ANWEN FELT AS THOUGH SHE was floating in a sea of inky blackness, suspended in time and space. The cosmos spun all around her. They raced through their heavenly patterns, wheeling in an eternal dance while she lay in a bubble outside of the pattern.
After what felt like forever, she found she could move once more. Her arms stretched outwards, legs moving like they should. As she stood, the cosmos seemed to stop in their dance, frozen in time, much as she’d just been. With a sweep of her arms, the stars moved, growing closer, larger. It reminded her of an interactive experience she'd attended several years ago at a carnival.
The stars became smaller as they fell behind, only to be replaced with more stars, more planets circling more stars. And each set of celestial bodies had their own rhythm, their own timing.
Their trails of interstellar dust glowed. It reminded her of what she'd seen when she and Tyler had breached the Sacred Grove's boundary Circle.
A man came up behind her right shoulder. His fingers trailed gold and silver energy, which scattered across the heavens. He pointed towards a distant cluster.
“There.”
The junction of light drew closer like a hurtling train. Anwen gasped as she put her hands out to ward off the inevitable collision. It didn’t come. Instead, the stars swung around, opening a path to a planet on its elliptical orbit around a yellow sun.
Anwen felt like she was swimming through some viscous fluid as they moved towards the planet, drawing ever closer. Perhaps they had breeched some kind of special amniotic sack and were swimming through the fluid inside.
Soon, she could distinguish between water and the various landmasses below. And drawing closer still, they plunged into the atmosphere, until they were hovering over a mountain range. A familiar mountain range. She turned to her companion in confusion.
The man looked at her with eyes that burned like fire. “There lie the answers you seek. Trust the blood running in your veins. It holds great wisdom passed down through the ages. Therein will you find your greatest strength and your best defense. You already have everything you need, the key to all the answers, and the desire to find them.”
When Anwen opened her mouth to speak, the man was gone. She looked back down at the land mass below, trying to understand what he’d told her. She’d spent years trying to find this place. She already knew it was where everything began, but how could she already have everything she needed?
Trust me.
Anwen breathed, trying to understand, but failed. Just when she was about to turn to look back at the stars, she began to fall once more. She plunged towards the earth below, falling faster and faster. She put her hands out as if to grab the air around her and slow her descent, but to no avail. Her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out.
Closer and closer, the stone-filled land rushed to meet her. A bright speck of sapphire blue flashed in the midst as she dropped towards it. Inside the rapidly growing jewel, there was a speck of dark green. A circular copse of trees emerged.
A black stone shrine thrust up from the middle as she plunged down. Her body rotated for full impact as she threw her hands in front of her face.
Anwen sat up abruptly, almost panting for breath. She found herself on the grass next to the shrine, heart racing. It took a moment for her to realize someone was holding her hand and that her head hurt like she’d hit it on something hard.
“Ow.” She put her free hand to the back of her head and found a lump off to one side, near her left ear. “What happened?”
Tyler helped her lean against the altar. “You passed out,” he explained. “Might have been from the heat or just overdoing it. Anything’s possible.”
For a brief moment, Tyler's eyes were that molten gold color, but were blue again with the next blink. “Here,” he offered a water bottle from his pack, advising her to take just a sip to start.
Anwen felt the cold water trickle down the back of her throat with relief, like rain falling in a desert. She closed her eyes, savoring the sensation. “How long was I out?” she wondered.
Tyler took the bottle back and sipped a little as well. “Not long. A couple of minutes, give or take.” He shrugged.
There was no telling how long she’d been journeying. Spiritual time was measured differently than mortal time. And he didn’t want to frighten her; not after seeing what the shrine had shown her. He still wasn't sure if he could believe his eyes.
The experience hadn't quite given him the answers he'd wanted, but they did at least confirm some of them. His fingers still tingled from the connection of their energies and he shook them out to release the final vestiges.
“I’m sorry I was so hard on you. I shouldn't have questioned your motives.”
Anwen looked up at his contrite tone. The sun shone on her face though, and she had to shade her eyes with one hand. She wondered what had brought that on. Maybe he was just feeling bad that their little outing had turned out this way. “It’s okay,” she managed.
Tyler smiled and got to his feet, bending at the knees enough to offer her a hand up. “Think you can stand?”
