The Key to the Warriors (completed)

Chapter 57

57

Epilogue:

Zak

I woke with a raging headache to the sudden recollection of all that happened. Zyirah, the baby, someone knocking me cold... I scrambled to my feet, one hand braced against the aching bruise on my face, the other on the stone wall, keeping myself steady until the room stopped spinning. When I could see straight, I stumbled from the room and out of the sleeping dome, where I froze.

Everything was ruined, but the world looked different aside from it. It was faded, like an old photograph, and I walked slowly forward as my eyes scanned the battlefield. When they fell on Charlie across the way, my breath caught. He had his side to me, but even without a direct view, I could see the absolute saturation of blood that covered him. He was holding Zyirah across his lap, who was bloodied and unmoving, his daughter in his arms as he cried.

An egg caught in my throat as I tried to run to him, but it was as though I were running through deep water. The ground beneath me had become fluid, the air too thick and heavy, and when I cried out his name, my voice was rendered silent. Staring wide-eyed, I watched as he fell, and in the split second that followed, the world around me vanished. I stood in a sea of black, surrounded by a vibrant colored mist that floated aimlessly around me, then suddenly shot into the air, where it suspended above my head. I was knocked off my feet as Warrior Hold ceased to be and fell as it all went black.

There was a bright sun shining overhead when I woke again. Cracking my eyes open, I stared up at the slow moving clouds, confusion flooding through me as I realized I was outside. Jerking upright, I flinched at the pain that flared through my head and pressed a hand over my throbbing nose. I couldn't believe that bastard had sucker punched me in the face.

Then it occurred to me that I was no longer in Warrior Hold. I was in the real world, and I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there or what had happened before. Looking to my left, I saw my mom on the grass beside me. She was sprawled on her stomach, her eyes closed, and I scrambled up to lean over her. I was hesitant to touch her but let out a breath of relief when I gently laid my hands on her shoulders and didn't pass out. I turned her over, inspecting for wounds, but aside from a small lump near her right temple, she seemed okay.

"Mom? Mom, wake up."

She came awake slowly, then gasped as she sat up, her hand pressed to her head with a wince. "Zak? Where are we? Where's Charlie?"

"I don't know, but look," I gestured to our house in the distance. "We're back in our world."

"What happened? How did we get out?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

"Well, how we do we get back in?"

"I don't know that either. I don't have the glasses or the key." I raised my hand to where the wall should be right behind me, but I couldn't see it or feel it. It was as though it wasn't there at all.

"What do you remember?" Mom asked as she climbed to her feet. She extended a hand to pull me up as I shrugged.

"Not much after Agero socked me in the face, and you put him to sleep."

She nodded. "Did you see Charlie at all?"

I nodded. "I have flashes of memory of him coming to check on me while I was out, but I'm not sure. It's all fuzzy..."

"Did he look okay?"

I shrugged. "It's pretty foggy. Think he was bleeding though."

"Oh God, Zak, what if he's still inside fighting? What if he's hurt? We have no way to get to him."