《The Martian Bootcamp》Chapter 3: The Water God
Advertisement
I had walked behind the garbed person for an hour. I was sweltering under my clothes and panting from the effort, holding in a scream to stop.
"Any chance we take a quick break?" I said when my knees nearly gave out from under me.
She looked back and paused mid stride. Eyeing a not particularly comforting rock, I collapsed upon it.
"You know that arm will only hinder you further." She said.
"No, that's strange, I didn't know that. Think we should just cut it off and move?" I said back, sweetly. I couldn't see it but I could feel the face underneath the cloth frown.
"What I meant is that I can fix that for you." She held out her hand as she talked, motioning for me to move my arm towards her.
How? Where there magical arm fixing powers that I didn't know about. Or had but now couldn't remember.
"Okay... how?" I asked.
"All who live in the hollow know the healing spells. Be they beast or beast-kin." By now she had moved to my side and had her palm on top of the shoulder.
"So how does that-"
"Shh, quiet. This is more complex than I thought. I need silence to concentrate." She said. I saw sweat beading around her eyes on falling onto my shoulder, which was slightly gross. I stopped craning my neck to look at her and slumped into the rock.
--
I opened my eyes and saw her standing over me, looking possibly concerned (not much to tell since I could see make out her eyes).
"Your wound is no ordinary mark. I have stifled the pain but I can do nothing more. I'm sorry." She turned away to peer into the dark forest.
Advertisement
"That's okay, it feel so oh much better." I rolled it around and for once, there was no burning knot pressing into me. There was no twinge in my back telling me my muscles were ripping apart.
"I mean I am sorry about what the mark will do. It will ruin your body if left untreated, eating away until you're just a hollow of what you are now. The process has already begun but it has abated. Let us hope you last until we reach the Sacred Grounds."
Ruined? My body would be ruined by an injury?
"How?" I asked, my mouth dry and sandpaper. "How will it ruin my body?"
"It will turn the right side of your body into waste, paralyzed and shrunken. How? I do not know. There is more unknown magic they say than can be ever learned by any being. But I will try to help, I promise."
"Where is Sacred Ground?"
"Sacred Grounds. And we not far off, I sent out a message to my friends. They will come to our aid when we get closer. It is time to be off, Druin."
I got up and began walking behind her. "Druin?"
"It is an old name for our wounded. A Druin is one whose ship laps at the water of the Ganyx. Let us hope your ship does not cross the might river."
Druin. For a person not knowing their name, I liked this one.
For the second time today, I got up and began walking into the dark forest.
--
This time I had blacked out while walking. Which was truly wonderful because my conscious jolted me back into alertness as we rounded a corner (if forest's have corners?) and met another full clothed person. Their eyes peered out at me, as yellow and catlike as my saviors were.
Advertisement
They fell into step beside the girl and got close to have a hushed conversation, I was not invited to.
We walked at a casual pace, arriving at a boulder situated next to a small stream.
"We'll have to walk in the stream to get to where we're going." The girl explained.
"Which is where?" I asked. They both peered at me, giving no answer.
After a beat, the new person spoke. "Our city. You are an invited guest in our land."
With that, they began walking in the shallow stream. I fell into step behind the girl and in front of the new person. We walked in a line for a while, the splash of the water the only noise in the dimly lit forest. The stream became wider as we walked, becoming a shallow river that was as wide as my arm spam. The water had now come up from being at our ankles to our waists.
Our journey ended at a waterfall and now the river was so strong that there was a strong push from the water to send me cascading down the path I had trudged up on. The two clothed were moving deftly, avoiding the tricky steps under the water and holding onto steady rocks that didn't tumble away. I became the last in line, coping the movements of the other two clumsily until we all stood on the edge of the water.
"From the tides of the moon, to the bowls of our hall, give us way Ægir. We ask for a place in your Ægisdrekka." The girl said softly, murmuring to the water around us.
Nothing seemingly magical happened. There was no great parting on the water, no pause in the water fall. There did seem to be a small opening in the water near where the girl was standing. Like the water was moving aside to allow her to enter the water fall but it was a tiny sliver. But the tiny sliver grew and the water was moving aside.
The waterfall had edged itself away to allow for a small entry hole. The strangest part was, there was a boulder right behind the water. However the entry hole shimmered, as if it signified a portal to another dimension. The girl stepped back so the new person was the first to go through and motioned me to follow.
I took a deep breath. Swallowed some water. And walked in.
