Crusade Across Worlds (2 page)

It can be done.

I know.

You overthink. You hesitate.

“Well… they’re scary.”

I dust my knees off as one of the Princesses
appears. She’s naked, like usual, with only long shimmering hair to
cover her smooth, flawless body. She blinks her glass eyes at me.
Fear is an illusion
.

Oh I think it’s pretty real.

You must conquer all five Horrops. You
must do this before you can return to Nerwolix
.

I sigh.

I’ve been told this since I first arrived,
before I had a chance to breathe in the dry Arosin air. It took me
pretty off guard. I was never told I had to complete something
before I returned. I was told three months. Three months and I’m
back. And from my first week here, it’s been ‘you must pass this
test before you can return.’ And next week will be the three-month
mark.

I have to do this.

You have completed the test before. You can
complete it again.

Uh-huh
, I drag the blindfold behind
my neck and wipe the moisture under my hair. I want to ask what
that means, but instead I head for the underground cavern where
I’ve made my home for the past eleven weeks. It’s not so much a
cave as the lower levels of the planet’s dry interior. Like an ant
farm, it has slanted layers of rust-colored rock that leads lower
and lower to the black depths of the canyons hiding beneath. There
are openings leading in from all over Arosin’s desert, but I tend
to use the same one. Situated between two boulders, the ground dips
and eventually, disappears into darkness. I walk through, Reid’s
Callix lighting the entry as it always does.

At least it’s not as hot underground.

Wiping my forehead, I stop at the small pool
encased in a rock tub. I splash some water on my face and it cools
me down. A little. It never cools me down as much as I’d like
because even the water here is warm. This planet is just way too
hot. It normally doesn’t bother me, but after each morning’s combat
training—and especially after these weekly tests—an ice-cold bottle
of water would really hit the spot. The rest of the time it’s okay.
I work on developing my telepathy, studying the history of the
Three Worlds and learning the art of healing, meditation and
prayer. All my lessons are supposed to help me conquer the five
Horrops. But every time I get out there I’ve failed. I’ve managed
to slay three of the creatures eleven times. Never five.

You must use all the knowledge you have
been given,
says one of the goddesses as she stands in front of
me
.

I am
, I whip off the soaked baseball
tee and toss it into another pool.

You are not. You are merely thinking of
survival.

What else am I supposed to be thinking
off?
I kick off my shoes one by one. Pulling off my socks, I
strip down and toss all garments into the tub with my shirt.
Walking past the princess, I head for the largest pool behind her
and dip a toe in the water. It feels good. Stepping all the way in,
I submerge completely.

You are still too selfish. You think of
yourself, of survival only. This will be your downfall.

I reemerge. “It’s human instinct.”

But you are not only human. You are also a
child of the first. You must learn what it means to rise above
basic instinct and find the higher purpose. It is not about
survival. It is about using the Way, about finding the connection
in all things.

“How?”

That is what you must learn.

“Then tell me.”

It is not something we can tell. It is a
belief, a way of thinking. You will know when you are ready.

“Shouldn’t I be ready by now?”

Silence.

“That’s not comforting.” I sink back into
the water. The liquid sensation hits my face, washing away the
leathered tension.

There is still a week
, her voice
rings in my head.
The Mother requires your attendance for three
months.

I don’t know what I’m going to learn in the
final week that I haven’t learned yet.

There is still the Great Reveal.

I reemerge. “What reveal?”

The truth you learn in your final week. It
may help you overcome the difficulties you have experienced thus
far.

I wipe the water from my eyes. “What is
it?”

It is not time you know.

“Well maybe that’s what I need to defeat the
Horrops. If you tell me now, I could go out and try again and—”

It is not time for you to know. You will
learn in a few days.

I sink back into the water. “Fine, we’ll
keep to the syllabus. You’ll tell me the big reveal when it’s time
and I’ll head back to Nerwolix after I defeat the Horrops.”

