The Cyber Chronicles Book II: Death Zone Read Online Free Page B

rocks,
which Purr said were Real-reality. After several hours, they came
across a Real-reality stream, and Purr waded in to fish.
    Sabre watched
him. "How do you know this is Real-reality?"
    "Have you ever
seen a stream running through grassland before? You never get one
that runs over hills like this, they're always in rocky
gorges."
    Sabre had to
admit that he had a point, the stream looked quite odd, as if it
had come into being just recently, flowing along a winding,
bankless course that bore no relation to the contours of the
visible land. He glanced at Tassin, who was stretched out on the
grass, indulging in a much-needed rest. After a rather tasteless
meal of raw fish, they discussed the problem of where to sleep.
    "We know the
stream is Real-reality, but we can't sleep in it," Sabre pointed
out.
    "We'll have to
keep watch," Purr said. "When the Change comes, we stand in the
stream."
    Purr took
first watch, and when he roused Sabre, the grasslands remained.
Sabre stood guard for four hours, then woke Tassin. When he woke
again, the grasslands persisted, and Purr did not think it wise to
move on, since the next Change had to be imminent. They waited by
the stream, and Sabre joined Purr in a bit of fish tickling,
without much success. An hour or so later, the brown and green
flickers shot through the terrain, and they all waded into the
knee-deep water.
    Flux-reality
transformed into a scene from Hell. The stream wound through a
burning landscape of black rock, recent lava flows congealed into
weird patterns of flowing stone. In the distance, a volcano belched
clouds of ash and noxious smoke into the dirty brown sky. The
putrid stench of sulphur stung their noses, and Tassin coughed.
Faint rumbles shuddered the ground, and faraway lava rivers oozed
between melting rocks and plopped down banks in sluggish falls.
    Sabre looked
at Purr. "It's getting very real."
    The mosscat
nodded. "It will get more so."
    Deciding to
leave the safety of the stream and press on despite the daunting
terrain, they picked their way through the tortured stone, tripping
on the uneven ground. Sabre was forced to help Tassin through deep
rifts and over steep ridges, in places as slippery as glass. The
going was hard, and when they came across a normal-looking grey
boulder in the sea of twisted, solidified lava, they sat on it and
waited for Change.
    It seemed like
hours later that the flickers of brown and green heralded the
Change. Flux-reality warped, and an alien landscape appeared around
them. Leafless blue trees held cup-shaped branches up to the sun,
and what looked like giant red asparaguses thrust from the stony
ground. Vines of all colours festooned trees of amazing variety and
obscure function. Smells of singular sweetness and putridity wafted
by, and an astonishing cacophony of hoots, whistles, hisses,
croaks, roars, booms, rattles and screams echoed forth. Tassin
quailed from the strange sights and sudden uproar, which, although
still muted, seemed loud after the eerie silence that had plagued
them for so long. The previous world had only vented a few soft
rumbles, but this one was noisy, and the din was a shock. Tassin
drew her dagger and glared into the undergrowth.
    "Oh dear,"
Purr murmured. "This is a nasty one."
    "No worse than
the one before." Sabre stood up and looked around. "Should we move
or stay?"
    Purr shrugged.
"The next one could be worse. Not many are nice."
    "But we have
to get nasty ones just when things are getting really real," Tassin
grumbled.
    Sabre pulled
the sword from his pack. "This might come in handy to hack through
the vines."
    Tassin
scowled. "That is a good sword, not a bush knife."
    Purr ambled
away, and Sabre followed. "As long as it's sharp."
    Small, unseen
creatures rustled in the fleshy undergrowth, making the Queen hurry
after them with her dagger at the ready. They had not gone far when
a yellow vine snaked out and coiled around Tassin's ankles,
bringing her down with an astonished grunt. Sabre