Why didn't you talk? Why did you let your fear blind you?

I was stunlocked in place. Should I fear her? What should I say? I was staring at the village chief like a doe in headlights and she simply stared back at me.

“Is the sacrifice awake?”

Initially, I convinced myself that hearing that must have been a dream. When I found the notebook, those words returned to my mind and I thought that I must have heard correctly, but didn't know who could have said that.

Looking at her piercing yellow eyes, now I had complete certainty that I was not mistaken when I heard those words. She was the one who visited me the first day, and she’s the one who called me a sacrifice.

I must have been staring at her slackjawed for too long, as her frown deepened once more.

“I was told by Howard that you were hurt in the last expedition to the pond, but I see you are perfectly fine. Aren’t you?”

Wait.

“Yeah, it was not too grave of an injury anyways. Howard told me that I could start working again today.” I responded, nervously.

I had no idea why Howard lied to her, but if she wants me sacrificed, then I know she’s not trustworthy. At the very least I should avoid causing her ire.

“And he sent you to get water, I see.” She said, looking away for a moment, before setting her gaze back at me.

She started walking towards me. She was at the very least a whole head taller than me, and she examined me from head to toe. After taking a deep breath, she talked again.

“I need you to come with me.”

Should I run?

No, if I do, that will ruin everything. They’ll know I’m unto them. If they find the notebook, they’ll find out precisely what I know, how I know it and they’ll stop this kindness farce that they have kept going until now. I would go from being watched to be a full on prisoner.

“Okay.” I finally said, nodding slightly, looking straight to her eyes. Was it more respectful to look at her eyes, or to look away? I was unsure what to do.

She guided me the way back into the village center. When she turned around, I looked at the sky again. The strip of light was still not in place. Whatever her intention was, she was not going to kill me yet.

In theory, at least.

She started walking back up into the pyramid, the one I arrived in and fell down on the first day when I arrived. going up the stairs one by one until I reached the altar where I was summoned.

I felt like I was walking to the gallows.

“Go up there, and kneel.”

No, she’s definitely going to kill me, there’s no way.

I took a step back, but I could not run. The only way out was running down the stairs, and I was sure that if I tried to run down I would fall down again.

I looked her in the eyes. She was looking at me, still stern, but with one eyebrow slightly risen. Was she gauging me?

I looked at the altar. It was now or never. If i die, then it may as well have been over ever since she caught me downstairs with the bucket.

Finally, I decided to take a gamble, and trust in the notebook. She could not sacrifice me, until the strip of light reaches its place, it should all be fine.

I got into the altar and kneeled, looking at her. She started pacing around, looking at me from all angles.

“Straighten your back.”

I straightened it as most as I could. Looking firmly forward. It reminded me of the roll calls we did with the scouts every morning when the chiefs explained the order of the day.

Finally, she finished pacing and stopped in front of me again.

“It’s dangerous to send you to the forest right now. At least, without knowing how to handle the veils.”

This time I managed to control my emotions, finally. Instead of looking at her slackjawed, like before, I slightly inclined my head as if I didn’t understand what she meant.

I wanted to speed through the notebook to learn that information, and she’s going to give it to me for free?

“Howard did not tell you anything? That’s troublesome. We are very behind schedule then.” She said, with a stern voice that didn’t betray any kind of anger.

She took my arms and folded them in front of me. Then she pushed my head up. She was handling my posture with her own hands before I even knew what was going on.

“This is the highest lighting point in the whole village. A place where the light and darkness of the worlds collide and take shape. Grasping how to handle it will be easier here than anywhere else. Now, close your eyes.”

I gladly closed them, as she put her hand on my chin and pushed my head up, forcing me to look straight up. Suddenly, far away above me, in the darkness inside my eyelids, there was a small prick of light.

“You should be able to see a light. That’s the next world stream. When the strip of light comes down from the sky, it connects us both with the world above and the world below us.” Euryce continued, pacing around him again. “Now, stay completely still, but imagine yourself extending your arm towards the light. I know it’s far away, but simply extend your arm all the way to the light, without moving your arm a single inch.”

The instructions made no sense, but in a new world, common sense is no longer common. Extending my arm without extending it. Should I imagine the movement from my arm and then it extending it as if it was made of rubber? The idea was laughable, but I could give it a try.

Good thing I have a healthy imagination to deal with situations like this.

I imagined my hand going up, and then going on and on, as if my arm was endless and raising it towards that far away star was as simple as grabbing a lightbulb. The idea made me feel… at home, in some way.

When I closed my imaginary hand around the light, and I started feeling heat in my right hand, I opened my eyes.

I looked at it, it was as if the light that I could only see with my eyes closed had become a liquid that now dripped out of my hand, but before it could leave it, it evaporated, going away as suddenly as it had appeared.

“It is incredibly easy to grab light in the world’s connection points, but making it stay here is an impossible task. To make it worse, the darkness below us is infinite and ever flowing, but the light above is an incredibly scarce resource that we depend on to keep us alive.” Euryce said, her frown getting more pronounced as she looked into the distance.

I looked at her when the light completely vanished from my hands. I didn’t even know what to say. I was not the brightest bulb back in school, but I knew that what I just did should have been more than impossible. Light is not a liquid, darkness is not either. But unlike the veils, it now seemed to be something that was on the reach of my bare hands.

New world, new rules. That was obvious, but it did not make it any easier.

“When you practice somewhere else, you won’t be able to see the light, but the darkness is always below you. If you manage to find it, you’ll be able to create veils, and even more important, to move them.” She said, turning around towards me.

“Wait, we can move the veils?” I said, a bright hope sparkling now in my mind.

“Some of them, if you are apt enough while handling darkness. Those that are connected to the darkness below always recover what you take from them and are immovable, but the rest of them, yes.” She said, finalizing her explanation.

She neared me, too much to be comfortable, and looked me directly in the eyes.

“Every moment you are not doing any task for the village, practice handling the veils. Don’t you dare create any veils here, but make sure that you know how to do so. It’s dangerous to go outside if you don’t.”

Finally, she started to walk away, but stopped herself before going down the stairs.

“Your bodyguard, Lyra. How do you get along with her?” She said, not looking back at me.

Simply, I didn’t know what to answer. Would it get her mad? Even so, lying could make things worse than they are

“We don’t really talk, she just stays by my side all the time and doesn’t even say anything to me.” I responded, with honesty.

“I see.” She said, without any particular emotional inflection.

Euryce looked down, as if slightly saddened, pensive. Did she want it to be different?

I could not stay on that thought for long, as she recovered quickly, as if that tender moment had never happened.

“Well, that’s all for now. Make sure to repeat the pose when you begin training, it will make practice easier. And don’t go for more water. I’ll handle that now.” She said, going down the stairs and cracking her fingers while she spoke.

Frankly, I stayed at the altar, not wanting to meet her again on the way down. I would wait until she had gone away. but while I’m here…

I closed my eyes again, I could see the light on top of me again. There were so many things she said that were now bouncing in my head, questions that I did not dare to ask her.

The stream of the worlds. Something that connects us with a world up, and a world down. So there are other worlds, and they are connected to us. A reality so obvious that she can explain it with naturality as if it was common knowledge. Was every world like this? Was mine like this?

While I looked again at that sparkle, shining like a little star, I could only think…

Could something like that… bring me home?