A Tainting Light (The Manipulators Book One)

Chapter 2 part 2

The sand here was a dark black, but shining as if it were crystal. The top of the car opened up and I climbed the ladder to the roof. The air was crisp here. An island slightly off the shore had jagged blue rocks surrounding it and a large volcano that seemed to have constructed the entire island.

"Like nothing you've seen huh?" Sylvic's hair was now towering in the breeze.

"It really is." The sky wasn't a normal blue color, but turquoise. The shining sand was now up against the side of the clear car, connecting to the shores across from us. I hopped down onto the sand and my feet began to heat up. I took my shoes off and dug my toes into the sand. I started to walk across the sand bridge, but then couldn't help but sprint.

The water matched the color of the sky, and the sunlight was reflecting off the water with the same speed as me. The wind was pushing my wavy hair all over the place and the mist from the waves were keeping me cool. I reached the shore and felt the warm sand with my hand. I grabbed a handful, and let the wind carry it away. My arms rose under the salty breeze and my eyes shuttered close.

Sylvic rode a board made of sand to the land. He started to walk away from the beach and into a jungle. I was not ready to leave yet, but I followed him anyway through the trees. We walked through tall oak trees that were still a bright green color, not like they were at home. We reached a river and a splintering bridge. He stopped, but I began to walk across it. I felt a strong hand pull me back.

"Woah kid, slow down," Sylvic said still pulling my shoulder. "This bridge is a mentibus."

I looked at him with a blank stare.

"It's an object that can manipulate something. This bridge can glimpse through time. The first time you cross it, you will see something. People from all over come to this bridge because it shows you something that you will see in the future. Remember what you see."

I looked at the plain, brown bridge stretching over the greenish waters. I took one step onto the bridge and saw nothing. When I was about halfway across the bridge, colors started circling around me. It felt like I was the middle of a galaxy. My light brown hair was falling down my head and into my eyes. I looked up and saw purples and pinks corkscrewing around me. Blues and greens dancing with each other, then it all stopped. The colors remained static. My hand looked gray and seemed to be lacking any pigment. I reached it out to touch the colorful vortex, and the color began to disintegrate. Only black and white shades soaked the air with an intense spiral. A gray color began to drip away from the nothingness holding it up. The slate color melted away and the trees came back out from behind it.

I looked up and saw the same turquoise sky as before. Sylvic looked at me and raised his eyebrows. He walked across the bridge and didn't say a word. I tried to think of what I was supposed to now know.

"You won't know anything yet," he said walking me down the trail. "Everything is going to make sense in an instant, don't waste time thinkin' bout it now."

"What did you see when you crossed?" We continue walking and I could feel his annoyance again.

"You." He spoke quickly and walked faster.

I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. It's really not an attribute I liked about him. He looked back at me and it appeared as if his scar was twitching with irritation. I also hated that he could hear my thoughts. The dirt path turned into a tan cobblestone. Right before my eyes, the green leaves of summer started to change one by one into a bright yellow. It started as something barely noticeable, then the phenomenon overwhelmed me.

"Looks like Erra is changing her mind already," he laughed as he picked the yellow leaf from the tree. "Erra's the keeper of the seasons - hope you never have to see her during winter!"