Barren

The mud covered all surfaces in the landscape of her dream. It was black and stank like the bowels of the oceans. She walked a step, slipped on the stones and fell. When she looked up a small light floated above her. It was green, like a vibrant forest, the likes of which hadn’t been seen on earth for hundreds of years. She lifted a hand in front of her face to block the brightness of it. She brought her legs up beneath her and managed to stand. She was now covered in the mud as well. It seemed to swallow everything that it touched.

You. A voice spoke to her. Was it coming from the light? You have the key. The key that will save us all. The key?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She told the voice, her voice shaking. It made her nervous. No, not nervous, but expectant?

You do not need to know what I speak of. All will become clear with time. Now wake. She gasped as she was quite ruthlessly pulled from the dream.

“Rayne, are you okay?”

“I, I think so.” She answered. The dream had been so surreal. And that voice had been odd. Not really male nor female. It just...was.

Mari eyed her curiously. “You don’t seem okay.” The girl’s voice softly echoed within the cave. “Come on, you can tell your little sister anything!”

“No, really Mari. I’m fine. Now, come on, let’s go catch something for breakfast.”

“If you say so.”

The two girls brushed off their ragged clothes and folded their meager belongings. Rayne made sure to tuck the necklace her mother had given her into her bag’s hidden pocket. The last thing she needed was some small grubby fingers relieving her of it. They each shouldered their bags carrying only the essentials. That was the way of the klajoklis. Those who had no home. They walked out of the small cave that they’d claimed for the night. A red sky greeted them. Unrelenting heat struck and was enough to make them consider going back inside. The landscape was sparse, nothing but a few boulders. Rayne remembered the stories that her mother used to tell them. That of trees and grass, streams and rivers. Of the vast salty oceans and the miles of blue sky.

The scientists had always said that the sun would one day become close to the earth and as far as Rayne could tell, they’d been right. Her mother had also told her stories of when there had been people with different skin colors. Her own was a deep brown, but mother had claimed that once, there had been people with white skin. Supposedly there had even been disagreements and fighting about how people with darker skin were treated. Rayne had never seen anyone with light skin and was disinclined to believe it. It seemed like a story that someone made up to tell children to get along. Besides, it all seemed silly when compared with the vast hellscape she walked now. If she had lived in that time, she’d simply be grateful that she didn’t have to hunt her breakfast every morning.

Her feet followed a worn path through the stone. That’s all there seemed to ever be. Stone, stone, stone. No dirt and certainly no oceans. She looked behind to make sure that Mari was following. She’d promised her mother that she would always look out for her little sister. She would never break that promise. They made their way along the edge of a cliff skirting a deep gorge. Her mother had also told her that this area used to be called Lake Michigan. A body of freshwater that had since dried up. She wasn’t really sure what a lake would look like since she really didn’t know how the color blue looked. Everything was either red, black, or grey. Never any other color. Other than that peculiar color that the light in her dream had been. She had innately known that it was called green, but she had never seen it before. Nor had she seen anything that had looked so...alive.

A screeching sound echoed above them and Rayne looked up to see a kiras. It glided above her on soot-stained wings. It’s flock had gathered to descend on some poor unsuspecting animal. They gathered around all screeching and squawking as they devoured their meal. Silently, Rayne pulled her bow from its place in her bag and she strung it. The kiras were distracted and ripe for the picking. She just needed to wait for it and perfect! The birds as a group began to fly away. All she needed to do was hit one. Arrow nocked, she aimed and let loose. One of the beasts was caught in the neck and it fell, dead.

“Looks like I got us breakfast.” Rayne said, turning to smile at Mari, but it faltered. Mari was nowhere to be seen. “Mari?”

She turned completely around and studied the barren area. No Mari. The kiras forgotten, Rayne ran back to the cave. She stumbled over uneven ground and slammed to her knees in front of the cave. Not here. She’s not here. Standing, unaware of the pain her fall had caused, she ran back to the gorge. Minutes later she was back to where the kiras had died. Still no sign of her. Gasping in deep, ragged breaths, she fell to her knees. She screamed her sister’s name out, anguish coloring her words. Tears streamed down her face. Her promise, broken.

