The Two Worlds (2 page)

“
Death Walkers,” Nia
informed me, nodding at one who walked by. Despite a misplaced eye,
nose, and for one unfortunate soul a mouth, they looked normal. Nia
spotted a bus that largely resembled a regular city bus, except for
the fact that it was levitating, and guided me on board.

“
Who...what...?” I began,
looking around at the passengers and forgetting that I had just
received my voice back. On my left sat a young gorgeous man, who
had yellow flaming hair, reading a newspaper entitled
Brozek
Ledger
.

Nia noticed me looking at it and
explained, “The
Brozek
is the city’s newspaper.”

“
We’re in a
city?”

“
Yep. Brozek’s the name.”
Nia checked the window. “We’re headed to Senior Lynch’s house right
now. He’ll be able to explain things for you.”

I turned towards her, forcing my eyes
off the flaming guy next to me. “Look, this is a dream, so I’ll
play along. Why can’t you tell me? Why are you being so
secretive?

Nia sighed impatiently. “Lynch’s going
to kill me. This isn’t a dream, by the way. Okay, sis,
you—
we
are in the city of Brozek. We are on the planet
Turgor. You are an Awakener. Don’t ask me what that is or how you
became one. The Senior Awakener is supposed to tell you that.
Turgor is sort of like a land of magic. Everything has been touched
by magic in one form or another. Even normal things. Life is
magic.” She leaned back, apparently satisfied with the answer she
had given me.

I stared at her with my mouth open.
When I figured out she wasn’t going to give me any more answers, I
sighed and stared out the window. The cool air on the bus soothed
me, and I began to drift off to sleep. As my eyes closed, something
raced by, causing the bus to rocket violently and the bus driver to
shout with equal venom. I started, and Nia grabbed my arm, holding
me in my place.

“
Don’t worry,” she said.
“It’s just the Harpies.”

“
The what?”

“
The Harpies.” She yawned,
stretched, and looked at me. “Women of the sky, part woman, part
bird.”

I reached across the flaming dude and
pressed against the window. “You’re joking.”

“
Nope,” she said, “and we’re
here. Pull on the cord.”

“
Here” was a small brick
house that had two round windows in the front and flowers lining
the white stone path that led to the front door. A huge oak tree
towered over the house with its branches reaching out almost
protectively. Birds conversed on the limbs, glancing towards us as
we walked up the path.

“
I just don’t understand
it,” trilled one blue bird.

“
What’s not to understand?”
the other blue bird sang, flapping its wings. “Roshi’s no longer
safe. We’re going to have a meeting tonight to find out where to
go.”

“
We should stay and
fight!”

“
For how long, Meke? What of
our children?” The second bird flapped its wings again, and I was
distracted from their conversation by Nia ringing the doorbell. A
very short man with snow white hair and incredibly bushy eyebrows
answered the door. I stared at him with my mouth hanging open,
wondering where in the world his eyes were—they appeared to be
hidden beneath mounds of hair—and why no one had plucked the poor
man’s eyebrows.

Nia elbowed me before greeting the man,
“What’s up, Paul?”

“
Nia, how are you?” the man
responded, looking warily at me. He sniffed and then looked back at
Nia, clearly annoyed. “Please tell me this isn’t another
Awakener.”

“
Actually, it
is.”

He sighed and opened the door to let us
in, surveying me as I walked through. “Seems like all sorts of
people are becoming Awakeners these days.” He headed towards his
kitchen, adding, “What happened to the good ole days of purposeful
selection?”

Nia frowned. “She
is
purposeful,
Paul.” She turned to me and gave a small smile. “Sorry, Kay, this
is Senior Awakener Paul Lynch. Senior Lynch this is Kay, also known
as Kathleena, my sister.”

“
Hi,” I offered and nodded
towards Paul.

Paul raised his eyebrows in greeting
and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Soooo...you’re Nia’s sister,
eh? Well then, you must be special.” He looked at me—or so I
thought—and continued. “This means you’re here to have a little
history lesson.”

Nia nodded and gestured for me to sit
down on the brown, lumpy couch that had suddenly moved up behind
us.

Paul stood in front of us and looked
over to his right, where a small chair of equal color appeared. He
plopped down and took a gulp of coffee. “Very well, then. I could
give you a century’s worth of history with just us sitting here,
going over the whole purpose of Turgor, the wars that have been
plaguing this planet since the beginning of time, and the
inhabitants that live here. But that would take forever, and I’d
miss my soap operas. And from what I’ve been told you already know
much about Turgor. You just haven’t come to believe that you’re
actually in it. So, I’ll give you a quick summary. You, as we have
already stated, are on planet Turgor. This means that you are no
longer on Earth.” He pointed to his temple. “Well, you’re not on
Earth mentally. Physically, you’re still slumped at your desk
sleeping, waiting to wake up. Your grandmother is at home also
taking a nap. Your grandfather Lamont’s away on
business.”

“
Wait,” I interrupted, “what
do you mean
business
?”

Paul shifted in his chair and snipped,
“Don’t interrupt me, please. If you give me a moment, I’ll get to
that. Now, as I was saying, you’re still physically on Earth. The
history of Turgor is a simple one. It’s a planet that only certain
people or creatures can live in and visit. There are various means
of living in Turgor, and it is by those means the people here are
defined. For some, they were born here and are considered Wizards,
children of two magical beings. For others, they are Death Walkers,
those responsible for Death and who can control it. Walkers have
physically died on other planets, and their minds have transformed
them here, giving them a second life and a purpose. You have
Awakeners, which is what you and I am, Kay. We come here through
our dreams. Right now I believe I am dozing in front of my fire in
New Zealand. We have incredible gifts, Kay, powerful. We have the
power to bring things to life, to Awaken them.

