Keepers of the Flame Read Free Page A

and gong filled it.
    There
was a slight hesitation, then the upward motion continued.
    “We’ve
passed the thirty-fourth floor!” Elizabeth cried.
    Bri
shuddered. “Isn’t that the last one?”
    The
walls and ceiling vanished.
    A
wind whipped them into its grasp. They shrieked in unison. Bri wanted to drop
her load and reach for her sister, but her fingers were frozen around the
chest. She saw Elizabeth’s pale face, arms clutching the potato sacks.
    They
flashed through a rippling field of blinding rainbow light, an enveloping wave
of sound. Nothing under Bri’s feet. She fell, jarred, as if she’d missed a
couple of steps descending a staircase.
    Her
screams mingled with Elizabeth’s. They were together, at least. Chanting came
around them, along with the chimes that pushed all Bri’s chakra buttons, the
gong that had her dropping the chest and shuddering. She flung out her hand,
found Elizabeth’s. They grabbed each other, clinging.
    The
chanting stopped. “Well, how about that,” said an accented voice. “Two for the
price of one. And they brought spuds ! Did we get this right, or what?”
    Elizabeth
hung on to Bri, who was trembling as much as she was. The chimes continued to
rise and fall, touching her inside—her chakras if she was to believe
Bri—stirring her. Everything echoed in her head: her thumping heartbeat—and her
twin’s?—her ragged breath, whimpering.
    Blinking
again and again, Elizabeth saw a large circle of people surrounding them,
holding hands. There seemed to be four different groups. Some obvious couples
were dressed in matching colored tunics over chain mail and had a weapon at
each hip. Others had silver or gold bands around their foreheads and wore long
robes. A third group wore leather clothes and sheathed swords, a fourth bunch
wore colorful pants and shirts or dresses. Most of the people appeared Asian.
Golden skin, black hair with slightly different colored highlights, brown eyes.
Silver or gold streaks in their hair at one or both temples. Beautiful
features. Beautiful people.
    I’ve
got a bad feeling about this. Bri’s voice came in Elizabeth’s mind!
She stared in shock at her sister.
    Bri!
    What!
    I
can hear you in my mind.
    Me,
too .
A whisper.
    “Welcome
to Lladrana,” a woman said.
    The
gong sounded again and it was as if a surgeon clasped her beating heart. She
and Bri screamed and swayed.
    “It
sounds as if they’re hurting. It’s not supposed to hurt that much, is it? I
don’t recall. Marian!”
    Elizabeth
focused on the different voice. She saw a blue-eyed blond woman in leathers
staring worriedly at her and Bri.
    “Ohmygod,”
Bri said thickly, turning her head. “Lladrana. I didn’t do it, twin!” Childhood
words of utter truth tore from her. My itchy feet didn’t bring us here!
    The
chimes ran up and down the scale, once, twice…seven times. Noises wrung from
Elizabeth merging with Bri’s. After the last tone reverberated, they huddled
together on cold stones.
    Bong! The final thump
on the huge silver gong had them twitching.
    Silence.
    Shoving
her sweaty hair away from her eyes, Elizabeth stared at the people again.
They’d unlinked their hands.
    Three
women came to stand near them, outside a glowing green circle around a star on
the floor. These three were Caucasian, though the tall, voluptuous woman with
red hair and blue eyes appeared to have an Eastern European heritage.
    She
gestured and the green circle surrounding them subsided. “I’m Marian Harasta
Dumont.” She touched a golden band around her forehead that showed lightning
bolts and clouds, whorls that looked like wind, curvy waves. She, too, had a
large streak of white in her hair. “I’m a Sorceress, called a Circlet of the
Fifth Degree.”
    “Welcome
to Lladrana, another dimension. We have Summoned you here on behalf of the
Cities and Towns. A strange fatal illness has come and they requested medicas—doctors.”
    Bri
sat up straight, glowered at them, crossed her arms.