Split by A.M. Bryker (ebook reader 8 inch txt) 📕

     As Ryu answers me, I take in my surroundings quickly. The metal object is still three feet away. I remind myself not to smile.

     After a moment I realize that Ryu has stopped speaking and I clear my throat dramatically to say, "Lady Amaya, I swear by my life and my honor… that I will never be influenced to serve you or your cause."

     I leap for the metal object at the same instant Amaya yells, "Kill him!"

     The sound of arrows being fired fills the air, and one manages to pierce through my right arm, exiting out the other side a millisecond before my skin meets the metal.

     White light blinds me. Then nothing.

Bek

Forget about my head. My arm is on fire. When I finally regain consciousness I immediately groan in pain.

     I crack my eyes open and comprehend that it's dark, my shirt is off, and someone is sitting next to me, stoking a small fire.

     Alarmed, I sit up. Too quickly. My head spins and the wound in my arm erupts in a new wave of pain.

     "You're an idiot, you know that?" the person beside me growls.

     "Kadon!" I exclaim, relieved. "What happened? Where were you? How did you get here? And wait… where is here?"

     Kadon holds up a hand to stop my flow of questions and has a look of mock terror on his face. "Take a breath, boy, else you might risk passing out again."

     I take a deep breath. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him.

     "To answer your first question," he continues. "You got captured by the princess and her band of mindless dogs called men. Secondly, when you were knocked out I slipped away so that I wouldn't get caught as well. Fortunately, only one man spotted and pursued me. We had a short clash. I then headed for the Jintis grove, and I was fortunate enough to get there before the others. I touched the Jintis and was transported to where we are now."

     When he falls silent I ask, "So where are we?"

     He gazes at me steadily and leans forward enough to allow the glow of the fire to illuminate his rough features, making him appear ghost-like. Then he replies, "Earth."

~*~

Earth? Kadon has talked about it on numerous occasions but I'd never considered that it might be real. I also recall that recently he had been saying that we would go to Earth soon. Then he had begun teaching me about the history of it and its inhabitants. I had thankfully been intelligent enough to listen to him and file away the information in my mind for later reference, even though it sounded ludicrous at the time. For some reason, I never wondered how he had gained the knowledge.

     Kadon gazes at me steadily as he asks, “Where is May?”

     I stare into the fire and answer, “She’s gone.”

     Taking a deep breath, he asks quietly, “How?”

     “Arrow,” I whisper. My vision blurs. I can’t seem to blink away the oncoming tears, and they flow freely down my cheeks.

     Kadon rests his arm around my shoulder and we sit there for a while. All of my trauma and sorrow are put into my tears and soon there’s nothing but the anger simmering beneath everything else. I drag my hand across my face and take a few deep breaths.

     “You good now?” Kadon asks.

     I nod.

     He reaches for a bag with many pockets on it. He pulls on something attached to one of them and it makes a loud zipping noise. I jump at the sound.

     "This is a backpack," he says. "It's very common among Earth's residents and is used to contain things."

     He pulls something out of the backpack and hands it to me. "These are Earth clothes," he explains. "Put them on."

     I blink. Frowning, I take the clothes and unsteadily rise to my feet.

     "There's a big tree in that direction," Kadon says, pointing.

     I nod and head toward the tree he'd indicated. Once behind the tree, I replace my filthy clothes with the strange but clean Earth clothes, making sure to be careful with my now-bandaged arm.

     I emerge from behind the tree a few minutes later and place my bloody clothes in Kadon's outstretched hand. Next, he produces socks, shoes, and a jacket. I accept them gratefully; the night air is a little frigid and my shirt has short sleeves.

     "Now that you are decently dressed, we'll go to the house." He stands and slings the backpack over his shoulder.

     "Wait - what?" The house? What house?

     Kadon rolls his eyes. "We're going to the house I secured for us yesterday. Come on."

     He puts the fire out and starts sauntering away. Hastily, I follow.

     "So did you come here all those times you went out alone?" I ask, striving to keep up with his long strides.

     "Yes."

     "But why? Did you know something was going to happen?"

     "Nooo." Sarcasm.

     "How did you know?"

     "It was a gut feeling. That, coupled with your dream, made me cautious."

     We hike to the top of a small hill, and I'm speechless as I gaze out over the land stretched out before me. Millions of lights are everywhere. The sight is breathtaking.

     As soon as I can speak, I ask, "Where on Earth are we?"

