5 Chapter Two || Illumination

Back on the ground, Essairyn contemplated her circumstances. She was currently in an enormous forest with strange animals that could possibly attack her and strange plants that may or may not be edible or poisonous.

Somehow she would have to learn which plants or animals were innocuous and find or make shelter for when it got dark.

Although, she could just sleep in the ancient tree, it might be cold at night, and she could possibly roll off and fall to her hapless death.

As that thought about night crossed her mind, Essairyn suddenly realized that she hadn't seen any sun when she was in the treetops. Light definitely existed here, but where exactly did the outside light come from if not a sun?

Looking up at the forest ceiling, there were barely any openings for sunlight to come through.

However, the forest was illuminated like a room lit by electricity, but there were no sources of external light under the treetops. It was like the air itself was illuminating the space it presided. And yet, it was clearly brighter above the canopy than below.

Pondering this newfound discovery, Essairyn decided to visit the treetops once more.

As she looked up at the ancient tree, a crazy idea crossed her mind. If she could defy gravity even partially while jumping, she speculated she could defy it completely.

Essairyn focused her mind on the act of flying, feeling quite silly while doing so but determined to at least give it a shot. After all, this was no ordinary world. And she wasn't about to experiment by jumping off some tree limb either; even though, she was sure she would land soundly like before.

After few seconds, her body felt light, but she still felt the ground under her feet.

Stumped, she muttered, "Fly."

But the verbal command didn't work, and feeling foolish, she supposed that it wasn't as simple as video games after all.

Disappointed, but still determined, Essairyn gave a little jump, hoping with all desperation that it was possible to naturally fly without wings in this world.

To her delight, her feet never touched the ground.

Her knees were still slightly bent, and her feet floated several inches off the ground, swishing at the tips of the grass.

She tried hopping again while afloat, but she fell back to the ground after a couple seconds in the higher position.

Dismayed but not thwarted, Essairyn experimented moving through in the air.

After several attempts, she was able to reach almost three stories in the air but couldn't linger at any height for more than twenty seconds. Still, she was pleased. Just like first learning how to walk, flying seemed to be a movement that had to be practiced before it became natural.

Putting her hands on her hips, she stared up the height of the ancient tree, wondering if there was an easier way to go up it. Jumping wasn't hard or necessarily tiring, but the tree was darn high, and there were rather a lot of branches. Essairyn didn't like more exertion than was necessary for even the smallest of things.

Remembering how she was able to make a ball and sword out of magical energy, she conjectured that she could make other usable objects. And just like how she had sent boomerang-like waves of energy to strike the demon, maybe she could make the objects move on their own without having to physically hold it.

Positivity flowed into her, and Essairyn slowly waved her hand in a large circle, creating a hovering, lilac colored disk. This flying disk was common in the fantasy and sci-fi stories she had read, so the idea came easily.

She flicked her finger down, and the disk followed, moving to a stair-step height before her. She placed a foot expectantly on the disk, and to her satisfaction, she felt a solid surface.

Essairyn regarded the disk with cheerfulness as she stepped up on it, but as soon as both of her feet landed on the surface, it emanated a bright light that reached up to her knees and caused her to squint.

The light gradually faded away, and in the place of a solid colored disk, a transparent disk with two lavender outlined circles and triangles floated in its place.

The four shapes were centered on the disk, and the triangles formed a star inside the two circles. Strange letters revolved in between the two circles.

'A magic circle?!'

The ludicrous thought echoed in Essairyn's mind and enchanted her.

Humongous trees, spirit deers, grassy wolves, miniature dragons, bear demons, and now magic circles? This surely was a fantasy world.

Now, only elves or dwarves or fairies or sorcerers were left. Although, well, Essairyn supposed she was sort of the sorcerer here even if she didn't know how to cast spells like a wizard.

However, looking at the foreign lettering on the circle, she wondered if she had somehow unknowingly casted a spell; even though, she hadn't thought of any particular command at the moment she stepped.

She tried deciphering the revolving letters but forgone after a minute. The only partially recognizable letters were A, E, and N; everything else was obscure.

She sighed; if this was the native language, it would be a challenge adapting to this new world.

Setting aside that concern, Essairyn continued her plan before the luminescent display occurred.

Focusing her mind, she willed the magic circle to move upwards. The circle glowed briefly before rising swiftly but steadily into the treetops.

A smile played across Essairyn's face as she adeptly maneuvered the disk through the branches.

She might've not been able fly on her own easily, but with the help of the magic circle, she was able to soar through the air effortlessly. In a matter of seconds, she spanned several tens of stories high.

At the top, she surveyed the skies for a light source. To her surprise, although she did suspect it, there was no sun. Nevertheless, the world was indeed covered in light. The azure itself seemed to be illuminating the landscape.

Essairyn wondered if this was another dimension as the physics and biology of her world were clearly not the natural laws of this one. This was a world outside her solar system, her universe.

The thought both captivated and daunted her. It was possible she would never be able to return home.