CHAPTER THIRTY
A teenage Roy Guillen waited on a field of grass in a modifier room. Before them, a panorama of jungle unlike anything found on Earth. Trees as tall as skyscrapers crammed in an unnatural density stretched as far as the eye could see. A pterodactyl-like avian glided before the wall of forest. A caw shattered the silence, Roy jumped.
His throat constricted, his lips stayed dry despite his near constant licks. Stepping into the awaiting world would officially end the life he’d known for nearly nine decades.
“You all set?” a twelve year old Charles asked.
“I’m uncertain how to answer that. I’m scared out of wits.”
“Been some ride, hasn’t it?” Charles said.
Roy kept sight of the flying creature, his thoughts on his first marriage, the birth of his son, the day he accepted he had attained wealth. “It’s just getting started, old friend.” His voice sounded high-pitched, mellifluous, sparking a question. “Do you remember what you sounded like at this age?”
“Probably like this,” Charles said with a coy smile.
“Not I. My voice was nasally. I spoke with a lisp. Very distinct. It was a big reason I didn’t land a date until college. The words would logjam on their way from my brain to my mouth.”
“So you talked less?” Charles laughed. “Can we get that kid back?”
A chuckle. Despite the impossibility, Roy had recaptured his youth. “This is the most surreal moment of our lives.” Roy said as he stared at the shimmering scene, the edge of Barchania, a land of enchantment, sorcery, and all forms of creature. Once they stepped from the modifier room to their chosen world, due to the memory block, their knowledge of past marriages, children, finance, the world, would vanish. They’d become two young wood elves from a small fishing village. He searched Charles’s face. “Can a friendship survive a two-thousand-year life span?”
“With the correct self-awareness, of course.”
“Have you considered that if one of us dies, we’ll be kicked into the lobby where our new memories will mesh with our old. The one who dies will know this was part of our eternity in the Lobby, but the one who lives will be distraught over having lost a friend. Unaware they’re in a program.”
“I have. The magnitude fills me with wonder.”
Roy breathed deeply.
“Our friendship will endure because we possess the two most important attributes for friendship: forgiveness and understanding.”
“You’re probably right,” Roy said with a twinge of nostalgia.
“Let’s make a pact. If one of us dies, we’ll visit San Francisco 1968 every new decade, on New Year’s Eve. That way one day, perhaps after centuries apart, we’ll reunite.”
Roy smiled. “That’s a deal.” He felt so alive, so ready to discard a thousand regrets and live new.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Charles said, “but the ultimate goal here is to locate the staff of Eldwin and unite the kingdoms.”
“That’s one of the unattainable goals. As is the horn of Domerly, which allows the owner to command titans.”
Both men went silent for a moment.
“What do you think Alex is up to?” Roy asked.
“He’ll be fine,” Charles said. “Things will improve. They always do. He has a wonderful wife, and soon they’ll start a family. With little ones running around this will become a distant memory. If I still had those things, you’d be starting this adventure on your own.”
Roy hoped his friend spoke truth. Hurting Alex represented the greatest regret of his earthly life. “I want him happy.”
“He is, Roy. He’ll continue to be. No financial worries, a sharp mind, an ideal wife. You should be more worried about being torn in half by a giant troll.”
“Yeah,” Roy said. He clung to an image of Alex and Rosa at their wedding, smiled, and brushed the thoughts aside. Things would work out for Alex. “You ready to forget about our lives, start new ones?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Charles clasped Roy’s shoulder. “Remember, San Francisco 1968, every new decade, New Year’s Eve.”
“Got it.” Roy hopped up and down to spike his adrenaline.
“No time like the present,” Charles strutted forward, met the forest, disappeared into the portal.
Roy examined his smooth skin, sinewy arms, felt the healthy thump of his youthful heart. Never in a million daydreams had he envisioned something so marvelous. He’d miss Alex. He wished his great granddaughter all the good fortunes life could provide. Striding toward the Barchanian forest, he found himself jubilant over the prospect of leaving everything he knew behind.