《Gems of Fate》
Prologue
The forest was bustling with life; the song of cicadas and croaking of bullfrogs only punctuated by the odd grunt or distant roar of some unknown ferocious beast.
Abrar had climbed a tree and wedged himself between two thick branches so he won¡¯t fall off in his sleep. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable of places to sleep but having lived through the traumatic events earlier that day, luxury was the furthest thing on his mind at that moment.
One might ask what exactly had he suffered to put him in such dire straits?
Abrar Chattha was just a random guy of age 22, living in the third world country called Pakistan, studying to be a doctor albeit a bit unsuccessfully. He had managed to get into an average medical college but lack of attention and procrastination had set him back a year after he flunked his exams. If a single word described Abrar, it would be mediocre as he did not stand out in the slightest; a man like millions others.
It had started off as a bad day, Abrar was running late. Normally it won¡¯t have been much of an issue as Abrar was a master of making excuses but this time he had been assigned to attend the senior doctor Kashif, nicknamed ¡®The Butcher¡¯ by the other trainee doctors. The Butcher was notorious for his sharp wits, grumpy personality and cutting retorts which had brought tears to the eyes of many a trainee doctor. Anyone unlucky enough to be assigned to the butcher could only pray the butcher had gotten some from his wife and was in a good mode, otherwise someone sure would be leaving sobbing their eyes out. Abrar was certainly not looking forwards to facing the wrath of the old dragon.
Abrar entered the MRI room where the old butcher and some of Abrar¡¯s batch mates hovered over an elderly patient. Luckily the butcher seemed too preoccupied to notice the late arrival who sneakily slunk his way into the midst of his peers.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The procedure was underway when sirens started to wail across the hospital. Everyone was caught off guard, was this a drill? The doubts in everyone¡¯s minds intensified when a few gunshots echoed in the distance.
¡°Terrorists! We are doomed!¡± A girl burst out in panic and tears as the implications hit her with the subtlety of a truck. Her outburst triggered the spread of even more panic in hearts of the others.
¡°What nonsense!¡± The Butcher snapped, ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any major terrorist activity for years now. Not to mention this is a major hospital in the metropolis, the security team is more than equipped to handle any unwanted situations. Complete the procedure, we can¡¯t leave the patient hanging like this.¡±
Under the baleful stares of the crouch old man, the doctors and technicians returned halfheartedly to their duties. However not long after, a dreadful explosion echoed causing the building to tremble. The lights flickered as the emergency backup power kicked in immediately. Not a minute later a second explosion rocked the building, this one horrifically close. The shockwave made everyone stumble and the MRI machine started to emit sparks and smoke before abruptly exploding with a loud bang showering them all with debris. However the scratches he received from the MRI was not what made Abrar nervous. Right before his disbelieving eyes, a small black spot started to spin and grow rapidly forming a vortex. The vortex possessing an immense suction power yanked everyone off their feet and into it. Abrar who unable to get a handhold on anything, was sucked into the nefarious looking vortex as well.
This is my first novel but I have been reading novels for a while. English is not my first language and I am not very used to writing novels so any help pointing out structural, grmmatical errors and the like would be really appreciated. Also any constructive critic regarding the progression of the novel woule be welcome. Ciao!
Chapter 1
It was a most bizarre experience, a first time for Abrar and the others. Inside the vortex they could not feel anything except for the bone chilling cold and an extreme pressure bearing down on them. Before their disbelieving eyes, the elderly MRI patient got crushed into bloody pulp. This made the survivors grit their teeth and bear with the pain, praying it would end before they too followed the old lady to a most unpleasant demise.
However the dangers of the wormhole were certainly not confined to the cold and pressure, one of the abductees suddenly screamed as a deep gash appeared on his torso; another doctor fell into two pieces without even realizing what had happened to him.
Abrar was not untouched by these unseen assailants, a shallow but long gash appeared on his left bicep giving the impression something had brushed past him, grazing his bicep. ¡®Rips in the fabric of space?¡¯ Abrar thought back to the numerous science fiction novels he had loved to read as a child. The pain he felt from the cut, the cold permeating into his body via the cut and the blood that froze instantly leaving his body via the injury kept Abrar from thinking any further. However it was clear he had been a lot luckier than many of his collegues, he could see a couple chopped into pieces while nearly everyone had injuries of varying degree.
Thankfully it seemed the portal had reached its destination and the trail was to an end as the occupants got flung out of the portal.
Abrar flew out and slammed into the grassy ground in a clearing next to a stream. He lay on the ground shivering and panting in memory of the ordeal he had just been through. After a few minutes of rest, he struggled to his feet, brushing off dirt rather unsuccessfully from his white doctor overalls which was rather tattered attesting to the conditions it had been through recently.
Abrar took a look at his surroundings and was amazed at the amount of vitality this forest appeared to possess. Tall towering trees spread their leafy arms high in the sky, long vines wrapped all around the tree trunks, small bushes and shrubs covering the forest floor. He could hear the chirping of birds and the grunts of animals in the distance. ¡®Is this the Amazon?¡¯ Abrar wondered, ¡®No, this is no rainforest. More like a woodland.¡¯ He had been unaware there was such a place left on earth; it was a most welcome surprise to know Earth wasn¡¯t completely screwed yet.
