"A tear in time and space isn't as bad as it sounds. It's a simple spell and we desperately need supplies, Nissa." insisted the young girl, her hazel eyes intense.
"Perhaps, Lena. But if anything goes wrong, we have destroyed the world - and ourselves along with it." replied Nissa, as she brushed a lock of golden hair out of her eyes.
"Well, there is that." admitted Lena,
"Then you won't do it?" Nissa asked hopefully.
"I didn't say that. If the Lightsuckers overcome our defenses, life won't be worth living anyway. Clambaria will be infested, and the few who survive the onslaught will soon starve." Lena reminded her.
"I know. And if this was just about us? Or even our race? I'd be the first to say go for it! But if your spell is off by even a little, every creature in this world will instantly cease to exist. What right do we have to risk the lives of so many beings?" asked Nissa.
"Normally I would agree. But the Lightsuckers will destroy everything anyway... Then they will cease to exist after their food sources have vanished. We need more supplies to fight them. Especially salt." said Lena.
"Salt is rare enough here. What if that place doesn't even have it? Or if they do, maybe it's too precious to trade for?" argued Nissa.
"Then I close that portal and try another one! But do you have any other ideas? If this works, we might have a future." Lena replied, becoming frustrated.
"You know I don't have any other ideas. But this is just crazy! At least promise to talk to the Circle Of Elders first?" pleaded Nissa.
"They have enough to worry about. It's taking all of their concentrated effort to hold the Lightsuckers at bay. If we break their focus, it might not matter if they approve or not." reasoned Lena, as she began to gather ingredients from the shelves.
As Lena took the little half full jar marked salt off the shelf, Nissa reluctantly selected a piece of chalk, and began to draw on the floor. The sisters could argue like opposing generals, but once a consensus was reached, they were one of the best teams in all of Clambaria.
Immediately after Nissa finished the intricate design and stood, the lines drawn within the circle began to glow like molten lava. Nissa gasped, and took several steps back.
"What's going on?!?!" asked Lena, horrified. It should have just been a drawing on the floor at that point, yet it was powering up on its own!
Seconds later, a blue light filled the circle, growing in intensity like a morning mist. When it cleared, Nissa was standing in the circle, on the drawing, looking around with wide eyes.
But she was also standing outside of the circle. The newcomer was wearing a long coat, white enough to hurt the eyes. Otherwise, they were identical twins.
"How did you get here?" Nissa asked her double, confused.
The Nissa in the circle looked around the room again, assessing their technology before attempting to explain. She also noticed the circle for the first time.
"In my world, we have something called quantum mechanics. We are trying to manipulate reality with things made of metal in much the same way you are doing with your circle. I suspect the two combined brought me here." she replied, still in awe.
"We were actually trying to go elsewhere, not bring anyone here. The Lightsuckers will soon overwhelm us unless we can get more supplies. We need salt, copper, and chalk. Especially salt..." Lena spoke up.
"If we can figure out how to get back to my world and then return, that can be easily arranged. One question, what are Lightsuckers?" asked the new Nissa, as she carefully stepped out of the circle without smudging it.
"They're sort of like a flying jellyfish, neither solid nor without form. Lightsuckers come in all sizes, and many shapes." replied Nissa.
"Do they feed on light, like plants?" asked the twin.
"They latch onto a being, be it plant or animal or person, and slowly suck out the energy. We call them Lightsuckers because the first thing to go is your sight and body heat when they begin to feed." Nissa explained to her twin.
"Ah... We don't have anything like that, at least that we have discovered."
"Well if you do have them, try very hard not to find them!" exclaimed Nissa. "Oh, what's your name? I'm Nissa, and this is my sister, Lena."
"My name is Chloe, and I'm honored to meet you." she replied, blushing at having completely dropped all formalities.
"I would love to invite you to stay, so we can learn more about each other. But if we don't get more supplies soon, it won't be safe for anyone to be here." said Lena.
Nissa glared at her, but nodded.
"How are we going to do it? I don't think my team can help. This was a completely unexpected result! We were attempting to see if I could go forward in time for one minute. If successful, no other action would have been necessary." explained Chloe.
"I'll just go through with the spell as planned, and hopefully your world will be the one we access. If you want, we will leave it open afterwards?" Lena said.
"I would like that very much. How long can it last?" asked Chloe.
"I don't know, but maybe once the Lightsuckers are taken care of, we can try to make it permanent." suggested Lena.
Ten minutes later:
"Oh, my! I don't think that was your world - unless you have giant two headed lizards with really big teeth?" said Nissa, quickly stepping out of the circle.
"No, but it does sound like an interesting place." Chloe replied, her eyes shining.
"We can't afford to do any touring right now. We have to get supplies." Nissa kindly reminded her twin. She felt the same pull, but knew first-hand about the threat the Lightsuckers posed.
Three hours later:
"I'm pretty sure I found it! People in white coats started calling me Chloe as soon as I appeared. Chloe, please step in the circle." Nissa instructed.
Six hours later:
"I thought we'd never get out of there." Lena sighed in relief, staggering under the weight of a fifty pound bag of salt which was carefully balanced on her shoulder.
"They sure had a lot of questions! I hope we aren't too late." said Nissa, braced under a large camper's backpack full of chalk, with huge rolls of copper wire tied to the frame.
The two set down their hard earned bundles, and looked outside.
"Well at least the defenses are still holding. Let's get the supplies to the Circle Of Elders." said Lena.
"Sounds like a plan! But can we please use the wheelbarrow?" asked Nissa tiredly.
A week later, at the meeting of the Circle Of Elders:
"Well done, Lena and Nissa. You are the major reason we were able to not only hold off the Lightsuckers, but exterminate the entire colony. Clambaria is safe once again! And our new allies have agreed to keep us supplied with enough salt to prevent any other colonies of Lightsuckers from posing a threat." praised an older man, his rich purple robe accenting his bright blue eyes.
"Thank you." replied both Lena and Nissa simultaneously.
"However." he continued, causing them to pause before they reached the door.
"Yes?" asked Lena, a bit timidly.
"What you did was extremely dangerous, especially without the supervision of an Elder. I don't want to hear of such risks being taken by either of you, at least until your five hundredth birthdays." he ordered sternly. Turning away from them to ring the gong, and adjourn the meeting, he grinned.
"I sure wish I had thought of that! Those Lightsuckers never would have taken so many of our people." he thought, marveling at the resourcefulness and courage of two youngsters, not even a quarter of his age.
Cover image made in Canva using their gallery