Chapter 5

Jax had been fascinated by the sciences at school.

Since she managed to spend a lot of time in the library, she delved into many of the old books they had. She devoured a lot of knowledge that most of her people didn’t think was worth knowing.

The college library had a particular room that you couldn’t enter unless you wore a magical item. Jax hadn’t wanted to reveal that she wore a magical item, so she was cautious when she went to the room.

The books she found were a collection of old books. Some dated back five thousand years to when the people of Keltria had first come to her planet called Tara.

That was when she learnt about gravity, different types of energy that could be harnessed, and how various elements were formed into compounds. Geological formations, planets and stars, and other worlds different to the planet she had been born on also fascinated her.

It did sadden her that no one had ever entered the room to bother her in the three years she spent in that special room.

With the knowledge she had, Jax came to believe she wasn’t on Tara anymore. She had no idea why she had come to be where she was or how she was ever going to return home.

There were no crystals in this cavern or a dais. She was going to have to find a cavern with one somewhere on this planet. She was rather daunted by this task.

Jax had no idea how big the planet was or how advanced its people might be, or even if it had any people like her. Her most immediate problem was that she had to learn how to function with the slightly higher gravity that made her feel sluggish.

The head wound and pain weren’t helping either.

Jax shuffled over to the wall.

The cleft wasn’t very wide, and she had to use her Earth magic to widen it in places so she could squeeze her way along it, as she also had to climb up about 5m.

She had to stop about halfway and put her hard hat in her pack as she kept knocking it off her head. She was so intent on doing this that she didn’t think so much about the new gravity as she made her way out. She was nothing if not adaptable.

Jax was more cautious as she approached the small top entrance to her crevice. Obviously, it was daylight outside, and the hot, muggy air that wafted in at her was a lot warmer than she was used to. Her home was a lot cooler than this place.

When she looked out, she realised that she was on a rocky escarpment that led back down to the sea behind her. If she continued to climb up another ten or so metres, she would be at the tree line. She didn’t fancy walking far with her heavy pack and in the hot sun.

She decided to go up.

Jax scrambled out of the hole.

Once free, she started making her way higher up the rocky hillside to enter the tree line. As she wove her way up, she noted that many of the plants had some familiarity, but they weren’t exactly the same as at home.

Some of the trees had strange yellow-white bark that peeled off like paper and exposed, red-streaked wood underneath. The leaves on some of the bushes looked like they had a waxy coating, and most had flowers that were very pretty and unusual to her way of thinking.

Going by the undergrowth, she determined that they had recently had rain here, and everything was very green and damp. She had to watch her footing, as many of the rocks were loose and the leaf matter was slippery.

When Jax saw the first, odd-looking, red-mud pillar, she was perplexed. It was a metre high and at least a metre long but only a third of that wide at the base. It looked like it had been sculptured into a sort of waving curtain of dried, red mud.

She had to go and investigate. When she broke a piece of the dirt away, she was fascinated to find that small, white-skinned creatures were scurrying around inside.

They quickly disappeared into the tunnels as if they didn’t appreciate the blazing sun upon their backs. She couldn’t blame them as she wiped her sweaty brow and tried to ignore her hunger and thirst.

Jax moved through the edge of the tree line, aiming for the large white shapes that were further around the small peninsula. She guessed that was another fifteen-odd metres above her position but still some distance off.

She was just about to step out of the trees onto a wide, black road when she heard a strange roaring noise and turned around. From her new position, she had an excellent view of the bay, and she looked out to sea from her vantage point.

She saw the strange, long, grey boats that were floating out in the harbour. They were the oddest boats she had ever seen, with bits and pieces sticking out all over them and no sails. She at least recognised the few wooden vessels with masts as sailing ships.