That is how it is done
, one says.

That is how it has been done
, another
adds.

That is how it will continue to be
done
, the third agrees.

“Wait,” I sit up, splashing water around me
again. “So if I’m not supposed to know until the end, what was the
point of the last eleven weeks? If you knew I was going to fail all
those times.”

Success cannot exist without failure. You
needed to fail to understand how to succeed.

I tap my fingers along the edge of the rock
wall. “Just to make sure I have this right—I had to fail eleven
times to get the one success I need, which will supposedly occur
next week, when you reveal this great secret?”

That is correct, Fallon.

“Got it.”

It is how it has always been done.

And will always be done
, another
says.

I nod, even though I’m not sure what that
means. I’ve asked several times but they never give me a straight
answer. Is it something they do—training people for twelve weeks by
request of the Mother? The way they make it sound is that it’s
me—that
I’ve
come here before, like this has all already
happened. But I don’t remember this place. I’d remember being here
and away from everyone. Being separated from Reid.

I’d remember that.

You are excited to leave
, one of the
princesses says.

“I am.”

You must not be focused on leaving. You
must concentrate your efforts on being here. On learning what you
must
.

Every time my thoughts drift to Nerwolix,
they scold me for not being present. I do my best to pay attention,
to absorb everything they’re teaching me, but it’s tough. I think
of the others often. I can’t help it. “I’m just excited to—”

Reunite with those you love? Yes, we are
aware. And that will occur soon. But you are still here now and
there is much yet you need to learn. Much yet to discover.

Moving to a stand, I climb out of the pool
and past the three princesses, water dripping down my body. “I’ll
stay more focused. I promise.”

It is for your own good
, they follow
behind me.

It is for the good of the Three
Worlds
, another says.

“You still haven’t told me why,” I ring out
my dark curls. “You’ve only told me I’ll play a crucial part in the
war, but you haven’t told me what it is. How can I train if you
won’t tell me? There’s only one week left.”

You will know when you are ready.

“Right,” I continue down the warm path,
which slants to a lower level. “I trust you. I just figured if you
told me early, I might have more time to prepare.”

You will know when you are ready, another
repeats
.

I bite my lip, keeping the comment to
myself. I understand they’re trying to guide me—I do. And I know
this doesn’t ever happen—the Lost Princesses rarely offer training
and guidance like this. Even Clarence referred to it as being taken
under the wing of an angel. I know I’m lucky to even be here, but
sometimes I wish I could just get a straight answer.

Stopping, I spin and find all three behind
me. “Is it alright if I take a quick nap? The test wore me out a
little.”

Of course, but please be downstairs at
the routine time. We have another history lesson
.

“Mybyncia?”

Mybyncians on Nerwolix. It is an important
one, so do not be late. We can send Maddox to awaken you, if you
would like.

“Thanks.”

I follow the slanted ground toward my
temporary abode. When I first arrived, the princesses let me pick
where I wanted to live for the duration of my stay. Everything is
pretty much the same down here—endless layers of sleek red clay
that in some areas bubble with different pools I use for washing
and drinking. Babeebs, the circular glowing orbs, cling to the dark
ceiling, living off the cave-dwelling bugs and casting a
golden-crimson glow against the rust-colored walls. I walked a far
distance my first day before selecting an alcove that offered the
tiniest bit of seclusion. The ground also forms a partial enclosure
which works fine as a bed. It’s not the most comfortable thing, but
it’s not supposed to be. I’m not here on vacation.

This is training.

Training for war.

Normally I’m clothed when I lay down, but
I’m too exhausted to care. The sparse bits of yellow fauna will
have to do. I’ve layered it across the bed; while mostly just
handfuls of moss that I’ve managed to scour in my free time, the
shallow vegetation is better than nothing. I climb onto its layered
cushion and nestle myself in. Bunching my hair behind my head, I
use it as a make-shift pillow and lay back. Closing my eyes, I
summon his.