“
Nia is perhaps one of the
most powerful beings in Turgor. Yes, don’t look surprised. She’s a
Creator. Those who came before her made the world what it is today.
They created Turgor. That’s probably why she found out about this
place long before you did. She created a way for herself to visit
here, probably through her writing. Like I said, there are a vast
number of ways you can transport yourself here, but only if you’re
meant to be here and have a purpose. Yes, dearie, now you may
talk.”

I had raised my hand dutifully as if I
were in class. “Um...if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is
my purpose?”

Paul chuckled. “I can’t tell you that,
Kay, because you have to figure it out yourself. But I can tell you
that Turgor is dying. There is an ancient war that has been tearing
this planet apart. On Turgor, there are many races, but the two
dominant inhabitants are the KaKonians and our government. The
reason there is a war right now is because our government and the
KaKonians are rivals. And each side is growing stronger, with the
result being innocent people and creatures getting caught in the
crossfire.”

“
Well,” I began, while
trying to digest everything, “why is there a war?”

“
That’s the million dollar
question.” Paul chuckled, but he looked sad. “No one knows.
Probably over something trivial, something that really has been
forgotten by both sides, but pride won’t let them back
down.”

I thought for a moment. “And what side
are we on?”

“
That’s complicated,” Paul
sighed, leaning back in his chair. “We’re not really on either side
but our own. Creators have done all that they can do, for the time
being anyway. Everything they have created is now capable of
re-creating by themselves. Their purpose is slowly becoming
fulfilled. However, everyone else, Wizards, Walkers, and
Awakeners...well, we’ve just begun. We are the protectors of the
innocent in one fashion or another. Wizards provide the magic of
Turgor, ensuring daily life runs smoothly. Walkers absorb death,
make it one of their own, and control it. They can’t prevent it,
but they can prolong it or bring it quickly if they have to. And
Awakeners, well, we are the ones that Awaken others’ abilities.
Without us, the inhabitants of Turgor wouldn’t function. We are the
healers, the hope.” Paul stood up and excused himself for the
bathroom.

Nia turned to me. I stopped her before
she could open her mouth. “So, everything that Grandpa Lamont told
us about Turgor...it’s true?” She nodded. I swallowed and kept
going. “And...there really is a war going on? What business is
Grandpa Lamont on? Last time I checked he was lying in Jackson
Memorial in a coma.”

“
Grandpa Lamont’s a
historian,” she smiled. “There was a break in at Callback. It’s
like the prison of the planet, and it’s huge. The day before
Grandpa went into a coma, he was summoned by the Creators to help
find lost articles.”

I stood up and stretched. “I’m guessing
someone escaped that wasn’t supposed to.”

“
Duh.”

“
I really wish I could wake
up from this dream.” I frowned. “This is weird.”

Nia looked annoyed. “I keep telling you
that you’re
not
dreaming!”

“
Uh-huh.”

I walked over to one of the small
windows and peeked out. People bustled about, taking groceries
inside their houses—where would a grocery store be? Mailboxes
walked tied to their posts, and buses flew by, occasionally
stopping to let someone off. Grandpa Lamont had told us of
creatures out of the ordinary and people who could do amazing
things. They all lived on this planet. All those years I had been
fascinated by these inhabitants, and I realized that I finally was
given the chance to visit the place. The thought of it being a
dream was slowly going out the window. Nia came up and stood next
to me.

“
What are you thinking?” she
asked softly. “Are you going to be okay?”

Shrugging, I turned away from the
glass. “If it’s all Grandpa Lamont told me it was, I might as well
check it out.”

Nia nodded, and we stood in silent
agreement for a while. After a few moments, Paul came back in and
gave a small cough.

“
Sorry to interrupt your
tender moment there,” he smirked, “but it’s time to get you settled
in here.”

I moved away from the window and raised
an eyebrow at him. “Settled in?”

CHAPTER THREE

“
We’re going to have to
cross Elmite River.”

“
No, no, we can simply go
through the city.”

“
Why do all of that if we
can take a shortcut?”

“
Crossing the Elmite River
is not a shortcut. It’s suicide.”

Nia and Paul argued back and forth
along the bus ride, and I laughed as Nia made faces behind Paul’s
back when he turned to look at the map or when Paul snorted in
disgust when Nia showed him her route. They made a comical couple.
The sky had now turned a mixture of beautiful silver with blue
streaks lined through it.

“
It’s night now,” Nia said.
The grayish clouds moved gracefully over the sky. A light wind blew
through the trees, which, in turn, shivered and laughed gently
among themselves. Smells of bread baking, stew cooking, and fires
warming houses mixed with sounds of night, and I longed for
Grandma’s potato pie or her roasted chicken.

“
We’re almost there, sis,”
Nia said as she produced another map from thin air and began
arguing again with Paul. The houses became fewer and fewer, until
finally there was nothing but fields of Mince.

“
We are now entering
Tormey,” announced the bus driver in a monotone voice. “Please
gather your belongings.”

“
This is our stop,” Paul
said, handing the maps over to Nia, who looked at them until they
disappeared in her hands.

“
How do you do that?” I
asked her, incredulous.

She shrugged. “It’s my gift. I create
things. Remember? And whatever I create, I can destroy. Wizards can
do magic without even really thinking about it. There’s a fleeting
thought, and then it’s just there.” She stood up to join the
growing line the riders had made on the bus. “Or so I’ve been
told.”

“
What’s my gift?”

“
Dunno. Every Awakener has a
way they Awaken things or people, but you have to figure it out
yourself.”

“
And just how am I going to
do that?” We walked off the bus. Paul followed behind us, mumbling
to himself.