The Two Worlds (10 page)

“
Ick, I hate Harpies,” Rena
shuddered. I nodded, remembering the bus ride to Tormey.

“
Well, they’re there. And
they’re hungry. Harpies’ll eat any and everything that comes in.
They not only protect our inhabitants, but also provide security
for Caldbeck.” Finny sighed. “If, and that is a big if, you make it
past the Harpies, you’ll find yourself in the field of illusions.
There are tons of nasty traps in that place.”

Rena shifted in her seat. “So how do
you get through it?”

“
Common sense. Illusions are
nothing more than false things that trick our senses into believing
they are real.”

Yolonda piped, “Nicely put, Fin. Kay,
did Nia tell you exactly how folks are trapped in Caldbeck?” I
shook my head. “Caldbeck is not like the prisons that are on planet
Earth. When a being goes to prison on Turgor, their minds are
trapped there, nothing else.”

“
It’s an eerie place,” Nia
added.

“
Just forget it,” Rena
murmured. She leaned back in her chair with a defeated sigh. “It’s
not worth risking our lives.” Nia and Dia both made sounds of
agreement. Yolonda and Finny warmed against my skin.

I eventually broke the silence and
suggested we all go to bed. Nia created Rena another room in the
house, and I Awakened her things. Finally we all feel into a deep,
troubled sleep.

CHAPTER TEN

“
So, what I’m trying to say
is if we do things such as turning the heat down and wearing a
sweater or reusing plastic bags, we can do our part to save the
rain forest!” Fellow classmate Tempest Nolan peered down her trendy
glasses at the rest of the class and shook her shoulder length
blonde hair from eyes as she droned on and on. I gave an inward
groan and stretched my legs underneath the desk in front of me.
Science class was about as interesting to me as watching Mince
grow. Reaching down into my book bag, I pulled out my DiGi and
flipped it open.

10 p.m. Earth Time / 2
p.m. Turgor Time

Meeting with Senior
Counsel

“
What do you think they
want?” I asked Nia later on when we met for lunch.

She shrugged, her mouth full as always.
“You talked to Senior Paul, right?”

“
Tried to, but he was really
angry,” she said, little bits of food flying from her mouth. “Guess
he wasn’t as understanding as I thought he would be.”

I looked at her in disbelief. “So, do
you think we’re in big trouble?”

“
Don’t know.”

“
You don’t seem to
worried!”

“
Well, I’ve never been in
trouble with Senior Counsel before Kay!” she argued back. “I’ve
always played things by the book. What do you want me to
say?”

“
I don’t know.” I shrugged
and looked back down at my DiGi. “I guess I’ll have to find out on
my own time.”

My own time came far too quickly.
Before I knew it, I was sitting next to Rena, who had wide eyes and
kept shifting in her seat. We were in the basement of Paul’s home,
which was dimly lit and smelled like mold. I wondered why hadn’t
bothered to Awaken nicer things for the room, and a small voice in
the back of my head told me that we weren’t the first to be
interrogated in it. I looked around me, counting eight older men
and women, all who were part of the Counsel. Paul walked down the
basement stairs, his footsteps echoing with each step he took. I
gave Yolonda a nervous squeeze, and she gave a small yelp of
protest as he took a seat in front of us.

“
Do you know why you have
been summoned here today?” he asked, his voice grave. He raised his
bushy eyebrows. I lifted my chin in defiance. I wasn’t going to be
the first to rat myself out.

“
Yes,” Rena squeaked from
next to me. “I think so.”

“
Would you care to share the
reason with the rest of the Counsel?”

Rena sat silent for a moment and
glanced over at me. I looked straight ahead, hoping not to betray
how bad I was shaking fear.

“
Well,” Rena began, “we used
magic without permission.”

“
That’s right,” Senior Paul
agreed quietly. “You used magic without permission. Tell me,
Kathleena, how long have you been on Turgor?”

I thought for a minute. “About...” I
croaked. My mouth had gone dry during the time I had been sitting
there. I cleared my throat and began again, “About three and a half
weeks.”

“
And have you completed an
assignment yet, child?” This came from a woman with hair that
seemed to be clear. There was a faint outline that showed how her
hair was shaped, but other than that, there seemed to be no color
at all. She had midnight black eyes that didn’t show any pupils,
and her mouth held a deep purple lipstick.

“
No, I haven’t. I just
received my first one a short while ago.”

The woman stared at me, and the rest of
the Counsel broke into murmurs. Rena looked like she was about to
puke.

Senior Paul addressed us again. “Do you
realize the consequences of your actions?” We reluctantly shook our
heads. “We are in a war, ladies. A war where any one false move can
toss the other side into defense and thousands of innocent people
could be killed in the process. Not only were your actions
irresponsible, they were completely thoughtless and dangerous. You
could have been killed in your little
shenanigans
!”

I sat as still as a stone, watching
Paul quiver in front of us. I was scared out of my mind, but I
couldn’t allow myself to break in front of people so important.
I’ll cry later,
I thought to myself. Rena, on the other
hand, had already been broken. Her skin became pale, and her eyes
had turned a dull grey. Tears were streaming from her eyes, and I
resisted the urge to reach over and hug her.

The clear-haired lady spoke again.
“Because of your actions, you will be suspended from using magic
until further notice. You will have to prove yourself capable of
handling such a great responsibility during such a dangerous time.
The assignment that you have been issued will be revoked.” She
reached for a glass of water that I hadn’t seen previously and took
a sip. “I hope this will provide you will enough time to think of
the seriousness of what you have done.”

Rena and I both nodded.

Paul stood up. “You may leave
now.”

I don’t think we could have moved any
faster if we sprouted wings out of our backs.

