Chapter Five

 

The sensation was an odd one. As soon as their feet touched the water, they were sucked immediately downwards, their spinning descent reminiscent of objects caught in a whirlpool’s furious grasp.  The unusual thing was that, even as they were disappearing beneath the water, they remained quite dry. Nyrien did not understand what was happening. In that brief moment caught under the raging river, she felt weightless, sightless and utterly dazed as the blackness drove her further and further down.  However, before she could even get a grasp of what was taking place, it was over.  Suddenly she felt herself breaking through the surface of the water and landing onto the soft loam of its bank. A cold shiver ran through her as she realized that, contrary to seconds ago, she was now wet. There were more thuds as the others landed around her. Nyrien blinked as her eyes adjusted themselves to the dazzling sunlight. Wait a moment. Sunlight? Why is it daytime? Nyrien wondered to herself.

   “You all right?” She heard a voice next to her and saw Rakahn looking at her with dazed concern. Apparently his head was still swimming from being whirled under the river.  Nyrien nodded and looked over her shoulder.  The others looked like they were coming to. She went back to her thoughts.  Why was it daylight? Was it not dark the last time she checked? With this thought came a series of other realizations.

Where were their pursuers? Why did the forest look so different? Why was it daytime? What had happened?                              

As if echoing her thoughts, she heard the others speak,   

"What is this? Why is there sunlight"

"Where are the dragon and the guard?"

"Where are we?"

"What's going on?"

"Um, where's Baldwin?"                                             

At this, Nyrien's head spun and she gazed around her.  Sure enough, there was Tess, Shannon and Rapid, but Baldwin was notably missing.  Her mind suddenly graduated to a new level of confusion.  Had she not seen him there before? She was sure that he had been behind her a moment ago when she looked over her shoulder. Or had he? Was she going crazy?  She sat up and tried to assess the situation.  So far, she had come to one definite conclusion-they were in a different place. The river was no longer the dangerously raging rapid from seconds ago.  The ominous west bank was no longer an obscured uncertainty but now revealed rows of sparsely covered trees and lonely-looking shrubbery that continued on to some unknown territory. Apparently it almost noon, given the startling brightness of the overhead sun. Also they were clearly no longer being pursued. In fact, it seemed as if the Darkwerians had disappeared entirely; the chaotic sounds that had been signaling the end of life as Nyrien knew it, were no longer ringing through the air behind her. That horribly sinking feeling she had just moments ago was slowly evaporating. None of it made any sense, however. She struggled for some sense of redeeming logic to free her from this confusion. She found none.

   “Did you see him?” someone interrupted Nyrien’s thoughts.  She turned to see Tess’ concerned amethyst eyes peering out from beneath her damply disheveled locks. Nyrien shook her head and put her ponderings aside to focus on the matter at hand.  She let Rakahn help her up as everyone began to make themselves useful in the search for their comrade.  Shannon had already started to pace the western end of the bank and Tess was eyeing the range of trees behind them, seeking one that would offer her the best view, were she to climb it. Rapid was offering to race along the river itself but Tess, upon hearing this offer, spun quickly to face her brother and expressly forbade him to go anywhere near the water.  There was something in her voice that went beyond protective instinct; it was almost as if she knew something the others didn’t. Rapid, however, returned a stubborn look and turned towards the river. Tess raced forward.             

  “Do you think I want to lose you too? You don’t know what will happen if you touch that water!"                                                                                                                      “I can go much quicker this way! The water is much easier to run along than the banks.”

 “Not happening.”                                       Rapid was about to retort when the river behind him began to ripple slowly. The large ripples soon ceased their motion outward and began to spin in a clockwise direction, rapidly increasing in speed until there was a sudden denting of the river, as a gaping hole formed in the middle of the waters, giving the impression that the river was opening its mouth to swallow something. Instead, there was a rushing sound and a figure suddenly sprang out from the depths and landed roughly on the loam near to Nyrien and Rakahn.  Naturally, the two cautiously sprang back in case of a new threat. However, as the figure gained awareness of its surroundings and slowly rose, there was a collective gasp from the group. Standing before them, pulling the dripping wavy-brown hair from his eyes and squinting in the daylight was Nigel Greene.

   “Nigel?” Nyrien whispered in disbelief.    

   “Nyri?” Nigel replied, his handsome face registering equal astonishment.

