“In yet another dimension, more than likely,” Iannis said with a sigh. “For all we know this entire world is like this, with no food or water.”
We used the levitation spell to float up high in the air, but even from hundreds of feet up, we couldn’t see anything but desert. As the night sky came out, dotted with unfamiliar constellations, the light of the sun was replaced by the reflections of two huge yellow moons.
“Well that was useless,” I said as we slowly drifted back to the ground. “I’m guessing your gulaya isn’t going to work here, since we’re not in Recca.”
“I doubt it,” Iannis agreed. “And I dare not risk trying, since I have no way to recharge it here. We will need to find some other method of escape.”
We discussed various options on how to make this place more hospitable while we tried to figure out our escape, but even pooling our knowledge together, we came up empty. The spells to produce water relied on gathering moisture from the air, and there was none here. And while transmogrification was an option, it took quite a bit of magical energy and would have to be a last resort. Not to mention that with no food, we had to be careful not to expend our power any more than was absolutely necessary.
Exhausted from his travels, Iannis curled up next to me on his sleeping bag and fell asleep. I tried to catch some z’s too, but my mind was buzzing, too wired to settle down. As I stared up at the strange night sky, I sorted through the knowledge the Tua had given me. Would I be able to walk from this dimension back to Recca? I had done it before, but that was because Nalan and Alara had known the precise path, and I had been able to follow it. Plus, I’d only survived thanks to Broghan’s help. This time, I had no idea which dimension I was in, and in what direction Recca lay. If I tried to travel at random, I might accidentally transport us to another realm even more inhospitable than this. We could land in a world with toxic air, unable to breathe, or beneath an ocean, and die from the water pressure. Not to mention that the spell used up so much energy—I’d be totally depleted and weak as a kitten, vulnerable to any passing predator, unable to try again if I got it wrong the first time.
Except this time, you have Iannis with you. Between the two of you, you might be able to pull it off.
The hope that we might actually have a viable way of getting home—even if the plan wasn’t fully formed—was enough to help my mind finally relax. I slept for a few hours curled up next to Iannis, stirring sometime later when sunlight began to creep beneath my eyelids.
“Iannis,” I mumbled when I felt him shift next to me. “I have an idea about how to get us out of here.”
“You do?” Iannis asked, sounding fully awake. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me, looking intrigued. “How?”
“Nalan and Alara gave me the knowledge on how to walk between dimensions,” I explained. “That was how I was able to make it back to Recca. I only have the exact instructions on how to get from the Tua realm to our world, but I assume the process could be used to walk between any two dimensions, if only we can figure out the way. However, it takes a huge amount of power, and I was completely drained the last time. And since I’m not sure where we are, I’m worried that we might accidentally end up in a different world instead of back home. If it’s not one that we can find food and water on, we’ll die before we can try again.”
“It will be dangerous,” Iannis agreed, his brow furrowed. “But we don’t have any alternative, do we? At least with our combined power we should be able to travel without draining you.”
“I hope so. Once we leave here, Ta’sradala may not be able to find us again,” I said. “She’s probably watching us gleefully as we struggle. Do you think she’d bring us back before we die of thirst or hunger? I know she hates me, but she might save you, at least.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Iannis said. “And if she brought me back after I’d watched you perish, I’d rather not return at all. Anything, any risk, is better than that.”
I bit my lip. “Do you think we should try it now?” I asked, sitting up.
Iannis shrugged. “Why wait? The longer we stay here, the more we will suffer in this heat anyway. Now, while we are still strong and well-fed, we have the best chance of success.”
We quickly packed up our sleeping bags and canteens in our magical sleeves, then joined hands. Anxiety welled up inside me, and I leaned in to kiss Iannis again.
“If we don’t come out in one piece on the other end,” I murmured against his lips, “please know that I love you, and that I have no regrets.”
“I do know,” he said, nuzzling my cheek. “As certainly as I know that the sun rises and sets. Or at least it does in our world. And I love you just as much, if not more. Now let’s begin.”
Iannis put a protective bubble around us, enclosing a supply of the hot but breathable air in case we got stuck in the void, or someplace else that was inhospitable. Once I was certain the bubble was secure, I reached for the knowledge the Tua had given me and pulled out the dimension-walking spell. As I studied the directions again, Iannis began to pour some of his power into me, filling me up with sizzling hot magic. I took a deep breath as it flowed in my veins and let the map of the dimensions fall open into my mind again. I could see where Recca was, and the Tua realm, but I had no idea which square of the quilt we were on, and another tremor of fear went through me. What if I fucked this up?
“Relax,” Iannis said to me in mindspeak. “Let your instincts guide you.”
Nodding, I zeroed in on the square that was Recca, and spoke the spell, willing it to take us back home. The world shifted and tilted around me, and I clutched Iannis’s hands tightly as I felt my magic pour out of me once again. Opening my eyes, I saw a swirl of colors, and my heart leapt. Was it working this time? Would we actually make it back?
Our feet slammed into the ground, and I stumbled into Iannis. He caught me before I fell, and I sucked in a deep breath of the hot air in our bubble. My heart sank—we were in the middle of a prairie. But not just any prairie. The tall grass, which nearly came up to my knees, was a deep indigo color, and the sky above us was bright orange. Off in the distance a herd of what looked like bison was grazing, but they seemed to be a dark green, the color of evergreen trees, and something was off about their shape.
“I’m afraid this isn’t Recca,” Iannis said, voicing the obvious. “But at least there is life in this world. Better than what we had before.”
“There is that,” I said, letting out a gusty sigh. “Let me test the air, see if it’s breathable.”