“Sorry,” Girish replies with a frown.
“Don’t apologize, Gear.I trust destiny to pick this moment for a reason.You may have saved us all.”I straighten my spine.“Do we all know the plan?”
The others nod at each other.“Promise me you’ll cut my hand for blood magic when I send you the mental image?”I ask.
Max nods and steps forward.“It’s a lot of magic.There might not be a second shot at this,” he says.He crouches down and touches my chest.“Are you sure you want to risk losing your soul like this?”
“Luther is my heart and soul.No questions here,” I say.
“Aw,” Max says, sharing a smile with Necia.He clears his throat, then nods at me.I nod back and touch the scroll, focusing on the ancient symbols.
Concentrate on Luther’s soul…he has to be…somewhere…
I recall all the times I teased him when we were teenagers.I catalogued every moment he smiled.Then I see the day we met again as adults, all those weeks ago.We took selfies together in Paris.I recall sleeping with him, feeling warm and content in his arms.I’m madly in love with him.
At last, I sense Luther’s presence.Got him!
“Now, Max!”
With my command, my friend pushes my soul out of my body, and I fly across dimensions.Streaks of light and the cosmos themselves pass me by as I’m sent directly to the man I love.
The Other Side consists of a hazy, purple sky with rocks and terrain floating supernaturally with no set pattern.In this realm, gravity and physics seem to be inconsistent at best.After floating down to one of the paths, I spot my boyfriend wandering around, like he lost his keys in the sand.Seeing him alive in one piece makes my soul feel light?literally, my soul floats above him.“Luther!”
He looks up at me and smiles.Peering up at my floating aura, he asks, “Taz?Did you get sucked in, too?”
“Not quite.I’m here to get you back.”
“Get me back?”
“Of course!Now stop walking so I can open a portal.”
“Not yet.”
“What?!”
He gazes at a faraway stony island littered with decaying trees.This dimension makes no sense.“I need…need to go there.”
“What?!”I repeat.I try to grab his arm, but phase right through him.Luther uses energy to launch himself up to the other island, floating through the air like an astronaut on the moon.Fortunately, my form is able to fly around and keep up with him.
“Would you stop?”
“No.I hear a human heart beat.”
“Luther!”
“There it is!”Luther stops in front of one tree with a rectangular shape carved into it.It resembles a doorway or a…coffin?
“What the?”
“I can sense him, Taz.”Luther conjures a blade and handily cuts open the wooden door.When it peels off, my heart stops altogether.
My brother!
“Vik,” I murmur.It’s as if no time has passed; Vikrum is asleep, standing upright, with purple vines holding him up.He’s wearing the same outfit as the day he disappeared fifteen years ago.
“Let’s get him out of here.”In moments, Luther cuts away the vines.When Vik’s body falls limply into Luther’s arms, I let out a sob.
“He’s alive.He seems to be asleep,” Luther explains.
