Realms Beyond

Running from Darkness

The path ahead was long and stretched far in each direction. The quiet music of the woods surrounded us. I could feel the pull of our next destination, almost as strong as the pull of gravity. My body wanted to steer off path.

"Here Myre, we have to stop here for a bit," I told my little sister, who had grown considerably quick in this new realm. Faster than me. It was weird, I felt at home here. All the pains and problems I had to face back home had vanished the instant we entered this realm, and my powers had flared up like never before. Myre remained powerless, just a human. Yet she grew quicker and stronger here. Perhaps that was from exposure to me. Using my powers in the vicinity of nature made it flourish.

Either way, I was glad we were here, away from home, but more at home than before. I don't think Myre felt that way. In this new realm we were always hunted, always chased. Or at least I was, she was just stubborn enough not to desert me. I wished she would return home. I could send her there, but she stubbornly refused. I even asked her to settle down in this realm occasionally, but she said she had no life here but with me. I wished that wasn't the case. Being near me was to dangerous.

"Why must we stop, Syrina?"

"You'll see," I said cryptically. She would never agree if she knew how dangerous this simple task was, and who was close to finding us. He would find us too. There was no way I could remain hidden and still complete this task. It may just take all my energy any way, and I save him the job of killing me.

My heart clenched at that thought. If I was dead Myre was stuck here. There was only one person with the ability to kill me. He was drawing closer with every breath. The fear of facing him was slowly engulfing me.

I pushed us through the small bushes that hid this spot from the path. There was a pool here, human-made, full to the brim with algae and nothing else. Perched on the edge were three animals, all looking dead as they lay there. One, a little bouncing mammal, almost like the kangaroos we found at home, but with poison darts on the largest toe of each foot and sharp fangs for front incisors. This one was missing a leg, and with only one left it wasn't going anywhere fast. The second was a small mammal, a herbivore, and it lay there looking all but dead. I could see no problem with it, yet when I used my powers I could sense the burning in its brain. The third was an infant, a tiny horse-like creature with predatory eyes on the front of it' head and feathered wings sprouting from its back. It looked as much dead as the other, but I could sense its life.

I stepped towards the pool, so green its depths were hidden to me, yet I could see the silver being swirling and spiraling in the shallow water. I pitied her, for she was almost the size of the pool, and surely needed more room than that. Yet she was growing nearer to the surface, ready to strike. Just before she became visible I held my hands out in surrender.

"I can help you," I promised the water. Myre stepped away from the edge, thankfully, and I felt the silver monster pause in her upwards paddle.

"How can a simple being such as you help me?" The monster asked, speaking directly to my mind. Encouraged by her voice in my head, I answered by sending an image straight to hers. She remained perfectly still as she studied it. Then she snapped it like a stick.

"There's no way you are capable of that, little human."

I tilted my head, smiling in challenge. Then I sat at the edge of the water, legs tucked and crossed, hands resting on knees, palms pointing up at the sky. Back at home I used to be teased for sitting like this. But with my back straight and my hands tingling, I knew that the meditation techniques my mother had taught me were important. As I sat there, I cleared my head. Every breath in, I brought in my surroundings, the smell of the rank green water and the tiny mosquitos that perched on its still surface, the trees all around, Myre behind me.