Abrar suddenly felt a sharp piercing pain on his forehead which was making it difficult for him to think, had he been stung by a bee? He stumbled to the small stream and washed his face a few times, the cool water alleviating some of the pain. Sighing with relief Abrar attempted to rub his temples only to encounter a hard obstruction on his forehead. He rushed to the stream and scooped up a handful of water to try to observe his reflection. He could make out some sort of stone on the middle of his forehead in the poor reflection offered by the water.
Panic stricken, his two hands probed the stone attempting to find some perchance to pull it off. However this action resulted in a most terrible pain which made him vary of interfering with the stone for now. ¡®Where had this stone come from?¡¯ wondered Abrar, ¡®Did it pierce my forehead in the crash landing earlier?¡¯ Whatever the reason, the stone was problematic and could cause dreadful infections. He had to find civilization soon and visit a hospital to get the stone out before he died of gangrene.
Abrar emptied his pockets to take account of what he possessed; his cellphone which refused to turn on, his trusty lighter which was running on fumes and prayers, his car keys and finally the bottle of antibiotics he had picked up from the pharmacy earlier this morning for his cousin. All in all, nothing that was particularly useful to him at the moment.
When Abrar was engrossed with his inventory the ground trembled, ¡°Earthquake!¡± gasped Abrar rushing to his feet. The earthquake wasn¡¯t really a very strong one, a single tremor and it was gone leaving no evidence other than the vibrating tree branches.
After waiting a short while for any more unwanted and unexpected surprises Abrar decided to get a move on. Maybe he could try finding civilization on his on or maybe run into his colleagues who had gotten separated exiting the portal.
Abrar wandered in a random direction, struggling through the thick shrubbery until he heard a scream not very far from his current location. ¡°Nadia!¡± Abrar instantly recognized the voice of one of the prettier of his batch mates in the medical college. Abrar tore his way past the bushes and sped towards the place Nadia¡¯s scream had come. Finally he arrived in a small clearing only to be witness to a most grisly sight. Nadia lay slump on the forest floor with blood pooling out of an injury on her neck. Her unseeing eyes held a grievance for having lost her life while she had so much to live for.
Abrar noticed something perched on Nadia¡¯s back with its jaws clenching her throat, it appeared to be a wild cat the size of a German shepherd dog. Enraged at the death of his one time crush at the hands of an oversized tabby cat, Abrar rushed at the feline kicking hard at it. The cat leapt back hissing at the intruder keeping it from its kill. For a moment Man and Cat glared a one another, each vary of the other. The cat then suddenly lunged at Abrar with all claws bared.
Lucky for Abrar some deeply suppressed survival instincts kicked in and with the precision of someone used to kicking stray dogs, Abrar brandished his foot kicking the little cat a few meters away. The cat yowled in rage and pain, a strange white gem on its forehead started to glow and it spat a gray blob of something at Abrar.
Every sense in Abrar¡¯s body screamed this blob was nothing he wanted to be in contact with. He dropped towards the floor dodging the blob with experience gained from years of playing cricket. However his otherwise perfect dodge maneuver had a massive flaw, he had managed to drop towards the ground but that had left his back exposed to the mercy of the cat and mercy the critter did not possess.
¡°Get off, you little bastard,¡± Abrar swore as he frantically tried to dislocate the pest off his back before it tore into his throat. Luckily the creature was rather light and had managed to get its claws entangled in the multiple layers of clothing so he didn¡¯t suffer any deep gashes.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Abrar finally succeeded in pulling the feline off his back, turning the tables round by grabbing it by the throat and yanking it off. He swung the cat held tightly in his fists, smashing it into the tree right next to him. After a dozen smashes, the cat¡¯s struggles weakened until finally with a sharp snap its spine broke under the duress, making it go limp. He kicked the feline a few times to make sure it wasn¡¯t faking its demise before being finally convinced of his victory.
Abrar gasped in relief, sucking in sweet air as adrenaline surged through his veins. He had escaped more or less unscathed bare a few shallow injuries on his back and arms but nothing that risked his bleeding out to death. After tearing apart a few strips of cloth from his overall Abrar crudely bandaged the deeper injuries.
Having tended to his own dire needs, Abrar recalled the reason he had been pushed into this mess. He struggled to the gory mess that was once a beauty that turned heads where she went. ¡®Strange,¡¯ Abrar pondered, ¡®I don¡¯t recall her being in the MRI procedure room with us. She wasnt assigned to the Butcher¡¯ Pushing the random thought to the back of his mind, Abrar knelt down to examine her corpse. Even though he was used to blood having been a trainee doctor in the final year of his bachelors and having seen his fair share of surgeries and cadavers, he did feel a bit ill seeing the gruesome remains of someone he had known, albeit not very closely.
