10.20

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Jen

Jen shot up into the air after the creature holding onto Lachlan. She had to save him. She couldn’t let that thing carry him away, especially not after she’d treated him and Sam so badly.

She flew upward as quickly as she could, thrusting her arms straight above her head like a cartoon superhero hoping it would make her more aerodynamic. Something caught on her shoulders scratched against her cheeks, and she fought the urge to brush it off.

She caught up to the creature and instinct took over as she rammed her shoulder into it from behind. With a shriek, it released Lachlan, sending him plummeting back down toward the forest hundreds of feet below. A moment later, the creature fell down after him.

Jen let herself drop down toward Lachlan, trying her best not to think about how nauseatingly, terrifyingly high up she was. She caught him telekinetically about 50 feet above the canopy and slowed their descent, drifting downward to where Sam sat on a tree branch staring up at them with wide eyes.

She set Lachlan on a tree limb, then sat down beside him. She could see him trembling, his knuckles white as he clutched the branch.

“Are you okay?” she said.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m just peachy. There’s nothing I love more than being whisked into the sky by… by flying nightmare monsters…”

His voice cracked as he trailed off, turning his face away from her and Sam.

“Lachlan, are you okay?” she asked again.

When he turned to face her again, his face was red and streaked with tears.

“Yeah. Yeah, I… must’ve gotten something in my eyes when I was up there.”

“Do you want a hug?”

“Oh, yes, a hug from the recent ex girlfriend of the guy who just confessed his feelings for me. That sounds like just what the doctor ordered right now.”

Okay,” she said.

She guessed she deserved that sarcasm.

He wiped his eyes and shook his head as though he was trying to shake away the crying spell.

“I’m alright, really.” He sniffled. “I just… might have developed a lifelong case of intense acrophobia in the past few minutes. Your concern is… noted and appreciated, though.”

She nodded. She wasn’t sure how to respond.

“If it makes you feel any better,” said Sam, “I changed after I developed my abilities. I have more control now. I’m better able to regulate emotional expressions. I guess what I’m saying is if it weren’t for that, I’d be crying now too. I don’t know if that makes things better or worse.”

“Better,” said Lachlan. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” said Sam.

The two boys’ eyes met, sharing a long look. Jen averted her eyes, feeling her own tears starting to well up.

“Jen,” said Sam.

Jen looked up. Lachlan and Sam were both staring at her.

“What?” she said. “What’s wrong?”

“You’ve got something…. growing out of you,” said Sam.

A jolt of horror surged through her as she threw a frantic glance down at her body, thrashing around to examine her arms and legs and nearly falling from the branch.

She had what? What could be growing out of her? An alien parasite?

“What?!” she shrieked. “What’s growing out of me? Get it off!”

She felt Lachlan’s arms steady her from behind, preventing her from falling.

“Wow, Samurai, couldn’t you have said that in a more alarming way? I don’t think you terrified her nearly enough,” he said.

She was almost–almost–relieved when she saw what Sam was referring to, if only because it wasn’t an alien parasite. Prickly, golden spines erupted from her skin, starting at her shoulders and running down the front of her torso in two lines, ending at her hips. They were about three inches long, in fractal-like clusters that reminded her of pine needles, tearing and snagging at the fabric of her shirt.

After everything she’d had to deal with, she had freaking spines now.

The tears that had been threatening to fall a few seconds ago finally came.

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10.19

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Lachlan

Okay, focus, Lachlan’s logical brain said. This isn’t the time to be thinking about romantic confessions. My brain needs all metaphorical hands on deck if I want to make it out of this one alive.

He was just above the canopy now–he could see the garden walls, which seemed to extend infinitely into the sky, and the red forest, which went on past the horizon. He thought he saw something reaching up past the treetops in the distance, but it winked out of view as the creature holding him bobbed up and down.

The other two winged creatures burst from the treetops nearby with Sam and Jen hooked in their long, curved talons, and Lachlan finally got a good look at the creatures that were holding them.

They were roughly humanoid in shape, with long, spindly bodies, slick oily red skin the same color as the vegetation, and wide leathery bat-wings that looked like they had a span at least three times as wide as Lachlan was tall.

With any luck, Sam or Jen’s new superpowers would kick in any minute now. But Lachlan didn’t want to rely on luck.

