Chapter 24: Shifting Stones
Elyssia collected her camping supplies very quickly. After, she dragged Tiss and I over to a clearing nearby her camp.
[Elyssia] "Stand next to me while I cast my spell. Don’t get too far from me or you’ll be left behind."
Tiss and I huddle closely behind Elyssia as I watch her equip he same staff before. Ivory-white staff and the large blue crystal at the top. Elyssia charges the staff with magic and begins wave it around in some sort of pattern. She reminds me of a dancing summoner from one of my favorite game series.
A few moments pass. She doesn’t speak a word, only makes these gestures with her staff like she’s dancing. When she finally comes back to a neutral position, Elyssia stamps the butt of her staff onto the ground and a magic circle spreads out around us, originating from that point. The circle shines with a bright magical light. I can feel the presence of an immense gathering of mana.
Tiss wraps her arms around my waist and pulls herself close to me. We don’t have the best experience with being teleported. I put my arm around her shoulder and offer a confident, but cheesy smile and a thumbs up. Tiss’ face tension eases up just a little. I’m glad. Jiji pokes her head out from the other side of my head and offers her usual encouraging clucks. Not that Tiss can understand that anyway.
In the next moment, bright lights take over our entire existence. I can only see a myriad of red, blues, yellows, green, white, purple, and every other shade and hue that you can think of. I swear that I can see colors that have never been named before. But this ends quickly as well. It only lasted for a disorienting few seconds.
I rub the blurriness from my eyes and, when I open them again, I can see a change in scenery. We are still standing in a rich and lush environment, but this place is definitely not the same place we were just in. We’re standing on top of a floating island. The whole thing must only be a couple acres in size. In the center of this floating island is a small pond. A short walk away from the pond and you’ll come across a quaint home.
The house is a log cabin. It reminds me of a hunting cabin my grandfather had. I used to love going there to escape. But just like back then, this place before me isn’t some place to just hide away from the rest of the world.
[Elyssia] "We’re here, dearies. Welcome to my home, the Shifting Stones."
Tiss leaves the comfort of my side and steps forward slowly, gawking at everything around her. I try to follow her aimless gazing. She stares at the sky. We see a few birds in the distance. She looks to the right and sees the edge of the island we’re all standing on. To her left is the same thing. Behind us, we can see a bunch of other islands of around this size just floating in the air, seemingly to slowly orbit and avoid crashing into each other. Some islands have trees. Some have a large amount of water and it’s drains over the side like a waterfall.
I take a peak over the edge of this island only to see a sea of clouds. They have a soft hue, like the color of gold, but pale like beige. As I keep staring, I can almost sweat that I can see something moving beneath the cloud layer. A large body. Serpentine. But it doesn’t reveal itself to me. Well, as long as it’ll leave us alone, I’m fine with it. Big monsters needs places to live, too.