"Of course I won't run and tell them anything they don't have to know." Dax sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Yes, I’m loyal to Luke but to you as well. You've saved my life more than once."
"Good. That's what I was hoping you'd say." It's now time to get moving. Time is running out, and I don't want to have any more accidents. "If that's the case, are you ready to head on to that water realm?"
"Oh, is that why you were coming to look for me?" He bites his lip and taps his foot. "I'm still not sure if I can get us there. I haven't figured out what the problem was yesterday."
"I'm pretty sure it was me." In fact, I’m positive. Yesterday was kind of crazy. "I was exhausted just like that time in Hell."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Dax's forehead wrinkles and he takes a step closer to me.
"Because you guys always push her." Charlie scowls at him and takes my hand. "If you all would let her breathe, it would be best for everyone."
"Hey, I went down there to protect her." Dax's nostrils flare.
"Guys, quit it." Dear God, this is ridiculous. "It wasn't Dax's fault we went to Hell. It was Luke's, but that's just because he knows I'm on a time crunch." I point to Charlie then Dax. "Both of you need to get along, or this trip is going to end in disaster."
"Wait." Dax's eyes widen. "Is he going with us?"
"Damn right I am." Charlie growls and puffs up his chest.
Dax is clearly not pleased over Charlie’s coming. "Stop it. Enough." I don't understand why Dax is acting this way, and Charlie is practically peeing all over me. Neither have acted this irrational before. "Yeah, Charlie is going to go with us this time. I'm not leaving him behind. Do you have a problem with it?"
It takes a few seconds, but Dax finally lets out a deep breath. "No, let's get this thing on the road."
I can't agree more. "Charlie, I'm going to imagine the place, and then Dax is going to take us there. Be ready for it."
"Got it." Charlie tightens his grip on my hand. "I'm ready when you are."
I close my eyes and focus on the fourth artifact. The three round circles of water that float in the air appear in my mind. When I pull back to see the location again, I see water surrounding it, but it's in a protected area on a stretch of dry land. The water is reflecting some of the barriers, so I can't make out exactly how it's being held. Once I have the artifact locked and loaded in my mind, I project it out to Dax.
Dax grabs my hand and touches Charlie's arm, and soon we are teleporting to this new world. I'm not sure where we will land, but hopefully we can just grab the artifact and head back within minutes.
When we appear in the water world, my feet sink into knee deep, brown, crusty water. "What the hell?"
I take a look around, and see that there are low hanging trees everywhere and brown, swampy water all around us. It smells bad, and I'm holding in a gag. This isn't what I saw when I pictured the Water Artifact.
"Uh... babe." Charlie turns to me, making a splash. "Where is this artifact?"
"I have no clue." I glance at Dax. "Is that the image you saw when I projected it out?"
He shakes his head no.
Great, that's not what I saw either. We are nowhere near the freaking artifact but, instead, in the middle of a swamp.
6
Crap, I hope we are at least in the right realm. I glance up at the sky and blink twice. “Is that two suns?” Granted, neither one is as bright as the one back home, but together they light up the entire sky.
Charlie lifts his head and gasps. “Holy crap, yeah, it is. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“We’re in a different world. Things aren’t going to be the same.” Dax is glancing around on high alert.
That’s very true. Every world we’ve gone to has been different. For some reason, I expected this one to be more similar. Between all of the water and two suns, I’m not sure there is any land to be found. The water is a similar color and feel, and the trees are the same shade but larger. “Okay, true. But for some reason, that caught me off guard.”
“We need to get out of this water.” Charlie takes a few steps my direction and searches in the water. “There is no telling what’s hidden in here with us.”
Shit, I hadn’t even thought of that. “Well, unless you want to go back, I don’t see a way around it now.”
Dax’s tone is low, and his body tenses. “We need to get out of this and fast. Can you get a read on the artifact so we know which way to head?”
They’re right. I need to focus. “Let me try now.” I close my eyes and try to block out everything around me. Something is throwing us off, and I need to limit my distractions.
The image of the three bubbles pops up in my head, but as soon as it does, it’s reflected multiple times almost like one of those fun house mirrors at an amusement park. I can’t even see the water around it like I did back on Earth. What the hell is going on?
I can’t give up. We’ve got to find this. My time is running out, and this must be the right place. I try to focus on the center image, but the mirror images flash, causing me to break my focus. Dammit, this isn’t going to work. I hate to admit failure, but they need to know. “I can’t get the location. I’m sorry.”
A hand touches my shoulder, and lips press against my forehead. “You’ve done your best. We’ll figure it
