Infernum

Alex and Hope exchanged small pleasantries over the breakfast table, mostly about the differences between her world and his when Alex asked, “So how is it that you and I can be from two different planets and still look the same?” He shoveled another bite into his mouth.

“That’s easy, Alex, because we are both humans.”

“How is that possible?” Alex asked after swallowing.

“Our species did not come from this planet, or mine for that matter. We come from the planet Caelo located near the center of this galaxy. Our people were brought here a long time ago by an ancient race of beings known as the Lords,” Hope explained.

Alex looked over to her and asked, “Why would they do that Hope? I mean … why would anybody go through all that trouble to move us?”

“Let me tell you why, Alex.” Hope took the last bite of her breakfast before she told her story.

“Eons ago, humans on Caelo were about as technologically advanced as the people on this planet are now. Suddenly and without cause or reason, Caelo was invaded. A powerful species of creatures known as daemons descended upon Caelo and slaughtered our people near to the point of extinction. It was then, out of sheer desperation, that the last governing body on the last surviving continent sent a signal into space, essentially begging for help. Sometime after the signal was sent, our call for help was answered by an ancient race of beings we call the lords. The lords came to our aid in our most desperate time of need; they saved our people and imprisoned the invaders. Fearing extinction our ancestors were forever in their debt. The daemons were captured and sent here, to a prison deep inside this planet called the Infernum. To ensure the survival of our species and countless others, the lords colonized this planet with a handful of the last remaining survivors so they could watch over this world and warn Caelo of any possible escapes. So you see Alex, we owe the lords everything. That’s why they rule over us and why these tasks are so important, they were given to us by a lord, and to fail a lord is to bring dishonor to your entire house,” Hope told Alex with feeling. “And besides, all this will be clear after you learn to harness the power of your ánimam, it will show you all of this,” Hope added.

Alex finished his breakfast and began to clear the living room.

“What are you doing?” Hope asked curiously.

“I’m making room so you can show me how to use the ánimam thingy,” Alex replied. Hope looked at him and laughed.

“Unless you plan on building a new house, I suggest we take this to a more remote location,” Hope said with an arrogant chuckle.

“So we need to go outside?” Alex asked. Hope walked over to him and moved him out of the way.

“Watch this,” she said as her ribbons emerged from her back. Hope’s ribbons converged in front of her and formed a large golden circle. As the circle was formed, energy surged through the ribbons causing them to glow brightly with white light. In the center of Hope’s ribbons, which was now almost too bright to look at, a porthole opened revealing a new light from another world. Alex could see the sandy dunes of a massive rust-colored desert on the other side. Hope looked over to him.

“Step through, Alex.” Alex looked over at Hope, then at the porthole quickly with a confused look on his face.

“You’re kidding right?” he said as he waited for the punch line of Hope’s joke.

“It will be fine Alex, trust me,” Hope said with a smirk. “Just jump through if you’re nervous,” she added. Alex ducked under Hope’s ribbons and walked up to the porthole. He could feel the hot dry air blowing and the scorching sun on his skin as he got closer to the porthole.

“It’s not like a window or a picture, is it?” Alex asked, looking back at Hope.

“No it’s a porthole Alex, think of it as a doorway if it helps,” Hope explained. Alex stepped up to the edge of the porthole and slowly extended his hand through, expecting to feel some type of barrier or transition of some type, but there was nothing; it was just a hole in the air. He got a big grin on his face.

“This is the coolest thing I have ever seen! It’s there … it’s really there,” Alex exclaimed. Hope shook her head then slowly walked up to him.

“Yes Alex, it’s really there,” she reassured. Then, with a single hard push from Hope, Alex flew through the hole, falling for a few feet to the hot sand below. Hope was right behind Alex through the porthole landed gracefully on her feet. She walked over to Alex and helped him to his feet. He gasped for air, the intense heat and thin air made him feel like he couldn’t breathe. The air was stale with a copper taste like a penny or blood.

“Where are we, Hope? It’s hard to breathe here, it’s too hot.” Alex thought of such places like the Sahara and the Gobi deserts. Hope grinned slightly and nodded to Alex hinting there was something behind him.

