Spheria by Cody Leet Read Free Book Online Page A

rock was so high it became the mountains we know today. But in the valleys, the creatures were too close and still crowded.
    To Pi∙ro the red, Ra∙ju said, “Go and make the rivers so that the beasts will multiply slower.” Pi∙ro descended, like Ju∙ro, and rolled around the land. As he did so, trenches formed and filled with red rock to further divide the lands. However, every time he hit a blue mountain, he was repelled and bounced off. This went on for many days, and each time Pi∙ro was halted, he got angrier and angrier. He decreed that everything that touched the red rock from then on would become red as well. To do this Wi∙ro, having a violet core, demanded that anything violet would be immune from this curse. But Pi∙ro did not care because he just wanted to turn all the blue rock to red. But when he attempted to affect the blue stone, he was still repulsed. So he made the red rock attractive. Finally, the forces balanced and he was able to touch blue with red.
    Ra∙ju was angry. He said, “Enough! I will not tolerate my children fighting any longer. Your powers are from this point frozen and in balance. Blue will not be changed to red, nor will blue be repulsive to red.”
    The gods accepted their place and returned to the center to look upon the lands that they created. They were pleased with their work, but the terrain was dark. Ra∙ju then turned to his last child.
    “Na∙ro the yellow, shine your brightness upon the lands so that we may see them, and the creatures may see each other.” To this, he burst into a shower of shimmering brightness, and the world was filled with light.
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    “So that’s why living things can touch the red and not turn red?” asked Le∙ma. “But nothing else can?”
    “That is why. The ancient ones, when they formed the world, created the rules by which everything behaves. Knowing how things work, and how to use their properties together, is what makes us Lumenaries. By your training, and the training I received, we know more about the world than most others, and this gives us an advantage.”
    “I feel privileged and grateful to you for having been selected to receive this knowledge.”
    “So far, it’s been my privilege to be able to teach you. You're a good student, and I think your deeds will someday exceed my own.”
    “I doubt that, but thank you for the words of encouragement.”
    “Now,” Sa∙ma said, changing the subject. “You need to use your knowledge to get us across the river.”
    Le∙ma was perplexed. She looked around. She thought about the story of creation. Without realizing it, she worked the problem out by speaking it.
    “Okay, so the red rivers turn everything red, except the living. But living things stick to it, and it’s difficult to detach oneself without help. If we put something living on it, we can walk over that!” She was proud of herself. As they walked along the bank, she found a plant leaning over and pushed it down, laying it upon the red river. Starting from the point where the plant touched the river, it turned red along its length until it reached the ground. The part over the river sank down, leaving a strip of red rock remaining on the shore.
    “Why?” she asked.
    Her logic was clever, so Sa∙ma explained why it had failed. “Remember my story. ‘The Living’ applies to those with violet cores, like us, or the beasts. Plants are alive, in a sense, but they don’t have a violet center so they’ll turn red.”
    “So we need to pile up a bunch of beasts onto the river.”
    “Maybe, but there has got to be a better way.”
    Le∙ma worked through the problem, replaying the scene in her mind. I laid the plant down so we could walk across it, but then it touched the river and turned red. It would’ve worked if it didn’t touch the river.
    A realization came to her. She strutted away from the river, found one of the arched plants, a big one, and pulled it from the ground. She dragged it and tossed it across the