   “This is getting weirder by the second,” Rapid shook his head.

Everyone wore expressions of shock, except Shannon, who was just now returning from scouting the bank. She took in the odd scene and lifted a quizzical brow.

   “What’s going on?” she inquired, taking in Nigel’s appearance and his expression, which was now half-mingled with surprise and curiosity. Quickly recovering from the shock of the moment, Tess stepped forward, all business.

   “Shannon, this is Nigel Greene. He’s the tech that we sent into hiding from the Darkwarans.”

Shannon nodded, shifting her gaze back to Nigel, “Oh, that’s right. I’ve been told a bit about you. Weren’t you the one who miraculously restored and re-edited the entire Xilston database a few years ago?” 

Nigel, also apparently over the initial shock, had already begun to revert to his flirtatiously charming self; his clear brown eyes were twinkling with intrigue, his pouting lips upturned in a smile.

   “Well I merely assisted, love,” he intoned the would-be modesty with his suave British accent.

   “I know it was a solo-effort Mr. Greene. And I wasn’t saying I was impressed,” Shannon replied pleasantly with her Irish chirp.

Already some technical rivalry seemed to have sprouted between the two.  For the moment, Shannon was the less welcoming party, having been bombarded with Nigel’s brilliance from the moment of her induction into F.A.B.L.E. Now, she felt even more inclined to prove herself. His presence introduced somewhat of a competitive factor to the equation and Shannon relished the thought of outperforming the famous Nigel Greene. Given the present circumstances, however, there was hardly the opportunity to do so. Wit was her only ally.

   “Well, clearly you are familiar with me, or at least my accomplishments. But I am yet to discover who you are, lovely.” Nigel replied to Shannon’s subtle curtness with somewhat of a smirk.

Shannon extended her arm with an air of formality, “Shannon Lafferty. A.P.C.O. Equipment and Intelligence division.  More casually known as Baldwin’s cousin.”

A line of worry formed between Tess’ impeccably shaped eyebrows at the mention of Baldwin.  They had still made no progress in finding him.

   “Lafferty…as in the Lafferty who broke the code on HexaCorp’s hardcore security system?” Nigel’s tone was casual, but Nyrien could tell he was battling hard against sounding impressed.

   Shannon was not the person to boast, however. She merely nodded and echoed Nigel’s own mock-modesty, “It took me ages.”

   “Seventeen minutes, to be precise? I’m sure the grass grew about an inch.”

  Tess saw the potential for the conversation to last beyond introductions and expediently decided to cut it short. 

  “We chose Shannon to step in for you,” she said, turning to Nigel, “she helped us in recapturing the Diamond, but that’s not the issue here. Right now I’d like to hear how on earth you found this place. And then you can help us look for Baldwin, who seems to have disappeared completely.”

Nigel removed the sodden denim jacket he had been wearing over his vintage shirt, (unusual attire compared to his customary slacks and business shirt) and made a makeshift seat of them on the ground.  The others likewise took their seats, forming a semi-circle around him. 

  “It was a dark and stormy night…” Nigel began, grinning.

Nyrien and Rapid snickered. Tess rolled her eyes.

Nigel’s face quickly adopted a serious expression however, and he cut to the chase.

He promptly explained that he had been discovered earlier that night (“Well, it was night last time I checked,”) and was being held captive while the Diamond recapture operation was taking place.  When the Darkwaran authorities learned that the Diamond had once again been stolen, they immediately set to pursuit, hauling Nigel along with them to serve as leverage. 

   “So you saw us?  You were there when that blasted dragon came after us?” Rakahn inquired, curiosity piqued.                                                              Nigel nodded.  

   “I saw when your car blew up too. For a second I thought you all had…..anyway I knew you’d survived when they started shooting towards the river,” he replied.

   “How’d you get away?” Nyrien asked with a curiosity equal to Rakahn’s.

   “Well, shortly after you lot disappeared, the Darwkarans started to fire random shots everywhere around the river.  Now don’t ask me how this happened, but one of the shots managed to find its way to the underside of the dragon. And…well, after that everything started to get a bit chaotic. Between the pillars of fire everywhere and the running and the screaming, I managed to escape.” 

   “But how did you end up in the river?” Tess pressed, “Or did you even get here via the river?”

  “Well that blighter Sir whats-his-face Breregahr nearly got me. Came after me like something possessed.”

