Strings - Camp NaNoWriMo 2017

«Mirror Worlds - 5»

I turned a full circle, trying to get my bearings on my surroundings. I seemed to be in a field, somewhere away from where I was before. A thin layer of moss carpeted everything, a soft cover. Tufts of thicker grasses stuck out at random intervals. Flickering fireflies illuminated the near darkness.

Before I could explore much else, a disrupting energy interrupted my train of thought. I whirled around, my breath catching. An identical rift stood before me, although it seemed... deserted. It was completely silent, without any figures bounding in and out of it. I walked around it in a slow circle, peering around at the other side.

"What is this place?" I wondered aloud. It seemed completely empty. "Hello?" I called out. I looked around some more. In the distance grew an expanse of trees, tall and lithe. Beyond that, shimmering mists.

Biting my lip, I turned back to the rift. Then back to the trees. I glanced back and forth, indecisive.

A form stepped out of the shadows of the forest. I took a wary step back. A small, wolf-like creature emerged from the dark. It had long, dark brown fur, and was about the size of a household cat.

"Hi," I said stupidly, unable to think of anything else.

The animal took a few steps closer. I began to notice more forms, watching me from the cover of the leaves.

"Can you help?" I asked.

The animal stopped, taking a seat on the ground, watching. I stared back.

I took a long look at the rift. "What happens if I go in?" I queried.

Still, nothing. I took a step towards the gate. The creature didn't move a muscle.

I shrugged. "There doesn't seem to be another way, does there?" I asked aloud. I took one last look around, and... stepped in.

I was hit with a paralyzing shock, like stepping into freezing water. It was as if dozens of people were talking to me at once, forcing all their thoughts into me. When I was able to breathe at last, I looked around, and saw... nothing. Just whiteness.

I frowned, concentrating instead on the pulls of energy. At least I wasn't dead. Or am I?

The currents I usually had to hone in on were all around me now, practically having to bend themselves around the shape of my body to continue flowing. I was a three-dimensional force in the realm of all things that were purely apparitional, a disturbance in a dimension of the figurative.

Close the rift. The thought floated to the top of my consciousness, emerging on top of the jumbled sea. It seemed hard to think, to get my mind to work in a straight line. You have to save the village.

Right. I moved my right foot forward, finding that I had to consciously focus on the command to make it happen. It was like moving through a substance as thick as honey. Maybe I don't have to move, I thought to myself, stopping in my tracks. I struggled to keep my mind operational. Concentrate. Concentrate. I splayed out my fingers, feeling. The rifts were easier to sense here. I could feel their physical presence pulsing like veins beneath my fingertips.

I tugged half-heartedly at one, uncertain of everything. I wasn't even sure where I was, or how I was going to get back.

The current of energy responded with a slight jump. I moved back, startled. It had reacted a lot more violently than I was used to, a lurch as opposed to a slight twitch. I tugged harder, and it leaped again. A slight thrum vibrated the air, shaking the area and sending pinpricks up my body, making me shiver.

I grabbed at multiple energy flows, experimenting with something I hadn't been able to do before. Then, pushing out my own energy, I pulled at them, snapping them like reins. The room resounded with a deep tremor. A backlash hit me like a storm, sending piercing jolts up through my arms, gripping my heart. But through the shock, I had seen something - the faint outline of my dimension, the faded brick walls of the courtyard. The sight sent determination surging through me, filling me with hope.

I pulled once more, stretching out all the energy I could spare. The outline of the town came into view once more, as if the flow was parting make room for this window into the other side. Again and again I pulled, until the edges of my vision started to go dark with every new exertion.

I'm not doing it right. Again and again I tried, using up all the energy I could possibly spare. But again and again I failed, the edges of the town barely coming into view before the image sputtered out.

Hopelessness settled upon me once again. I have to close the gate. My sense of purpose was still in place. Even if... even if I can't get out. I have to close the rift.

I began to concentrate on weaving the currents of energy together, binding them so that nothing could leak out. In the absence of the sharp jolts keeping me awake, I could feel myself drifting off once more. Humans aren't meant to be in this dimension, I thought, my mind sluggish. I'm... dying. Even as the thought occurred to me, I could feel my mind processes shutting down. In a few minutes, I would completely slip away.

I inhaled deeply. The air felt too thick to breathe. I concentrated with all my will on pushing out my energy, binding the current together. I felt the rift like a vortex, soaking in all the broken flows. I reached out for it, reconnecting the delicate strands. Every time I fixed one, a bolt of pain jolted through me, an electric shock.

I was nearly done. Every shock seemed to bring less pain. I was grateful for this, yet simultaneously worried. Part of me knew that this was just a result of my body becoming number, and number, merging to become one with this strange place.

Last one. I could barely feel the shock rise up my spine.

Suddenly, the pull of the rift stopped. All became still once more. I managed to turn my head slightly, staring all around. Nothing else had changed.

Well.

I guess I just... wait.

I stood still, closing my eyes. Everything around me dulled to a distant thrum.

Then everything disappeared completely.

As quickly as it had quieted, it all roared back to life. Everything began to shake, and a drowning roar filled my ears. Although I didn't open my eyes, I felt the energy around me change. Suddenly I was falling. My eyes fluttered open just in time for my instincts to kick in. I stuck my hands out in front of me, bracing for impact.

I hit the ground with my side, sending me skidding across the cobblestone. I raised my hands to my face in a daze. Scraped covered my palms. And... I could feel them.

I glanced up. People stood cowering behind buildings, staring at me with wide eyes. Judging by the glances they were casting, I might as well be a ghost. A grin grew on my face, no doubt making me look crazed.

"I'm back," I said to myself, sinking down onto my knees. "I'm alive and..." I gave it a moment of thought. "And I hurt like hell. But I'm alive." I became aware of tears welling up in my eyes.

I had done it.

{End of Story Four}

{End of Book}