Chrono Shift Chapter 1
Reach for a Dream
By Tool23X
Darkness was everywhere. It had become a shroud surrounding him, and covering all that existed. The place was unfamiliar, and yet it seemed like a place that he knew about in the back of his mind. His subconscious was either playing tricks on him or trying to tell him something. He had not the slightest idea how he had gotten here, and all that he knew was that danger lurked in the gloomy shadows. He did not even remember how he had realized that he was in trouble, but it was there nonetheless.
A pain grew in the pit of his stomach, which had been intensifying ever since he arrived at this eerie place, and now there was something else here with him. It was not clear at first, barely audible, but soon it became recognizable as the very slightest of whispers. It was impossible to make out, and the words seemed to be a chant in some ancient language.
“Kietu Sarai Omias Zuv Dora Flios Veeroi Hazyr…”
He had never heard the words before, but somehow, they were starting to make sense. They were talking to him! They were saying beware. They were telling him to leave, that danger and misfortune would visit him soon if he chose not to.
As suddenly as they had come, the voices vanished, and the silence left behind was so insatiably frightening, it rang in his ears with the brutality and odium of Hell. The silence made him sweat, and his heart pumped blood faster and faster, as the silence started screeching and shrieking in his eardrums, and still the quietness grew more forceful. His mind could no longer think; it could only wish that the insanity would end soon, saving him from his own fears.
Just then a violent light burst through the emptiness, speeding uncontrollably towards him. It struck with a force unconceivable, pulsating through every inch of his skin and penetrating deep into his soul. The blow was so powerful it was ludicrous, a shot out of a fairy tale. Shockwaves of pain filtered themselves throughout his body, and the voices returned. This time they were screaming, and the words had become perceptible. They were yelling his name. “Augur!” they cried. “Augur!!!” He ignored them because of the viscous convulsions that were now erupting through his every pore. Yet the voices shrieked louder. “Augur!!!! AUGUR!!!!!!”
“Augur, for Christ’s sake, what does it take to get you up?” Augur opened his eyes to see his mother standing over him, her arms crossed, looking very upset. “Finally, Lazy. What’s wrong with you?” She continued her ranting while Augur reviewed the recent nightmare he had. This was very likely the most disturbing thing that he had ever experienced. He knew that the vision had probably made him late, why else would his mom be yelling at him to get up? Augur finally began to listen to what she had to say when she was wrapping up.
“Sorry, Mom,” he yawned.
“Yeah, well, sorry won’t make you on time for your schooling. Now hurry up, I’m sick of having to get you out the door every day.”
Oh no, Augur thought, that’s right. For the next few days he would be going on a little trip to the Earthbound Village. Earthbounds disgusted him, but he had to admit, this would be better than more days his usual life. Though he would not want to live anywhere else, sometimes Enhasa became so boring.
Augur ignored the golden beauty of the morning sunlight as he ran out the door, grabbing his pair of half-swords while he left. Two years ago, at the age of fifteen, someone had taken notice of him while he was screwing around with his magic, and he had ended up in a magical enhancement class for the gifted among the Enlightened. He still did not believe that his skills were anything special, but he did admit that he had improved them since entering the school. Even though didn’t think much of his magical abilities, they must have been pretty good, since they had to pull quite a few strings to get him into the class at his age. Most were started when they were very young.
Currently, there was only one other student in the class, and indeed, she was quite young. She had joined not to long ago, and she just celebrated her sixth birthday, making her the same age as Schala. Her name was Seraph, and Augur honestly thought that she already possessed more magical ability than he did. For a white innate, she worked amazingly well with black elements, while Augur had a bit of trouble pulling off anything outside of yellow spells, which happened to be his innate.
Enlightened ones with gifts like him and Seraph would end up with highly respected jobs in the community. Most of the inhabitants in this division of power ended up assisting the Gurus or King Zeal himself on expositions that required abundant amounts of magic. Many of them will make great discoveries or be excellent fighters in battles because of their skills. Augur, now at six feet tall and seventeen years of age, had practiced fighting with his half-swords since he had been very young, and he would make a strong physical fighter if the Kingdom of Zeal ever needed one, which it wouldn’t. It seemed to be a curse; the one thing he did with excellence, his kingdom would never need. He had given his half-swords the name of rapiers, since it sounded better than half-swords basically meant the same thing. And if there was one type of magic that Augur was a professional at, he could use offensive magic like few people he’d ever seen, although he had to admit he hadn’t seen that many. There was no need to use such levels of harmful power on the floating island, but maybe down below in the ice they would become quite handy.