There was a pause while everyone remembered the truculent Darkwaran knight from the first Diamond operation. His flaming red hair, wild eyes and eerily cruel laugh were features not very easily forgotten.

  “Anyway my only chance was to make a jump for it or get gutted by that damned lance of his.” Nigel concluded.

  “And now you’re here,” Rapid added rather lamely.

  “So I am. Where are we though? What’s happened?”

 

   “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Tess said solemnly, rising, “but whatever’s happened, Baldwin isn’t with us and we need to find him.  Let’s get moving.”

 

********

 

It was awkward going.  No one knew what this strange new territory was.  There was no frame of reference. Everything was odd. The air smelled different, cleaner somehow. Everything looked different: as if they were perceiving the surroundings as ones would in a dream - although the place was real enough, nothing seemed fully defined. Was it possible that they were in fact dreaming? Maybe they had all perished when they plunged into the perilous rapids of the river? No, it couldn’t be so. Despite the ethereal feel of the atmosphere, reality provided somewhat of a redeeming presence �" like a bit of block that stops the door from going all the way in.

Soon, many hours had passed and Baldwin was still nowhere to be found.  Strangely however, the passing of these hours seemed to have hardly had any effect on the day. In fact, the sun was still high in the sky by the time the party chose to rest in a dense clump of bushes, a few miles into the forest. Rakahn dropped onto the soft earth, exhausted. Nyrien soon joined him, cushioning her back against his side and releasing a weary sigh.  Shannon was slowly pacing, her hands on her slender hips. Nigel sat on one of the thick brown roots of the towering tree above them, staring off into the distance. Rapid sat a few feet away, making marks in the ground with a fallen branch.  Tess was leaning against the tree, arms folded, her lengthy violet hair pulled up , a pensive expression on her face. Looking at her, Nyrien thought that had she not known better, she would have mistaken Tess for a statue. The latter had not uttered a single word in the past half an hour. For a moment, Nyrien was reminded of how grim Baldwin had been when he had been worried about Tess. Now the roles had been reversed.  Tess allowed herself a small sigh before she unfolded her arms and slid down to the roots of the tree.

   “It’s okay Tess, I’m sure he’s fine, wherever he is…” Nyrien said comfortingly. Tess looked across at her and attempted a half-hearted smile, “Oh, I know that, but there’s a lot more that’s troubling me at this point.”

  “Like what?”

   “Don’t worry about it.  The sooner we find out where we are and what’s happening, the better. Right now we should probably get some rest.  It should be nearing dusk by now,” Tess replied peering up through the branches overhead to see a few rays of the afternoon sun piercing through the canopy.

   “Certainly doesn’t look like it,” Nigel observed, following Tess’ gaze.

   “Mmm,” was all Tess could say in reply.

   “Well, I know I for one am exhausted,” Rakahn said, stretching both arms out in front of him.

“Rakahn!” Nyrien said reproachfully, digging her elbows into his ribs.

“Ouch!”

“Tess it’s okay, we can keep looking if you want,” Nyrien’s tone was sympathetic.

“No Nyri, we’ve been searching for hours. It’s best we take a break and regain a little strength. Two hours. I’ll keep watch.” Tess’ expression was firm.

“I’ll keep watch with you,” Nyrien resolved, rising and stretching.

“Nyr---,”

“I’ll keep watch with you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Fine, if you insist,” there was almost an edge in Tess’ voice. Nyrien wasn’t surprised. Tess had always been the strong, independent type. She despised pity, and certainly wasn’t about to let her distress get the better of her.

“Tess…,” Rapid began, his gray eyes full of concern for his sister.

“Get some rest, Pip,” Tess’ tone was final.

“Alright,” he shrugged in resignation, knowing better than to press the issue. Rakahn, Nigel and Shannon had quietly already begun to make themselves as comfortable as possible on whatever flat surfaces they could find on the root-strewn earth.

The combination of weariness and not being in a very talkative mood made it easy for everyone to slip into a light slumber, with the exception of Tess and Nyrien. They sat together at the base of one of the trees, gazing silently at their surroundings. Again, Nyrien couldn't help but notice how richly textured everything seemed. Thinking back to her photography days, she mentally likened the new territory to an edited form of the regular images she was accustomed to - the contrast had been lowered, but the saturation and brightness had increased. She smiled to herself as with the memory of her photography phase came Rakahn's jest;
"So…is it that you’re really into this thing, or you just want a legitimate reason to stalk people?"