Okay. Alright. Think, Lachlan. Think.

They were only a meter or two above the canopy, and the foliage beneath them looked thick enough to catch them. If the creatures released them now they’d probably be injured but it wouldn’t be certain death.

How would he get the creatures to release them, though? And would that even be the best course of action? What if he somehow got the creatures to drop them only for them to end up with broken legs in a hostile alien forest?

Would it be better to wait a few seconds to see if Sam or Jen’s abilities activated? Did they even have a few seconds? A few seconds was all it would take for the creatures to shoot up into the sky and make escape by falling impossible.

A flash of gold light from Jen’s direction interrupted his thoughts. The creature let out a hawk-like shriek, dropping her. She fell for a split second before ending up hovering just above the canopy. The creature fell too, dropping out of the air as though stunned and crashing through the canopy.

The creature holding Sam stopped, hovering in midair, and Jen took advantage of its distraction, charging it and ramming a shoulder into its chest. It let out a similar shriek to its companion, and dropped Sam. Jen quickly ‘caught’ him via telekinesis and placed him on a nearby branch.

A moment later, the second creature fell from the air and through the canopy.

Jen headed for the creature holding Lachlan, but she wasn’t quite fast enough.

Lachlan’s stomach churned as his captor shot into the air so fast he felt like he was on one of those slingshot carnival rides. He finally surrendered the last of his logical thought processes and let his panic consume his mind.

He increased his kicking and screaming tenfold, even though he wasn’t sure why. Struggling wasn’t going to do him any good. This thing had a vice grip on his shoulder, clutching him like a bird of prey with a rabbit, and even if he somehow managed to break that grip, a fall at this height would be lethal.

He couldn’t stop struggling though. If he stopped struggling, he’d be admitting that it was over. That there was nothing more he could do.

He couldn’t be helpless. He just couldn’t. He had to keep fighting.

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10.18

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Lachlan

Lachlan opened his mouth to call out Sam’s name, but before he could get any sound out, a long spindly claw wrapped around his shoulder, hooking into his shirt. Branches scraped his arms and snagged his clothes as he was pulled backward into the foliage behind him. Then his feet left the ground.

The thing was flying, lifting him higher and higher toward the canopy.

Before the past few days, Lachlan had never experienced true, mortal terror. By now, he’d experienced more of it than a lot of people do in a lifetime, and he’d noticed something about it.

When he was panicked enough, his animal brain seemed to take over, opting to fight, run away, scream in terror, or just freeze up, without any input from his higher cognitive functions. That didn’t surprise him.

What did surprise him was that his higher cognitive functions didn’t stop. They were still present–they just seemed to shrink down until they weren’t in control of his body anymore. It felt a little like being a passive observer in a body possessed by a panicked chimpanzee.

As most of his brain devoted itself to panicking, screaming, and flailing erratically, a small piece of it detached itself, continuing his normal thought processes.

Right now, that part was a bit relieved, as illogical as that was. The claws were holding him by the shoulders, but they weren’t restricting his arm movements. Ever since he’d woken up paralyzed in the van, being unable to move his limbs was the most terrifying thing he could imagine. Even more terrifying than being carried away by some kind of airborne alien predator. As long as he could move his arms, he could do something. He could figure something out. He wasn’t helpless.

That small part of him was also really, really annoyed.

Seriously? Another fucking thing? As if being kidnapped, ending up in an alien reality, being attacked by multiple monsters, actually dying, and then nearly suffocating wasn’t enough? Now he had to deal with this?

And the timing couldn’t have been more awkward.

He’d had no idea Sam felt that way. In fact, he’d assumed Sam had been straight the whole time. Now, it seemed so obvious he had no idea how he’d missed it.

Gender wasn’t really something that had ever mattered to him when it came to attraction. He didn’t consider himself gay or straight, and bisexual didn’t feel like the right word either. A classmate had once asked him what he was, and he’d responded ‘I’m just sexual’.

He watched a lot of comedy shows about pairs of guy friends who were vaguely gay-coded in a way that was probably meant as a joke for straight viewers. Maybe he should have found those shows slightly offensive, but it was the closest thing he’d found to seeing non-straight guys on TV that he could actually relate to.

