Book of Praan: Volume 1

Chapter 2

We were still kneeling inside of the now fading circle, but we were in the middle of a forest. The knees of my jeans were slowly absorbing the moisture from the grass. The emerald trees sparkled in (presumably) post-rain glory. Around us, the bushes rustled every once in a while. Indistinguishable creatures moaned, buzzed, hissed, and growled in the distance in perfect unison. I stood up slowly, still transfixed by our new location. I whirled around and caught sight of the peaks of two huge mountains in the distance. It filled me with a déjà vu feeling, like I had seen them before. But that was impossible. I didn't even know –

"Where are we?" Alexis murmured, barely audible over the woodland creatures.

"Hell if I know." A scary thought crossed my mind. "Hey, how are we supposed to get back?"

Alexis shrugged. "Same way, I guess." I didn't understand how she could so casually disregard the concern, but I didn't press it. Fighting wouldn't get us any closer to home.

"You think there's any civilization around here?" I asked.

"Only one way to find out." Alexis looked around one last time before continuing: "Let's head toward the mountains so we don't get lost."

I didn't have a better idea, so I followed Alexis through the brush, under low branches, and around webs. We were quiet, Alexis affixed on our ever-far destination, I affixed on the back of her head. I wanted to break the silence, if even to tell a joke, but I didn't know what to say, much less to feel. And I'm not very funny.

So, for the better part of an hour, I kept my mouth reluctantly closed. Suddenly, Alexis stopped. I followed suit.

"Hear that?" she asked.

I strained to hear anything. There was the wind through the trees, birds chirping above us – and the unmistakable whisper of moving water. "A stream?" I said with a shrug. She nodded her agreement.

"It's coming from –" she twirled around before stopping – "that way."

We walked briskly through the brush toward the sound of water. The forest got noticeably thinner until we finally emerged into a sort of meadow. And, surely enough, about twenty feet away, ran a river.

"River's gotta lead somewhere, right?" Alexis said with a shrug.

I nodded, and we set off following the water downstream. Eventually, the trees began to thin, and the animal noises grew more and more distant. We finally emerged at a fence leading to what looked like a circus campsite. Dozens of tents, large and small, were scattered about, and even more people roamed in and out of them. Some carried bags of strange items, others announced the sales of their produce, a few led huge creatures I had never seen before through the roads. I looked up and down the fence for an opening and spotted a gate.

"Look over there," I said, pointing it out to Alexis. "Let's see if we can get in."

We walked over to the gate, and two big men appeared out of nowhere, blocking our way.

"State yer business," one of them growled.

Alexis and I started and exchanged a look. "W-we're lost," she said simply. "We're just trying to get back home."

The other man narrowed his eyes a little. "And where's home for ye two?"

"Cassendra," I replied, not even dreaming of lying.

"Never heard of it. And there's nothin' from where yer comin' from except trouble." He reached behind him and pulled out an axe from the sheathe on his back. His partner did the same.