“
I can’t believe I got
suspended!” Nia groaned, lying on the couch. “If I would’ve just
listened to my little voice in my head, I wouldn’t be in this mess
with you two!” We were all hanging out in front of the fireplace,
glumly eating spaghetti that Nia had made while she waited for Rena
and me to return. “I was so close to completing my final exams,”
she huffed, shoving a forkful of food in her mouth.

Rena sat slumped in an armchair to the
right of Nia. “My mother would be so disappointed in me,” she
mumbled.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t all that
worried. So we couldn’t go and do our assignment? What was the big
deal?

Nia seemed to read my mind and looked
over at me. “It may not be important to you, but there are those of
us who are ambitious here on Turgor. How do you think I’ll feel
about not being able to graduate with my class and get a job
here?”

“
Nia, you’re not even
eighteen yet,” I said. “What type of job could you possibly
get?”

“
Well, as a skilled Creator
you can get the cream of the crop jobs in the Counsel,” she snapped
back. “I think about my future, you know!”

“
And I don’t?” I yelled back
at her.

“
No, you don’t!”

Rena put up her hands and glowed a dull
blue. “Come on, you two. Calm yourselves.” Nia hissed in irritation
and went into the kitchen to put away her dishes. “What are we
going to do now, Kay?”

I shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought of
that. I mean, what is there to do when you’re not being sent on one
assignment after the next?”

“
I’ll tell you what you do,”
Nia answered me, standing in the kitchen doorway. “Check your
DiGi.”

I opened mine and looked down to see
the message:

Kathleena Ann
McLaughlin—Probation

Duty: Assistant at Brozek
Courts

Location: 88523 E. Alphan
Lane

Time: 5:45 a.m. Turgor
Time / 9:15 p.m. Earth Time

Report to Counsel Member
Marionette Fleer

I looked up and met Rena’s wide eyes.
“So I’m going to be an assistant?”

“
Not just any assistant,”
Nia said. “And not just you. We all have to go.”

“
What do we do?”

“
When you work at the Courts
you deal with the processing of beings that are waiting to go to
court for various crimes.”

“
That’s it?” I asked.
“That’s the best punishment they could come up with? A little
paperwork?”

Rena looked confused as well, but Nia
shook her head. “You two are in for a surprise.”

That night, back on Earth, I fell
asleep and immediately felt my body in the throes of violent
shaking. Opening my eyes with a start, I saw flaming orange hair
fly past me.

“
AHH!” I heard from the
kitchen. Jumping out of bed, I fell to the ground as Dia shook
again, this time with a loud
BOOM
. Plaster crumpled off the
ceiling, and I could hear the distant sound of glass breaking.
Grabbing at the door frame to steady myself, I felt my way to the
stairs. The lights were completely off. I squinted to see where I
was going when another loud boom seemed to engulf our house. I
paused, shaking on the stairs as the house became quiet. The
windows all flashed a brilliant white light, and then my house once
again lurched. I fell backwards, losing my footing, and tumbled
down the stairs.

Pain shot through my skull, and I
closed my eyes to try to lessen the pain.

“
Kay!” Rena yelled.
Groaning, I sat up, feeling nauseous. Rena ran towards me from the
living room and grabbed my hands.

“
What’s going on?” I croaked
as she pulled me to my feet.

“
The KaKonians! They’re
attacking the city!”

My eyes flew open. Attacking? Was it
our fault? I looked around for my sister. “Where’s—?”

“
Right here!” Nia called,
running to my side. “We’ve got to get somewhere safe! They’re
bombing all over!”

Yolonda and Finny had both grown cold
against my chest, and I tucked them inside my nightshirt for their
safety.

“
No! Leave us out!” Finny
yelled. “We can help protect you!”

I pulled them back out quickly as Nia
created a small hole in the middle of the hallway floor. She jumped
into it and, for a second, was quiet before we heard her yell,
“Come on down!” Sirens were wailing all around us, and what sounded
like gigantic footsteps moved past us with alarming
speed.

Rena jumped in the hole first, and I
hesitated, looking up at the ceiling.

“
Dia!” I called out. “Are
you going to hold up?”

“
We’ll find out!” Dia
answered me, sounding muffled. “But don’t worry about me! Just get
somewhere safe!”

I jumped into the hole and plunged into
darkness. “Oooff!” The ground was cold and damp, and the strong
smell of soil filled my nostrils.

“
Are you okay?” came a small
voice next to me.

“
Yeah, I’m fine,” I
grumbled, sitting myself up.

“
Good,” came another voice.
“Can one of you Awaken this lamp here?”

Rena murmured a couple of words, and
bright light began to fill the small space we were standing in. My
sister had created a small room made of dirt. Up above me, I heard
a loud crash as something hit the ground.

“
Okay,” Nia breathed, “we
might be here for a while. And the last thing we need is this dirt
giving way.”

“
Yes, I am not for being
buried alive,” Rena agreed.

“
So, I’m going to create
walls and floors. You two Awaken them.” We got to work, and soon
after we had a solid room, a few chairs, and a small heater to keep
us warm.

“
What are we going to do?”
Rena asked, shivering.

“
Wait it out?” I guessed.
“It’s not like we can go out there and fight bombs.”

“
No, not yet.” Nia said.
“You’re not that strong.”

“
And you are?” I asked. Nia
didn’t answer me, but scooted a little closer to the
heater.

We stayed in the room for what seemed
like days but was only a few hours. The bombings slowed down and
eventually stopped. Rena checked the door of our safe room, and
after deciding it was safe, we ventured back upstairs. Dia was a
complete wreck. The walls had long jagged lines in them from where
her foundation had been shook. There was glass everywhere, and our
furniture had all toppled over.