When he pictured himself with a boyfriend, he’d always pictured himself in a relationship like he saw on those shows–two inseparable partners in crime who were always bantering with each other.

Even though he’d only known Sam for a few days, he’d already started to see him in that role.

He knew Sam lived on the other side of the world, that after they made it home, they wouldn’t be able to have any kind of real relationship, but they could talk about that later.

Now, he had to make sure he lived long enough to have that talk.

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10.17

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Lachlan

“You see,” said Sam, “the thing is… it was when we were in that tube thing. I don’t know how much you remember, but everyone started falling and it seemed like we were all done for.”

“I must have been mercifully unconscious for that part,” said Lachlan.

Something seemed to shift in the thick, red vegetation behind Sam, and Lachlan tried to ignore it. This was one of the worst places he’d ever had a serious conversation.

“Yeah,” said Sam. “Well, when we started falling, the same thing that happened to me back when I saw you die happened again. Well, kind of. I didn’t move through time, but I did start flying. You and Jen were the only two people near me, and I was only able to grab one of you…”

Oh. That explained a lot.

“I take it from the fact that we’re having this conversation that I was the one you grabbed,” said Lachlan.

Not that he wasn’t grateful that Sam had saved his life, but he didn’t really understand it. He and Sam had become fast friends for two people who had annoyed one another from the start, but they’d still only known each other for a few days. Why would Sam choose to save him over Jen, even in a split-second unconscious decision?

“Yeah,” said Sam.

Lachlan wasn’t sure what to say.

“Sam,” Jen cut in, “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. If I’ve pressured you into this, I’m sorry. I’m really mad at you right now, but you don’t deserve to be forced into something like this. No one does.”

Sam sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re not forcing me into anything,” said Sam. “Lachlan wanted to talk, and I’m making the choice to tell him.”

“I’m still lost here,” said Lachlan. “Tell me what?”

“Well,” said Sam, “you see, it’s like this. Um, I had this psychology class last semester and the professor said something…”

“Okay,” said Lachlan.

He had no idea where Sam could possibly be going with this.

“She said… um, she said romantic love is nothing more than a chemical reaction in the brain. Dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. It can be reduced down to a mere chemical formula. It can be manufactured in a lab. Which I’m sure is no surprise to you seeing as you think everything’s controlled by a mad scientist.” Sam chuckled nervously.

“I… see?” said Lachlan.

He definitely did not see.

“Any two people, she said, if they were stranded on a desert island, regardless of sexual orientation, compatibility, anything like that, their brains would eventually start releasing those chemicals if they were stuck with each other for long enough, and they’d fall in love with each other.”

“Alright,” said Lachlan.

“It was funny,” said Sam. “‘Cause there were these two frat morons in the front row laughing and being obnoxious when she mentioned sexual orientation, and she told them that if they were on a desert island together for long enough, they’d fall madly in love and they got so mad and embarrassed.”

“I’m all for owning homophobes,” said Lachlan, “and I’m not a psychology expert by any means, but that doesn’t sound accurate.”

“Maybe not, but I kinda believed it at the time. Well, I believed it in a way. I thought it applied most people–definitely people like those two jerks–but I assumed I was the exception. I’m a very intelligent person. I thought I was stronger than the chemicals in my brain. And then here I was, stuck here with you, and it took me, what? A day?” Sam gave another nervous chuckle. “Guess I’m not as smart as I thought I was, huh?”

Huh? Lachlan wasn’t following at all. What had taken Sam a day? What was he talking about?

“I’m not even into guys like that, or I didn’t think I was. I thought it was just the thing my professor was talking about. I thought it would go away when we ran into the others. When I saw Jen again. And then it just… didn’t.”

What would go away? What was Sam saying? What did he–

Oh. Oh.

Lachlan suddenly wished Jen wasn’t there with them. Romantic confessions were probably a lot less awkward without the confessor’s ex standing there and listening in.

Come to think of it, this was about the weirdest place to make a confession like this. The rest of the group was a few meters away talking to giant snake people, they were in some creepy red alien forest, and the foliage behind Sam kept shifting like something was rustling through it.

“So there you go,” said Sam. “I’m not expecting you to reciprocate or anything, but there you go. Now the cat’s out of the bag.”

