Lazarus Rising

1.29 Moonfleet

She flew out of the Extensivity straight into Jamek's arms, bringing them both crashing to the ground. For a few moments Cheyenne lay breathlessly looking up at the rotating column of blackness, praying that what had been pursuing her would not come through.

As she lay feeling the reassuring warmth of the ground on her back, Jamek's face popped into view above her. His military haircut had grown out a little and his face had tanned, giving him a ruggedly handsome look that he would not have approved of.

Pushing him roughly aside she checked the wall of rotating spheres. Nothing. Relieved she dropped her head back on the ground.

Jamek smiled uncertainly at being shouldered aside. "Are you alright?"

She sat, patted her upper arms and ran her fingers down the side of her rib cage. She felt nothing of the pain she associated with the Jörmungand sting. Jamek held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. For a moment they stood together looking into at the vastness of the Extensivity. Despite being not fully cognisant when she was first there she could remember the temple as if through a distant dream. "Have I been gone for long?"

"A week. The problem was Runf was unable to say how long you might be in there. We've been worried sick. What happened?"

"I'm not sure, I didn't go there, and that's for sure." She paused and they watched a planet clad in soft moss forests and sharp pea green seas, whirl majestically by in the torrent of stars and recede into the immensity of space. "But I did seem to go back in time and to Earth."

"Like recalled memories?"

"Maybe. In part, anyway. Or a prophecy, if you believe in such things." she said hesitantly. "Where are the others?"

"Down by the river, come I'll take you."

*

"What happened, you must tell us, where did you go, what did you do? We need every detail." Lazarus pressed, his eyes glinting sharply in the firelight.

Runf laid a plate of hot food on her lap. As the aroma of salted meat and grilled vegetables hit her she realised how hungry she was. Runf stood back and watched her ravenously tuck into the dish. "Lazarus, let her eat undisturbed, she needs to build up her strength. She hasn't eaten for close on two weeks. Leave her be."

After her meal Runf had brought her some peace from Lazarus's incessant questioning, which she'd tactfully avoided until it had become tiresome. Sensing this Runf had told her to sit quietly and gather her strength and warned the others to stay away from her while she took time to recuperate. She sat alone on the quay kicking her heals in the cooling waters. Alone she could savour the warming glare of the suns glow on the rivers surface and the feel of the rough stone under her fingers. Behind her, Runf's men had a pan sizzling on an open fire and were laying out the mats where they would sleep when the sun dipped beneath the roof of the valley.

She studied her reflection into the deep pool below her. Like Jamek her hair had grown out and now fell in long locks around her shoulders, covering her dragon tattoo. Her newly tanned features stared back at her. Did her Lylac eyes burn with a new intensity? She leaned forward, were they brighter than before? She decided she couldn't tell and pushed her hair back and watched as the crystal fish darted to and fro in a curious game of tag.

Was it a prophesy she'd heard in the Extensivity, a foretelling? Don't blame those around you for what they did. What did that mean? Who? She looked up at the party sitting around the fire. Jamek and Charisa, recently returned from a trip exploring the ancient city, laughing and chatting together. She trusted Jamek with her life following the encounter at the graveyard and her rescue from Urbaine's clutches. And Charisa, the enigmatic Synthoid, she'd saved Charisa's life on the Mnemosyne. But did that that mean anything –to a Synthoid? But Charisa had been there at the Martian shipwreck to help them, so there was obviously some loyalty she felt toward Cheyenne. Cheyenne's gaze shifted to Lazarus who now sat back in the lee of the wall, watching her from the shadows. Lazarus, brilliant, pompous and arrogant, all contained within a starkly strange body. What did she really know about him? In fact what did she really know about any of them, she'd only known them all for such a short time.