Astral by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online

around the house and sitting naked on all her furniture just skeeved her out.
    Home was where Zakkar was now. She had her com unit and had been in contact with an astonished Refoal. Her change in physical appearance had been surprisingly easy for her to adapt to. Her features were the same. She could just see an entire universe on her body at any given time.
    When Zakkar was feeling exploratory, he followed the shooting stars under her skin to all number of locations. Arci didn’t explain why they were marked in this way, but it had some significance to the star. All that Dina knew was that the star was enjoying having a matched set of avatars to play with.
    Once the armband was in place and her hair had been straightened with the wave of her hand, she was ready to travel.
    Arci gave them their flight trajectory and standing on the front porch, they both bent their legs before pushing upward. They could not gain proper speed until they managed to exit the atmosphere, but once they were out in space, Zakkar propelled them to the planet Caros.
    Light surrounded them in a bright, glowing shield. Arci’s energy turned them into a shooting star that burned through the darkness of space with Caros as their destination.
    When Dina first saw the planet that they were heading for, purple was the thought that sprang to mind. The planet was a cacophony of black and purple, but the people were a pale gold with green highlights.
    As Zakkar and Dina dropped into the capitol city in a shower of light, the crowds cheered and Dina had to admit that the folk were much larger than they had appeared from space. An easy seven feet tall, the folk of Caros were friendly and welcoming to the new avatar.
    “Welcome to Caros, bride of Arci.” The prefect of the capitol bowed low.
    She was going to correct the prefect, but then she realized that it was true. “Bride of Arci and Zakkar. Courting me was a group effort.”
    Zakkar grinned as the prefect blinked in shock.
    The man smiled cautiously. “May we know your name, Avatar?”
    “Dina. Dina Markowitz of Terra. Second avatar of Arci.” She inclined her head. Etiquette forbade her from bowing to anyone in Arci’s system. “May I ask your name?”
    “Dorf, Prefect of Shakin, planet of Caros.”
    “I am pleased to meet you, Dorf.”
    He coloured and she winced as the gold tone of his skin turned a peculiar green. “Come, we have places of honour for you to watch the parade.”
    Dina raised her eyebrows at the word parade, but she took the hand that Zakkar held out to her and followed where he led her.
    The festival celebrates planting season. They have a parade and a festival to prepare themselves for the arduous work ahead and they invite my avatars in an effort to keep me interested in their world and sponsoring a good harvest.
    Dina could see how folk would be interested in staying on the good side of the local star. She took her place next to Zakkar and sat leaning forward somewhat to get a good view of the parade.
    Back on earth, she had loved parades, the fun, the street food and the excitement. This event was no different. If the parade was about to kick off the festivities, the folk around here were just as eager to see it as she was.
    The temptation to explore was incredible. She held Zakkar’s hand and leaned on his shoulder, separating her astral form from her body and taking it behind the scenes.
    Dina, where are you going?
    I am just taking a little walk to see the people of this world.
    I will tell Zakkar.
    She laughed and watched the floats being assembled and hauled through the streets. A few people turned to look in her direction, but since she wasn’t set to be visible, they must have been reading her energy signature.
    Dina walked through the displays and built her anticipation before she returned to her body.
    “So, Dina, does it look entertaining?”
    She looked up at Zakkar’s amused features. “It does. It reminds me of home, sort of. More amphibians are