“Sam, I–” Lachlan began. Then he stopped short.

“It’s okay,” said Sam. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“No, it’s not that,” said Lachlan.

There was something shifting through the trees behind Sam, something the same color as the slick red-purple foliage.

Before Lachlan could say anything else, a spindly, taloned hand slipped through the leaves, hooked around Sam’s shoulder, and pulled him backward into the undergrowth.

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10.16

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Jen

Jen studied Sam’s face, but she couldn’t read his expression. He’d become so different since the moment he’d developed his abilities, and so much harder to read. His nervous posture, the cute way he would squint when someone said something stupid–all of that was gone. He almost felt like a different person.

He’d used to lean against walls in way Jen had assumed was meant to look cool and casual. It had always backfired and made him look more awkward than effortless, but Jen had found it endearing. Now, he leaned against a tall rock without a trace of awkwardness, his expression neutral, looking exactly like some aloof jerk from a TV show and nothing like a guy who’d just been dumped.

“So,” said Lachlan, “let’s talk.”

Jen turned to Lachlan. She expected him to look annoyed or angry, but he just looked confused and taken aback. When she met his eyes, a tiny, sharp pang of guilt pierced her anger and hurt like a needle.

He didn’t even know what was going on. It wasn’t his fault, really.

Each of her outbursts and silent glares of the past ten or so minutes flashed in her mind, and she cringed. She’d always been told her positivity and kindness were her best qualities, but the way she’d acted was far from positive or kind.

“Okay,” she said. “First, I, um, want to apologize.”

“That would be appreciated,” said Lachlan.

“I was really mean to you, and that was super not okay. I’m sorry.”

“I accept your apology,” said Lachlan.

“Thanks,” said Jen.

“But I’m still confused as to what I did to warrant your ire,” he said.

Jen had half expected her anger to go away after she’d recognized it as unfair, but it came crashing back as soon as Lachlan spoke again. “Warrant your ire”? God, he was so pretentious. Who even talked like that? Couldn’t he just say “make you mad” like a normal person?

Jen closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I’m kind and positive, she told herself. I’m kind and positive.

“It’s not something you did,” said Jen. “It’s more complicated than that.”

“Are you going to clarify that statement at all?” said Lachlan.

“No,” she said.

Lachlan frowned. Jen rushed to speak again before he could say anything.

“Not because I’m refusing to tell you or anything! Nothing like that! Well, I guess technically I am refusing to tell you, but not ’cause I want to be mean or anything. It’s just that it’s not really my place to say.”

“No? Whose place is it, then?” said Lachlan.

Sam straightened up from where he leaned against the tall rock, a trace of his old nervousness on his face as he spoke.

“I, uh, think maybe it’s my place,” said Sam.

“I’m completely and utterly lost here,” said Lachlan. “I know you two broke up, but I still don’t get what that has to do with me.”

Ugh. Slow, much? You think you’re so smart, but you seriously don’t get it? It has everything to do with you, you moron! Nope. No. I’m kind and positive. I’m kind and positive.

Jen took another deep breath and stayed silent.

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10.15

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Lachlan

“The Gatherer?” said Lachlan. “Who’s the Gatherer?”

“That’s none of your concern!” hissed Toxzhesh.

Zarquozi ignored him.

“She’s an adult member of your species, that much we know from her scent,” said Zarquozi, “but that’s really all we know. We only see her when she enters the garden.”

“Why is she allowed in and we’re not?” said Angelina.

“She’s under the employment of She-Who-Wears-The-Stellar-Crown,” said Zarquozi. “She is allowed in the garden at the resplendent one’s discretion.”

“Fantastic,” said Lachlan. “So all we have to do to get back in is convince a temperamental alien goddess to hire us for odd jobs.”

“Somehow I doubt she’s looking for a chicken chef,” said Sam.

Jen whipped around to frown at them.

“We could have found a way to sneak back in, you know. If someone hadn’t let the snake guards know we wanted to get in.”

Lachlan stared at her for a minute. Jen’s demeanor had changed so much since they’d been swept up into the sky in the garden. She and Sam had broken up–Lachlan had gathered that much–but why did she seem angry at him too? He hadn’t done anything to her. He couldn’t have. He’d been unconscious for almost the entire time.