“Turn around,” she said as she made the gesture to him. Alex turned around and saw an endless sea of red sand dunes and beyond them a tiny mountain range in the distance. Alex looked higher to the top of the mountains, his jaw dropped as he watched the background give way to something he never thought he would ever see in his lifetime. Behind the mountain range, a massive blue orb rose slowly over the horizon like the sun does each morning, only a hundred times bigger. Alex knew without a doubt it was another planet rising in the distance. The planet rose quicker and quicker until most of it was visible over the horizon. Its polar ice caps seemed to be the only thing solid on this massive planet consisting of one never-ending body of water. Even though it was mostly covered with clouds, Alex could tell there was no land on this blue giant.

“Hope, where are we?” he asked as he stared at the rising planet.

“We are on a moon called Lorem, Alex; that is Aquatis rising in the distance,” Hope said.

“And just curious, how far are we from my house?” Alex asked hesitantly.

“Really far, Alex, about halfway to Caelo actually,” Hope said nonchalantly.

“Okay then, just wanted to know, so… What now?” Alex asked, trying not to freak out.

“Now you learn to use the ánimam so you can give me the data I need,” Hope said. “But first we need to get out of this desert and onto that mountain range where your training will begin,” she added.

They walked toward the mountain range for several hours, all the while Alex was asking question after question about everything from the history of Caelo to the structure of the Houses he had heard so little of. After the third hour of walking toward the tiny mountains that did not seem to get any larger, Alex finally asked, “Hope, if an ánimam can open a porthole from one planet to another, why can’t we open one to that mountain range?” Hope stopped and looked at him.

“It’s about time; I thought we were going to have to walk forever until you figured that out,” she answered sarcastically. Alex stopped and looked back at Hope with a very confused look on his face.

“Alex, that mountain range is over 2000 miles away; we never would have reached it on foot,” she added. “You need to start thinking with your ánimam now that your training has begun,” she said as she stopped walking and turned toward Alex.

“Your first task is to open a porthole to that mountain range.”

Alex was pissed as he heard this. “You mean we have been walking for hours through this desert and you were just going to let me keep walking, forever?” Alex yelled.

“You needed to figure it out for yourself, Alex. It is part of the training process and an old custom we have observed for countless millennia,” Hope said as she tried to keep a straight face.

“Okay Hope, that’s one for you, for now,” Alex replied to Hope’s subtle chuckles. “Now how do I do it?” he asked, realizing the actual distance to the mountains and ignoring Hope’s bad attempt at humor.

“First thing first, Alex, you need to summon your ánimam. Start by concentrating on the lump in your chest, you should be able to feel it,” Hope explained.

“I do,” Alex said, touching his chest. “It’s like a warm glow inside; it’s faint, but the more I think about it the warmer it gets,” Alex said with a grin.

“That’s it, Alex, now try to push it out through your back with your mind.” Alex closed his eyes and hunched forward tightening every muscle in his body as he grunted.

“With your mind, Alex… Relax and concentrate,” Hope said as she stopped him from busting a vein in his forehead. Alex stood up straight, took a deep breath, and tried again. Slowly but surely golden ribbons emerged from his back extending straight out behind him.

“That’s good, Alex, really good. Now bring them around front … concentrate,” Hope said, reassuring him. Alex continued to concentrate, and soon the ribbons came around.

“Alright Alex, now focus on making a circle.” He tried a few times without any success; then, on his fourth attempt, he did it, the ribbons were now in front of him forming a perfect eight-foot circle.

“Now what do I do?” he asked again.

“This is the tricky part, Alex, I need you to look at the mountains through that circle, see it like it’s a painting on a wall,” Hope explained.

“Okay, got it,” Alex replied.

“Now, just imagine the picture enlarging, like the zoom on that camera/ telephone thing you showed me the other night,” Hope tried to explain as she made a kind of pinching motion with her fingers.

As Alex looked through the golden ring, energy began to surge through it. There was a crackle and a hiss as the energy flowed around and then through the circle. Soon after, he could feel his ribbons extending toward the mountains even though they did not physically move. Alex could now almost see the side of the mountain in his mind, and his imagination took form through his porthole in the picture of a grassy slope at the base of the mountain.

“That’s it, Alex, now just keep concentrating while we go through,” Hope said with excitement. They walked through the porthole together at her request, just in case it became unstable she said.

Now standing on a grassy slope with Alex, Hope looked over to him.

“That was very impressive, Alex; that is called a seeking porthole. We use those to navigate places we have never seen before, and you accomplished it very quickly… That’s very impressive for a primitive, I mean Discentem,” she said sharply.

Alex looked over to her with curiosity.

“How long did it take you, Hope?”

She turned away from Alex and muttered under her breath as she walked away.

“Three days.”