Keon prayed the Mother heeded his words. “Never. I promise.” He would keep in contact with his family here but had to go home. Time had run out.
After everything Drew had been through this last year, it felt wrong to go home, where communication required a third party or neglecting his family. Keon’s life would never be the same, but saying goodbye to Drew, for no matter how long, was one more step into his future.
At five seven, the stocky built runt of the family, dark hair and green eyes, a snappy temper, and an animal constantly grumbling under the surface, it didn’t make sense. How did he come to deserve a best friend like Drew? Understanding, caring, affectionate. He’d do anything for Drew, but couldn’t let him sacrifice his sanity or Kerr for a trip to Vihaan.
“I love you,” he whispered, holding his best friend for a final hug. “You’re the only brother worth having.”
Drew sniffed by his ear. “Can you text me?”
Keon cupped Drew’s tear-streaked face to deliver the bad news. “Telephone towers don’t exist in Vihaan.” He wished they did.
He cast an eye around the people he’d known for the last two years. Rylee’s dark eyes, bright with unshed tears. Selly leaning against Brandy, who rubbed his arm in understanding.
“I’ll miss you.” The words lodged in Keon’s throat, aware this could be a final goodbye. Having left Vihaan and his family, he knew saying goodbye was hard, but not knowing what happened next was harder. These were his friends, people who loved and cared about him the way no one but his parents had.
As foame—half-animal, half-human—m’weko were what Drew called wolves, and experienced scouts. Able to pass through the doorway freely between Vihaan and the human world they called Dnara. To some, the doorway symbolised freedom, to others it was an unknown danger, the risk of banishment and uncertainty. For Keon, it offered nothing but heartbreak, forever separating his blood family from the family he’d found in Dnara.
He shivered in a rush of chill wind as a fire siren wailed in the dark night, reminding Keon it was time to go. Someone would get suspicious of ten men from the local college loitering in the park after dark.
“Stay safe and behave.” Keon was afraid to linger. The letter in today’s post had been heartbreaking, demanding his urgent return to Vihaan. Waiting wouldn’t help anyone, and would only delay the inevitable.
Drew swiped the sleeve of his jumper under his nose. “Promise.” He took a step, bumping into Rylee’s chest, where he was held tight, neither taking the risk Drew might bolt in a last-minute emotional outburst. Losing Keon would be hard on him, after the last year, but it couldn’t be helped.
Keon grabbed the bag from his feet and took a breath. With one step, he savoured what may be his last view of Dnara. The sparkling stars in the midnight-blue sky were barely visible amongst the gathering clouds promising rain. The rain seasons remained months away. The buildings and their shadows obscured landmarks, in the centre of the city. The smell was distinctly urban, a mixture of car exhaust, sweaty male, and the greenery of the park. An underwhelming last reminder of this world he’d come to call home.
Holding on to Rylee’s arms, smile wobbling, Drew said, “Miss me, you dick.”
Keon’s last step through the doorway was filled with laughter for his best friend. And a deep-seated longing to see Drew again. One day.
*
STEPPING THROUGH THEdoorway was nothing like the movieStargate, no matter what Drew thought. It was a doorway for a reason, allowing a single step to transverse the boundaries of Dnara into the world of Vihaan, or vice versa. The downsides were vertigo and unsteady feet for newbies, but those familiar with the journey barely blinked.
Those born in Vihaan as animals sensed the difference between worlds. To foame,it was just a door. A fact Keon was grateful for as he stepped into Vihaan, laughter ringing clear from Drew’s goodbye.
Seeing his home cut the laughter short, leaving Keon breathless.
From underwhelming last reminders to overwhelming, the doorway brought more than disorientation. A cacophony of sights, sounds, and scents assaulted his senses. Goodbye to pollution, the noise of cars, a stench of rubbish and sweat, the litany of sounds around a college campus, never far from Keon’s elevated hearing. Here, an unnatural stillness, if not for the chirrup of a tisu nearby, a bird the size of his palm. The animals varied from Dnara, some familiar, larger, fiercer, others obscure to Drew when Keon attempted to explain them to him. Each had a purpose, a place to belong.
Something Keon lacked, until the letter came. He inhaled the clear, crisp air of a Vihaan morning, as the soft padding steps of a deer-like veele drew his gaze to the trees. The regal creature had confused Drew, when Keon talked of it; a tall body, broad shoulders, and long legs of a stag were common enough to a Dnaran, but Drew had difficulty imagining the erect ears of a hare and the long tail of a lion on an animal he was familiar with. The memory was bittersweet, as he embraced the near-silence, and remembered the letter.
Hours ago, in the mid Dnaran morning, sitting in the fraternity house, watching a movie with Drew, a knock at the door had made his stomach swoop in forewarning.
Dear Keon,
Forgive me. I am short on time and must be brief.
My name is Weston, the Beta of your pack, and I write to say we desperately need you to end your education and return to Vihaan.
Eight months ago, Simeon became Alpha. Your brother brought us into an age of violence and despair. A week ago, he died in a needless battle. The one wise decision he made was to declare you his successor.
Though it will come as a shock, you are our new Alpha. News of Simeon’s death will spread and his enemies will soon know we are leaderless. It is a matter of time before we are attacked.
Only you can save us. Since your brother’s death, your father has been trapped in grief, uncaring of our woes, insisting his loyal son will return to save us.
I pray to the Mother you will.
Your loyal Beta, Weston.
