Eldnium

by Enoch Pyle, Jr

  The sensation of being sucked into the globe disorientated Landon. He couldn’t tell which way was up or which way was down. It felt like being spun around, head over heals, at a thousand miles per hour. Then, he found himself being pushed upon on all sides, an immense pressure, and he was suddenly aware that he was underwater, his lungs nearly expelled of oxygen.

  He kicked his feet violently, swimming toward the light at one end of the deep, blue water. His arms swept him forward, but he felt his lungs about to explode, convulsing, trying to force him to inhale. If he couldn’t take a breath soon, he’d drown.

  Even his eyes started to ache. The pressure around his ears became unbearable. And just as he opened his mouth to take in a massive lungful of water, his head broke the surface, and crisp clean air rushed into his body.

  He choked and gagged for a moment, the blood rushing out of his head and back into his body. His eyes were blurred by the fall of water from his hair. He brushed it back and rubbed his face, treading water the best he could. He scanned his surroundings, spotting the shoreline about sixty meters ahead.

  With his breath caught, he swam toward a sandbar stretching out into what Landon thought must be a large lake. He managed to swim the distance fairly quickly and climbed his way up the sandbar, wringing the water from his hair and clothes.

  He looked around. The coast appeared to stretch for miles, with thick jungle running all along it.

  “Now what?” he asked aloud, frustration setting in. He had no weapons. He had no emergency equipment. He had no idea where to go or whom to seek out. All he knew was that this was the first step along the path to save Li’an, and he had to keep moving.

  Another cursory glance up and down the beach gave him the courage to decide that he should just head straight into the jungle, but as he neared it, he realized that was the absolute worst decision he could make. He could wander through the jungle for days and not find civilization. No…what he needed to do was pick a direction along the coastline and head that way until he found a delta. Then, he could track the river. Most villages build near the water. By finding a river, he could find civilization, if there’s civilization to be found.

  And so he walked.