Random Portals

The next several days passed quickly. Each day, Goskia had him drink a different kind of potion for memory. Some seemed to work as Steven started remembering things from his childhood he had completely forgotten. Even things he would rather not remember.

Each day when he had to go across the vine bridge, he would pass out and have to be carried by a guard. At some point, he went back in front of the Elders, and they decided to just train him back up on all things Naga. The Elders had set him a schedule he was to follow each day while he was on his journey to regaining his memories. In the mornings, he was to train with a Naga named Sirus. Then he was to go to Goskia’s shop. In the evenings, he was to study with Eve about Naga things in general. Which was something he would definitely look forward to.

Steven’s first trial to overcome was heights. At least that’s what his instructor, Sirus, told him. Steven passed out several times while trying to cross the bridge under Sirus’s supervision. Sirus eventually grew annoyed by this, and told him he had a plan for tomorrow, and sent him to Goskia. Steven was getting tired of passing out all the time and having to be carried around. He imagined the guards felt the same way. But he didn’t know what he could do about it. Maybe his instructor had something that would help.

Once in Goskia’s shop, he asked about Sirus. The old Naga had a lot of respect for Sirus, and Steven learned quite a bit about his instructor. Sirus was an elder elite guard who was some sort of captain, which apparently was a big deal. It’s what Shirem was meant to be trained for as his first step to becoming an Elder. Goskia said that Sirus even had five shards, whatever that meant. He tried to ask more questions, but Goskia told him he needed to ask Sirus if he wanted to know more. After drinking another memory potion, Goskia sent him home.

Each day, Steven would ask about the plant Goskia said he would send him. The old Naga always looked annoyed at his question, but told him the same thing each day. “I’m working on it.”

Looking around his small hut, he missed the tree house and the freedom he had. He wanted to stay there, but that was completely out of the question. When he asked the Elders if he could stay there, they gasped at his outlandish request and forbade him from going anywhere near the place. Not that he had any idea where it was.

That evening Eve came by, bringing him some food like she had every evening since he had arrived here. Today she brought him some sort of salad with some grilled fish. Steven found the food surprisingly good. At first, he had been afraid they ate raw mice or something. Once done eating, Eve told him that the Elders approved her request to move closer to him. Steven wouldn’t mind if she moved in with him. She was absolutely the best thing about this place, and the main reason he hadn’t tried to run away. That and the fact he had no idea how to get back to the tree house.

Eve seemed to be completely infatuated with him, but the problem was that he wasn’t this Shirem fellow she thought he was. After telling her as much, she replied. “It doesn’t matter if you never get your memories back. I will be here for you just the same, and if you wish, I will even use the name Steven from now on.”

Steven was surprised by her devotion and felt bad for this Shirem fellow for losing out on her. He asked if they were a couple and she blushed something fierce before saying they were not. The rest of the evening was just them talking about random things. Steven told her more about Earth, and she listened intently, never once telling him it was just mind magic. If anything, she seemed completely fascinated by the ideas.

The next morning, Sirus woke him up by beating on the door. Steven threw his new black, leathery clothes on as quickly as possible. This Sirus fellow didn’t seem to play around; he reminded Steven of some sort of drill sergeant. A few moments later, Steven was standing in the doorway face to face with Sirus.

“Okay, first we are going to overcome that fear of heights today. Then tomorrow we will begin with your martial skills.” Sirus said, immediately getting to business.

Steven swallowed; he didn’t like the look in Naga’s eyes. “And how do we go about overcoming my fear of heights?”

Sirus smiled. “The fun way. Put this on.” Sirus handed Steven a necklace. “You do not get to keep this. It’s a loan from the Elders.”

The necklace looked simple, like all the jewelry he had seen Naga wore. The necklace had a single sharp-looking tooth hanging from it, and was crafted of leather.

“What does it do?”

“Oh, you will see.” Sirus said with a wide grin.

Steven was getting a bad feeling about this, but he placed the necklace on like Sirus asked. He was hoping it was some sort of fear-repression necklace. However, the look on Sirus’s face made him think otherwise. As soon as he got to the bridge, he froze up, realizing it was definitely not repressing any fear. What happened next would no doubt fuel his nightmares for the rest of his life. Sirus grabbed him by the back of his leather armor and tossed him over the edge before he even realized what had happened.

“It’s best to face your fear head-on.” Sirus said as Steven fell.

He paid no attention to his instructor’s words as he plummeted from over two hundred feet. Steven passed out almost immediately. He opened his eyes to a smiling, black-scaled Naga. It took him several moments to realize where he was and why a snake person was smiling down at him.

“Why do some Naga have scales and others don’t?” Steven asked, trying not to think about what had just happened.

Sirus looked at him in confusion for a moment. “This is not how I expected this to go. I assumed you would be screaming, panicking, and trying to run from me while I chased you down and threw you over again and again. Instead, you ask me a random question while remaining completely calm.”

