Read Online The Two Worlds by Alisha Howard - Free Book Online Page B

ears as he gulped from his mug, and his long
fingers tapped impatiently on the table in front of him. When he
opened his mouth to burp, nothing but smoke came out. “They’re
allergic to the Turgorian sun,” Nia continued. “That’s why they
live in the bubble. And they’re an anti-social group. They were one
of the original races here and feel superior to the rest of us that
came along. Oh, and they hate Awakeners.”
    “ Wonderful,” I yelped,
crouching lower. A burly man with four eyes (two located evenly on
his face where his nose should’ve been) growled and began the next
chorus of the song. “Who’s this Beard Jack anyway?”
    “ Him,” Nia whimpered and
pointed. The den grew louder as a dark figure emerged from the
crowd, towering above the rest. Rena covered her ears, and Yolonda
shivered against my skin as the figure appeared. His face was
completely smooth , and he lacked a nose. A trail of hair began on
each side of his head and met in the middle to form a beard. The
beard was impossibly long, dragging across the floor as he stalked
slowly through the crowd, surveying the drunken faces around him
that began another verse of tribute.
    I took a deep breath. “You know, we
might be in over our heads with this one.”
    Nia and Rena both nodded.
    Yolonda took a breath as well and said,
“Look, I understand if ya’ll don’t want to go in after someone
you’ve never met before. I mean, it’s dangerous, a bunch of drunken
hooligans and the faceless guy. We can just go home. It’s
just...he’s my only family...and I thought...” Her voice cracked
and she let the sentence trail. Nia sighed and Rena looked down at
the ground.
    I thought for a moment. If Nia was
buried in there, and she was my only family, I’d want to go and get
her. “Where is he, Yolonda?” I asked.
    “ H-he’s in the middle of the
place. Underneath a small trap door.”
    “ Okay,” I said breathless,
my heart pounding. “We’re going to need a diversion. Nia, that’s
your job.”
    “ Me?” Nia squeaked. “Why is
it my job?”
    “ Because we need someone to create a diversion, and you’re a Creator, aren’t you?” Nia
grumbled a reply, and I kept going. “Rena, I need you to stand
guard. If anyone should turn around and see me, tell this shack
here to start quivering. Anything to shake these goons up. They’re
good and drunk, so it shouldn’t take much.” Rena gave a nervous
nod. “Yolonda and I are going in as soon as they turn the other
way. Nia, we need something really good. Let’s see what Erika was
talking about. All right, let’s go!”
    We split up, and Nia ran to the back of
the shack and lifted her arms. Out of the calm sky came a small
orange glow, followed by another and another. Nia began to perspire
as the orange glows became larger. She was creating a big sun.
Moving her arms together slowly, we all watched as the orange balls
of fire joined together and cast a bright glow upon the Nipsin
Lodge. The inhabitants of Nipsin’s noticed, too, and began to watch
Beard Jack to see what he would do. Jack himself was snarling at
the new sun, allowing long ropes of drool to disappear in his
beard. If I hadn’t been frozen with a mixture of fear and
admiration of Nia’s talent, I would’ve gagged.
    The light wasn’t very strong,
flickering in and out sporadically as if someone was placing their
fingers over a light bulb. I ran to the corner of the house and
stuck my hand out as a ray of light hit my hand. Just as I
suspected, the ray was ice cold. Feeling a slight shiver along my
spine, I waited for another ray to hit, and as it did, I whispered,
“You are strong, incredibly warm, the source of immense heat.” The
ray disappeared from my hand, and, on cue, the air began to warm. I
turned around and noticed that a small group of the Nipsin’s
patrons had gathered in front of the shack and was beginning to
advance towards Nia. Peering into another small hole near my head,
I saw the KaKonian bare his