Again

The Marta Davison Journals: An Adventure Story

Chapter One: It Begins

         

         My name is Marta Davison. As a runaway with no one looking for me, I’ve woken up in a few strange places. Park benches. Dumpsters. Barns. However, this morning was different.

         I have particularly good senses...well except for my eyesight. So when I awakened to the smell of musty air, I immediately knew I was in some kind of enclosed place. Funny, I don’t remember being at the subway station. Stranger yet, it was very, very quiet. I sat up and opened my eyes.

         The room I was in looked to be a cavern of sorts. It was a dimly lit by a couple of torches on the wall. The floor was made completely of gray stone with a thin film of dirt across the surface. Other than that, the room was bare.

         I stood up and made my way over to a heavy wooden door directly opposite me. Gripping the handle tightly, the door made an awful creaking sound as it opened. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful it hadn’t been locked. The door opened to a long tunnel and I grabbed a torch to see how far it went, but the tunnel seemed to go on forever. Me being me, I decided to take my chances and follow it.

         After walking for nearly 30 minutes, I came to another door. Approaching cautiously, I put my ear against the polished wood. On the other side, people were talking merrily amongst themselves with music playing in the background. It didn’t seem too dangerous, so I opened the door and slipped into an abandoned booth in the corner.            I surveyed the area from my new vantage point.

         Booths and tables lined the three of the walls. The fourth donned a long bar, opening up to the kitchens giving off delectable smells of meat, steamed vegetables, and baked goods. A large circular dance floor dominated the center of the room, upon which a contest seemed to be taking place. In the corner, an accordionist, a fifer, and a fiddler were playing a joyful tune on a raised platform. An underground diner, I thought, how peculiar. The strangest thing about the diner was its people.  Their skin almost blended in with the dirt walls. Their eyes were a dull gray where the white should be and all of their pupils were coal black. Most of them were bulkily built except for the children who were exceedingly thin. Otherwise, they looked like humans.

         My stomach growled. Realizing that I hadn’t eaten yet, I casually strolled over to the bar and sat on a stool. Finally, the waitress came to my end of the counter. I held my breath as she looked at me for a moment before a gentle smile lit her face.

         “What’ll it be?” She asked in a voice that would have been sweet save the slight gravelly edge.

          At that moment, I remembered that my wallet was still hidden under a rock in Laney Park.

         “I haven’t any money.”

The waitress chuckled.

         “You don’t need any money, deary. You’re a guest of Queen Tiera!” She exclaimed.

         “Who’s Queen Tiera?” I questioned.

         “Why she’s only the ruler of our underground kingdom of Terragoniss!” The waitress said matter-of-factly.

         “Oh”, I said not wanting to sound more stupid, “Well why am I her guest? I’ve never even heard of Terragoniss, let alone met the queen.”

         “No one knows why she was in such a hurry to see you. She says it’s secret. Queen Tiera wanted me to see to it that you had breakfast and were properly brushed and washed, then send for Kuri to escort you to the throne room. I’ll be right back.”

         The waitress bustled into the kitchen while I sat dumbstruck.The queen of an underground nation wanted o see me? Was it possible she knew what I was? And who was Kuri? With my mind still buzzing, the waitress returned (who’s named I later learned to be Lira) with a warm bowl of oatmeal, a slice of toast, and a tall glass of orange juice. Lira talked while I ravenously gobbled down my breakfast.

         “The Queen said this is what Upworlders eat. Apparently you people don’t like gopher meat and rock juice.”

         I was too hungry to even question her. It’d been a long time since I had a proper meal. Lira watched me drain my glass, then bent behind the counter and re-merged with a blue skirt, white leggings, a white blouse, and black mary-janes which she held out to me. When I came out of the bathroom, a boy about my age was waiting for me. Lira introduced us.

         “Kuri, meet Marta Davison. Marta, this is Kuri Unewhen.”

         I shook his hand, unable to speak.  Kuri was not what I’d expected. To start off, he looked human. He was skinny, but fit. He had pale white skin that became more pronounced by navy hair so dark it was almost black. And his eyes. His eyes were two pieces of sparkling blue ice. When he spoke, his voice was firm, yet friendly:

         “Hello Marta. I am supposed to take you to meet with Queen Tiera.  Normally, one of her guards would escort you however, she wants to see me too so she thought it better if I come and fetch you. We should really get going. It’s a long walk.”

         I managed to nod and with that, Kuri turned on his heel and started down a flight of steps I hadn’t noticed before.



Chapter Two: Magick

         

         After walking in silence for about an hour, I gathered the courage to speak.

         “So...um...Kuri, maybe you could tell me why I’m here?” I asked because I had a feeling he knew.

         “Well,” he said, “All I know is that this is something big. Queen Tiera never brings Upworlders down here. Many year ago, the Terragonissians lived in harmony with the humans, doing dirty jobs like mining, ditch digging, and the like. However, the humans grew greedy and refused to pay the Terragonissians for their work. Instead, they were held as slaves. Some of them managed to escape enslavement and came to live down here. They had to adapt to a life with no sunlight and little fresh air. Lately, weird things have been happening. Roofs are caving in. Pathways are sprouting flowers. It’s not natural. My guess is that’s why Queen Tiera wants to see us. She believes this has something to do with Upworld magick.”

         I shuddered. Magick? Not this again. Isn’t this what I’d been running from ever since...no, I wouldn’t think about it. I walked on and pretended not to know about magick while Kuri rambled about everything he thought I needed to know.

         As we came round a corner, I stopped short. Before us were two giant golden doors, decorated with intricately crafted pictures and symbols in a language I didn’t understand. Terragonissian guards stod on either side of the doorway. Kuri simply walked up to them and they bowed and opened the door. Astonished, I hurried to follow close behind.