Timekeeper- chapter 2.

My day started off well. A sure fire sign it would end badly. Here’s how the story goes. I was walking to the bus stop today with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, when to no fault of my own… I got lost. I don’t know how, but I did. How long have you lived here? I asked myself the question in disgust as I tried to figure out where I was. I had spaced out and somehow gotten turned around. I walked on for a long, long time. I couldn’t seem to get unturned. I was so intent on looking for landmarks or anything that might give me a clue as to where I had ended up, that I didn’t notice I walked into a tree. Not into a tree as in I slammed headfirst, but I literally stepped through the bark. I was so confused I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t move, I didn’t scream, I didn’t do anything. I was just dumbfounded. I didn’t have to stand there for long though. Just like the blackness in my dream, the tree began to dissolve and I found myself standing in an old fashioned room lit by candlelight, staring at two of the most surprised looking people I’d ever seen.

“Sungam, that isn’t a rock. That’s a human.”

“Yes, so she is.” He began to mutter to himself, “Your magic must be stronger and wilder than I had anticipated Lyru, don’t worry I’ll sort this out.”

Sungam? Lyru? Magic? My head was spinning, but I struggled to focus. I wished that I could hail from somewhere other than the land of confusion. The man left his place beside the girl who had spoken first and came over to speak to me.

“Hello, I’m sure you must be as confused as we are, but please don’t be frightened, we were practicing summoning charms and it must have gone wrong somewhere. We’re going get this straightened out and send you home.” He offered a comforting smile. He had an ageless look about him, he could have been anywhere from 20-40. His hair was long and dark brown and was arranged in a very extravagant array of long spikes. He would need a lot of hairspray to keep it like that. His eyes were light green, and had the odd quality of looking hard on the surface like a mirror.

“Umm, thank you.” Was all I could think of to say as a reply. If this man was going to get me the hell out of here I had no reason not to go along with him. The girl had been standing quietly in the background, and I hadn’t really had a chance to look at her, but now I realized that she was definitely not a human. She had luminous gold eyes that stood out in stark contrast to her dark skin, and her hair was so dark it was blue black. But the feature that stood out the most was the wings that emerged from her shoulders, and the feathered tail from her tailbone. She also had a long pointed nose and ears, and her feet were not so much feet but talons. She looked no older than 10.

“If you would please tell me where you’re from”, said the one called Sungam, “we’re one step closer to getting you home. Despite what you must be thinking, Lyru here is an excellent Caster.” Another smile. Castor, Summoning Charm, Magic… I was the undisputed ruler of Confusion County. However I decided once more to just go along with him to get out of here faster. But then again, this very morning hadn’t I been dreaming of adventure? I could pretend to have amnesia and ask to stay here, I could learn about this place and these people… but there was a good chance it would be more than I bargained for. Better just be on my way before there was any possibility of things turning ugly I decided.

“Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. That’s where I’m from” I stated the words clearly so there would be no confusion, yet they both gave me puzzled looks.

“…Victoria, British Columbia, Canada? Do you mean you’re from Kanadri? Is Victoria a very remote town or the name of an estate?” asked Sungam.

“No”, I replied hoping against hope he wouldn’t ask me anymore questions. “I’m not from Kanadri, I’m from Canada. You know, big country above the United States? Known for beavers and maple syrup? Lots of people make jokes that we live in igloos?” But he was looking more stunned by the moment, and it was clear he had never heard of Canada or The US. Heck, maybe he didn’t even know what an igloo was.

“Girl”, Lyru spoke quietly and slowly, “I think you must be disoriented. Neither of those places exists anywhere; maybe we should get you to a healer.”

“I don’t need a healer, I need to know where I am, how I got here, what in the heck you are, and we seem to be on completely different pages.” I regretted that I lost my temper with a little kid, but I was so frustrated I couldn’t help it.

“What in the heck I a-“

“Quiet Lyru.” a strange expression was lingering on Sungam’s face. “Girl, what is your name?”

“Sam.” I didn’t really want these two who were clearly unbalanced to know my real name.

“Sam, you are telling me you’ve never seen an Avian before, and that you don’t understand what a Summoning is, correct?”

“Yeah”, I replied. “And you’re telling me you’ve never heard of two huge countries, and a form of arctic housing?” He didn’t say anything for a moment, and when he did he didn’t directly answer my question.

“Sam this is very strange, and you may not believe me but, you are in a world that runs parallel to your own.” After that none of spoke for a long time, I just let the words echo in my mind. If I had known at that moment what I had stumbled into I probably would have died of shock, which I nearly did anyway. After that day my life changed so drastically it was barely recognizable as the one I had lead for 15 years.