Page 39 of Skalterra By Nightmare
“And we haven’t actuallybeenapart, have we? Not if Skalterra has been pulling sleeping Keldorians in every night for hundreds of years. So our language developed alongside each other, rather than separate of each other.”
Ferrin nodded approvingly, but a man ordering at the nearby counter interrupted us before he could reply.
“Is that how the kids are doing their hair these days?” he grumbled. “Blue?”
Skalterra and Keldori were still very much alike in more than what languages we spoke.
I took a pastry at Orla’s urging and picked at the peach slices.
“You said there have been other lucid Nightmares?” I spoke low enough that the judgmental man at the counter wouldn’t hear me.
Ferrin’s smile faded.
“Yes, but it’s been a while.” His words were slow and careful.
“Then why does it happen? Why am I different?”
“We have theories. The Rift wasn’t a perfect split between our worlds. Families that had both Magicians and normal humans were torn between Skalterra and Keldori. It’s possible your family line goes back to those few who were left behind.”
If that were the case, I’d reach a dead end fast. Gams had been adopted. She knew nothing of her birth family, and she refused to speak about Mom’s biological father. As for myownbiological father, Maxwell Brenton, PhD, was as much a stranger to me as anyone.
“Okay, and what are your other theories?” I pressed.
“Skal leaks from Keldori to Skalterra. It’s possible you have spent an unusual amount of time near one of those schisms. Your proximity to Skal and to Skalterra could make you more connected to our world than others.”
I thought back to the suburban neighborhood I’d grown up in. Linsey had only lived a few streets away. Hopefully I didn’t come across her in Skalterra. I pushed away the thought. I’d rather face the Grimguard again than some Nightmare version of Linsey.
“It doesn’t really matter, though, does it?” Orla smiled through a mouthful of pastry. “You’re here now!”
“I have a life back on Keldori. Even after we get Fana to the Second Sentinel, I have things at home to worry about. I don’t want to keep coming back to Skalterra.”
However, I stared at the spot on the table where Ferrin’s map had burned out. I hadn’t seen much of Skalterra outside of dark forests and the train we now rode, but that map, along with the eclectic outfits of the other passengers, held a promise of an entire world to explore and discover.
“Uncle?” Orla said, suddenly serious. I turned my attention to Ferrin where he stared at the window, fighting to see past our reflections and into the passing forest outside.
“I thought I saw something,” he murmured. “It’s too bright in here.”
He stood and pushed his way behind the counter.
“Sir—” the Nightmare worker protested. Ferrin held a hand up, and the Nightmare didn’t have the wherewithal to argue. He stood back and continued to survey the dining cart with a faraway look as Ferrin forced his way through the sliding door and into the kitchen.
I tripped in my haste to follow Orla after Ferrin. Two cooks stood over a stove that burned with red skalflames. They regarded us with the same blank stare the counter-worker had donned, and I faltered as I realized they were also Nightmares.
Ferrin threw open the far door, and rushing wind ripped through the kitchen cart. The cooks swayed in the torrent, but otherwise stayed put as Orla and I followed Ferrin out into an open air cart. A tangle of pipes ran along either side of us, presumably transporting Skal to the rest of the steamcart from the massive, black engine that whistled and hissed ahead. Steam that glowed a soft ruby color billowed from the head of the engine, staining the star-streaked sky.
Wind ripped at my blue hair, and I steadied myself against a low railing.
The twin moons glittered in an ocean of foreign stars, washing the trees in the valley below us in silver. Beyond the forest, a massive lake reflected the moons back up at the sky, and the distant silhouette of a mountain range cut jagged shapes into the night. Three peaks stood taller than the rest, and I wondered if those were the First, Second, and Third Sentinels.
“There!” Ferrin leaned over the railing to point through the tangle of pipes. “Did you see that?”
The wind snatched at his voice, and I struggled to hear him over the whistling of the engine. Orla peered out into the forest, but we were moving so quickly, I doubted she’d be able to see anything.
But then I saw it too.
At first, I thought it was a trick of the double moons, casting dual shadows through the woods. However, the shadow twisted, nimble and lithe, through the nearest trees, and seemed to exist in spite of the moonlight rather than because of it.
Orla yelped in surprise and pulled her goggles down over her eyes. She lit green fire that danced between her fingertips, ready to draw forth whatever weapon she deemed best fit to fight the dark shape.
