Born of Magic (Channeler Series) (8 page)

I threw on the thick jacket, and leggings over my current clothes, then took of my current shoes and slipped on the pair of shin-high, heavy leather boots. The extra layer of clothing made it feel stiff and difficult to move. Instantly my body felt warm and protected. The chaotic winds felt like a subtle breeze now.

As soon as we were geared up, Aton led us up a valley that ran between two ridges along the middle of the mountain.

“This valley will provide shelter from the wind,” Aton shouted back to me as he marched up the path.

A small stream trickled down the center of the valley. Its tranquil sound was muffled by the increasingly gusty winds we encountered as we climbed higher. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined I would be climbing one of the grand mountains that peeked over the walls of Saltren. Back home no one ever spoke of such feats. The only stories we heard passing through the town were that of good harvests or a new traveler entering the town with goods from a neighboring village.

My lips grew dry as the cold, heavy air beat down on me, showing no mercy. Each step sunk deeper into the snow, making my feet and ankles wet as the white powder clung to my clothes and melted from the heat of my body. My throat grew sore with each chilling breath I took. I gasped for air but regretted every gulp that I desperately needed. As I quenched my lungs’ thirst, I cringed at the stinging sensation it brought to my esophagus.

Aton turned back to check on me. He gave me a confused look, walked towards me, and reached his cold hand out to me and grabbed a piece of cloth that hung around my neck on the new clothing he had given me. He lifted it up over my nose and tightened it from the back so it stayed in place.

"So your lungs don't freeze. You really lived a sheltered life, didn't you?" He then continued on.

I found it amusing that my life could be considered sheltered to others; I had grown up on the streets and had made a living by stealing and running. If that was a sheltered life, I dare not imagine what the opposite would be like.

The sun that managed to make it through the thick clouds overhead began to disappear over the left side of the valley. Every inch of my body shivered as we lost what little heat the sun had provided. I wanted to stop and set up camp, but Aton kept walking.

"We can't stop here or we’ll be snowed in before morning. There’s a small cave up ahead. That’s where we will make camp," he yelled back at me.

Using every remaining ounce of strength I could muster up, we reached the cave. It was narrow, but went back for some distance. A pungent stench emanated from the back of the cave and crept into my nose. I almost gagged at first, but was too exhausted to concern myself with it anymore. We set up camp. My body felt so drained I moved like I was sleepwalking, and prepared for sleep. Aton started a fire out of some roots he pulled out from the walls of the cave.

Most of the cave appeared to be solid rock, except for the pockets of dirt where roots from unseen trees came in. I wondered where the roots went, but didn’t bother to ask—the idea of sleep had begun to take over my thoughts. We both wrapped ourselves in every blanket we had and went to sleep.

The putrid stench made its way into my nose once more, waking me in a far more unpleasant way than I preferred. We packed in a hurry and Aton embarked further down the cave, the stench growing worse as we went deeper into the mountain.

"This path will take us under the mountain, but we will need to pass through quietly. Within this mountain lies a gigantic cavern, it was once a magma chamber hundreds of years ago, but a powerful mage took the magma out of there."

“Some travelers found the cavern and began settling there. I think they chose it because the walls are lined with iron and the base of the cavern is lined with rich roil. They eventually mined a few holes out to allow a river to pass through it. It’s said that after years of living underground their skin turned pale white and their eyes pure black. They’re said to be less than friendly to outsides.”

"What sort of mage could do that? Hollow out an entire mountain?" I asked.

The idea of a mage being so powerful fascinated me. Would I ever be capable of such feats? I couldn't help but dream of the possibilities of what I will achieve, cities that I will help create, and the lives I will change.

"No one knows. He disappeared after that—probably killed himself in the process. This tunnel we’re going through passes just along the cavern, and we don't want to draw any attention. Use the clarity of Etherea to guide you through the darkness. We shouldn’t use torches here."

After he finished talking, I noticed that in Etherea the mist lit the way. I could see the ground perfectly and was able to move in the darkness with ease.

The smell became so strong it seemed as though I was right next to whatever it came from. Aton looked back at me and placed a finger over his lips, "We're about to pass by there now."

Ahead of us I saw an opening on the left side of the tunnel. A light flickered through it and against the opposite wall. As I passed it, I peered through the gap. I couldn't help but gasp at
the sight. I stopped and stared at the colossal cavern, far bigger than Saltren, with a massive city at the center. Around the city there were farms, trees, even livestock. The city had dozens of towers, taller than any tree I had ever seen, with flames atop of them, lighting the entire cavern. The walls glistened with moisture on the shiny metallic walls. The iron looked like a waterfall that had been frozen in place. Running through the center of the cavern and city was a steady moving stream.

We stood far above the base of the cavern. The opening to our tunnel was at least a few hundred feet high, with no way down from where we stood. As I realized this, I backed away from the edge, keeping my distance so I didn't fall down. Aton was now a good distance ahead of me and I hurried to catch up.

Not paying attention as I walked—still mystified by the sight that had graced my eyes—I bumped into Aton. He cried out in fear and grabbed onto me, "Watch where you're going. You could have pushed me into it."

"Into what?"

He turned around and pushed me back, pointing to a gap in the pathway, "You need to be more careful." He then turned back around and peered across that gap that blocked our way. He let out a long sigh, threw his bag down, and started to search through it. "Unless we can find a way over this, I don't know how we will make it there. Other than going directly over the mountain, which is suicide."

I couldn’t imagine having to tackle the rest of the mountain. We were no more than a quarter up it when I felt as though the air in my lungs would freeze. This gap looked just as intimidating though. I found myself incapable of moving even an inch closer.

Aton could sense my fear. He remained quiet and stared down the bottomless gap in contempt. It was nearly twice Aton's height to the other side. After some time of silence, he turned back to me. "You’re small enough. I think I can throw you across. Then I’ll just jump it afterwards."