Seraph, on the other hand, had seemed to be good at everything. Candor, the teacher, really liked her. Candor was a woman of twenty-seven, and quite attractive despite the fact she didn’t have many years left of her youth. Had she not been his teacher, and just a few years closer to his age, Augur would have asked her on a date. She had completed the same course he was taking before she decided that she would teach others to use their magic. The decision came when her old teacher had passed on. Candor was a very kind and gentle woman, and she used magic with a precision he had never seen. Her blue innate made her especially superior with healing and certain supplemental types of magic.
Augur arrived at his destination at the same time that Candor was leading Seraph out the door. “So good of you to join us, Augur,” Candor smiled. “I’m so glad that you weren’t any later, because you know that I would not enjoy your chastisement.” She was carrying a magical staff that she used on occasion, and Seraph held a tiny bow with a quiver of arrows on her back.
After Augur muttered for a bit, they all traveled swiftly to the teleporter that would take them to the mainland. Most of the humans rarely, if ever, used it. Most Enlightened ones did things that only gave them gratification, and it was not considered leisurely to freeze your ass off in a blinding snowstorm. Augur had used the teleporter once before, and he was sure that Candor had, but this would be Seraph’s first trip out of Enhasa. Candor would go first, and Augur last, so that the little girl was never left alone.
Augur watched as the two girls went, one at a time, until they disappeared. When Augur jumped into the portal after them, and the sensations began instantaneously. The wavering matter gave him sensations that could only be described as extraordinary, and the orgasms of energy jolts left him dazzled. He did not even notice anything until long after he was on the giant continent below the floating palace. From here it would be a mile long trudge to Port Dalton, the transportation depot for all journeys on the continent. They built it a mile from the teleporter to discourage civilians from coming in often and creating a ruckus. They had to work continually to keep the station from becoming immersed in mounds of snow, because the never-ending blizzard was forever dumping more ice and sleet on the area the base sat. It was a hassle, but it was only until King Zeal’s men could finish work on the Blackbird. The Blackbird would be a revolutionary mighty airship that could fly like the birds, and when it was complete, Port Dalton would be abandoned and buried by snow.
The first quarter of the journey was not tough for Augur or Candor, but for a six year old, it became quite difficult. This magnified when about halfway to the station, a snow beast popped up with two icemen. The snow beast looked like a large wild dog, only much fatter, and the icemen were basically a cross between a man and a polar bear. They all had sharp claws and deadly mandibles, and they looked rather starved.
Augur was the first to pull out his weapon, and he slashed both of his blades diagonally and upward on an iceman. A large red X appeared on the chest of his white fur-covered body. He fell, and the snow became stained with a deep crimson. Augur had slashed through the ribcage into the lungs and the heart. The creature whimpered softly while it lay dying on the plain of white.
Candor glanced at the other iceman, so she did not see the snow beast attack. It lunged forward quite rapidly, and dug its fangs deep into the left leg, immersing the teeth in her blood. When she tumbled backward, the softened flesh tore easily, and the beast had quite a bit left in his mouth. Candor bled profusely from her thigh, and snow immediately began to descend into the open wound. The animal swallowed the piece of her leg, with very little skin falling to the ground, and then it lurched forward again, this time aiming for the head of Candor.
The beast was no more than a few inches from sinking it’s teeth into her neck when it was miraculously blown sideways. A dark ball of energy hit the critter below its shoulder on the side, and dark waves of electricity surged through its body. When it hit the ground ten feet away, it rolled over at least three times, leaving a spray of loose powder hanging in the air. Candor thanked God and then cast a potent healing spell on her deep gash. Even with the healing spell, it would be difficult to walk to Port Dalton, and if the weather turned bad, she could easily die in the cold. For now, however, she had to concentrate on helping her allies with the battle.
“HELP ME!” Candor bellowed. This made Augur turn to see the injured woman on the earth, and when he did, the second iceman attacked him from behind. The hit came from the backhand of a paw, and instantly knocked him to the ground. He rolled over and blocked a downward swing of the massive claw with his rapier, and sliced a large cut in the side with the other one. It growled in agony, but then managed to catch Augur off guard by grasping the teen’s arms and pinning him to the ground. The iceman bared its teeth and was about to strike.
