Free Born of Magic (Channeler Series) by B. McMurray Page A

We were no more than a quarter up it when I felt as though the air in my lungs would freeze. This gap looked just as intimidating though. I found myself incapable of moving even an inch closer.
    Aton could sense my fear. He remained quiet and stared down the bottomless gap in contempt. It was nearly twice Aton's height to the other side. After some time of silence, he turned back to me. "You’re small enough. I think I can throw you across. Then I’ll just jump it afterwards."
    Some plan, I thought to myself. Did I really believe he would be able to throw me such a distance? With a great deal of discomfort and conflict, I nodded in agreement to his moronic plan—I couldn’t come up with a better one.
    With a firm grip, Aton took my hands and looked into my eyes, reassuring me as much as he could for the given situation. He began to spin me around by my arms, going faster and faster. As I gained speed, my body lifted off the ground. My feet brushed against the sides of the tunnel as I was now flying through the air. Aton released his grip and I was sent hurling across the pit.
    I hit the rocky ground hard and slid for a few feet. My knee smashed into a protruding rock and sent a sharp pain up my leg. It then immediately went numb and limp, but I still cried out in pain as I curled up on the ground. I slid a few more feet as the tunnel turned to a steep slope that seemed to never end.
    “Jas, are you alright?” Aton shouted over to me. He took a deep breath and prepared to jump.
    I struggled to stand, but the pain overwhelmed me. I had barely made it to my knees when I collapsed to the ground again. Another cringing pain went up my side. I looked up to see Aton about to jump across to me. I decided to make one more attempt to my feet, this time putting all of the weight of my body on my left knee.
    Now on one knee, I looked up to check for Aton. He was leaping across the gap. He landed with very little grace and struggled to keep his balance, but the momentum from his jump sent him flying into me. We were unable to stop ourselves as Aton tumbled into me, and we were sent rolling down the tunnel. My body was thrown around like a rag doll against the hard jagged walls. I felt the full blunt of every strike that was thrown my way.
    It seemed as though an eternity had passed since we started falling. We pummeled into every spiteful object imaginable. My head banged against a rock when we finally reached the end. All I could see was Aton lying beside me, our bodies resting broken and bruised in the snow. As my vision began to fade, I caught sight of the glimmering lights from the nearby village.
    My eyelids felt like thick rawhide as I tried to open them. A large, dark skinned man with a series of tattoos on the left side of his face and a furred blanket wrapped around his shoulders looked down at me with concern in his eyes. My vision faded again.
     
    ~5~
     
    I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. I awoke to find myself in a small room, my still somewhat limp body stretched out on a hard bed, covered in blankets. A bandage was wrapped around my head. The walls were made of big black stones, their coloring and texture was similar to the walls of the tunnel we had taken to get here. While the room was empty, I could hear the conversations of others just outside the door, which was cracked slightly. A woman’s vibrant brown eyes peered in through the window and looked at me. Her long, dark hair blanketed her shoulders evenly.
    "It's good to see you awake, Dear. We were getting worried." She smiled as she spoke, placing the back of her hand against my forehead.
    "Where am I?" I struggled to ask. My throat and mouth felt dry and my jaw ached.
    "You’re in my hospital, Young One, and you’re in my care." A deep voice boomed from behind the woman. I tried to look past her but my neck ached with a fiery pain and I returned my head to my pillow.
    "Relax," he said with a chuckle as he revealed himself to me. I recognized him as