The sand rushed like a raging river, manoeuvring between the collapsing trees. Staying above the river, in an environment completely unsuitable for combat, was the last thing I would ever do in my life. The key factors for survival were ingrained in my subconscious not just through trial and error, they were screwed in by walking on the edge of life.
My heart was pounding, the haunting call that could weaken the mind of an unprepared person seemed to come from the depths of the underworld. I knew that noise well: gurgling, screaming so loud that everyone around could hear it, it was like the snorting gurgle of an alpha predator.
My frantic, frightened eyes searched for a convenient platform. Periodically, feeling the threat approaching my spine, I turned around and, looking into the eyes of a shapeless shadow, struck with a sharp blade, cutting all the trees in my path into two equal halves. However, although the blow could have hit the creature, it was incapable of causing any harm.
Around me were small islands with soil unsuitable for combat.
"Surrounded!" The grains of sand floating around me conveyed the knowledge of the approaching threat. When I felt someone pushing them away, I had to run for my life — and not without reason. At that moment, something huge knocked down the trunks of the majestic trees. A branch blocked my path during the collapse, but instead of slowing down, I simply wrapped myself in a sand shield and broke through it.
It was taking my sand. Periodic blows to the tentacles I was clinging to threw grains of sand into the distance, where they could no longer be controlled. I even had to disassemble the pumpkin to continue following the precepts of the air nomads and escape, using all their knowledge. The creature's chatter seemed to be getting closer to my ear, and I had to fall down to avoid losing my head.
Splash*
Wrapping my body in a thick barrier of sandstone, I fell into a deep river. Turning around for a moment to look up, I saw a silhouette stretching out, passing exactly where my head had been. My hands were no longer just shaking, they were flailing around in panic, looking for something to grab onto to get out of the water. Could the water save me? Considering that it had dived after me, it was more likely to make things worse.
"I need more sand! Not enough sand, I used it too recklessly," our eyes met, but now It was much closer. In a moment, my unlucky body would be turned into food, and the shapeless spirit was getting ready to feast, and I didn't know who would kill me faster — the enemy or my own heart, which had stopped beating.
And in the second of my greatest fear, I stretched my arms out on my armour into long spikes. They rested on the bottom, gathered magical energy, and caused a jolt. I was thrown out of the water onto the nearest shore, my body resting on the soft, black soil. My head spun, trying to find something to protect myself with, until...
"Peat," I looked down. The substance I was lying on was so saturated with moisture that it was practically impossible to compact it. To separate it into its components, the combined power of a water mage and an earth mage would be required... or a single sand mage. Plunging my hands into the swampy substance, my heart pounding as I stared at the barely discernible silhouette rushing under the water, I put all my strength into draining it.
The moisture quickly disappeared, leaving behind only loose rock that crumbled like sand. Lifting this black mass into the air and solidifying it into small, sharp pebbles, I smoothly moved my hands through the air. The peat stones flowed like water, and in sincere fear for my life, I used a water magic technique, directing the flowing stream towards the enemy and abruptly solidifying it into a single, indestructible mass.
My muscles bulged. Clenching my palms toward each other, I tried to crush my captured enemy, squeezing out all the juices like a lemon wedge. In response to my rescue attempt, a screech rang out. The screech of tens of thousands of creatures.
Shush-shush-shush*
Several transparent spirits managed to slip through and escape to the surface. Large beetles resembling moths - on their shining wings was a silhouette in the form of two angry eyes. They were flying after me, no doubt to avenge the tens of thousands of beetles I had killed!
Gathering together, their wings began to flutter and cut through the trunks of thick trees when they came into contact. But that meant they were tied to this world, quite possibly held here by some kind of shackles. And unlike Afka, they couldn't pass through walls.
The vortex that formed over my palm was released forward. The movements of the air nomads were correct, necessary to achieve the best speed, but most importantly, there was a real tornado technique - I moved the streams from bottom to top, moving two of them as if winding them onto a spindle. It did not push the air out, but drew everything in. The moths' wings fluttered in an attempt to overcome the air currents, but they were powerless. Their bodies were swept into the sandy whirlwind, after which, touching the water with the tornado, I transferred all the energy to it.
A whirlpool formed. I was not a water mage, but I managed to transfer the rotational momentum without unnecessary manipulation. All creatures, including those under the water, began to be sucked in and spun at an accelerating speed, and to ensure that no one could escape, I took a firm position, tensed my muscles and compacted the ground. Then I chained everyone who tried to catch me and grab me in coffins. Only after that... a relaxing silence fell. Only the drumming in my temples prevented me from concentrating, and my hands were shaking quite a bit.
"Swamp... I hate swamps," I realised a new truth in life.