Her smile widened as she remembered exactly the response she delivered to his poor, unsuspecting frame.
Then, quite suddenly, she remembered something else.
"Tess?" she broke the silence casually, picking up a lengthy twig and, like Rapid had done earlier, began drawing formless shapes in the ground.
"Yes?" the tension had gone from Tess' voice. She sounded more tired than anything now. Glancing over at her, Nyrien saw that she was leaning her head back against the trunk of the tree, her eyes closed as if in contemplation.
"Nothing," Nyrien mentally kicked herself for almost brining it up in the first place.

"You sure?" Tess opened her eyes and looked at her.
"Yea, I mean, I was just going to tell you that I'm sure Baldwin's okay" Nyrien lied, knowing Baldwin had nothing to do with it.
Tess smiled, "You said that already."
"Oh," Nyrien coloured, "well I figured I'd go for a little emphasis." she stuck her tongue out playfully. Inside however, she was slightly mortified. Luckily, Tess didn't   seem to notice.
"Like I said, Nyri, I know he can handle himself, it's just..." she hesitated.
"Just what?" Nyrien pried.
For a moment, she thought Tess was going to change the subject as she herself had just done. Instead, Tess studied Nyrien carefully, before releasing a small sigh and opening her mouth to speak. Apparently she'd resolved to indeed tell Nyrien what was on her mind.
 But she  never got the chance to.

Just then, the earth suddenly gave a tremendous shudder, jolting Rakahn, Shannon, Nigel and Rapid out of their sleep.

“What the…”

The earth lurched again, this time more violently. Nyrien crashed into Tess, sending the latter face-first into the ground.

“Earthquake?” said Shannon, shakily getting to her feet.

But the ground did not shift again. In fact, if it were possible, everything seemed even stiller than before. A heavy silence took over the atmosphere, rigid and menacing. Nyrien almost felt as if she were suffocating.

For some reason, no one dared break the eerie silence. They all just stood there, tense and alert in the event that something else was coming. They didn’t have to wait long.

A sharp crack sounded through the air, and every gaze immediately shifted skyward, searching for the source. A few gasps escaped as they took in the scene above them;  It wasn’t lightning they had just heard - something unusual was happening in the sky.  A tendril of darkness had formed where the sun had previously been, and before they could make any sense of this strange new phenomenon, the darkness began spreading at an alarming rate, the smooth blackness of it coursing through the sky like ink on a canvas, until day had been completely erased and night had solidly taken its place. It was an eerie sort of night �" there were no stars �" only an unnaturally large and foreboding full moon. The ominous silence was back; it seemed to mute what would have been the usual steady chirp and rustle of nightlife. They all turned to look at each other, their faces bathed in the haunting glow of the moon.

   “What just happened?” Shannon whispered.

   “I’m not sure, but something isn’t right…” Rakahn peered round the edge of the tree cautiously. He snapped back suddenly, eyes wide.  He quietly motioned for the others to move slowly toward him.  When they were all huddled together, he whispered very low, “There’s something out there, and I think it’s watching us.”

As if to confirm Rakahn’s statement, an unearthly howl pierced the silence, sending startled shivers through everyone in the group.

 Nyrien, who had felt a trace of anxiety the moment the sky began to darken, now stood frozen with fear, her hand tightly grasping Rakahn’s sleeve.  Never before had she heard anything so chilling. And she didn’t scare easily.

   “Okay, so plan A?” Nigel whispered to no one in particular.

 Another howl shot through the night, this time unsettlingly close and from a different direction than the first.

   “There’s another one?” Rapid’s grey eyes shone with uncertain anxiety.

 As the words left his lips, a series of howls erupted, followed by a distant rustling of brush that could only mean that the creatures were headed towards them.  There were also rushing noises, like a fierce wind, accompanying the swift movement of the beasts and soon, five fearsome shapes could be seen racing across the clearing, just a few hundred feet from where the group stood, temporarily stunned. Visibility was clear in the opening, allowing them to see what was coming after them; it wasn’t necessarily a heartening sight. Silver moonlight glistening off their stock straight fur, the beasts were massive; at least seven feet high. The heads looked like some sort of grotesque wolf-bear hybrid, bodies muscular and almost human-like, if it hadn’t been for the dense fur and spiked tails whipping behind them. They also had vast wings but for some reason they weren’t using them; two were running upright, the others on all fours. All heading straight for the group.

