Nagith Chronicles: Discovery
Chapter Nine

He stretched out, leaning against the tree he had been sketching. There were tons of them in this area, he was sure the locals had different names to distinguish them but for now he was focused more on recording their differences. This was the fifth one today, as denoted by the number above his sketches and scribblings. It was so weird, the air tasted better around these giant plants. He never thought the air could taste different. He had been to a few other areas by now, some that were more like his own world than this ‘forest’. That word he had managed to snatch from spying on the natives. There were other places though, that were barren and devoid of many plants. He had only seen one, a hot, dusty place, but surely others must exist. The light mass seemed to spit him out somewhere different every time, it was a bit annoying to try and keep track of exactly where he was or had been. He had seen many different places now. It interested him though, when he thought of the barren places that the ‘sun’ had bored down just as brightly.

It was quite a thing, to see the ‘sun’. They had one too, now that he thought of it, something that made the day brighter and disappeared in the darkness of night. Though he had never really thought about where that light came from. So it made sense then, that they had a sun of their own, hidden by the gray clouds. Another word he was proud of discovering- heck, another thing that amazed him. He always had just thought the sky where he lived was just…the sky, but once he saw the fluffy white things in this blue space, how the light dimmed when they floated in front of the sun, it wasn’t too hard to put it together. They had to have a sun, it was just blocked out because their sky was full of clouds. It made sense.

What else was there, he wondered, that they had back home that he didn’t know about? He’d seen a good deal of it but just because he had, it didn’t mean there wasn’t even more out there, right? Maybe it was like the sun, maybe that stuff was all there but it was hidden from view. Maybe if he just went back and looked hard enough he could see it there as well. Still, if they were there, how come he had never heard of it? Not even gossip or rumors…surely there would have been some word of it?

He hated going back, now. Of course, he was always excited to see Rachel and even that little Cal, but it just seemed so…empty, there. Like the journal of scribblings that lay in his lap, this place was full of so many- so many THINGS. There were colors he still didn’t know the names of and plants and animals of such bizarre makings. One thing that astounded him were the nest the flying creatures made. They’d come back to the eggs, and once the eggs hatched the creatures would come back and feed them. They had only one kind of small flying creature in the Nagith, meruts. They were…different, to say the least.

For one they didn’t make little beds of twigs and they certainly didn’t stick around their eggs. Their eggs were bulbous, slimy things; big gray globs that stuck to the trees like parasites hooked into an animal. They pulsed, clustered together in no particular order, wriggling and emitting foul-smelling gas. When they hatched they would immediately take to the air with their three sets of gossamer wings, pincers snipping and their mobile, stalked eyed whirring in all directions. There were small insects here that looked similar to them, but meruts had feathers like birds, as well as talons…. Those were the only creatures, aside from the few dragons he knew, like himself, as well as one other creature that could fly. Aside from meruts they had kaleeks, which were much, much larger.

They were long bodied creatures with billowy fins that stuck laterally from their sides, twisting and bobbing through the air looking for prey. They could easily swallow a Nagithian whole, their mouths were large enough. However they weren’t really a threat once they had fed, since they would be too heavy to fly and would be grounded until their meal digested. They were less streamlined up close, a string of blobs instead of one smooth segment. If they had eyes, no one had found them. Despite the rough surface of their bodies, the kaleek’s head was perfectly smooth, aside from its gaping maw. Still, every Nagithian knew to make tracks when the sinuous shape worked its way above.

He knew better than to rule out this world as harmless, though. He had observed a pack of creatures that ran on four legs and had sharp teeth, they pursued larger herbivores and would usually ambush them. That kind of brutality he was all too familiar with; sharp claws and fangs ripping apart flesh, blood spurting into the air. Though most animals had red blood here. Red! It was such a bright, alarming color. There were gems and dyes back home that were bright red, similar to blood, but the dyes were rare and the gems were even moreso. Nagithian women coveted them and the men tried to wear red clothing if at all possible, though few could afford more than some trim to their garbs. It was weird to think such a vibrant, intense, adored color could be what marked blood in this world- or…was it because the life here was so vibrant and intense there was no other color that blood could be?

