Atomic Mage by Garrett Carter (short books for teens txt) 📕

through the ragged clothes he had on had also disappeared as he patted his torso down gone as if by magic.

Cade suddenly slammed his fist on the ground with a groan at a sudden itching and pricking sensation as he watched with a grimace as his left foot performed a trick.

A loud snapping and grinding sound heralded its return to its rightful position pointing straight up into the night air.

Cade's eyebrows rose to his hairline as his right leg, under its own power, straightened out with an audible crunch to match up with his left.

He slowly caught his breath and whistled as the itching prickling sensation faded after a few moments as the magical healing ended.

Rotated his ankles Cade was surprised at the lack of pops and pain that had plagued him since he finished his service.

Doing another once over on his newly healed body Cade smiled at the lack of back and hip pain before he let his curiosity about the sounds and smells he was just beginning to notice take over.

As he looked at his surroundings free of the healing's distraction, he noticed a slight depression close to 3 meters wide and a few inches deep around him.

Though it was almost filled with his blood and vomit it was devoid of plant and animal life.

"Hmm when did that happen?" Cade said, thinking that such a perfectly level swath of ground wouldn't occur naturally.

His contemplation of the strange gore-filled depression was interrupted by a pained roar in the distance.

"Well let's not wait around to find out whatever made that sound," Cade said as a spike of fear went through him.

Standing up gingerly and more exhausted than he had felt in a very long time, he slowly turned in a circle in an attempt to get some sense of his surroundings.

Looking straight into the sky Cade wondered where the bright illumination of his current surroundings was coming from.

Covering a quarter of the sky, the moon glowed an intense white, illuminating the surrounding area in a pale glow.

Setting the problem of the monster moon aside for another day Cade returned his attention toward finding a place to sleep for the night, his exhaustion causing his eyelids to droop and his mind to wander despite his desperate situation.

Shaking his head to keep the exhaustion at bay Cade looked around himself once more.

"Trees, yup that's a lot of fucking trees, let's find one to shimmy our asses up, sound good Cade, yup let's do it, Cade." He said grimly, his irritated tone caused in turn by his dire situation and the cloying smell and sticky feeling of his blood and vomit drying on him beginning to overwhelm him.

Cade gave up wiping his hands on the tattered remains of his shirt that only resulted in smearing the blood on his torso.

Promising himself a thorough bath at his earliest opportunity, Cade began his search for a safe haven for the night quickly as he heard faint shouting in the distance.

A half-hour of searching later, Cade despaired of finding a tree with low enough branches for him to climb as his exhaustion fought against each step he took.

Massive trees spread as far as he could see, which wasn't much with how thick the giants were on the ground.

Silently bemoaning his lack of footwear, probably lost in the crash, he continued his search.

Cade's search came to an end when he found what could be considered a sapling amongst all these giants.

"Finally found you, you're going to be my little home away from home tonight aren't you, your a little homey tree, yes you are," Cade said as he patted the rough bark of his little treehouse sanctuary with relief and excitement before he started his climb to safety, at least for tonight.

After locating a sturdy branch that would support his weight close to 20 feet off the ground, Cade tied himself as securely as possible with a length of vine he found.

With a tired sigh, he let his ever-present exhaustion overwhelm him slipping into a dreamless sleep.

Welcome to the fucking jungle

Awakening with a start Cade found himself 20 feet off the ground, strapped to a branch and wondering what the fuck was going on.

Then yesterday came back to him, the accident, the unimaginable pain, and the magical repair of his body.

Shrugging at the notion of magical healing, and with the reminder of the roar he had heard last night, Cade decided he could look into it once he had more secure and comfortable accommodations.

Swatting away the countless flies that miraculously hadn't awoken him from his slumber, he untied himself from the tree limb and began his descent.

After finishing his climb down from his little home away from home, Cade stretched the kinks out of his body.

"Gonna have a divot in my ass if I have to spend another night up there."

He groused as he felt the soreness of his ass, as the feeling finally came back to it with the sensation of pins and needles that radiated down to both feet.

"Time to take a look around and find other accommodations," he said as he looked around.

"Yup still a fuck ton of trees now what are we gonna do about this shit."

A growl eminated from his throat as he swatted at the flies that had returned and begun to land on him.

Looking to his right he noticed the ground sloping down slightly.

Thinking of some of the survival tips he gleaned during his chats with some of the S.A.R. (search and rescue) swimmers, about their time