Read Online Ascent of the Aliomenti by Alex Albrinck - Free Book Online

question now.
    He reached out his hands to the women, and they each took one without question, likely suspecting he was seeking comfort. And, on some level, he was. But he felt the need to speed everything up, hoping that it would clear his mind. “Hang on,” he told them.
    He flooded his own body and cells with Energy, and extended the field to cover and infuse both Hope and Eva, willing the three of them to become invisible and weightless. With the transition completed, he lifted off the ground and into the air, pulling the two of them with him.
    The telepathic gasps of surprise flooded his mind. In this phased existence they could not speak out loud, for their bodies lacked sufficient substance to generate audible sound. He’d essentially rendered them all mute in his haste to move, flying away from the spot where he’d realized why fifty people had died. Energy had rendered those people mute as well. Permanently. They were people he cared about. His mind flashed a millennium into the future, to a time when the son he and Hope would bring into the world would likewise be muted because of Energy. The Energy he and others had been entrusted with provided the power to create and amplify, and yet improperly applied, it could cause incredible harm, even if that harm wasn’t intended.
    They rose above the tree line, rising several hundred feet into the air, and the land spread out before them. The women were alternatively terrified and awestruck, incredulous at the beauty below them, fearful that they’d plummet to their deaths. Despite being nearly permeable, he could sense the pressure as each tightened her grip on his hand.
    Where do you wish to go, Eva? We can travel more quickly this way, and perhaps see what we’d never find traveling on the ground.
    I... I’m not sure. I want to believe that there’s something special about the land where I was born, and yet I don’t know that that’s the case. And I certainly have no idea what it might look like.
    They flew for several hours in this fashion, passing over a great body of water that Will suspected was the North Sea. Soon after, Hope gestured with her free hand, further north. What’s that?
    They looked where she’d gestured, and her find was indeed intriguing, something worth exploring. In the midst of open plains and patchwork fields of flowing grasses, a vast forest stretched before them. What intrigued all of them, though, was the coloring of the trees, a vibrant green that seemed almost unnatural. They could also make out a clear depression in the canopy near where the colors were their most vibrant, suggesting a clearing below.
    Will gave a faint smile, and added an ironic tinge to his thought. Perhaps you were born in a village located within a forest?
    Let’s go take a look , Hope replied. Her tone was full of anticipation. Adventure and exploration had been denied her the first nineteen years of her life, and even with uncertainty heavy in the air, she was eager to find whatever they might discover.
    Eva merely nodded, though Will detected none of Hope’s exuberance in her. If anything, she seemed quite fearful, an understandable sentiment. She might find her home village without realizing it, or learn it had been destroyed, or perhaps find that her people were not what she’d hoped.
    Will landed them among the trees and allowed them to regain substance. The forest air was pure and clean, naturally energizing them. The trees bore a strange fruit, unlike anything they’d seen before. The smell was mesmerizing, and all three found their mouths watering. While they’d eaten recently, none had eaten to excess, and the hours of walking had stimulated powerful appetites. More than one stomach rumbled in anticipation of imminent consumption.
    Before Will or Eva could stop her, Hope sprang upon the nearest tree and seized a piece of fruit, tearing into the skin and flesh. As the juice seeped out of her mouth, she moaned. “This... is... incredible! You