Augur was getting winded, and it took a lot of his remaining strength to summon his magical charm. The supernatural force came in the form of a medium-strength lightning bolt that sprang outward from his chest, and flowed through the air to the body of the beast. Melting snow on its body made the fur of the beast a delightful conductor, and bolts danced around the creature and entered the body. Augur forced the lightning out of his body for as long as possible, and the electricity was beginning to fry the organs of the iceman. When Augur could keep the assault up no longer, he released it, and the animal jumped off as the static electricity that formed between the ground and the mammal propelled him a few feet. Neither of them could move for a few seconds.
Meanwhile, the snow beast had gotten back up, and charged toward the fallen Candor. Seraph shot an arrow toward the brute, but the wind caught it and carried it elsewhere. Candor could now see the determination in the eyes of the snow beast, and admitted to herself that it scared her. When it got close enough, Candor swung her arm around. “Take this, you fiend,” and out of her hand formed a large ice crystal. It was sharp at the end away from her, and when Candor sent the crystal flying through the air, it became quite deadly. When it struck the beast, it entered below the neck, and since the animal was on four legs, it continued downward through the chest until the body of the creature covered it completely. The spike was about two feet long and six inches wide, and still managed to be completely encased in the flesh from the upper torso to the lower area of the stomach. Candor cast another spell immediately, and the icy shaft exploded, sending jagged splinters flying. The fragments of ice cut many large holes in the underside of him, and numerous areas of skin plainly hung downward toward the earth. A few spikes left the stomach just to cross the threshold of fur that was on his four legs, causing them to give out. The pieces also traveled higher into the body, creating large gaps in the heart, lungs, stomach, liver, and kidneys. A chord of intestine was cut, and because of the holes in his abdomen, a few of the lower organs spilled onto the ground. Many neural tissues were severed, and the creature would have been paralyzed if he had any chance of surviving. A few stray ice particles entered the brain or exited through the back, but they were icing on the cake, for the creature was dead long before they reached their destination. When it was all over, the snow beast plunged downward to the terrain, leaving a bloody mess that the storm would swallow within the hour.
As for the final assailant, Seraph shot another arrow in his direction, and this time it hit him. The arrow sailed through the air in the brief moment that the wind had ceased its battle, and entered the eye of the critter. The tip was made of a light metal, but still penetrated the soft eye tissue rather effortlessly, and killed the iceman as soon as it touched the brain.
The battle had ended, and Augur and Seraph helped the injured Candor to her feet. “Man, that doesn’t look too good,” Augur noted, seeing that her wound was turning black from the cold. As the temperature dropped, they would have to worry about frostbite. Augur and Seraph both cast powerful healing spells on her leg, but they would not be enough, for she would continue to hurt it as she walked to the station. Augur helped her walk, and Seraph was at their sides, because she, being only six, would have almost as much trouble as Candor.
Despite the injury, Candor kept a clear head, trying to avoid disheartening the group. The three joked as they continued to Port Dalton. “Hey Seraph,” Candor spoke. “Thanks for that black magic attack. It probably saved me from the snow beast.”
“Thanks,” came the replied. Seraph had always seemed rather quiet.
Augur chimed in, “Come on now, why doesn’t anyone thank me? I took out the first iceman, and kept the second one busy while you two just took your time with your enemy.”
“Yeah, well you didn’t really help any of us. Seraph’s magic is why I’m still breathing right now.” Candor added. “And you should thank her for killing the last iceman, Augur.”
“Hey, if you’re going there, then you should know that you almost got me killed when you yelled for help. I would hurt you for that now, but it looks like a measly snow beast beat me to it.”
Candor grew silent. Augur realized that he had probably come off more harsh than he wished to be with that comment, and he now regretted it, seeing that he hurt her. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just, well, I kind of got carried away.”
“I know, Augur,” she said. “I really don’t blame you, I shouldn’t have said you didn’t help, because you did.”
“Yeah, well, I really didn’t have to go there. Don’t bring fault to yourself. I’ll just try to be more careful.”
“Jeez, I liked it better when we weren’t fighting.” Seraph surprised both of them by chiming in, and they all agreed, laughingly, that the trip would be easier if they went back to joking instead of blaming.