“I realize this isn’t the time for this conversation,” said Lachlan, “but since you seem so intent on having it, I think we need to discuss whatever problem you suddenly have with me.”

“Seriously?” said Mrs. Sharma.

“Yes,” said Lachlan. “Seriously. I don’t think Jen’s personal issues with me should be our priority right now either. But since she seems to want to keep bringing it up, fine. Let’s talk. Let’s hash it out. Jen, what is your problem with me?”

“You were going to sneak into the garden?” Toxzhesh’s hood flared. “No one can sneak into the garden!”

“Not now, dude,” said Sam. He turned to Lachlan. “I, um… I think maybe you’re right. We should talk. But not in front of everyone.”

“How about this?” said Lachlan. “The three of us go over there behind those fucked-up looking rocks and have a little heart-to-heart, and everyone else stays here and finds out more about this Gatherer.”

“Fine,” said Jen.

“No,” said Mrs. Sharma. “Absolutely not.”

Lachlan headed for the rocks. Sam and Jen followed him.

“What did I just say? Come back here this instant. I–” Mrs. Sharma sighed. “Why do I even bother? Whatever. If you three get eaten, I’m not coming to save you.”

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Interlude 27 — Nocturnal

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Belfry

Belfry leaned over the cup of hot liquid and took a sip. The flavor and temperature were strange, but he was so thirsty. He smelled something sweet in front of him and followed his nose to an ornate glass jar filled with sugar cubes. The tall, blond man noticed him and reached over, lifting the lid and handing one of the cubes to Belfry.

“Thank you, sir!” Belfry broke off a piece and ate it, closing his eyes to savor the sweet taste.

The man patted him on the head.

The furniture everyone was sitting on was far too big for Belfry, but he didn’t mind. He’d never had furniture to fit him–in his mind, furniture was for humans, not for whatever he was.

He wasn’t really sure what he was. The first humans he’d met had called him an ‘experiment’.

He liked the humans he was with now much more than the first humans he’d met, even if these ones didn’t understand what he was saying. Some of the first humans he’d known had been kind, but lots of them had done painful, scary things to him. None of them had given him sugar cubes without making him do something first, like solve a maze, or press a button that would hurt him if he pressed it wrong.

He looked around at the humans surrounding him. He didn’t see Chelsea or Angelina, and he missed them. He hoped they were okay.

He was glad to have returned to the garden they’d been before, though. It was much less scary than the dark, windy place. This garden was nice and warm, and there were plenty of sweet cubes to eat.

He wished he could understand what everyone was saying, though.

He turned his attention to the only other non-human in the group, fluttering down to the dog that was laying at the older woman’s feet. The dog sniffed him curiously, then laid his head back down and went to sleep. Belfry decided to follow the dog’s example and curled up next to him, closing his eyes and letting himself drift off into a nap.

Maybe the others would be back when he woke up.

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10.14

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Jen

The snake people peered at them through unblinking yellow eyes, their tongues flicking in the air. One of them was about Zogzhesh’s height with a long, thick tail and vivid red tint to some of his scales. The other stood at least three feet taller, with an olive and brown banded pattern that reminded Jen of a rattlesnake.

“Who’s there?” said the taller snake person.

Mrs. Sharma took a wary step forward.

“My name is Mona Sharma. Who are you?”

“We’ll ask the questions here if you don’t mind,” said the shorter snake person.

“I do mind, actually,” said Mrs. Sharma.

“We’re trying to find our friends,” said Angelina. “Have you seen them?”

The shorter snake person stepped forward, rearing his head up, spreading his hood like a cobra, and letting out a loud hiss.

“I said we’ll ask the questions,” he said.

Jen stepped backward. She’d always been a little creeped out by snakes.

“Settle down, Toxzhesh,” said the taller snake person. “They haven’t done anything yet.”

Toxzhesh turned his hiss on his companion.

“Don’t tell me to settle down!”

The taller snake person ignored him.

“My name is Zarquozi,” said the taller snake person. “We’re the guardians of Bath–“

“Don’t tell them your name!” hissed Toxzhesh.

Zarquozi hissed something at Toxzhesh in the strange snake language, and Toxzhesh hissed back. This went on for a minute, then the snake people turned back to the group.

