’ve
worked if it wasn’t Shandira who tried to kill me. Her gifts are
stronger than mine and she’s sneaky and impossible to predict. Our
father thought if he sent us away—hid us in a foreign land—we’d be
safe.” Lydia raised her eyes to meet Kira’s. “I was only fifteen
when we left.”
Kira’s heart ached for her. “You were so
young. That must have been hard on your mother.”