The Island With No Parallel

Necklace (edited)

But Yunara never thought she'd use them to escape the prince of Ecencia.

She always knew where a parallel point was. It was an instinct that came from running from the Aracs all her life in Crila. The closest one could be found deeper within the garden, near the fountain in the center of the garden maze. They entered the garden maze, the entrance of which flanked by beautiful bushes clipped into shapes of elephants.

As they ran through the maze, they started hearing the footsteps of people following them, running. Cadri tugged on Yunara's arm. "We have to hurry!"

"What's going on, Cadri?" Yunara demanded with seriousness in her voice. What were the Aracs doing in Ecencia? She came here to get away from them! How is it after all these years she found herself right in the middle of them once again? And for what? A pendant? "What's so important about this necklace?"

In their hurry, they had skipped a turn and ended up at a dead end. Hurriedly, they doubled back and turned down the other path.

"We don't have time for me to explain much," the princess started. "But for reasons I can't explain, they need that necklace for a summoning. A big one. They're after the throne."

Then they reached the fountain at the center of the garden, where a beautiful white stone statue of spitting fairies stood.

The footsteps were getting closer. The hedges of the maze were too tall to see their perpetrators, and thankfully, for their perpetrators to see them. The two walked around the fountain and felt the parallel point and the slight headache that went with feeling one in proximity.

They closed their eyes and stepped forward to use the point. Suddenly the world went black, and Yunara's consciousness sank, feeling like she was almost at the point of sleep. She felt like she was drifting, in a world of nonexistence, of not being nor here nor there. Then awareness came back suddenly, like emerging suddenly from underwater, and she opened her eyes, finding herself in a different place altogether.

They were standing on a beach, gentle waves kissing the shore. Where the beach ended was a quaint port town.

"We can't stop," Cadri said, bringing Yunara back into focus. Paralleling always left her fazed for a few moments afterward. "They're going to figure out we used a parallel point once they discover they can't find us."

Yunara looked around. She'd been to this little town before when she explored the parallel points about the castle for cases of emergency like this one. She just didn't think she'd ever have to use one. Then she spotted a familiar landmark.

"There's a parallel point in the bell tower of the cathedral here," she remembered. "It leads to--"

She was interrupted by the sound of people running on the sand behind them. They looked, and Yunara saw the same image that haunted her dreams at night when she was but a little girl. Men in crimson hoods the shade of blood, with masks that came halfway up their faces. A swindly white spider on the mouth of their mask was their insignia. An image that was burned in her mind at a young age, every time she closed her eyes.

Yunara and Cadri had already reached the end of the beach, enabling them to run much faster.

"Hold on!" Cadri shouted suddenly. Grabbing Yunara by her biceps from behind, she started to take flight, Yunara's feet leaving the ground as they climbed in altitude. At first, they were taking off frustratingly slow, but once Cadri had gotten used to the extra weight, she picked up speed quickly, the local humans below totally unaware of their presence. Or if they were, they might have seen birds fighting, or whatever else their minds could accept. Humans were incapable of seeing Caorfians for what they really were. Yunara was only hoping the Aracs wouldn't call on the Dark Ones here on Earth. Or there would certainly be bloodshed, and the humans would have had no idea of what hit them.