Arrows of Time (35 page)

I’m dead.

Maudi!
Drayco’s voice snapped into her awareness. He’d been calling to her for some time.
Maudi! Think of what you can do, not what you can’t.

For example
? She knew she sounded sulky.

Think of the freedom.

Freedom?

Finally, you can keep up with me.

There it was again—the desire to laugh. But she couldn’t laugh, or sigh or cough or smile, or touch or hug.

What can you do?
Drayco asked again.
Focus on that.

I’m thinking
…

There’s a start.

She thought of laughter. She could feel the energy behind the action and its essence. It was like looking at a map of a strange and foreign land—a realm she had never seen before, wasn’t prepared for, but now must travel. The map didn’t make any sense.

Find a reference, Maudi. A point of entry
, her familiar suggested.

He was so practical. She loved that about him.
An astrological reference? Like what sort of transit this might reflect?

Exactly.
Drayco looked in her direction.
I’m guessing Neptune?

She exclaimed, but no sound came out.
Of course! Perfect! Neptune transiting in opposition to my sun. That’s it. You’re brilliant.
She felt her energy whirling about like a dust devil stirring up leaves.
Neptune rules the sea, a place where there are no boundaries. In Neptune’s world all the sharp edges, the lines that distinguish one thing from another, are blurred. He’s the god of immersion, the god of dance and ecstasy, boundless love and union with the divine. The god of enchantments and also deceptions
. She felt laughter welling up from some deep place of awareness.
I know I’m meant to let go of attachments and identification with material ‘reality’, but this is a twist I didn’t count on.

An interesting one, don’t you think?

Very. Neptune makes sense. Everything is dissolving, melting away, so I can see who and what I am without the props. Great goddess of the woods, I never thought of my body as extraneous. This gives me a new perspective on consciousness.

Indeed, me too.

It had been hours since they had left her body in the healing centre, and though she felt neither cold nor hot, or hunger or thirst, those feelings would have been welcomed for the familiarity they offered. She had the opportunity to find out who she was without them now. She wanted to take a deep breath. A wave of reticence struck.
So I’m lost.

Not really, Maudi. You’re right here. It’s your body that’s the lost one.

She wanted to nod.

You’ll get used to it, Maudi.

Do you think so?

Drayco’s confidence made her feel stronger, though what part of her needed strength, she couldn’t tell. She was all energy now—liquid light—a spark of consciousness dwelling in the corridors between the worlds. As the reality of her condition settled over her, she felt the magnitude of this event.

We need to get back to Earth, to Kreshkali
…
or Nell, my Nell, not that Dumarkian Temple witch.
She shook her head, but nothing moved.
Jarrod’s got no backup now. My DNA, the key-codes, they’re all gone.

I know. Bit of an issue.

Understatement.

I’m talking to Scylla now.

You can reach her? How?

It’s faint, but I’ve got a message through. I’ve upset her, I think. I wonder if it came out right.

How can you be transmitting from so far away?

It’s you, I think. Your energy is like an amplifier. It’s boosting my signal.

Can you hear back? What did she say?

It’s not so clear
…

Drayco must have moved closer because she sensed his tail snapping. She stilled her mind, knowing he
wanted to concentrate on his connection with Scylla. She was surprised he didn’t shush her outright.

Maudi?

Did you make her understand?
Rosette felt a rumbling energy waft through her as Drayco began to purr.
They know what’s happened to me? An’ Lawrence? Kreshkali?

I’m not sure what they know, but they’re coming. We need to get to the portal under Half Moon Bay.

That’s where they’ll be?

Drayco waved his tail again.
I think so, if we can just manage the correct ‘when’.

That’s not going to be easy.

Drayco’s energy shot towards her.
Not if you say it like that, it won’t be.

You’re right.
She felt another dust devil pivot her around.
It’ll be a snap. We get there, just where we need to be, and exactly the right ‘when’.

That sounds better. Can you focus on them both—the ‘when’ as well as the ‘where’?

I’ll do my best.
She felt his energy move off and concentrated her thoughts on the Half Moon Bay portal.
When are we meant to be there?

Right about now will do.

She’d discovered the knack of keeping up with Drayco. She stayed focused, kept her eyes on him and watched where he went. Her energy would follow.
What am I saying? I have no eyes.
She laughed again, a feeling with no sound or action.
Drayco? Do you think I’m going to be able to see
…
I mean, perceive anything when we get out of the corridors?

I wouldn’t worry about it too much right now. Whatever happens, it’ll be all right.

Okay.
She remembered the feeling of a sigh.
Good call. I won’t worry.
She kept her attention on him, her energy hovering over his body.

At first she could only sense his whereabouts intuitively, but then a lightening in the corridors brought more distinction. She could see, or visualise, the outline of his back and long tail conspicuous against the background.

I’d be lost without you, Dray.
She sensed wafts of energy coming from him.
Are you laughing at me, black cat?

You’ll have to admit it’s pretty funny.

How so?

Drayco’s rumble turned to purring; a purple aura flowed from his body in all directions.
I’m as lost
, he said,
and as found, as I ever was.

The glow increased.

Me too, Dray. Me too.

She brushed past the Entity as they entered a portal, Drayco right beside her. The jolts of purple plasma engulfed her, filling her vision with indigo light. They settled into the recesses of the portal as a wash of colour sped by. When it stopped, she moved forward, keeping her focus on a shaft of light illuminating the edges of her vision. Beyond, it looked much like the sewers of Half Moon Bay.

On track, Maudi. Good work.

She had no idea of the
when
, though, and there was nothing to do now but wait to see if Kreshkali showed up. She did the closest thing she could to taking a deep breath.

