Chapter 9 - Planning

He quickly traveled with his portals back to where his friends were. They were not near the platform so he decided to check the forest where they were cutting trees.

There was no one there. Rock was hunting so he could be anywhere. He traveled towards where they had seen the scaled horses before. After a few more tries around the area he finally found them. He was sure Siem would be somewhere close to them.

Suddenly he heard someone curse and shout. It must've been Siem. He smiled and ran towards the source of the screaming.

When he crossed a small hill he found Siem riding a scaled horse near a river. Maybe riding wasn't the right word for it. He did all he could to stay on the horse. He was clamped up on the back of the horse. His arms were held tight around the neck. It was jumping constantly. It seemed Siem was barely able to hold onto the horse.

He was starting to get afraid for Siem. If he fell off he could be seriously hurt. The horse kicked at the air and jumped again. It was slowing down now.

He was still looking worried at them, but after a few more jumps the horse stopped moving. It was obviously tired and was gasping for breath. Siem also seemed to relax a bit now.

Jens carefully walked up to them, afraid that he might scare the horse.

Siem suddenly looked his way surprised. "When did you get here?"

"Just now. Are you alright?"

Siem did not reply immediately. Instead he slowly reached for a robe that hanged lose around the horse's neck.

He pulled it up and held it tightly. "I think I am now."

He whispered some words to the horse. And urged it to move towards Jens.

Jens was surprised that the horse listened and turned around towards him.

Jens was very wary the animal.

"I don't dare to dismount yet, so tell me. Why are you suddenly here?"

"Oh yeah, check this out." Jens said enthusiastically. He quickly casted a portal and stepped through it.

Siem was surprised by the size of the portal. It was again much larger then he had seen before. He noticed Jens only had to duck a little to be able to walk into it.

"I'm here." Siem said while grinning.

Siem quickly reacted by looking behind him. Jens stood there with a big smile. He noticed the amazed look on Siem's face.

"That's incredible! You really did it! How far can you cast it?"

"You'll see."

Jens disappeared into a portal. Siem was looking around him.

"Here!" Jens shouted.

Siem only now noticed him waving. He stood quite far away. He urged the horse to run that way. The horse resisted but started running eventually. Siem almost fell off the horse and hold tightly. It had abruptly accelerated far faster than he had anticipated. He felt like he was flying, that's how fast it was going. In a short time he had already passed Jens.

Jens watched Siem rush passed him. It was a marvelous sight to see the scaled horse sprint that fast. He started running and started to cast a portal. He ran through it and noticed that he had almost caught up. He casted again and was spooked when Siem rushed right passed him. He was enjoying this. He casted again and again and finally he had overtaken Siem. After a few more times he stopped and waited for Siem to arrive. It had felt amazing to be able to travel such a large distance in such a short time. He could go anywhere with his portals. He could cross lands or climb a mountain with little effort. He felt really good.

Siem arrived with a huge grin. "This is amazing! Did you see how fast it can go? I felt like I was flying! I have never ever traveled so fast!"

Siem was also enthusiastic. "I did! I want to try sometime as well. But did you see me? I can travel to any place I want like this."

"That is amazing! You are really talented to have mastered it this quickly."

"No, it is this place. The abundance of mana makes it much easier. In a short time I am able to recover completely." He explained. "Oh and I think I have broken through."

Siem looked shocked. "You broke through? For real? It's been only a few days since you can cast and you broke through?"

Jens laughed uncomfortably. "I think so, yes. But I always had mana. I think being ablemti cast is not related to being able to get stronger or not."

"I guess you're right." Siem said after thinking about it. It would've been impossible to believe he could progress in only a few days. "How did it happen?"

"One moment I was out of mana and started to try to strengthen myself again. After a short while it was like something flooded through me. I felt amazing at that time. I also had a lot more mana at my disposal since then. I can sense much more of my surroundings. It is as if a layer had been torn away from my eyes and I can finally see everything clearly."

Siem listened carefully. "How you explained it, I believe you really did break through. I want that too! I have also realized that I can gather mana more quickly. Maybe i need to train and focus a little more with my own element."

"You should!" Jens said to encourage him. He wanted his friends to experience the same thing.

"Let's go back and see if Rock is back. I want to build a fence for the horse. You can both help me."

"Let's do that!"

Rock was surprised when he noticed Jens step out of a portal near him.

"Wow, since when do you do that?" He said alerted.

Jens was smiling proudly. "Since not long ago."

He heard the galopping sounds of Siem approaching. "Here comes Siem."

Rock stood there looking flabbergasted. He heard the sound of neighing. Within seconds Siem arrived riding a tall scaled horse. It looked magnificent standing this close.

"What did I miss? Jens travels through portals and you're riding one of those scaled horses?!"

Siem and Jens both smiled proudly.

Siem dismounted and tied the horse against a tree. Jens meanwhile explained to Rock what had happened that day.

"Let's get to it then. We will craft something to let the horse, or what we are calling it, drag the trees back here." Rock said.

Jens thought about it. It resembled a horse. But it had scales covering it's entire body. Even the tail was scaled.

"A horse is a horse. The only difference are the scales." Siem said. He didn't care about names.

"Let's do this so I don't have to worry about it running away."

Something snapped and the horse neighed. It then came running passed them.

"No!" Siem yelled. He was cursing now. "I was afraid of that."

"You will capture it again." Jens said to comfort him. Siem kept cursing.

"We need more supplies anyway if we want to build a good fence. Horses are strong. They can destroy any makeshift fence we make."

Siem looked offended at Rock. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"We need to get out of here and get supplies. We need nails, robe and tools. Only then are we able to make something of this place."

He looked at Jens. "Maybe you will be able to cast a portal back to where we came from? From there we can try to gather supplies and continue to build something here."

"Can you?" Siem asked hopefully.

"I can try."

Jens closed his eyes and focused. He knew that if he would cast a portal now, it would appear at the platform. He needed to extend his reach. He tried to sense anything in the outside world. The problem was that he couldn't sense anything except for the something about the stond platform.

He tried to recall the place where they had arrived from. It was the ravine. Jens still remembered how they had gotten there. He visualized the place in his head. He tried to visualize the place, the smooth stone walls, the ground, the end of the road, the except same place where he had successfully casted a portal for the very first time.

He then suddenly sensed something. There was something there. He focused his thoughts on it. He casted a portal and opened his eyes again.

Siem and Rock were looking hopefully. They didn't see a portal on the platform behind Jens.

"Be careful. I don't know if this is the place. If it is, the enemy might still be there." Jens said cautiously.

For a while, nothing came out of the portal. Jens couldn't sustain the portal for to long. He started t feel like he had succeeded. There was a big difference from casting the portals within his line of sight. This portal drained much more mana then the others did.

He walked to the portal and stuck his head in to see.

He had succeeded. He was overjoyed. He could see that he was back in the ravine. The scorch marks were still visible on the wall ahead of him. He pulled his head back and smiled triumphantly.