Noting something in Nadia¡¯s hand, he pried it open to reveal a scalpel; Abrar turned it in his hand examining its sharp blade, ¡®What was Nadia doing with it? Where did she get her hands on it? You don¡¯t exactly carry a scalpel around for giggles.¡¯
The scalpel reminded him that Nadia may be carrying something else useful to him. After some hesitation and an intense moral debate with his conscience, he flipped over Nadia to check her pockets. He had, after all, almost lost his life trying to selflessly save the girl so she shouldn¡¯t begrudge him some junk no longer of use to her dead soul. However it seemed he had been too optimistic, he did obtain some items but none particularly useful in his situation such as a few bank notes, credit cards, car keys, a dead cell phone, a diamond ring and a bracelet seemingly made of gold, not that he was an expert appraiser or something. Still he pocketed everything as it wasnt going to add a lot of weight or something.
Abrar noticed something on the forehead of his plundered target, a white stone that was remarkably similar to what he had on his forehead too. After fished out his new scalpel and attempted to surgically remove the stone. However he soon realized the stone was not something as simple as a rock fragment embedded in the skin by some accident. He could see blood vessels connected to the stone, something that blew his mind apart; this defied everything he knew of modern anatomy and science. ¡®Why would an inorganic chunk of rock need blood provided to it? It doesn¡¯t seem like it entered the body but rather it grew there. But that¡¯s impossible, right?¡¯
Looking at the smooth but bloody oval stone in his palm, he was suddenly reminded of something, the cat! It too had something on its forehead, was it a stone too? Abrar walked towards his kill, lost in the implications of the connection he had made. He crouched before the corpse of the feline and after fiddling with the scalpel for a couple of minutes managed to remove his trophy, noting similar blood vessels attached to the rock. Abrar compared the two stones in his palm, noting that the stone from the cat was indeed larger and deeper in color as compared to Nadia¡¯s stone.
However he did not have time to study his gains any further as he saw something exit the shrubbery, prowling towards Nadia¡¯s corpse. Abrar barely held in a scream at the bizarre creature before him; it could be only described as an abomination. An ugly hairless body with four feet topped with wicked looking claws, a long tail tipped with black spikes, a pair of small bat like wing folded on its back and finally a horrifying face that seemed human, with a brown gem on its forehead. Was this a manticore? Whatever the creature called itself, it was clearly not the friendly sort judging by the throaty growl rippling through the air. Abrar knew the creature was not content with the corpses on its feet and appeared to want his blood instead. He slowly bent his knees to pick up a rock the size of his palm, careful not to spook the hunter before him.
Suddenly he burst into action, throwing the rock with precision earned from hurling cricket balls at wickets for years. The rock nailed the beast between its eyes making it yowl with pain. Abrar capitalized on the opportunity before him, turning tail and sprinting into the jungle before the predator came to its senses.
Abrar ran faster than he had ever run in his life with the vengeful manticore screeching after him while jumping from tree branch to tree branch using its bat like wings. Abrar however had the advantage of maneuverability, it was clear the manticore did not specialize in long pursuits like this but a quick end with the long poisonous spikes on its tail.
After a frantic chase Abrar reached a creek and after a moment of hesitation, he jumped in and swam downstream for a while before struggling past the rapid water to the other side of the bank. Utterly exhausted, he climbed the nearest tree and slumped on it, unable to go any further. He sat panting, awaiting his untimely demise at the claws of the utterly infuriated manticore.
Speaking of the devil, the manticore finally appeared on the other side of the bank. It launched a couple of tail spikes at Abrar who rested on the tree top. Luckily the distance coupled with the dense branches kept the venomous spikes from impaling the tired youth. Screeching with fury at the failure, the manticore overcame its hesitation of crossing the creek and leapt into the air, attempting to clear the creek in one massive glide. Abrar could see the man-faced creature soaring towards him like an ugly bestial angel of death. However suddenly massive jaws clamped around the abdomen of the manticore nearly earing it into two! A huge snake residing at the bottom of the creek had claimed this land as its territory. Having fed not long ago, it had permitted the passage of Abrar which it had deemed as prey but the trespassing manticore which was clearly competiition was immediately dealt with extreme prejudice.
Abrar saw this scene with horror filled eyes; the powerful manticore had perished in a single attack by the humungous serpent. It was scary that he had swam past this monster not long ago, unaware of the horrors the creek had held. This forest was a most dangerous place to be and he had to be extremely careful if he did not want to end up like Nadia or the late manticore.
Thud! The ground trembled once more as a brief earthquake passed, just like the one that had happened a while ago. Abrar sat on the tree trying to recover his strength and burn off the lactic acid filling his muscles. Hours passed and he noted that roughly every hour, a tremor would take place. Soon daylight started fading away and Abrar noticed something extremely odd, the sun hung in the middle of the sky instead of setting like it should. After a few hours and earth shaking beats, what he saw made his blood run cold; the ¡®sun¡¯ in the sky had dimmed to a pleasant moon like glow revealing its real identity. A massive crystal hung in the middle of the sky by unknown means replicating sun and moon. ¡®This is no earth¡¡¯ Abrar thought in dismay, finally gaining confirmation of what he had been suspecting for a while now.
