Valaina rode on, barely trying to elude the orcs. They were dumb creatures, really. It didn't take much to confuse them into thinking she was a tree. A simple nature spell was all it took. A cheap one, too. As she kicked her horse, causing him to run faster, she noticed the sparse woods coming to an end.
A clearing, filled with short grass and weeds stood before her. It may have been 12 feet in diameter. I guess this is as good a place as I'm gonna find Valaina thought to herself, dismounting.
After countless minutes doing little tasks such as finding water and tying her horse down, Valaina opened her book.
"Dissara siga" she mumbled. That should hide her from anything looking for trouble.
It was sundown before Valaina finished setting up her camp. Having a book filled with spells from cleaning dishes to imploding a creature's brain just didn't quite have the right spell for a self-erecting campsite. Too bad. It would have been nice. But who would want to be that lazy? Certainly not Valaina!
Yea right. she thought to herself, If only I could read all of the spells in that book. I would just love not having to lift another finger!
Valaina's book was pretty big. There had to be nearly a thousand pages filling up the space between the two covers. For some reason, she couldn't interpret the language from a certain point on. She figured, as she got better at her magic, the spells would show up. Valaina could read about 30 pages. More than 75 spells. The bad thing is, she doesn't know what the spell will do until she uses it.
I wonder when I will get the next spell, she thought. As the night consumed her mind, she thought she saw a strange shape creeping close to her campsite. It glared, red eyes shining in the shadows. She heard low guttural growls.
Valaina was asleep before she could react.
Valaina jerked to consciousness after what seemed like only seconds of sleep. Her mind was in a panic. What was that thing she saw last night? Where is it now? What did it do??
Daylight flooded the clearing as she looked around. Nothing seemed out of place… Except her horse was gone.
"No!" Valaina growled. "My horse!"
"Your horse is fine" a low, smooth voice came from behind. Valaina whipped around. Yep, there was her steed, standing next to a boy of 18. He was wearing white robes, embroidered in silver. His black hair made his dully glowing eyes stand out as he stood there smiling. Almost laughing
"You!" she exclaimed. "It's about time you got here." She scoffed and crossed her arms, "So what kept you Zash? Lose your chew toy?" At that, they both burst out laughing. He walked her horse to the post that was set up the day before.
"Actually I only came to tell you something" he said. He noticed Val's face drop. "Oh, come on Val don't look at me like that." Zash put on a goofy grin, "it's halfway to good news!"
"Okay, shoot."
Zash paused, trying to articulate in simple words the message he had for her. He took Valaina's arm and pulled her to a sitting position.
"I have a message for you. It's pretty important."
"Who from?"
"The… guardian…of the eastern Nebula." Zash blushed a little at how ridiculous he sounded. Guardian of the Easten Nebula? C'mon! That's such a lame name. "His name is Svante." Valaina nodded.
"He is growing old and weak. If he doesn't pass his energy on, the eastern half of the universe will cease to exist—"
"Wait. What?" Valaina tried to stand but Zash pulled her back down, "So if this old guy dies before his…power? Energy? Is passed on?"
"Right."
"And if that happens then the Universe is gonna blow up?"
"Well not exactly. If Svante dies, every planet, sun, and rock in HALF the universe will freeze over and everything will, basically, die." Zash looked at Valaina. She was laughing? "You think that's funny?"
"No! haha no I just don't see what any of this has to do with me!"
"If you let me finish," Zash growled, "He's holding a contest. A team of 3 beings of each species is chosen to participate. The contest is a race of some sorts—I don't know exactly yet—and…I believe anything goes. Winner gets it all. His power and control of half the universe."
"Kay."
If Zash hadn't known Valaina for years, he might have been shocked. "You're so calm about this because why?"
"Well, the way I see it, I either die, not get first, or take control over a couple million galaxies. Those odds seem pretty good to me." She wore a giant grin.
"And if you die? Where does that leave me?" Zash yelled. Valaina stared him down. He wondered what she was thinking.
Valaina shrugged, "Beats me." She laughed and stood up. "So when is this thing?"
"Hmm…" Zash stared at the sun, high in the sky, "If I remember right… I was told everyone was to be at Centre Nebulua by dusk."
Valaina screeched. "DUSK!? THAT'S NOT EVEN HALF A DAY FROM NOW!!" Zash fell backwards. "SO WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER? I DON'T KNOW A THIRD OF THE BOOK! I'M NOT READY!"
"Not so calm now are you?" Zash got up. His eyes glowed bright crimson and he held out his hand. In a blinding flash of light, a glass ball with a pink mist inside was in his hand. "Here. It will teleport you to the Centre." Valaina took the sphere from him. "It'll only work with a clear view of the sky. I recommend Starc's Hill. Go to the top, and just throw it on the ground. Anything within ten feet in diameter around you will be teleported too." Zash closed his eyes. In a beautifully disgusting display, he turned into his wolf-form. The wolf turned to her. "Be careful."
"I gasp hate gasp THIS!" Valaina panted as she crawled up the hill. "This is gasp ridiculous. I'm way too gasp outta shape to be doing gasp this!" She reached the top and plopped down on her back. After catching her breath, she stood up and pulled the globe out of her pocket.
"Okay. So, Zash, just throw this on the ground?" Valaina eyed the ball. She checked her inventory, not wanting to leave anything behind. This is a one-way trip she thought, though Valaina had all she needed, her spell book. "Alright, I can do this." She closed her eyes, and threw the sphere on the ground.
When it shattered, Valaina felt her feet leave the ground. Pressure increased and it was hard to breathe. [A/N It feels like riding one of those crappy carnival rides that goes upside down real slowly. The blood was rushing to her head and her teeth were grinding together. It took all of 7 seconds to finally fall on hard floor.
"Ow… oh… That… was so not cool." Valaina stood up, rubbing her temples. She looked around. "Oh… my… gosh.."