“Let’s find out.” Using his weight as a lever, Anwen pulled to her feet, a bit unsteady, but upright. “My head still hurts,” she confessed, seeing his expression.
Tyler laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not surprised,” he confessed. “I’m sure you hit it on that stone. We’d better get you back to the village and have that checked out, just in case.” He looked into her eyes, noting her pupils were a bit off. But he smiled to try and ward off any concerns he might place on her.
Anwen agreed. She was grateful when he supported her down the path back to the shore. They had to stop frequently for rests when she felt more than a little dizzy, which made the trip back down a lot longer.
“I hope this isn’t your idea of showing a girl a good time,” she quipped as he helped her into the boat.
Tyler shook his head as he took his place across from her, stowing the pack under his seat. “Not exactly,” he confessed, taking up a paddle. He stowed the mooring line at his feet as he pushed off from the dock. “I usually try to keep my dates out of harm’s way, if you know what I mean. I just wasn’t expecting you to fall like that.”
He'd only meant for her to touch the altar. Chances were, of course, that it would have happened anyway. Visions usually threw off even the most seasoned individuals. But she was a novice and he should have expected events to unfold as they had.
Anwen pursed her lips as she swayed with the rhythm of the water. “Well, neither was I. But I guess there’s a first time for everything.” She squinted, her vision blurry for a moment. She blinked, trying to clear it as she looked down at the water.
Ripples trailed out from the wake of their passage, the paddle dipping in and out of the water. It would have been peaceful, except for the pounding in her head.
“I think,” she paused, trying to keep her eyes focused, “that I’m going to be sick.” With that, Anwen leaned over the side and retched, making good on her announcement.
Tyler watched in concern, unable to do much but keep the boat steady as Anwen slid down off the thwart to rest on the boat’s rib joints. Her hands trailed into the water as her head rested on the upturned edge.
He noticed a faint sheen of sweat on her forehead. It was a good sign that her condition was not compounded by heat stroke. All the same, he quickened his pace, digging deeper into the water. He purposely let the cool spray land on her as he alternated sides with his paddle, both to keep her cool and awake.
In less than half the time it had taken them to reach the island, Tyler navigated the boat back to the small fishing village ruins. With a bit more difficulty, he helped Anwen out of the boat, almost capsizing the small craft. He didn't bother tying the line off. After a second’s hesitation, he pushed the bow under the water. The whole structure began to fill, and then disappeared from view as it sank into the deep confines below.
“I don’t feel good,” Anwen confessed
as she tried to be helpful but failed. She almost flopped to the ground next to one of the low huts while Tyler hid all other traces of their activity. “If this is what it feels like to be drunk, I don’t like it,” she half slurred.
Tyler hauled her up onto his shoulders piggyback style, pulling her legs around his chest. “Come on,” he urged. “We’ve got a bit of climbing to do, okay?”
“Yep,” Anwen agreed as her head lulled against his shoulder, her arms draped around his neck.
“Where are we going again?” She half recognized the path they started on but wasn’t sure. Everything had a bit of a fuzzy edge to it, making everything unfocused. At least she couldn't tell how high up they were, nor did she think about it. It hurt too much to think.
“Just don’t let go,” Tyler cautioned. He looked up to make sure no one was watching from above and then sprinted up the path. His passage left a faint trail of dust behind as the mud superheated and dried. In no time at all, they were back at the top, heading towards the guardrail where his moped was parked.
Anwen smiled at the bike like a senile old lady. “Hey, look at that,” she drawled. “Are we going to ride that?” She almost slid off Tyler’s back as he turned away from the rail, placing most of her weight against the metal guard.
“Unless something bigger comes along,” Tyler replied. He knew the probability was low, especially at that time of day. He glanced up at the sun and noted its gradual downhill climb. It was well into the afternoon now.
Even though Anwen’s symptoms all pointed to a concussion, he doubted that was the whole story. Either way, he wanted to get her safely back to the village.
Anwen was sluggish as she let him help her onto the scooter’s seat. He put his arms around her to keep her steady and then took up his place behind her. “Forward, gallant knight!” she tried to joke, using the same words she'd used at the start of their adventure.
Tyler wondered how much of this she would remember, then decided it didn’t matter. He revved the engine and punched the gas, speeding back towards the village.
nine