Greenways (The Sapient Continuum Book 2) by D. B. Reynolds-Moreton

Author:D. B. Reynolds-Moreton [Reynolds-Moreton, D. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: sci-fi-cafe.com
Published: 2011-08-04T00:00:00+00:00

The New Land

Nothing troubled them during the time of the Lesser Sun, except their own thoughts, and then they were awake again ready for the next section of their journey south.

When they left the area near the cliff edge, the plain seemed flat and featureless, but now there were slight undulations and small rises which were becoming larger as they progressed southwards.

The river was now almost level with the surrounding ground, and accessible for refilling their water bags which they kept topped up whenever possible.

Arriving at the top of a small rise, they saw the source of the river. A great upwelling of water seemed to come shooting right out of the ground from a vast circular hole, rising several times their own height before falling back to race on its way towards the cliff waterfall.

‘Now that’s interesting,’ said Moss, ‘if the water is coming out of the ground like that, then it must come from somewhere much higher up in order to spout out like that, because water always runs down to the lowest level, and there is nowhere in sight for it to come from. We can see out to the horizon almost, and there are no big rises in the ground, so how does it do that?’

‘No good asking me.’ Kel replied, a little annoyed that Moss should ask him such a question knowing full well that he couldn’t answer it.

They stood looking at the magic water for a while, mesmerized by the strange effect, and then Kel realized that it at least solved the problem of having to cross the river.

‘We had better fill all our water bags to the top before we go on,’ Moss suggested, ‘as we don’t know if there will be another big flow of water like this, and we’ll need extra for the dried berries, should we have to use them.’

With everything which would hold water full to the brim, they set off, skirting around the strange water spout, and back into line with the cliff edge, but some little way inland from it.

In the distance they could see the first really large rises in the ground, small hills with pieces of rock jutting out from their tops and the odd large boulder scattered about on the sand and pebble strewn plain.

As they drew nearer to the first of the small hillocks, the first plant came into sight, not that it would ever rival anything they were used to in the forest. Small, stunted, and not even a bright green like the plants which grew on the trees, it just sat there.

Its withered dull olive green foliage a pathetic sight, struggling to survive in an arid climate with little nutriment for its roots to gather from the barren sandy soil.

More plants appeared as they progressed along their way, none bearing fruit or berries as a possible food source. After three days and nights the terrain began to change again, some quite steep hills came into view and a carpet of rather straggly grass carpeted the shallow valley floors.

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