Chapter 2
The next day Abrar descended from his leafy haven and giving the snake occupied creek a wide berth, made his way into the forest attempting to find food to appease his painfully clenched stomach. Luckily the forest appeared to be full of fruits and berries and Abrar collected many types before bringing them back to his tree. Spreading his once white overall on the forest floor, he attempted to identify which of his foraged goods could be eaten. Having studied biology, he knew many fruits and berries were poisonous but he wasn¡¯t exactly an expert as to what types not did he have any guarantees this strange place would have the same types of plants as earth. But having studied biology he knew fruits that generally contained hard inedible seeds were meant to be eaten so the seeds would be passed out in the feces. Using the scalpel he conducted a most messy dissection of the fruits and berries and discovered two types in eight that could tentatively pass the requirements. He took a bite off one of the fruits and waited to see if he would kick the bucket or not. An intense pain surged through his body as heat spread from his stomach. It was like he had drank lava instead of a fruit!
Abrar fell to the ground, writhing in pain as his body continued to heat up. Had he escaped death from the cat and the manticore only to die a slow death to the fruit? However just as fast, the pain disappeared leaving his body a bit warm but strangely relaxed. To put it in milder terms, it was like someone had given him an intense massage which did cause pain at beginning but left him utterly satisfied and relaxed. It was a most strange experience, something he couldn¡¯t begin to express in words. Abrar struggled to his feet remaking at how light his body felt. It was like all injuries acquired the day before had vanished. A closer inspection of the numerous scratches on his body courtesy of the cat and the escape from the manticore, revealed that the shallower ones had vanished while the deeper ones remained.
Abrar looked at the half eaten apple like fruit in his fist and pondered, ¡®Is this fruit responsible for this?¡¯ After a moment of hesitation Abrar decided to risk a second bite for ¡®scientific purposes¡¯. The second bite did not hurt half as much as the first but the effects of the second bite was also decidedly less. It would appear his body would develop tolerance to this strange mutant fruits that had such a miraculous healing effect. Seeing the effects of that type of fruit decreasing with each consumption, Abrar filled his stomach with them, chasing away the hunger pangs. He had secured a food source at least.
After eating his fill, Abrar thought back to the unexplained events that had taken place since yesterday; the stone on his forehead, the hourly tremors, the sun crystal, the mutated creatures, the grey blob the cat had spat at him and finally the fruits. He could feel something tying all these incidents together but he could not understand exactly what. Abrar wasn¡¯t the smartest of people, he was just an average guy in a mediocre university in a country that wasn¡¯t the most developed of places. He was no great professor who could instantly cook up a theory but it still nagged at him, he was missing something obvious and right under his nose.
Abrar looked at the creek where he could see some deer like creatures drinking water on the other side of the bank. Suddenly the snake¡¯s head shot put from underwater, lunging at a buck that had delved a bit too deep into the liar of the serpent. However contrary to what Abrar thought, the deer miraculously did not perish in the iron jaws of the snake. The white oval stone in the middle of its forehead glowed as the whole deer somehow sped away from certain doom so fast that it left an after-shadow. The snake did not give up as the red stone on its forehead glowed and the whole creek rose and flooded the banks, battering at the herd of deer.
Abrar¡¯s jaw dropped at this magical feat, how did the deer manage to escape and how did the snake cause the creek to flow towards the deer? He looked back at the deathmatch and saw the snake biting down on the deer, thoroughly poisoning it before swallowing it in one piece. Abrar suddenly understood he was not safe where he was. The snake possessed the power to move the creek and seeing the size of the beast, he would not be safe on the treetop. It was time to move out and hopefully find civilization before he died a snack to some beast or infected by some woodland spores.
Abrar packed up his meagre berry collection in the pockets of his doctor overall and moved away from the creek. He moved carefully keeping an eye and ear out for any unwanted surprises, remembering Nadia who was ambushed by the pint sized cat.
Abrar continued to move till he accidently came across something that made his blood curl. In a small clearing, a human corpse was being scavenged by a number of small crow like birds, each possessing a small white stone on their brow. Abrar waved his arms scaring away the cowardly crows who reluctantly flew up and circled over his head cawing in anger.
Abrar looked at the corpse and noted that this person too wasn¡¯t part of the MRI group. Flipping him over Abrar noticed a badge proclaiming, ¡®Doctor Awan, General Practitioner¡¯. Around his neck a stethoscope hung which Abrar self-righteously pocketed. Inspection of the doctor¡¯s pocket revealed nothing that could help Abrar which made him disappointed. However the dead doctor¡¯s presence was a surprise to him. Why were people not in the MRI room getting transported? Did the wormhole expand to cover the whole of the hospital? Was it going to stop at that or was it going to engulf all of Earth?
Abrar shook his head to keep himself from wondering about stuff that did not concern him immediately, he was too busy trying to survive himself to bother with the rest of world.
