Read Online Calling On Fire (Book 1) by Stephanie Beavers - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephanie Beavers
Tags: Fantasy
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was flying far too close to him for comfort. Instinctively, he steered his mount a couple feet further away, but then he noticed that Esset was waving wildly at him. Toman cast his eyes ahead and then at the scenery before him. He nearly fell off his mount.
The world ahead was grey. Although there were a few clouds in the sky, it wasn’t overcast. The greyness was not due to weather. But even had it been, it would have been remarkable. It wasn’t as though they were traveling through a wasteland; there were copses of trees about, and although the vegetation was sparse, there was still some that should have been colorful.
But instead, everything was grey. The sky was grey, and the clouds in it. The earth was grey, with no brown or other hint of color tinting it. Only the plant-life had any color at all, and it was faded, greens or browns or yellows heavily tinted with grey.
Toman looked down at himself, half wondering if something had gone wrong with his eyes, but his own clothes were still their usual brown, his skin its proper color. Toman looked back. Just the land and sky were grey. Ahead was a stream; the water was grey too. Something had turned this entire area grey.
Toman pulled up his mount to hover in place before the grey line on the terrain. Esset did the same and they both hovered there and stared in disbelief for a time. Finally Toman waved to Esset, and they both descended to a small hill on the greener side of the line. Even then, they stared at the grey line on the scenery for a good stretch before speaking.
"Magic. It has to be," Esset asserted. Toman nodded slowly. That much was fairly obvious.
"But how? And why?" Toman asked.
"And who? I’m willing to bet Erizen," Esset added.
"Considering that I’m pretty sure we just passed into his kingdom, that line of reasoning would make sense. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions; this could be the result of an attack or something directed at him," Toman said. In all fairness, they didn’t have enough evidence or facts to come to Esset’s conclusion with any certainty.
Esset's silence spoke volumes.
"I do admit that I'd like to know for sure, though," Toman said. "Whatever this is, it doesn't look good."
"Should we avoid it?" Esset asked, his uncertainty clear in his voice.
"Maybe… No, look," Toman said, pointing. A herd of deer, distinctly not grey, browsed on the colorless vegetation. A fawn frolicked around one of the does.
"Hm." Esset said. He didn't look convinced.
"Well, let's stay along the border for awhile, but if we don't see anything dead or unnatural, we should probably see what happens when we cross," Toman said. "After all, the village we're supposed to be rescuing is going to be inside the grey area, if it does in fact cover all of Erizen's territory."
"We'll see," Esset said, and his mount leapt skywards.
With an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, Toman followed suit.
It was morning of the next day. They'd lost a little time detouring around the grey area, but not too much. Now they stood just at the edge of the grey border, their mounts still beneath them.
"Well, the village is in there somewhere, so we'll have to cross eventually," Toman said, waving at the grey expanse. "We've seen plenty of wildlife in there, and they didn't seem to suffer any ill effect, not even greyness," Toman said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as well as Esset.
"No people, though," Esset replied.
"We haven't exactly been near anywhere people would normally be," Toman pointed out.
"Maybe I'll summon something and send it across. See if anything happens," Esset said.
"That's a pretty good idea," Toman said. Toman and Esset looked at each other and laughed, realizing that neither of them wanted to go first.
"Okay, here goes," Esset said. He muttered a quick prayer to Bright Hyrishal that everything would go fine, and then he incanted a summon. A tiny bat appeared in the air by his head, then zipped across the grey
The world ahead was grey. Although there were a few clouds in the sky, it wasn’t overcast. The greyness was not due to weather. But even had it been, it would have been remarkable. It wasn’t as though they were traveling through a wasteland; there were copses of trees about, and although the vegetation was sparse, there was still some that should have been colorful.
But instead, everything was grey. The sky was grey, and the clouds in it. The earth was grey, with no brown or other hint of color tinting it. Only the plant-life had any color at all, and it was faded, greens or browns or yellows heavily tinted with grey.
Toman looked down at himself, half wondering if something had gone wrong with his eyes, but his own clothes were still their usual brown, his skin its proper color. Toman looked back. Just the land and sky were grey. Ahead was a stream; the water was grey too. Something had turned this entire area grey.
Toman pulled up his mount to hover in place before the grey line on the terrain. Esset did the same and they both hovered there and stared in disbelief for a time. Finally Toman waved to Esset, and they both descended to a small hill on the greener side of the line. Even then, they stared at the grey line on the scenery for a good stretch before speaking.
"Magic. It has to be," Esset asserted. Toman nodded slowly. That much was fairly obvious.
"But how? And why?" Toman asked.
"And who? I’m willing to bet Erizen," Esset added.
"Considering that I’m pretty sure we just passed into his kingdom, that line of reasoning would make sense. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions; this could be the result of an attack or something directed at him," Toman said. In all fairness, they didn’t have enough evidence or facts to come to Esset’s conclusion with any certainty.
Esset's silence spoke volumes.
"I do admit that I'd like to know for sure, though," Toman said. "Whatever this is, it doesn't look good."
"Should we avoid it?" Esset asked, his uncertainty clear in his voice.
"Maybe… No, look," Toman said, pointing. A herd of deer, distinctly not grey, browsed on the colorless vegetation. A fawn frolicked around one of the does.
"Hm." Esset said. He didn't look convinced.
"Well, let's stay along the border for awhile, but if we don't see anything dead or unnatural, we should probably see what happens when we cross," Toman said. "After all, the village we're supposed to be rescuing is going to be inside the grey area, if it does in fact cover all of Erizen's territory."
"We'll see," Esset said, and his mount leapt skywards.
With an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, Toman followed suit.
It was morning of the next day. They'd lost a little time detouring around the grey area, but not too much. Now they stood just at the edge of the grey border, their mounts still beneath them.
"Well, the village is in there somewhere, so we'll have to cross eventually," Toman said, waving at the grey expanse. "We've seen plenty of wildlife in there, and they didn't seem to suffer any ill effect, not even greyness," Toman said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as well as Esset.
"No people, though," Esset replied.
"We haven't exactly been near anywhere people would normally be," Toman pointed out.
"Maybe I'll summon something and send it across. See if anything happens," Esset said.
"That's a pretty good idea," Toman said. Toman and Esset looked at each other and laughed, realizing that neither of them wanted to go first.
"Okay, here goes," Esset said. He muttered a quick prayer to Bright Hyrishal that everything would go fine, and then he incanted a summon. A tiny bat appeared in the air by his head, then zipped across the grey
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