“Oh, I’m definitely not calm. I understand that the necklace somehow protected me from hitting the ground. And there is no point trying to avoid the inevitable; if I run, you will catch me.” Steven said, slowly getting to his feet.

“It would be much easier if you would just jump over the edge yourself until you no longer fear the height.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening!”

“You said yourself, there is no point in running. So why not just go to the end result? Which is you jumping off on your own accord.”

“There’s a difference between doing it and you forcing me, but I suppose if that’s the end goal.”

Steven stepped to the edge and froze.

“This is not an issue I ever expected to have with you, Shirem.”

“I-I can’t, I just...” Steven didn’t get to finish his sentence before he started falling; it took him just a bit longer than he expected to pass out this time.

Opening his eyes, he was met with a smiling Naga.

“You do realize I’m not this Shirem fellow, right? I’m from an entirely different world; he was most likely sent to my world by accident when I was sent here.”

“And you realize how preposterous that sounds? Other worlds! That’s just the Archmage’s magic talking.” Sirus said.

“Maybe you’re right, and maybe you’re wrong. But to me, talking about Archmages and magic is completely ridiculous.”

“Are you going to jump?”

“I ca…” Steven didn’t get two words out before he was casually tossed over the edge.

“I can do this all day.” Sirus said, once Steven appeared back on the bridge.

“I thought we were only meant to train with you half the day.”

“Oh, that’s right. We better get back to it then.” Sirus said with a grin as he tossed Steven over the edge.

“That’s not what I meant!” Steven shouted as he fell.

When Steven came to, a pale blue Naga with soft-looking skin was looking down at him.

“Better. You were able to talk that time while falling.” The pale blue Naga said as black scales formed all over his body. Steven quickly realized it was Sirus. “To answer your question, it’s a shard ability.”

“What’s a…” Steven was then tossed over the edge again.

Steven stared up at Sirus. “It’s an ability you gain from absorbing a shard. You have a couple unlocked yourself.”

“I can assure you, I do not have any Shard abilities.” Steven barely got the words out before he was falling over the edge again.

Maybe this will cure my fear of heights. Was the last thought Steven had before he passed out.

“I can prove to you that you have shard abilities.”

“How?” Steven asked before he was tossed off the side again.

“I know you’re awake; I can sense your aura,” Sirus said.

Steven had tried to pretend he was still unconscious to keep from getting thrown over again. His heart was pounding, and he was afraid it was going to beat out of his chest at this point.

“Okay, okay! Just give me a moment. Let me try to calm my heart rate.” Steven barely got the words out before he was tossed over the edge once again.

This time, when Steven woke up, he jumped to his feet and stepped back.

“I thought you weren’t going to run.” Sirus said with a manic grin plastered across his snake-like face.

“I’m not! Just hear me out, okay?” Steven pleaded, “I’m trying to not pass out while I fall, but I need to try and lower my heart rate first. Can I try that? I want to overcome this fear as well.”

“Okay, I’ll allow it,” Sirus said after a moment. “There is an ancient tablet called the Seeing Stone that tells us our shard abilities and how far away you are from reaching the next level. It is also required to gain levels.”

“Okay, awesome. When do we go? And what happens if I use this tablet and I don’t have any shards?”

“Then you will be executed for trespassing in our territory and for impersonating as the Elders chosen.” Sirus said right before he tossed him over.

Steven passed out almost immediately.

“It seems your heart rate slowing down didn’t help you stay conscious any longer.” Sirus said once Steven appeared back on the bridge.

“Are you just going to act like you didn’t just say you were going to kill me? You guys are the ones that kidnapped me and brought me here in the first place! I have been telling you all from the start that I’m Steven! Not this Shirem!”

“True. If I’m honest, I really don’t know what will happen. That will be up to the Elders to decide. I imagine they would continue to insist that you are Shirem and may even offer you a shard. They seemed very adamant about you being Shirem, though seeing you pass out like this over something so minuscule is starting to give me doubts.”

Steven breathed a sigh of relief, but before he had a chance to calm down, he was tossed over the edge.

“I have a question and an idea!” Steven said once he appeared back on the bridge.

“Go on.”

“My question is: how does this necklace work? Am I being teleported, or is the necklace growing wings and flying me up?” Steven didn’t get to finish speaking before being thrown over once again.

“Don’t pass out, and you will find out.” Sirus shouted down.

Steven appeared on his back for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“And what was the idea? As fun as this is, I’m starting to tire of throwing you over the edge. It’s taking much longer than I thought it would. We do have other things I want to get done, and we are wasting a lot of time.”

“Well, I had this pipe with this herb that helps me calm my nerves, and if I...”

“Oh,” Sirus cut in, “good idea. I’ll be right back.” Sirus turned and walked off.

Steven was just fixing to scoot back into his house when Sirus appeared in front of him.

“I almost forgot. We don’t want to waste time.” Sirus said as he casually tossed Steven over the edge.

