The Many Ramblings of K. A. Webb

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

At first all Astrid could do was stare around the room she had found herself in, unable to believe what she was seeing. When she had walked out of the cave she shared with her pack she had never expected to step onto another world and end up… She turned to look at Nerys.

“It’s yours,” Nerys said, wagging her tail. “You do have to pay rent, but here you will always have a comfortable home.”

Astrid’s happiness faded for a moment. “How do I pay rent?”

“Until you are used to Taithmarin and feel capable of working you will be given money each month, as a sort of welcome gift. Once you start working you will earn your own money and have more choice as to where you live.”

“Working?” Astrid shook her head. “This place is so different and I haven’t even had a chance to look around.”

“I know. I felt exactly the same way when I first got here.”

“Okay, tell me what I need to know, Nerys.”

“That’s going to take a while. As your guide I will be here for two weeks to help you get used to Taithmarin, the races that live here, and how our magic has changed.”

Astrid sat down. “I really have stepped onto a different world, haven’t I?”

“Yes, you have.” Nerys stepped forward and touched her nose to Astrid’s. “It’s going to be fine, but getting to know this place is going to get time. That’s why I’m here.”

“How long have you been here?” Astrid asked as their eyes met.

“Just over three years.”

“I last saw you seven months ago.”

“No one really knows how the door works, so I couldn’t know how long it had been for you, but time is very different here.”

“So if anyone else from our pack finds a door then it could be years after I arrived here, even though it won’t be anywhere near as much time for them?”

Nerys nodded. “Are you thinking about your mum?”

Breathing deeply at the reminder, Astrid shook her head. “We believe she was caught by hunters during her patrol, but we don’t know for sure. She just disappeared, so we held a memorial service for her, and…” She sighed. “Of course now there’s the possibility she might be alive here, but I doubt it.”

“I’ll ask around. There have been a lot of new arrivals recently. I was the last guide without an arrival to help, so we’re hoping that there isn’t another one for at least two weeks.”

“Is that normal?”

“Occasionally it happens. We don’t know why, but we do our best to help every new Nox Gadael arrival. If there is another new arrival then you may find them staying here.” Nerys shook her head. “That doesn’t mean your mum is here, but I hope she is.”

Astrid shrugged. “I don’t know if I want her to be or not. I haven’t had time to mourn her, but to me she was gone for good.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

It was three days after Astrid’s mother died that she walked her normal patrol route and found herself somewhere she’d never been before. For a few seconds she stood utterly still, allowing her nose to take in the scents of where she was. With her eyes closed she named each scent as she recognised them, until she got to the one thing she hadn’t been expecting: the scent of other Nox Gadael. She opened her eyes, remembering the stories she’d heard of Gadael who were believed dead because they had just disappeared one day, and knew that she had found them. They weren’t dead, any more than she was, but she would become another one of those stories, and she was grateful she had no family at home to worry about her.

When Astrid heard the sound of paws she sat down, wrapped her tail around her left hip, and waited. There was a part of her, the part that was always on alert, that screamed at her to run, but from the scent she knew it was a female Nox Gadael, which meant that she might get some answers to the questions she had. She had never before had any reason to be afraid of her own kind. It was the hunters that she needed to run away from, but she couldn’t smell a hunter, so she ignored the voice as much as possible.

The walker slowed as she got closer to where Astrid was waiting. It told her that there had been Gadael who hadn’t taken their unexpected journey well, but she wasn’t going to be one of them. There was something strangely calming about knowing she was no longer at home, knowing that there were hunters who wanted parts of her because she had magic, even though she didn’t know for sure that the new place was going to be safe.

Finally the other Nox Gadael female walked into view, around a corner that Astrid hadn’t realised existed until that moment, and wagged her tail. “Hello, Astrid,” she greeted, as Astrid blinked in surprise.

“Nerys?” Astrid said, unable to believe that she hadn’t recognised the scent of someone she had known for almost a year.

Nerys nodded. “I always hoped that one day you’d find the door.” Her tail wagged harder. “We’re safe here.”

“Where is here?”

“The world is called Taithmarin. We’re currently in the town of Little Hill.”

“How many other Nox Gadael are here?”

“Are you asking about the world or just the town?”

“Both would be good.”

“I’m not entirely sure of the world count, because there are already second and third generation Gadael puppies, but I’d say there’s between maybe six and seven thousand. In Little Hill, thanks to the puppies, we have a population of about four hundred.”

Astrid stared at Nerys. “How can there be that many Nox Gadael here? I heard that there were disappearances, but I can’t believe that we lost that many Gadael and there were only rumours.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.