Abrar took out his trusty scalpel and pried off the late doctor Awan¡¯s forehead stone off. Seeing the fight earlier, he had come to some faint conclusions about the stone but they still needed some verification. Tucking in the newly acquired stone along with the others, Abrar rose clutching his new weapon, the pickpocketed stethoscope now nicknamed the Whip of Doom. The small metal piece at the end could cause a fair bit of damage if swung hard enough.
Abrar made his way through the forest until he spotted a small cliff where the dense forest began to clear. Carefully making his way through the forest he reached a place where he saw a strange sight, next to a small pond, a naked old man squat drawing in the dirt.
Abrar was overjoyed to finally see someone alive, ignoring the nudity of the elderly hermit he rushed forwards.
¡°Hate the skies for being too low,¡± the old man kept muttering over and over in a deep glutteral voice, not even looking up at his visitor. Something told Abrar the old man was not speaking in the same language but strangely he could understand the meaning. Abrar ignored his feeling and squat next to the old man, ¡°Good Morning Senior,¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
The old man ignored Abrar and kept mumbling his mantra over and over. Abrar noted a golden stone between the eyes of the crazy old hermit, the first time he had seen such a vibrant color. Abrar put his hand on the old man¡¯s shoulder and shook him slightly. The old man whirled around and grabbed Abrar by his arms and bellowed at him, ¡°HATE THE SKIES FOR BEING TOO LOW!¡±
Abrar was startled at the hermit¡¯s actions, it was clear this old man had a screw loose in there. However the hermit¡¯s words struck a chord, he had read these words before. ¡°Kun-Peng spreads his wings and hates the skies for being too low?¡± He murmured. The old man recoiled as if stung and screamed again at Abrar, ¡°HATE THE SKY FOR BEING TOO LOW!¡±
Suddenly the old man trembled once as huge wings burst out of his naked back, lifting him and Abrar who was held very tightly by the arms. Abrar barely had time to blink before they were soaring so high in the sky he could see everything below. He could see where the forest ended, he could see tall mountain ranges in the distance, he could see huge cities sprawling over the land and he could see a vast ocean covering the horizon in the east. However the old man did not appear to have any intentions of coming down or stopping, he continued to fly straight up as if wishing to escape the atmosphere and enter the space.
However Abrar saw something completely shocking; above his head was not the empty vacuum of space but a ceiling. The old man screaming his token dialogue smashed into the ceiling which was strangely rather flexible and shock absorbing like a wet sponge. The aerial hermit rebounded off, still holding his kidnapped visitor and dropped towards the ground.
Abrar screamed as the ground continued to close up but the old man, at very last minute, opened his wings again and soared back upwards but not before throwing Abrar into the little pond where he abducted him from. He rose once more to challenge the limits of skies, turning into a huge eagle like bird this time.
Abrar crawled out of the pond, bedraggled and traumatized by the experience he just been through; he had never even been on an airplane before and now he had been taken on a joyride by a crazy old bird man, not to mention colliding into the ceiling of the world. He had been convinced they would be smashed into pancakes seeing how fast they were going but thankfully the spongy limits of the world had just cushioned the impact, bouncing them off like a trampoline.
Wringing his clothes dry and taking a tally of his possessions, he discovered other than the fruits which got crushed, his belongings were still on him which was a relief as he would have cried tears of blood upon losing his scalpel or whip of doom.
Abrar noticed a cave on the face of the cliff and realized that it must be the abode of the bird hermit. Still holding a grudge against the old man, he decided to empty the whole cave of any valuables. However upon entering the cave he discovered that he had rated the hermit too highly; other than a mound of leaves in shape of a nest like bed in a corner, the cave was empty. Hoping to find something hidden in the nest, he pulled it apart but did not find anything but a couple of feathers which likely came from the old coot himself.
Abrar examined one of the feathers but it seemed indistinguishable from any eagle feather he had seen before. He however got a nasty surprise when he ran his finger along the edge of the feather idly; a fine cut appeared on his finger despite the light brush; the old bird¡¯s feathers were sharp as knives!
Abrar held the two feathers in his hand and wondered how he could use the two extremely light but sharp feathers. He suddenly had a brain wave and using a few strings made from strips of cloth, managed to secure the two feathers to the stethoscope whip. The metal bell would supply the appropriate weight to swing the makeshift whip while the two feathers would provide a cutting edge; he finally had a weapon to fight against any beast that attempted to prey on him so long as they weren¡¯t like the manticore or the snake.
Finally free from worries, Abrar decided to work on the riddle of the forehead stones. He had formed a number of conclusions from what he had seen so far; he knew that every complex creature here possessed a stone, he knew the stone allowed for strange magic like abilities and he even knew the color of the stone determined the strength of the creature. From what he had seen the gold color of the Roc hermit was the strongest seen so far, followed by the red of the snake, followed by the brown of the manticore while white was the weakest and most common.
Despite having understood the secret of the stones to some extent, he was none the wiser as to how the information could possibly be used, how one could cast magic. Abrar fantasized himself standing at the top a mountain, raining fiery death on his opponents bellow. Having had no contact with magic his whole life, the thought of mastering magic was too enticing for him to ignore.
