A Web Of Magic

A pale and almost emaciated body could be found in a thicket. What features were visible did indicate that it was a teenager and distinctly male. The ray of sunlight falling on his gaunt face soon woke him up.

'Ah, my head! Where am I? Please don't be a dream again. The last dream I had was about a crazy witch cooking me in a bathtub and calling me her husband. What a lunatic!'

He took a look at his surroundings. 'Let's see. Tall trees, old trees, dense trees and a broken tree'. He was surrounded by trees on all sides. The dense tree cover allowed poor lighting which made it difficult to look at farther objects. The only place with more light was a series of broken branches and shrubs on one side, no doubt that was his path of entry to this place. 'Well the good news is I didn't break anything visible,' he comforted himself.

He had enough of the ground and slowly got up. The wincing pain he felt in different parts of his body told him that his arrival here wasn't pleasant, wherever this was. 'As long as there is no witch,' he told himself. He walked slowly towards the broken flora not forgetting to look for possible dangers these woods might have in stock for him. His dad took him on little camping trips before, so he had some wilderness knowledge.

The walk through the forest floor made his b.a.r.e feet feel tender but he soldiered on. Soon, he could hear flowing water at a distance. A chance at wetting his parched throat sped him up towards his destination. The area was well lit now and he could see a sparkling stream flowing at a distance.

'The water seems clean enough. Well, beggars cannot be choosers,' he decided. He took a few sips from the clear stream. The cool water gave him a refreshing feeling and calmed his rumbling stomach. It suppressed the slight pangs of hunger that just started appearing and cleared his head a little. With his thirst and hunger satiated for now, he observed his reflection in the stream.

A young face with black disheveled hair and onyx eyes greeted him back. His skin was pale, like he never saw sunlight in his life. The face felt very familiar but at the same time there was a sense of discord that he couldn't put his finger on. He decided to think of it later and sat leaning against a tree beside the stream. The soft grass underneath cushioned his body and gave a sense of relief to his aching body. 'I put it off long enough, it's time to find some answers,' he decided.

His head felt jumbled. His memories in a disarray and not easily accessible. Whatever that ''witch'' did, did a number on him. Yet, he persisted. Slowly a sense of order emerged in his mind and memories started trickling one by one.

'My name is …Magnus Webb, son of Thomas Webb and Selene Webb…,' Magnus started organizing his memories. It was all well until his tenth birthday. That was where the confusion started. 'We were visiting a relative…yes, great-aunt Viola in the hospital. She asked to talk to me alone before we left. Then she touched my forehead with hers and something happened. I remember her saying that it was a gift from our ancestor who passed it down from generation to generation. Then I had a headache and …she passed away the next day,' he recalled with closed eyes. The next few days were a blur and then another memory popped up. 'We came to Egypt because mum and dad wanted to find some ingredient and then I can't remember, except for the pain.' As he tried to recall more, his head started aching so he gave up. 'Another time then, before that-'

Few drops of an unknown liquid dropped into his mouth and a sense of danger sounded in his head." Bloody hell!" He dodged to the side while swiping his right hand at the unknown predator hoping to scare or delay it. His fingers seemed to have met some resistance before they smoothly passed through whatever came at him. Only when he rolled a few feet away did he look back at the scene in front of him while calming his racing heart. His body was ready to fight or flee at any given moment.

What he saw was the still swaying body of a snake hanging from the branch of the tree under which he previously sat. It was missing its head and was spraying blood all over the place. Its head lay a few feet away. 'What in the world! Did I do that?' he doubted himself, but the remnant of blood on the fingers of his hand solved his doubts. 'It's brilliant! But, since when did I have this much strength? Is it because of something that witch did? Maybe the snake is really weak? Accidental magic perhaps? Can I do magic now? Mum did say I'll be able to do magic soon' he reasoned as he moved closer to the snake. He never had any incidents of accidental magic before as far as he could remember.

The exposed part of the snake alone should be some six feet in length. Not to mention that it was thicker than his t.h.i.g.h. He licked his lips to moisten them and noticed a coopery taste on his tongue. 'Is this blood? Must be from whatever fell into my mouth. Wait a minute, the blood fell in my mouth before the attack!' He looked closer at the branch the snake was coiled on and spotted a bird-lizard like creature stuck between the coils of the snake. It seemed dead and its deformed figure with leaking blood confirmed it. 'So, the snake killed the bird for food and still wanted to attack me? Greedy shit, you got what you deserved.'

He wiped the sweat on his forehead and relaxed as the danger passed. He washed himself to get rid of the sweat and blood and decided to walk along the river. No need to stay till another predator is attracted by these bodies. After walking for a bit, he found an easy to climb tree and climbed it to get a lay of the land. There were trees on all sides except for further north where there was some smoke rising. 'Should be people. Better go there fast, it's starting to get chilly here. Hope they are nice,' Magnus thought. His lack of clothes made him feel particularly vulnerable.

He walked along the river towards the designated path while occasionally taking sips from the stream to keep away his hunger and thirst. He did not trust to eat the occasional berries he found on some shrubs. They kept glowing for some reason. 'I'll check them out later. Better hungry than poisoned. I hope they have some food.' Soon, he reached his destination- a glade in the forest close to the stream. It was a half-burnt cabin with a distinctive bathtub like cauldron lying on its side on the ground. The cauldron filled him both with a sense of déjà vu and dread.