The Draykon Series (1-3)

Chapter Eighteen

Shattering pain gripped Eva's body as she emerged from the gate between the realms, surging brutally from her head to her feet and the tips of her fingers. She felt as though her body was trying to shake itself to pieces, prevented only by force of will. She resisted the temptation to buckle under it, drawing quick, painful breaths as she willed the assault away.

   How could I have forgotten this? The pain was as bad as it had been on her first visit; time and absence had removed her resilience to it. She suffered in grim silence, enduring wave after wave of agony until finally, mercifully, it began to recede. Only then did she have leisure to notice Tren's fate.

   He'd fared worse than she. He lay curled up on the ground, gripping his head in his hands as if it sought to separate itself from his body. He made no sound at all.

   'Sorry,' she gasped. 'Should've remembered to warn you about this.'

   'Would've been nice,' gritted Tren.

   'I forgot how bad it gets.' Here came the nausea, now, always the second stage. She didn't try to speak as her stomach pitched and roiled and her limbs trembled with stress. She resisted the tide, but Tren was not so fortunate. She turned away as he compulsively emptied his stomach.

   'Well,' gasped Tren at last as he pulled himself more or less upright. 'That was deeply miserable.'

   'You get used to it.' Eva still felt shaky and weak, but she pulled herself resolutely to her feet. 'Eventually.'

   'I don't think I can walk,' said Tren.

   'Proximity to the gate makes it worse,' Eva replied, gathering her skirts. 'So, walk.' She cast about, searching for her companions. The shortig she found nearby, gnawing on something it had picked up in the bushes. She set it to scout the vicinity for anything telling. There probably wasn't much chance it would find a clear trace of Edwae's erstwhile employer, but it was a possibility.

   Rikbeek she could not find. Casting her senses out further, she discerned a brief flicker of his presence some distance away. Curious.

   'Tren?'

   'Coming.' He joined her with a groan, swaying slightly. She gripped his elbow, letting her fingers dig sharply into his flesh.

   'Ow.'

   'Stop complaining.' She started walking in the direction she'd sensed Rikbeek, dragging Tren forcibly with her.

   'Stop. I'm stable.' He pulled his arm free of her grip, maintaining the quick pace she set without her encouragement. She gave him a brief, distracted smile, then turned her attention to the dense forest that surrounded them.

   It was a mirror image of the tree cover that reigned above, at first glance, but the longer she looked, the more she observed to belie that impression. The trees were taller, much taller, swaying dreamily under the influence of a harsh, cool wind. Their contorted forms were vaguely incorporeal, tissue-thin and brittle. Tattered, lacy leaves spread in a thick blanket overhead, sumptuous with dark colours and glittering faintly in the silvery-white light of the moon that shone down on this ethereal forest.

   Moons, in fact, for the enormous, pale moon that hung high overhead was echoed in a smaller moon that hovered low over the horizon. It sent a deep red light shimmering weirdly through the interlacing branches of the trees, a dark counterpart to the strong, clear moonlight above. Eva blinked, puzzled. She'd never seen a red moon here before.

   Tren was staring, barely paying sufficient attention to where he was putting his feet. He was absently rubbing his arm where she'd gripped him.