Free Strange Attractors by Kim Falconer

the portal.
    When Teg awoke, it was night and the sky was filled with stars. They twinkled against the dark vault and he smiled, recognising the constellation called the Lion of Ishtar. Was it summer then? The ground felt so cold, but the hand on his forehead was warm and tingling with energy. It soothed him like a sweet song and heneeded that. His head ached as if blacksmiths were pounding their way in, or out.
    A conversation murmured in the background, like a small waterfall. He didn’t try to make out the words but let the sound wash over him as he watched the gleaming stars. Slowly a single voice distilled out of the babble and he recognised the speaker. It was her. Kreshkali. That confirmed it. He wasn’t dead.
    ‘That’s correct, Teg. You’re not dead, but you may wish it before I’m through with you.’
    He flinched. ‘Mistress?’ His tongue felt thick and dry.
    ‘I’ve got one question, Teg. If you want to keep your apprenticeship, you’d best have a sharp answer.’
    He swallowed. ‘Yes, Mistress?’
    ‘Where is Rosette?’
    Teg frowned, searching his memory. Nothing surfaced immediately. Like floating puzzle pieces, all the fragments were there, but not in the right places. He started with the only thing he was sure of, hoping the rest would follow. He cleared his throat. ‘We ran into the corridor, ahead of the arrows. Then the Sword Master called me back.’
    ‘The Sword Master? You found An’ Lawrence?’
    ‘We did. At the Corsanon Fields. There was a battle. The numbers were a little lopsided.’
    ‘So we gathered. What happened next?’
    Teg frowned. He couldn’t find a piece to fit this shape. ‘I don’t know. I got the warhorse through, Scylla shot past, I think. She came back out, and then…I don’t really remember what happened.’
    ‘And what about Rosette?’
    The question came in even measures, devoid of emotion. It would be easier if she had yelled. Her cool detachment was much more unnerving.
    ‘They were ahead.’ He coughed, rubbing his chest. ‘She and Drayco are safe in the corridors. They have to be.’
    ‘And the archers? Did any find their mark?’
    Teg wrinkled his brow again. Someone was hit. Who was it? He scanned for the answer, shifting the question around in his mind. ‘One did.’ He closed his eyes against her urgency, her anger. She grasped his biceps and shook him.
    ‘Who got hit, Teg? Tell me now! Was it Rosette?’
    ‘Easy, Kali,’ a deep voice said.
    For a moment Jarrod came into focus, his hands prying loose her grip. Teg felt the blood rush back into his arms. How long had she been clutching him?
    ‘He has a concussion, Kali,’ Jarrod said. ‘You don’t want to rattle his brain any worse than it already is.’
    ‘He has no brain to rattle. If he did, he wouldn’t be here.’
    I’m sorry, Kali. I’m so sorry. Teg sent the message to her mind with all his heart.
    ‘Apology not accepted,’ she said aloud.
    ‘Kali, he’s not the first apprentice to take action on his own. He’s…’
    ‘Why are you defending him?’ She turned on Jarrod. ‘He risked Rosette. He risked you, for that matter, and the future of Earth.’
    ‘I did what?’
    ‘There. You see?’ Jarrod said. ‘It wasn’t intentional. He has no idea what’s at stake.’
    ‘We followed, is all.’ Teg’s strength was coming back. He tried to rise. ‘Rosette and I got to Dumarka and it felt wrong. We came here to help.’ His voice trailed off, not so much because of the pain but because of the weakness of his argument. He and Rosette had ignored the direction of their mentor, their High Priestess, forno other reason than they didn’t want to be left behind. Teg groaned again. How could he redeem himself?
    Kreshkali paid no attention to his discomfort, though she kept her hand on his forehead. Her words carried an edge, but her touch was soft. It was the longest she’d ever held him, he thought, realising his head was in her lap.
    ‘And where is An’ Lawrence?’ she