Jamie stood up, “High Master – in that case – I would also like to participate in the Elemental Trials.”
“Mr. Thiessen,” Marcus replied mockingly with a hungry, wolfish smile. “You are the correct age and therefore I cannot stop you. But do you realize what you are asking here? Our Trial participants have been training solidly for the last year while you propose to enter with less than a month’s preparation. Do you really think that’s advisable? The Trials are a dangerous thing.”
“But High Master – you’re expecting Allyra to enter with even less preparation. I think I’ll be ok.” Jamie replied innocently.
Marcus waved his hand as if wearied by the entire proceedings. “Very well Mr. Thiessen – you shall be in the Elemental Trials. You will join the rest of our Trial participants directly after the close of these proceedings.” He turned to his assistant, “Jason – please make sure that Mr. Thiessen finds his way.”
Marcus looked around at his fellow Council members. “If there is nothing else…”
High Master Radebe cleared his throat, “I’m sorry High Master, I just have a final word of warning for Mr. Thiessen.”
Marcus nodded, barely avoiding rolling his eyes.
“James – you might be happy that this Council voted to spare Allyra’s life today. Perhaps we did it because we weren’t brave enough to live with the taint of her blood on our hands. But I want you to understand that our decision may not be the kindest one. Time moves differently in the Between. A month here may be a day, a week, three months or even years to her. Even if she makes it back, the girl that returns may not be the one you lost.”
Chapter 8 – Allyra
Allyra was dreaming. It was familiar – a nightmare she’d lived through every night since her father’s death…
She can feel his fingers on the back of her neck, urgent and tangled in her hair. She closes her eyes as he pulls her into a kiss. There is a familiarity to the kiss – it isn’t the first kiss she’s shared with him.
She knows the shape of his lips and the way they move lightly over hers. She can taste the desperation on his tongue and there is an answering yearning in her, burning through her like wildfire, threatening to consume her completely.
The emotion is so powerful she doesn’t recognize it in herself. It isn’t something she understands – love should be a steady candle flame rather than the wildfire raging through her.
The kiss ends, and she feels disorientated, lightheaded, her heart racing. He doesn’t pull away – instead he lowers his lips onto her collarbone, his lips tracing her erratic heartbeat.
Finally he whispers a single word into her ear, “Please.”
In that solitary word he imparts infinite desire and longing, and she wants nothing more than to stay with him, willing to lose herself to him.
But there’s something stopping her, something she knows she needs to do. She has to leave him and it threatens to tear her apart. If she doesn’t leave now, she knows that she might not leave at all. So she wrenches herself away, unable to meet his eyes. Instead she turns abruptly and opens her eyes to mountains jagged with dragons’ teeth.
The world is on fire.
She screams.
Allyra jolted awake – she could still taste the scream in her mouth and smell the smoke in the air. She sat up, taking deep, even breathes to calm herself. How long had she been asleep?
The pale grey light hadn’t changed and she wiped a still weary hand across her eyes to help them adjust to the dim light. Alex was standing at the cave entrance, watching her with a strange intensity. But he turned away from her just as their eyes met.
“I’m sorry,” she said, not sure if she’d screamed out loud. Jamie could sleep through a nuclear explosion, so she’d never figured out if her screams ever spilt over from her dreams.
“We need to get going.” He said quietly, “We have a long way to go.”
She nodded and moved slowly to join him, grateful that he chose not to question her further.
Every muscle ached and every joint creaked – she felt fifty years older. The idea of running was enough to make her want to curl up into a ball and wish for death. But her intense pride meant she refused to complain, and refused to show him any more weakness.
Once out of the cave she stood to her full height and stretched, grimacing as various joints popped loudly. They were standing under the shadow of the jagged peaks in her dreams and the Walking Forest swayed silently only a few hundred meters away.
“Are you ready?” He asked and seeing her nod, he moved forward with a long, swinging stride, a walk – not a run. “We had a long day yesterday, so while we do have quite a distance to cover, we can do it at a more leisurely pace.”
She nodded again. It was kind of him to include himself in the ‘we’, but the truth of it was: despite the deep gouge he’d suffered and apparently not sleeping, he looked fresh and strong. Ready to run for the whole day if necessary. She, on the other hand felt like the walking dead, and probably looked it too.
They walked in silence for the next few hours, following the line of the mountain range. She tried to keep landmarks clear in her mind. Despite Alex’s assurances of getting her home safely, she wasn’t sure she trusted him and wanted to be sure that she could find her way back to the Baobab.
After a brutal initial pain,