In order not to bring new trouble upon myself and not to wait for the old trouble to be released, I ran forward again. Instead of sand, there was now a mixture of black peat, still well suited for high-speed movement. There was only one problem: Afka was missing. Hoping she hadn't been eaten by spirits, I climbed to the top of a tree, which offered a sweeping view of trees growing to the horizon. But what caught my attention more was a titanic tree growing almost to the clouds, resembling a mushroom.
"Fyruk-fyruk-fyruk," at that moment, a familiar voice sounded somewhere below my feet. But when I looked down, I saw only the transparent silhouette of a fox that had managed to take a step towards a large tree. After that, the strange mirage disappeared.
"What... That's not Afka... but maybe other spirits are showing me where she is?" Squinting, I found it difficult to believe anything. I couldn't believe the images of those who had attacked me. That's why my shoulders relaxed so much when the inscription appeared before my eyes:
"Choose:
1 - Go towards the big tree (There is a chance of meeting a companion. A meeting with a stranger is predetermined)
2 - Stay where you are and wait for your companion to come to you (It is much safer to stay where you are than to go deeper into the swamp. Your companion will most likely return)
3 - Turn around and leave the swamp (The safest option, with no risk. You will change your path - high chance of developing earth magic)"
And again, everything comes down to the principles I have tried to uphold. Don't put yourself in danger, leave, and even speed up your magic development? With great joy! But the fear that permeated my body had to be overcome. Otherwise, it would be the same as with that bandit - gradual degradation of magic and stagnation in development.
Wrapped in armour, I ran forward, only now through the treetops. The long lashes moved like octopus tentacles, and I didn't even plan to go down. Although even here I was lucky to run into trouble - there were many beetles hovering over the swamp, and large birds were hunting them. For some reason, they all chose me as their new source of food. I was so disgusted and stressed by the whole situation that I left a tornado behind me as I flew like the wind.
With my heart practically stopped, the mother tree finally came into view. Stepping onto the tree trunk like a true paranoid, I constantly looked around, searching for a catch. A sound on the edge of perception rang out, reminiscent of a fox's snort, but now it was difficult to even believe it. Arming myself as best I could, releasing several sharp blades and whips from a single limb, I climbed up.
There, behind a root sticking out in an incomprehensible way, sat a strange, homeless-looking man with dishevelled grey hair, stroking the head of my fox. Hearing footsteps, they both looked up and squinted.
"Who are you?" My heavy voice made the strange man smile.
"I'm just a swamp keeper. I knew you would come; this spirit came to me to persuade me not to chase you away," I lowered my gaze to the fox, who had stuck out her tongue. I wanted to do something... poaching, but the realisation that there was no threat made my strength fade. I leaned against a tree, the tension leaving me with a heavy sigh.
At that moment, Afka came up to my feet and sat down next to me.
"By the way, I was worried. I thought that damn moth had eaten you, and it almost ate me too!
"Af.
"She says she knew you could handle it," I squinted and stared at the stranger. He spoke as if he understood something," But I'm honestly surprised that you stumbled upon a swarm of wasp moths during their period of heightened aggression. They try to avoid people, and it's almost impossible to encounter them in the entire forest. You're lucky!
"... I was still mulling over the same question in my head, trying to remember who he was. Among all the people I remembered, only a tribe of swamp magicians lived in the swamp. But I didn't really understand why he understood my Afka, and why he spoke as if he could see everything that was happening in this place.
"Rr-r," the fox grabbed me by my trousers and forced me to approach the man. I reluctantly looked at the place in front of him, but sat down anyway. The man looked at us with sincere amusement.
"My name is Hugh. It is my duty to be the guardian of this swamp and this tree, to protect it from anyone who wants to harm it. There are people who think that we are different from each other, from the spirits or these trees, and therefore wish to destroy us," he said, gently stroking Afka.
"Af.
"Ha-ha, yes, exactly.
"How do you understand her?" I frowned again. I won't hide the fact that it bothered me that they were talking so calmly to each other, glancing slyly in my direction. But I was even more disturbed by my suspicions. Only gurus and Avatars can communicate so calmly with spiritual beings. And this old man was clearly not like Aang.
"Because we are no different! Listen. You can feel the life beating in this place, the trees growing. We all have the same roots, so why shouldn't two kindred beings understand each other? His words... were much more confusing than the works of various gurus I had read in the library, but because of what I had read, I still understood something. The man in front of me was definitely one of the enlightened ones.
"We are all souls, and you have tamed yours," I concluded. To which I saw a very satisfied smile. It was simple: only by taming oneself, one's inner spirit, could one completely merge with nature and the two worlds that are so close to each other. "I want to do that too!" I'm trying to open my first chakra to strengthen and improve my magic, but I think I lack the experience or advice to achieve the desired effect.
"Really? I know how to help you.
***
Advanced chapters:
patreon.com/posts/avatar-139933426