HavenGuarde

Chapter 45 - The Corridors

Chapter 45

The Corridors

- There are still ways unknown of which to travel across the world -

Thonavar felt the crushing force of gravity as it dragged toward the ground below. He could barely open his eyes and he had to resort to squinting in order to see as the wind pulverised his face relentlessly from all around. A roaring, which seemed to grow louder with every passing second, filled his ears, and he felt as though his eardrums were going to burst open. Light from above blinded him and he then noticed that his body was in the wrong position. He was hurtling toward the earth below but facing skyward. He could not see where he was going. The thought of not knowing where he was going filled his heart with dread. With a grunt, he managed to flip his body around and tucked his arms behind his back, hurtling head first toward the earth below.

There was nothing quite like the experience of free fall. Thonavar found it exhilarating. He flew through the wispy clouds, emerging from its depths, vigorously shaking water droplets from his hair and face, laughing to himself. As far as his eye could see, the land below was broken into large swathes of green, brown and large bodies of water.

To his left and some ways below, Thonavar suddenly saw the figure of Lyla, similarly hurtling downward, a trail of white-blond hair flying violently behind her in the wind. She looked up at him from where she was and seemed to be mouthing something to him but he could not hear a thing amidst the roaring in his ears. Lyla was pointing toward something below. Thonavar squinted, looked to where she pointed, and saw that the two of them were about to enter the first warp ring.

Corridor technology. A marvel of creation. The Scientists first experimented with small objects, sending them hurtling through space and time.

Something fluttered within his stomach. He had never seen a warp ring before but had certainly heard of them. Only very important people high up in city above used these devices to travel between the places.

As Thonavar drew closer, he saw a swirling vortex of light blue energy flare into life from the epicentre of the ring. Detecting his and Lyla's presence, the ring began to spin faster and faster, humming softly, the blue energy spreading like a thin translucent film within the circle. As Thonavar watched, Lyla entered the giant ring, piercing the thin energy film, and with an audible zipping sound, Lyla suddenly disappeared from sight. Thonavar blinked several times in astonishment. Entering the giant ring, the blue energy film rose up to meet him like the surface of a body of water. Thonavar braced himself for impact but there was none. Instead, there was a moment of absolute darkness accompanied by a strange sensation of being sucked into somewhere else.

But the moment passed in a split-second and Thonavar found himself hurtling downward once more. Yet, he noticed that his acceleration downward was not what it was. Another giant ring rose up to meet him below and Thonavar understood. He looked directly above to see if had simply fallen through the giant centre ring. But there was nothing there. He looked to his right and then looked up. The centre ring hung in the sky far above him. Incredible, he thought. The warp ring he had entered had warped him to a place in the air directly above the second warp ring, which meant that if he entered the second warp ring, it would warp him directly above the third warp ring which was the ring on the extreme right. This was truly a test of courage for all one was required to do was to make the jump into the centre warp ring. A low humming filled the air as the second warp ring activated, its blue energy field flaring into life. Relief filled him as he saw Lyla below entering the second warp ring. She looked up at him to see if he was there before disappearing with a zip.