Chapter 26: The Source of the Light Magic

Trip knew that this was the source of the light, but he did not know how to get to the source. Would he have to rip off some grass and dirt in order to get to the source of the light magic? He already felt that it was hard to breathe with the pressure that was being emitted from the source, would it only get worse if he dug further down. Trip did not really know what to do. After a couple minutes of thinking he sat down and closed his eyes, hoping to gain some understanding over why there was such a strong source of light magic here.

When he closed his eyes he felt that the light magic was spreading in every direction, covering the entire valley. It was almost as if there was a barrier that was placed around the valley. A barrier to fend off all evil. Seeing this Trip understood how light could be bent in an infinite amount of ways. He tried to release light magic in an attempt to create a barrier, but he couldn’t do it. He could only create a small stream of light at the moment, just a small 2 dimensional line. He was unable to cast anything that was three dimensional or four dimensional. Once he saw how light magic could be used Trip became incomparably excited for the future. He started to wonder about all the things that light magic could be used for. Could it affect more than just souls, or the connections between them? Could it ever become something that could physically affect you? He had so many questions. He was amazed by the entire concept that even only the tiniest bit of light magic was so much more powerful than any other types of magic. Could there be other types of magic as well, magic that is even more powerful than light? Trip couldn’t believe how much there was left to discover in the world.

After having made a breakthrough in understanding the capabilities of light Trip was satisfied with what he had experienced. But just as he was about to leave he felt that the air was no longer heavy. He looked around and found the grass had changed colour. It was glowing and looked golden. “Did it change because I used a bit of light magic just now?” Trip thought. He heard a sound behind him. He turned around and saw that some of the grass had sunk to create a hole right on top of the hill. It looked strange, the grass sort of curved inwards to reveal a hole. Trip walked over to look down the hole, but when he looked he saw only darkness. It was not evil darkness; it felt comfortable just looking at it. Trip couldn’t resist himself and he jumped in.

As Trip fell he felt incomparably comfortable. He felt a strange warmth come from the darkness. After a while Trip felt his feet touch something, he assumed that this was the ground, and this thought was confirmed when he managed to stand up. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t even see where he came from. Trip closed his eyes and sat down on the floor. He then tried to find the source of the light magic by sending a string of light around the room. Eventually he felt as if he connected to something. When he opened his eyes he saw that his string of light had connected to some sort of gem.

The gem did not show any colour, but it when Trip’s light touched it started to shine brightly. Looking around Trip could finally see the area around him. He saw the walls, the floor, and the roof. He could not tell the difference between them. He did not know whether he was standing on a floor or a wall. There were no defining corners in the room, and everything blended in together. He walked to what he assumed was a wall and touched it, and the next thing he knew he was lying down on the floor. It was as if the room had no gravity. The room was a dark purple, and it looked as if it was pulsating. It seemed alive. This was the heart of the valley.

Trip had so many questions. What was this area? How did it work? Is it natural or was this put here? It was so confusing, but he remembered how the hole opened when he used light magic. Why did it open after he used light magic? It was very mystical. After a while of sitting and doing nothing Trip realised that he was actually stuck in here. He initially didn’t want to physically touch the gem, because there might be some negative effects from it, but now the gem was the only clue he had to get out of the room. He walked up to the gem and looked at it. Very slowly Trip moved his finger towards it. He hesitated slightly when he was about to touch it, but then he decided that the gem was the only chance of getting out of the room so he went for it.

The moment he touched the gem it exploded into a thousand pieces of light. Every piece of the gem stuck to the purple wall, causing him to be in a room covered in only light. The scenery suddenly changed. Trip found himself standing in an infinitely spanning open field. When he looked in forward he saw a strange capsule looking like a heart. It was not a simple heart representing love either; it was shaped like a real heart, with an aorta and ventricles. It was blue in colour, but it was shining with golden light. The capsule did not look as if it contained anything, but it seemed to be the exact source of the light. The design of the capsule was very strange, it looked physical, but it was made out of light magic. Trip looked at it intently, but he couldn’t tell if it was physical or just an illusion. After having analysed it he realised that he was actually stuck again with no way of getting out of this place. Remembering how something happened when he touched the gem he decided that he would touch this capsule in hope that something would happen. He cautiously approached it before eventually touching it with his index finger. However nothing happened. Dumbfounded Trip did not know what to do. He was feeling adventurous so he ended up just grabbing it. He held it in his hand and it rested there. It weighed nothing and felt like nothing, and yet it still seemed to be a physical thing. There was no temperature coming from it either. Trip kept inspecting it, and eventually he found a little latch with which he could open the capsule.

The latch itself was very crude in comparison, with it looking like unpolished copper. Trip felt there was nothing to lose as he slowly opened the latch. Suddenly the heart capsule seemed to act on its own. It forcefully pushed itself through Trip’s clothes and skin, causing there to be blood everywhere. Trip was screaming as the heart capsule found its way to his heart. It then closed over his heart. It tightened until it was a perfect fit. Trip looked down at his chest and saw that the skin which had been ripped was slowly closing. Eventually he passed out from shock and pain.

When Trip woke up he was in a place he did not recognise. He was no longer in an illusion, but now he was surrounded by a dead place. There was only ash everywhere, with the occasional dead tree. Trip looked down at his chest and saw that a scar was still there. He shivered just by remembering what had happened just a little while ago. After further inspection Trip realised that the area around him was very familiar to him. It was the valley. ‘Did this happen because I took the heart?’ Trip felt sick at this thought. He had not only caused destruction to an entire valley, but he also destroyed an ecosystem for many animals. He truly felt like a horrible person.

After a couple of minutes of reflecting on his actions Trip concluded that the fault was not his, he did not know this would happen, so of course this was not his fault. He still felt rather guilty about it, but he repressed those feelings with all that he could. Suddenly Trip’s panicked. ‘If everything died, then could Alex also be…’ Trip was hyperventilating and he almost passed out at this thought. Luckily after a couple of minutes he heard Alex’s voice screaming for him.

“Trip! Trip! Where are you?” Alex shouted

“Alex! I’m over here!” Trip responded

The boys reunited on the withered hill which Trip stood on.

“What on earth happened? One second everything was nice and beautiful and the next everything turned to ash.” Alex asked

“I seem to have accidentally taken the heart of the valley.” Trip said, his voice laced with guilt

Alex looked at Trip for a while, before starting to laugh.

“What!? Honestly you can’t even surprise me anymore. Come on then, tell me the story.” Alex said

Trip laughed as well as he described all the events that had taken place.

“Wow! Did you gain any abilities from the heart capsule?” Alex asked, clearly intrigued by the happenings of Trip’s adventure

Trip realised that he had not even thought about that “I might have, hold on I’ll test my light magic.”

Trip sat down and closed his eyes. He felt his hands start to move as he commenced the standard procedure. Suddenly he realised something strange. Alex should be the only alive thing that he should be able to identify at the moment, and yet he felt another source of light. It felt as if it was incredibly far away, but it shared a strong connection to Trip. Trip recognised this feeling immediately. It was his uncle!

It seemed that the heart capsule had increased his strength in light magic dramatically. He could now finally start to find his uncle. Since their home was already destroyed they decided that they would leave now to find Trip’s uncle and develop their skills along the way.

This was the start of a new adventure.

END OF PART 1