Sitting cross-legged, Abrar pondered on how exactly could he master the magic within the stone. He tried a number of fantasy novel tactics such as chants, commands but no success. However his trial and error method struck gold when he tried to visualize the effect he wanted to get done, inspired by the Force. A weak flame burst in his open hands but died almost immediately. Abrar was extremely motivated by his brief success and resumed his training of the fireball of destruction.
After a few hours announced by the ground shaking tremors, Abrar had only managed to keep his weak flame alive on his palm. It was clear he did not have much talent for fire magic as he had never had any direct contact with it. Yes, he had seen fire all his life and knew the physics behind it vaguely but he had never held much interest in it and never had thought of it before.
Giving up on flames, he spent the next few hours attempting to try other types of magic he could imagine. Sadly the results were rather unremarkable; a tiny ice cube, a wet hand and a few electrical sparks that had managed to shock his wet hands. But Abrar was not demoralized! Whatever meagre successes he had ever still better than what he had prior to this experiment, if only he could find his ¡®niche¡¯ maybe he might become a bona-fide mage!
Abrar spent the next couple of days attempting to gain a deeper understanding of the mysterious force of magic. He only exited the cave a couple of times to forage for fruits, to drink water and attend the calls of nature. No predators appeared to enter the area around the cave probably due to fear of the gold stoned Roc or rather Kun-Peng who had been masquerading as a human hermit.
In these few days Abrar had managed to find a type of magic that he control comparatively way better than the others like fire and water. This was the mysterious magic of space! In the portal Abrar had felt the intimate touch of space. He had passed through the dangerous vortex filled with rips in the fabric of space, he had felt a few tears on his body. On a whim he had attempted to reconstruct a spacial tear despite having minimal knowledge of its workings and only relying on his memories of the experience. The tear he had formed appeared to be a crude black line unlike the invisible tears he had experienced but it certainly seemed sharp enough; throwing a berry at it had resulted in the berry getting shredded to pieces. However this magic appeared to have a massive drawback; the spacial tears were stationary and could not be thrown at targets, also the tears lasted for at most five minutes unless he dispelled them himself earlier.
Abrar¡¯s studies of the stones had led him to understand that the stone appeared to be absorbers of magic present in the environment. The amount of magic the stone could absorb was limited by the color of the stone. However how much of the magic could be used depended on the host body; using magic tired the body and too much fatigue would make you faint so you were limited by your body as to how many spells you could throw or how much power in each spell.
Having gained some confidence in his newly acquired skills, Abrar decided to move towards civilization he had spotted when carried into the air by the hermit.
Chapter 3
The birds chirped and flew around merrily, the trees swayed to the slight breeze, all in all a most peaceful environment. Too bad Abrar was in no mood to appreciate the beauty when being caught in a net trap and hanging on a tree. The strange trap seemed to be made of some fibers which refused to snap even when Abrar used his newly gained magical skills. The feathers of the roc hermit did appear to have some effect but it was like attempting to file away an iron bar with a sharp nail, requiring immense effort to snap even one strand.
Many hours passed as Abrar tolled away at the net binding him, stopping periodically to rest his aching arms. He had almost managed to cut a hole, large enough for him to struggle out.
However his efforts were too slow and the owners of the traps, a strange bipedal toad like race holding staves surrounded him. Abrar ogled at the strange creatures, having never seen anything like that before other than in games and movies. The toads, seeing their trap in ruins, flew into a rage smashing their staves at Abrar to vent their frustrations.
¡°Boss, this human bastard has ruined the priceless eternity web! That¡¯s a precious heirloom of our clan and won¡¯t be easily replaced. We should beat this wretch to pulp and feed him to dogs.¡± One of the toad men turned to the leader beseeching a painful death for Abrar.
¡°Wait! It was an accident! I didn¡¯t mean to get trapped in this net!¡± Abrar shouted trying to shield his head from the sticks striking him. Seeing no cessation of violence, he frantically threw his hand at the assailants conjuring up a space rift, cutting one of the staves aimed at him.
Seeing this burst of magic from an otherwise frail human specimen, the toads stopped their assault turning to their leader for instructions.
The brown gem on the forehead of the leader glowed ever so slightly as he peered at the spacial tear before him. ¡°Space magic?¡± He cried out disbelievingly; this weakling could utilize space magic?
A torrent of thoughts rushed by the mind of the toad as he finally came to a conclusion. With greed in his eyes, he ordered, ¡°Knock him out lads, we just made a sweet fortune.¡±
The toads spat water-balls at Abrar who was still entangled in the net. They then rushed at him while he was stunned by the impact of the high velocity water-balls and smashed their staves at this head, knocking him out cold.
When Abrar came to his senses, he was in a dimly lit room, hogtied and gagged. He could not understand what had happened to him. He could faintly recall the events that had happened prior to his getting knocked out. ¡®Was I captured by those toads?¡¯ Abrar attempted to make sense of his surroundings.
