The Chronicles of Mel-Luo (Book One: The Search)

Chapter Twelve (Part One)

"Rowan, what's happening?" I asked, firmer this time, in hopes that he would answer me. He cleared his throat roughly.

"We had to rush our transfer between worlds—that stupid Anatiké was sitting outside her house waiting for her to come back out. When the portal opened, he saw the light, then us, and came running." He said, trying to regain his composure, "We had no choice but to force the portal open and closed." He finished, defeated and out of breath. Oh. That was serious.

Opening and closing a portal was dangerous enough—being in the dead space at all was dangerous enough—but forcing a portal open was deadly. It was a miracle they had survived at all. Doing that was like attempting to land on your feet alive after jumping off a six story building. It also explained why Rowan was so tired. Forcing a portal to open and close took a lot of effort, not to mention guts; I would have thank him profusely later.

But, that wasn't the point right now. If Rowan was worn out after this, I felt bile rise in my throat as I wondered what state Terra was in. I looked over at Rowan, who was very clearly struggling to get his voice to work properly. For good reason, too.

However, I needed to know what had happened. I sent a glance to Rowan, asking for permission. He seemed to already know what I was going to do, because he gave me a nod of approval. I grabbed hold of his shoulder so he could guide me as I worked through his mind.

Focusing the brunt of my thought process on hacking his, I was momentarily relieved that it wouldn't take much effort to enter. He had just left the lock open, and I was able to effortlessly enter his mind. Whisking through his memories, I found what I needed, and held my breath.

Please, please, be okay.

I watched as he entered her room, lifting her up carefully. Then I saw Luke start running towards to house from the window, and all chaos broke loose.

Rowan and the others pushed their physical capabilities to the limit as they forced the portal back open before it closed. Then Rowan—with Terra—ran through, and the others followed.

But before they could try to cross the dead space, they had to somehow get the portal closed faster than was possible. Rowan handed an unconscious Terra to the second guard that accompanied him, wrenching the portal closed with a pained cry.

After nearly losing consciousness, Rowan and the others quickly began to run to the exit portal before it closed, effectively trapping them in between realms. I shuddered. If that had been the case, all four of them would have died, no questions asked. The shadow-steps would have eaten them alive.

The dead space was the only pathway in between realms, and it was incredibly dangerous. The very atmosphere of the dead space itself was toxic to all living beings if engulfed in it long enough.

In preparation for traversing the dangerous pathway, we'd exposed Terra to our air. The air from Alreines was much denser than from Earth. The goal was that she would be exposed to just enough of it that she'd lose consciousness, and therefore breathe less in hopes of her not inhaling as much of the toxin.

So far, she seemed to be doing okay—but it was gravely affecting the others.

The shadow-steps—mysterious things made of shadows and darkness that resided in the dead space—they started to rustle excitedly in the distance. They were growing restless. Hungry.

That was not a good sign. They needed to get out of there, fast.

I felt Rowan's panic as one of the men cried out, losing his grip on Terra as her body and limbs started twitching unnaturally. I blanched.