The Return To Erda Box Set Page 5

  The haze rushed forward encasing me from neck to toe in a thick mist. If the rest of me had turned to stone, I couldn’t see. But I was shivering and able to wrap my arms around myself which I figured I couldn’t do if I had turned to stone.

  Within seconds I started to warm up, and I realized that the haze wasn’t cold. It was cold outside of it.

  “Where am I?” I asked the haze. There was no answer.

  A flock of birds flew overhead. It reminded me of geese, the way they fly in a V formation. But they didn’t sound like geese. One bird left the flock and headed straight towards me like a bullet. As it flew closer, I could see that it wasn’t a goose. It was shaped more like a falcon. It dove straight at me. I screamed again, but instead of attacking me it hovered in front of my face, grabbed the edge of the haze with its claws, and threw it at the flock overhead.

  Immediately the bird in front of me and the flock disappeared, and I was sitting cross-legged in front of a fire. A shadow handed me a stone cup filled with blue haze, and said, “Drink this.” The shadow’s voice was so kind and gentle I obeyed.

  I felt a warm cloud of mist move down my throat, and a deep heaviness came over me. I fell to the floor beside the fire.

  The gentle hands of the shadow covered me with a blanket, and as my consciousness seeped away, I heard, “Now sleep. It will be easier tomorrow.”

  *******

  When Beru came to get me, I was already awake and thinking about my dream. Was it my brain trying to work things out or was it real? Either way, I hoped the shadow was right about the day being easier because every muscle in my body hurt. My legs felt as if they had been beaten with a stick, which was true. They had been.

  Excuse me, not a stick, a staff. Not the kind that wizards carry. The type used as weapons, although maybe wizard’s staffs are weapons too. I haven’t met a wizard, so I’m not sure.

  My instructor yesterday looked like a gazelle on steroids. A huge graceful being who looked as if he could squash me with his hand. No need for a weapon. He was the weapon. I gasped and fell back against the wall when I saw him.

  Beru had led me to the training area and then moved away as fast as she could. I had wondered why until I saw Gazelle man standing there.

  At first, I thought he was a statue because he was so still, and his dark skin glowed as if he was carved out of marble. Didn’t take me long to discover that he wasn’t a statue because he threw a staff at me. Luckily, or maybe on purpose, it missed because I flinched as it came at me. It clattered to the floor. I stared at it. What was I supposed to do with it?

  He yelled at me to pick it up and then started running at me holding his staff by his side. I ran. Apparently not the proper response, although I still think it was the right thing to do. If you can run, run. “Not so,” Gazelle man told me after catching me and whacking me with his staff. “Today we are going to learn how to stand and fight.”

  At least I thought that was what he said because he spoke so softly it was hard to understand his words. He preferred to show me the fighting movements he wanted me to learn.

  Maybe because his moves were so far superior to his vocal communications, Gazelle man chose to teach by example. He’d demonstrate the proper stance, then point at me to do the same, poking me with his staff to move my foot, or hip, or back. He’d attack, and I’d cringe or run.

  He’d grunt, point, and show me what I should have done. By the end of the session yesterday, I had mastered one simple block and one way to hit someone with the staff if he was as slow as a turtle and blind as a bat during the day.

  I prayed that I wouldn’t be facing Gazelle man today.

  “Do you even know his name, or his history, or his race? Do you know anything about him at all, Hannah,” Beru asked me, once again proving that I was not good at shutting her out of my thinking.

  “No, don’t answer me. You don’t know anything about him or any of your other instructors. They are all here for you. To teach you what you need to know. Perhaps you could show them some respect and find out something about them.”

  I knew what Beru was doing. She was trying to make me angry enough to survive the day. She was volunteering to be the provoker.

  It was hard to see her that way with her sweet face and all that. But I knew she was much more than she appeared to be. Plus, she was right. I didn’t know anything about anyone. I didn’t even know where I was in time or space. I was in the realm of Erda in a castle on top of a mountain. That was all I knew. Oh, and they expected me to save their world somehow. From what? From whom?

  It was time for me to get some answers, and stop being such a wimp.

  Shatterskin Twelve

  When I walked into my session with Aki, I thought that the shadow from my dream might have been telling me the truth. There was a small table set in the middle of the room, along with a teapot and two teacups.

  Aki glided into the room a few inches off the floor and gestured to a cushion set by the table. I had been too stunned and tired the day before to notice my surroundings. Today I saw that the walls were lit the same as the halls, with an invisible light source. The floor was a polished wood of some kind, and there were scrolls hung around the room. They reminded me of some of the Japanese paintings I had seen in one of my school books. Did they mean something?

  “Today, Hannah, I am going to tell you a part of a story. You can decide if it is a fairy tale, or reality, or maybe a mix of both, as most stories are, you know. Since all stories can be changed or re-written, it will be up to you to decide what you want to do about it. That is, if you take it as real. Or find the meaning behind it.”

  Aki poured tea in both our cups and took a sip from hers. “Drink please; it will help you listen without falling asleep.”

