Free Aerenden: The Child Returns (Ærenden) by Kristen Taber

the ground and cupped her hands, launching him into
the air when he stepped his left foot into her palms. He straddled the tree
before leaning down to grab her hand, and hoisting her up beside him.
    She
faced him, swinging one leg over the tree to mimic his posture. “What do you
mean by ‘not exactly’?” she asked. “When we were on Earth, you said we were
five miles away from the portal to your village. We’ve travelled at least that
far today, so we should be close by now. Are you lost?”
    “Not
exactly,” he repeated. He looked over the side of the tree and she followed his
gaze. Thick underbrush hid the ground, as well as any rocks that might pose a
danger to their landing. He frowned. “I think it’s best if I—”
    “Stop,”
Meaghan begged. She pressed her hands into the tree and leaned forward, not
caring about the pain the rough bark brought to her palms or the surprise that
overtook Nick’s face. “You promised you’d answer my questions. ‘Not exactly’
doesn’t answer anything. Are you lost or not?”
    “I’m
not lost,” Nick responded and then sighed when she raised an eyebrow at him.
“I’m not,” he reassured her. “I just have no idea where we are.”
    She
sat back. “How can you be both?”
    “Portals
don’t work the way you think,” he answered. “Each location here is linked to a
specific location on Earth. A portal connects those two locations but the
geography doesn’t line up. I could open a portal here and one a mile away and they
could be next to each other on your world or fifty miles apart. There’s an
intricate formula which would tell me where we are, but I don’t have it memorized.”
    Her
mouth went dry. “So we could be half-way around the world from your village?”
    Instead
of answering, he dropped his gaze to the ground again and Meaghan touched his
hand. “Please, Nick. Tell me that’s impossible.”
    “Theoretically,
it’s possible,” he responded. “Although I’d prefer to think we aren’t. I’m not
in the mood to find our way across three continents and two oceans.”
    “Me
neither,” she said, and then swung her other leg over the tree when he jumped
down from the trunk. He extended a hand to her and she took it, landing beside
him in the brush. She stepped from the greenery, following him through the
forest once more.
    “So
we’re stuck wandering around here until something looks familiar?” she asked.
    “Not
quite,” he told her. “As I said, I’m not lost. I recognize the mountain range
we’re walking toward, but I think we’re on the wrong side of it.” He helped her
over a smaller tree lying in their path, and then dropped her hand as they kept
moving. “We should be at the base of the first mountain by tomorrow night. If
I’m right, we’ll reach my village in a couple of weeks.”
    “Weeks,”
Meaghan echoed, barely managing to form the word. She crossed her arms over her
stomach, slowing her pace and then stopping so Nick could not see her tears.
She closed her eyes to chase them away.
    She
had never minded being in the wilderness and had often enjoyed it, but weeks
without proper food or a shower, weeks without a comfortable bed, and weeks
dealing with evil-looking animals and aching muscles did not thrill her.
    Getting
lost did not either. She opened her eyes as a soft wind tickled her cheek, and
scanned the forest ahead. She caught sight of Nick, his form no more than a
distant outline scattering leaves, and she chased after it.
    “The
wind brought me here on a gust of luck, I’d say.”
    A
breezy tenor stilled Meaghan’s feet. She spun around, looking for the source of
the voice, but saw only the movement of loose vines dancing in the wind.
    “Jumpy,
aren’t you?”
    She
snapped her head to the left. An echoing laugh followed. She turned a full
circle, watching for any movement or a potential hiding place that would give
away the man’s location, but she found nothing.
    “Earth,
water, fire, and air,” the