Taken by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #8)(22)

The next morning, I breakfasted on a bit of cheese and bread as I watched a purplish-blue sunrise that took my breath away. Whatever the outcome of this adventure, at least I had seen sights few if any people from Recca had ever witnessed—I only needed to survive so I could tell the tale.

The local creatures were beginning to stir, birds twittering their alien songs, animals both visible and invisible scampering through the brush. To my relief, I found no signs that anyone had attempted to breach my wards last night. This place might be strange, but I was beginning to acclimate to the odd smells and colors, and after a night of sound sleep I felt better than I had in a long time.

Carefully, I continued my trek through the forest, slowly but steadily making my way along the paths. I noticed that while some of them were animal trails, others seemed to have been blazed by larger beings—some trails were as wide as highways. A flash of memory had me stopping cold in the middle of one of those paths. That dream where I was surrounded by giants…had it been merely a fantasy conjured by my mind? Or a premonition? Some of the details, like the different-colored sky, had been quite similar to this place. Were there giants in the Tua realm?

And why not? I thought as I forced myself to continue along the path. I’d already seen plenty of odd things—giants were hardly out of the realm of possibility. Still, the idea of encountering one sent shivers through me. I avoided the largest trails and urged myself to move a little faster.

The local sun seemed to take a little longer to rise to its zenith than it did on Recca, but without a watch, I could not be sure that my sense of time was on target. As noon approached, I spied a huge, tower-like structure in the distance, jutting high above the trees. My heart began to beat a little faster—was this tower someone’s residence, or some kind of military outpost? Did I dare approach? If the inhabitants were hostile, it might be a mistake to draw their attention. The last thing I needed was to find myself in the clutches of another Ta’sradala. Given that she was the only full-blooded Tua I had ever met, it seemed likely that the other Tua were just like her: cold and aloof, viewing mortals as nothing more than playthings. I imagined they’d feel no more guilt about killing us than a human did about stepping on an ant.

And yet, as the tower drew closer, I rejected the temptation to pass it by. After all, how the hell was I going to get out of here if I just blundered about the forest? I had no idea where I was going, no inkling as to how to get out of here. Yes, maybe I would get lucky and stumble across some portal, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.

If I wanted to get out of here, I needed some help. I had to take the risk. Maybe I’d lose my life, but that might very well happen anyway, if I didn’t figure out how to leave this world and find my home. The beast that had nearly killed me the previous night was probably small potatoes compared to other monsters lurking here that I hadn’t run across yet.

Slowing my steps, I approached the tower structure as silently as I could, one of my chakrams in hand. I might not have a choice, but that didn’t mean I had to be an idiot. I’d scout out the area first, see what sort of creatures lived here.

A couple of miles out from the tower, the landscape began to change. The trees thinned out, and I spied purple rivulets of water winding their way across the land. Several times, I had to avoid patches of quicksand that attempted to swallow my walking stick. More than once, I found myself so surrounded by them that I was forced to levitate across to keep myself from getting sucked in.

My skin prickled with anxiety as I did my best to stick close to the trees—I felt far more exposed in the open than I had in the shelter of the forest. Thankfully, a grove of golden trees with bright pink fruit surrounded the tower, and I was able to take cover there. I expected there to be guards outside the buildings, but to my surprise, no one was around. Crouching behind a bush, I studied the unguarded entrance, wondering if there were any traps waiting to annihilate me the moment I came close enough. Did I dare risk testing it out?

“Nachdan,” a booming voice said from behind me, and I froze. Turning slowly, I gulped at the sight of two Tua and a blue lizard-like creature standing between them. How had they sneaked up on me so silently? The Tua towered over me, both at least twenty feet tall, dwarfing the lizard-creature, which was merely the size of a dachshund. The way its tongue lolled from the side of its mouth as it regarded me curiously made me wonder if it was a pet.

“Come again?” I asked faintly as I rose. These Tua looked quite different from Ta’sradala—they had silvery hair and skin like starlight, and were dressed in tunics woven from some multi-hued fabric that was constantly shifting in color. I had to squint just to look at them, and I felt a headache beginning to come on. Would I go blind if I stared at them too long?

One of the Tua laughed, and suddenly their brilliance dimmed to something more manageable. Now that I was looking at them properly, I saw that one was male, the other female. Their features were similar enough that I judged them to be relatives—twins, perhaps? Like the lizard, they were looking at me curiously, with no malice in their gazes. Maybe they thought I was some kind of exotic creature?

The female Tua spoke again, but the rush of words was too fast for me to make out, even if they hadn’t been in a foreign language. No human had ever mastered Tua, as far as I knew. Frustrated, I made a helpless gesture with my hands, trying to tell them that I didn’t understand.