Read Online The Weaving of Wells (Osric's Wand, Book Four) by Jack D. Albrecht Jr., Ashley Delay - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jack D. Albrecht Jr., Ashley Delay
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goal. They would take it one step at a time, just as they had all along, and eventually they would find the answers they so desperately needed. First, they had an island to find.
* * *
The greenery was just as lush and bright as it had been in her vision. The small bay where the boat had anchored was just as blue. Aside from her sight being distinctly her own, rather than viewing the beautiful island through the eyes of a stranger, Serha could be back in her vision. But she wasn’t; she was on an unfamiliar coast far from home with a great many people depending on her. Serha had specifically described the location from her vision to a dragon, who then transported them all to the shore by spoken spell. Dragons, thanks to the Endurism ability, were one of the few creatures on Archana who could tolerate the vast use of magic needed to travel so far with the spell, but they weren’t entirely sure they could make the image of the location specific enough to accomplish traveling there at all. The shape of the shoreline and the landscape near the water was unique enough that the dragon had felt confident it was an island she had seen before, and luckily they had all arrived safely. Now that they knew the island of her vision was real, Serha knew that it was her responsibility to lead them to the tower.
Serha’s entire life had been devoted to receiving and understanding her visions and delivering prophecies. She had never had any doubt about her competency with her gift, but she honestly thought that finding Osric was going to be the last thing she did in her life. The vision she had received as a young girl, the one that had shown her finding the High-Wizard, was her first and still one of her most vivid visions as a Seer. At the time, she had been overwhelmed by the feeling that it had depicted the last days of her life, and she had waited for the moment to come with grim acceptance. She had always known that she would find Osric, but she had first needed to accept that it would be one of the last things she did before she died. Now she had seen that vision come to pass, yet she was continuing on to new lands with new purpose. For the first time in her life, she felt her gift had failed her. What she had experienced, what she had felt when she had her first vision as a child, had been wrong, and now her hands were shaking as she stared up at the dense forest before her. What if there was no tower at the top of the mountain? No well, no book? What if she was wrong about all of it?
“Any idea where that road was at?” Osric’s voice broke into her thoughts.
Serha scanned the edge of the jungle, looking for something familiar. It didn’t take her long to find the old, weathered, and cracked stones that had once been a road. Serha moved toward the old path with a stride more confident than she felt. She tried to push down her fears of failure by focusing on the many aspects of the island that were in fact the same as her vision. As she crossed beneath the first of the trees, a small bush dappled with bright blue blossoms peeked out beside the moss-encrusted tree trunk on her right. She smelled the heady sweetness that wafted toward her from the small flowers as her skirt brushed the leaves of the bush.
Two tiny birds hovered just above the blue petals, sipping nectar from the sweet flowers. Her father had called them flitterflies when she was a child, and she had chased them through the forest near her home on summer mornings, following brief flashes of bright feathers as they darted between blossoms. Serha’s pace quickened as she followed the broken road, which was littered with leaves and overgrown with tree roots, toward the top of the mountain.
The sun climbed with them, marking the passing of the day as they swatted at insects and wiped sweat from their necks. The party traveled by spell when they could see far enough up the path for it to be worth the expenditure of magic, but much of the trek had to be taken on
* * *
The greenery was just as lush and bright as it had been in her vision. The small bay where the boat had anchored was just as blue. Aside from her sight being distinctly her own, rather than viewing the beautiful island through the eyes of a stranger, Serha could be back in her vision. But she wasn’t; she was on an unfamiliar coast far from home with a great many people depending on her. Serha had specifically described the location from her vision to a dragon, who then transported them all to the shore by spoken spell. Dragons, thanks to the Endurism ability, were one of the few creatures on Archana who could tolerate the vast use of magic needed to travel so far with the spell, but they weren’t entirely sure they could make the image of the location specific enough to accomplish traveling there at all. The shape of the shoreline and the landscape near the water was unique enough that the dragon had felt confident it was an island she had seen before, and luckily they had all arrived safely. Now that they knew the island of her vision was real, Serha knew that it was her responsibility to lead them to the tower.
Serha’s entire life had been devoted to receiving and understanding her visions and delivering prophecies. She had never had any doubt about her competency with her gift, but she honestly thought that finding Osric was going to be the last thing she did in her life. The vision she had received as a young girl, the one that had shown her finding the High-Wizard, was her first and still one of her most vivid visions as a Seer. At the time, she had been overwhelmed by the feeling that it had depicted the last days of her life, and she had waited for the moment to come with grim acceptance. She had always known that she would find Osric, but she had first needed to accept that it would be one of the last things she did before she died. Now she had seen that vision come to pass, yet she was continuing on to new lands with new purpose. For the first time in her life, she felt her gift had failed her. What she had experienced, what she had felt when she had her first vision as a child, had been wrong, and now her hands were shaking as she stared up at the dense forest before her. What if there was no tower at the top of the mountain? No well, no book? What if she was wrong about all of it?
“Any idea where that road was at?” Osric’s voice broke into her thoughts.
Serha scanned the edge of the jungle, looking for something familiar. It didn’t take her long to find the old, weathered, and cracked stones that had once been a road. Serha moved toward the old path with a stride more confident than she felt. She tried to push down her fears of failure by focusing on the many aspects of the island that were in fact the same as her vision. As she crossed beneath the first of the trees, a small bush dappled with bright blue blossoms peeked out beside the moss-encrusted tree trunk on her right. She smelled the heady sweetness that wafted toward her from the small flowers as her skirt brushed the leaves of the bush.
Two tiny birds hovered just above the blue petals, sipping nectar from the sweet flowers. Her father had called them flitterflies when she was a child, and she had chased them through the forest near her home on summer mornings, following brief flashes of bright feathers as they darted between blossoms. Serha’s pace quickened as she followed the broken road, which was littered with leaves and overgrown with tree roots, toward the top of the mountain.
The sun climbed with them, marking the passing of the day as they swatted at insects and wiped sweat from their necks. The party traveled by spell when they could see far enough up the path for it to be worth the expenditure of magic, but much of the trek had to be taken on
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