Falling Through Portals

Ashes and Piles of Salt

Chapter 65

    "Are you going to be okay?" Percy asked Lorem. The sky was gray already and they needed to both transport out of there.

    "I will," she said. Percy nodded and began to turn away. Lorem grabbed his arm and turned him back around.

    "Are we alright?" she asked. He could have sworn he heard tension in her voice, a very not-Lorem trait.

    "Yes," he promised, "it's not you." Percy thought of the mile long list of problems in his life and one of them was not Lorem. While he still wished she would share with him what had happened, he had a lot of other things to worry about.

    "Don't get killed," she advised.

    "Thanks you too," Percy replied.

    The two separated and went towards their groups.

    Magnus was standing casually against the tree next to his portal, decked out in his glittered suit and crazy hair. He was watching Lorem keenly from his position. Percy looked over his shoulder in time to see Lorem disappear.

    Could Lorem always do that?

    They never really needed to be transported to another place in a world before. Lorem was either not strong enough or they didn't need to go anywhere else. Percy sighed and shook his head.

    "Are you ready?" Magnus asked. Percy nodded.

    "Where is the other kid?"

    "I already sent the vampire through," Magnus told him, "If I am right, this kind of travel is not as clean as your friend's."

    "Are you saying Lorem has better traveling skills than you?" Percy asked, the hint of a smile appeared on his face.

    "I said nothing of the sort, just warning you for a bumpy ride," he said. Percy shook his head and walked through the doorway.

    Immediately his stomach jumped into his throat. He felt like he was being taken apart and then being put back together in a matter of seconds. At one point or another he fell onto a cold marble floor. The temperature dropped a good ten degrees. Percy groaned. Bumpy was a kind way of putting it. He had to work hard to keep from throwing up.

    Magnus followed him into . . . where ever they were. Magnus somehow landed on his feet. The vampire, Simon, stood above Percy, looking around the room. The cold floor seemed to suck all of the warmth from him. His simple shirt and pants may have been enough back in New York, but here it was way too cold. He had a sudden yearning for the thick coat and pants that Magnus had first given him back in the 1800s.

    "You alright?" Simon asked.

    "Fine," Percy said. He stood up, "I feel like throwing up." Magnus chuckled. "Where are we?"

    The room was decorated in velvet red. The curtains, the rugs, the furniture was all dripping in the shining clothe. On the walls were mounted swords of all different kinds of war pieces. Sounds of a roaring party seeped in from the walls nearest to them.

    "This is an old house that I used to attend parties at," Magnus informed them.

    "Let me guess, a vampire owns it?" Simon asked. Percy glanced at Simon to find him looking hungrily at the different red colored furnishings.

    "Good, you are observant," Magnus said, "Alright Percy, if you have your head on straight, I think it is time that we get out of here."

    "What is the rush?"