My website: https://thewaytomars.wordpress.com/2020/08/29/chapter-1/
Advertisement
- In Serial39 Chapters
From the Final World
I have lived a long, long time. Longer than the universe knows; longer than any star has seen or traveling light records. My memories; that is all that is left that knows that length, and that which was seen within it. Then again, that is all that ever did. When I am gone, it will be forgotten, a truth and a history lost forever no matter who or what tries to find it. I think that is why I write this now. A record, or a lament, of the most significant being of all time. It is a prideful exaltation of endless triumph, or the dread condemnation of infinite evil. I don’t know which; I shall leave it for others to judge. I could explain further, of course. I could list the sins that have been committed, the deeds that have been done. Yet for now, I believe this is enough. Her story will speak for itself. About the good, and evil, in the heart of a single girl burdened with more than her fair share. And how she reacted to it. So, I will tell her story. Of gods and devils, mortals and monsters, of legends long forgotten and civilizations long turned to dust. And in the end, I hope she knows herself, whether it is salvation, or destruction, she should receive.
8 186 - In Serial17 Chapters
The Gamer's core
As a gamer, Damian would love nothing more than to spend his days playing virtual games, and -Knights of oblivion- is his go-to game, but all that changes when the young boy finds himself thrown into a world much different than his previous world. Filled with new friends, enemies & rivals alike. Swords and shields. Wands & staves. Might and magic. Now he must do whatever he can to survive. Use everything he learned and adapt. Utilize his limited arsenal to evolve. Understand and master his new ability -Gamer's core-.
8 82 - In Serial28 Chapters
The Electric Archipelago (WIP)
This is the first draft of my new cyberpunk novel, The Electric Archipelago. In the future humanity is imprisoned by massive corporations. Computers are directly connected to their brains, creating a nightmarish state of absolute control, every action is monitored and harshly judged. Perhaps worst of all, the victim's perception of reality itself is controlled. A system of social credit hangs over everyone's heads. If you want to survive you will need to pick a company and stay loyal to that brand. But it goes beyond that, because each corporation has been infiltrated and taken over by forces that are interested in more than just profit. John is a Skinwalker, a free man, a man who is immune to these restrictions. He goes where he wants and does what he wants, moving from one augmented reality to the next, always looking for the next score.
8 198 - In Serial28 Chapters
The Solstice Wars
In the grey-cloaked cityscape of modern London, student William Whiteswift has two secrets: the Fae walk among humanity, and they are just as vulnerable as us. His childhood was filled with them; they spawned nightmares and episodes, dreams and obsessions. The nightmares remain, of course, but the fae are his normal. Now, he heals them, for William is gifted. When he saves a faerie -- a humanoid fae -- from an injury he can’t explain, William is forced to let her stay. Finally, he may have taken on more than he can handle; Ainsel could uproot his life in seconds. Instead, she cracks a Pandora’s box of mysteries: someone just flipped her home on its head. And because of that, she did something unspeakable. And somehow, she doesn’t want to hurt him. The longer she stays, though, the crueler his nightmares grow. Worse, governments hide secrets, too: they know of faeries. To them, all fae are monsters fueled by solstices and equinoxes. As the autumn equinox approaches, the culling agency COURT hurries to track Ainsel down. With teams across the United Kingdom and Ireland -- iron-strong despite the region’s history -- they are nearing success. A world away, their country wounded, the faerie leaders hunger for justice. In the looming shadows of war and of Ainsel’s mistake, can a human and a faerie protect each other against their own kind? Could their plight mend rifts between bitter nations and bitterer people? Or will it, like past attempts at peace, shatter? Quick note! I hope you all enjoy the Irish (Irish Gaelic) words here and there! All are defined or explained within the text. This is my chance to show off speaking it at least somewhat decently. Still learning. ;D -K
8 194 - In Serial37 Chapters
Fortuna Sands
Fortuna Sands is a popular Virtual Reality Game where everything is determined by a turn of deck of cards called the Deck of Fate. Cee is new player in FS learning the system allows the most fantastic of outcomes simply by drawing the right hand again the Luck of the Draw. With real world money on the line, and a clue that leads her to her mysterious family inheritance hidden in this VR world, she meets new characters both friendly and shady, she navigates this world to find the most unexpected of outcomes. As the stakes get higher and higher, the secrets of this world go deeper, and she may discover that her own fate is tangled in this world more than she can possibly imagine. Includes: Virtual Reality, Gambling, and Gaming System elements. Updates once every Friday. Now updating thrice every Friday (that's three chapters a day on Friday, starting (Jun 10.)
8 193 - In Serial13 Chapters
A Big Time Rush Logan and Camille Love story
8 164