The room was empty other than a strange pedestal at the center of the room which appeared to be inlayed with multicolored gems which on closer inspection were remarkably similar to the forehead gems. Abrar could see brown, blue, green and red amongst the vast variety of gems.
The door at the end of the hall flew open and a pair of strange insect like creature which looked like some twisted ant versions of centaurs, entered accompanied by the leader of the toads. One of the insects stooped at the pedestal, examining it before rising clicking its mandibles with satisfaction. ¡°He does indeed possess affinity for space magics as you claimed.¡±
The toad puffed in smug satisfaction as he started to haggle over the sales price. Abrar finally understanding what was going on, started to struggle in a misguided attempt to break free. With no success in brute force, he attempted to use magic only to find his contact with magic blocked for some reason.
The insectoid upon seeing his futile struggles clicked his mandibles in amusement, ¡°Young mage, you aren¡¯t going anywhere while the magic suppressor band covers your gem of fate. Give in to your fate and you will live a comfortable life under your new master free from any worries.¡±
The toad sneered at Abrar before turning back to the insect, ¡°Five thousand gold isn¡¯t enough for a young mage with spacial affinity; surely he merits a better price.¡± The insectoid was not moved in the slightest, ¡°Affinity does not equal talent. For all we know he might never move past making space rifts. Not to mention these pesky humans make the worst slaves with their short lifespan. Five thousand is already a heavy price. Take it or leave it.¡±
The toad seeing his words were having the wrong effect on the insect slaver hastily agreed to the mentioned price. After some promissory notes were exchanged, the toad left leaving the two insects alone with Abrar who was still struggling.
¡°Haha, there is no medicine for stupidity!¡± The insectoid who had been speaking till now burst into laughter, alarming his companion. Still laughing he explained to his subordinate, ¡°This slave which we got for five thousand will go for seventy thousand at the very least if we invite some Martial Elder Clans. Luckily country bumpkins like that toad do not know the true value of space magic to martial cultivators or he won¡¯t have been so hasty to sell to us instead of auctioning it.¡±
The other insectoid clearly was one of the ¡®bumpkins¡¯ who did not know the significance of Abrar¡¯s skills but was unwilling to expose himself and earn the contempt of his boss thus did not speak any further. The lead insect scuttled as fast as his four legs could carry him to his newly purchased prize. Scooping up the hogtied human and stuffing a sedative pill in his mouth after pulling off the gag, he carried him out personally with a gentleness he did not show to even his blood kin.
Abrar woke up on a comfortable bed. He sat up and tried to make sense of what had happened to him. He remembered the slaver and the toad haggling and the slaver stuffing some sedative pill into his mouth. It seemed after he was knocked out the slaver had Abrar washed and dressed in clean and gaudy robes that appeared to be designed to catch eyes.
Abrar noticed two other additions to his person that made him rather concerned; a thick metal band that covered the gem on his forehead which did not budge no matter how hard he tried and a black collar on his neck with a chain attaching it to the bed, a cruel reminder of what lay ahead of him.
A day passed, Abrar was locked in the room receiving food via a small flap on the door every few hours dictated by the slight shaking of the ground to which he had already gotten used to since his arrival into this world. In solitude he thought of many escape plans but not one he had the slightest hope of succeeding. ¡®Am I fated to be a slave?¡¯ He was going crazy with worry when the door finally opened revealing two burly human slaves who grabbed the startled Abrar and tied his hands before his back and gaging him before removing the chain on his neck to lead him out of the room.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Abrar was lead to a building and made to enter a line of beings with similar collars on their necks denoting their rank as slaves. One by one the slaves were dragged past a door leading to a huge hall where the auctions were taking place. After a few hours it was finally Abrar¡¯s turn; he was dragged on a stage where the insectoid slaver stood clinking his mandibles with anticipation before a rather diverse audience.
¡°Honored guests, take a look at this fine specimen. This is the main attraction of today¡¯s auction, the prize of our Divine Chains Merchant Guild. Yes this is indeed the spacial magic adept that you all are here for! Look at this young human, look how he still possesses vitality and potential to grow!¡± The insect began to advertise Abrar who was forced on his knees on the stage. ¡°This human mage is not any common one either; he is the chosen princeling shaman of a tribe of savages! Look at this totem feathered whip and this ritual dagger! They are included as accessories along with the specimen.¡± The insect was clearly an expert in bullshit and even devised a fictitious and romantic past for Abrar to propel his value using his stethoscope whip and scalpel as evidence.
The bidding started immediately and nearly all the guests invited to the auction began to yell prices. Abrar could see all sort of strange beast like creatures that would have only appeared in nightmares in the past; he could see a lot of humans in the numbers too. The humans did not appear to hold any sympathies for him on account of shared species and yelled out prices with the same greed in their eyes as the rest of the bidders.
An hour of bidding commenced and the final price was something that the sly insect would have never dreamt of getting. For a most princely price of three hundred thousand gold coins, Abrar was handed over to the mercy of his masters; a pair of tall serpent-man hybrids.
