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But as the oppressive air seeped into my lungs and through the pores of my skin, I found myself falling further into the dream, becoming my past self, feeling those emotions and the bruises on my skin from years past.
I shook but not from the cold—fear, screams, shouts, and groans echoed in my mind. Anticipation and dread swirled in my stomach as I strained to hear the familiar fearful sound of heavy boots. The boots of my master.
I waited, my eyes closed and my body tight in a ball. But nothing came.
Suddenly, light and heat warmed my skin, and I peeked through my fingers to see what was happening. My hands were a lot smaller than I remembered.
My head jerked away from them.What in the worlds?
And then I looked around.Where in the worlds?
It was a bright morning, the sun glaring down on the dry ground, and the backs of my legs were gritty with the kicked-up dirt and dust. The dry weather hadn’t stopped the leaves on the trees from being the beautiful rich green and the apples from being the perfect golden color Tartarus was famed for.
I'm home?
"Zaide!" a child shouted. "We are coming to find you." The patter of little feet raced toward me.
I jumped up and, with the movement, remembered this day. A day that I had pushed to the furthest crevice of my memory. And now I was trapped and helpless in the body of the boy I had been. I wanted to turn around, to see the faces of my siblings as they looked for me around the apple orchard, to see their joy and their freedom before it was taken forever.
My small legs sprinted, and my thin arms pumped as I raced through the trees, away from my siblings so they didn’t find me, as per the rules of the game.
I crawled in between logs, drying wood, and dead trees which were in a pile at the edges of the orchard. Pulling thick branches across the top of my hidey-hole, I settled in to wait for my siblings to find me. I picked up a smaller log, flipped a small whittling knife open, and began to carve.
Not long after I finished carving the first half of my log, I heard screams coming from the nearby village. I jumped out from my hiding place, pulse racing with fear at what I might find.
Mother always told us to run straight home. She and Father had built a secret door in the floor in which we were to hide if the slavers came. Their attacks had been more frequent, and my class at school was dwindling as more and more of us were taken. The gods could do nothing to protect us, yet we still prayed every night.
My siblings were somewhere behind me deep in the orchard, looking for me, calling and giggling and playing. and my head snapped around toward them.
I have to get them home. I have to get them home right now.
"Thos!" I whisper-shouted as I jogged back the way I came. I didn't want to draw attention to us through any noise and needed to quiet the girls before we were discovered.
"Found you!" Thos shouted as he spotted me through the trees, his white curls blowing in the wind. He was so young and beautiful that I wanted to cry, but I could only hiss at him with frustration and fear, raising a finger to my lips.
"Be quiet," I spat in a low tone.
His face fell, and his brow furrowed. "What is it?" he whispered.
"Where are the girls?" I asked as I grabbed his arm, dragging him further away from the screams and into the line of trees.
"They split up to look for you." His voice squeaked as he asked, "Are the slavers here?"
"Yes. We need to get the girls and run home."
He nodded and turned to look around for signs of them. A giggle sounded from nearby, and we both moved quickly toward it, darting between the trees.
The giggler was undoubtedly the youngest, Kadeia, who found joy in every day and fun in every small task. With her was probably the oldest of the girls, Maderes. A fierce warrior, she often protected Kadeia, walking her to school and ensuring she never saw the terrible tragedies in this world. She cherished her joy because it was so rare.
"Maddie, Deia, where are you?" I whispered.
"Zaide, we are supposed to be seeking you!" Kadeia giggled again as she appeared from behind a tree. She poked me and said, "Silly."
I picked her up and hugged her, holding her head so she looked over my shoulder. I looked at Maderes, and without saying anything, she nodded. Having heard the screams, she'd turned to walk home at her normally quick pace so as not to alarm Kadeia.
"Efari?" she asked.
"Probably hiding," Thos added.
