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Liora climbed to her feet carefully, wincing at a sharp pain through her hip from the impact with the stone floor. She looked around and found that she stood in a chamber nearly the same size as the one she had discovered in the pyramid, but the air was fresher with the movement of the breeze coming in from outside and only shadowy thanks to the sunlight that could come through the door only a few yards away.
She pressed her hands to the walls around her, feeling the hieroglyphics engraved beneath, but the stone didn't give. There were no other doors, no way to leave the chamber but the hallway. Realizing she had no choice, she swallowed the fear building in her throat and started down the corridor toward the glare of the sunlight.
She stepped out into surroundings so lush it felt as though she had walked into a tropical jungle. Vibrantly green plants grew up around the base of the building she stepped out of and created a thick, springy carpet beneath her feet. Liora walked forward a few feet and then turned around to see the building she had just left. It looked like a smaller version of the pyramid she had been researching and the image of the unexplained hieroglyph of the hands cradling the pyramid appeared in her mind.
Behind her she heard a snap like a twig breaking and she spun around. The world around her was serene and after a moment, the frantic pounding of her heart calmed. She turned back to the pyramid and noticed a large engraving beside the sharply rectangular opening she had exited. It closely resembled the symbol of the hands and the pyramid, but the pyramid cupped in the palms had the slimmer, sharper dimensions of the pyramid she had been exploring.
"They're connected," she whispered to herself, the astonishing realization hitting her so suddenly she couldn't hold it inside.
"Who are you?"
The sound of a deep, rumbling voice behind her startled her, and Liora turned so quickly she almost stumbled backwards. A man stood several yards away at the edge of a thicket of dense trees, poised on top of a moss-covered boulder so he loomed above her. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him, stunned in place by impossibly blue eyes that seemed to pierce through her.
He jumped down from the boulder, landing in a crouched position that made the muscles beneath the bare skin of his back tense and shift. Liora's mouth watered and she felt her belly tighten as he rose slowly to his feet and took a step toward her.
"Who are you?" he repeated.
His voice was like the roll of thunder just as the air heats up right before a storm begins. He took another step toward her, staring at her with unwavering intensity.
"Liora," she replied, her voice coming out softer than she had intended.
"How did you get here?" he demanded.
He had stopped approaching and Liora felt a flicker of disappointment, wishing he would come closer so she could get a better look at his eyes. She struggled to come up with the words to respond, but even she wasn't sure how she had gotten where she was.
"I came through that building," she said, gesturing behind her.
"That's impossible. How did you get here?"
A spark of frustrated anger joined the combination of fear and excitement roiling through her. She gestured at the building again.
"Apparently, it's not impossible because that is exactly what happened. I was researching a pyramid in Egypt, I found a false wall, I stepped through it, I touched some hieroglyphics, and now I'm here."
It all came out of her in a rush as she went step by step telling him how she arrived in the new place, trying to clarify it for herself at the same time.
"I told you, that is impossible," he said harshly, rushing past her so that he could walk into the building.
She followed him toward the building but stopped just outside, afraid that if she entered she would end up back in the pyramid, and she wasn't ready to leave this beautiful place, or the equally beautiful man, quite yet. He stalked down the corridor into the chamber and flattened his palms on the walls as she had, pressing into the stone and turning several times to touch different areas of the walls. After several moments, he strode back toward her with such power Liora stepped back to create more space for him.
"I don't understand," he said, the low tone of his voice saying he spoke more to himself than to her.
He looked sharply at her and closed the space between them with one long step, forcing her back against the stone side of what she realized now was a small, single-chamber pyramid. His body didn't touch hers, but was only inches away, the warmth radiating toward her so she felt it heating her skin almost painfully. Her eyes met his and the boldness of the color along with the seething heat of his skin told her that he was not human.
"Where are we?" she whispered.
"You mean you don't know?" he asked, his voice dropping to nearly match hers.
"No."
"What are you doing here?"
"I told you, I was studying a pyramid. I'm an Egyptologist."
"But you don't know where you are?"
"No."
"We are at the center of Orion's belt."
Liora narrowed her eyes quizzically at him.
"The center of Orion's belt is a star."
The man scoffed.
"Is that what you think?"
Despite the desire building in her stomach, Liora felt the anger increasing at the man's arrogance.
"What are you?"
"I suppose you could call me a researcher, too, and right now I want to know how you got here and why you are here."
Liora opened her mouth to respond when another voice from close to the trees broke through the thick tension that had formed between them. The man stepped away from her and Liora felt relief as the cooler air soothed the slight sting from the heat pulsating from his body.
"Leave her alone," the female voice said.
Liora looked around the man to see a tall, willowy woman standing in the same place the man had been standing when she first saw him. She had a soft smile on her lips and her voice held a hint of laughter despite the chastising words.
"She's a stranger, Akusaa."
"Only until we get to know her."