“Could you walk any fucking slower?” I growl behind me to Locke. He'd been stopping to gape at every little thing as we made our way through the thick forest, and he seems to be determined to continue to gawk as we follow the river up towards the mountains.

“What's the point in rushing? How can you be sure you're even going the right way?” Locke replies, not speeding up in the slightest. Stopping mid-step, I turn around to scowl at him.

“What is the only thing that stands out for miles?” I ask plainly, and he looks around.

“Everything, it's a whole different freaking world,” he answers, gesturing with his hands out. I feel my teeth grinding together.

“Other than the fact it's a different world, which I'm sure your brother, East, and Kelly are well aware of, what stands out?” I ask again. His eyes fix on the large mountain range we're heading towards.

“Oh,” he says.

“Oh,” I echo mockingly, before turning on my heel and heading towards the mountains again. I hear Locke jog to catch up with me. Halle-fucking-lujah.

“What makes you so sure they would think to go to the thing that stands out, too?” he asks as he reaches my side. I slowly increase my pace, hoping he'll follow suit.

“I'm not holding out hope for your wonder-twin, but I'm hoping that Kelly or East have some sense instilled into them. It's a point that could easily be seen for miles in all directions, and it's the only area that particularly stands out. If they're in a finding distance, they'll head there too,” I answer confidently, but the concern they wouldn't think of doing this plays on my mind.

If only Enzo had fallen through, I know he'd think of it.

“Makes sense I guess,” Locke replies, but his voice is glum.

“We’ll find them,” I say, trying to reassure him.

“It’s not that, it’s just…Ryan’s dead, and who knows what happened to Enzo…or to Kenzie. I haven’t been about to stop thinking about her since we got here,” he explains, thankfully while keeping up the pace this time.

“Enzo was with her. We have to trust that they will keep each other safe.” He better fucking keep her safe anyway.

“What if we never see them again?” he asks, and I want to shout at him to shut the hell up. I just want to punch that stupid rock over there, or maybe Locke’s face. Why does he have to keep voicing all my worries? I try to keep my face calm, and remember that even though there’s only a few years age difference between us, Locke has had a much more sheltered life up until recently. I have to be the responsible one here.

“We are going to see them again. The people here were able to cross before, so I’m sure we can find a way home. Or Kenzie will find a way to us. We will find the others, and we will get home to fix this mess,” I finally answer, trying to push as much conviction as I possibly can into my words. I look at him, watching the words sink in, and he nods. When he begins to walk again, there’s more bounce in his step, and I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding.

This isn’t going to be easy, but I’m damn well going to make it happen anyway.

“What do you know of Ariziadia? I only know a few things I was told as a child,” Locke asks me after we walk in silence for a while.

“Not a lot. The council keep everything secret. No one talks about anything they know, and everything is locked up,” I say, and he sighs.

“Everyone is going to be mad at the council for hiding this from them. There is no way they could hide the truth now,” he says, and he has a point.

“All I know, is that there is a huge book, with far more than twelve pages. An old council member, one of the good ones, told me he suspected that the original marked had more marks than we do. That our blood is so diluted, we have lost the power we originally had,” I explain. He suspected a lot of things, like how they could shift into giant creatures, creatures that even dinosaurs feared. He suspected they had their own language, their own religion, and extremely strict rules. He also believed the marked that came to earth, were banished there for doing something bad. That we are all descendants of banished marked, and the marked here wouldn’t be happy for any of their children to open a portal. If any of it’s true, we have a huge fucking problem, and all I want to do is get back to Earth. Back to Kenzie.

“Then we need to be careful, if we find any marked that are alive here…they could be more powerful than us,” Locke muses.

“I won’t go down without a fight,” I warn him, and he grins.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be your Robin,” he says, and I give him a confused look. What the fuck is he going on about?

“Dude, Batman and Robin…come on,” he says and shakes his head at me, a disgusted look on his face. “When we get back to Earth and shit is back to normal, I’m forcing you to watch some decent movies.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I mutter.

“You know what Daniels?” he says, patting my shoulder, and I look at his hand, wondering how much Kenzie likes this guy and how pissed she would be if I threw him into the nearby river. “I think we are going to get along just fine,” he grins. I don’t reply, quickening my pace, but I hear him chuckle behind me as he follows.