Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Five Page 23

  “No wonder my head hurts so much,” he thought to himself. The only reason that he could think of as to why he hadn’t regenerated more of his magical reserves, was his current state of dehydration. All he could do for now was dull the pain a little, and hope that he could find fresh water soon. But even the effort it took to do that was almost too much for him, and he found that he could do nothing about his throbbing head, or the hunger pangs in his stomach.

  It took him several minutes to gather himself again, but when he did, he began to take in his surroundings for the first time. The first thing he noticed was the sea arch, and the almost constant flow of water coming through it. He stared at the spectacle open mouthed, not understanding how what he was seeing was even possible. The water seemed to simply appear in mid-air, then fall about a hundred feet to the ocean below, causing a large amount of sea spray to form where the two met.

  He studied the phenomenon for several more minutes using his mage-sight, but still couldn’t understand what could possibly be causing it. It wasn’t until he saw a large dead fish suddenly appear in the water stream that he realised what was happening. The other side of the sea arch—the side he had just come from—was underwater, whereas this side towered at least a hundred feet above sea level. So anything that passed through the boundary from the other side was underwater, but when it emerged on this side, it was a long way above sea level. He could also clearly see that the emerging seawater was completely devoid of any life. Not even the tiniest living creature existed within its flow. It seemed that whatever attempted to pass through the boundary was killed instantly, or at least it was unless it possessed enough magic to survive the transition between the two realms. And given the incredible amount of magic that he now possessed, that meant just about everything, and everyone else. Now Aysha’s warning made perfect sense to him. There was no way that Neala could have survived the transition—after all, he had barely survived it himself.

  After a few more minutes he finally felt confident enough to try and stand up but regretted it almost immediately, as a fresh wave of pain erupted in his head. He stood swaying unsteadily for a moment on the sand, before beginning his long slow trudge up the beach towards the treeline. He had only taken a dozen steps towards the lush forest before he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He turned back towards the ocean, and searched the water for any signs of movement. Had the beautiful woman been real? Or had she just been a figment of his oxygen starved imagination? And if he had imagined her, how had he managed to reach the safety of the beach? Too many questions, for now, he decided and turned back towards the alluring cool shade of the distant trees.

  By the time he reached the treeline he was hotter than ever, and was in desperate need of a drink. He stood at the edge of the thick forest looking at the strange foliage before him. He had grown up in and around forests all of his life, but he didn’t recognise a single tree or plant here. Nor did he recognise any of the countless insects crawling and flying amongst them. For the first time in his life, he feared to step foot inside a forest. He had no idea what was dangerous, or even deadly to him, and without his magic, he had no way of either protecting or healing himself should anything bad happen.

  He pushed down the panic threatening to rise within him. He knew that he desperately needed water, but he also knew that keeping a clear head was equally important to his survival. His grandmother had always taught him to stop and think before acting. To do otherwise invited disaster, she had always warned him. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. It didn’t take him very long to come to the conclusion that regenerating his magic reserves should be his main priority. Without that he couldn’t heal his wounds, protect himself, or even begin to search for the Guardian book, let alone return home to Neala. And the fastest way to do that, he decided, would be to take what he needed from the trees and plants around him, just as he had done before in The Dark Forest. He would only take enough to heal his wounds and protect himself from any potential danger within the forest. The rest he would allow to regenerate naturally over time.

  He reached out with his mind to gather what he needed from the trees and plants around him but was amazed to discover that they possessed no magic whatsoever. He slipped into his mage-sight to take a closer look, but he couldn’t see even the slightest trace of magic in any of them. Somehow all the trees and plants of the forest were alive without possessing any magic. As far as he knew such a thing was impossible, but here they were, alive and thriving right in front of him. It didn’t make any sense to him, but there again, very little had since he’d entered the strange hidden realm.

  Lusam had no idea how they even existed without containing any magic, but he felt certain that the lush trees and plants of forest couldn’t survive without water. He was relieved a moment later when his theory was confirmed. With his mage-sight, he could clearly see that several of the larger plants contained a good amount of water within their stems. A quick search of the beach provided him with a large shell to collect some in, and he was soon quenching his thirst with the plant’s sweet tasting water.

  He sat down on the sand with his back against the trunk of a large tree. His thirst may have been quenched, but it had done little to alleviate the throbbing of his head, or the loud grumbling of his stomach. The use of so much magic, so quickly, had left him feeling ravenous. The problem was, he had no idea what was edible and what wasn’t in this strange unfamiliar forest, and without his magic, he couldn’t risk eating anything just yet. His only option, for now, was to rest, and allow his power reserves to regenerate naturally, but a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye made him think twice about snoozing under the shade of the trees; the crabs were back. Dozens of them scurried back and forth across the beach, appearing from one hole, then disappearing down another just as quickly.