   “Run!” Tess commanded everyone urgently.

They didn’t need telling twice.  Muscles working furiously, they hurtled through the forest, Rapid leading the group, followed by Shannon, Nigel, Rakahn, Nyrien and Tess. But they weren’t going fast enough. A tumult of crashing brush behind them told them that these things, whatever they were, were quickly gaining. It would only be a matter of time before they caught up. Jumping, weaving, sprinting, panting, no one looked back. The forest around them began to thin, and soon another clearing was visible in the distance. The beasts were practically on their heels now. And then, quite suddenly, they weren’t anymore. The sounds of pursuit had vanished. At this, everyone began slowing. When they realized they were no longer being chased, they stopped altogether, Rakahn and Nigel bent over, panting, Shannon clutching a stitch in her side. Rapid simply stood there, looking bewildered. Nyrien crashed into Tess once more, the latter having stopped abruptly.

There were two seconds of tense silence and then---

   “What…in the name of all things unholy…just…happened!” Nigel managed to gasp. He collapsed to the ground exaggeratedly, clutching the sides of his head. It seemed the shock of still being alive had significantly addled his faculties.

   “Get up, Nigel,” Tess said distractedly. She had an odd expression on her face �" dazed almost, but also contemplative.

   “Whyyy couldn’t this have been just a simple mission?” Rakahn was complaining, “Being shot at, I can handle. Vengeful Emperors, lunatic knights, vicious weirdos with strange powers, heck I’d even take the stupid dragon over this right now. Ever since…”

   “Where’d they go?” Rapid whispered nervously while Rakahn continued. Nyrien was wondering the same thing. Where had the beasts gone?

   “I don’t know…,” Tess’ brow was furrowed with concentration now.                         “…and we still have no idea where we are and how we’re going to get home…,”

  “What if they come back? We should get moving,” Shannon seemed relatively unsettled as well.

Tess didn’t answer, still deep in thought.

   “….no weapons, no frame of reference, and I ---,”

   “Rakahn, will you shut up!” Shannon hissed.

Surprisingly, he did just that, cheeks flushing. Nyrien knew he hadn’t meant to be so boorish �" he, like Nigel, was probably just rambling out of sheer shock.

   “Sorry,” he said, “it’s just--,”

   “No…” Tess said quietly.

Nyrien turned at this and saw that some horrible realization must have dawned on Tess, as the latter’s face blanched, eyes widening fearfully. Nyrien had never seen that look on Tess’s face before. Ever.

   “Tess?”

   “Run,” she whispered, eyes staring, unfocused.

   “Are you o--,”

   “RUN!” She snapped out of her trance, and even as she did so the air began rushing furiously again, as it had done when the beasts were crossing the clearing. The beasts weren’t back yet however; Nyrien could tell from the look on Tess’ face that this was something else.

   “Go!” Tess yelled, and she was suddenly wrenched high into the air, legs thrashing as she went.

   “Tess!” Rapid cried, rushing forward.

   “Don’t worry about me, get out of here!” Tess insisted, struggling against some unseen force. Turning her head, eyes wild with urgency, she screamed, “Nyrien! Listen to me, whatever you do, don’t let them catch you, don’t let them--,” but then she was gone. It was like she had been sucked into the air itself.

   “TESS!” Rakahn bellowed frantically.

But at that exact moment the howls returned, and they were forced to flee once more. They never got far, however. Up ahead, Nyrien heard Rapid scream and saw him get snatched into the air just as Tess had been moments prior. Shannon’s scream soon joined his as she too was caught.

Then they both vanished, and Nyrien, Rakahn and Nigel were left running for their lives; the wolverine creatures were once again on their heels. Sparing a quick look behind her, Nyrien could see their large shadows hurtling towards her and her companions, merely tens of feet away.

   This is it, she thought as she fled, this is what I get for---

And then she was falling. Falling into blackness, as Rakahn and Nigel’s screams sounded above, distant and terrified; screams suddenly cut short as Nyrien landed with a smack on some flat, solid surface, knocking the side of her head with force. The darkness intensified, and she knew no more.

 

***end of chapter***