The World Walkers: Athare: Tanis: Escaping

[k_a_webb]

Written as a birthday story.

Twelve had been arrested, twelve had been sentenced to execution, and twelve were planning to escape. It had been Auberon’s idea, because he could create doors from anything, which was why they were all standing around in nothing but their underwear. Falk was the one who had freed them from their cells, with his ability to unlock doors using magic, while Bran was busy creation illusions of them all. None of the illusions would actually do anything, but hopefully it would give them a bit more time to run if anyone happened to notice that something strange had happened. Tanis curled her arms around herself, grateful she had ended up with a group of demons who could escape. If she hadn’t she would still be sitting in her cell, waiting for the morning when they would come for her, and she would end up like so many demons had before.

“Ready, everyone?” Auberon asked, holding the last item of clothing in his hand.

Everyone but Daina nodded. “This could all be for nothing,” she replied, looking around at the group. “We don’t know that he will be able to guide us through the door.”

“We know.” Falk sounded more like he was growling than talking. “You keep telling us that and we keep telling you it’s worth a try. Unless you actually want to die.”

“I just…” Daina bit her lip. “I’m more worried about what might go wrong if we do manage to step through the door. We know that Auberon can make the door and step through it, but what could happen to us. The magic has never been tested.”

“As far as we know,” Tannis clarified, almost smiling, because for once Daina had said something useful. “The problem we have is more that we don’t talk to each other, so there may well have been demons who have tried this before and found out what happens. We’ve just never heard about it.”

“D makes a good point.” Bran smiled at her and it was a nice feeling. “If we manage to get out of her we need to start talking to each other. Keeping to ourselves in an attempt to stop anyone from finding out what we are doesn’t work, because we don’t find out the things we need to find out. Until Auberon mentioned it I didn’t even know there were demons who could create doors.”

“We can’t have a council the way the walkers do, but then I don’t think we’d want to,” Falk said, his voice much more normal. “Instead we need some form of communication net, so if I find something out I can tell every demon I know who can then go on to tell the demons they know.”

“Have any of you heard of Leolin?” Lisette asked, speaking for the first time. They all looked at her, then at each other, all seeming mystified. “He’s…” She trailed off, running a hand through her hair. “For all I know he might be a myth, because I’ve only heard stories, but he’s said to be a demon who attempting to learn everything he can about us and the doors. No one I know has ever met him, or even seen him, and I probably shouldn’t have said anything, but I think if there is someone out there who does know more than we do he might be worth seeking out.”

Auberon nodded. “It’s possible, sometimes, for me to choose where I want my door to take me. More often it takes me where it thinks I should be going, but if I ask it maybe it will take us to Leolin.”

Once again they all looked at each other, before nodding in agreement. “Okay,” Daina said, still sounding unsure. “I do, and have always, thought it’s worth a try. It’s just…”

“Terrifying, right?” Falk asked, wrapping an arm around Daina’s shoulders.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

“We’re all scared. It’s just none of us want to die, so we’re going to do everything in our power to make certain that doesn’t happen.”

Auberon smiled. “I apologise if this does go wrong, everyone, but I hope to see you all safe wherever we end up.” He put the last piece of clothing into the door, making it shimmer in the way Tanis had seen doors do before, and then held his hand out to them. “Let’s go.”

Daina took Auberon’s hand, Falk took hold of Daina’s, and Bran took hold of Falk’s. Bran turned to Tanis smiling, holding out his own hand, and she took it before holding out her hand to Lisette. Slowly they began walking forwards, knowing that if it didn’t work Daina would be the one to walk into the wall, but as she went through the door after Auberon a cheer went up. They began moving faster, not knowing how long the door would stay open with Auberon already through it, even though no one really knew what had happened to Daina.

As Tanis finally stepped through the door her hands were ripped from Bran’s and Lisette’s. It didn’t feel the same as a regular door, which simply took someone from one world to another in a movement as gentle as entering a house, but instead felt turbulent, like it was trying to find places for everyone who stepped through it. Tanis just hoped it would end soon, because she was beginning to feel a little nauseous. Finally she was spat out, into a clearing she didn’t recognise, alone.

Breathing a deep sigh Tanis lay still. She was relieved to be out of the door and that feeling was the one she was going to focus on. Not knowing where she was wasn’t unusual. There had been times before when she’d stepped through doors to find herself in unknown places. All of the demons had been strangers to her, so she wasn’t as worried about them as she would be if it had been her family, but she still wanted them to be somewhere safe, because they’d helped her. Doing her best to stop feeling ill she rolled onto her back, looking up at the sky, and then wished she hadn’t as she watched Bran falling.

There was nothing Tanis could do to stop Bran from falling onto her, because she still couldn’t really move after the uncomfortable journey through the door, so all she did was take a deep breathe and hope he wouldn’t crush her. Having someone land on her did wind her, but thankfully he rolled off her seconds after he fell onto her. Running a hand over her rib cage she ascertained there was no real damage. Slowly she turned her head and looked at him.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.