A Cat's Guide to Questing for Treasure (Dragoncat Book 4) by Chris Behrsin

Author:Chris Behrsin [Behrsin, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2022-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

20

A FUTURE IN SAND

The sand had no colour to it other than its natural brown, offset against the ever-brightening glow of the whirlwind. Still, in the images cast within the vista, I could see details. The more Max and I watched, the more intricate these details became.

In the vision, we were floating down from the sky, riding over Dragonsbond Academy’s drawbridge, and then the gatehouse. A sandy version of Captain Onus standing guard in his armour and helmet looked up, as if he could see us passing overhead. Then, we were walking over the sandstone cobblestones that paved the bailey, towards Aleam’s study.

The single oaken door opened, and the vision in sand took us inside.

Aleam was there, my feline – once Cat Sidhe – friend, Ta’ra, standing below him. The sand somehow hung so well off her body that I could see the brush of her silken fur. But something was wrong…

Ta’ra had her back arched while facing Aleam, hackles raised. Her teeth were bared and, though all I could hear was the roar of the whirlwind, I could only imagine the angry hiss coming out of her mouth.

Aleam held his staff in two hands, streaks of sand representing the magic glowing out of its crystal. On the desk behind him, the alembic that Aleam used to concoct cures and other potions was absent, replaced by shards of glass scattered across the tabletop and floor tiles.

“What is this?” I asked… “Ta’ra? Aleam?”

My crystal spoke out loud again for the benefit of the both of us. I hadn’t noticed at the time, but it must have spoken in the dog language.

“What you see upon this image is unfolding in the other world at this present moment. But to understand its significance, we must travel further back in time.”

The whirlwind howled, the glow from it pulsating. The image dissolved within to be replaced by another – an ancient pyramid, four faces of it rising into a thin layer of clouds. It towered higher than Dragonsbond Academy – or come to think of it, any man-made structure I’d ever seen. It was offset against a craggy rockface, and the land around the pyramid looked cracked and dangerous.

“We are looking at this pyramid from the Calimar Desert of the First Dimension. The Egyptians in their time in this world could travel the portals, and many of them eventually left here to inhabit a world of dragons and magic. That was after they tried to exhaust the magic of this world, and they would have exhausted the magic of the First Dimension, had the dragons not risen against them.”

The view again whirred forward and passed through the heavy-looking sandy door to the pyramid, and for a moment I felt like a ghost passing through a wall. We entered a large chamber – as tall as it was wide. I caught sight of tripwires, spikes, and arrow slits cut into the brickwork. So many traps looking dangerous and nasty.

The vision whizzed onwards to the next room.

This was a smaller chamber, grey and dusty.

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