Chapter 5 - The World Beyond

thanks Clareesa! can't wait to read more!

I haven't finished this chapter...but here's what I've written so far...
PLEASE tell me what you think!!!!

Chapter 5

“More people are dying every minute Jetoth! We need help. There is no way to destroy the drilocs ourselves.” Ajate’a placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.
“What if there is? I mean, what if there’s a way to kill them?” Tyler searched the sky, half expecting to see a dark shadow.
“There may be, but we do not know of any way. Do you have a sword?” Jetoth’s voice boomed.
“It-it’s not mine…but my grandfather had one he always kept in his room. And when he died…he gave it to my mother. I think it’s still somewhere in the house. And I-I can use a sword a little, I took fencing classes last summer.”
“The sword belonged Quillet Yolishan.” Ajate’a stated.
Jetoth’s ears twitched. “Ajate’a! You do not speak of him here! Especially to a boy from this world!”
“But that is his grandfather!”
Jetoth turned his huge head toward Tyler. “Is that true?”
Tyler nodded.
The Esserelic stared at Tyler. “We must find that sword.”
“But, what’s going on? What is so special about my grandfather, or his sword? Ajate’a told me that my mother was from the World Beyond, and I want to know how that is possible.”
“Once we find the sword, I will tell you everything.” Jetoth let out a sigh and beat his hoof silently against the ground.



* * *




Ajate’a and Tyler slid down from the back of the Esserelic.
“This is our apartment complex. We live on the fourth floor.” Tyler began walking briskly toward the building.
He stopped when Ajate’a did not follow him. “Uh…are you going to wait our here?”
Something was wrong. Ajate’a gripped a sweaty hand around Winock. Even her sword did not comfort her.
“No. I am coming with you.” Ajate’a noticed her words seemed halted and shaky.
Tyler didn’t seem to notice. “Well, then we’d better hurry.”
“I am going to go in search of Amanda, the sister of Nathan.” Jetoth did not wait for their reply. Ajate’a listened to the sound of his hooves fading into the distance.
“I thought he wanted to see the sword.” Tyler looked to Ajate’a for an answer.
That feeling. Something was not right. “Jetoth has a reason for what he does.”
Ajate’a silently followed Tyler up a long staircase, then down a long, empty hall. Her steps seemed to echo back at her. A cold chill blew from an unknown source. Tyler stopped at a door with the number “24D”. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.
The feeling for fear seemed to grow. “Tyler?”
Tyler turned to Ajate’a. “Yeah?”
“I…I…” Something seemed to be holding Ajate’a from asking Tyler if he felt the same thing she felt. “I…was just going to ask you, could I have some water?”
“Sure, I’ll show you where the kitchen is.”
Tyler’s apartment with small. And Ajate’a noticed very bare.
“You’ll find a cup in the cupboard under the sink.” Tyler waved a hand toward what, apparently, was the sink. “The water from the fridge has a funny taste to it, so just use sink water.”
Tyler noticed Ajate’a’s bewildered look. “They don’t have sinks or refrigerators in the world beyond do they?”
“No, we keep a bucket of water in the house at all times. But we get our water from a stream or river.”
Tyler shrugged, retrieved a cup and filled it with water. “Here. I’m gonna go and find my grandpa’s sword. Look around.” He disappeared into the next room.
Ajate’a sipped the water and glanced at everything around her. The apartment was much like the houses in the Word Beyond. Similar furniture was used and through an open window the same sounds of birds chirping filled Ajate’a’s ears.
But something about this place was not right. Something unseen lurked somewhere.
Ajate’a swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. “Tyler, have you-” Something cut Ajate’a off. It seemed to pierce her heart. Her stomach tightened. Her scream seemed to sound flat and empty. The room swirled around her. The pain in her heart grew. The once-chirping birds, now sounded like high screeching. The cup fell from her hand and shattered on the floor. Ajate’a screamed again.
She heard the sound of Tyler’s voice. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Everything stopped. Ajate’a once more heard the chirping of birds outside. The only thing left to let Ajate’a know she had no imagined it, was the shattered glass on the floor.
“I heard you scream, is everything alright?” Tyler glanced around the room.
“No. Something is here. I felt it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The drilocs are close by. Close the window.”
“But…the window is closed.” Tyler seemed to back away from Ajate’a.
“Then why do I hear the chirping of birds?”
“Are you…feeling ok? There are no birds.”
Something pierced Ajate’a again. She screamed in pain. That sound – the high pitched screeching. Ajate’a’s body shook, her cloak fell from her shoulders.
Tyler ran forward and caught her just before she felt all her strength leave.
“Ajate’a!”
The pain increased. Ajate’a felt her self falling in and out of consciousness.
“Ajate’a can you hear me?” Even the sound of Tyler’s voice seemed far-away.
The pain became so great the Ajate’a could feel nor hear anything else.
God, help me! Ajate’a prayed a silent and desperate prayer.
Then Ajate’a felt something else. A warmth. The pain was still there, but something was fighting it. Ajate’a struggled. Her body was yelling at her to give up. But the warmth, it gave her courage.
She screamed again.
A wave of strength seemed to vibrate through her body. She felt herself flinging her arms at invisible air. Then her fist landed on something. She heard an “Ouch!”
The pain gradually left her body. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on a couch. Tyler was standing beside her, a hand held over his cheek.
He stared at her, seeming to be unsure what to do next. She noticed he stayed far enough away that she couldn’t punch him again.
“I am…sorry. I did not mean to punch you.” Ajate’a felt fully recovered.
“Yeah…right.” Tyler rubbed his now-red cheek. “So do you do this a lot? Go unconscious and punch people?”
“I do not know what it did not affect you.” Ajate’a slowly got up. “But the drilocs are the cause of this.”
“You’ll have to explain a little better than that.”
“Drilocs are extremely dangerous and evil. If there are enough of them, the very presence of them being there can hurt people.”