     Kadon laughs quietly and answers, "The place you are now seeing, Bek, is a part of the vast state of California. We’re going to a city named Anaheim."

     "But now we need to get to the house," he continues. "We're not safe quite yet." He begins descending the hill and I hesitantly trail after him.

   Kadon walks a short distance before coming to a large bush. After checking to make sure no one else is around, he quickly begins pulling aside the branches, revealing something shiny underneath.

     “What is that?” I ask in awe.

     “A car,” he answers. “Get in.”

     Along the way, Kadon educates me on how to speak the language of this century's teenagers and how to act like one. He helps me to understand the principles of school, updating me to two grades higher than the one I'm supposedly expected to be in at my age. He teaches me about the electronic devices that this generation is fond of and gives me a phone that is activated by the warm touch of a fingertip. I learn all of this information quickly and by the time we reach the house that Kadon insisted we get to, I'm walking and talking like any teenager should. I feel somewhat proud of myself, but I don't allow myself to get a big head about it. Mayla wouldn’t have wanted me to.

     "What time is it?" I ask as Kadon unlocks the door.

     "Check your phone, Einstein," he huffs.

     Rolling my eyes, I do just that. The numbers on the screen inform me that it's eleven P.M. I'm suddenly exhausted.

     I follow Kadon into the house, blinking rapidly when he flips on a light.

     "Welcome to your new home," he says, spreading his arms out wide.

     I gape at my surroundings. And this is only the front room. I can only imagine what the rest looks like. Wait a minute… no, I can't.

     I look at Kadon and say, "I'll sight-see as soon as I get some sleep."

~*~

     Sunlight creeps under the curtains, endeavoring to envelop me in its warmth.

     Go away, I think groggily, cracking my eyelids open slightly. I'm not ready for life yet.

     The sunlight must not hear my brain waves because it continues to inch toward me. I glance at my wristwatch and see that it's seven-thirty.

     I wonder what Kadon will want me to do today. He'll probably try to stuff my brain with as much information as he can about Earth. And I'm just fine with that; I want to find out as much as humanely possible about this strange place.And I want to occupy my thoughts with those things instead of dwelling on the fact that Mayla isn’t learning with me. Her ring hanging from a chain around my neck feels heavier when I think about her.

     After a few minutes, I force myself to get out of bed and head for the dresser. With a bundle of clothes in one arm, I walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower the way Kadon showed me. I would have taken a shower last night, but I was exhausted—as you well know. But I'm so filthy it's ridiculous. I can't believe I slept in that amazing bed without being clean. I feel despicable.

     After my shower, I promptly put on my clothes—feeling clean and refreshed—and exit my first bedroom, wondering how in the world I could have possibly lived my life without this luxury. Oh yeah. I lived in a forest and had no idea that there was anything better than a cottage. (Aside from the castle, but I've never been in there so I have no clue what kind of stuff they are privileged with.)

     My arm is feeling much better since last night, probably because Kadon put some healing salve on it before I went to bed.

     Speaking of, I locate Kadon sitting in the kitchen at the table, reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of… something. I don't know what it is but it smells good.

     I slide into the chair across from him and fold my arms on the table. "So what's on the agenda today?"

     He replies without glancing up at me. "Learning."

     I knew it. "What am I learning about?"

     This time he takes his gaze from the paper and looks at me. "Girls."

     My eyes widen and my jaw drops. "What?" It almost comes out as a squeak.

     "You need to learn how to cope around and with them. How to approach a girl you like. How you should behave and talk around them. Believe me - it's quite different from the other stuff I taught you last night."

     "Can't I just act like myself?" I ask desperately.

     He lifts an eyebrow. "That's just like asking if you can make a fool out of yourself. Besides, by the time I'm through with you, 'yourself' will be something anyone would be proud of. Only then will I allow you to act like yourself."

     He stands and says, "You have demonstrated that you can learn quickly. It's quite remarkable how well and how hastily you absorbed the information I have given you thus far. It will prove to be very beneficial in the near future."

     He goes on to teach me about how I should act around girls, and how I can garner their attention without making a fool out of myself (though he mentions that just my looks could do that). It's all interesting and probably useful information, but I don't believe that I'll have to make use of it any time soon. At least, I hope I won't.

     Then Kadon does the unthinkable.

     "No no no no," I protest. "There is absolutely no way I am going to pretend that you're a girl."

     "Bek, this is important," he replies.

     I raise my eyebrows and spread my arms out as if