“I’m sorry,” he squeaked, as the commotion around us continued.
“No, buddy.” I stroked his hair. “You did fine.”
“It’s not your fault Ryland, you did great,” Alex added, laying a hand on his shoulder. He was now the only one in the room, other than Ryland and me, not caught up in the fuss.
“What happened?” I asked Alex, though it was more of a rhetorical question, as it was clear no one else there had any idea.
Ryland pressed harder into my side as the battling voices grew louder, and my temper began to grow with them. These bastards were scaring him! He’d done everything they’d asked, and they were making him feel like he was the one who’d messed up!
“Gentlemen!” Alex called, causing the room to fall silent. “Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere?”
The expressions around the room grew soft, and in some cases even embarrassed and apologetic as they all finally noticed the trembling kid hiding behind my arm. Everyone nodded and relaxed, seeming to agree that this should be handled at another time – everyone except Taron. He was still up in arms, and wasn’t about to let anyone derail his tirade. He snatched the Iris off the table and came stomping toward us.
“He will at least try it again,” he snapped, reaching out to grab Ryland’s hand.
“You get away from him!” I snarled from between clenched teeth, more than done with his obnoxious attitude.
“Taron,” Alex said calmly, placing a hand on his arm, “we know how much you–”
“He’s not leaving until he tries again.” Taron sneered at me, shaking Alex’s hand away and ignoring him.
“And I said no!” I pushed Ryland further behind me. “If you all can’t figure out how to work that thing,” I said, glancing down at the Iris in his shaking hand, “then that’s your problem! He didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Of course not,” Min said, with a sympathetic smile to Ry. “You did fine Ryland, you are free to go. Thank you for your help.”
“No!” Taron roared, reaching around me, practically shoving the Iris in Ryland’s face.
“I said get away from him!”
I reached over and ripped the Iris out of his hand, intending to throw it at his flaky bald head. However as soon as my fingers touched the smooth pewter surface, everything around me disappeared and I was suddenly floating in a warm sea of light. All my anger and fear from a moment ago slipped away leaving me with a feeling so relaxed and happy it reminded me of how it feels to wake up in the morning knowing you have no reason to get up, so you snuggle down into the covers again.
Had I been upset? Why? Everything was wonderful, there was no reason to be mad.
Along with my sudden ease, came a heightened sense of sight and sound. In fact, all my senses seemed to be in overdrive. All around me there were colors swirling gently in and out of one another, and ribbons of sound that were so clear it felt as though I could reach out and touch them. In the distance I could hear voices, dozens of them, all interwoven into a single hum of nondescript sound, the same as you might hear in a large room filled with people all talking amongst themselves. All of the colors and sounds and voices blended together into a beautiful tapestry that not only surrounded me, but flowed through me, mingling and blending with my own lazy thoughts and feelings, velvet against my mind and tingling along my skin. I began to feel drowsy, and wondered listlessly how different this place really was from the world of dreams. Just as I was about to sink off to sleep, I heard an echo of voices that sounded like they were coming from somewhere nearby.
“We have to get it away from her!”
“Can anyone reach?”
“Duncan!”
I tried to listen, but couldn’t focus. I was just… so… tired…
Then, like being thrown into an ice-bath after a sauna, I slammed back to reality, collapsing to the floor. I went to get up, but couldn’t move. Tried to open my eyes, but it was no use. As I lay like a wet towel on the floor, all came back to me: taking Ryland to the Inner Chamber, yelling at Taron, the Iris, the test…
The test!
Everything I’d been hearing over the past few weeks started to spin in my head as my mind began to drift away…