The adventurers persevered through the storm, and with the injury to Candor’s leg, it took a lot longer than it probably should have. Almost immediately after they arrived at Port Dalton, she received direct medical treatment. Healers and doctors alike looked at the leg, and within a day she became better. Magical healing did quite a bit, and removed any scar left from the injury, but only surgery could totally heal a wound as serious as the one she had.
The first night, Seraph and Augur stayed at a doctor’s house while Candor healed, and in that time the blizzard became a snow hurricane. For the next two days, the inn located in Port Dalton kept them for free. Augur had grown kind of attached to the innkeeper, although he did not know her name. She was kind, and rather attractive, with long blondish hair and piercing green eyes. They talked for a long while on the second day stuck at the small hotel. Here Augur learned that Dalton would be leading an exposition to the Earthbound Village as soon as the snow let up. This was very good news, because the twenty-five mile hike could cause some problems if they were unassisted. Augur had seen Dalton once before, and he was not a bad looking man for thirty, which explained in part why he had always been such a horndog. The only flaw that he really had was that he utterly, totally, and unimaginably insane.
The third night was to be the last at the inn. The storm had let up, and Dalton agreed to let them come on the journey as long as they did not cause any trouble. Augur had a conscious idea that he let them come because his sex-driven mind probably liked Candor’s anatomy. But an escort was an escort, and there was no way that they would pass it up.
As Augur slept that final night, he could feel that something was wrong. A sharp crash of lightning awakened him. Even during the flash, it stayed pitch black in the room, but Augur managed to see once his eyes adjusted. Then the weirdest thing that could happen happened. The voices that were in his dream a few days ago returned, and this time they were speaking plain English. Also, this time they were not talking to him, but amongst themselves.
“The fabrics of time are going to be destroyed!” one whispered.
“They are already unwoven. This will not do much more damage.” came another.
“NO!!! They can be fixed!!” yet a third said.
The conversation continued. “We cannot allow anyone to get their hands on that device. It will destroy everything.”
“We can get it. We will keep it safe.”
“It must be destroyed. There is no other way.”
“Enough about that, what about the boy? What will we do with him?”
“He is a risk too. We must be careful. If we wish to truly repair the damage to the timestream, he may be are only hope. But he also may be the complete destruction of everything that we hold dear…”
The voices vanished as soon as the next lightning bolt crashed. Augur was scared out of his mind, and he could not go back to sleep. Funny, such a thing as strange voices usually did not bother him all, but it just seemed so weird. He left his room and traveled downstairs to the main lobby. The innkeeper that he liked, whose name turned out to be Astra, woke up as he traveled down the flight of steps. She greeted Augur before asking him what in the name of Zeal’s holy ancestors he was doing up at this hour.
“Couldn’t sleep” came the reply from Augur. Wow, he thought. She is beautiful. Even when she is sleeping, she looks wonderful. Augur let the thought slip out of his mind. He was letting his hormones speak for his brain again.
Astra smiled at him. Astra also happened to like Augur. He was rather tall, and handsome, and his shiny silverish hair drew attention away from his muscles. She thought he had a nice personality, although his humor left something to be desired. She let her long blonde hair drop to the counter, which she had somehow managed to fall asleep on. After they sat next to each other on the couch in the lounge, the two talked for a while, and both of them were maybe hoping that the other would make a move, but through the night, no one did. After a couple of hours, they both became tired, and Augur fell asleep on the sofa. Astra somehow managed, either by mistake or intentionally, to fall asleep hugging him. She whispered into Augur’s ear before she dosed off, and though he was asleep when she said it, he somehow heard it. “Don’t go tomorrow, I am worried that something will happen.”
When Augur woke up in the morning, he found himself upstairs in the inn, not down on the sofa. He made a comment to Seraph about the thunder last night, but she insisted that there was no storm, that it had virtually quit before they all went to bed. Finally, when he came downstairs, he greeted Astra. In a short conversation, he asked her the question that haunted him since he woke up. “How did I manage to get back upstairs last night?”
Astra looked puzzled. “Back upstairs? You were never downstairs last night.” This made Augur more confused than he had ever been.
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This is the end of chapter one. I promise that I won’t leave notes like this at the end of chapters very often. I usually get very annoyed at the notes at the end of chapters like on many of the stories on Icy Brian’s Page. I just wanted to say that I love input, so if you have any comments or advice or suggestions (I don’t care if it’s hate mail or anything, I just want feedback), please email me at Tool23X@hotmail.com. That’s all for now. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
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