Read Online Dawn of the Flame Sea by Jean Johnson - Free Book Online
Authors: Jean Johnson
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for signs of movement that might be a precursor to their next meal. Seeing nothing to the northeast, he paced a few lengths away to where he had a better view of the northwest, where there were signs of bushes and possible water. Birds flew and dipped, and branches rustled in the occasional breeze, but otherwise nothing stirred.
Had he still been looking off to the northeast, his sharp hunterâs eyes would have seen an odd ripple and shift in the colors of some of the cliff edges. By the time he thought to look that way again, Pak distracted him by calling out his name, offering a bowl of hash-topped flatbread to eat. When they were done, they were all too busy packing up their few things and working to erase the signs of their small camp to notice the pale, mottled grays of granite flowing into existence among the golden striations of sandstone in the distance.
Chapter Three
Year 0, Month 0, Day 4
Even the most skilled and powerful of Fae could not enchant forever, for all they were being fed by the strange energies of this world. Literally fed, Jintaya discovered when the quartet did not take a break to stop and eat. As the healer of the expedition, she knew exactly what to look for when someone was too absorbed in a task to notice their body began to starve, to dehydrate or worse. Magic was one such task, but she found no signs of weakened or thirsty flesh.
They were fine on the first day, so she did not press the matter. When she checked on them on the second day, and the third, Fali, Adan, Parren, and Kaife were all still doing fine. The sheer span of stone they had changed, reshaping the caverns into useful, flat-floored structures, should have left them exhausted at the end of their first full day. They should have been thirsty, starving even, yet their bodies were doing fine.
It was Ãfan who broke into their work on the fourth day, insinuating himself into the meld and murmuring instructions to ease and cease the flow of their efforts. When they finally unfolded their bodies, Jintaya was amazed to see them moving easily, rather than stiffly. She envied them their energy and grace, until their chief mage came over to speak with her.
âI do not like how quickly and easily their bodies are absorbing these energies . . . this
anima
, the locals call it,â he told her under his breath. âI have watched the locals trying to manipulate it, and only with great effort do they succeed. This stuff . . .
infuses
our Fae flesh. Melds with it. Breathes with it, for we seem to be able to use it as easily as breathing. I am not certain what the long-term effects might be, other than that magic may be
too
easy for us in this realm.â
Jintaya was not slow to grasp the implications. While the Fae, and in particular the Fae Rii, those of their kind who traveled to other worlds to set up trading posts with the locals, preferred to ask rather than take, to trade rather than steal, a world wherein magic was so intimately absorbed into their bodies that they would not need to eat or drink, or even sleep, was a potential point of danger. Those whose willpower and sense of ethic were weak should not be allowed onto this world.
Still, that was the reason why an expedition like hers was always sent in first. It was always a risk to try living on a new worldâthe world where she had found Ban had forced her people to abandon it, as it had been too hostile to be interacted with for long, both in terms of environment and of the rather brutal local culture. Ban was the only thing worth salvaging from that world; he had been Shae even there, and certainly an outworlder to her homeworld of Faelan.
âKeep them away from their shaping tasks for at least two days,â she instructed Ãfan. âYou and I will monitor them. This anima seems to be feeding them, but without it, they will grow hungry. Let us see how long that takes.â
He bowed his head, acquiescing, and moved off to rejoin
Had he still been looking off to the northeast, his sharp hunterâs eyes would have seen an odd ripple and shift in the colors of some of the cliff edges. By the time he thought to look that way again, Pak distracted him by calling out his name, offering a bowl of hash-topped flatbread to eat. When they were done, they were all too busy packing up their few things and working to erase the signs of their small camp to notice the pale, mottled grays of granite flowing into existence among the golden striations of sandstone in the distance.
Chapter Three
Year 0, Month 0, Day 4
Even the most skilled and powerful of Fae could not enchant forever, for all they were being fed by the strange energies of this world. Literally fed, Jintaya discovered when the quartet did not take a break to stop and eat. As the healer of the expedition, she knew exactly what to look for when someone was too absorbed in a task to notice their body began to starve, to dehydrate or worse. Magic was one such task, but she found no signs of weakened or thirsty flesh.
They were fine on the first day, so she did not press the matter. When she checked on them on the second day, and the third, Fali, Adan, Parren, and Kaife were all still doing fine. The sheer span of stone they had changed, reshaping the caverns into useful, flat-floored structures, should have left them exhausted at the end of their first full day. They should have been thirsty, starving even, yet their bodies were doing fine.
It was Ãfan who broke into their work on the fourth day, insinuating himself into the meld and murmuring instructions to ease and cease the flow of their efforts. When they finally unfolded their bodies, Jintaya was amazed to see them moving easily, rather than stiffly. She envied them their energy and grace, until their chief mage came over to speak with her.
âI do not like how quickly and easily their bodies are absorbing these energies . . . this
anima
, the locals call it,â he told her under his breath. âI have watched the locals trying to manipulate it, and only with great effort do they succeed. This stuff . . .
infuses
our Fae flesh. Melds with it. Breathes with it, for we seem to be able to use it as easily as breathing. I am not certain what the long-term effects might be, other than that magic may be
too
easy for us in this realm.â
Jintaya was not slow to grasp the implications. While the Fae, and in particular the Fae Rii, those of their kind who traveled to other worlds to set up trading posts with the locals, preferred to ask rather than take, to trade rather than steal, a world wherein magic was so intimately absorbed into their bodies that they would not need to eat or drink, or even sleep, was a potential point of danger. Those whose willpower and sense of ethic were weak should not be allowed onto this world.
Still, that was the reason why an expedition like hers was always sent in first. It was always a risk to try living on a new worldâthe world where she had found Ban had forced her people to abandon it, as it had been too hostile to be interacted with for long, both in terms of environment and of the rather brutal local culture. Ban was the only thing worth salvaging from that world; he had been Shae even there, and certainly an outworlder to her homeworld of Faelan.
âKeep them away from their shaping tasks for at least two days,â she instructed Ãfan. âYou and I will monitor them. This anima seems to be feeding them, but without it, they will grow hungry. Let us see how long that takes.â
He bowed his head, acquiescing, and moved off to rejoin
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