Waves of Destiny (Twisted Wonderland)

Chapter 26

"Uh, duh? My throat's dry as a bone."

"Then water you shall have... and I'll make it cool and refreshing for you!" Kalim instantly brightened. "Respite in the scalding sands, a neverending party. Dance! Sing! Oasis Maker!" Rain began to fall, filling in the oasis.

"Oooh! Sweet, merciful rain!" Grim held out his tongue and lapped up the rain.

"I was feeling like a withered husk for a minute there," said a Scarabian student, "but this water's refreshing me from the inside out!"

"Ahhh... I needed that," said another student.

Kalim grinned. "You really like it? If water's all you want, then I'll produce enough to fill this whole oasis." He turned to Grim and me.  "That's my signature spell, Oasis Maker. It allows me to expend a little bit of magic power to produce large volumes of the finest water."

"Y'know..." said Grim. "Making a buncha water seems really low-key for a signature spell. There are plenty of other spells that let you conjure water..."

"I beg to differ. The point of Oasis Maker is its efficiency. It produces a lot using a very small amount of magic. Back before the advent of running water, one would have had to draw their own water and boil it to sterilize it. A spell like mine would have been a tremendous boon back then. But I guess you're right. Now that running water is a widespread service, it's not the most useful of spells. Aha ha! But hey! I'm still confident that the water I conjure is the finest, most delicious water in all the land."

"It was pretty useful right now," I said, watching him carefully. He appeared pleased at the compliment. I looked for any sign of his previous personality but found none. Interesting... Shrugging, I bent down and cupped my hands to gather water from the oasis.

"Now that you mention it, it's basically the perfect temperature," said Grim. "Not too cold to drink, but not lukewarm, either. And it goes down all nice 'n smooth, like fresh spring water."

"Since when are monsters water aficionados?" said Jamil.

"Hey, I resent that! I've got a discerning palate for everything!"

"I figured!" said Kalim. "I was right to hope you would appreciate the difference. Here, have a cracker as a treat." He attempted to stuff a cracker in his mouth, but Grim jumped out of the way.

"Erk! I'm hungry, sure, but this ain't the best time for dry and crumbly foods!"

"He's acting differently than he was before we set out," I said to Grim in a low voice.

"Now that ya mention it, it's like those were two different guys."

"Strange, right?"

"Hm? Did you say something, Ona?" said Kalim.

"Nope!" I said, plastering on a smile. "Nothing at all."

"Kalim, our fifteen minutes are just about up," said Jamil. "Let's assemble the students and get back to the dorm."

Kalim frowned. "Already? A little more time to catch our breath wouldn't hurt them any."

"The sun will rise higher if we take too long. The hotter it gets, the worse our trip back will be."

"You've got a point." Kalim looked around at the students. "Okay, guys! Let's get back to the dorm and have breakfast! Back to marching!"

Somehow, the march back to the dorm did not seem quite as bad as the march to the oasis. And there was a feast awaiting us. All that food tasted great after that long morning! From the way Grim scarfed down anything in sight, I could tell he felt the same.