“You were going to say Bathsheba just then,” said Sam. “You’re the guardians of Bathsheba?”

“That’s no concern of yours,” said Toxzhesh.

“We know her, though,” said Sam. “We just met her. You’re her personal guards or something?”

“No,” said Zarquozi. “We’re the guardians of her garden. Garden guardians.” Zarquozi let out an annoyed hiss. “It sounds ridiculous in your language. Garden guardians. Guardians of the garden.”

“In Italian, it’s guardiani del giardino,” said Angelina.

“That’s just as bad,” said Zarquozi. “In our language, it’s a beautiful, noble-sounding title.” She let out a series of bizarre, guttural hisses. “See? Much better than ‘garden guardians’.”

“Yes. Beautiful,” said Mrs. Sharma dryly.

“Would you consider maybe letting us into the garden?” said Lachlan.

Jen rolled her eyes. Of course they weren’t going to consider that. Why would he even ask? Not only was the answer definitely going to be ‘no’, but it would be harder to sneak into the garden if they needed to later.

Sure enough, Toxzhesh flared his hood out and let out another hiss.

“We are the protectors of Bathsheba’s garden! No one goes in!”

“Nice work, Mr. so-called-smart-guy,” Jen murmered.

Lachlan turned to look at her. Oops. She’d meant to say that under her breath.

“Did I do something to you?” he said. “Ever since we got dropped in this weird forest you keep looking at me like I kicked your mum in the face or something. I understand that I evidently somehow broke up your relationship whilst I was completely unconscious, but–“

Mrs. Sharma whipped around to face them.

“Can. You. Not. Have. Annoying. Teenage. Drama. For. Two. Seconds.”

Jen sighed. Mrs. Sharma had a point.

“Right. Yes, ma’am. Sorry. Not the time.”

“No,” said Mrs. Sharma. “It isn’t.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Lachlan. “It isn’t. Sorry.”

“I don’t know what you humans are arguing about, and I don’t care,” said Toxzhesh. “All I care about is keeping you out of the garden.”

“We do know Bathsheba, though,” said Sam. “I’m sure if you just asked her, she’d tell you it was fine to–“

Toxzhesh hissed again.

“Ask? You think we would dare disturb the wife of She-Who-Wears-The-Stellar-Crown?”

“So there’s no way you’ll let us in. Fine,” said Mrs. Sharma. “Can you at least tell us if you’ve seen any other humans around here?”

“Just one,” said Zarquozi.

“Who?” said Mrs. Sharma.

“The one they call ‘the Gatherer’.”

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10.13

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Lachlan

The group followed Jen through the strange forest toward the sound of the voices.

Something had seemed different about Jen since they’d reappeared in this alien forest. Her normally sunny demeanor was gone, replaced with a glower that she kept directed at him.

As if to provide an example for his thoughts, Jen stumbled over a small rock, then let out a groan of frustration, picking up the rock and hurling it at a tree.

“Stupid freaking rock,” she said.

“Is… your girlfriend alright?” Lachlan asked Sam.

“Ex-girlfriend,” said Sam.

Huh. So that was what that Bathsheba woman had meant by ‘suffering from a broken heart’.

“Ah,” said Lachlan. “Can I ask when the two of you found the time for a breakup during the events of today?”

“No,” said Sam.

“Well, alrighty, then,” said Lachlan.

Jen let out a derisive snort.

“So he doesn’t even know why?” she said. “Figures.”

“Know what?” said Lachlan. “I assume I’m the ‘he’ in question, but what does this have to do with me?”

“It has everything to do with you,” said Jen. ‘Ugh. Guys are so clueless.”

“Then by all means, enlighten me,” said Lachlan.

“Why don’t you ask Sam?” Jen’s voice dripped with contempt.

“Alright…?” said Lachlan. “Samurai, enlighten me.”

Sam’s demeanor had transformed dramatically since he’d unlocked his abilities. Before, he’d seemed nervous and a little awkward. Now, he stood up straighter, carrying himself with confidence and control. This was the first time since then that Lachlan had seen that confidence crack.

“I, uh… well…” Sam said. “It’s… kinda hard to explain.”

“Well, I’m dying of curiosity over here.”

