The Two Worlds Read Free Page A

they can prolong it or bring it quickly if they have to. And
Awakeners, well, we are the ones that Awaken others’ abilities.
Without us, the inhabitants of Turgor wouldn’t function. We are the
healers, the hope.” Paul stood up and excused himself for the
bathroom.
    Nia turned to me. I stopped her before
she could open her mouth. “So, everything that Grandpa Lamont told
us about Turgor...it’s true?” She nodded. I swallowed and kept
going. “And...there really is a war going on? What business is
Grandpa Lamont on? Last time I checked he was lying in Jackson
Memorial in a coma.”
    “ Grandpa Lamont’s a
historian,” she smiled. “There was a break in at Callback. It’s
like the prison of the planet, and it’s huge. The day before
Grandpa went into a coma, he was summoned by the Creators to help
find lost articles.”
    I stood up and stretched. “I’m guessing
someone escaped that wasn’t supposed to.”
    “ Duh.”
    “ I really wish I could wake
up from this dream.” I frowned. “This is weird.”
    Nia looked annoyed. “I keep telling you
that you’re not dreaming!”
    “ Uh-huh.”
    I walked over to one of the small
windows and peeked out. People bustled about, taking groceries
inside their houses—where would a grocery store be? Mailboxes
walked tied to their posts, and buses flew by, occasionally
stopping to let someone off. Grandpa Lamont had told us of
creatures out of the ordinary and people who could do amazing
things. They all lived on this planet. All those years I had been
fascinated by these inhabitants, and I realized that I finally was
given the chance to visit the place. The thought of it being a
dream was slowly going out the window. Nia came up and stood next
to me.
    “ What are you thinking?” she
asked softly. “Are you going to be okay?”
    Shrugging, I turned away from the
glass. “If it’s all Grandpa Lamont told me it was, I might as well
check it out.”
    Nia nodded, and we stood in silent
agreement for a while. After a few moments, Paul came back in and
gave a small cough.
    “ Sorry to interrupt your
tender moment there,” he smirked, “but it’s time to get you settled
in here.”
    I moved away from the window and raised
an eyebrow at him. “Settled in?”
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    “ We’re going to have to
cross Elmite River.”
    “ No, no, we can simply go
through the city.”
    “ Why do all of that if we
can take a shortcut?”
    “ Crossing the Elmite River
is not a shortcut. It’s suicide.”
    Nia and Paul argued back and forth
along the bus ride, and I laughed as Nia made faces behind Paul’s
back when he turned to look at the map or when Paul snorted in
disgust when Nia showed him her route. They made a comical couple.
The sky had now turned a mixture of beautiful silver with blue
streaks lined through it.
    “ It’s night now,” Nia said.
The grayish clouds moved gracefully over the sky. A light wind blew
through the trees, which, in turn, shivered and laughed gently
among themselves. Smells of bread baking, stew cooking, and fires
warming houses mixed with sounds of night, and I longed for
Grandma’s potato pie or her roasted chicken.
    “ We’re almost there, sis,”
Nia said as she produced another map from thin air and began
arguing again with Paul. The houses became fewer and fewer, until
finally there was nothing but fields of Mince.
    “ We are now entering
Tormey,” announced the bus driver in a monotone voice. “Please
gather your belongings.”
    “ This is our stop,” Paul
said, handing the maps over to Nia, who looked at them until they
disappeared in her hands.
    “ How do you do that?” I
asked her, incredulous.
    She shrugged. “It’s my gift. I create
things. Remember? And whatever I create, I can destroy. Wizards can
do magic without even really thinking about it. There’s a fleeting
thought, and then it’s just there.” She stood up to join the
growing line