World Of War (Arula: Three)

Chapter 16

Karma frustratingly stared down at the map in her hands, it was the same map that the twin dwarfs gave her two weeks ago. Time was running out and she was getting angry. She could just hear the battle in her head as she imagined the dwarves and goblins going into war. Karma crumbled the map into a ball and tossed it on the ground. Letting out at growl, she sat down on a fallen log. Omar was leaning against a tree, silently watching his friend. "So," Omar said. "Now that you're done, should we talk about the other issue at hand?"

"What other issue?" Karma asked in great annoyance. Omar nodded to the other side of the camp. Looking in that general area, Karma could see the young man sitting on the ground staring at a fire that blazed in front of him. "Oh. That." Standing up, Karma made her way to the young man. "You." She said, which startled him. "What's your name since apparently you know mine... which we will get to the bottom of how here shortly."

"J-Jason Owens." Jason said.

"Okay... Jason. Tell me. How did you end up here in Arula?" Karma asked and folded her arms.

"Well..." Jason said. "It started almost two weeks ago when my car broke down a few miles from your town. The tow truck came and dropped me off there. Apparently, your town doesn't have a car rental shop and your motel was filled because it was fishing season. I had to find a 'room for rent', which I did. A Mrs. Lucas if you recall her?" Karma did recall a Mrs. Lucas. Her seventy-year old neighbor. She motioned Jason to continue. "Well, first of all, when I searched the bulletin board out by town hall, I saw a missing poster and it had your picture on it, so that's how I know about you.

"As I was staying with Mrs. Lucas, I met your brother, Dennis, that's his name, right?" Karma didn't answer him. "Anyhow, I asked Mrs. Lucas about her neighbors, or your family, she told me that you went missing almost two years ago and no one could ever find you. Almost two weeks past and for unknown reason, I went into the woods behind the house. I found a treehouse and climbed up inside it to my curiosity and found papers littered on the floor and a giant map torn on the wall.

"As I was walking around the room, I kicked something and found some weird glass sphere thing. I accidentally dropped it and it exploded into a bright light. I stepped through and here I am." Karma narrowed her eyes at Jason as he finished his tale. She suddenly growled and cursed her sister, Alice, for not being more careful.

"Was that the only glass sphere you found?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"I-I believe so." Jason admitted, then he asked, "is there a way for me to go home now?" Karma chuckled.

"Home?" She said cruelly. "You know that you need two of those portals, right?" Jason's eyes grew wide.

"What do you mean, I need two?"

"Those portals are a 'use once only' type of deal. To get here, you need one portal, and to get back to the Otherworld, or Earth, you need another one. So, when you come here, you got to make sure that you bring another with you. And since you didn't see another portal it seems like to me that you're stuck here." With a huff, she turned away from him and began to walk back to her group.

"What?!" Jason yelled, jumping to his feet. He chased after her. "You mean I can't go back unless I have one of those portals?"

"Ding, ding, ding! You are correct!" Karma said in an unsympathetic tone. Omar pushed off his tree to join Karma and Jason, soon followed Dagner, curious to know what was going on.

"Karma..." Omar said in a low voice. "Be nice. He's new here." Karma snorted, not caring in the least.

"Well he should've thought about that before jumping through a portal." Karma said.

"How was I supposed to know!" Jason said reaching for Karma's arm. "Please tell me you have one?" Karma swung around the moment that Jason's hand touched her arm. She took his hand twisted it behind him before giving him a push away from her, he stumbled for a moment as he tried to find his balance.

"No, I don't." Karma said. Jason stared at her with a wide-eyed look. He rubbed the wrist that Karma had ruthlessly twisted.

"B-but I can't be stuck here!" He said walking backwards toward a tree. "I have a life! A career! School! My mother and my brother!" Jason began to list everything back at home. He kept repeating and repeating the same words. He kept backing up, not paying attention where he was going. His heel found a tree root sticking out of ground causing Jason to fall backwards. His arms spun like windmills and his feet flew up beneath him. "Ahh-" He was suddenly cut off from his screaming as he fell into nothing and disappeared from sight.

----

Karma, Omar, and Dagner all jumped in surprised as they witnessed Jason's fall. The "nothing" had taken Jason. When the surprise had washed over them, Karma shrugged and turned away. "Oh well," she said. "Now that he's gone, I can finally concentrate on better things."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Omar said and grabbed Karma gently by the arm. "Where do you think you're going? We just found what we were looking for! And you want to give up now that that poor boy fell into it?" Karma growled. Not liking Omar's logic. As much as Jason had started to get on her nerves, she knew that Omar was right.

"Grr, you're right, of course." Karma said pacing the area. "But what to do?" She glanced at the spot where Jason had mysteriously disappeared. "If one of us goes in there..."

"Then one of us may be stuck and need another rescuer." Dagner pointed out.

"Yes, there's also that issue..." Karma said and paused by the ryder wolves. She suddenly remembered that they packed rope into one of their sacks just in case they wanted to set up a tent or something. She bristly walked over to Sampson and took one of the sacks that laid next to the wolf and started rummaging through it.

"Karma?" Omar asked. "What are you looking for?" But Karma didn't answer. She found the rope she was looking for wrapped up in a bundle.

"This." She said. "I'm going to tie one end of the rope to myself then tie the other to a sturdy tree."

"Are you sure that's going to work, Lass?" Dagner asked with a great concern.

"There's only one way to find out." Karma replied.

"But what if you get stuck and we can't do anything to help?" Omar asked.

"Let's just hope that it works." Was all Karma could say. "I'll go in and figure out how to free all the dwarves, if they're in there, and we can finally stop this war... if it hasn't started already." Minutes later, one end of the rope was tied tightly around Karma's waist while the other was tied extra tight to a sturdy tree.

"Good luck." Omar said giving his friend a squeeze on the shoulder. "You'll need it."

"Thanks." Karma said and stepped up to the nothing. To make sure it was where it was, she took a stick and tossed it. The stick flew into the air and disappeared liked Jason had. Karma took a deep breath and with one step she disappeared into the nothing.