The Magi (The Magi Series) by Kevin M. Turner Page B

would have expected us to go the other way. Plus, they wouldn’t risk going through the pass themselves.”
    “Do you think my feeling was right?” asked Elijah, almost surprised at how seriously Master Roddick had taken it. Roddick didn’t answer right away. He was concentrating on making a fire. Just after Elijah asked his question, Roddick reached out his hands and directly between his two palms, from out of nowhere, a flame appeared. In a matter of seconds, the floating flame ignited the wood, creating a roaring fire. Roddick sat down breathing heavily and looking slightly angry.
    “You okay?” asked Elijah.
    “Yeah,” Roddick gasped, his face returning to his normally kind expression. “Fire is not an easy element for me. I can get by with all the elements, but water is by far my best. A fire controller could have done what I just did without blinking.” Elijah stared at the blazing fire amazed that Roddick could start it by just raising his hands.
    When Roddick finally caught his breath, he turned toward Elijah.
    “To answer your previous question, I don’t know if your feeling was right or not. If you felt it, you felt it. It’s a waste of time, if you ask me, to question things like that. There are things we can’t explain in this world. We just know them. You knew we were in danger this morning. I didn’t see the point in questioning that.”
    The fire made Elijah feel much better. He lifted his feet up to the edge of the flames to dry them out. He could see the steam rising from his socks as the water evaporated. For a few minutes longer they silently rested and warmed themselves in relative comfort. The rest of the night was spent without much conversation. They were tired and drained from the excitement of the day, and in moments, they all were sound asleep.
    Samuel was the first to wake up the following morning, and he didn’t speak a word about his near death experience which made Elijah grateful. He didn’t want to relive it either. Moving around made Elijah realize that he was absolutely starving! He had not eaten at all the day before, and his stomach was aching for something to fill it.
    Samuel suddenly looked confused. “Are we there? The Magi city?” Samuel asked in a very groggy voice.
    “Not yet,” Roddick answered. “We should be there soon.” Elijah’s stomach gave a growl that was so intense, it echoed loud enough for the others to hear. Roddick chuckled. “Here.” He reached into his pack and pulled out a few pieces of meat that looked like jerky. “Sorry about yesterday. With all the hustle and bustle, I forgot all about eating.”
    Elijah wolfed it down. The meat was dry but tender, and it settled nicely in his empty stomach. His body was stiff and sore from the long journey, and it took a while to loosen up. Master Roddick, Elijah, and Samuel headed out, eating the dried meat scraps along the way. Roddick was apparently not as worried about being followed this time because he hiked with less urgency. The journey was also much less difficult. They walked through thick trees and soggy brush, but the snow was not as intimidating here on this side of the mountain range. After two hours passed, Roddick slowed down.
    In front of them appeared an ambush of hundreds and hundreds of trees tangled and connected to one another. It looked impossible to cross. As far as Elijah could see to the left and to the right were trees that seemed to be melted together with the branches and trunks in a madness of green and brown. Roddick stood very still and quiet—concentrating on something.
    “This way,” he said after a minute. They walked to the right of where they had been standing, stepping on ferns and hopping over dead logs. Shockingly, Roddick marched straight into the mesh of trees to a spot with just the tiniest of openings, invisible from farther away. It appeared to be only a few feet tall. Elijah thought there was no way any of them could fit into that opening. To his surprise,