Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [99]
Still stuck behind the wall.
What wall?
The corridor wall. Remember? I couldn’t follow you into this world.
She wanted to widen her eyes and leap. My sword! Where is it? She glanced around. There was nothing to see. I remember drawing my blade. Fighting. Then everything went dark. Where in the demon’s pit am I?
You’re still in that world. I’ve been trying to get to you.
But I did fight, didn’t I?
You did.
How did I go?
It actually went rather well, considering the weapons they had.
What weapons?
They shot you with a lightning bolt. I think it disrupted your neuro-pathways.
My what?
You know, the pathways of electrical impulses transmitted through the central nervous system.
Drayco, where did you get such words?
I’ve been listening to the doctors and med students.
The what?
The healers. Maudi, you’re not breathing. You need to do that now.
Funny. I feel like I am breathing. I feel fine.
Your body’s not breathing. Your heart’s not beating either. I’m concerned.
My heart’s not beating? Oh, that’s no good. She focused on her lungs, trying to fill them with air, wondering why she wasn’t desperately hungry for the stuff. It didn’t seem to matter. Breath or no, she felt fine—light and easy.
I don’t know what we can do for your body, Maudi, but I think you can get out.
I have a feeling I already am out, Drayco. She could sense the temple cat pacing.
Maudi, I’d like it if you would try breathing again for a bit and see what happens. You can always go back to not breathing if that doesn’t work.
All right. She returned her focus to her lungs, doing everything she could to expand her ribcage and draw in a breath. It’s not working, Dray. Nothing’s working.
Plan B then.
Which is?
Get you back into the corridors and we go for help.
How do I do that? Do you see a way? A door? A crack or crevice? I think I could squeeze through just about anything right now.
Her familiar didn’t answer immediately. I don’t see any opening.
She tried again to breathe, to move, to shout. Kick her legs. There’s nothing here. I can’t feel my body, or see anything in this fog. Can you tell me what’s going on?
It’s hectic. The healers are working on you.
Not doing much of a job, are they?
We need help, Maudi. I’m going for Kreshkali, he answered back.
You can’t. The corridors won’t run true without my key-codes. I have to come too.
Maudi, you may not remember this, but the corridors haven’t been running true for quite some time, with or without your key-codes. By the way, if you’re not in your body, you don’t have the key-codes anyway. I’m going to risk it.
I’m coming with you. She heard purring in her mind and felt something like a spontaneous smile. You can’t pretend that thought doesn’t please you.
I don’t pretend. But someone needs to guard your body, the key-codes in your DNA. You’d be leaving them behind. That isn’t wise. Jarrod could be lost. We need help.
Wait a moment. She tried to turn inside her skin—to move, to breathe, to speak. It felt like pushing against a void. She gave up. I want to see for myself what’s happening, Dray. If I can only open my eyes.
Rosette turned her attention to the dense film that obscured her vision. She pushed past it, focusing her inner sight, letting go of her notion of physical perceptions and activating something else—a different mode. The haze began to dissipate, slowly replaced by a bustle of energy below. She was elevated, looking down on a stainless steel table.
It was surrounded by people working on a body, though she didn’t actually see it. The perception felt more like watching a dream while it was still happening. The treatment was violent. She wanted to stop the healers, but made no move. Extending her energy closer, she recognised her own face looking blankly towards the ceiling—staring through eyes that saw nothing at all. That explains a few things…
They were shocking her heart with jolts of electrical currents, firing fluids directly into her veins and blowing air into her lungs. There were tubes coming out every which way—from her arms, her throat,