Hugging herself, Rayne stood to go get the kiras carcass. The bird shouldn’t go to waste, even if the idea of eating made her sick. As she moved to where the bird had gone down, her foot caught on a stone. She felt her foot catch and her vision tip as she toppled over. Too late, she realized that she was going to fall into a shorter section of the gorge. Unable to curb her momentum, she curled in on herself and prayed for a safe landing.

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He had watched the girl fall into the canyon. He assumed that he would find a lifeless body when he reached her, but she had still been breathing. He pulled her atop his arklys and set her in front of him. He rode fast. This fit. With everything he had ever known, ever been told. He had been sent to wait for her at this specific time, this specific place. She was it, the one. He almost laughed at himself. He sounded like the elder. The elder was crazy. This was an insane coincidence. It didn’t matter, she was hurt and she needed help. He needed to take her to the gydytojas.

He urged his mount faster. Come on, come on. Her breathing was growing shallower and his worry only grew. The arklys huffed as he was pushed to top speed. “I swear, you’d better be the one. I’m not sure that you’re worth all this effort otherwise.”

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Rayne gasped, pain filling every space in her mind. Her head ached and her mouth was as dry as a dessert. She opened her eyes and didn’t recognize the space above her. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the smooth stone of a cave, but rather rough. Her bag, where was her bag? She fumbled around until she found the secret pocket and pulled it out, relieved. Unfortunately the relief was short-lived. Mari. She felt tears well in her eyes. “Dammit!” She slammed her fist down onto the nearest surface. Her sister, her promise. Rayne stood up on wobbly legs, determined to go look for her. She had to find her. She made her way out of what seemed to be a small shack and stopped, shocked to find herself in a village of some sort. The buildings were made of some sort of brick. Each one ragged and uneven.

A man saw her and made his way over to her. “You’re awake.” He said by way of greeting.

“I suppose you could say that.”

“We’ve been waiting for you to wake, there is a matter of great importance that must be discussed with you.”

A matter of importance? Why would there be anything to talk about with her, that was unless…

“Is it about my sister?”

The man looked startled. “Sister? You were alone when I found you, unconscious.”

Not about Mari then. “What is this all about?”

“You’ll see, come with me.”

Rayne crossed her arms and stopped in her tracks. “I don’t think so. Why would I go with you, I don’t even know your name.”

The man sighed. “You may call me Rider.” He began walking again, but she still didn’t follow.

“Where are we? I’ve never seen this place before.”

Ryder turned back and crossed his arms. “This is Lengvas. We are the people who want to restore the word to what it used to be, what it should be.”

Shaking her head, she gestured for him to walk. She supposed that she would find out more when they got to wherever they were going. She looked around the village as they walked through, taking note of the people. There were old women and men, but there were also children running around. She hadn’t seen children in ages. Most people she had seen in recent years had been lone klajoklis, like her. It almost surprised her that a place like this still existed. She smiled, but it was bittersweet. They made her think of Mari. How long had she been missing, or better yet, how long had Rayne been asleep?

Ryder suddenly stopped in front of a shack that was slightly larger than the rest. “This is the elder’s home. You must speak with her. She will tell you what you need to know.

Uncertainty filled her. It felt odd to go into this building by herself, though she didn’t think that she had much of a choice. She nodded and took a deep breath. Ryder opened the door and gestured her in. She stepped in and the inside of the building’s dim interior contrasted so much with the unrelenting brightness outside that she had to blink several times. There seemed to be a person sitting in an ancient chair in the center of the room. The person had gnarled hands that curled in on themselves and their hair was so long that it touched the floor. They gestured her further into the room.

Come in.

Rayne gasped. It was the same exact voice as the one in her dream. And they hadn’t spoken aloud, but in her mind.

Child of the locket, come in.

“What do you mean, child of the locket?”

Do you not carry a locket which was given to you from your mother, one that is in the shape of a heart?

“I do.” Rayne didn’t think that she could lie to this being.

Then you, dear child, you shall restore this earth to what it should be.

“Me, restore the earth? All I want is to find my sister.”

Your sister is safe. You must bring about the recreation, or we are all doomed.

Rayne was at a loss for words. None of this made any sense. She wasn’t some great hero, she was simply a girl looking for her sister.

You doubt yourself. Do not. Take with you the locket and open it where the kiras fell. There you shall find answers and nowhere else. Now go!