  He watched them move steadily up the beach towards him, almost as if they were stalking him as a single pack. He moved his arm, and the advance suddenly stopped, every crab disappearing down the closest burrow. They obviously wanted another taste of his flesh, but he smiled to himself as he realised that they could be the answer to his own immediate food needs. If he could catch one, or even more than one, he could easily create a fire to cook them using some of the driftwood which littered the beach. Although creating a small spark or flame shouldn’t tax his limited magical reserves too much, he knew that he would have to actually catch the crabs by more conventional means. Even the thought of using magic to catch them made him feel nauseous.

  The easiest way to catch one, it seemed, was to wait patiently until they came within range. There didn’t seem and point in running after them on the beach in the hot sun, when all he had to do was pretend to be dead in the shade and wait for them to come to him. His stomach let out a loud rumble at the thought of freshly cooked crab, as he settled down in the soft warm sand to wait for his opportunity.

  It didn’t take long for the crabs to emerge again from their burrows and begin to move steadily up the beach towards him. He tried to keep his eyes closed and use his mage-sight to track their movements, but he found that they were invisible to him. It seemed that it wasn’t only the trees and plants that were devoid of magic in this strange hidden realm, the animals were too—or at least the crabs were. He watched them cautiously approach through partially closed eyes, and readied himself to pounce. But when they got within about ten feet of him, they suddenly all stopped.

  One crab—larger than the others—broke free of the line and began moving stealthily towards him. Its red and yellow shell stood out in stark contrast to the soft golden sand of the beach, making it easy for him to follow its progress. He got the distinct impression that the larger crab was moving forward alone to see if he was indeed dead, or if he still posed a threat to the others. He contemplated allowing it to nip at his flesh so that the others would also come within range, but after seeing the size of its powerful claws, he thought better of it. “One large crab will just have to do, for now,” he thought to h
imself.

  The large crab attempted to move in a wide arc around Lusam so that it could approach him from behind, but before it left his line of sight, he pounced, sending sand flying through the air, and widespread panic through the other crabs. Dozens of them scattered in all directions as he sailed through the air towards the larger crab.

  Dozens of voices suddenly echoed within Lusam’s mind. “Run! … Hide! … Run!” they all screamed in terror. It surprised Lusam so much that he almost forgot what he was doing, but a sudden flash of yellow and red in front of him quickly remedied that. He landed with a hard thud on the sand, but managed to grab the large crab by one of its legs. His triumph, however, was short-lived, as it spun towards him and painfully nipped two of his fingers with its large powerful claws. Lusam yelled out in pain, and instinctively tried to shake the crab loose. The crab seemed more than happy to oblige, letting go of his fingers and scurrying off across the sand towards one of the many burrows. Lusam scrambled to his feet and chased after it down the beach, determined not to be denied his meal. But it was already too late—they were gone.

  He was just about to give up and return back to the shade of the trees when he spotted something under the sand a few feet in front of him. It was unmistakably dome-shaped, just like a crab shell. He watched it carefully for any signs of movement, but nothing stirred. Carefully he took a step towards it, trying his best not to make a sound. This time he was determined not to let it escape, but he couldn’t help thinking about the voices he had just heard in his mind. The voices had obviously come from the crabs… but how? Surely crabs were not intelligent enough to speak. He knew the ones back in his world certainly weren’t, but he couldn’t deny what he had just heard. Then he suddenly remembered the voices when he had first awoken on the beach. At the time he had thought that he had simply imagined it, or it had been part of a dream, but now… now he knew it had been real.

  He shook the thoughts from his head. Intelligent or not, he knew that he needed to eat to regain his strength. After all, what was the life of one crab in comparison to the number of lives that would be lost in Afaraon if he failed his mission here? He didn’t know if the crab would hear him, or could even understand him if it did, but he called out with his mind towards the mound in the sand all the same. “I’m sorry,” he said, with genuine remorse. “Please, forgive me.” But still nothing stirred under the sand, nor was there any kind of acknowledgement that the crab had heard his words.

  Lusam checked the mound using his mage-sight but saw no signs of life under the sand. In his own world, he would have absorbed the crab’s small amount of magic into his own reserves, killing it instantly and painlessly. But here that simply wasn’t an option. So far, nothing he had encountered had contained any magic whatsoever, or at least not any kind of magic that he could detect. He sighed loudly, resigned to the fact that he would have to find some other, less merciful, way of dispatching the crab. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he crouched down and pounced. His aim was true, and he landed on the soft sand cupping the mound tightly in both hands. But it didn’t move.

  He waited a moment longer to make sure, but it still didn’t move. Carefully he let go with one hand, holding on tightly with his other just in case it tried to break free of his grasp. He brushed away the sand from the top of it, and his heart sank with disappointment; it wasn’t a crab at all. At first, he thought it was a rock which had been buried under the sand, and felt such a fool for creeping up on it the way he had, not to mention talking to it. He was just glad that nobody had seen him do it, especially Neala. She would never have let him live it down, he thought, shaking his head to himself.

  He sat on the warm sand looking despondently at the seaweed covered rock and suddenly realised that it might actually be useful to him. Without the use of his magic or a blade of any kind, at least the rock could be used as a bludgeoning weapon. “It may not be the most humane way of killing something, but at least it will get the job done,” he thought, starting to dig the rock out of the sand.

