Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [22]
What do you think died here, Maudi?
The hoary trees quivered and shook, branches crumbling as they fell.
‘Everything,’ she answered, shouting to be heard.
We’re going to add to it if it gets any deeper. We can’t swim in this sludge.
‘There’s higher ground this way.’ She motioned for him to follow, touching his neck as she veered out of the depths. Not far ahead stood a large oak, branches spread wide over a knoll—an oasis in an endless black mire.
The ground firmed as they reached the roots of the tree. It was still alive, judging by its olive-coloured leaves and the odd acorn among the twist of branches. Rosette turned, her sides heaving, mud dripping down her legs. A deafening sound boomed from the cave, the mouth now obscured by boulders, rock and rubble. Dust clouds shot towards the summit, slowly settling like a mist on the newly reshaped rock face.
‘Jarrod?’ she whispered.
The entrance to the cave, and to the portal, was gone. Save for their breathing and the squelch of mud, everything was silent.
Drayco narrowed his orange eyes, staring back the way they’d come. That portal’s lost, I imagine.
Rosette grimaced. The mire was seeping in between the laces of her boots, saturating her socks like noisome glue. She wiped her hands on an edge of her cloak before brushing back wisps of hair that had escaped her long braids. ‘If the portal is lost, Drayco, so are we.’
The temple cat didn’t answer. He bristled, staring up into the tree.
‘What, Dray? What do you see?’
A low growl emanated from his throat.
Jarrod sat cross-legged by the mouth of the cave, his back against the rock wall. He closed his eyes, wishing he could do the same to his nose. The smell of decay made him sick to his stomach, a feeling he was not accustomed to. There were definite disadvantages to being in a human body, tulpa or no. This was another to add to his list. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks, though. He smiled at the thought.
A picnic scene came immediately to mind—particularly the blooming cherry trees in the courtyard of Timbali Temple’s main library. Rosette’s long black hair was covered with pink flower petals, filled with the scent of early spring. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Not long after the picnic had been packed away and they were back in the library, they’d heard the call. Looking into each other’s eyes, they’d closed their books and were out the door in moments, heading for the Gulf of Tasisia and the portal on Bastis Point. But the picnic had been lovely, he mused.
There would be other picnics, surely, but never exactly like that one, with the cherry blossoms in her hair and the figbirds chattering overhead. He’d been going to broach a topic—one that had been on his mind for some time—but never quite got to it. Now it would have to wait. He wrinkled his nose. What’s taking her so long? They were right behind me.
He’d been on the edge of the mountain for three days—their longest separation yet—and still there was no sign of Rosette and Drayco. This wasn’t the first time they’d travelled to an unknown world, responding to the call of the Entities—guardians of the portals. So far, he and Rosette, and her enigmatic familiar, had come through together, seconds apart. Time had been on their side. But not any more. He flicked dust from his leggings and stared at the swamp.
He understood the physics of it, the slowing down of dimensional space perception. It was an illusion, though an extremely convincing one. It had happened to him and Janis Richter all those hundreds of years ago when they stumbled onto Gaela and hid his CPU in the gorge