Steven didn’t make it more than twenty feet before he passed out each time, and it was no different this time. When he woke up, Sirus wasn’t there smiling down at him, so he began scooting back into his house. For the first time, he noticed all the vine bridges above him and the dozens of Naga walking across, some even jumping from one bridge to a lower one. Several young Nagas were sitting on the edges of the vine bridges, looking down at him. Steven just scooted back into his hut. He wished he wasn’t scared of heights, but he didn’t know how to overcome it. While still lying on his back, he realized they must have placed him in the lowest house so he could be tossed over the edge until he no longer feared the height. He wondered how many others Sirus had done this to. Steven had to admit that it was somewhat working. At least, he thought it might be. He had thought it would cause him to fear heights even more, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He was starting to understand that it wasn’t anything to fear, but he couldn’t help but pass out. Although once he had to give up the enchanted necklace, he would most likely still have this crippling fear of heights.

It didn’t take Sirus much longer to return; he had some purple-looking potion in his hand. “Drink this.”

Steven didn’t question his instructor and just did as he asked. After all, he had no doubt in his mind that Sirus would hold his mouth open and force it down his throat if he refused. Once he drank it, he asked what it did but was drug out of his house and tossed over the edge as a response. This time, when Steven passed out, he came back to while he was still falling and began screaming in fear. Right when he thought he was going to hit the swamp water, he just appeared on his back, staring up at Sirus. Steven’s eyes were wide, and his breaths were coming in short and fast.

“Fantastic! I’m glad you mentioned this. It should go much faster now, not having to wait for you to wake up.” Sirus said right before he tossed Steven over the edge.

This time, Steven didn’t pass out at all. He just screamed bloody murder all the way down. This happened several more times before Steven finally stopped screaming, and Sirus paused from chunking him over the edge.

“Okay, you can jump over if you’re ready. If not, I’ll just keep throwing you over till you’re ready to jump on your own.”

Steven slowly stood up, legs trembling and hands shaking. It was so bad that he could barely grab hold of the vine bridge. Looking down, Steven locked up but didn’t pass out; his heart was pounding so fast that it felt like Red Bull had been injected into his veins.

“It looks like a couple dozen more times could do you good,” Sirus said before tossing Steven over.

Steven lost track of time as he became numb to the sensation of falling. He continued to shake uncontrollably, not able to even stand. At some point, Sirus said it was time for him to leave, and he would be back tomorrow morning to finish his fear training. Steven didn’t respond but just continued to lie there trembling while wondering what the hell was in that potion. Eventually Eve came by, and as soon as she saw him lying there trembling, she immediately rushed to his side.

“Are you okay?” Eve asked while helping him inside his hut. “I heard about your training with Sirus. Goskia said that he even used a potion of wakefulness on you. I’m sorry. I brought you some Kishurack; it’s from Goskia. He wanted me to apologize on his behalf for giving Sirus the potion of wakefulness. But this Kishurack will definitely help calm your nerves. I didn’t realize it was this bad.” Eve said, after she got a good look at Steven’s trembling form. “I, too, was thrown over the side when I was a youngling. Though that has been a while, and younglings get over it quicker than adults.” While Eve spoke, she sat out some food on the table. “You’re probably not hungry after being tossed over the edge all morning. But this should help with your nerves.“ Eve pulled out some odd-looking apparatus that resembled a hookah. Steven assumed she had a bag of holding as she pulled it from nowhere.

“What is that?” Steven asked, his voice still a bit shaky.

“It is a water pipe. It’s what we use for smoking herbs. And this is Kishurack. Goskia said he owed it to you. He is still examining the herbs you gave him.”

When Steven saw the plant, he got excited. A few moments later, they were both sitting on the couch, blowing smoke into the air.

“This stuff is amazing! Thank you, I really needed this,” Steven said.

“Of course! Just let me know if you need anything at all, and I’ll do my best to acquire it for you. I know you are going through a difficult time, and I want to make it as comfortable as possible for you.” Eve said, staring into Steven’s eyes.

He stared back into her light purple eyes for a long moment before he looked away. Steven didn’t feel right; he wasn’t who she thought he was. Maybe he could just pretend to be who she thought he was. Steven shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

“Is everything okay?” Eve asked.

“Yes, it’s fine. This water pipe is just awesome.”

Eve smiled and giggled slightly before she continued talking cheerfully. “I will be moving soon. I will be just across the bridge from you.”

“I’m looking forward to you being closer.” Steven said. Though he had no idea where she was even moving from or if it was even a big deal to move, the rest of the evening went by too quickly for Steven’s liking. Eve taught him how to play some sort of board game involving some round stones and odd-shaped sticks. When night set in, she said she had to leave and hugged him.

For the first time, he got to feel Naga skin; it was insanely soft, more so than he had expected. He stared at her backside as she left, wishing he was actually this Shirem fellow. The way her pale green skin reflected the moonlight was almost enchanting to Steven.