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I cleared my throat and they stirred. Lanas shot a grim look at me as he rose from his slumber, his face heavy with a scowl. He pulled on his clothes. Ava rose to a sitting position and wrapped the blanket around her figure, accentuating every curve of her body and leaving little to the imagination. My gaze was drawn to her and it was almost enough to make me stumble over my words. Her face was still bruised, although it looked to be recovering nicely. Her hair framed her face. She was indeed a thing of beauty.
“Well, have you come to tell me your judgment?” Ava asked.
“I came to inform you about what is going to happen next,” I said.
“And what is going to happen next?” she arched an eyebrow, indicating that she had little respect for me. “I would have thought the leaders of your pride would come and tell me their decision. I didn’t realize they were going to send a messenger.”
I ignored the barbed word and clasped my hands behind my back. “They said that because this decision is something I’m going to live with in the future I am the one who should make it. They’re placing their trust in me, so I’m going to go back with you and meet your pride, and determine if you are able to come back and live in Orestes.”
Ava gave me a sour look. “And why can’t you make the decision now? Why not tell them that you have approved our request?”
“Because I need to see your world for myself. I want to see the conditions that you have lived with. I want to understand better the suffering you have endured, and I wish to speak to your people myself to make sure that they are not going to threaten Orestes. Besides, I think you could do with some more practice of your power.”
“What do you know of my power?”
“I may not have the ability myself, but I have seen my father use it often. There is more to your ability that simply slipping between worlds.”
“Tell me what more there is.”
I smiled. Finally, I had her on the back foot. “All in good time. First, we should make arrangements to leave.”
“Well, I am ready whenever you are. The sooner we get back the sooner you can make your judgment,” she said, rising to her feet.
“Indeed,” I said. She turned away and walked behind a small divider that she used to get changed. I watched the blanket slip away as she passed behind this and caught a glimpse of her bare skin. It was enough to warm my flesh and I had to swallow a tight lump in my throat. Moments later she emerged wearing her usual attire again. She did not seem to be ashamed of the bruises upon her skin, but that was her due as a warrior. No scar in battle was anything to be ashamed of.
I stood beside Lanas as she came to us and placed her hands on us.
“So all I have to do is think of home,” she said, as if reminding herself what was required of her in this moment. She then closed her eyes and the air started to shudder around us. There was a violent drumbeat and this wasn’t anything like I had experienced before. Usually the portals were smooth, but this one was jagged and unpredictable and it seemed as though we were going to fall through the world instead of walk through it. I cried out, trying to talk some sense into her, but it was already too late.
*
I felt as though my stomach had left my body as we twisted through the universe and emerged in another world, a dry, choking world. As soon as we entered it I felt the weight of the oppressive heat pressing down on my shoulders. The dry air burned my throat and lungs, and my skin bristled as though a thousand tiny spikes were pricking into it. The sun was brighter than on Orestes, and I was forced to squint as I looked up. It was as though everything was more intense here, harder, and it was no wonder that Ava had learned to become as tough as she had been, or that Lanas looked so withered.
This world was dying, and in its death throes it was seeking to take everything with it.
We were standing on a ridge, looking over a world that seemed to be covered in blood. There was no lush foliage, no wildlife roaming the land, no rivers rushing by in great torrents. It looked as though everything had been stripped away in one great motion, as though a hand had come down from the sky and ripped everything off, leaving the wound sore and bleeding underneath.
“What happened here?” I gasped.
“Nothing happened other than life, and time. Everything decays in this world, even Orestes one day,” Ava said, coming to stand beside me. I couldn’t believe that would ever be the case, and yet here we were. “I assume that the original lions never though this would happen. I assume they believed they were being kind when they sent our ancestors here, a bunch of criminals to be sentenced to a new world where they could cause nobody else any problems. Except now this world is a death sentence. Does that seem fair to you?”
I did not say anything in response because the answer was obvious.
We turned away and followed her down the ridge to the village. The huts were tattered and covered in thick material that was worn and weathered. It looked as though a storm had passed through, but this hadn’t been a storm at all, it was just years and years of grinding heat.
“It’s quite a stark contrast to Orestes, isn’t it?” Ava continued as she saw the look on my face. “We can’t afford to look to the future. We can’t afford to plan and get excited about what’s going to happen next because we’re too busy surviving. Our hunters trawl the world for anything to eat, but the herds died off a long time ago. We’re lucky if we manage to find a small offering of meat. Our main diet consists of insects. We have to walk miles to find water, and then it takes an age to carry it back because one drop spilled is a drop wasted, for nothing can grow in this world now. This is why I did not want to wait for your people to make their minds up. Every moment spent in this world is another moment closer to my pride’s death. Can you understand now?”
I nodded somberly as we saw people emerge from their huts. They clustered in the shade, huddling together. They were gaunt and worn, just like the world around them. Fear lived in their eyes, while their lips were dusty and cracked. It made Ava even more impressive. She had been able to hold onto her strength and determination in a world that had betrayed her. She fought harder than perhaps any lion ever had, certainly any that I knew. Orestes had its challenges certainly, but it was not like this. Nothing like this.
I turned to speak to her, but as soon as I did there was a loud cry from the distance. A man in a long robe scurried over to us. His face was long and he scowled. He frowned when he saw me, but his attention was reserved for Ava.
“What do you think you are doing? You have brought a curse upon us Ava, a curse! I have been praying to the gods of Orestes every night since you have left. Do you realize what you have put your people through? You have abandoned them! If your father were alive…”
“If my father were alive then this pride would be preparing for its death,” Ava spoke. “I’ve actually managed to get us a chance to live Darrow, if you can believe that.”
The look on Darrow’s face clearly indicated that he did not believe it, but he remained silent, merely gnashing his teeth. “What chance is this? What forsaken world have you found? Who is this?” he asked, nodding towards me.
“This is Mika. He is our guest, from Orestes.”
