Jake's Quest - Wizards V by John Booth Read Free Book Online Page B

twisted away from me as I approached and then the multiverse whirled around me and I tried to avoid spewing up as my mind tried to make sense of what was happening to me.
    Then I was back on solid ground and I vomited uncontrollably.
    Eventually I came to my senses and crawled away from the vomit. Tall grass surrounded me. The world was hot and humid and insects buzzed and chirruped. I lay on my back and basked in the hot sunshine as I tried to get my mind to function properly. Something in my head was subtly wrong and I opened my magical senses to take in my surroundings. If you don’t suffer from hay fever this place was a paradise, teaming with life and untouched by pollution.
    I didn’t know exactly where I was, but my sense of position informed me I was in a universe a long way from home. I looked at my watch and saw I needed to get back home to Jenny. When I tried to hop, nothing happened. I was blocked from my powers. They were still inside me, ready to go, but I couldn’t reach them. It was infuriating.
    Getting to my feet I looked around properly for the first time. I was in the middle of a sea of grass. The land rose to the west where forest replaced grassland. The sky was dark blue with wispy white clouds visible over the hills in the distance. It looked idyllic.
    A sound like distant thunder broke my reverie and I turned to see men on horses racing towards me. They seemed to be in one hell of a hurry. I thought about hiding in the grass, but they were too close and must have already seen me. The fact they were heading straight towards me was a significant clue.
    They pulled their horses to a halt twenty feet in front of me. They looked like American Indians straight out of the movies. The group consisted of a dozen or so young men, aged from fourteen to twenty, certainly none of them older than me. They wore paint on their faces and on their arms. They were all carrying spears, but they looked more surprised than angry. I reached for my power to put a shield around me, but it turned out that was blocked as well. This wasn’t looking good.
    “Henee'eehehk neneenin?” the oldest looking one asked. I guessed it would be the obvious question.
    “Jake Morrissey,” I said touching my chest.
    “Neneenin heniihoho'neiht?”
    That had me foxed so I repeated my name. The man laughed and turned his horse shouting something incomprehensible to his friends. They followed him as he rode away, laughing and whooping the whole time.
    “They didn’t even offer me a cup of tea,” I told the grass as I watched them ride away. No Welsh hospitality available on this world.
    When the riders were a few hundred yards away they came to a halt and turned their horses back towards me. I started to get a bad feeling. I had a premonition my fate rested on what I did next.
    With a wild whoop the young men urged their horses back to me, their spears now held as though they intended to throw them. I looked around and confirmed there was nowhere to hide. The grass was long, but they were well above it on horseback. The nearest trees looked to be at least two miles away.
    My instinct was to run. They would be on me in seconds. I tried to raise my shield but that was still impossible. Without any apparent logic I felt a sense of calm flow through me. Running was futile so I decided to stand totally still. If they wanted to kill me, the least I could do was give them a good target.
    I must admit I closed my eyes as the spears were thrown. My clothes rippled as spears flew past. I felt a pain at the bottom of my ear and blood flowed. Then the horses were behind me and it was all I could do to stay on my feet.
    There were more wild whoops and laughter behind me. I turned to find the Indians had dismounted and were going to pick up their spears. From the smiles on their faces I had passed some kind of test.
    “Cihciitei,” the leader said as he put an arm around me and led me to his horse. They were riding bareback and I needed his help to