Gagged Abrar looked at his new masters in despair who led him to a horse carriage surrounded by dozens of guards. He was forced into the carriage while the two serpentmen entered right behind. The two lamia-like beings looked mostly alike apart from the different colors of gems on their foreheads; one possessed a brown gem while the other a blue gem. The blue gem looked at Abrar and hissed, ¡°Young mage, we belong to the Sorus Elder Clan. Serve the clan well and you will lack for nothing in the world; wine, women, song, whatever you desire will be yours so long as you help us with something to the best of your ability.¡±
The other lamia removed the gag from Abrar¡¯s mouth finally allowing him to speak.
¡°What do you want from me?¡± he gasped fearful of his future as he was well aware there was no free food in the world and everything had a corresponding price attached to it. If these snakemen were willing to treat a bought slave so well then the work they wanted done must not be easily accomplished.
¡°You will know in due time young magus. We are taking you to the clan fortress where the queen awaits you.¡±
A day passed quickly as Abrar took advantage of the cordial behavior of the lamia to inquire more about the world. The lamia having been fed the fake backstory by the slaver truly believed him to be an uneducated savage and happily addressed his questions so he wont embarass himself before the queen.
Abrar learnt the stone on his head were titled ¡®Gem of fate¡¯ and the color indicated the strength of the wielder, he also learnt that even though technically all sentient beings possessed the same magical capacity on the same color level, magical affinity, comprehensive ability and robustness of body played a huge role in strength of a person. He also discovered an interesting bit of information; on this vast world everyone who dared to utilize mana was referred to as a martial cultivator who were further split into two schools of thought namely: Mages who could use mana externally as spells and Martial Artists who would use mana to strengthen their limbs to perform prodigious feats of strength and agility. However it appeared becoming a mage was much more difficult as it required mental flexibility and imagination which many lacked and thus martial artists outnumbered mages by twenty to one.
Abrar would have inquired more but it appeared the carriage had reached its destination, a fortress in the middle of grassy plains. The huge wooden doors were guarded by burly snake men carrying halberds who upon seeing the insignia on the carriage, had a path cleared in the crowd to let the carriage through. The carriage finally stopped before a large manor house in the center of the fort. Abrar was asked to dismount and under the watchful eyes of the guards escorting him was led to a huge throne room.
The throne room was lit by glowing crystals embedded in the walls casting an eerie environment which the lamia did not appear to mind in the slightest. In the end of the hall on a huge stage, the snake queen lay coiled on the cushions. She was rather beautiful if you ignored the huge white scaled tail coiled beneath her or the long tongue that would flick out of her mouth time to time tasting the air. The red gem on her forehead drew Abrar¡¯s attention indicating her strength as the queen of the Sorus Clan.
Beckoning Abrar forwards she lifted his head with her fragile looking hand and observed his face carefully. Her long tongue flicked out, lightly striking the gem on Abrar¡¯s forehead before retreating. As if the taste of the gem had been satisfactory, the queen drew back in approval.
¡°Tell me your name young mage,¡± she commanded in an imperious manner that did not feel out of place in the slightest with her regal demeanor.
¡°Abrar Chattha,¡± spoke Abrar in a daze still not very comfortable with talking to man serpent hybrids having lived in the purely human dominated environment of Earth.
¡°Abraaar,¡± The queen hissed testing the name in her mouth, ¡°A strange name but one that does catch attention.¡±
Uncoiling herself she rose to her full height which dwarfed Abrar by a fair bit; she slithered to a door at the back of the throne beckoning Abrar along. Following the queen he passed through a series of stairways and corridors until they were deep underground. The queen stopped before a door and using a needle forced a drop of blood from her thumb onto the door which swung open by themselves. They entered the huge basement and the doors shut behind them locking them in.
Abrar gasped at the sight he beheld: a mountain of gold, silver and gems! He could see sets of armor, sharp weapons and shelves filled with old crumbling books and scrolls. He could see piles of jade boxes in the corner which were certain to possess priceless treasures.
The queen laughed at the awed look in his eyes and hissed out amused, ¡°If you succeed in what we want you to do, whatever you desire from this hoard will be yours, you will have wealth, women, respect and power.¡±
¡°However¡¡± Suddenly the queen¡¯s amused tone vanished and she spoke in a cold manner, filled with killing intent, ¡°However if you fail in this appointed task in a two years¡¯ worth time¡¡± She pointed at at the mountain of gold. Looking carefully Abrar noticed something he had failed to notice before; a massive golden serpent lay coiled on top of the mountain of gold, much larger than the snake he had encountered in the forest. This behemoth possessed a silver gem on its forehead showcasing its majesty and power to the terrified Abrar
¡°The ancestor is always hungry seeing she spends his time contemplating the mysteries on nature and guarding the foundations of the Sorus Clan; she won¡¯t reject the snack of a tender human mage...¡±
Abrar¡¯s blood ran cold under this threat; he was certainly not out of the blue yet. ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± He asked hoping the snakes won¡¯t have a too difficult to complete request.
The queen laughed charmingly, ¡°Make us a world!¡±