They appear above me, dark and deep.

Fire sprouts in the pit of my stomach. I
tremble at the memory, at Reid moving up my neck, tickling the soft
skin with his lips. It’s like he’s actually here, actually touching
me. I sink into the scene, drowning in every delicious detail,
quivering at the sensations. Kissing. Caressing. And then he’s on
top of me, joining us. I’m breathless and he’s sweating, his
exertion pouring down, proof that he’s worshiping my body with his
own. I’m dizzy. Hot. And coming undone.

A painful pleasure pinches his brows. He
smiles down at me.

“
I’m so in love with you.”

“Miss Fallon? It is time to rise,” a pair of
big red eyes blink over me. “The Lost Princesses request your
presence. I have taken the liberty of bringing your clothes.”

“Maddox,” I sit up with a stretch. My body
hurts, like it normally does when I’ve been lying here too long.
“How long was I asleep?”

“You were asleep for nearly three hours,
Miss Fallon.”

I rub my eyes and glance at the pile of
clothes at the foot of my bed. Maddox peers over at it. He’s barely
four feet in height and composed completely of rock, except for his
eyes, which are hauntingly similar to a human’s. The rest of him is
made from varying red clay boulders and pebbles, stacked upon each
other to form his head, body and four limbs.

He’d scared the hell out of me the first
day.

I’d selected this space as my temporary
dwelling and just when I’d begun to relax, he appeared, asking if I
needed anything. But he didn’t just appear. He came right out of
the wall, bringing the rocks with him. I screamed, ran full speed
and nearly crashed into the Lost Princesses who explained that
Maddox is a traveling spirit who possesses natural elements to form
his physical shape. It took a while to get used to him. He can
appear at any place, at any time. The unnerving part is when I
think I’m alone and he walks right out of the wall. That took a
long time to get used to.

“Thanks for bringing my clothes,” I grab my
underwear from the ground and step into it first. It’s really too
hot to don the baseball tee and jeans, but since he was kind enough
to bring them, I put them on as well.

“Of course, Miss Fallon. They are ready for
you.”

“Great,” I yawn and after another long
stretch, follow him down the sleek red ground that sinks to an even
lower level.

The physical tests are held on the surface,
while my history, healing and meditation lessons are housed deep
within the underground World, on a layer where few babeebs hang and
a wide, even sheet of rock lines the floor. I sit in the center of
it, in front of a large flat wall where the Lost Princesses
normally stand. Maddox sits next to me, but then crumbles away, his
body dissolving into the ground. He reemerges from the wall ahead
and moves to the left, just as the three spirits appear.

Welcome, Fallon
.

“Hi.”

You have completed your eleventh week. You
have traveled through the history of the Dofinikes and studied
actions, beliefs and traditions of the Nerwos and Mybyncians.
Tonight, we shall discuss the great misfortune that occurred
between the Nerwos and Mybyncians nearly three thousand years
ago.

I’d briefly heard about this during our
first trip to Mybyncia, when Pryncbia, the royal city, was under
attack by a deadly plague. Only a bud from the Nhazual flower was
able to fully heal those infected. And to retrieve it, we had to
travel to Nerwolix.

“You mean with Princess Nhazual?”

What have we requested, Fallon?

I blanch.
To speak using the
channels
.

They let me get away with it sometimes,
especially after the weekly tests, but during our afternoon
sessions, when I’m studying and meditating, I’m expected to use as
little verbal communication as possible.

It will make you stronger; help connect you
to your family.

Sorry.

We do this to prepare you
, one of the
princesses moves forward.
You are about to embark on a terribly
dangerous course. You will need to utilize every asset you have.
Your human identity is past; you must now rely on your ancient
blood.

It always bothers me when they say this,
like I’m only Dofinike now. I’m still human, even if my human
relations are gone. But instead of arguing, I acquiesce, if just to
get things moving.