It was a relief to make out the subtleties of hue, saturation and colour as the light increased around her. She loved visual consciousness and it was a blessing to get it back. Everything became clear in minute detail. The main drain was dark and rusty, strapped to the corrugated wall with brackets and tattered with fine holes, moth-eaten from erosion. The moss growing on it was a pale green. It turned vivid lime where sunlight
beamed in from the surface. Algae clustered where water seeped from the walls.

Everything glowed—an aura of energy. Rock, walls, feline, moss, stone, gravel, drain—all had an energy field, and it was that subtlety of light that she could understand now more than anything else. The plasma of the portal Entity leapt towards her as she moved past, a caress. She stayed close to Drayco and explored the causeway.

Can you smell anything?
she asked.

Are you kidding?
He sneezed.

That’s a yes, I’m guessing.

Are you saying you can’t? Count your luck. It’s putrid.

I can’t smell a thing. Are you sure you’re not imagining it? Maybe they cleaned up.

Unfortunately, ‘they’ did not clean anything down here, whoever ‘they’ are.

Most likely ‘they’ would have been you and me!

Exactly. But these tunnels are just as rank as ever.
He sniffed the air.
I do pick up on rat, which might be a good time-passer.

Hungry?

Very.

I’m not.

Maudi, I don’t think the five senses are going to apply quite the same to you.

Forever?

I don’t know. For now.

Sorry, my lovely. I know you don’t. I’ll deal with it, I promise.

He sneezed again.
I’ve got to hunt, and find fresh water.

I’ve got water in my pack
…She automatically turned to look behind her.

It’s gone, Maudi. Everett Kelly has it.

In a whirl Rosette realised what she’d left behind.
Drayco, we have to go back!

Back where?

Back to that other place, where my body is.

What?

My DNA. My blood. We can’t leave it for that man to examine. We don’t know how advanced they are. We can’t let them get hold of Jarrod’s CPU, the key-codes.

Maudi, we went through all this.

We did?

We’re meeting Kreshkali first. And I wouldn’t worry too much. They weren’t advanced enough to save you and there wasn’t anything wrong.

But that’s just it, Drayco. There’s nothing wrong with me. I shouldn’t have died.

But you did.
Drayco sat and curled his tail close to his body, away from the drain.

Not by natural causes, Dray.

By what, then?

I don’t know. A spell maybe? It felt like we were being followed through the corridors.

Her temple cat stood up and shook.
We will go back. Straight back. But first we need to wait for the others. We need their help. I couldn’t get into that world, remember.

I can’t wait. It was a mistake to leave that way. It’s what they wanted.

Who’s ‘they’ now?

I don’t know, but I’ve got to go
. Rosette felt like she was trying to climb out of her skin—skin she didn’t have.

Easy, Maudi. One thing at a time. Let me get a bite and a drink, and then, if Kali hasn’t shown up, we’ll head back. We’ll figure out a way to get your body out of there.

With me in it!

That would be preferable, yes.

She wanted to rough his neck and kiss the top of his head. She wanted to feel the deep texture of his fur as she sank her hands into it and the thrill of his sandpaper tongue as he licked her arm. The sensuality that had been her vessel, her first contact with reality, was gone, and she had panicked. The fear was passing with the reassurance of her familiar. What would she do without him?
Thank you, Dray. Go hunt now. I’m fine. I’ll wait here.

Are you sure?

I am. Pan has left me—the god of panic is banished.

Good. Shan’t be long.

His aura turned a dark red as he stalked down the sewer. Her heart’s desire was to follow, but she waited by the portal. Kali might come through. Would she know what to do? Would she sense her? Hear her? Rosette needed some way to let her sadness out, but she had no eyes to fill with tears, no body to weep.

Kreshkali stepped out of the portal, her long cloak billowing behind her as she strode into the sewers, her high-laced boots splashing in the water that pooled in the uneven concrete.

‘Can you see him?’ she asked, taking in the north and south aspects of the underground causeway. Tiny shafts of sunlight beamed down from manholes, illuminating the tunnel with intermittent spots. Murky water flowed along a central channel, but it didn’t reach the higher ground on either side. She was relieved. Sometimes these sewers were flooded, though now that the rains had backed off, there was more solid ground. She led the group up to a platform directly under one of the manholes.

‘Demons, it stinks down here,’ Teg said.

No one disagreed.

‘She’s found Drayco.’ An’ Lawrence tilted his head towards Scylla. His familiar dashed down the tunnel, disappearing around a corner.

‘What’s he doing?’ Kreshkali asked.

An’ Lawrence paused for a moment, his eyes losing focus. ‘Ratting, apparently.’

‘Ratting?’

‘That’s what Scylla says.’

‘Rosette’s lost and he’s having a picnic?’

‘I suspect he had to eat, no matter what’s happened,’ Grayson replied when An’ Lawrence didn’t. He stepped out of the portal. His hands were shoved deep into the front pockets of his fur-lined coat. His head lifted slightly as he scanned the terrain. ‘It felt different last time I was here.’

‘How long ago was that?’ An’ Lawrence asked.

Grayson’s face was pale and drawn. He cleared his throat. ‘Last year. Coming back from my first visit to Gaela, my holiday with…’

An’ Lawrence looked away. ‘With Rosette,’ he whispered.

Kreshkali stared at them both.

‘Stop being so morbid, you two. We’re here to find Rosette—to bring her back, not bury her.’ She threw her hands up in the air. ‘Do you think I would need all of you otherwise?’

No one replied.

Kreshkali paced, walking the distance of the platform in several long strides. Then she turned on her heels.
Teg? Can you go see what’s keeping the temple cats?