He mulled over that thought as he continued through the forest, his eyes darting around. Something smelled… salty. Fresh but salt. Wet. Perhaps there was water nearby? A lake or something. Water was clear in this world, just like theirs. Though in the Nagith it would appear gray because of the dust in went through but-

What was that? He stopped, staring at the horizon he could spy through the trees. It looked blue, like the sky, but it was…moving? And it seemed darker, more like blood. His blood, anyway. It was a…mass? It was at one unnerving and intriguing. The smell of salt and water was coming from there too. So he followed it, subconsciously getting faster until he emerged from the sylvan and stopped dead in his tracks.

He nearly screamed before his senses kicked in and reminded him this was not his world, thus this was not what it appeared to be. His first thought was that it was a giant lake of blood, a huge mass of churning blue fluid. Then fact blood was red here calmed him, though he still took a few breathes to ease his racing pulse. No, it was blue but it wasn’t blood. Water? A giant lake full of water. It was much bigger than any lake he’d ever seen, he couldn’t even see the other side! The salty air was blowing from it, a crisp, wet wind. They had wind, but not as much as this. Was the giant lake making wind? Where was the salt coming from? The fine dirt under his feet appeared somewhat crystalline, and it was much brighter than any dirt he’d seen here. Was it…was it all salt? It bordered the entire expanse of the body of water…

Charin crouched down and scanning the sediment, running his fingers through it. It was soft, oddly. Very fine…hm… He considered a moment and took a bit of it up, licking it.

No, it was not salt.

He spat it out, wiping it off his tongue in disgust. It still tasted like dirt, despite how it looked. Well…at least he learned something. And he didn’t die from it, so that was a plus. Was the salt…in the water? In that huge lake? It was still a little unnerving to see the mass of blue fluid but he was adjusting to the color. The sheer size of it thought was…incredible. Was it safe to swim in? Maybe if he just dipped his feet it’d be fine. Then again, he had just picked up dirt off the ground and tasted it so really his judgment on whether or not to play things safe was kind of questionable. Well, he might as well just go for it then.

Without further thought he sprinted forward and jumped into the ocean, crashing down into it with a loud splash. The very next instant he scrambled, half falling back onto the sand, swearing loudly as his drenched clothes stuck to him. Cold! So cold! What the hell had he been thinking?! It was freezing! He sprawled on his back, staring up at the bright blue sky and welcoming the radiating heat from the sun on his cold body.

Well, he wasn’t planning on doing that again anytime soon. At least he knew it was safe now, just cold. Though in retrospect he maybe should have taken his clothes off at least. Ah well, he’d set them on a rock to dry and he’d just bask in the silty beach himself. It was odd how hot the grains were in comparison to the cold water. Then again they had been in the sun, and the sun made things hot. It was like how fire would melt ores and stones into metals back home. That was an odd thought, was this stuff going to melt eventually? Then again it cooled off during the night, and the sun was hot but it didn’t seem to be hot enough to pull that off. Hm…

As brilliant as the sun was, as beautiful as it was, he still found it a bit garish sometimes. It was too bright after a while, too…energetic. When it was out this world seemed so much busier and while it was exciting, sometimes it could become a little exhausting. The brightest his own world’s sky ever got was a pale gray, during the hottest months in the middle of the day. It was good enough to see and go about your business but it still seemed more subdued and relaxed when compared to this bright place. Or perhaps it was just that he was tired from his traveling today and the bright sky made it difficult to truly rest.

It seemed he was tired a lot lately. He wasn’t quite sure why. Of course all his exploring would tire him out but it seemed more that when he was home he was tired more often. His explorations were fairly short, a few days at most, and then he was back at the Nagith for weeks at a time until Tensombrek ordered him back to this world of light and color and sound. While it was in some ways a relief to be back in that dim, muted world, any relaxation soon gave rise to restlessness. It wasn’t as if the Nagith was quiet either, maybe away from the cities, but around other Nagithians it seemed a constant stream of noise.

Brawls and crashes and hollers, sounds of violence and mating alike, parties of the high and intoxicated. He was often involved in those himself yet as of late the noises seemed more and more bothersome than indicative of thrills. When compared to the slow sloshing of this water on the ground, or the chitters, caws and buzzing of the tree creatures, the old sounds of his previous party grounds sounded more a cacophony of irritation. That also seemed to tire him. How odd it was, he thought, that you could be physically rested and yet still feel tired. Briefly he wondered how that could be so as he curled into the sand, closing his eyes. Whatever the cause, he was tired, so he might as well go ahead and rest.

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