  I did what she asked me to do, keeping my eyes locked onto her face instead of avoiding it as I had done yesterday. As I stared at her, I realized that there was something off about her. Her face was beautiful, but what made the beauty even more striking were her eyes. This was another example of my not paying attention since I arrived on Erda, because her eyes were hard to miss.

  As Aki put her teacup down and turned her full attention to me, she slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were the palest blue I had ever seen. Very freaky. Then, as she told the story the color of her eyes would grow brighter, or darker, and then fade again. I began to wonder if what she looked like wasn’t her true form. And if that was the case, what did she really look like?

  “Do you want the story Hannah, or are you too busy trying to figure things out?”

  I put my teacup down, folded my legs beneath me, and turned my full attention to Aki. I knew the story was the beginning of understanding. It was what Beru had said to me. It was time to learn who these people were and why they were here. I hoped the story would help me figure it out.

  *******

  “Shall we start with Once Upon A Time? It is how all good stories that may or may not be true begin, isn’t it?” Aki asked.

  I nodded and she began.

  “Once upon a time, a long, long, long time ago, a giant silver serpent twisted and turned its way through the stars. Inside that metal serpent traveled two brothers who had been alive for more years than anyone could count and they were bored. So bored. They thought they knew everything there was to know. There were no more adventures that they hadn’t already done, and there was nothing new to see.

  “The snake had taken them everywhere they wanted to go. The beings inside the metal serpent had seen worlds that had just been born, and worlds that had destroyed themselves time and again. Watching had been fun for a few million years, but the joy of it had faded.

  “They knew that self-destruction was one way to keep from being bored. But self-destruction didn’t appeal to them anymore, either. They had regrown their own civilizatio
n too many times to count. Even self-destruction had turned boring.

  “One night while lounging on the observation deck, so bored they could barely lift their drinks to their mouths, the two brothers came up with an idea to amuse themselves. Why not make a world of their own and experiment with it? See what happens when they mess with it?

  “Of course, this was illegal. Even in a civilization as jaded as theirs, there were rules, and this was one. Everyone knew that the law was to let civilizations alone and let them evolve on their own. Destroy themselves—or not. Voyeurism was perfectly fine, and for millenniums this is what they had been doing. But, as I said, they were bored.

  “These two brothers decided that they didn’t care anymore. So what if they were caught? At least being punished wouldn’t be boring.

  “Over the next few years, these brothers hatched their plan. They decided that just one world wasn’t enough. What about two? When finding two identical planets proved difficult, they came up with another idea. What about one planet and two dimensions? That was the perfect scenario. They could compete and decide once and for all which brother was the best brother.

  “By using dimensions instead of different planets, the playing field would be almost equal. It also made it easier for them to check on their experiment. It meant that there would only be one world to visit on the trips through the universes. They just had to return to one planet and then slip between the two dimensions to see how their experiment was going.

  “It took a few more passes through the galaxies to pick the perfect planet. It was a beautiful place. It had everything: oceans, air, lakes, trees, and mountains. It reminded them both of a world that had been destroyed many thousands of years in the past when its star exploded. There were rumors that the explosion had been deliberate, but no one could prove it. The brothers laughed together over the idea that perhaps someone else had been as bored as they were.

  “While they traveled to find the planet, they made up the rules that would govern the people. But first, they needed people. Neither of them wanted to live there. They valued being observers, not participants. To solve their problem, they found volunteers in the prisoners on board. It was a simple choice. Either die or populate a planet. Well, you know what the prisoners chose.

  “The brothers made the experiment as equal as possible. They didn’t want to give either dimension an unfair advantage.

  “They only did a few things differently. They wanted to see if that made a difference. The answer, Hannah, is that those few things turned out to be the pivot points that changed everything.”

  Shatterskin Thirteen

  Aki rose, stretched, and said, “That’s your lesson for today, Hannah. Stretch your mind, instead of your body.”

  “You aren’t going to tell me what the differences were?” I huffed. How could she take me that far, and then not tell me? What if the story was true? Didn’t I need to know?

  “Not today. You spend time thinking about what those differences might be.”

  This time, instead of gliding out of the room, Aki vanished. One moment she was there. The next she wasn’t. What was up with that? People kept disappearing. How did they do it?

  Ziffer, I mumbled to myself. How was I supposed to figure how people vanished along with everything else that was going on. The story was making me feel itchy. What if it was true? Were Earth and Erda the two dimensions she was talking about?

  “No time to ponder that now,” Beru said. She was casually leaning against the door, her eyes dancing with delight.

  “Do you know the story?” I asked her.

  “Of course,” Beru answered, “but I’m not the one who is going to give you the answer. Besides, it’s time for your next class. Let’s see if you can find your way this time. You lead, I’ll follow.”

  I gave Beru the best evil eye look I could muster, but it only made her laugh.

  “Come on, Hannah, feel the walls and doors. They’ll lead the way.”