Some plan, I thought to myself. Did I really believe he would be able to throw me such a distance? With a great deal of discomfort and conflict, I nodded in agreement to his moronic plan—I couldn’t come up with a better one.

With a firm grip, Aton took my hands and looked into my eyes, reassuring me as much as he could for the given situation. He began to spin me around by my arms, going faster and faster. As I gained speed, my body lifted off the ground. My feet brushed against the sides of the tunnel as I was now flying through the air. Aton released his grip and I was sent hurling across the pit.

I hit the rocky ground hard and slid for a few feet. My knee smashed into a protruding rock and sent a sharp pain up my leg. It then immediately went numb and limp, but I still cried out in pain as I curled up on the ground. I slid a few more feet as the tunnel turned to a steep slope that seemed to never end.

“Jas, are you alright?” Aton shouted over to me. He took a deep breath and prepared to jump.

I struggled to stand, but the pain overwhelmed me. I had barely made it to my knees when I collapsed to the ground again. Another cringing pain went up my side. I looked up to see Aton about to jump across to me. I decided to make one more attempt to my feet, this time putting all of the weight of my body on my left knee.

Now on one knee, I looked up to check for Aton. He was leaping across the gap. He landed with very little grace and struggled to keep his balance, but the momentum from his jump sent him flying into me. We were unable to stop ourselves as Aton tumbled into me, and we were sent rolling down the tunnel. My body was thrown around like a rag doll against the hard jagged walls. I felt the full blunt of every strike that was thrown my way.

It seemed as though an eternity had passed since we started falling. We pummeled into every spiteful object imaginable. My head banged against a rock when we finally reached the end. All I could see was Aton lying beside me, our bodies resting broken and bruised in the snow. As my vision began to fade, I caught sight of the glimmering lights from the nearby village.

My eyelids felt like thick rawhide as I tried to open them. A large, dark skinned man with a series of tattoos on the left side of his face and a furred blanket wrapped around his shoulders looked down at me with concern in his eyes. My vision faded again.

~5~

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. I awoke to find myself in a small room, my still somewhat limp body stretched out on a hard bed, covered in blankets. A bandage was wrapped around my head. The walls were made of big black stones, their coloring and texture was similar to the walls of the tunnel we had taken to get here. While the room was empty, I could hear the conversations of others just outside the door, which was cracked slightly. A woman’s vibrant brown eyes peered in through the window and looked at me. Her long, dark hair blanketed her shoulders evenly.

"It's good to see you awake, Dear. We were getting worried." She smiled as she spoke, placing the back of her hand against my forehead.

"Where am I?" I struggled to ask. My throat and mouth felt dry and my jaw ached.

"You’re in my hospital, Young One, and you’re in my care." A deep voice boomed from behind the woman. I tried to look past her but my neck ached with a fiery pain and I returned my head to my pillow.

"Relax," he said with a chuckle as he revealed himself to me. I recognized him as the man who had found me before I passed out. "You’ve been out for two days now and probably feel a little sore still. You had quite a fall."

"Where’s my friend?" I asked, noticing that Aton wasn't in the room with me.

"Your friend? We only saw you that night. I figured you were from the village and your parents were out on a fishing expedition, since I haven't been able to locate any family for you."

"But—" now realizing I was in a strange place, miles from anywhere I knew, and the peron that brought me here had abandoned me after I was hospitalized, I couldn’t bring myself to conjure any relevant questions other than, "Can I have something to eat?"

"Do you like Seporah?"

"What’s Seporah?" I could see that it was becoming more apparent to him that I was not from this area.

He stepped of the room for a moment and returned with a thick stone plate in hand. Atop the plate was a feast of well-cooked fish covered in what smelled like a sweet lemon sauce. Appealing streams of delectable steam rose from it. Some of the hunters would bring in lines of fish when the bigger game was scarce or hard to find in Saltren.

"This is Seporah. It’s a big shark we bring in sometimes. Very big, very dangerous," he said. He used his hands to form a giant set of jaws. Not even a second had passed after he set the plate on my lap had I started digging in. The warm, tangy food danced along my dry, deprived mouth and into my empty stomach.

Comfortable and full again, I lied back into my bed, my toes curling up as the sensation of a full stomach relaxed every muscle in my body. The idea of how cold it was outside made me enjoy the warm and cozy blankets all the more. I could still smell the Seporah in the air and longed for more.

The large man got up and walked to the door. He stopped just before leaving and turned back to me. "I will let you get some more rest now. When you wake up, we'll discuss what is best for you."

I realized I didn't even know his name as he blew out the only candle in the room, held by a dull brass candelabra mounted on the wall next to the door. The last thoughts that ran through my mind were of possible names for him. I decided Meldar seemed to match him the best; it was the name of another nice big man I had met once in Saltren. With that question answered, I let myself fade back into a deep sleep.

In my dream I found myself on a small floating piece of ice, surrounded by giant creatures much like the fish I had seen before at the market in Saltren. They were covered in sleek scales with glistening slime and had giant jaws in the shape of Meldar's hands. While they were giant frightening creatures, I found them somewhat comforting as well; they reminded me of Meldar, as their eyes were dark brown, just like his.

I was trapped on a floating piece of ice, surrounded by endless black water in every direction. The sea beasts leaped out of the water and splashed back down, knocking me around and almost sending me into the dark water.

When I awoke again, I was not as startled by my surroundings. The real world seemed far more inviting than my dreams had, as did the company I found in my room. In the once empty bed across the room from me was an older man. He had dark skin and markings along his face, just like Meldar. However, his beard covered a good portion of them. He was awake, staring at the ceiling, though he somehow noticed that I was awake.