  A moment later his former disappointment vanished, and was replaced by a mixture of relief and joy. Relief that he wouldn’t have to kill one the crabs after all, and joy that what he held in his hands was no rock at all; it was a kocos seed. What he had mistaken as seaweed, was, in fact, the fibrous hair-like strands which covered its hard outer shell. He shook the sand free from it, and could feel the liquid swish around inside it.

  He had only ever eaten a kocos seed once before in his entire life, and that was in Helveel when he had still been a street kid. During his first summer there, shortly after the carnival had left town, he had discovered a kocos seed discarded within the refuse pile left behind by the stall holders. It had been amazing that he had found anything of value at all, as the street gangs usually picked the area clean long before anyone else was allowed to get near it.

  At first, he didn’t have a clue what it really was. He had seen them used as part of a game at several of the carnival stalls. People would throw wooden balls at a stack of them to try and knock over as many as possible, and if they were successful, they would often receive one as a prize. That alone was enough for him to realise they were valued for something, but it wasn’t until later that he discovered why.

  Just like the one he held in his hand right now, he could hear the liquid inside swishing around when he shook it, and it made him curious as to what it was. It took him a long time to break through the tough outer shell, but when he did, he found a sweet tasting liquid inside, along with enough food to last him for two days. It had been a delicious change from the usual bland bread that he survived on, and he’d always hoped to find another one after the carnival left each year—but he never did.

  For a brief moment, his hopes were raised still further, as he contemplated the possibility that the kocos seeds might be readily available in this strange hidden realm. But he soon realised that there was a much more likely explanation as to how it had got there. Whatever small amount of magic it had once contained had allowed it to pass through the boundary between the two realms, and that would explain why he could no longer detect any signs of magic within the seed. It seemed that the boundary not only killed any animals which passed through it, but also any other forms of life not capable of withstanding the massive power drain required to pass between the two realms. Regardless, he was thankful for the small bounty he had found, and even though he was fairly certain that she couldn’t hear his prayer, he thanked Aysha for his good fortune all the same.

  He quickly sought out the shade of the trees once more, and set about opening the kocos seed. He examined it in great detail using his mage-sight, and soon found a small weakness in its shell. Even though he was still feeling the ill effects of passing through the boundary, he decided that using a tiny amount of his limited magical reserves was still worthwhile in this situation.

  He located the weakness in the kocos shell and punched through it with a small magical pulse, then created a tiny magical barrier within the breach. Even though it took very little magic to expand the barrier and crack the shell in two, it still made his head throb violently with the effort. He sat motionless on the warm sand panting against the pain, his eyes screwed tightly shut against the glaring sunlight. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, and a fresh wave of nausea threatened to overcome him.

  It took several more minutes before he felt up to eating any of the kocos seed, but when he did, his stomach screamed out for more. The liquid inside had acquired a strange taste, and he decided it was probably best to discard it. The edible part inside, however, tasted just as he remembered back in Helveel, and he devoured it enthusiastically. With each mouthful, he began to feel better within himself. He knew it would take time for his magical reserves to recover, but at least he had now taken steps to ensure that it would.

  Sated from his hearty meal, Lusam’s thoughts began to drift back towards Neala. She would no doubt be beside herself with worry right now, wondering why he’d not returned f
rom the water after checking for the entrance into the hidden realm. He knew that he couldn’t attempt to pass back through the boundary in his current condition, or it would certainly kill him. And he had no idea how long it would take to fully recover his power reserves. At least he could feel a small amount of comfort in the knowledge that Neala couldn’t try and follow him, as the water was far too deep and turbulent for her to even attempt it.

  He stared at sea arch, watching the seawater cascade through the air and into the ocean below. Even if he had been able to replenish his magical reserves from the forest, or even some other source, he wasn’t sure that it would be wise to try and cross the boundary again. He had barely made it through alive, and there was nothing to suggest that it was any easier passing through it from this side—in fact, it could be even more dangerous for all he knew. It made far more sense to search for the Guardian book first. If it did indeed exist within this realm as Aysha had suggested, reading it would surely increase his power reserves, just as all the other books had done. And if that was the case, passing back through the barrier into his own world should then not be as dangerous for him. He just hoped that he could convince Neala of that logic, if and when he ever did get back to her.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lusam startled awake and sat bolt upright on the sand. It took him a moment to realise where he was, but when he did, he berated himself for falling asleep there. He had been resting in the shade of the trees after his meal of kocos seed, watching the crabs scurry around on the beach near the waterline. Several had stopped to look at him, but none of them had ventured any closer. He remembered musing at their apparent intelligence but must have dozed off at some point in the warm afternoon breeze. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have suffered any more injuries from their claws, and from what he could see, they were still content to remain well out of his range. He chuckled to himself, realising that the crabs probably hadn’t believed he was asleep at all, but thought instead that he was attempting to trick them into coming closer, so he could try and catch one of them again.