gate!”
Chapter 6
Axel
“I can’t see it either!”
I grabbed someone’s arm, the girl’s I think. Her hair whipped against my face. Yes. It was definitely the girl. I pulled her in close and spoke right in her ear. “We’ll move in the direction were facing. You raised me from the ground. I was facing the castle gates.”
“Okay!” she shouted before she pulled away from me to scream, “Jacob!” The hiss of the sandstorm was so loud now that I couldn’t be sure if the kid answered or not. But she must have found him with her free hand because she was shouting his name again, but in a different way, as though she’d found him.
We moved forward, pushing our bodies against the harsh, sandy wind, but no matter how many steps forward we took, no wall of stone or open gate greeted us.
But we must have gotten close because an ear splitting grating of metal sounded. I recognised that sound despite the storm. It was the same sound the gate had made when it was opened. It could only mean one thing.
“They’ve closed the gates! Head back to the aeroplane!”
“How?”
I spat out a mouthful of sand.
“We turn one hundred eighty degrees and run!”
“Nobody let go!” the girl shouted. She squeezed my hand so hard I swore. She was damn strong.
We turned, hopefully a one eighty, and in the process, the girl fell. But between the other boy and me, we had her on her feet within seconds.
The wind propelled us from behind, making it easier to run but also easier to trip, and we stumbled over our own feet and rolled in the sand multiple times.
“Are we still together?” I shouted, spitting out a mouthful of sand and letting in another. I felt a firm tug on my hand and pressed forward, hoping the other boy still had the girl’s other hand. If we lost him, who knew whether he’d survive the Change?
I was about to start praying to the Goddess, something I’d only ever done once, and that was to save my brother’s life. I hadn’t conversed with Her since. She didn’t exist to me after Rin died. But just as I started whispering her name out of desperation, my feet hit something hard. Something that clanged.
“The steps!” the girl shouted in my ear.
Up we went. Quickly. The open cavity of the air craft seemed to suck us into its belly. We landed, in a tangle of limbs, on a growing pile of sand atop a thick black carpet.
By the time I disengaged myself and got to my feet, the other boy had already pulled the door shut. He slid down to his bottom, his back against the door, sighing with relief. I rubbed a tonne of sand out of my eyes and blinked several times. The gritty granules still scratched at my eyeballs every time my lids fluttered but at least I could see.
“Everyone okay?” I asked after my eyes stayed open for longer than five seconds without needing to squeeze them shut. I took a look around and whistled at what I saw. The interior of this plane, though currently in disarray, was the most modern and luxurious of all the planes that had ever flown into our world. I hadn’t noticed earlier because I’d been intent on unloading luggage.
The girl rubbed at her eyes and swore repeatedly. She seemed to be born with the same filthy mouth as my own mother, who had made many a man of the kingdom blush in her time. The girl stomped her foot and swore again and I laughed, deciding then and there that I liked her.
“Why are you laughing? This isn’t exactly funny.”
“You look like an orange or perhaps a lemon,” I said.
She wiped her forearm across her face and about half an inch of golden sand came away. Her blue eyes shifted away from me and landed on the other boy, and I found myself desperately thinking of a way to get those eyes back on me. I wanted to know more about her. To ask questions and receive answers. I had a feeling that out of all the people who had ever crossed the veil, this girl was going to be important. Maybe she was the one
Chapter 6
Axel
“I can’t see it either!”
I grabbed someone’s arm, the girl’s I think. Her hair whipped against my face. Yes. It was definitely the girl. I pulled her in close and spoke right in her ear. “We’ll move in the direction were facing. You raised me from the ground. I was facing the castle gates.”
“Okay!” she shouted before she pulled away from me to scream, “Jacob!” The hiss of the sandstorm was so loud now that I couldn’t be sure if the kid answered or not. But she must have found him with her free hand because she was shouting his name again, but in a different way, as though she’d found him.
We moved forward, pushing our bodies against the harsh, sandy wind, but no matter how many steps forward we took, no wall of stone or open gate greeted us.
But we must have gotten close because an ear splitting grating of metal sounded. I recognised that sound despite the storm. It was the same sound the gate had made when it was opened. It could only mean one thing.
“They’ve closed the gates! Head back to the aeroplane!”
“How?”
I spat out a mouthful of sand.
“We turn one hundred eighty degrees and run!”
“Nobody let go!” the girl shouted. She squeezed my hand so hard I swore. She was damn strong.
We turned, hopefully a one eighty, and in the process, the girl fell. But between the other boy and me, we had her on her feet within seconds.
The wind propelled us from behind, making it easier to run but also easier to trip, and we stumbled over our own feet and rolled in the sand multiple times.
“Are we still together?” I shouted, spitting out a mouthful of sand and letting in another. I felt a firm tug on my hand and pressed forward, hoping the other boy still had the girl’s other hand. If we lost him, who knew whether he’d survive the Change?
I was about to start praying to the Goddess, something I’d only ever done once, and that was to save my brother’s life. I hadn’t conversed with Her since. She didn’t exist to me after Rin died. But just as I started whispering her name out of desperation, my feet hit something hard. Something that clanged.
“The steps!” the girl shouted in my ear.
Up we went. Quickly. The open cavity of the air craft seemed to suck us into its belly. We landed, in a tangle of limbs, on a growing pile of sand atop a thick black carpet.
By the time I disengaged myself and got to my feet, the other boy had already pulled the door shut. He slid down to his bottom, his back against the door, sighing with relief. I rubbed a tonne of sand out of my eyes and blinked several times. The gritty granules still scratched at my eyeballs every time my lids fluttered but at least I could see.
“Everyone okay?” I asked after my eyes stayed open for longer than five seconds without needing to squeeze them shut. I took a look around and whistled at what I saw. The interior of this plane, though currently in disarray, was the most modern and luxurious of all the planes that had ever flown into our world. I hadn’t noticed earlier because I’d been intent on unloading luggage.
The girl rubbed at her eyes and swore repeatedly. She seemed to be born with the same filthy mouth as my own mother, who had made many a man of the kingdom blush in her time. The girl stomped her foot and swore again and I laughed, deciding then and there that I liked her.
“Why are you laughing? This isn’t exactly funny.”
“You look like an orange or perhaps a lemon,” I said.
She wiped her forearm across her face and about half an inch of golden sand came away. Her blue eyes shifted away from me and landed on the other boy, and I found myself desperately thinking of a way to get those eyes back on me. I wanted to know more about her. To ask questions and receive answers. I had a feeling that out of all the people who had ever crossed the veil, this girl was going to be important. Maybe she was the one
Similar Books