  Looking at my pouting face, she added, “Seriously, Hannah. You have to be able to do this. You are not going to be very effective if you can’t find your way around.”

  “You mean, feel my way around, don’t you?” I said through clenched teeth.

  “Exactly. I’ll wait.”

  Of course, she would wait. Even though I had only known Beru for a few days, I knew she could outlast me in any waiting game. Besides, putting aside my frustration, I knew she was trying to teach me something important. So I reached out and asked to be guided.

  I shut my eyes until Beru said, “Keep your eyes open. Do you think the enemy is going to wait while you stand there with your eyes shut? Do this with your eyes open. Trust the guidance. Your world calls it the force, doesn’t it? Follow that. Pretend that it’s there right in front of you. Imagine how it would feel to be guided. Go, go, go.”

  There was that go, go, go command, again. What is it with this world where everyone is always saying that to me? But I obeyed. I opened my eyes and trusted. And I knew. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew what step to take next.

  I was cautious at first, but soon I was walking at a reasonable pace. A few minutes later, I ended up exactly where I meant to go, the magic room, where Professor Pinhead was waiting for me.

  No that’s not his real name, I made that up. Sounded good to me yesterday, but today something was different inside of me. Today I would listen and hear his real name. Today I would be respectful and learn something.

  Beru reached out and touched the back of my hand. I looked down, and she gave me the sweetest smile. It was the best reward for good thinking I had ever felt. I smiled back and stepped into the room.

  The professor was there, sitting at his desk, but so was someone else. For a moment, I thought it was Johnny. I hoped it was Johnny, and my heart did a little flip-flop. But when he turned, I saw that it wasn’t Johnny after all.

  No one said anything. We stared at each other until the stranger walked over to me where I was standing like an idiot in the doorway.

  Still dumbstruck I continued to stare at him until he said, “Hi, I’m Zeid. I know you’re Hannah. Happy to meet you!”

  Still an idiot, I mumbled, ”Oh wow, you know who I am. Who are you anyway?”

  “Hannah!” Beru hissed.

  “Sorry, that was rude. It’s just I haven’t seen anyone my age here yet. Or sort of my age. Are you my age? Oh, sorry again, so rude again.”

  Zeid just laughed and grabbed me by the elbow leading me to my desk. “You know if I had just traveled to a new dimension a few days ago and everything was different, I am sure I would be as confused and frustrated as you. More, I bet.

  “I live here. Never dimension traveled, although I think that might be fun. Not going to happen though. They closed the portal after you came through.”

  If there was a mirror in the room, I was sure it would have shown that I turned white. “They closed the portal,” I gasped.

  “Oh ziffer, I’m sorry. Of course, this is upsetting. Were you expecting more people to come with you?”

  I nodded yes, and whispered, “And I thought that I could go home again, someday.”

  Zeid put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “It’s possible, Hannah. Don’t give up hope. In the meantime, I’ll be here training with you.”

  Both Zeid’s words and his hand on my shoulder burned.

  Professor—didn’t know his name yet—humphed, and said, “Open your books, Zeid and Hannah. There is much to be done. We’ll travel to the Riff soon. You need to be ready.”

  Riff? What had I missed? What was a Riff? What did I have to be ready for?

  I looked at Zeid for reassurance. He winked one of his amazing azure eyes at me, and I blushed.

  Which was going to be worse? The Riff or what was happening to me. Honestly, all I could thin
k of at that moment is that I wanted my mom. I wanted to be twelve years old again, snuggling in bed as we told each other about our day. I wanted to go back to sewing secret ladybug appliqués into each others’ clothes.

  I felt a tap on my leg and looked down. Beru was there by my foot. She turned back the seam on the bottom of my leggings and revealed a ladybug appliqué.

  Beru had given me my mom. I would be okay for a little bit longer.

  Shatterskin Fourteen

  Zeid trained with me after that. He was my sparring partner in Gazelle Man’s class where he whipped my butt, too. He didn’t hurt as much when he whacked me as the gazelle did, but he was just as relentless. Yes, he was pretty dang cute, but he proved to me right away that he wasn’t planning to give me any slack just because I hoped we would be friends.

  I did learn people’s names, though. I took to heart Beru’s comment about not caring about the people that helped me. Professor Pinhead was really Professor Link. At least I got the professor part right.

  Gazelle Man was Niko. And of course, I already knew Aki’s name. Since many of the people I met during our training sessions came and went depending on what we were learning, I didn’t get most of their names.

  We spent most of the time in Link’s class learning about how to do various forms of magic. Zeid didn’t need to learn. He knew how. He was increasing his skills, while I was trying to access mine. He loved showing me what Professor Link meant by “be somewhere else.” Zeid was excellent at that, and he could come and go at will. I didn’t get it at all. No matter how hard I tried, I never went anywhere.

  Zeid told me that I was thinking of it as something I had to do, like what I did in the Earth Realm when I did what they call astral projection. In Erda, it didn’t work that way. They allowed magic to work through them.