“So… the thing is… I–“

“Whatever you three are squabbling about, this is obviously not the time for it,” said Mrs. Sharma.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Jen.

The voices grew louder as they approached. Lachlan couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he didn’t think it was in English. He exchanged a look with Sam and could tell he was thinking the same thing.

“Something tells me those aren’t the others we’re hearing,” said Sam.

Jen frowned at him.

“What makes you so sure?”

“They’re not speaking English,” said Lachlan.

“It’s not just not English,” said Angelina. “They don’t sound human. Their voices are weird. It reminds me of…”

They rounded a cluster of trees to find two massive, muscled figures, at least two meters tall and covered in olive scales. Each of them had a long, curved sword in a sheathe.

“Zogzhesh,” said Chelsea.

“Hold still,” Mrs. Sharma said. “Everyone be quiet and don’t let them see you.”

“More snake guys?” whispered Angelina.

“What did I just say?” hissed Mrs. Sharma.

The snake people looked up, both flicking their tongues into the air. One spoke to the other in their strange language, then they both turned their heads toward the group.

They’d been spotted.

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10.12

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Jen

The landscape that appeared around them seemed so alien it made Bathsheba’s strange garden sanctuary look like a backyard vegetable garden.

It was night–or at least it was as dark as night on Earth. Slick, red, coral-like trees surrounded them, reaching far up to block most of the sky in a dense layer. More plants, all of them in glassy shades of red-purple, covered the ground; some of them were little tufts growing from the surface of rocks, others had massive, broad fronds taller than she was. She thought she saw something faintly glowing slither under one of the leaves and disappear. Through the thick canopy, a faint ball of light glimmered in the sky far above them, either a moon or a small distant sun, blurry and wavering as though she was looking at it from underwater. The air was heavy in a way that reminded her of summer, but it was cold enough that she was shivering.

This place felt wrong in a way that made her ears crackle when she turned her head. It was obviously hospitable for humans in that there was enough oxygen for everyone to breathe and the pressure wasn’t crushing them to death, but it didn’t feel like it was meant for them.

“Is everyone alive and uninjured?” said Mrs. Sharma.

“Falcon’s missing.” Naomi’s voice was tight with panic.

“Belfry’s gone too,” said Chelsea. “He was right next to me.”

“I don’t see Mahender, Nancy, or the dog either,” said Lachlan.

“I told Dominic I was going to keep him safe.” Naomi’s voice cracked. “What am I going to do?”

“Calm down,” said Mrs. Sharma.

“How am I supposed to calm down?” said Naomi. “He’s gone! What am I going to tell Dominic?”

She rubbed at her eyes, brushing away tears.

“If he is in danger, crying like a baby isn’t going to help him,” said Mrs. Sharma. “We’ll do everything we can to find the others, but it’ll be much easier if everyone is calm and rational.”

“You’re right.” Naomi sniffled. “Sorry.”

“Now,” said Mrs. Sharma. “Is anyone missing other than Falcon, Nancy, her dog, Belfry, or my idiot nephew?”

She called out each remaining person’s name, and everyone responded.

“Okay, now that we know everyone else is accounted for, we can focus on finding the others. Since Stellar-whatever said she was going to let us all live, they’re likely to be nearby.”

“Hey, guys!” Angelina called into the trees. “Are you nearby?!”

“Stop that!” said Mrs. Sharma. “We don’t know anything about this place. If there’s anything dangerous out there, we don’t want to attract its attention.”

“No, we should make a lot of noise,” said Sam. “Loud noises scare away predators.”

“They do. Earth predators,” said Mrs. Sharma. “Who knows about the animals we might find here? Not to mention any sapient beings we might run into.”

Ha. Guess someone isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.

“So how are we supposed to find them if we can’t call out to them?” said Angelina.

“We can start by listening,” said Mrs. Sharma. “If they’re nearby, maybe we’ll hear them talking. Everyone, be quiet.”

Everyone fell silent. It was eerie how quiet everything was. Jen would have expected a dense forest like this to have birds or insects chirping, but there was no sound except the soft rustle of slick leaves.

Then, somewhere under the rustling, she heard voices almost too faint to make out.

“I think I hear them,” she said. “It’s coming from that way.”

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